text stringlengths 199 648k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 419 | file_path stringlengths 139 140 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.65 1 | token_count int64 50 235k | score float64 2.52 5.34 | int_score int64 3 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
What do you give a Chemistry Professor as a birthday present whose only love is his work? It has to be something science related, unusual enough that he doesn’t already own it, and memorable enough to be a discussion point for many months or years to come.
The boffins at Nottingham University had such a dilemma when it came time to buy Martin Poliakoff a present. We already know Martin from the excellent periodic table videos where science is made fun. So it was only fitting that the present they got him was a periodic table. Only this one was quite hard to see.
The Nanotechnology Center in Nottingham plucked a single hair from the professor’s head, stuck it in a vacuum, and printed a periodic table on to it. The end result was a perfectly formed text table that measured just 100 x 50 microns.
The present was a great success with Poliakoff saying it was the best he had received and that it may also be the smallest periodic table in the world.
One problem the professor’s colleagues now have is what on earth are they going to do for next year’s birthday?
Read more at ExtremeTech
Although this is just a fun birthday present, wouldn’t it be great to be able to store information on your body that no one knew was there due to its size? Unfortunately, our surface is ever changing, so having something etched on your skin or hair would only last so long. Skin falls off, and hair eventually gets cut. If you want permanent then you’d have to add it to an item you wore such as a ring, or go bigger and get a tattoo. | <urn:uuid:9106c016-9960-4e03-875e-8859ac0acc40> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/periodic-tablet-etched-on-a-single-hair-as-birthday-gift-1302784/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978435 | 341 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Environment the biggest challenge
Updated: 2012-11-13 08:09
By Amitendu Palit (China Daily)
The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is being held at a time when China is facing some critical economic challenges. Foremost among them is the balance that needs to be struck between economic growth and sustainable development.
The concerns over environment, and the priority to be given to its preservation, were reflected in CPC General Secretary Hu Jintao's opening address to the 18th CPC Congress, where he put as much emphasis on ecological civilization and sustainable development as economic, political, cultural and social civilizations.
The environment has paid a high price for China's high economic growth. There are two aspects to the environmental damage. The first is the increase in air and water pollution. The second is the increase in carbon emissions. These increases are the result of rapid industrialization, energy-intensive economic growth, urbanization, increasing affluence and demand for energy- and carbon-intensive products (such as automobiles and air-conditioners).
Rapid industrialization from a low base always increases pollution because initially industries do not have access to less-polluting and energy-saving technologies. Several core manufacturing industries such as cement, paper, chemicals, plastic, leather, rubber and steel are highly polluting.
The literature on the relationship between economic growth and pollution, popularly expressed through the "Environmental Kuznets Curve", suggests the increase in per capita income to be associated with the increase in pollution in a country until it reaches a certain threshold of income. Once a country crosses that threshold, its pollution starts decreasing, because consciousness increases about environmental protection among consumers, and producers are able to increasingly adopt cleaner but more expensive technologies. This explains why middle-income countries are more polluted than the richest and poorest countries.
The research on the relationship between per capita income and environmental sustainability for China indicates a correlation between income and environmental degradation. Given the association, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from burning fossil fuel and wastewater discharges are expected to reduce over time as regions and provinces cross their income thresholds.
The research shows a higher income threshold for GHG emissions than water discharges implying GHG emissions will take longer to reduce than wastewater discharges. This could be due to the continuing reliance of households on fossil fuels like coal for direct energy needs like heating. Alternative heating options using less carbon-intensive fuels are more expensive making it difficult for households to make the switch until their incomes increase substantively over time.
The research also shows that GHG emissions and discharges are first expected to reduce in the coastal provinces of Guangdong and Jiangsu, and coastal cities of Shanghai and Tianjin, and Beijing. But hinterland provinces in Central and West China might take less time and a lower per capita income threshold to start reducing emissions as they begin adopting cleaner technologies faster because of technology diffusion from the coastal regions.
One of the problems in tackling environmental pollution is that its adverse effects are not immediately visible to people. Air and water pollution create major public health hazards like increase in bronchial and respiratory disorders and water-borne diseases and infections. But people realize this only over a period of time, during which pollution and contamination keep increasing, making the problems more serious.
Developing public awareness on climate change is even more difficult. Change in weather patterns leading to irregular rainy seasons and shorter crop cycles, or shrinking water volumes in major rivers because of glacial depression - all caused by global warming - are manifested only over several years and are difficult to comprehend. This is where authorities have to play an important role by first raising people's awareness and then making policies for protecting the environment an immediate priority.
For a large and still developing country like China, adopting policies for protecting the environment has implications for economic growth. Reducing pollution implies shifting to cleaner technologies, which are expensive and increase the cost of production thereby affecting competitiveness of producers, particularly exporters.
For consumers and households, protecting the environment means adopting less-polluting lifestyles through conscious efforts for not polluting surroundings and using less carbon- and energy-intensive appliances. The latter are more expensive and occasionally inconvenient. Solar water heaters, for example, are less energy-intensive, but often ineffective on cloudy days forcing people to fall back on gas or electric water heaters. For both producers and consumers, shifting to less-polluting practices implies higher costs and lower economic surplus.
The balance between high growth and a stable environment cannot be achieved entirely through the market. The State has an important role to play by introducing the right policies. There is need for fiscal intervention both through a pollution (or carbon) tax and environment subsidies. Taxes will discourage polluting practices of both consumers and producers. Subsidies will facilitate greater use of clean technologies.
In addition to these, it is essential to increase public awareness by dedicated efforts at provincial and municipal levels.
The author is head (partnership & programme) and visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore's National University.
(China Daily 11/13/2012 page10) | <urn:uuid:cfbddbff-9d11-4766-8472-f849e4f5b251> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2012-11/13/content_15920338.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942153 | 1,039 | 3.078125 | 3 |
“Smart” Meters are digital utility meters that send customers’ detailed usage information to the utility using a radio-frequency transmitter (or over the power lines in the case of Powerline Carrier (PLC) systems. The meter also contains other capabilities, such as remote shut-off. They are part of a larger plan to change the electricity grid to a “smart” grid–though there is controversy about whether the customer meter is actually crucial to that change. Electric smart meters are replacing older analog style meters. . . | <urn:uuid:13269aa5-a133-4ec1-b047-ed953cf0c484> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://muskegonpundit.blogspot.com/2013/02/sounding-alarm-about-smart-meters-smart.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939334 | 110 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Vym is a mind mapping program. It is useful to organize thoughts and do structure work. In addition to that it has a lot of helpful shortcuts.
A mindmap is a multicolored and image centered radial diagram that represents semantic or other connections between portions of learned material. For example, it can graphically illustrate the structure of a thesis outline, a project plan, or the government institutions in a state. Mindmaps have many applications in personal, family, educational, and business situations. Possibilities include note-taking, brainstorming, summarizing, revising and general clarifying of thoughts.
VYM is available in Ubuntu official repository, search and install it from Ubuntu Software Center. After installation, find it under Applications -> Office -> VYM View Your Mind. | <urn:uuid:c7f3fc90-9346-463c-9bd5-aecc05915191> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ubuntuguide.net/vym-a-mind-mapping-tool-for-ubuntu-linux | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.88043 | 159 | 2.59375 | 3 |
LOCALITIES ARE LISTED BELOW GENERAL INFORMATION
This country in west central Africa borders the Gulf of Guinea to the west, Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, and Cameroon to the north, with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The estimated population in 2005 was 1,500,000. The capital and largest city is Libreville. Independence from France came on August 17, 1960. The small population and abundant natural resources and foreign private investment make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries in the region.
THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
No information has been donated. | <urn:uuid:6865c1e4-2c45-461d-9596-cee0c28a4269> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.iajgsjewishcemeteryproject.org/gabon/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.893324 | 121 | 2.546875 | 3 |
When precipitation falls (Figure 1) it may: (i) be evaporated from the earth's surface or from the leaves of plants (evapotranspiration) whose roots have taken up the moisture from the soil; (ii) flow along or near the surface of the earth in watercourses of ever-increasing size until it reaches the ocean; (iii) infiltrate down through the pores or crevices of the earth's mantle either at the point where it falls or at some distant point to which surface flow has carried it. Water which evaporates from the earth's surface or bodies of water is ready to start the cycle over again as precipitation.
When water is added to dry or unsaturated soil it is held in the voids between particles by capillary forces. Once the voids are saturated, however, the water is free to descend under the effect of gravity. As long as there is sufficient water to maintain saturation, the water will descend until it is stopped by some impervious layer, such as rock or highly impervious clay. The water can then flow laterally through the voids or rock crevices above the barrier. If there are significant differences in surface elevation, the water may flow out along the impervious layer at some lower point called a spring. If a hole is made vertically down into the saturated layer, water will flow into the hole. If the saturated layer has sufficient interconnected voids, water will flow through it relatively rapidly. When the saturated layer yields water in economic quantities, it is called an aquifer and the hole made into it could be developed into a well. The lack of resistance to flow through porous material is called permeability. In general, fine grained material such as clay or silt is low in permeability; sand is of medium permeability, and gravel is most permeable. Fractured rock varies in permeability depending on the degree and pattern of fracture. The quantity of water which can be stored in an aquifer is equal to the total volume of voids between the solid particles. The fraction of the total volume of an aquifer made up of voids is called porosity. If the voids are interconnected, aquifers of high porosity also tend to have high permeability.
Fig. 1 Hydrologic cycle
Sometimes groundwater is trapped under an impervious layer. An aquifer thus located is called a confined aquifer. If the inflow area to a confined aquifer is higher than the confining layer where a well penetrates it, the water will be under pressure and will rise in the well to some level above the confining layer. Such a well is referred to as artesian. If the water rises to the top of the well a "flowing well" results.
Obviously some locations offer better chances for successful wells than others. Clues which can be helpful in selecting well locations are (i) locations and depth to water of existing wells; (ii) existence of springs and/or streams; (iii) relative locations of infiltration areas and rock outcroppings which might constitute an impervious layer; and (iv) existence of known phreatophytes (plants requiring abundant water, whose roots frequently extend to the water table). In some areas of uniform geology, such as certain alluvial deposits in valleys, wells can be constructed anywhere with equal success.
In the absence of any clues or data, a test boring can be carried out by one of the methods described under small diameter wells. Such a boring can be carried out relatively quickly and cheaply and can save considerable time, money and frustration in the long run.
When a well is pumped, the water in it drops to some level below the static level (Figure 2). The water surface in the aquifer then forms a "cone of depression" as it slopes from the static level at some fairly large radius, R, to the well whose radius is r. If the well completely penetrates the aquifer with the static height of water being H and the height of water during pumping, h, then theoretical considerations give:
Q = yield or rate of pumping (e.g. m3/hr, litres/sec, etc.)
K = permeability of the aquifer
Fig. 2 Flow into a well
(H - h) is known as the "drawdown" of the well. If the drawdown is small compared to H, then the term (H + h) is approximately equal to 2H and the yield, Q, is approximately proportional to the product of H times the drawdown. This shows the importance of penetrating the aquifer to an adequate depth. By contrast the yield, Q, is much less responsive to changes in well diameter, since it is inversely proportional to the natural log of the ratio, (R/r). | <urn:uuid:8568083c-1fd5-4833-a0db-5f91dce9130e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5567E/x5567e03.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951506 | 981 | 4.28125 | 4 |
Department of Anatomy, Dr. V.M. Medical College, Solapur, India
For Reprints, request the author.
The squamous occipital bone consists of two parts supraoccipital and interparietal. Usually interparietal bone fuses withsupraoccipital but sometimes remains as separate bone. In this study total 310 adult skulls were examined to determine the incidence of theinterparietal bone. The interparietal bone was observed in 3 skulls (0.99%). Sutural bones (wormian bones named after olasus worm) wereseen in 32 skulls at lambda.
Key words : Interparietal bone, Sutural bones, Wormian bones.
The squamous part of occipital bone consists of supraoccipital and interparietal parts. (Shrivastava, 1977, Arinci and Elhan, 1993). Interparietal part above the highest nuchal line develops in membrane from two pairs of ossification centres. (Shrivastva, 1992). The first pair of centres consists of medial and lateral nuclei and forms two lateral plates and the second pair of centres include upper and lower nuclei and appears between two lateral plates and forms the medial plate. Failure of fusion between these centres of nuclei with each other or with supraoccipital part may give rise to interparietal bone (s). In this study the incidence of interparietal bone in the Western Maharashta region has been estimated and compared with other relevant literature.
A total of 310 adult skulls (200 males & 110 females) were examined to determine the incidence of interparietal bone in Western Maharashtra Region.
Interparietal bone(s) were observed in two male skulls and one female skull (0.99%)
Skull No. 1, Skull No. 2: Both Males.
A single large triangular separate interparietal bone was seen below lambda. This resulted because of failure of fusion between upper and lower nuclei of medial plate (Fig. 1 & Fig. 2). The other ossicles seen in the lambdoid suture were sutural bones. (Wormian bones).
Skull No. 3 : Female
Two large separate interparietal bones seen on left side and right side below lambda are due to failure of fusion of left medial plate with right medial plate and left lateral plate and the other interparietal bone of right side is due to failure of fusion of right medial plate with left medial plate and right lateral plate.
Ranke (1913) described that there were two pairs of ossification centres at interparietal part above highest nuchal line. Sometimes a third pair of centre (Preinterparietal) is seen in addition to two pairs of centres. (Ranke, 1913, Brethnach, 1965, Shrivastava, 1977, Pal, 1984). As per Shrivastava (1977) pre-interparietal bone develops due to presence of the third pair of centres. As per Pal et al (1984) and Pal (1987) the term ‘‘Pre-interparietal’’ is misleading and bones should be referred as upper central piece or pieces of the interparietal bone. According to Shrivastava (1992) pre-interparietal bone develops as a result of failure of fusion between upper and lower nuclei of the medial plate and are actually parts of interparietal bone. He claims that all bones developing in the region of lambda and lambdoid suture outside the limits of interparietal area are sutural or wormian bones with separate ossification centres.
The incidence of interparietal bone (Table-1) was reported as 0.8% by Shrivastava (1977) 1.6% by Singh et al (1979), 2.6% by Pal et al (1984), 4.0% by Cireli et al (1985), 2.5% by Saxena et al (1986), 1.6% by Maden Muftuoglu (1990) and 6.6% by Aycan (1993). In our study the incidence of 0.99% was found.
|Singh et al (1979)||500||1.6|
|Pal et al (1984)||348||2.6|
|Cireli et al (1985)||150||4.0|
|Saxena et al (1986)||40||2.5|
|Magden & Muftuoglu (1990)||420||1.6|
|Katkici & Gumusburum (1995)||302||0.99|
The incidence of preinterparietal bone was 2.9% by Shrivastava (1977); 0.8% by Singh et al (1979), 2.5% by Saxena et al (1986), and 0.8% by Gopinathan (1992). According to Pal et al (1984) a true pre-interparietal bone is triangular in shape and found posterior to lambda. In present study they are found only in two bones (Fig. 1) The bone which was called as pre-interparietal in previous studies is actually part of interparietal or sutural bone. The embryological development of interparietal or sutural part of occipital bone has been clarified with study published by Shrivastva (1992) similar to Pal et al (1984) and Pal (1987). The present study also suggests that the term pre-interparietal is misnomer and should not be used. Our findings in the present study are identical with Kalkici et al (1995).
J. Anat. Soc. India 50(1) 11-12 (2001)
Fig. 1 & Fig. 2 : A single seperate and triangular interparietal bone was seen below lambda as failure of fusion of upper nuclei of medial plate with lower nuclei.
Fig. 3 : Large separate interparietal bone seen on left side and right side below lambda. | <urn:uuid:dc2b02bb-a846-4ab1-a3cf-79408e3d2df7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indmedica.com/journals.php?journalid=8&issueid=31&articleid=356&action=article | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.86147 | 1,255 | 2.765625 | 3 |
The project’s goal is to identify degrees of mobility of people, things and ideas in order to understand the nature of social and cultural interaction during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC, that were formative for European later history.
The project is financed by an Advanced Researchers Grant from the European Research Council.
Kristian Kristiansen, Professor in Archaeology.
University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
The project aims to explore the role of travels, transmissions and transformation during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC in northern Europe. It does so by adopting an interdisciplinary methodological approach that combines science and culture. Isotope tracing in combination with recent advances in ancient DNA is employed to test human origins and movements during the two millennia, as well as the origin of wool and textiles. Lead isotope is adopted to trace the origin of copper. Based on this the project will document and explain the forging of new identities and new types of interaction during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC in temperate northern Europe, but with implications for a much larger region of western Eurasia.
This project is organized around four thematic research groups: | <urn:uuid:2fd088cb-4f18-410b-8d25-a1dedc005df4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://the-rise.se/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956589 | 235 | 2.53125 | 3 |
A migrant child from Henan province holds up a piece of e-waste. It was once a Nokia computer screen, now dumped in China and dismantled by poor, unprotected, migrant workers.
A Chinese child sits amongst a pile of wires and e-waste. Children can often be found dismantling e-waste containing many hazardous chemicals known to be potentially very damaging to children's health.
Because our mobile phones, computers and other
electronic products aremade using toxic ingredients
, workers at production sites are at riskof exposure and the
products cannot be recycled safely when they arediscarded.
Many are routinely, and often illegally, shipped as waste
fromEurope, US and Japan to Asia because it is cheaper and easier
to dumpthe problem on poor countries
that have low environmental standards than totackle it at
Conditionswhere electronic waste (e-waste) is scrapped in
southern China aretruly shocking. One of our scientists, Kevin
Brigden, who has visitedhis fair share of the world's toxic
hotspots, described the scene: "Theconditions in these yards are
horrific. In Guiyu, southeast China, I
found acid baths leaching into streams
. They were so acidic they coulddissolve a coin in just hours.
Many of the chemicals used inelectronics are dangerous and can
damage people even at very low levelsof exposure."
We are conducting ongoing investigations intoscrap yards in
India and China, where we have found people taking thee-waste apart by hand
and being exposed to a nasty cocktail ofdangerous chemicals.
Take a trip through the electronics lifecycle to discover why it's a problem and what can be done about it:
Taking toxic chemicals out of products makes reuse and recycling
ofelectronic products safer, easier and cheaper. This is the first
stepin tackling the problem of e-waste.
We have asked all the top mobilephone and computer companies
worldwide to clean up their act. Samsung,Sony, Sony Ericsson and Nokia have already taken a first step
bycommitting to eliminate toxic flame retardants and PVC plastic
fromsome of their products.
But Hewlett Packard has made no such committment
, nor haveApple, Dell, Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM, LG, Motorola,
Panasonic, or Toshiba. At a major technology expo in Beijing
webuilt a statue using the companies' e-waste collected from scrap
yardsin China to demonstrate the problem these companies are
Oncetoxic chemicals have been eliminated from products,
manufacturers shouldtake full life cycle responsibility
for their products and, once theyreach the end of their useful
life, take their goods back for re-use,safe recycling or disposal.
This is what we are campaigning for: to turnback the toxic tide of
Become a cyberactivist
Our cyberactivists helped pressure Sony Ericsson to come clean. We need your help to ensure future victories and tackle the problem of e-waste.
Donate to help us turn back the toxic tide of e-waste. | <urn:uuid:5b7dbeaf-514b-4aa5-b810-58ac870e7451> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/pulling-the-plug-on-dirty-elec/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925544 | 658 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Understanding GED Scores
It is a battery of five tests, which cover the general areas of language arts/writing, mathematics, science, social studies and language arts/reading. If an individual wants to appear for the test, then he must be of 18 years and need not have compulsory school attendance. If the individual appearing for the test is of 17 years of age, then the candidate will have to submit a few documents before appearing for the test. The scores are used as a basis for issuing high school credentials. Each state has got its own norms of minimum passing score requirements in order to give a diploma. The test is available in many formats like English, Spanish and French editions.
The test has undergone a number of changes in the recent times. The test that we use these days is the January 2002 version. In order to obtain the diploma, it is necessary that the test taker pass all the five tests.
How The GED Sections Are Scored
In order to qualify for a high school diploma, the candidate must fulfill the minimum score requirements. The score obtained by a candidate and his testing records are all kept confidential. The scores required to pass the test are basically set by the state where the candidate lives. The requirements may vary slightly from one state to another, but the basic minimum score and average score for all the five tests are almost the same.
From 1998 till December 2001, a candidate was required to obtain a total passing score of 225 with a minimum score of 42 in language arts/ writing, 40 in social science, 40 in science, 40 in language art/ reading and 45 in mathematics. The candidate had to have 225 as the total passing marks. But with effect from 2002, the minimum scores required has changed to 420 in language arts/ writing, 410 in social studies, 410 in science, 410 in language art/ reading and 450 in mathematics. The total passing score of 2250 was the basic requirement, with a minimum average score of 450 for each of the five tests and no single test score below 410 in any of the individual tests was acceptable.
In 2005, a slight change was made. Now the candidate must score 410 in each of the individual tests. It is required to score a total of 2250 to pass. The average score should be minimum 450 and minimum score should be 410 for each test.
In the 2002 tests series, the scores of each of the tests are reported separately on a scale varying from 200 (minimum) to 800 (maximum). The scores are not the percentage or number of right answers. In some sections like language arts/ writing, language arts/ reading and mathematics, the scores of part 1 and 2 are statistically combined.
How To Interpret The GED Scores
The scores basically give an insight into the candidate’s academic knowledge in each of the subjects as compared with a high school pass out. Just as the student’s percentage in the high school tells about his performance in the class, in the same way, in this test, the candidate’s scores tell about his performance. In order to have a better understanding, it is advisable to compare the average score with the ranks in high school. A score of 640 is equivalent to 10%, 580 is equal to top 20%, 570 is equal to 25%, 540 is equal to top third, 530 is equal to top 40 %, 500 is equivalent to top half, 480 is equal to top 60%, 460 is equivalent to 70% rank in the high school.
If the candidate is unable to clear a few score requirements, he can appear for the test again. If the candidate’s score is between 2150 to 2240 points, he can take the retest after 30 days. If the score is 2140 or lesser, the candidate will have to wait for 90 days to reappear for the test. If the candidate fails to get the minimum passing scores in the first retest, then he will have to wait for 6 months. If the candidate has once appeared and cleared all the five tests, then there is no need to appear for the whole test again. The candidate can appear for the section in which his score was below 410 points. The retest is generally taken to reach the needed score of 2210 points.
Go to page: Ged Score - Page 1 : Ged Score - Page 2 | <urn:uuid:f5bac012-a2f0-4366-bc3d-65eee8ffa1c2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.testpreppractice.net/GED/ged-score-1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955368 | 881 | 3.125 | 3 |
by Anton Shilov
07/06/2010 | 11:15 AM
The next big thing for supercomputers are projected to be exascale machines. The leading chip designers are working on technologies that will enable the next leap in the high-performance computing space. According to an HPC expert from the University of Tennessee, in exascale systems will require new central processors, graphics processors or hybrids that combine both onto the same piece of silicon. But, Cell chips, which are heterogeneous multi-core processors, are dead end.
Building an exaFLOPS machine is a huge challenge. Even Advanced Micro Devices and Intel Corp. – whose x86 central processing units (CPUs) power the absolute majority of supercomputers – admit that construction of a machine capable of performing quintillion floating point operations per second (1018 exaFLOPS) or more using x86 chips is hardly an executable task. As a result, AMD is trying to incorporate special FireStream compute accelerators (which are based on the massively parallel graphics processing units [GPUs]) into high-performance computing systems, whereas Intel is working on such accelerators, first of which is code-named Knights Corner and is projected to be released sometime in 2012 or 2013.
But the accelerators that are designed for PCI Express bus are not exactly the best thing possible since communication between CPUs and GPUs is not a strong side of such systems. Moreover, GPUs are not easy to program for. One of the ways to overcome the issues is to integrate CPUs and GPUs.
“The obvious upside of GPUs is that they provide compelling performance for modest prices. The downside is that they are more difficult to program, since at the very least you will need to write one program for the CPUs and another program for the GPUs. Another problem that GPUs present pertains to the movement of data. Any machine that requires a lot of data movement will never come close to achieving its peak performance. The CPU-GPU link is a thin pipe, and that becomes the strangle-point for the effective use of GPUs. In the future this problem will be addressed by having the CPU and GPU integrated in a single socket,” said Jack Dongarra, the director of the innovative computing laboratory at the innovative computing laboratory and the director of the center for information technology research at the University of Tennessee, in an interview with Next Big Future web-site.
Chips that contain both x86 general processing cores as well as graphics processing cores are essentially heterogeneous multi-core processors, which AMD calls Fusion. The vast majority of multi-core chips today are homogenous chips that contain a number of similar processing engines. There are processors with different types of cores – the Cell chips jointly developed by IBM, Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. – which originally promised to redefine the market of multimedia chips as well as CPUs for HPC market. However, since all three companies cease to develop Cell, it has no future.
“The Cell architecture is no longer being developed, so it is effectively dead. No new supercomputers will use Cell,” claimed Mr. Dongarra.
But even when central processors and highly-parallel accelerators essentially represent the same piece of silicon, exascale systems will still need to have certain optimizations on the platform and software level to be efficient.
“The current memory paradigm is hierarchical, based on registers, L1 and L2 caches, local memory, shared memory, and distributed memory among nodes. That is a potential model for exaFLOPS systems. However, we want exaFLOPS systems to be designed to be relatively easy to program. We therefore want a globally shared address space, and explicit methods to pass data between the processors in order to orchestrate the unfolding computation. That paradigm may be necessary for a machine that has a billion threads,” explained the HPC specialist.
Asked how much will an exaFLOPS-capable machine cost and what its specifications are likely to be, the professor pointed out that the cost could be as high as $200 million and power consumption could be gargantuan.
“The maximum price will be no more than $200 million, and the maximum power budget will be 20megaW. It will contain about 64PB of RAM, so that alone will probably cost $100 million. Given that our Jaguar now consumes 7megaW, keeping within a 20mW budget will be a major challenge,” said Mr. Dongarra.
In order to actually stay in the 20mW power budget when it comes to exascale supercomputers it will be needed to either utilize a huge number of very low power simplistic chips or to incorporate highly-integrated chips that either feature special-purpose co-processors, built-in graphics cores or both.
“There are two models that we can use to get to an exaflop while staying within a 20megaW budget. The first model employs huge numbers of lightweight processors, such as IBM Blue Gene Processor running at 1.0GHz. If we use 1 million chips, and each chip has 1000 cores, then we can get to a potential billion threads of execution. The other approach is a hybrid that makes extensive use of coprocessors or GPUs. It would use a 1.0GHz processor and 10 000 floating point units per socket, and 100 000 sockets per system,” explained the HPC expert. | <urn:uuid:5b8306e5-4b3c-4eab-92e7-a25429960890> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/print/20100706111517_Heterogeneous_Multi_Core_Chips_Might_Be_Needed_for_Exascale_Computers_HPC_Expert.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00064-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931724 | 1,114 | 2.875 | 3 |
A hydraulic fracturing operation near Fox Creek was shut down last month after a magnitude 4.8 earthquake hit the area, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator. The regulator ordered the shutdown of the Repsol Oil & Gas site located 35 kilometers north of Fox Creek. Carrie Rosa, spokeswoman for the regulator, said that the company is working with the regulator in order to make sure all environmental rules are followed and that “the company has ceased operations … and they will not be allowed to resume operations until we have approved their plans.”
In Canada, the energy regulator automatically shuts down fracking sites when a 4.0-magnitude or higher earthquake hits an area where fracking fracking is happening.
— Calgary Buzz (@CgyBuzz) January 18, 2016
Camille Brillon, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada said that the earthquake was “quite large for the area, larger than normal.”
Jeffrey Gu, associate professor of geophysics at the University of Alberta, reported that the area surrounding the fracking operation near Fox Creek had been experiencing a proliferation of earthquakes and estimated that there were hundreds of quakes in the six months preceding the quake in question, but added that the area is not a very risky area for fracking or quakes given its low population and lack of major fault lines.
“It’s a relatively safe area without major, major faults.”
— 630CHED (@630CHED) January 15, 2016
Fox Creek’s low-risk scenario differs from earthquake risks around the continent, such as in California.
“Based on our empirical results, injection-induced earthquakes are expected to contribute marginally to the overall seismicity in California,” researchers from the California Institute of Technology, University of California, University of Southern California and two French universities, explained, but added, “However, considering the numerous active faults in California, the seismogenic consequences of even a few induced cases can be devastating.”
Earlier this month SF Gate reported that researchers tied a “September 2005 swarm of moderate earthquakes” in Kern County to three fracking-related wastewater disposal wells in the area that had opened between 2001 and 2005. The researchers reportedly found that rapidly increasing the amount of wastewater put into the ground near the White Wolf fault triggered the quakes.
Gu said that it was highly probable that the earthquakes near the Fox Creek fracking operation area had been caused by the operation. Meanwhile, the British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission declared that another quake, which had a magnitude of 4.4 that happened in 2014, had been caused by hydraulic fracturing operations, or more specifically had been “triggered by fluid injection during hydraulic fracturing.” Scientists in Canada also confirmed that B.C. experienced a 4.6-magnitude fracking-related earthquake last year, which had been the largest earthquake that was confirmed to have been triggered by a fracking operation in Canada, according to Portside.
The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) said that, in the last year alone, there were 363 quakes near Fox Creek and that seismic activity now varies from day to day. September 11, 2015 hit a record high when 18 earthquakes were recorded. The 4.8-magnitude earthquake in question was recorded 30 kilometers west of Fox Creek, after Repsol had been injecting liquids at high pressure into subterranean rocks so as to create fissures and extract oil and gas. Repsol did confirm that it had been fracking “at the time of the event,” according to Phys.org.
Fox Creek mayor raises alarm about oilfield fracking after earthquake, water shortage. CP’s Bob Weber via https://t.co/2bL7YoKt36
— David Paddon (@DavidPaddon) January 14, 2016
Last June, Gu told CBC News that earlier earthquakes in Fox Creek were almost certainly, with a 99-percent probability, caused by the fracking operation.
“We have to take time to analyze the records,” Gu said, “But from earlier events in the same area… we found a strong correlation between the timing of these events, early events from late 2003, with three injection wells west of the town of Fox Creek.”
— The Frack Police (@Fracktastical) January 17, 2016
Regulators in Alberta and the mayor of Fox Creek are also reportedly concerned about potential effects of fracking on groundwater supplies. After all, in 2014, the California State Water Resources Board confirmed that billions of gallons of wastewater that had been mixed with fracking chemicals and other pollutants were injected directly into some of California’s underground water aquifers. The aquifers had previously been considered clean enough for human drinking water, according to NBC and the SF Gate.
— Hydraulic Fracturing (@HydraulicFRRact) February 13, 2016
Reuters reported in January that the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said last year that “the actual fracking process is only occasionally the direct cause of felt earthquakes.” Wastewater is the result of both oil and gas extraction according to the USGS, which maintains the following position on earthquakes and fracking.
“Fracking is NOT causing most of the induced earthquakes. Wastewater disposal is the primary cause of the recent increase in earthquakes in the central United States.
“Wastewater disposal wells typically operate for longer durations and inject much more fluid than hydraulic fracturing, making them more likely to induce earthquakes.”
At the end of January, Alberta Energy Regulators presented their “Introduction to the Induced Seismicity Studyin the Fox Creek Area” to the town council.
[Image via Fox Creek | Facebook] | <urn:uuid:93eae0a4-06a7-44ab-b7b7-e12171d61c5b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inquisitr.com/2799370/fracking-operation-may-have-triggered-the-4-8-earthquake-canadian-regulators-say/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967491 | 1,173 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The history of our national liberation struggle is one of the most important factors upon which the political party(s), the oppressed masses, and the liberation armed forces may understand the nature of their oppression and the task before them towards independence and freedom.
In this article, I would like to present to the masses the general history of the evolvement of the Black Liberation Army. This will be a brief historical overview not providing specific historical data in order to protect people who are either functioning in the BLA, or in other areas no longer associated with the BLA. The Black Liberation Army is a politico military organization, whose primary objective is to fight for the independence and self- determination of Afrikan people in the United States. The political determination of the BLA evolved out of the now defunct Black Panther Party.
It was in October, 1966, with the advent of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, that the question of armed struggle band resistance to racist oppression emerge as a plausible strategical maneuver in the developing liberation movement. It was in late 1968, early 1969, that the forming of a Black underground first began. From Los Angeles, California, to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, armed units were formed in rural areas, trained and caches were established. In Oakland, San Francisco, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Ohio, and New York, Black Panther Party offices were established to formulate a political relationship with the oppressed Black masses in these and other communities across the country.
From 1969 to 1972, the BPP came under vicious attack by the State and Federal government. The government employed COINTELPRO (FBI, CIA and local police departments) as the means to destroy the above-ground political apparatus that fielded the Black underground. But it wasn't until 1970 that the BPP began its purge of many of its most trusted and militant members, many of which eventually joined the Black underground.
By 1971, contradictions perpetuated by COINTELPRO forces in the leadership of the BPP caused the split between Newton and Cleaver, which eventually split the entire Black Panther Party into two major factions. It was this BPP split and factionalism that determined the fielding of the Black underground would begin to serve its primary purpose (along with conditions presented by the State armed offensive to liquidate the Party). his is not to say that armed action against the State did not occur by the Black underground prior to the split, on the contrary, by 1971, the Black underground was becoming rich in experience in the tactics of armed expropriations, sabotage, and ambush assaults. It needs to be said that prior to the split, the Black underground was the official armed wing of the aboveground political apparatus, and thereby had to maintain restraint in its military activity. This was very well for the Black underground but although in many areas experienced in tactical military guerilla warfare, it was still infantile politically, and although becoming organizationally wielded as a fighting apparatus, it did not establish an infra-structure completely autonomous from the aboveground BPP cadres and Party chapters. This in turn became one of the major detriments of the Black underground after the split of the Black Panther Party.
Based upon the split and factionalism in the BPP, and heightened repression by the State, the Black underground was ordered to begin establishing the capacity to take the "defensive- offensive" in developing urban guerilla warfare. Hence, in 1971, the name BLACK LIBERATION ARMY (of Afro American Liberation Army) surfaced as the nucleus of Black guerilla fighters across the United States. This is not to say that the name Black Liberation Army was first used in 1971, for in late 1968, during a student strike and demonstration in Mexico City, many students and demonstrators were killed by Mexican police. One of those students was reported to have had a piece of paper in his pocket upon which was written the name Black Liberation Army. Whether or not there was a connection to the fielding of the Black underground with the uprising in Mexico in 1968 is unknown.
Since the split in the BPP and the call of the "defensive- offensive" commenced, the Black underground which in May of 1971 bore the name Black Liberation Army, had committed many armed attacks against the State as part of the BPP (and after the split) many of which are unrecorded. Here I would like to present the Justice Department-LEAA Task Force report on BLA activity (it should be noted these reports were recorded by the State according to when they captured, killed, or in some ways received information concerning BLA activity, and therefore one sided and by no means indicated all BLA activity in the last ten years).
October 22. San Francisco, Calif. - An antipersonnel time bomb explodes outside a
church, showering steel shrapnel on mourners of a patrolman slain in a bank holdup; no
one is injured. The BLA is suspected.
January 13. Hunters Point, Calif. - A police officer is shot by BLA member.
January 19. San Francisco, Calif. - Two police officers are wounded by BLA members.
March 30. San Francisco, Calif. - There is a BLA attempt to bomb a police station.
April 19. New York City - Two black men lure
patrolman Curry and Binetti by driving
the wrong way and ignoring a traffic light; when apprehended the driver drops down and
the passenger fires a machine gun at the doors and windows of the patrol car; the Black
Liberation Army is suspected.
May 19. Harlem, New York City - Patrolman Piagentini
and Waverly Jones are killed in
an ambush by alleged members of the BLA.
June 5. New York City - Four men associated
with the Black Liberation Army attempted
to hold-up a night club called the Triple O. One cab driver is killed.
June 18. New York City - BLA members rob a bank for funds.
August - Twenty BLA members leave New York
City and rent a farmhouse in
Fayetteville, GA., where they conduct a guerilla warfare school for one month, during
which they hold-up a bank and kill an Atlanta policeman.
August 23. Queens, New York - The Bankers Trust
Company is robbed; Black
Liberation Army members are identified as participants.
August 28. San Francisco, Calif. - Two BLA
members attempt to machine gun a San
Francisco police department patrol car, after an exchange of gun fire, they are
apprehended. The service revolver of a slain New York City patrolman, Waverly Jones,
is found in their possession.
August 29. San Francisco, Calif. - A police
sergeant is killed at his desk when two black
men fire repeated blasts into the Ingelside police station; the BLA is suspected.
October 7. Atlanta, GA - The Peters Street
branch of Fulton National Bank is robbed,
reportedly by the Black Liberation Army.
November 3. Atlanta, GA - Officer James Richard
Greene is shot in a paddy wagon; the
scene of the shooting is 3 miles from a residence used by the Black Liberation Army, this
organization believed responsible for the shooting.
December 12. Atlanta, GA - Three reported Black
Liberation Army members and two
other prisoners escape from the DeKalb County jail.
December 21. Atlanta, GA - New York City -
Two police notice suspicious car near
Bankers Trust Company in Queens; when they approach the car, it speeds away, after
individuals in the car roll a grenade towards the police car; the grenade explodes, causing
considerable damage towards the police car, and injuring the policemen; two suspects are
identified as Black Liberation Army members.
December 31. Brooklyn, NY - BLA members engage
in a shoot- out with a rival group in
the offices of Youth in Action.
December 31. Odessa, Fla. - BLA member is killed in a shoot out with FBI.
January 12. Houston, Texas - Members of the BLA are charged June 6 for
shooting and wounding of
the off duty Housing Police detectives.
January 19. Philadelphia, PA. - Two BLA members are arrested with two suitcases containing guns.
January 27. New York City - In the morning two patrolmen notice a car
going through two red lights;
when they approach to ask for a driver's license, the driver starts shooting; one patrolman is seriously
wounded ... In the evening, two policemen, Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie, shot in the back by at
least three persons; four suspects in the case are members of the Black Liberation Army; one suspect
is later killed in a street battle with St. Louis police; the recovered pistol matches Laurie's.
February 16. St. Louis, Mo. - A Black Liberation Army member, tied to
shooting of Foster and Laurie,
is killed in a gun battle with police; two others are arrested.
May 10. Columbia, S.C. - Four BLA members arrested with guns.
August 8. Newark, NJ - BLA member who escaped after shooting sergeant
and patrolmen on April
19, 1971, is captured.
September 9. Brooklyn, NY - Three BLA members, including one who escaped
from DeKalb County,
Ga. jail are arrested.
October 7. Los Angeles, Calif. - Police car bombing claimed by Afro American Liberation Army.
December 28. Brooklyn, NY - An owner of a bar is kidnapped by the BLA
and held for $20,000
January 2. Brooklyn, NY - During the robbery of a social club, BLA members shoot and kill a victim.
January 10. Brooklyn, NY - After being confronted on a subway station
by a patrolman, a BLA
member fires a shot and escapes into the tunnel.
January 12. Brooklyn, NY - Two Housing detectives are shot in front
of a bar after stopping two BLA
January 23. Brooklyn, NY - Two wanted BLA members are shot and killed
by members of New York
City police department after they are trapped in a bar. Two detectives are wounded.
January 25. Brooklyn, NY - Two patrolmen brothers assigned to same car
are machine gunned by the
January 28. Queens, NY - Two patrolmen on patrol are machine gunned
by BLA members, who
February 9. Bronx, NY - Members of the Black Liberation Army robbed a bank.
February 23. Brooklyn, NY - Two BLA members are arrested with a carload of explosives.
March 2. Brooklyn, NY - A group of BLA members, stopped by officers
looking for a robbery
suspect, engage the officers in a gun battle.
March 6. Bronx, NY - Three BLA members are recognized by two detectives,
and engage them in a
gun battle. BLA members are joined by two more and escape by stealing a car and machine gunning a
police radio car.
March 27. Brooklyn, NY - BLA members rob a supermarket.
April 10. Queens, NY - BLA members rob a bank.
April 12. Brooklyn, NY - Two telephone company men are held at gunpoint
by the BLA when they are
suspected of being police. They are told that they would be killed if they have guns, radio or shields.
May 2. New Jersey Turnpike - Members of the BLA are arrested after a
shoot out; one State
patrolman is killed, one is wounded; one BLA member dies, the driver; one escapes, but is
subsequently captured in East Brunswick, NJ.
May 19. Mount Vernon, NY - Two policemen are shot when they stop three
BLA members pulling a
June 5. New York City - A transit detective is killed when he stops
two BLA members from entering
without paying. Before he died he shot both of them; one is captured, and the other escapes.
June 7. Brooklyn, NY - A BLA member is captured by New York City police and FBI.
June 8. Brooklyn, NY - Two other BLA members are captured.
July 18. Bronx, NY - BLA members rob a bank.
September 2. New Orleans, La. - Members of New York City police department,
New Orleans police
department and FBI capture a BLA member.
September 27. New York City - BLA member is charged with the murder
of Patrolman Foster and
Laurie; he escapes from King's County Hospital, but is captured on October 3.
November 7. New York City - BLA member is arrested as he attempts to
turn himself in for being
absent leave from the Army.
November 14. Bronx, NY - Members of the Black Liberation Army are slain
after three years of
pursuit by police; this member is the seventh BLA member to die in police shoot out, 18 others have
December 27. New York City - Three BLA sympathizers are caught attempting
to free BLA
members from the Tombs when police see one of them emerging from a sewer manhole two blocks
away, outside the corrections department design and engineering unit that house blueprints.
April 17. New York City - The Tombs, four BLA sympathizers, armed with
two hand-guns and
acetylene torch attempt to free three BLA members; they flee when the torch runs out of fuel.
May 3. New York City - After failing to release prisoners at the Tombs,
BLA members flee to New
Haven, Connecticut where they rob a bank and shoot a policeman. Three are captured, others escape.
June 2. New York City - BLA members attempt to shoot two policemen on
the Delaware Bridge, and
are arrested; they have a large supply of guns.
August 5. Brooklyn, NY - A female is arrested after attempting to smuggle
hacksaw blades to BLA
August 15. Brooklyn, NY - One BLA member escapes, one is shot, and a
third gives up after an
escape attempt. The escapee is captured a few blocks away.
October 20. Connecticut State Prison - A white female is arrested trying
to smuggle a gun to BLA
February 17. Rikers Island, NY - BLA members subdued by guards after
getting the keys (with a
wooden knife as a weapon) from a guard; police receive a telephone call soon after the incident saying
that five men armed with shotguns, one in wet suit, are setting off in three rafts; one raft is found with a
map, a set of oars, swim fins, (3) three .38 caliber bullets, and 9 mm bullets.
May 25. Brooklyn, NY - A Black Liberation Army member falls to his death
in an escape attempt; a
second member is recaptured near the prison; two other BLA members return to their cells after the
January 19. Trenton, NJ - At Trenton State Prison, there is an 11- hour
shooting rampage; an inmate
was killed in the opening exchange of gunfire, was one inmate who began the incident by shooting a
guard in an escape attempt; another inmate who instigated the incident, was convicted of murdering a
State Trooper in a shoot out between BLA members and police on the New Jersey Turnpike; inmates
threw a homemade grenade at police and guards as they rescued a wounded guard.
The names of Comrades mentioned in these police reports have been omitted, as some are no longer functioning in the same capacity, imprisoned or dead. It is our policy not to reveal the names of Comrades who have acted within our organizational underground formations.
The defensive offensive launched in 1970-71 politico- military initiatives was based upon the degree of repression suffered in the Black community due to COINTELPRO police attacks. The politico military policy at that time was to establish a defensive (self defense) front that would offensively protect the interest of the above-ground political apparatus aspiration to develop a mass movement towards national liberation. Again, it must be stated that in the early seventies, the Black underground was the armed wing of the above-ground BPP, which because of the split and factionalism prevented adequate logistics, and communications between cadre(s) and focus in the Black underground in various parts of the country. It was this situation which caused the greatest problem to the advent of the Black Liberation Army, upon which the commencement of armed struggle could be said to be premature. Premature in the sense that subjectively, our capacity to wage a sustained protracted national liberation war was not possible. This was due to the split in the above-ground political apparatus, the Black underground still depending on the above-ground for logistics and communications; the Black underground comprising of militants who had not grown to political maturity, and without a politico military structure and strategy to merge the Black underground into a national formation employing both stable and mobile urban and rural guerilla warfare, in conjunction with the rising militancy of the oppressed masses. In the same regards, the objective reality for armed struggle was present, that being a historical transition evolving from the civil rights movement, the riotous 1960s, the creation of the BPP chapters in Black communities across the country of which fought bravely against police attacks, the mass mobilization in support of the Vietnamese national liberation war, etc. Hence, the commencement of armed struggle by our forces was according to the development of history.
By late 1971, it was ordered for the black underground to enter a strategic retreat, to reorganize itself and build a national structure, but the call for the strategic retreat for many cadres was too late. Many of the most mature militants were already deeply underground, separated from those functioning with the logistics provided by BPP chapters who in the split served to support armed struggle. The repression of the State continued to mount, especially now that the Black underground was hampered by internal strife with the loss of the above-ground political support apparatus (with virtually no support coming from existing Black community groups and organizations). It should be stated, a major contradiction was developing between the Black underground and those Euro-American forces who were employing armed tactics in support of Vietnamese liberation struggle. By 1973-75, this contradiction became full blown, whereby, specific Euro-American revolutionary armed forces refused to give meaningful material and political support to the Black Liberation Movement, more specifically, to the Black Liberation Army. Thereby, in 1974, the Black Liberation Army was without an above-ground political support apparatus; logistically and structurally scattered across the country without the means to unite its combat units; abandoned by Euro-American revolutionary armed forces; and being relentlessly pursued by the State reactionary forces - COINTELPRO (FBI, CIA and local police department). As a result, it was only a matter of time before the Black Liberation Army would be virtually decimated as a fighting clandestine organization
By 1974-75, the fighting capacity of the Black Liberation Army had been destroyed, but the BLA as a politico military organization had not been destroyed. Since those imprisoned continued escape attempts and fought political trials, which forged ideological and political theory concerning the building of the Black Liberation Movement and revolutionary armed struggle. The trials of Black Liberation Army members sought to place the State on trial, to condemn the oppressive conditions from which Black people had to eke out an existence in racist America. These trials went on for several years upon which the Courts and police used to embellish their position as being guardians of society. The State media publications projected the Black Liberation Army trials as justice being served to protect Black people from terrorism; to prevent these terrorists from starting racial strife between Black and white people; to protect the interest and lives of police who are responsible for the welfare of the oppressed communities, etc. The captured and confined BLA members were deemed a terrorist, a criminal, a racist, but never a revolutionary, never a humanitarian, never a political activist. But the undaunted revolutionary fervor of captured BLA members continued to serve the revolution even while imprisoned. By placing the State on trial the BLA was more able to expose the contradictions between the philosophy of the State to protect the rights of all people, and the actions of the State which are to only protect the rights of the capitalist class bourgeoisie. The BLA trials sought to undermine the State attempts to play-off the BLA as an insignificant group of crazies, and therefore the trials of BLA members became forums to politicize the masses of what the struggle and revolution is all about. The trials served to organize people to support those being persecuted and prosecuted by the State, as a means from which the oppressed masses would be able to protect themselves from future persecution. In this manner, the trials of the Black Liberation Army voiced the discontent, dissatisfaction, and disenfranchisement of Black people in racist America. By late 1975, the Black Liberation Army established a Coordinating Committee, which essentially comprised of imprisoned members and outside supporters gained during the years of political prosecution in the Courts. The first task of the Coordinating Committee was to distribute an ideological and political document depicting the theoretical foundations of the political determination of the Black Liberation Army. This document was entitled, "A MESSAGE TO THE BLACK MOVEMENT - A Political Statement from the Black Underground." The Message to the Black Movement, put forth several political premises from which the BLA should be noted as a revolutionary political military organization fighting for national liberation of Afrikan people in the United States.
In late 1975 and 1976, the Coordinating Committee distributed the first BLA newsletter, an organizational publication for the purpose of forging ideological and political clarity and unity between BLA members captured and confined in various parts of the country. The BLA newsletter begun to serve as a means from which BLA members would voice their political understanding of the national liberation struggle, and in this way, for the entire organized body to share in ideas and strengthen our collective political determination as a fighting force. Over the years, the newsletter have served to help develop cadres inside and outside of prisons, and broaden the capacity from which the BLA could continue to serve the national liberation struggle. Also, in 1976, members of the Black Liberation Army launched a national campaign to petition the United Nations concerning the plight of political prisoners of war, and conditions of the U.S. penal system, in behalf of the prison movement. The U.N. Prisoners Petition Campaign, initiated and directed by members of the BLA, virtually revitalized the prison movement across the country, and forged impetus to the present Human Rights campaign to the United Nations. It was the U.N. Prisoners Petition Campaign that first called for an international investigation into the conditions of U.S. prisons, and called for the release of political prisoners of war to a on imperialist country that would accept them. (Consequently, this year another national campaign have been launched entitled - "National POW Amnesty Campaign"). Lastly, in 1976-77, the coordinating Committee distributed what had been termed a Study Guide to captured members of the BLA as a means to consolidate the ideological perspectives from which the BLA would provide political leadership to the national liberation struggle.
Since 1974, to the present, the BLA have continuously provided ideological and political perspectives within the Black Liberation Movement, and in this way gave leadership to the movement. Although, the Black Liberation Army is still lacking in principle support by progressive forces throughout the country. The primary aspect of lack of support is the fact the BLA still calls for the need of armed struggle, and the building of a revolutionary armed front. The Black Liberation Army is a politico military organization, which in the last five years have served to develop the political mass movement to merge with the political determination of the Black underground. The merger is based upon the development of a national politico-military strategy in unity with the aspirations and strategic initiatives of the various progressive political organizations throughout the country. Consistently, the Black Liberation Army has called for the development of the Black Liberation Front or Black United Front, a united front of Black revolutionary nationalists, establishing the political determination of the class and national liberation struggle towards independence, and for the freeing of the land. At this stage in struggle, there are several areas of progress being formulated that may serve to strengthen, consolidate, and mobilize the national liberation struggle under the aspirations of the oppressed Black masses. The building of the Afrikan National Prisoners Organization is a positive step on which various progressive Black forces can develop principled working relationships, alliances, and coalitions, and further build towards the Black Liberation Front. In the same regards, the development of the National Black Human Rights Coalition, provides a means from which a greater number of Black organizations and groups representing oppressed Black masses can be educated, organized, and mobilize to confront racist, capitalist imperialism, in conjunction to the heightened struggles in Namibia and Azania, and human rights violations here in North America. But it is imperative that these new formations develop a struggle line that supports the need for armed struggle to be waged in the United States, and therefore support of the oldest revolutionary armed force in North America - The Black Liberation Army.
It is practically 1980, and the Black Liberation Army (the Black underground)
have been in existence for over ten years. The last ten years have been
hard years of struggle, we have lost many Comrades, we have made many mistakes,
but we have never lied nor compromised our principles in struggle. The
growth and development of the BLA depends on the growth and development
of the entire class and national liberation struggle. The means from which
the BLA can build revolutionary armed struggle is based upon the willingness
of the oppressed masses to support the BLA, to call for the BLA to act,
to build areas of support in the work place, in the home, and the social
places of entertainment, but most of all amongst the political organizations
and groups that the oppressed masses are affiliated with. It is essential
and necessary that the general mass and popular movement understand the
need for revolutionary armed struggle/forces to exist, and that the existence
of the Black Liberation Army is the criteria from which the class and national
liberation struggle will be preserved, as the socio-economic conditions
of U.S. monopoly capitalism worsens, and as racist repression intensifies. As mentioned earlier, another national political campaign has been launched,
this new campaign calls for the release and/or exchange of captured members
of the Black underground and other revolutionary forces across the country.
But it must be understood the principal objective of this campaign is to
also build support of revolutionary armed struggle, employing international
law and politics (specifically, Protocols of the Geneva Accords) concerning
the existence of political prisoners of war in the United States. Thereby,
supporting the release of political prisoners of war brings understanding
to how these revolutionaries came to be imprisoned, and the need for them
to be released, as well as, the need for revolutionary armed struggle.
This is the challenge in uniting the mass and popular movement under the
auspices of building the Black Liberation Front, can only be objectively
realized by supporting the re-emergence of the Black underground, the Black
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON SEPTEMBER 18, 1979
All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:af6ca518-3912-4d11-936e-e53e9e47ee2c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thetalkingdrum.com/freedomfighters.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95724 | 5,659 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Vast fields of gypsum on Mars can provide evidence if life existedMay 1st, 2010 - 4:34 pm ICT by ANI
Melbourne, May 1 (ANI): Scientists have suggested that if it is ever to be proved that life had existed on Mars, the evidence might be found in the vast fields of gypsum on the red planet’s surface.
The claim had been made at a NASA conference in Houston, Texas, which was held to coincide with the Astrobiology Science Conference, reports ABC Science.
Professor JWilliam Schopf of the University of California, Los Angeles told the meeting that microscopic fossils have been discovered in gypsum deposits on Earth, and may also exist in similar deposits on Mars.
Schopf says fossilised remains of plankton, diatoms and cyanobacteria, or ‘pond scum’, have been discovered in gypsum in the northern Italian Alps.
He says the deposits formed some 5.6 million years ago when the Mediterranean Sea dried up after being cut from the Atlantic Ocean by tectonic plate movement.
Gypsum is a common calcium sulphate dihydrate mineral. It precipitates out of seawater and is usually found in evaporated beds in association with sedimentary rocks.
It is very soft and until recently, was not considered the sort of place where fossil evidence for life was likely to be found.
Schopf says if fossils trapped in gypsum can last on Earth for millions of years, they might also be found on the dried up sea beds of Mars as well.
Images of the Martian surface taken from space by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter indicate the existence of gypsum dunes in the northern polar region of the red planet.
Dr Steve Squyres, principal investigator for the science payload on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission, told the meeting that the rover Opportunity, which landed near the Martian equator, was also in an area carpeted with sulphate rocks.
Opportunity touched down on the red planet on 25 January 2004, 21 days after its sister rover Spirit.
It touched down on a dried out Martian flood plain called the Chryse Planitia back on the 20 July 1976 and continued operating until November 1982.
One of the aims of the Viking 1 mission was to search for signs of extraterrestrial life.
On board was the Labelled Release Experiment, designed to test for any biological reactions from a sample of Martian soil.
Although the experiment produced result, scientists concluded the reaction was chemical rather than biological. (ANI)
- NASA unveils compelling evidence of life on Mars - Apr 29, 2010
- Mars Rover find traces of mineral gypsum - Dec 08, 2011
- NASA to launch new mission to Mars Saturday - Nov 24, 2011
- Scientists find signs of flowing water on Mars - Aug 05, 2011
- Nuclear-powered US rover launched to probe Mars' habitability - Nov 26, 2011
- NASA spacecraft detects significant changes in Mars' atmosphere - Apr 22, 2011
- Evidence Of life On Mars Creates Sensation Among Scientists - May 01, 2010
- NASA Asserts That The Reports Of The Evidence Of Life On Mars Are Definitely Incorrect - May 01, 2010
- NASA Rover finds clue to Mars past - Jun 07, 2010
- NASA rover lands on Mars to discover if there was life (Lead) - Aug 06, 2012
- NASA's Odyssey spacecraft sets exploration record on Mars - Dec 16, 2010
- Hot springs on Mars may have nourished life - Nov 04, 2011
- Mars rover landing to be broadcast live - Aug 01, 2012
- Curiosity makes maiden move on Mars - Aug 23, 2012
- NASA's Odyssey spacecraft becomes Mars' longest-staying guest - Dec 16, 2010
Tags: abc science, calcium sulphate, chryse planitia, cyanobacteria, fossil evidence, gypsum dunes, italian alps, mars exploration rover, mars exploration rover mission, martian equator, martian surface, microscopic fossils, nasa conference, northern polar region, pond scum, rover spirit, science payload, sea beds, sedimentary rocks, university of california los angeles | <urn:uuid:50d58b6c-b2b2-48fb-a799-3acd319e8e5f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/health/vast-fields-of-gypsum-on-mars-can-provide-evidence-if-life-existed_100356798.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915052 | 878 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Owing to the influence of computer games, school technology programs, and the proliferation of home and office computers, there is an entire generation of students who are computer literate, possess great keyboarding skills, and aren't the least bit intimidated by technology. Undoubtedly, this group of test-takers would prefer the expediency of computer testing for a variety of reasons. One of the primary concerns of test takers is to get the results from testing as soon as possible, and to disseminate that information to the relevant institutions. Computer-assisted testing technology greatly increases the efficiency and speed of scoring exams, thereby decreasing the turnaround time required for the test taker to receive scores. The test taker can access test scores electronically and online with secure personal identification number codes.
Computer testing is consistent with the many commercial standardized test review programs. The review software can be programmed to elevate the student to higher levels, or to hold the test taker for a longer time at middle or lower levels.
For those who possess adequate keyboarding skills, computer testing provides a great advantage in the writing portions of standardized tests. Text-editing software is designed to accelerate the editing process. On a computer with a keyboard, it is much easier to correct grammar, sentence structure, spelling, or even to move whole blocks of text.
Moreover, computer-assisted testing can accommodate test takers with disabilities, including hearing, visual, or motor impairment disorders. Braille keyboards are available for those with vision problems. Text can be enlarged or presented in a variety of ways that enhance readability. Various other types of keyboard or input devices may be used to extend access to students who cannot use conventional keyboards.
Internet-based computer-assisted testing can alleviate the costs of conducting large-scale testing programs, including facilities and personnel. In computer-based testing, revisions, updates, and modifications are automatic and instantaneous.
Computerized standard testing also provides an advantage in scheduling, because tests can be administered in much less time than it takes to administer a paper test. This makes testing more accessible to those with full-time jobs or full class schedules. Since the schedule can be compressed, more test dates can be provided throughout the year. The immediate computation and availability of test scores makes it possible for test takers to plan for their next steps right after taking the exam.
Last Updated: 06/14/2016 | <urn:uuid:5765bd55-b26c-49ae-8f96-4a0289f7e298> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.testprepreview.com/computer_advantages.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92965 | 482 | 3.375 | 3 |
Weather-wise, Australia has been seeing something of a wet period recently. Normal to above-normal rains have been observed across much of the country over the past several months, with November being particularly wet. There's ongoing flooding in NW Queensland, and the normally dry Lake Eyre may partially fill this year. The NT's Red Centre has turned green. Further, the Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate summary indicates that 2008 was 'only' the 14th warmest year on record. Does this spell the end of climate change in Australia? Is K-Rudd doing the right thing by setting such a pathetic target for reduction of CO2 emissions in this country?
This is most likely courtesy of the return of quasi-La Nina conditions in the Pacific, after a brief return to neutral Pacific conditions. A strong La Nina affected the weather during late-2007 and early-2008. Historically, La Nina often mean wet periods in Oz, and overall cooler global temperatures as well. This latter point applies to Australia as well.
Globally, the cooler weather has caused most of the contrarians to downplay the reality of climate change. Hopes and wishes are all well and good, but the power of positive thinking won't change this reality; Anthropogenic climate change is not gone, either in Australia or the rest of the world. What we are experiencing is just weather and interannual climate variability -- by definition short-term. The La Nina likely won't make it much past the end of austral summer, and El Nino will be around again soon enough, when we'll likely see new record high mean temperatures, both in Australia and around the globe. This is not the end of anthropogenic climate change.
Regardless of whether one accepts the reality of the above facts or not, the Great CO2 Enhancement Experiment (~40% and rising) we are running on the planet is dangerous -- full of unintended consequences and unforeseen peril. Warming of the mean global climate is serious, but only one of many of our worries. CO2 presents other dangers as well. Below are a few early results from experiment noted of late in Australia and its territories.
Recent analysis of the long term patterns of coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef are telling. A 400 year record of banding like tree rings on the giant Porites coral reveals a massive decline in the growth history. Since 1990, a decline in the growth rate has been observed. Previously, the record would undulate, now the decline is consistent. Should current trends continue, the growth rate will be zero by 2050. Ocean acidification as much has rising temperatures are believed to be the culprit.
In Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, a 40 year study has revealed an increases in woody vegetation on the savanna and in the floodplains of the park. Intially, the increase was hypothesized to be a result of feral buffalo (an invasive species). However, this relationship has proven to be weak as after 1985, the buffalo were nearly eliminated from the park while the vegetation structure continued to change. Instead, the researcher speculate that he change may be related to an increased level of atmospheric CO2, increasing rainfall and changing fire regimes during the study period.
Heard Island, a sub-Antarctic island some 4000 km southwest of Western Australia is showing a rapidly changing landscape. A portion of the land has split from the mainland, effectively forming a new island. This is a result of changing sea level, possibly from rising temperatures (a 1oC increase over past 50 years, and it's not an urban heat island!) or from other factors like strong ocean swells and winds. Further, a glacier on the island has likely retreated further and anecdotally, the lagoons at the glaciers terminus have increased in size. Analysis and monitoring are underway.
None of the Earth's 'spheres' remains untouched by Our Way of Life. Climate change and other environmental degradation affects the whole population of the Earth and every nation on its face. Australia's self image as the Lucky Country will not spare it any damage, as the above examples attest. Even without a temperature change, the Experiment has detrimental results -- ocean acidification or enhanced plant growth are but two. The effects run deep and climate change is just the obvious manifestation. And there are may well be surprises we haven;t even considered yet to come.
So yes, it is short-sided for Australia to set such a pathetic emissions reduction target. It's time to stop listening to the neoliberal economists; they are clueless and morally bankrupt. Let's lead instead of being led like sheep following the shepherds of greed. Unchecked, the whole experiment – CO2 enhancement, rampant consumerism, overpopulation -- will catch up to everyone in the end. If we act soon, we have a chance to break the bonds and begin a new way of living. If and when the inevitable crash comes, the considerations which are driving this decision now will be meaningless. The businesses will be gone and the economy will be toast. The world is not ours to exploit to the point of exhaustion. We have a moral obligation --to our fellow denizens of biosphere (human or otherwise), both now and into the future -- to leave the world in the state we inherited it. They are our legacy and our immortality, the standards by which we will be judged.
Image: Bureau of Meteorology | <urn:uuid:067b1986-4bb8-47ac-8f30-e0d8e36ef39c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://planetdoom.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947966 | 1,097 | 2.84375 | 3 |
The Portuguese ships which sail to the island of St Thomas from Lisbon, for cargoes of sugar, usually put to sea in February, though some vessels make this voyage at every period of the year. Their course is S.S.W. until they reach the Canary Islands; after which they steer for the island of Palmas, which is opposite to Cape Bojador on the coast of Africa, and is about ninety leagues from the kingdom of Castile. This island has plenty of provisions, and abounds in wine and sugar. The north-west wind prevails most, and a great sea rages continually on its coast, particularly in the month of December.
If the ships which are bound for the island of St Thomas find it necessary to obtain a quantity of salt after having taken on board a sufficient supply at the island of Sal, they steer for the coast of Africa at the Rio del Oro; and, if they have calm weather and a smooth sea; they catch as many fish in four hours, with hooks and lines, as may suffice for all their wants during the remainder of the voyage. But, if the weather is unfavourable for fishing at the Rio del Oro, they proceed along the coast to Cape Branco; and thence along the coast to the island of Arguin. The principal sorts of fish on this coast are pagros, called albani by the Venetians; likewise corvi and oneros, which latter are only a larger and darker-coloured species of pagros. As soon as taken, the fish are opened and salted, and serve as an excellent supply of provisions to navigators. All the coast of Africa, from Cape Bojador, otherwise called Cabo della Volta, as far as Cape Branco and even to Arguin, is low and sandy. At Arguin, which is inhabited by Moors and Negroes, and which is situated on the confines between these two nations, there is a capacious harbour, and a castle belonging to our king of Portugal, in which some Portuguese always reside with the royal agent.
On leaving the island of Sal, our ships steer next for St Jago, another of the Cape Verd islands. This island is situated in fifteen degrees on the equinoctial and thirty leagues towards the south.It is seventeen leagues long, and has a city on the coast, with a good harbour called Ribiera Grande, or the Great River, now St Jago. From two high mountains, one on each side, a large river of fresh water flows into the harbour; and, from its source, full two leagues above the city, its banks are lined | <urn:uuid:51809ade-2c83-4036-bf8f-982711c0161c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/10803/217.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973187 | 544 | 2.84375 | 3 |
We’ve been crowd-sourcing the public for everything from news to the newest inventions, and now, the people are adopting a new de facto title — climate change scientists. Armed with little more than their smartphones and their selfie techniques, California residents are taking to their shorelines and providing experts with a firsthand look at the evolution of the coast as a result of El Niño. By documenting both the flooding and the erosion that occurs over time, everyday individuals can help researchers in their quest to better understand ocean-atmosphere interactions, and make good use of their drones and cell phones to boot.
That’s right, even unmanned flying devices can be used in this endeavor, finally giving tech enthusiasts a sanctioned use for their favorite airborne toys. The hope, scientists with the Nature Conservancy say, is to use these crowd-sourced and geo-tagged images to provide a more complete and real-time image of California’s coastal landscape, which in turn could be used to predict future changes.
Drones are actually particularly useful for this purpose because they can provide high-resolution and three-dimensional images, which may help scientists test their current models and theories about El Niño and other weather patterns. “We use these projected models and they don’t quite look right, but we’re lacking any empirical evidence,” Matt Merrifield, the Nature Conservancy’s chief technology officer, told the Associated Press. “This is essentially a way of ‘ground truthing’ those models.”
California residents have been tapped for participation because they have a considerable amount of skin in the game. Many of the state’s beaches are at risk of disappearing altogether, and a 2009 Pacific Institute study suggested that around 500,000 people, as well as $100 billion in schools, power plants, and roadways, are at risk of destruction if sea levels continue to rise. And while the public’s pictures cannot support predictions with 100-percent accuracy, they’ll certainly aid in furthering our understanding of natural phenomena.
Some drone owners are excited by this new, very practical application of their often taboo devices. “It’s a really exciting application. It’s not just something to take a selfie with,” said aerospace engineer and drone owner Trent Lukaczyk. So if you’re out in California and wondering what else to snap a photo of, consider the coast, and consider our collective future. | <urn:uuid:2ed3d000-4737-4c4b-8275-bd796c5af995> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.digitaltrends.com/photography/citizen-scientist-climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942858 | 513 | 3.296875 | 3 |
A close-grained, hard siliceous rock found in the coal measures of northern England, and used for furnace linings.
- The other refractory plants had to have their ganister hauled in by rail.
- The lip and rim of the ladles are also best lined with ganister.
- According to Pete Clarke, the tour will then explore the ganister loading siding between Three Springs and Saltillo and the path of the now-dismantled spur truck to the former North American Refractories Company quarry above Three Springs.
Early 19th century: of unknown origin.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: gan¦is|ter
Definition of ganister in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:d9e5f451-8259-407a-be0b-300428452d95> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ganister | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91194 | 183 | 3.203125 | 3 |
INAUGURALS don't set policy or make laws. But they are a special rite where, for a brief period, binding symbols and verities can be invoked that might otherwise seem hokey.
In this, President Clinton's inaugural oath and speech, the most solemn event of the day, was fresh and even masterly. Given the five-day gala in Washington and mounting expectations for Mr. Clinton's term, it was also appropriately modest and short.
Most striking was the event's invoking of old and new symbols. The first hymn sung prior to Mr. Clinton's oath was "City on a Hill" - the classic Puritan symbol of America as a shining example, a colony with a mission.
The final event was a reading by Maya Angelou, the black poet born 25 miles from Clinton's birthplace, of a poem calling for Americans to wake up to the magnitude and diversity of creation, of the natural world, and of the many peoples in our midst: "the African, the native American, the Sioux/ The Catholic, the Muslim, the French, the Greek."
In a haunting refrain - "the Rock cries out" - Ms. Angelou spoke of a collective yearning by Americans for a state of grace "Before cynicism was a bloody smear across your Brow."
In between, Clinton's speech itself (reprinted on Page 19) was an attempt to invoke, in common language, what scholars call civil religion: that is, a recognition that while the business of America cannot be described in denominational terms, that business still must contain a dimension of transcendence and hope beyond the merely political and secular. The life of the state must exist in some relation to the sacred.
In a speech of nearly 1,600 words, Clinton referred some 70 times to civil religion, starting with the very first line: "We celebrate the mystery of American renewal." Rebirth, the debt owed to our forebears, the demands of conscience, Biblical echoes - all were present. While not a great Lincolnesque moral formulation, neither was this a speech by an economic policy wonk. It was an appeal to the spirit: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Nor was thi s mere optimism. Clinton spoke of dangers, facing "hard truths" that haven't been faced, and sacrifice.
The central message was Clinton's new formulation: that Americans can't have the opportunities liberals have fought for without accepting the responsibilities that conservatives seek.
Now gridlock and a deep well of cynicism about whether government can address the large-scale problems of America and the world must be faced. The task is to keep the grace, which many found evident in this inaugural, under the pressures at hand. | <urn:uuid:2c475bcd-a616-4e9e-b01a-5c1cbbdc575a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://m.csmonitor.com/1993/0122/22203.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961434 | 564 | 2.546875 | 3 |
A man with only a sixth-grade education, Frederick Jones transformed the foodindustry and America's eating habits with his invention of a practical refrigeration system for trucks and railroad cars.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jones was orphaned at the age of nine and was thenraised by a priest in Kentucky. Jones left school after grade six and left the rectory to return to Cincinnati at age sixteen, where he got a job as an apprentice automobile mechanic. He boosted his natural mechanical ability and inventive mind with independent reading and study. In 1912, Jones moved to Hallock, Minnesota, where he worked as a mechanic on a 50,000-acre farm. After service with the U.S. Army in World War I, Jones returned to Hallock; while employed as a mechanic, Jones taught himself electronics and built a transmitter for the town's new radio station. He also invented a device to combine sound with motion pictures. This attracted the attention of Joseph A. Numero of Minneapolis, Minnesota, who hired Jones in 1930 to improve the sound equipmentmade by his firm, Cinema Supplies, Inc. On June 17, 1939, Jones received hisfirst patent, for a ticket-dispensing machine for movie houses.
Around 1935, Jones designed a portable air-cooling unit for trucks carrying perishable food, and received a patent for it on July 12, 1940. Numero sold his movie sound equipment business to RCA and formed a new company in partnership with Jones, the U.S. Thermo Control Company (later the Thermo King Corporation) which became a $3 million business by 1949. Jones's air coolers for trains, ships, and aircraft made it possible for the first time to ship perishable food long distances during any time of the year. Portable cooling units designed by Jones were especially important during World War II, preserving blood, medicine, and food for use at army hospitals and on battlefields.
During his life, Jones was awarded sixty-one patents. Forty were for refrigeration equipment, while others went for portable X-ray machines, sound equipment, and gasoline engines. In 1944, Jones became the first African-American tobe elected into the American Society of Refrigeration Engineers, and duringthe 1950s he was a consultant to the U.S. Department of Defense and the Bureau of Standards. Jones died of lung cancer in Minneapolis in 1961. He was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame in 1977. | <urn:uuid:25b0e056-06df-4175-8853-3e544cecef42> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.madehow.com/inventorbios/1/Frederick-McKinley-Jones.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975745 | 502 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Working-class economic struggle in Ukrayina
Hartford Web Publishing is not the author of the documents in
World History Archives and does not
presume to validate their accuracy or authenticity nor to
release their copyright.
- Ukraine Coal Miners Vow to Continue Strike
- Reuter, 8 February 1996. Strikes in Donbass coalfield because of
non-payment of wages. Prime Minister Yevhen Marchuk insists
“market reforms” means a major cut in pay.
- Ukrainian miners stage massive strike
- By Renfrey Clarke, Green Left Weekly, 6 March
1996. Coal miners in Ukraine returned to work on February 16
after one of the hardest-fought strikes in the former Soviet
republic in recent years. The resumption of work followed an
agreement by the government to negotiate with the miners on
their demand for the payment of wages.
- Miners prepare to strike
- ICFTU OnLine, 16 June 1997. Wildcats because of
non-payment of wages.
- Ukraine miners strike
- Workers World, 18 December 1997. Brief notice of
strikes because of 8-month pay arrearage and dangerous working
conditions. Since collapse of USSR, thousands of workers have
gone without pay, and the government is planning to give up on
mining because it is insufficiently profitable.
- Ukrainian miners' grim New Year
- ICEM Update, 18 December 1998. Indefinite
strike over unpaid wages. Miners threaten to burn themselves
to death. The miners are owed more than 800 million US
dollars. They also demand provision in the 1999 budget for
state subsidies to the coal mines. | <urn:uuid:dfd616de-4497-4229-acba-d0a7b2ed07c9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/63/index-fda.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907489 | 351 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The historical development of climate science and why you should believe it.
Friday 7:00 pm :: Mitchell Institute Hawking Auditorium
Scientists have been working on the physics of climate for nearly 200 years. In that time, a sophisticated and robust understanding of the climate system has emerged — along with the realization that humans are now the dominant long-term driver of climate. In this talk, I will review the history and science of climate change and explain why scientists are so convinced yet there is such a heated debate in the public sphere.
About Andrew Dessler
Andrew Dessler is a climate scientist who studies both the science and politics of climate change. His scientific research revolves around climate feedbacks, in particular how water vapor and clouds act to amplify warming from the carbon dioxide that humans emit. In 2012, he received the AGU’s Ascent Award from the atmospheric sciences section to reward exceptional achievement by a mid-career scientist. During the last year of the Clinton Administration, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Based on his research and policy experience, he has authored two books on climate change: The science and politics of global climate change: A guide to the debate (Cambridge University Press, 2006, 2010, co-written with Edward Parson), and Introduction to modern climate change (Cambridge University Press, 2012). This latter book won the 2014 American Meteorological Society Louis J. Battan Author’s Award. In recognition of his work on outreach, in 2011 he was named a Google Science Communication Fellow. Prior to his work on climate, his research focused on stratospheric photochemistry. He authored the book The chemistry and physics of stratospheric ozone depletion (Academic Press, 2000) about his work on that subject. | <urn:uuid:d1dc78ad-e9ed-4cdc-8a8f-68c448e95c95> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://physicsfestival.tamu.edu/andrew-dessler-public-lecture/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947635 | 364 | 2.859375 | 3 |
|Dake Arbor Press, Vise and other basic stuff|
This weekend was busy. In addition to visiting a new hacker space here, we helped out a Nullspace Labs guy from downtown L.A. with his fabrication project.
Fabrication generally refers to cutting and joining metal pieces to make a 3D object from basic pieces of stock that come in sticks or flat sheets. This is a bit different than machining, which is more about precision stock removal.
Making something out of square, tubular, or angle stock isn't necessarily hard, but having it end up with tightly-fitted pieces, square corners and a flat base requires more than just access to a MIG welder and a hack saw.
Here are some tips:
1. Take the time to come up with an accurate representation of what you need to build on paper. This can be anything from a simple draing on graph paper, to a full 3D model in Solidworks or similar.
For one-off projects (i.e. an adapter bracket for a car engine, the centerpiece of your modified geodesic dome, etc), an easy way to model it is with cardboard and masking tape. Trace out your design, cut it out and tape it together. Use scissors and more tape/cardboard to revise the design until it fits perfectly with all of your existing pieces.
2. Buy extra material. If your project is estimated to take 28' of stock, buy at least one extra 10' stick and go with 40'. There's an excellent chance that you will screw up on one or more cuts or welds. The leftover stock can always be racked up for the next project.
3. Measure 4 times, cut once. Tolerances stack up, so it's wise to treat every cut you make as if it were a precision-machined part. If your finished item needs to be +/- 1/8" over 24 inches, you'll be wise to make all of your cuts better than 1/32" . Check all of your angles with a a protractor, take care when marking and clamping, and check each finished part with an appropriate caliper, measuring tape, etc.
|Pieces for a series of hexagons. The stacked ones are all cut to 1/32" using the dry cut saw above.|
4. Use the right cutting tools. For cutting sticks of metal, a horizontal bandsaw makes clean cuts and is quiet. It can also run attended, but it is slow for cutting through thick sections. For precise cuts, a cold saw is fantastic, as it generates very little heat and leaves an excellent, straight cut edge
It's little brother is the dry cut saw, which is noisier and not quite as precise, but cheaper and portable. An abrasive saw works too, but requires more finishing of the cut edges and generates abrasive dust, so it's best used outside. Good discussion is here.
5. Clean and debur your pieces. Use a file, deburring tool, or a whire wheel to clean up any cut edges. Remeasure everything that has been cut and reject or re-cut pieces that don't meet tolerance. New metal often comes from the supplier with a thin film of oil on all surfaces. Remove this with a degreaser (water-based detergent) or a cloth with a small amount of Acetone.
NEVER use a chlorinated solvent (i.e. some types of brake cleaner) as these can turn into toxic Phosgene gas when exposed to welding heat.
|Cleaning an inside piece with a full-round file.|
6. If you're going to weld something, cut some extra pieces from the same material and practice welding them first. You want to get penetration of your workpiece, but you don't want to burn through or put excessive heat into the material (this is a source of warpage). Practice any out-of-position (i.e. not flat on the table) welds that will need to be done as well.
7. Think about how you're going to assemble the item. If it's possible to rotate the article or assemble it from smaller pieces, see if you can do all of your welding in the "flat" position. This is much easier than vertical, horizontal or overhead. Don't start out fighting gravity if you don't have to.
8. You NEED a flat surface if you expect your item to come out flat. Use the floor, a granite tile, a flat steel table or anything flat you can get hold of to do your initial layout.
|A small dog. Not suitable for laying out your project on.|
9. Lay out the pieces, measure, take-weld, and then measure again. If you weld a very small amount on each piece, you won't warp it and you can usually bend and adjust the piece to fit. For example, a square frame should be laid out, clamped down as needed (a collection of C-clamps, Vise Grips and magnets helps here!), tacked up and then re-measured. For a square, measure the diagonals and squeeze them into position with your hands or a bar clamp if they do not match. Welding the inside corner of one and the outside corner of the next makes this easier.
10. When you have the pieces tacked up, take your time with the welding and don't overdo it. For a typical project made from 1" or 25mm square steel tube, it's usually not necessary to weld all four sides of every joint completely. Instead, make lots of small welds, alternating between parts of the project, and stop frequently to let the pieces cool. Metal that got hot will shrink as it cools, so keep distortion down by keeping the heat down, clamping/restraining the pieces, and welding both sides of a joint alternatingly. Also make the small welds first and the biggest welds last. Break the big welds into "stitches" and don't put down more metal than is needed.
Hope this helps! | <urn:uuid:009d041e-436a-45f0-b0aa-8a97dc870f79> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.shop.23b.org/2012/11/metal-fabrication-basics.html?showComment=1381943243552 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945837 | 1,265 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The first decade of the 20th century was, for many people, a period characterized by incredible optimism for the future. The November 22, 1908 Sunday New York Times ran an article titled, “Inventions Which the World Yet Needs.”
The dreams of yesterday are the realizations of today. We live in an age of mechanical, electrical, chemical, and psychical wonder. On every hand the human mind is reaching out to solve the problems of nature. In those solutions are hidden the mysteries and revelations of all things. While the dreamer may dream, it is the practical man of affairs, with a touch of the imaginative in his nature, who materializes and commercializes new forces and new conceptions. Step by step these men lead in the vanguard of progress. What is their conception of the needs of the world? Toward what is their imagination reaching? What in their viewpoint, is the world waiting for—what are the immediate needs of the world in practical, scientific conception and invention?
The article then looks at the predictions of inventor and businessman Thomas Edison; Edward Bruce Moore, who was head of the U.S. Patent Office; Frank Hedley, who would eventually become president of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company; Lewis Nixon, a naval architect; Cortlandt E. Palmer, a mining expert; and Peter Cooper Hewitt, an electrical engineer and inventor.
Edison had nine predictions for the 20th century, touching upon everything from electricity and movie technology to flying machines and the extinction of the locomotive. His first prediction concerned the future of concrete architecture—a topic that, for him, was not purely academic. The inventor had founded the Edison Portland Cement Company in 1899 in order to use excess sand, which was a waste byproduct of his iron ore milling process. Edison had hoped to revolutionize the building of homes by using relatively inexpensive concrete. As Neil Baldwin notes in his book Edison: Inventing the Century, “Always with an eye for spin-offs, Edison went on to produce cement cabinets for the phonograph, and seriously considered building a concrete piano.”
While Edison’s concrete was used in the construction of New York’s Yankee Stadium in 1922, his company and efforts to build homes made entirely of concrete was considered a failure. Edison’s modular homes, measuring 25 by 30 by 40 feet high, failed largely because of the difficulty in creating the reusable, metal molds that were needed to fabricate and mass-produce houses made of concrete. Perhaps, deep down, Edison was skeptical of the venture from the beginning. His predictions in the Miami Metropolis—just three years after his New York Times interview—would quickly swing in favor of steel as the building material of the future.
An excerpt from the New York Times piece appears below.
NINE NEW INVENTIONS CERTAIN
They Will Come Soon — and Pave the Way for Hundreds More
Interview with Thomas A. Edison
The next era will mark the most wonderful advance in science and invention that the world has ever known or hoped for. So vast will that advance be that we can now have scarcely any conception of its scope, but already a great many of the inventions of the future are assured. It is only of those which I regarded as practical certainties that I speak here.
First — Within the next twenty or thirty years — and it will start with the next two or three — concrete architecture will take enormous strides forward; the art of molding concrete will be reduced to a science of perfection and, what is equally important, of cheapness; there will rise up a large number of gifted architects, and through their efforts cities and towns will spring up in this country beside which Turner’s picture of ancient Rome and Carthage will pale into nothingness and the buildings of the Columbia Exhibition will appear common. But great expense will not attend this; it will be done so that the poor will be able to enjoy houses more beautiful than the rich now aspire to, and the man earning $1.50 a day, with a family to support, will be better housed than the man of to-day who is earning $10.
Second — Moving-picture machines will be so perfected that the characters will not only move, but will speak, and all the accessories and effects of the stage will be faithfully reproduced on the living picture stage. This, of course, will not be done as well as on the regular stage, but its standard will approach very near to that, and the fact that such entertainment will be furnished for 5 cents will draw vast numbers of the working classes. The result will be that the masses will have the advantage of the moral of good drama, they will find an inexpensive and improving way of spending the evening, and death knell of the saloon will be sounded.
Third — In perhaps fifteen or twenty years — depending on the financial condition of the country — the locomotive will pass almost altogether out of use, and all our main trunk railways will be operated by electricity.
Fourth — A new fertilizer will spring into existence, containing a large percentage of nitrogen. This will be drawn from the air by electricity, and will be used to increase the arability of the land.
Fifth — All our water power will be utilized by electricity to an extent now almost unthought of, and will be used with great advantage, both industrially and for railroads.
Sixth — A successful serial navigation will be established — perhaps for mails — and will achieve a sound practical working basis.
Seventh — We shall be able to protect ourselves against environment by the use of serums and things of that sort so that the general state of health will improve and the average span of life will increase by a large percentage. The grand fight which is being made against tuberculosis and cancer will reach a successful culmination, and those diseases will be entirely mastered.
Eighth — A new force in nature, of some sort or other, will be discovered by which many things not now understood will be explained. We unfortunately have only five senses; if we had eight we’d know more.
Ninth — We will realize the possibilities of our coal supplies better, and will learn how to utilize them so that 90 percent of the efficiency will not be thrown away, as it is today.
Finally, let it be said, hardly any piece of machinery now manufactured is more than 10 percent perfect. As the years go on this will be improved upon tremendously; more automatic machinery will be devised, and articles of comfort and luxury will be produced in enormous numbers at such small cost that all classes will be able to enjoy the benefits of them.
These are some of the inventions which the world is awaiting which it is sure of seeing realized. Just how they will be realized is what the inventors are working now to determine. | <urn:uuid:2a634754-0de5-4a77-90b7-b3d17e737ea8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thomas-edisons-brief-stint-as-a-homemaker-114900219/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961057 | 1,401 | 3.15625 | 3 |
09-06-2013 - Mammals contain cells whose primary function is to kill other cells in the body. The so-called Natural Killer (NK) cells are highly important in defending our bodies against viruses or even cancer. Scientists at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) provide evidence that NK cell activity can be influenced by phosphorylating a protein (STAT1) in NK cells. The results, which could be of immediate therapeutic relevance, are published in the journal Cell Reports.
Since its discovery in the early 1990s, the protein STAT1 (Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 1) has been found to be central in passing signals across immune cells, ensuring that our bodies react quickly and appropriately to threats from viruses or other pathogens. Animals without STAT1 are also prone to develop cancer, suggesting that STAT1 is somehow involved in protection against malignant cells. The STAT1 protein is known to be phosphorylated on at least two positions: phosphorylation of a particular tyrosine (tyr-701) is required for the protein to enter the cell nucleus (where it exerts its effects), while subsequent phosphorylation of a serine residue alters the way it interacts with other proteins, thereby affecting its function.
Natural Killer (NK) cells are among the first cells to respond to infections by viruses or to attack malignant cells when tumours develop. When they detect cells to be targeted, they produce a number of proteins, such as granzyme B and perforin, that enter infected cells and destroy them from within. Clearly, the lethal activity must be tightly controlled to prevent NK cells from running wild and destroying healthy cells or tissues. How is this done?
Eva Maria Putz and colleagues at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni) have now investigated the importance of STAT1 phosphorylation in NK cells. The researchers found that when a particular serine residue (ser-727) in the STAT1 protein is mutated, NK cells produce far higher amounts of granzyme B and perforin and are far more effective at killing a wide range of tumour cells. Mice with the correspondingly mutated Stat1 gene are far less likely to develop melanoma, leukaemia or metastasizing breast cancer. On the other hand, when the same serine residue is phosphorylated, the NK cells are less able to kill infected or cancerous cells.
The Vetmeduni researchers have accumulated a body of evidence to suggest that the cyclin-dependent kinase CDK8 phosphorylates STAT1 on serine 727. Surprisingly, this phosphorylation does not require prior phosphorylation of the activating tyrosine residue, at least in NK cells. Instead, it seems to represent a way in which the lethal activity of the NK cells is kept in check. Putz is keen to note the potential significance of the finding. As she says, “If we can stop CDK8 from inactivating STAT1 in NK cells, we could stimulate tumour surveillance and thus possibly have a new handle on treating cancer, harnessing the body’s own weapons against malignant cells.”
The paper CDK8-mediated STAT1-S727 phosphorylation restrains NK cell cytotoxicity and tumor surveillance by Eva Maria Putz, Dagmar Gotthardt, Gregor Hoermann, Agnes Csiszar, Silvia Wirth, Angelika Berger, Elisabeth Straka, Doris Rigler, Barbara Wallner, Amanda M. Jamieson, Winfried F. Pickl, Eva Maria Zebedin-Brandl, Mathias Müller, Thomas Decker and Veronika Sexl is published in the current issue of Cell Reports. [Link 1] | <urn:uuid:791e5314-ddba-4053-8d7d-51add438df66> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vetmeduni.ac.at/en/infoservice/presseinformation/press-releases-2013/press-release-09-06-2013-static-killers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917295 | 789 | 3.140625 | 3 |
We are not born with prejudice but prejudice is learned, there's a need to teach tolerance, joyous reverence for diversity. Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Swami Chinmayananda each spoke of the Hindu principles of ahimsa-non violence, tolerance, high- minded values.
Good Morning Everyone.
Continuing this morning on our series from Mauritius. You know we had an opportunity to put a page into the religious magazine "Vannakkam" thanks to Dr. Pillai. And we also had a chance to give the same talk given at the Dharmasala on the first Sunday of the Month, when they have a Homa ceremony, about three to four hundred people coming and attending that.
So this is a talk you've heard before with a few updates, it's a talk on Hindu tolerance and I changed it a little bit more to focus on being practical. The title is "Prejudice Free Consciousness."
Conditions in the world today are certainly troubling with wars between countries, wars within countries plus a serious threat of international terrorist acts. The terrorist attacks in New York on September 11th naturally heightened everyone's concern about these problems. One of the immediate consequences of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was the presence of television coverage depicting people in a number of countries who strongly hate the United States, some to the point of wishing violence upon it. Watching these shocking reports on television, we were quite impressed by the extent and seriousness of the problem of prejudice in the world today. Attitudes of prejudice toward those who are of a different race, nation, or religion can start simply as distrust which can then deepen into dislike and deepen further into hatred which can turn into a desire to inflict injury. Are we born with these attitudes? Certainly not. We are taught them at home, at school and even in some religious institutions.
Soon after the United States went to war with Iraq, a number of governments passed resolutions objecting to the war. Also some individuals expressed their objection to the war by demonstrating in the streets. These actions are sincere and make a point, but they certainly do not address the core of the problem, which is hatred. People have been raised to hate those of different ethnic groups, religions or nations. The solution, though a long-term one, is that we need, in the century ahead, to teach all children tolerance, openness to different ways of life, different beliefs, different customs of dress and language. We need to stop teaching them to fear those who are different from themselves, stop teaching them hatred for peoples of other colors and other religions, stop teaching them to see the world as a field of conflict and instead instill in them an informed appreciation and a joyous reverence for the grand diversity we find around us. Instead of teaching children to be intolerant and to dislike and distrust, hate and inflict injury on those who are different, we can teach them to be tolerant and like and trust, befriend and help. And, of course, the central place for that to occur is in the home. Secondarily it can be further strengthened by also being taught at the temple and at school and through special community activities.
My Guru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, stressed in many of his talks and writings that it is in the home that we have the greatest opportunities to change the world for the better. This is because it is the qualities parents instill in their children that create the world of the future. Therefore, the most effective form of protest to the violence in our modern world is to give more thought to what our children are learning as they grow up. And in this regard every father and mother is indeed a guru--in fact, an individual's first guru, teaching by example, explanation, giving advice and direction.
The quality we wish parents to develop in the child is a prejudice-free consciousness: possessing an open-mindedness that readily embraces differences in ethnic background, religion and nationality. How can parents nurture a prejudice free consciousness? What specific actions are effective in raising children to be tolerant rather than to be hateful? As we previously mentioned, we are not born with prejudices. They are all learned, at home, at school and elsewhere. This gives us a good overview then on how to nurture a prejudice free consciousness, which is by carefully monitoring what children hear at home, school and elsewhere that expresses prejudice.
Most importantly, tolerance is nurtured through the complete avoidance of remarks in the home that are racially, religiously or nationality prejudiced. Also important is discussing with our children any prejudice they hear from others at school and elsewhere and correcting it. We should teach children to avoid generalizations about people and, instead, to think about specific individuals and the qualities they have. Even positive generalizations should be avoided as they encourage us not to look at the qualities of individuals. Television and movies can provide useful situations to discuss. Tolerance can be developed through having our children meet, interact and learn to feel comfortable with children of other ethnicities and religions. Hindu organizations can be proactive in this regard and arrange such activities for the children of their members to participate in.
Let's look next at the Hindu beliefs that are the basis for Hindu tolerance. The first belief is on the nature of God, which is the basis for Hindu tolerance of other religions. Hinduism has four major divisions, or denominations: Saivism, Saktism, Smartism and Vaishnavism. Each calls the Supreme Being by a different name. To Saivites the Supreme is called Siva. Saktas refer to the Supreme as Sakti. Smartas call the Supreme Being Brahman. And to Vaishnavas He is Vishnu. However, the important point is that each Hindu is worshipping the same Supreme Being. The name is different, the tradition is different, but it is the same Supreme Being that is being worshipped by all Hindus. There is an ancient verse from the Rig Veda that is often quoted in this regard, "Ekam sat viprah bahuda vadanti. Truth is one, sages express it variously." This same statement from the Rig Veda can be expanded beyond Hinduism to include all the world religions - there is only one Supreme Being and all the world's religions are in truth worshipping the same Supreme Being. In fact there is a verse often chanted in Siva temples which is Tennadudaiya Sivane Potti, Enattavarkum Iraiva Potti. This verse translates as: He who is worshipped as Siva in the Southland, is worshipped elsewhere as God. What this means, of course, is that people around the world worship the Supreme Being and Shiva is one of the many names of the Supreme Being.
Thus an even fuller expression of this second idea of Hindu unity is that Hindus are united by the understanding that not only all Hindus, but also the followers of all religions of the world in truth worship the same Supreme Being. Gurudeva's statement in this regard is, "Saivites profoundly know that God Siva is the same Supreme Being in whom peoples of all faiths find solace, peace and liberation."
This belief, by the way, is an excellent response if you are ever approached by someone of another religion who states that their God is superior to your God. You can simply refer to this ancient Rig Veda verse and state with confidence that there is only one Supreme Being and you are in truth both worshipping the same Supreme Being but only referring to Him by different names.
Hindus also believe that there is no exclusive path, no one way for all. Religious beliefs are manifold and different. Hindus, understanding the strength of this diversity, wholeheartedly respect and encourage all who believe in God and do not seek to interfere with anyone's faith or practice. Since the inner intent of all religions is to bind man back to God, Hindus honor the fact that "Truth is one, paths are many." Nonetheless, Hindus realize that all religions are not the same. Each has its unique beliefs, practices, goals and paths of attainment, and the doctrines of one often conflict with those of another. Even this should never be cause for religious tension or intolerance.
The Hindu belief that gives rise to tolerance of differences in race and nationality is that all of mankind is good, we are all divine beings, souls created by God. Hindus do not accept the concept that some individuals are evil and others are good. Hindus believe that each individual is a soul, a divine being, who is inherently good. The Upanishads tell us that each soul is emanated from God, as a spark from a fire, and begins its spiritual journey, which eventually leads back to God. All human beings are on this journey, whether they realize it or not. The Upanishad mahavakyam that expresses this is, "Ayam atma brahma. The soul is God." The Hindu practice of greeting one another with namaskara, worshipping God within the other person, is a way this philosophical truth is practiced on a daily basis.
This is taken one step further in the Vedic verse "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam--the whole world is one family. Everyone is family oriented. What we do is to benefit all the members of our family. We want them all to be happy, successful, and religiously fulfilled. And when family is defined to be the whole world, then it is clear that we wish everyone in the world to attain these goals. The Vedic verse that captures this sentiment is, "Sarve janah sukhino bhavantu. May all people be happy."
Gurudeva often emphasized the relationship of ones beliefs, attitudes and actions. In one quote he states: "Every belief creates certain attitudes. Our attitudes govern all of our actions. Belief in karma, reincarnation and the existence of an all-pervasive Divinity throughout the universe creates an attitude of reverence, benevolence and compassion for all beings. The natural consequence of this belief is ahimsa, nonhurtfulness."
In the second half of the twentieth century Hindu concepts became more and more popular and influential in the West. For example, every year more westerners take up the belief in karma and reincarnation as a logical explanation of what they observe in life. Certainly one of the most visible uses of Hindu values in the West in the 20th century was Dr. Martin Luther King. After many years of giving careful thought to the problem of discriminatory laws, Dr. King selected the Hindu principle of ahimsa, as exemplified by Mahatma Gandhi's tactic of nonviolent resistance, as the most effective method for overcoming the unjust laws of racial discrimination in the United States. It is interesting to note that in 1959 Dr. King spent five weeks in India discussing with Gandhi's followers the philosophy and techniques of nonviolence to deepen his understanding before putting them in to actual use.
By the way, a line from Dr.King's Famous I have a Dream speech beautifully states the ideal stated earlier in this article of avoiding ethnic generalizations and instead seeing each individual for the person he or she is: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Swami Chinmayananda in his first public talk in 1951 made a powerful statement: "The true Hinduism is a science of perfection. There is, in this true Hinduism, a solution to every individual, social, national and international problem. True Hinduism is the Sanatana Dharma of the Upanishads." Perhaps in the 21st century, the world can again turn to the high-minded values of Hinduism, choosing this time the concept of tolerance, as a way of creating a future for this planet that is free from war and terrorism. And such tolerance should not be mere passive acceptance of those who are different, but rather a heartfelt proactive effort to befriend and help.
In conclusion, each time you find yourself stating or even thinking a generalization, either positive or negative, about people based on their ethnicity, religion, or nationality, correct yourself and restate your thought taking into account the actual qualities and character of specific individuals. Also help your children do the same. This simple practice deeply impresses the mind that in looking at or talking about individuals rather than simply seeing a shallow stereotype we must look more deeply and see the specific individual for who he or she really is. In impressing the mind regularly in this way, over time our attitudes toward others will move closer and closer to the ideal of a prejudice free consciousness. Tolerant individuals help communities function with less friction and misunderstanding and thus help the world become a more peaceful place.
Aum Namah Sivaya. | <urn:uuid:671bbe70-2765-46b1-b9f2-2f44467b8285> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.himalayanacademy.com/view/bd_2004-11-28_prejudice-free | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959833 | 2,624 | 2.796875 | 3 |
European Sand Dune Distribution
This article provides an introduction to the distribution of coastal sand dunes in Europe. It is based on a revised edition of the 'Sand Dune Inventory of Europe' (Doody ed. 1991) .
The 1991 inventory was prepared under the umbrella of the European Union for Dune Conservation [EUDC]. The original inventory was presented to the European Coastal Conservation Conference, held in the Netherlands in November 1991. It attempted to provide a description of the sand dune vegetation, sites and conservation issues throughout Europe including Scandinavia, the Atlantic coast and in the Mediterranean.
It is the main point of reference to the more detailed reports on individual countries prepared as part of a revised 'Sand Dune Inventory of Europe' presented at the International Sand Dune conference “Changing Perspectives in Coastal Dune Management”, held from the 31st March - 3rd April 2008, in Liverpool, UK (Doody ed. 2008). The conference was organised under the auspices of the Sand Dune and Shingle Network and hosted by Liverpool Hope University.
Note the author has recently published a book on sand dune conservation and management which includes information on European dunes .
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Habitat distribution
- 3 Sand dune country articles
- 4 References
- 5 See also
- 6 Sand dune and shingle network
Sand dunes border long stretches of the European coastline. They develop wherever there is a suitable supply of sediment moved onshore by the tide to form a beach. Where this dries, the wind blows the sediment inland to form accumulations a few centimetres to 40m or more thick. The type of sand dune landscape existing today is the product of a long history of a response to natural forces and human modification.
In the north and west, a wet climate coupled with their use for grazing stock (including rabbits) has helped create rich grasslands and heathlands. In many areas, overgrazing and misuse caused erosion resulting in blowing sand overwhelming villages and farms. Large areas were planted with exotic species, including a number of pine species in order to combat this. Open dynamic dune landscapes are today relatively restricted.
The figure shows the approximate location of the main areas of sand dunes in the regions described. Links are provided to individual country descriptions, which identify the major sand dune sites, their nature conservation significance and the factors affecting this. These include information on Protected Areas where available. Note that for the protected areas the inventory mostly relies on local information provided by the original contacts. An acknowledgement is made of new information.
In the Mediterranean, recreational pressures have caused the destruction of dunes with the construction of mass tourist facilities. In the process, they have obliterated many of the natural landscapes that attracted the visitor in the first place.
North east Atlantic: Celtic Seas, North Sea and Baltic Sea
Much of the coastline of the North East Atlantic coast formed from ancient rocks resistant to erosion. The absence of sedimentary material for the development of sand dunes mean that there are a relatively large number of small sites, many of which are associated with embayments. Exceptionally on west facing coasts, where the prevailing westerly winds reinforce the dominant winds, large hindshore systems have developed. In the Outer Hebrides in Scotland these include some of the best and largest examples of the extensive cultivated sandy plain or ‘machair’, also present in the west of Ireland. The way these influences effect the distribution and size of dunes is seen by reference to the situation in Great Britain.
In other areas of the northern parts of the Celtic and North Seas and in the Baltic Sea where dunes develop on coastlines which are rising relative to sea level, a sequence of prograding ridges may form as a sequence lying ‘parallel’ to the coast. They are sometimes interspersed with damp hollows in which rich dune slack vegetation develops. Examples include Magilligan dunes in Northern Ireland, Morrich More in northern Scotland and the Jaeres dunes (Site 7) of southern Norway,.
In the southern Baltic and southern North Sea, sand dunes can be extensive, for example, they make up 80% of the coastline of Poland. The extent and importance of the dunes of Denmark, the Wadden coast (including Germany) and the Netherlands cannot be over-emphasised. Coastal currents and the prevailing wind influence the direction and amount of transported material and hence the orientation of the dunes along the coast. Sand bars and spits, which lie parallel to the coast (Poland and Wadden Sea) are a predominant dune type. Elsewhere massive accumulations of sand are forced onshore under the action of the prevailing wind as, for example, northern Denmark and the Netherlands.
Most of the sand dunes described for north west Europe appear to have a sequence of vegetation types which potentially includes all the more important successional communities from strandline (driftwalls) to yellow and grey dune, dune pasture, heath and scrub. In areas where beach erosion is occurring some of the early stages of succession may be absent with the sand dune forming a cliff above the beach. In other mobile dunes may occur in the body of the dune creating early stages of succession similar to those of the upper beach. Many dune areas provide pasture for grazing animals and this has had a profound influence on the type of vegetation, which develops, particularly in the North West. Here grazing helps to create species-rich calcareous dune grassland and heathland, preventing the natural progression to scrub and woodland. Native woodlands are scarce, although there are examples of secondary mixed scrub, broad-leaved woodland and pine forest in areas formerly used for grazing domestic stock.
Eastern and Mid Atlantic coast: including the English Channel and Bay of Biscay
In the northern part of the area, dunes or dune remnants occur along many stretches of the coastline from western Ireland, south west Britain, northern France and Spain. The coast has a predominantly cliffed nature and the availability of suitable sedimentary material is restricted. Hence, as with the cliffed landscapes further north, dunes tend to be smaller and develop in sheltered embayments. Exceptions occur near estuaries, such as the Somme in France, and extensive dunes occur here.
Further south along the west facing coasts of France and Portugal, there is greater availability of material from fluvial sources. When combined with strong erosive action and long shore drift, large sediment transport systems develop. Both countries have strong, prevailing westerly winds and the dunes may stretch many kilometres inland. In France, for example, the area known as ‘Les Landes’ has a special significance and is one of the most extensive dunes in Europe. 60% of the coastline of Portugal has sand dunes. They are mostly parabolic in form, especially in the west. However, the dune systems can be complex, containing different geomorphological types extending from a few metres to up to 6km inland.
The sequence of vegetation on the mid-Atlantic coast is similar to that occurring in the north west. This typically involves the progressive stabilisation of dune forms as sand blows inland and vegetation develops. In a number of areas, notably on the exposed Atlantic coast sand blows up and over cliffs to create a veneer of sand over the underlying rock. In the north of France, some of the botanically richer areas occur where dunes are composed of calcareous sand and lie against to chalk cliffs, as at le Nord de la Baie de Canche.
In south western Spain, the dune systems include barrier islands and spits found in western Andalucía on the southern Atlantic coast. Several river deltas by transporting sediment to the sea, helped to create one the most important dune systems in Europe, which lies within the Coto Doñana National Park . The park consists of beaches, foredunes, high mobile dunes (up to 30m) and stabilised dunes, which enclose a major wetland.
The further south the dunes, the more the southern elements of the flora begin to appear. Typically, in the Mediterranean open vegetation forms above the beach where Pancratium maritimum is a common species on the beach and in the dune. There is a less obvious successional development, though narrow zones of pioneer vegetation dominated by Elymus farctus and/or Ammophila arenaria are present. This grades into a grassland and scrub with the most frequently found vegetation dominated by shrubs to form garigue (an open dwarf shrub community about 60cm and rarely >1m high) and maquis (a dense shrub community >1m high) typical of grazed inland areas (Polunin & Walters 1985)
On the western Mediterranean coast, dunes are narrower and often found in association with deltas. Along both the Spanish and French coasts tourist development has destroyed many of these systems, though the Camargue still retains much of its coastal character. In Italy, many of the dunes probably originated during the thermal optimum after the last glaciation (5,000 years ago). They have since been broken by rivers and their subsequent development has been a product of natural erosive forces and human development. Today dunes are present around the whole coastline but only in a few protected areas, like the National Park of Circeo, is it possible to see natural development.
Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea
There are many places in the region where sand dunes cannot develop because the hills or mountains outcrop as rocky shorelines near to the sea. The coast of Croatia, the southern Albania border and many of the Greek islands are such. Throughout this area, sand dunes tend either to occupy a narrow fringe bordering flat areas of land or exceptionally form extensive dunes up to 10m height as in Western Peloponnesus, in Greece. In some areas, the dunes may reach a height of 20-30m. In Turkey and along the northern shores of Albania almost all dune systems form in the immediate vicinity of rivers, sometimes as part of big delta systems. They often form a barrier to the sea and enclose a lakes or series of lakes (lagoons). Three very distinctive types of dunes are formed; deltas, on coastal plains and in bays. The maximum height is about 50m and they have a maximum width of up to for example 4.3km in south west Turkey. Many different dune forms are present, e.g. huge beach plains with embryo dunes, parabolic dunes, blowouts, dune slacks, lakes, secondary barchans and dune fields. In the Mediterranean systems, the calcium carbonate content is very high, while siliceous sands prevail along the Black Sea and Marmara coasts.
Sand dune country articles
Sand Dune Inventory of Europe (Doody ed. 1991 & 2008) Sand dune articles for the following countries can also be accessed from here:
Iceland; / Norway; / Sweden; / Finland: / Poland / Latvia; / Lithuania; / Denmark / Ireland; / Great Britain; / Belgium; / Netherlands / France / Spain / Portugal / Cyprus / Italy / Croatia, Montenegro and Albania / Bulgaria / Estonia / Greece
- Doody, J.P., ed., 1991. Sand Dune Inventory of Europe. Peterborough, Joint Nature Conservation Committee/European Union for Coastal Conservation.
- Doody, J.P., ed., 2008. Sand Dune Inventory of Europe, 2nd Edition. National Coastal Consultants and EUCC - The Coastal Union, in association with the IGU Coastal Commission.
- Doody, J.P., 2013. Sand Dune Conservation, Management and Restoration. Coastal Research Library, Volume 4, Springer, 303 pages.
- Doody, J.P., 2001. Coastal Conservation and Management: an Ecological Perspective. Kluwer, Academic Publishers, Boston, USA, 306 pp. Conservation Biology Series, 13
- Polunin, O. & Walters, M., 1985. A Guide to the Vegetation of Britain and Europe. Oxford University Press.
- Sand dune types - Europe
- Sand Dunes in Europe
- For information on the management and restoration of sand dunes in the UK see the Living with the Sea LIFE project, Coastal Habitat Restoration Guide - sand dune restoration
- Articles on sand dunes in the Wikpedia
Sand dune and shingle network
Why not join the Sand Dune and Shingle Network hosted by Liverpool Hope University and coordinated by Paul Rooney and John Houston. Please contact email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:f5a499a5-9976-4968-a9cb-666b7f66270a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vliz.be/wiki/European_Sand_Dune_Distribution | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922602 | 2,640 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Aga of Algeria 1661-1665
(The "Aga" was the military commander of an Ottoman Turkish colony, who reported to the Pasha, the governor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonial_heads_of_...
"Algiers [was] the center of Ottoman authority in the Maghrib. For 300 years, Algeria was a province of the Ottoman Empire under a regency that had Algiers as its capital.... Subsequently...governors with the title of pasha ruled." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Algeria...
Specifically, he was the agha of the Janissaries.
These aghas, besides being governor of Algiers and president of the diwan that administered the country, had since 1659 taken the place of the pashas formerly sent from Istanbul to rule Algeria, the excuse for the change being that "the pasha's corruption hampered the relations of the regency with European countries" (Jamil M. Abun-Nasr, A History of the Maghrib, p. 175).
Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries. | <urn:uuid:63d608b2-79eb-4a5b-b7b4-8f4c495d16dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/6946/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942447 | 253 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Translation of fall in Spanish:
- 1 countable 1.1 (tumble) to take a fallsufrir una caídaI broke my leg in the fall
caerseme rompí la pierna al caermeto head or (esp US) ride for a fallir camino al desastreExample sentences1.2 (in wrestling)
Example sentences1.3 (descent) the tree broke my fall
- TWO jockeys were hurt in falls and a spectator collapsed in a toilet during a North Yorkshire horse race.
- Mrs Tempest was conscious after the initial fall but later collapsed and was airlifted to Nairobi General Hospital.
- Runs up the ramp may be frantic attempts to escape, but end in falls, collapses and rolling back down.
el árbol frenó mi caídaExample sentences
- He then did a springboard senton but Hart went to count the fall but Kash pulled him out of the ring.
- Monty Brown pinned Sabu in 8: 35 in an Extreme rules match, which meant falls count anywhere.
- A fall from the ring counts as two knockdowns, with three knockdowns resulting in a loss just like a knockout.
- The fall in prices would be greater than the fall not only in their wage rates but also in the overall average of wage rates.
- The dollar suffered its biggest fall against the Yen for more than a year.
- The central bank attributed the steady plunge of the gross national savings rate to a rapid fall of savings in the household sector.
- 2 countable (autumn) (US)Example sentences
- In the fall, autumn leaves will bring a change of color to the coastline.
- Mating season commonly takes place during the fall and winter seasons, but can occur at any time throughout the year.
- In addition, I'd like to wish everyone a great fall and winter season, and may the weather be good to us.
- 3 countable (decrease) a fall in somethinga fall in temperatureun descenso de temperaturas or de la temperaturaa fall in pricesuna bajada or caída de preciosa fall in demand/outputuna disminución or caída de la demanda/producción
- 4 countable 4.1 (loss of status) the Fall (of Man) (Bible)la caída (de Adán)Example sentences4.2 (defeat, capture) the fall of the dictator
la caída del dictadorExample sentences
- His dramatic exit resolved the paradoxes of his life and arguably saved him a very public decline and fall.
- But Melon subjects the ladies to a graphic account of his decline and fall.
- The decline and fall of a mere meritocrat in a world of privilege is the theme of this novel.
- Argentina's swift defeat hastened the fall of the military dictatorship and the restoration of democracy.
- The battle between Enigorio and Enigonhahetgea reminds one of the fall of Satan in Christian lore.
- He compared the fall of the Soviet Union to the rise of new media.
- 5 countable (of snow)Example sentences
- Management decided it was unsafe for miners to continue working as the coalface was hit by falls of rock and debris from the roof, and flooding.
- Councillors branded it ‘diabolical’ blaming KCC for being too slow in dealing with the heavy falls of snow of January 8.
- We awoke this morning, after promises all weekend of disruptive falls of snow, to a tiny white dusting, a little more fell soon after but for now that seems to be it.
- 6also: falls plural(waterfall)(higher) catarata (feminine)the Niagara FallsExample sentences
- There were other falls, other cascades and exciting spurts of white water in the canyon, and also quiet stretches so clear that each stone lay as if painted on the creek bed.
- The steps are crowned with statues and, again, fountains, which make them a combination of sprouting water and cascading falls.
- With water cascading down from a height of 4,500 ft. and splitting into five smaller falls, the Kempty waterfalls offers a panoramic view.
intransitive verb past tense fell past participle fallen
- 1 1.1 (tumble)(person/animal)I fell in the river
caerseme caí al ríohe fell into bed/a chairse dejó caer en la cama/en una sillashe fell into his arms to fall downstairscaerse por la escaleraI fell out of bed last nightanoche me caí de la camahe fell to his kneescayó de rodillashe fell back into the chairse echó hacia atrás en la sillashe fell under a bus/trainla atropelló un autobús/trenI fell over a piece of woodtropecé con un trozo de maderathe house is so small, we are falling over each otherla casa es tan pequeña que estamos unos encima de otrosto fall foul of somebody/somethinghe fell foul of the lawtuvo problemas con la leyyou'd better not fall foul of hermejor no te la pongas en contrathe plan has fallen foul of the new rules on …el plan se ha visto obstaculizado por la nueva normativa sobre …to fall over oneself to +
infinitivedesvivirse por+ infinitivematarse por+ infinitive[colloquial]Example sentences1.2 (from height)
caersea tree has fallen across the roadse ha caído un árbol en medio de la carreterathe knife fell from her handel cuchillo se le cayó de la manotears fell from his eyes to let something fall to let fall a comment/remarkdejar caer un comentario/una observaciónhe fell down the wellse cayó al pozohe fell off his horseExample sentences1.3
- I did not fall or lose my balance or anything else embarrassing, but I was annoyed.
- We'd clasped hands and spun around, but I'd fallen off balance and crashed into the table.
- Thrown off balance, the boy fell with a splash, just as the bullet whizzed past his head.
(dress/drapes) (hang down) caera stray lock of hair fell over her foreheadun mechón le caía sobre la frenteExample sentences1.4 (descend)
- I watched her open up the paper, let the rest of the tobacco fall onto the ground, and then ball up the little bit of paper and flick it.
- He brought his hands down, and she let the bow fall abruptly, surprised at his sudden movement.
- His hand glowed and the gigantic sword fell to the ground, leaving a small indention where it had fallen.
(night/rain)a sudden hush fell over the crowd
- His braided hair fell down over his shoulders, his eyes were jet black, and he liked to wear a piece of purple silk tied around his hair.
- His long golden hair falls down over his shoulders, and you notice two pointed ears poking out from the golden locks.
caerde repente se hizo el silencio entre la multitudher eye fell on the booksu mirada se detuvo en el libroExample sentences
- Three Beanie Baby birthdays have fallen in the last eight days and by tonight when I was being asked to suggest presents for a lobster I confess I was feeling unhelpful.
- Night had fallen again upon the world, letting the world below fall into a gentle slumber.
- As night began to fall, he arrived at a village and all the hotels were full for the night.
- 2 (decrease)(wind)the barometer is falling
amainarel barómetro está bajandosterling fell sharply against the dollarla libra esterlina sufrió un fuerte descenso con respecto al dólarto fall in somebody's estimation or esteemcaer en la estima de alguienhis face fellExample sentences
- If the Footsie fell by the same amount it would have gone below 3,000.
- Within the whole sample, depression scores fell by a similar amount in both groups at two and four months.
- Unemployment reached the highest levels since the 1930s. Wages fell by the greatest amount in a century.
- 3 (be captured, defeated)to fall (
tosomebody)(city/country/government)the capital has fallen to the rebels
caer (en manos or en poder de alguien)la capital ha caído en manos or en poder de los rebeldesExample sentences
- Napoleon III fell from power and in 1870, Hugo witnessed the siege of Paris.
- Where were you on the day Margaret Thatcher fell from power?
- Ties had been strained after the Khmer Rouge fell from power in 1979, but warmed again in the mid-1990s.
- When the town fell to the epidemic of vampirism that swept the world, it must have fallen quickly.
- Despite the efforts of Washington's regulars and the massed militia, New York and its strategic harbor fell to the enemy in September 1776. ...
- Damar becomes even more angry, when he learns that Septimus III has fallen to the enemy, even though Weyoun had promised to "deal" with the situation.
- 4 4.1 (pass into specified state) to fall ill or (esp US) sickponerse enfermo (Spain)enfermarse (Latin America)to fall silentcallarseto fall vacant
quedarse calladoquedar libreto fall into decayirse deteriorandoto fall into disreputedesprestigiarseto fall into disuse she fell on hard timeslas cosas le empezaron a ir malto fall into enemy handscaer en poder or en manos del enemigoto fall among thievesmeterse en una cueva de ladronesto fall from or out of favorthat idea has fallen out of favor with educationalistsesa idea ha perdido popularidad entre los pedagogosshe's fallen from favor with his familyha caído en desgracia con su familiato fall out of fashionpasarse de moda4.2 (enter) to fall into a trance/comaentrar en trance/comato fall into a trapcaer en una trampashe fell into a deep sleepse durmió profundamentesee also→ prey 2, → victim
- 5 5.1 (land) the stress falls on the first syllableel acento cae or recae sobre la primera sílabaChristmas falls on a Thursday this yeareste año Navidad cae en (un) juevesthe burden will fall on the poorlos pobres serán los que sufrirán la cargawhich heading does it fall under?¿bajo qué acápite va?it falls within/outside the boundariescae dentro/fuera de los límites5.2 (into category) the problems fall into three categorieslos problemas se pueden clasificar en tres tipos diferentes
- 6 (be slain) [formal]caer [formal]Example sentences
- On this Memorial Day as we honor those who have fallen in battle in service of their country let us pray to whatever higher force in which we believe or hope that the dying stops.
- That uniform is stained with the noble blood of those who've fallen in battle for their country.
- The General was said to be battered and bruised, but was not one of the unfortunate 420000 who fell during the battle.
- (laugh uproariously) (British) [colloquial]
- 1 (slope down)
- 1 (retreat)
- 1 (to the ground)
- 1 (be attracted to)
- 1 (tumble in)
- 1 (meet and join)
- 1 (tumble down from)
- 1 (attack)
- 1 (drop out)
- (fail) the trip to Spain has fallen through
- 1verb + adverb (begin enthusiastically) the food arrived and we fell to with a will
- → fall on
morirse de risa [colloquial]he had us all falling about (laughing) with his jokes
nos tenía a todos muertos de risa con sus chistes [colloquial]
(relationship)the vase fell apart in my hands
irse a pique
irse a pique
el jarrón se me deshizo or se me rompió en las manosthey're letting the house fall apart
están dejando que la casa se venga abajohe just fell apart after her death
quedó deshecho cuando ella murió
(ground)2 (break off)
caer en declive
caer en declive
desprenderse3 (decline, decrease)
(attendance/production)to fall away sharply
irse a pique4 (disappear)
(troops)2 (lose position) the British runner has fallen back
el corredor británico ha perdido terreno or se ha quedado atrásthe share index has fallen back several points
el índice bursátil ha bajado varios enteros
(resources)she had her parents to fall back on
echar mano de
echar mano de
podía recurrir a sus padresthese savings will be something to fall back on in the future
con estos ahorros tendré de qué echar mano en el futuro
rezagarsehe's fallen behind the rest of the class
se ha (quedado) rezagado con respecto al resto de la claseto fall behind
nos habíamos atrasado en los pagosI'm falling behind with the correspondence
se me está acumulando correspondencia atrasada
(house/wall)I fell down the stairs
me caí por la escalerahe fell down on his knees and prayed
se arrodilló y se puso a rezar2 (fail) where the book falls down is in …
donde el libro falla es en …to fall down
fallarI tend to fall down on my biology
donde suelo fallar or donde no estoy muy fuerte es en biología
(man/woman)Gus fell for Hilda in a big way
quedar prendado de
quedar prendado de
Gus se enamoró de Hilda de verdad2 (be deceived by)
(trick/ruse)surely you didn't fall for that old ploy!
¡no te habrás tragado semejante cuento! [colloquial]the poor girl fell for it
la pobre picó or se lo tragó [colloquial]
caerse (a un pozo, al agua etc)2 (collapse)
(roof)3 (form ranks) (Military)
juntarse conshe's fallen in with rather a bad crowd
anda en malas compañías2 (agree with)
(plan/proposal)I'm happy to fall in with whatever you want to do
yo estoy dispuesta a hacer lo que ustedes quieran
(cyclist/rider)2 (break off)
caerse (de una bicicleta, un caballo etc)
caerse (de una bicicleta, un caballo etc)
(handle/knob)3 (become less)
(production/interest/attendance)4 (worsen) to fall off dramatically
dar un gran bajón
tener un gran bajón
pegar un gran bajón [colloquial]
(enemy/victim)he fell on the food as if he hadn't eaten for a week
se abalanzó sobre la comida como si hiciera una semana que no comía2→ fall to 2 2
(hair/tooth)it must have fallen out when you opened the bag
se te debe (de) haber caído cuando abriste la bolsa2 (break ranks) (Military)
romper filasfall out!
¡rompan filas!3 (quarrel)
pelearseshe had fallen out with her boyfriend
se había peleado con su novio4 (happen) if I had known how things would fall out
había reñido con su novio
había reñido con su novio
si hubiera sabido cómo iban a salir or a resultar las cosas
(person/lamp/stool)to fall over oneself/each other to do somethingthey were falling over themselves to help
se desvivían por ayudarthey are falling over each other to get the contract
están desesperados por conseguir el contrato
el viaje a España ha quedado en la nadaif the sale falls through
si no se concreta la venta
llegó la comida y todos atacamos con ganas [colloquial]they all fell to and finished the work in an hour
todos (se) pusieron manos a la obra y terminaron el trabajo en una hora2verb + preposition + object 2.1 (begin)to fall
ponerse or empezarI fell to thinking about old times
a + infinitive
empecé or me puse a pensar en los viejos tiempos2.2 (be somebody's responsibility) (task/duty)
corresponderle ait falls to me to see that …
me corresponde a mí asegurarme de que …the task fell to Mr Lennox
le tocó or le correspondió al señor Lennox hacerlo
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:d0ffe77a-cb80-4ad3-b390-c2c62f137f4a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/english-spanish/fall | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.691024 | 4,045 | 2.8125 | 3 |
CSE 221: Homework 1
Due: Thursday, February 9, 2006 at the start of class (3:30pm)
Answer the following questions. For questions asking for short
answers, support your answers with material from the referenced
papers, or with your own critical arguments, as appropriate. I am
interested in your justifications as much as the answer itself. There
may not necessarily be a "right" answer, although some answers may be
easier to justify. Finally, do not use shorthand -- write your
answers using complete sentences.
- A fundamental aspect of protection in operating systems is rights
amplification. Rights amplifications enables a more privileged
protection domain to perform an operation on behalf of a less
privileged protection domain in a control fashion while maintaining
protection in the system.
For each of the following operating systems, state (a) the
protection domains that they support, (b) the mechanism for crossing
protection domains, (c) how rights are represented, (d) how rights are
amplified crossing domains, and (e) how the OS determines whether to
allow the domain crossing.
- Butler Lampson once gave a set of design
principles for computer systems. One of the principles he gave was to
use hints to speed up normal execution. He noted:
A hint, like a cache entry, is the saved result of some
computation. It is different in two ways: it may be wrong, and it
is not necessarily reached by an associative lookup. Because a hint
may be wrong, there must be a way to check its correctness before
taking any unrecoverable action. It is checked against the "truth",
information that must be correct but can be optimized for this
purpose rather than for efficient execution. Like a cache entry,
the purpose of a hint is to make the system run faster. Usually
this means that it must be correct nearly all the time.
Give an example of the use of a hint drawn from one of the papers
we have covered in the class. Explain what information comprises a
hint, and how it is checked against the "truth". Give, to the best
of your ability, an estimate of the performance gain obtained by using
the hint, and describe how the hint is correct "nearly all the
- Pilot made a strong argument for tailoring the design and
implementation of operating systems to personal computers. We have
also seen commercial operating systems like MSDOS and MacOS tailored
towards personal computers as well. Why do you think we still run
multi-user timesharing systems like Unix on our PCs? (Note: Consider,
for example, the requirements we have of the systems that we use
- Operating systems go to great lengths to provide isolation and
protection among processes executing on the system. Process
debugging, however, represents a necessary, interesting feature that
is made more difficult by process isolation and protection, and
requires support from the operating system to function correctly.
To the extent possible and where appropriate, when answering the
following questions support your answers with approaches for debugging
support found in the papers you have read to this point (e.g., Tenex,
Pilot, Lampson Protection).
- Why must a traditional operating system like Unix explicitly
provide support for process debugging?
- List two distinct operations that a debugger must perform that
require support from the operating system.
- Because processes are protected and isolated from each
other, operating systems must also provide support for communication
and coordination among processes. Why can't debuggers just use the
support that operating systems already provide for process
communication and coordination?
- Do language runtime environments like Java and Perl require
operating system support for debugging programs in those languages?
Why or why not?
- When working on an operating system, developers also need
to use a debugger on the operating system itself. Why is debugging
the kernel of an operating system more challenging than debugging a
user-level process? What is one option for where to run a kernel | <urn:uuid:f06ca00d-7a1b-412f-8eb8-ad8033281a14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/classes/wi06/cse221/hw1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918701 | 857 | 3.265625 | 3 |
WUHAN, May 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese specialists said Wednesday that there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that the Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water conservation project, is to blame for the severe drought currently plaguing central China.
"According to data we currently have available, we have found no evidence that the drought was caused by the dam," said Liu Min, a meteorological specialist with the Hubei Provincial Weather Bureau.
According to data collected before and after the dam was built, Liu said the dam has had "very little" impact on regional temperature, humidity, wind velocity and other climate conditions.
"We believe the ongoing drought is more a periodical phenomenon than a result of improper water conservation," Liu said.
He said the "La Nina" weather phenomenon, which occurred last year, disrupted normal atmospheric circulation and prevented warm, humid air currents from reaching the Yangtze River's middle and lower regions. "This caused a lack of rain in these regions since November," he said.
As a result, the worst drought to hit the region in 50 years has affected 9.89 million people in four of China's central provinces, including Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui.
Some Internet users still believe the dam is at fault for the devastating dry spell.
"The dam has blocked water from flowing downstream, that certainly can cause climate changes," said a Beijinger using the screenname "Bull village head."
Extreme weather conditions in recent years, including last year's prolonged drought in southwest China and torrential rainfall in the central provinces, have occasionally retriggered public uproar over the dam.
Zheng Shouren, an academic with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and one of the dam's chief designers, dismissed the accusations as being groundless and unfair.
"Had the dam not been built, the drought would have been even worse in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze," Zheng said.
The dam, he said, was designed to store water toward the end of the Yangtze's flood season and supply water to the middle and lower reaches in the dry season.
"During this year's January-May dry season, water supplies from the dam's reservoir increased the Yangtze's downstream flow by 2,000 cubic meters," Zheng said.
This year, the dam's reservoir has supplied a total of 1.7 million cubic meters of water to the downstream provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui, he said.
The current drought has led authorities to discharge even more water from the dam. Water discharges were increased to 10,000 cubic meters per second from May 20 this year, increasing the water flow by 3,000 cubic meters per second.
Hydrological data from Tuesday indicated that water levels in two major downstream hydrological stations located in the Dongting and Poyang lakes had risen by 1.56 and 1.16 meters, respectively.
Even greater discharges will be put into effect starting from Wednesday this week, according to the China Three Gorges Corporation, the company in charge of operating the dam.
Water discharges will increase to 11,000 or 12,000 cubic meters per second until the flood season begins on June 10, according to Zhao Yunfa, a water conservancy engineer from the China Three Gorges Corporation. Zhao said the dam reservoir is expected to be closed up during the flood season in order to store more water for possible future droughts.
Pan Kejian, an official from the town of Bianhe, which is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze, said the dam's role in fighting the drought has been "significant."
"Water levels rose by at least 1 meter after the dam's reservoir accelerated its discharges. If it rises another meter, we won't have to rely on pumps for irrigation," Pan said.
When a massive flood hit the town in 1998, the dam was still incomplete, and the town suffered as a result.
"We had another major flood last summer, but it was far less devastating, as the dam blocked some of the water," Pan said.
Cao Guangjing, chairman of the China Three Gorges Corporation, said the dam's role in drought prevention should not be denied, but his company is also open to criticism and constructive suggestions.
"Since the dam began storing water, we have taken measures to minimize any potential impact on the local environment", he said.
Cao said his company has carried out joint experiments with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to monitor water quality and contain the spread of algae that has plagued some of the Yangtze's tributaries.
The algae is another problem for which many people believe the Dam is to blame, he said.
"We've been trying to remove the algae with specialized equipment and chemicals. We've also raised algae-eating fish to try and solve the problem in a more environmentally friendly way," he said.
Since some fish are known to spawn in great numbers during floods, Cao said his company is planning to create "artificial flood crests" at the end of this month by increasing water discharges in order to increase the number of fish in the region.
The Three Gorges Dam project was launched in 1993 with a budget of 180 billion yuan (22.5 billion U.S. dollars).
Located on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province, the total project consists of a 185-meter-high dam, which was completed in early 2006, a five-tier ship lock, a reservoir and 26 hydropower generators.
The project generates electricity, controls flooding by storing excess water and helps to regulate the river's shipping capacity. | <urn:uuid:6ddd3f9a-7e97-4ef7-a782-fa22964ff388> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-05/25/c_13893205.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972425 | 1,189 | 2.796875 | 3 |
N.H. Sea Grant
UNH Researchers Study Gulf of Maine Mercury ContaminationBy Christine Fagan
N.H. Sea Grant
March 28, 2001
DURHAM, N.H. -- Mercury is presently the most high profile contaminant in the Gulf of Maine. The elimination of its sources has been the subject of meetings of the governors and organizational leaders of each of the five jurisdictions around the gulf.
One of the world's most productive marine ecosystems, the Gulf of Maine is home to a collection of distinct and economically important species. The Gulf of Maine extends from Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, to Cape Cod, Mass. Organizations such as N.H. Sea Grant, the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment, and the Regional Association for Research in the Gulf of Maine have developed action plans and support initiatives focusing on mercury and other trace metal pollution.
Two University of New Hampshire researchers, geochemist Henri Gaudette and microbiologist Steve Jones, are studying the extent and impact of mercury contamination in the Penobscot River watershed following numerous leaks and spills in the area.
"Declining stocks of wild populations of fish, the loss of critical estuarine and coastal habitats, and the threat of nonpoint sources of pollution are signs that the marine environment has been degraded," says Jones. "It is crucial for us to understand the impacts of our actions, as environmental degradation is detrimental not only to the health of our ecosystem, but also to the economic and social well-being of coastal communities."
Jones and Gaudette are focusing on two sites in the watershed. The first site, located in Orrington on the Penobscot River, is a freshwater environment, while the second, at Stonington Harbor, is saltwater. "This project is important because you have two very different marine environments, which makes it ideal to study and compare the mechanisms of mercury contamination," Gaudette explains.
The project, which is funded by N.H. Sea Grant, will determine the distribution of mercury contamination in surface sediments and establish the historical chronology of mercury deposition and burial at both sites.
While numerous studies have documented the distribution of trace metals in sediments in various areas of the gulf, resource managers need to know the sources so that the discharge of contaminants of concern to the environment can be eliminated. The source or source area is know at both study areas, which is useful for determining the fate of the mercury in the environment. The study results will aid researchers in determining the sources and fate of mercury elsewhere in the marine environment.
Jones says that bacteria in the sediment transform the mercury into an even more toxic form, mono-methyl mercury. This form bioaccumulates, moving up through the food chain. This poses health risks to the marine environment and seafood consumers alike.
Jones and Gaudette place blue mussels from clean areas of Penobscot Bay into containment structures in the contaminated areas, so that they can study the accumulation of mercury in mussel tissue over time. The pair also plans to investigate impacts of the mercury to indigenous biota by looking at changes in bacterial resistance to mercury. | <urn:uuid:001d7f2a-c9b2-43b0-846f-906970ef0483> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unh.edu/news/news_releases/2001/march/cf_20010328mercury.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931469 | 641 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Lactose intolerance is the inability to digest lactose, the sugar primarily found in milk and dairy products. It is caused by a shortage in the body of lactase, an enzyme produced by the small intestine, which is needed to digest lactose. While lactose intolerance is not dangerous, its symptoms can be distressing.
What Are the Symptoms of Lactose Intolerance?
Symptoms of lactose intolerance include:
- Cramps and abdominal pain
- Painful gas
Symptoms tend to develop 30 minutes to two hours after drinking milk or eating dairy products. The severity of symptoms varies, depending on the amount of lactose the person ate or drank and the amount the person can tolerate. Some people may be sensitive to extremely small amounts of lactose-containing foods, while others can eat larger amounts before they notice symptoms.
What Foods Contain Lactose?
The most common foods that are high in lactose include dairy products such as milk, ice cream, and cheese. Lactose is also added to some foods, such as bread and baked goods, cereals, salad dressings, candies, and snacks.
Foods that contain whey, curds, milk by-products, dry milk solids, and nonfat dry milk also contain lactose.
Lactose is also present in about 20% of prescription medications, such as birth control pills (oral contraceptives), and about 6% of over-the-counter medications, such as some tablets for stomach acid and gas.
Who Gets Lactose Intolerance?
Lactose intolerance is extremely common. It is estimated that 30 to 50 million Americans have some degree of lactose intolerance. Certain racial and ethnic populations are more affected than others, including 50% of Hispanics; 75% of African Americans, Jews, and Native Americans; and 90% of some Asian populations.
What Causes Lactose Intolerance?
For most people, lactose intolerance develops naturally as they grow older. The small intestine often begins to produce less lactase after age two. Certain digestive diseases such as Crohn's disease, Celiac disease (a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food), infections, and injuries to the small intestine can also reduce the amount of lactase available to process lactose properly. | <urn:uuid:e6511983-9689-4d22-bb9a-590bdcf1f2e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/digestive-diseases-lactose-intolerance?src=rsf_full-3555_pub_none_xlnk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944129 | 477 | 3.5 | 4 |
Short answer: If you measure IQs, taller people tend to show higher numbers, and men are taller in average. A man and a woman of the same size would show a slight difference in favour of the female. If measuring intelligence as brain components, men show slightly higher numbers and have a better short-term memory.
Adam Hampshire from the University of Western Ontario has very recently conducted a research with 100,000 participants of different age, gender and geographical locations, criticising the use of IQ tests as a measure of intelligence. They run cognitive tests that analysed the memory, reasoning, attention and planning abilities, and reinforced them with MRI scanning.
For a century or more many people have thought that we can distinguish
between people, or indeed populations, based on the idea of general
intelligence which is often talked about in terms of a single number:
IQ. We have shown here that’s just wrong. Results from the study found that given a broader range of cognitive
tasks, the differences in ability relate to at least three components
of intelligence – short-term memory, reasoning and verbal aptitude.
These three components combined create an intelligence, or "cognitive
In other words, there is no single measure of intelligence. The components interact with one another but are handled by three distinct nerve “circuits” in the brain.
I wanted to mention this because IQ has been used as a measuring tool since the 1900s. They were created by French psychologist Alfred Binet, but Binet himself did not believe that his psychometric instruments could be used to measure a single, permanent and inborn level of intelligence (Kamin, 1995).
Works like the one cited on this answer have actually been critisised by Satoshi Kanazawa and Diane J. Reyniers in 2009.
The orthodoxy in intelligence research for the second half of the 20th
century had been that men and women had the same average intelligence,
but men had greater variance in their distribution than women. Most
geniuses were men, and most imbeciles were men, they said, while most
women were in the normal range. This conclusion, however, was
manufactured out of political expediency. Not wanting to discover, or
a priori denying, any sex differences in intelligence,
psychometricians simply deleted from the standardized IQ tests any
item on which the performance of men and women differed.
Kanazawa and Reyniers ventured another hypothesis. They started with something that had been stated before: that height is positively correlated with 'intelligence' (sources), taller people on average are 'more intelligent' than shorter people. And men in every human population are taller than women. They analysed a large representative American sample (20.745 from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health) and discovered that:
Once height (measured in inches) is controlled, women have
significantly higher IQs than men. Net of height, women score 2.14
points higher on the PPVT. In contrast, each inch in height is worth
more than half an IQ point (0.56). Further controlling for health,
physical attractiveness, age, race, education, and earnings does not
alter this conclusion. Height has exactly the same effect on
intelligence for men and women: Each inch in height increases the IQ
by about .4 point.
Because American men on average are 5 inches taller than American women (5'10" vs. 5'5"), this translates into 2.80 IQ points (overcoming the 2.14-point advantage of women). According to this study, when height is not controlled, men show higher IQs in average.
These are still just abstractions for what we want to define as intelligence (
g, Hampshire's ratio). Kanazawa's work offers a plausible explanation to why IQ tests show higher numbers for men, but I think it's Hampshire's research that shows a more flexible approach to the subject. Intelligence has environmental modifiers:
Source: Fractionating Human Intelligence
Age was by far the most significant predictor of performance, with the mean scores of individuals in their sixties 1.7 SD below those in their early twenties.
However, the games you play, if you are an anxious person or if you smoke, all modify your final
g number, or supposed intelligence.
And here comes what I think is a possible answer to this question:
While the differences between male and female participants’ mean (0.1
SD), verbal (0.03), and reasoning scores (0.03) were negligible, males
showed a small advantage over females on the STM component score (0.2
Are men smarter than women?
If you measure IQs, taller people tend to show higher numbers, and men are taller. According to this, taller men are (generally, very broadly) 'smarter' than shorter men and shorter women. In average, a man and a woman of the same size would show a slight difference in favour of the female.
If measuring intelligence as brain components, men show slightly higher numbers and have a better short-term memory.
This is the latest study using 'modern' technology such as MRI scanners. The brain is still the most complex structure we possess, so I doubt any of this will remain carved in stone. | <urn:uuid:87b5aa2d-449f-4315-bb51-063a6b1945f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/14190/are-men-smarter-than-women | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00079-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958973 | 1,104 | 3.015625 | 3 |
In 1900 there were 100,000 horses in New York City. That many horses required a huge number of employees of a wide variety of industries to maintain, feed and clean up after them, in addition to any of the jobs created by the horse-power itself. With the rise of the automobile, the horses have all but left and with them probably tens of thousands of jobs. Do we mourn that?
No, that’s progress.
Walter Williams opines that all such job destruction makes us richer.
In 1790, farmers were 90 percent, out of a population of nearly 3 million, of the U.S. labor force. By 1900, only about 41 percent of our labor force was employed in agriculture. By 2008, fewer than 3 percent of Americans were employed in agriculture. Through labor-saving technological advances and machinery, our farmers are the world’s most productive. As a result, Americans are better off.
In 1970, the telecommunications industry employed 421,000 workers as switchboard operators, annually handling 9.8 billion long-distance calls. Today the telecommunications industry employs only 78,000 operators. That’s a tremendous 80 percent job loss. What happened? The answer: There have been spectacular labor-saving advances in telecommunications. Today more than 100 billion long-distance calls a year require only 78,000 switchboard operators. What’s more is the cost of making a long-distance call is a tiny fraction of what it was in 1970. Can we say these technological innovations made the nation worse off?
Photo by jorgedbbt. | <urn:uuid:61a17e4b-9585-4473-b22d-057720273c87> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.business-opportunities.biz/2011/07/27/job-destruction-isnt-bad-it-makes-us-richer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948062 | 326 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Heart Events Rare in Kids on ADHD Drugs
No Heart Complications Seen, but Long-Term Safety Questioned
Dec. 5, 2007 -- Stimulants used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are known to raise blood pressure and heart rate, but serious heart complications seem to be rare among the children who take them, a new study suggests.
The findings appear reassuring, but researchers say important questions remain about the long-term safety of widely used ADHD stimulant drugs like Adderall and Ritalin.
The researchers from the University of Florida analyzed records from 55,000 children and teens newly diagnosed with ADHD from 1994 to 2004.
Stimulant use was found to be associated with a 20% increase in visits to hospital ERs or doctors' offices for complaints such as heart palpitations and racing heartbeat, compared with nonuse. But use of the drugs did not appear to be associated with an increase in hospitalizations or deaths due to cardiac causes.
Researcher Almut Winterstein, PhD, tells WebMD that because serious cardiac events are so rare among children and teens, a much larger study is needed to confirm the safety of these drugs.
"We can't really say that there is no increase in risk (for serious cardiac events) among children who take these drugs," she says. "What we can say is that if there is an increase in risk, it will not affect a large number of children."
ADHD Drugs and Heart Risk
The CDC estimates that 4.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD, and as of 2003, 2.5 million were taking medication for it.
Children are increasingly taking the drugs for longer and longer periods, but little is known about their long-term cardiovascular impact, Winterstein says.
"The average exposure in our study was two years, but we see children who are on these drugs for five years, 10 years, and even longer," she says.
She adds that it is also not clear if the drugs are safe for children with existing heart problems or with risk factors for heart disease.
Johns Hopkins University professor of pediatrics and psychiatry Daniel Safer, MD, agrees that much larger studies are needed to address these and other safety issues.
"We know that stimulants like [the banned dietary supplement] ephedra can cause life-threatening [cardiac] events," he tells WebMD. "We need to know more about the drugs that millions of children take." | <urn:uuid:40015c0c-d697-44f4-9a6f-bfd634aa2990> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/childhood-adhd/news/20071205/heart-events-rare-kids-adhd-drugs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961556 | 513 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Christopher Flavelle reviews a new study showing that Americans have fallen behind Europe in life expectancy and considers our potential to catch up:
The inescapable context for this study is the enduring debate over whether the government should ensure that almost all Americans get access to health insurance. The portion of Americans who are uninsured, or who are insured but lack affordable access to care, is the single biggest difference between the U.S. and other developed countries. It’s also, through Obamacare, a difference that can be fixed.
Richard Gunderman dismisses the importance of the numbers:
[T]he mist of health statistics often obscures the mountain we are really trying to climb. It is true that U.S. life expectancy lags behind that of a number of other nations. It is true that if we could lower rates of smoking and obesity, we could probably bump these numbers up. But a more sober analysis reveals that life expectancy is a pretty poor indicator of health. We are attracted to it because it is straightforward to measure and makes it relatively easy to keep score. But we cannot tell from a person’s life expectancy how well they are actually living.
Suppose through some wonder of modern biomedical science we could suddenly double our life expectancy by staying in bed 20 hours per day, or giving up all solid foods, or never again reading a book. Would we do it? To say that we are willing to pay any price in order to increase the length of our lives is to say that we have forgotten what it really means to live. The Struldbruggs in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels are immortal specimens, but they are also miserable human beings, whose unending lives prove to be not blessing but curse. | <urn:uuid:3a20049e-e050-4d22-a19f-45a0d12e2c19> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/07/12/lifes-too-short-in-america/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00192-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959635 | 361 | 2.625 | 3 |
The use of keyed connectors that can only be assembled one way is a good precaution to prevent reversed connections. Of course, if the connector is wired backwards that won't help. The second essential step is to gather baseline data and confirm that the device is operating properly. If indeed the sensor was installed upside-down, it should have been reported inverted data when standing on the launchpad. Exhaustive testing certainly proves its worth if it can catch a tiny error before it causes a huge failure.
Huge failure is right. One would think that there would be several tests and confirmations in place before actual launch. That's a huge loss of resources based on something that should have been easily caught.
@DrQuine: I agree that a simple thing like keying the package should help ensure proper mounting. In this case, the source stated the "angular velocity sensors" may have been the wrong way around. The only way to test those after they're installed may be to rotate the rocket, as they only respond to dynamic rotational motion - sitting on the launch pad, they will report zeros. (although the Proton system seems to include rotating the rocket in place, I'm not sure of the feasibility of having the navigation systems in a test mode during that operation).
I'm sure there will be an analysis to prevent this from happening in the future.
We can't necessarily be too smug about this. I seem to remember an American Mars probe that sailed right past that planet because someone put a period instead of a comma in a line of FORTRAN code. I have had friends that worked on the Saturn 5 that left because of the tension of building systems that could never be completely tested prior to a launch. We may be better off today with a combination of more experience and better test equipment, but we are also building more complex systems.
Larry - re: "We can't necessarily be too smug about this. I seem to remember an American Mars probe that sailed right past that planet..." There was also the Mars probe that crashed because of a Imperial vs. Metric mix up. And there was also the Genesis solar wind sample & return mission that crashed because the G sensor used to trigger parachute deployment was installed backwards.
There was also an Ariane rocket that died due to Metric/Imperial issues. I can't understand why anybody is using imperial any more in science. The whole world's science community is supposed to be metric now. Australia went metric in 1970 (enacted into law) and made it illegal to use metric offically. All packaging had to have metric measure and good were sold by metric measure. Even building products which were often imperial sized had their metric equivalent printed on them. The end result was it all happened and very few look back on it as a negative thing. The Russians are of course metric so that one is ruled out but the argument for testing is a difficult one in an assembled rocket. It probably wasn't electrical orientation but rather mechanical, but how do you rotate a fully assembled rocket fast enough to test gyros? I guess the more complex these things become the more difficult an ideal testing regime becomes. BTW, I replied to your post only to mention the metric issue, sorry to add so much more :-)
@etmax Good question about English versus metric units. I remember back in grade school the U.S. preparing to "go metric," and that was more years ago than I care to admit. I think the cost of conversion would be so great at this point, that it's simply easier to not deal with it. Not that it's the right thing to do.
I'm a take the bull by the horns sort of guy, so I would suggest that the cost of changing will get ever larger while the cost of doing nothing will grow larger still, sort of like global warming (if you subscribe to the idea). I think the cost of change as a percentage relative to GDP is probably near a contant, where as the cost of not changing will just continue to go up. When I started in design all part footprints were imperial, now virtually all new footprints are metric, even new ones from US design houses. Even though the US is the worlds largest economy, if you do a "size of imperial economy" vs. "size of metric economy" and factor in how much of the US output goes into export goods to metric economies, it soon becomes clear that there must be a significant financial burden in running dual systems. Add to that I was watching an air crash investigation episode where a airport attendant was refueling a metric plane and did his fuel calculations as if the tank level reading he was getting was gallons and as a result the plane was forced to land without fuel at a desert airport. If it would have been an ocean landing all on board would have died. These sort of things can only happen in a dual measurement world and are extremely costly my guess is $350million per plane and maybe $10 million per passenger (how much is a life really worth). The ESA crashed a Mars lander because the landing computer was metric and someone did the calculations in imperial, that was $3billion. I don't mean to harp on this issue, but there are just so many examples of this, some we just don't hear about. What would the additional cost of insurance be if this was deemed an additional cost of doing business with the US?
@ETmax I don't disgree with you that it's costing a bundle of money to run a dual system, but unless those costs appear as a line item on somebody's balance sheet, there isn't much impetus for government or industry or somebody to pony up and do something about it. Since nobody can measure these hidden costs, how can the ROI of a massive, one-time investment be calculated? Sorry, but it's just the way our financial systems are wired--do nothing until our back is up against the wall, and even then, only maybe do something.
ETmax, Karen: Do you really think that Americans (half of whom apparently think public healthcare is a socialistic concept) would be willing to switch to metrics -- throwing out their beloved tape measures and rulers in the process and recasting every property measurement in the country? Consider American football alone: can you imagine the Super Bowl played on a 91.44-meter field?
Cost aside, I think it is a noble but unobtainable goal. (Besides, what are you going to do about that pesky Imperial Gallon in Canada -- 20% larger than the US gallon) There is need for change in America. I'm not sure this one tops my list. What do others think?
Interesting comment--this type of thing happens often? It's a bit amazing that the systems that we look at to be in the forefront of innovation can be brought down by such errors. I really appreciate all of these comments. At first I thought this couldn't be true, but the more I read from those of you in the know, it seems pretty possible.
I'm not sure I'd put a lot of stock in an unidentified source and the Interfax news agency. I mean -- these are rocket scientists we're talking about, and they know how to install sensors. In any case, how would they know at this point?
@Tom: I agree with you. I am a bit skeptic about the source, which has pointed to an important sensor getting installed "Up-side Down" as the cause of the failure. Why I think so?...several reasons. One is already mentioned by Tom. Also:
1. There should have been well-established processes for design, development and manufacturing space equipments as this kind of space programs deal with huge money, reputation and safety. The process should have been rugged enough to prevent this kind of human error. If not prevented, atleast, it should have been caught in inspection or some kind of quality checking/reviews.
2. Even if it was a mistake, I think design should have had redundant sensors to take care of this kind errors. Hope not all of those were mounted "upside-down"...otherwise there must had been a serious process gap somewhere.
I don't think this kind of error getting un-detected is something which could be expected from a well settled space organization isn't it?
Good point, Sanjib. You would think that there would be redundant systems. In the US, it's standard practice to have triple redundancy on space probes. And the monitoring stations on the ground watch every indicator. There is certainly a possibility that this report is true, but I think there is a larger chance that the report is based on poor information.
@Kevin N: Okay if all redundant sensors were mounted backwards, this could be due to manual error that instructions for installation were not followed appropriately or instruction for installation was dubious; Also then, there was a process gap that the installation was not reviewed by somebody independently.
By the way...will there be any official report released some point of time?
Wait a second--I hope this isn't true, because this is exactly what happened with the Genesis probe. It returned to earth and the drogue was supposed to come out after it had decelerated to a certain speed, but the accelerometers were mounted upside down so the deceleration was interpreted as acceleration and the drogue never came out and the probe cratered in the desert.
It is very difficult to believe that such a mistake could have been made !
It will be interesting to know the design of the sensors- where there was an indication of how to mount them . If the basic instructions has been overlooked then it shows a poor standard of inspection and testing of a billion dollar product
Interesting FACTS: This crash is the fifth major LAUNCH failure of a Proton-M rocket since 2010. The program was grounded by the Russians just last December and restarted only as recently as March, since which they had successfully launched THREE Proton-M rockets before this launch failure. That's roughly one launch per month; seems like a program in a hurry. [Source= http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=russian-rocket-crash-deta] It's clearly a difficult task to push 20 tons of payload into orbit... and as of late it's proving especially difficult for the RFSA.
Actually it is not a cliché but an adage or epigram according to Wikipedia.
Here is an interresting link.
I have been a techie for 50 years and when designing or building things, always keep Murphy's Law in mind. No insult intended.
Were the sensors mounted backwards or connected backwards? Seems to me for something like this the connectors would be keyed so that they could not be put together incorrectly. Anyhow, it would explain why the rocekt made a beeline for the goournd when is should've been going in the other direction. | <urn:uuid:e8527174-e4e4-4dc5-b02f-5d505d18dc1e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eetimes.com/messages.asp?piddl_msgthreadid=42316&piddl_msgorder=thrd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980385 | 2,247 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Manioc Starch Modified
Cassava, yuca, or manioc (Manihot esculenta) is a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae (spurge family) native to South America that is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates. Cassava is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human food in the world, with Africa its largest center of production. The flour made of the roots is called tapioca. Cassava is classified as "sweet" or "bitter" depending on the level of toxic cyanogenic glucosides. Improper preparation of bitter cassava leads to a large number of cases of a disease called konzo. Nevertheless, farmers often prefer the bitter varieties because they deter pests, animals, and thieves.. The name "cassava" is sometimes spelled cassaba or cassada. . In English language publications, the plant may be occasionally called by local names, such as yuca (most of Spanish-speaking Americas), mandioca, aipim, or macaxera (Brazil), kassav (Haiti), mandi´o (Paraguay), akpu or ugburu (Nigeria),bankye(Twi-Speaking Ghana), mogo or mihogo (Swahili-speaking Africa), kappa (India), maniok (Sri Lanka), singkong (Indonesia), ubi kayu (Malaysia), kamoteng kahoy or balanghoy (Philippines), mushu (China), c? s?n or khoai mì (Vietnam), manioke or manioca (Polynesia) . Starch or amylum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. Starch is produced by all green plants as an energy store and is a major food source for humans. Pure starch is a white, tasteless and odorless powder that is insoluble in cold water or alcohol. It consists of two types of molecules: the linear and helical amylose and the branched amylopectin. Depending on the plant, starch generally contains 20 to 25% amylose and 75 to 80% amylopectin. Glycogen, the glucose store of animals, is a more branched version of amylopectin. Starch can be used as a thickening, stiffening or gluing agent when dissolved in warm water, giving wheatpaste. | <urn:uuid:2cebd0c7-8546-484d-9795-d025bb67bede> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.foodfacts.com/ci/ingredientsoverlay/manioc-starch-modified/13545 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889725 | 547 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Fourth-grade students from Dexter and Hagerman learn about milk production courtesy of Peach the cow, instructor Cody Lightfoot and The Mobile Dairy Classroom during the Kids & Kows & More program at the fairgrounds, Wednesday morning. Mark Wilson Photo
Fourth-grade students from Hagerman and Dexter elementary schools witnessed agriculture in action on Wednesday at Eastern New Mexico State Fairgrounds, enjoying presentations from various experts during the 12th annual Kids, Kows & More program. The program, sponsored by the Chaves County Cooperative Extension Service and Southwest Dairy Farmers, welcomed about 500 fourth-graders from Roswell schools on Tuesday, and will welcome about 500 more from the city today.
Educational stations provide students a chance to see the intricate processes that result in common agricultural products, including demonstrations and discussion about milk production, cattle ranching, bees, sheep [auth] shearing, pecan farming, cotton production and water conservation.
Cody Lightfoot’s Mobile Dairy Classroom offers students a chance to see where milk comes from, demonstrating the milking process with a live dairy cow and milking machine.
“When that milk comes squirting out into that jar, they’re all pretty amazed at how that works, and how much she gives,” Lightfoot said. “I’ve been doing this for 13 years, and I know there are still people out there who assume (milk) comes from the grocery store. This whole program is trying to let the kids know that agriculture is important to their life, every day and in every way; not just the milk, but the whole industry.”
During the presentation Lightfoot discusses the importance of dairy to a healthy diet, sharing information about the nine essential nutrients and vitamins in milk.
“Hopefully they remember the nutrition of milk,” he said. “If we can get at them young, and convince them that they need to be drinking their milk, they’ll drink the milk for the rest of their lives. That’s pretty much our message.”
County Extension Agent Janelle Duffey said many people do not realize all of the hard work that goes into agriculture, an important lesson for children to learn at a young age.
“(Agriculture) is not an eight-to-five job, Monday through Friday — it’s every single day,” Duffey said. “It’s a lifestyle; it’s family tradition. And they work at it. That’s how they make their money. That’s how they survive.
“Without agriculture, we wouldn’t have food on the table, we wouldn’t have clothes on our backs. So this program (helps) these kids gain an appreciation for agriculture and what it does for us as a society.”
During the sheep lesson, children learn that several common items come from the animal, how the stitching of a baseball is made from sheepskin, and how the inside of a baseball contains a rubber core wrapped in wool.
Duffey says student reactions during presentations like the one on sheep provides proof of the positive effect the program has on children.
“It’s fun to watch their faces,” she said. “They’re absolutely astonished. A lot of these kids can relate to a baseball, a tennis ball, lotion, wool blankets. They don’t realize the process that all those products go through before they actually hit the shelf on the store. And they always ask lots of questions.” | <urn:uuid:55106291-9ff6-4438-987a-f0b4562f3986> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rdrnews.com/wordpress/blog/2012/05/03/kids-kows-more-at-the-fairgrounds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955528 | 742 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Dietrich von Hartitsch, captain of the Hungarian city and district of Oedenburg, and provost of Lower Austria. In the Habsburg domains of Austria there was in the 16th century a police officer, the provost, who served as a security and court officer in civil as well as military service. It was the duty of this officer to clear the country of disorderly elements, such as vagrants, retired soldiers, etc. He was also to serve as informer, and to report on the state of roads and bridges. For police duty he was given as many as 50 peasants to assist him. In Styria he had halberdiers at his side. Two horses were assigned to him; as a salary he received the considerable sum of 1,200 guilders, from which he paid also his aides.
At the end of the 1520s the provost had a difficult task in ferreting out and delivering all elements suspected of heresy. In the days of Hut and Hubmaier, Dietrich von Hartitsch played an important role as a persecutor of the Anabaptists. The Hutterite Geschichts-Bücher says, "In 1528 in the first week of Lent, King Ferdinand sent the provost to Lower Austria. He now and again caused great indignation, sorrow, and persecution. For he put some into prison, and if he seized anyone in the field or on the streets he had him beheaded; those in the villages who would not renounce their faith he hanged on the pillars of the gates. Then many people were moved to go from Austria to Nikolsburg. Many also fled to the mountains with wife and children."
This was the execution of the royal mandate of 26 February and 20 March 1528: "We have sent Dietrich von Hartitsch to eradicate heretical and seductive sects and doctrines, to spy out the ringleaders of the Anabaptists and such persons as have accepted their sect, and to proceed against the ringleaders straightway, without any mercy and without the dignity of law."
This action cost many bloody sacrifices. Many Anabaptists fled over the border of Austria to Moravia, where persecution had ceased for the moment. But in a forest near Lengbach a group of 35 fell into the hands of the provost; 17 of them were killed, the others branded through the cheeks. At other places Hartitsch acted in similar fashion. The above commands of King Ferdinand were followed on April 12 by a directive to the governor of Lower Austria to have a gang of scouts ferret out persons moving away from the places where Hartitsch was in action. At the same time the courts of Lower Austria were shown the characteristics by which the Anabaptists might be recognized.
Beck, Josef. Die Geschichts-Bücher der Wiedertäufer in Oesterreich-Ungarn. Vienna, 1883; reprinted Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1967.
Hege, Christian and Neff, Christian. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 257 f.
Loserth, J. Balthasar Hubmaier und die Anfänge der Wiedertaufer in Mähren. Brunn, 1893.
Zieglschmid, A. J. F. Die älteste Chronik der Hutterischen Brüder: Ein Sprachdenkmal aus frühneuhochdeutscher Zeit. Ithaca: Cayuga Press, 1943.
Cite This Article
Loserth, Johann. "Hartitsch, Dietrich (16th century)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 28 Jun 2016. http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hartitsch,_Dietrich_(16th_century)&oldid=100464.
Loserth, Johann. (1956). Hartitsch, Dietrich (16th century). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 28 June 2016, from http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hartitsch,_Dietrich_(16th_century)&oldid=100464.
©1996-2016 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c630e513-7de4-47f5-9d76-2197f134a276> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gameo.org/index.php?title=Hartitsch,_Dietrich_(16th_century)&oldid=100464 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00010-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925328 | 931 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Green (10/22/09)
TITLE: Garden Fresh Memories
By Mary Lou Cook
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
With a deep affection, the family called the great grandparents Granny and Granny Slim. Granny with snow white hair always wore a smile. Granny Slim was over six feet tall and very thin. There was James, age six and Dena, age three, both grandchildren had light blond hair. The garden became a special place for the children to share with their great grandparents. The elderly couple taught their great grandchildren how to care for the vegetable plants that grew in the garden.
There was a family rule.....you didnít work in the garden, you didnít eat out of the garden. So in the summer evenings all the family would be found working together. The grandfather, the owner of the small farm, and the father, his son-in-law, would take turns rototilling the large garden. Between the many rows of vegetables the cumbersome rototiller would pull its driver along. The machine turned over the dark soil and uprooted the unfailing weeds.
In the far corner of the garden, crawling on hands and knees, Granny and Dena pulled the persistent weeds growing in among the green peppers. With their heads close together, sharing special secrets, the gentle wind would mix Grannyís fine white hair with Denaís baby blond curls. Down the row of green beans Granny Slimís wrinkled hands would pull back the thick green leaves so the beans could be found. Jamesí small hands would pick, dropping a handful of beans at a time into the plastic dishpan by his feet.
The middle-aged grandmother and the young mother would pick a variety of vegetables. When their wicker baskets were full the two women would head toward the little house that sat in front of the garden. In the kitchen they would clean, peel, and chop the fresh vegetables they had picked. With the soup pot full of potatoes, onions, peppers, green beans, okra, and tomatoes simmering slow on the stove, mother and daughter would hurry back to the garden to finish their chores.
When it started to get dark the family would put away the garden tools and gather up the overabundance of vegetables. Together, they would walk to the little house knowing supper would be waiting. At the door the family would be met by the smell of hot vegetable soup. The delicious aroma made the family realize how hungry they were.
Hurrying to get washed up for supper, the family would gather around the kitchen table. A pot of hot vegetable soup with a box of saltines, napkins, spoons, and bowls sat on the table. Before eating the meal the family would bow their heads for the blessings from the gardenís bounty. Surrounded by the darkness of the night the small kitchen seemed to bring them closer together. Around the table the talk and the laughter the family shared would turn the typical garden into something special.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel. | <urn:uuid:a5864715-fa0a-4a49-9448-652b2d814ae7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.faithwriters.com/wc-article-level3-previous.php?id=32455 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962675 | 693 | 2.75 | 3 |
Integrated Flood Observing and Warning Systems (IFLOWS)
Have you ever seen one of these gadgets growing out of the ground in southwestern throughout northwestern Virginia? It is about ten feet tall and one foot in diameter with an antenna and solar panel attached to it. You can see it along rural roads, along mountaintop roads and hiking trails, and at some Soil and Water Conservation District dam sites. This gadget is an IFLOWS monitoring rain gauge. It contains a tipping mechanism (tipping bucket) at the top and in the lower two feet of the enclosed pipe buried in the ground is a radio transmitter. Each tip of the tipping bucket measures 1 millimeter (0.04 inch) of rainfall. At some sites a pressure transducer, a float or a sonic sensor is installed in streams or the normal pool area of reservoirs to measure the depth of water (in 0.10 feet precision) above the monitoring sensor.
IFLOWS had its early beginning after the severe flooding of 1977 along the borders of the tri-state area of Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Because of this disastrous event the National Weather Service developed the National Flash Flood Development Program in 1978. The concept of the Integrated Flood and Warning System was initiated and has been developed extensively since then. The goals of the IFLOWS Program are to substantially reduce the annual loss of life from flash floods, reduce property damage, and reduce disruption of commerce and human activities. To develop the IFLOWS concept the National Weather Service began a joint effort with the above states in the Appalachian Region of the United States to undertake the establishment and development of a flash flood system to improve flood-warning capabilities in that region.
The system began as a prototype in 1980 in a 12-county pilot area using computers, communications, rainfall sensors and specialized software to monitor rainfall to provide early warning to the jurisdictions. The pilot area was selected because of its susceptibility to flash flooding and its lack of existing flood warning systems and the availability of communications circuits to tie the tri-state area together. The pilot program proved to be successful and has been through considerable development and expansion since then.
The NWS completed the Prototype system in 1981, and work began on expanding the system in the three original states and on developing IFLOWS in Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The expansion was targeted to implement IFLOWS in approximately 120 counties in the multi-state area.
In 1985, Congress approved an amendment to a continuing resolution, which earmarked additional funding specifically for expansion of IFLOWS in areas hit by the devastating floods of November 4-5, 1985. This area encompassed 29 new counties in West Virginia and numerous counties in Virginia and Pennsylvania, which were, declared disaster areas. It was also expanded to include counties in North Carolina and New York with a history of serious flash flooding problems in the past.
While resource limitations have restricted additional expansion of direct NWS support for new IFLOWS installations, IFLOWS technology has now spread well beyond the seven original states. Numerous communities, state, and federal agencies are now linked in a wide area communications network using this technology. The IFLOWS network connects numerous flood-warning systems, and integrates and shares information from approximately 250 computers and 1500 sensors in 12 states as shown in the drawing to the right.
In Virginia the IFLOWS program is a joint venture of the NWS, the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, and the local participating jurisdictions. The NWS has provided program management at the national level, including funds for software development, communications design and capital equipment costs (computers, radio equipment, rain gages, etc).
The state provides a program manager and assistant manager to coordinate all activities between the NWS, the local jurisdictions and other state and federal agencies. The state also provides the communications maintenance support and operations of the central computer. The Virginia State Police Communications Division maintains all of the radio/microwave communications equipment and a private contractor maintains the rain gage equipment in the field.
Each participating local jurisdiction provides a flash flood coordinator, usually the Emergency Services Coordinator. The locality also provides a location for the computer and communications equipment (radio receivers and transmitters). The local jurisdiction is also responsible for the most critical item in the system – the Emergency Response Plan – to deal with the expected flooding situation. Without a well-planned response the early warning of a potential flood disaster is useless.
In Virginia, IFLOWS is installed in 35 jurisdictions in the western part of the state in the Blue Ridge Mountains and westward - from Lee County in southwestern Virginia to Warren County in the northwestern area of the state. There are a total of 282 rain sensors and 80 stream sensors scattered over this area that are maintained by VDEM. Also in these 35 jurisdictions is an IFLOWS communications system that utilizes VHF radio/microwave communications technology to carry a voice network. This network consists of the 35 localities, the Virginia Operations Center, and the NWS offices in Virginia. Dual and party line service is available.
There are also about 30 read-only systems installed at various industries, private individuals, educational and government locations. These systems are not on the IFLOWS communications backbone; however IFLOWS software is running on these systems and radio receivers intercept the backbone frequency and receive and store the data in the IFLOWS database running on the computer. By moving inventory and equipment, millions of dollars of have been saved by industry that monitors the data routinely.
A rain gage consists of a ten-foot by one-foot diameter pipe enclosed on one end. The pipe houses a screened funnel to collect rainfall, a tipping bucket that measures each millimeter or 0.04 inch of rain and a VHF radio transmitter to send the tip counter number and gage identifier to either a mountaintop receiver or repeater or to a county receiver/computer system.
Stream gages consist of a pressure transducer placed in the stream, gage house stilling basin or reservoir that measure the changes in water depth. The depth changes are transmitted by VHF radio to a receiving computer system and the depth and time are recorded in the database. Usually rain gages and stream gages are co-located at the same site, using only one transmitter to send the gage data readings.
In Virginia, the radio messages are received in real time at the county sites and passed on to a computer, which processes the signal into useful information and posts it to the computer’s IFLOWS database. When polled by the central computer at the Virginia State Police Communications tower building the county computers send new data to the central site via the VSP microwave system. The central site computer receives and posts the information in its database along with data from other states and at 15-minute intervals rebroadcasts the data to the IFLOWS world. Counties not able to receive the data directly from the gages can receive and store distant data in their database for analysis. For instance a county can receive and store data from all the locations in Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina because of gateways set up between the other states. In other words the system can operate as a stand-alone system or can integrate as many jurisdictions (computers) as the system operator desires.
The IFLOWS software also monitors the data as it is received and issues audible warnings when thresholds are exceeded. Percentages of the NWS Flash Flood Guidance and stream or reservoir depths can be set by the jurisdiction coordinator to be warning levels. The NWS issues the guidance that is the amount of rainfall to begin small stream flooding in 1-hour, 6-hour, 12-hour and 24-hours. Using these as upper values for warning levels the coordinator can set percentages for the levels of warning he/she desires.
IFLOWS data is available on the Internet at the following address: www.virginiaiflows.virginia.gov.
Questions about Virginia’s IFLOWS program can be directed to Mark Slauter at (804) 674-2405 or email@example.com.
- Rain Gauge Cleaning Guide [1mb PDF]
- Radar Tutorial [opens in new browser window]
- Introduction to IFLOWS Table of Contents [16kb PDF]
- IFLOWS Training and Notes [2mb PDF]
- IFLOWS Advanced Class [2.4mb PDF]
- IFLOWS Advanced Class (Configuration Appendix) [343kb PDF]
- National Weather Service Hydrologic Services [opens in new browser window]
- National Hydrologic Warning Council [opens in new browser window]
- U.S Geological Survey [opens in new browser window]
- U.S. Geological Survey National Streamflow Information Program [opens in new browser window]
- NOAA National Weather Service River Forecast Centers [opens in new browser window]
- Automated Local Evaluation in Real Time (ALERT) User Groups [opens in new browser window] | <urn:uuid:9bb7f0a3-5a7a-4fb1-89f1-1eca8dc9f0af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.vaemergency.gov/es/content/integrated-flood-observing-and-warning-systems-iflows | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928016 | 1,845 | 3.8125 | 4 |
The Chicago and North Western (C&NW) Railroad completed this bridge in September 1907. The bridge provided the first permanent Missouri River crossing in central South Dakota linking eastern South Dakota and the west river region. It also connected western South Dakota to Minnesota and the upper Midwest. Before the building of the railroad bridge, people crossed the river between Pierre and Fort Pierre by pontoon bridges, steamboats, and by walking across the ice in the winter.
The Chicago and North Western Railroad laid tracks to Pierre by 1880. The company announced plans to expand the line across the Missouri River and on to Rapid City and the resource-rich Black Hills in September 1905. Major work commenced in the fall of 1906 and was complete in September 1907. The first passenger train crossed the bridge October 14, 1907. A decline in rail traffic caused the C&NW to sell the line to the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (DM&E) in 1986. Rail traffic soon increased under DM&E ownership.
The C&NW played an extremely important role in the settlement of much of South Dakota. By the late 19th century, much of eastern South Dakota had railroad service, but few railroads ventured into western South Dakota, partially because of the large areas closed to white settlement. By the 20th century though, the reduction of the size of reservations opened the rest of the land for settlement. The railroads almost immediately built bridges to cross the Missouri River and laid tracks in western South Dakota to reach Rapid City, the urban gateway to the Black Hills.
The 2,200-foot bridge is a multi-span pin-connected Pennsylvania through truss design with steel superstructure. The bridge is set atop granite-faced piers. The Pennsylvania design was for long-span applications requiring heavy carrying capacities. The second span from the east end of the bridge is a swing span that would rotate open to allow passage to high-clearance boats. The swing span is no longer functional. The Chicago and North Western Railroad Bridge is the only swing bridge remaining in South Dakota. | <urn:uuid:a9016d0d-79d0-43ae-833b-2fdca29de4dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.historicpierre.com/chicagonorthwesternrailroadbridge.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959969 | 413 | 3.796875 | 4 |
What is breast ultrasound?
Breast ultrasound is an imaging test that uses sound waves to look at your breasts. It can help your healthcare provider find breast problems. It also lets your healthcare provider see how well blood is flowing to areas in your breasts. This test is often used along with mammography.
The healthcare provider uses a device called a transducer to make the images of your breasts. The transducer sends out sound waves that bounce off your breast tissue. The sound waves are too high-pitched for you to hear. The transducer then picks up the bounced sound waves. These are made into pictures of your breasts.
Your healthcare provider can add another device called a Doppler probe to the transducer. This probe lets your healthcare provider hear the sound waves the transducer sends out. He or she can hear how fast blood is flowing through a blood vessel and in which direction it is flowing. No sound or a faint sound may mean that you have a blockage in the flow.
Ultrasound is safe to have during pregnancy because it does not use radiation. It is also safe for people who are allergic to contrast dye because it does not use dye.
Why might I need a breast ultrasound?
A breast ultrasound is most often done to find out if a problem found by a mammogram or physical exam of the breast may be a cyst filled with fluid or a solid tumor.
Breast ultrasound is not usually done to screen for breast cancer. This is because it may miss some early signs of cancer. Some early signs are tiny calcium deposits called microcalcifications.
Ultrasound may be used if you:
- Have particularly dense breast tissue. A mammogram may not be able to see through the tissue.
- Are pregnant. Mammography uses radiation, but ultrasound does not. This makes it safer for the fetus.
- Are younger than age 25
- Have silicone breast implants
Your healthcare provider may also use ultrasound to help guide a needle during a breast biopsy or to remove fluid from a cyst.
Your healthcare provider may have other reasons to recommend a breast ultrasound.
What are the risks of a breast ultrasound?
A breast ultrasound has no risk from radiation. It poses no risk to pregnant women.
Breast ultrasound may miss small lumps or solid tumors that are commonly found with mammography. Being obese or having very large breasts may make the ultrasound less accurate.
You may have risks depending on your specific health condition. Be sure to talk with your healthcare provider about any concerns you have before the procedure.
How do I get ready for a breast ultrasound?
- Your healthcare provider will explain the procedure to you. Ask any questions you have about the procedure.
- You may be asked to sign a consent form that gives permission to do the test. Read the form carefully and ask questions if anything is not clear.
- You do not need to stop eating or drinking before the test. You also will not need medicine to help you relax.
- You should not put any lotion, powder, or other substances on your breasts on the day of the test.
- Wear clothing that you can easily take off. Or wear clothing that lets the radiologist reach your chest. The gel put on your skin during the test does not stain clothing, but you may want to wear older clothing. The gel may not be completely removed from your skin afterward.
- Follow any other instructions your healthcare provider gives you to get ready.
What happens during a breast ultrasound?
You may have a breast ultrasound as an outpatient or as part of your stay in a hospital. The way the test is done may vary depending on your condition and your healthcare provider’s practices.
Generally, breast ultrasound follows this process:
- You will be asked to remove any jewelry and clothing from the waist up. You will be given a gown to wear.
- You will lie on your back on an exam table. You will be asked to raise your arm above your head on the side of the breast to be looked at. Or you may be placed on your side.
- The technologist will put a clear gel on the skin over the breast area to be looked at.
- The technologist will press the transducer against the skin and move it over the area being studied.
- Once the test is done, the technologist will wipe off the gel.
What happens after a breast ultrasound?
You do not need any special care after a breast ultrasound. Your healthcare provider may give you other instructions, depending on your situation.
Before you agree to the test or the procedure make sure you know:
- The name of the test or procedure
- The reason you are having the test or procedure
- What results to expect and what they mean
- The risks and benefits of the test or procedure
- What the possible side effects or complications are
- When and where you are to have the test or procedure
- Who will do the test or procedure and what that person’s qualifications are
- What would happen if you did not have the test or procedure
- Any alternative tests or procedures to think about
- When and how will you get the results
- Who to call after the test or procedure if you have questions or problems
- How much will you have to pay for the test or procedure
Online Medical Reviewer:
Fraser, Marianne, MSN, RN
Online Medical Reviewer:
Grossman, Neil, MD
Date Last Reviewed:
© 2000-2016 The StayWell Company, LLC. 780 Township Line Road, Yardley, PA 19067. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional's instructions. | <urn:uuid:58b494ac-5bc2-4ffe-85eb-c1bf746b8c09> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://healthlibrary.ochsner.org/Search/92,P07764 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943262 | 1,191 | 3.484375 | 3 |
A research group at University of Arizona is pursuing three projects using Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) to supplement wind and solar energy sources. The group is "developing cost-competitive energy-storage systems based on compressing air and storing it in man-made containers or below ground in natural reservoirs."
"When solar panels shut down and wind generators stop spinning, the compressed air is heated slightly and released to drive turbines that generate electricity. The compressed air also can be released directly to drive mechanical systems without being converted to electricity."In one of the projects, "researchers in the UA's Laboratory for Advanced Subsurface Imaging, or LASI, are developing high-resolution underground imaging systems that can be used to find salt deposits, porous rocks and other natural underground storage reservoirs. These sites could be used to hold large amounts of compressed air to drive utility-scale turbines."
Arizona has large widespread subsurface salt deposits that might serve as CAES reservoirs.
[right, CAES researchers stand next to a receiving coil used by the Laboratory for Advanced Subsurface Imaging to conduct underground imaging. Left to right are ECE professor Steve Dvorak, MSE technical staff member Bennett Meulendyk, ECE graduate student Alex Jacobs, and LASI director Ben Sternberg, professor geological & geophysical engineering and electrical & computer engineering. Credit, UA]
[based on the UA news release] | <urn:uuid:bd007912-01c1-4e10-9f6f-6a9fd0bbd31f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2011/01/compressed-air-energy-storage-research.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922298 | 289 | 2.984375 | 3 |
(Last Updated on : 24/05/2012)
Sultan Shahab -ud -din Muhammad Ghori, also known as Muizzuddin Muhammad Bin Sam, was born in 1162 in a small region of Ghor located in the mountains between the old Ghaznavid Empire and Seljuk dynasty situated in the western part of the then Ghaznavid Empire. In the present times, the latter is known as Central Afghanistan. Unlike his predecessor Mahmud of Ghazni, Muhammad Ghori remains significant in the medieval history of India for his number of conquests as well as laying the foundation for Muslim rule in India as it was his slave Qutb -ud -din Aibak who was the founder of the first Turkish rule in India in the following years.
Early Life of Muhammad Ghori
Born as the younger brother of Ghiasuddin and son of Sultan Bahaudin Suri in the region of Ghor, Muhammad Ghori began his carrier as a general who assisted his brother for his conquests in the west. It was only after re-conquering the city of Ghazna and assisting his brother for his expedition towards the Khwarezmid Empire to gain the control over area of Khorasan that Muhammad Ghori turned his attention towards India in the east. Besides being a strategic warrior he also had a lot of interest towards art and culture where he patronised scholars like Fakhr-ud-din Razi and Nizami Uruzi. However, his greatest success was the establishment of the Turkish Empire in India which added a fresh chapter in the Indian history.
Muhammad Ghori's Rise to Power
Muhammad Ghori came to power only after he re-captured the city of Ghazna from the Oghuz Turks. In 1173 AD he finally brought an end to the Ghaznavid Empire and began the new era of Ghorid Empire in which he himself was the governor while made Ghiasuddin the Sultan. It was only after the death of his brother that Shahab -ud-din Muhammad Ghori himself came to power as the Sultan. Muhammad Ghori's initial challenge was the old Ghaznavids. A major crisis which was by faced by the Ghorids was that due to heavy taxes they became quite unpopular among their local people .Also the source of income was also coming to scarcity. This forced Muhammad Ghori to search out new sources of income; this diverts the attention of Ghori towards India which had been the richest country in the subcontinent.
Muhammad Ghori's Invasion of India
Muhammad Ghori began his expedition by first capturing Multan in 1175 AD and then building a fort in Uch. Muhammad's first battle was against the Muslim rulers of Multan in 1175 AD in which he came victorious. After his victory over Multan he turned to the south where he captured the region of Uch and established his base by building a fort in 1178 and proceeded towards Gujarat where he had a different fate.
In his battle of Kayadara Muhammad had to suffer severe defeat from Naikidevi who controlled the command of the Gujarat army. The state of Gujarat was under the rule of Raja Bhimdev II who due to his young age and inexperience had to take his mother under confidence.
Muhammad Ghori's next invasion was over Lahore which he captured in 1181 and constructed a fort at Sialkot. Muhammad's army then proceeded towards the city of Lahore which was the capital of old Ghaznavid empire .By capturing Lahore he brought the remaining of Ghanavid empire to an end and included the rest of Ghaznavid region under Ghorid rule in 1181. Muhammad's army then proceeded towards the northern part of India when they confronted the army of Prithviraj Chauhan and other Hindu rulers who could defeat Muhammad's army in the First Battle of Tarain
in 1191 AD but had to face severe end in the Second Battle of Tarain
in which Ghori came back more vengeance in 1192.
Battles with Prithviraj Chauhan
It was in 1191 AD when Ghori's army of 120,000 men was proceeding towards Punjab through Khyber Pass, was confronted by the army of Hindu rulers under the commandership of Prithviraj Chauhan
and other Hindu allied rulers comprising of 200,000 men. Prithvi's army under the command of his general Govind Raj rushed to defend the boundaries of their territories and restricted the invader on the land of Tarain near Thanesar in the present Haryana
approximately 150km north of Delhi
Conquests of Muhammad Ghori
Muhammad Ghori with his strategic warfare and ambition to struggle hard made him relevant even after the Battle of Tarain. He and his deputy continued to capture new areas of northern India. After defeating Prithviraj Chauhan's army proceeded towards other regions of Ajmer, Saraswati, Samana, Khoram and Hansi were captured without much difficulty. This brought them near Delhi when Ghori controlled northern parts of Rajasthan and Ganga -Yamuna Doab region. With this while Ghori returned to the west to deal with his western frontiers, he left his deputy Qutb-ud-din Aibak to continue his conquests in which he proceeded up to Bengal capturing on his way Ayodhya
in 1193 reaching the frontiers of Delhi.
Impact of Muhammad Ghori's Invasion on India
Muhammad Ghori who came as an invader in India had been discussed by many scholars from time to time .The impact of Ghori's invasion on India was immense as his invasions for the first time proved the weakness of Hindu rulers in securing their territories from foreign invasion. Also for the first time his invasion paved the way for a new dynasty known as the Slave Dynasty. The third impact which is often associated with Ghori's invasion is that it carried the germs of communalism and anti religious feelings towards the non-Islamic religions.
Thus, Muhammad Ghori who came to India in 1175 through Multan, left India after the Battle of Tarain but continued to rule till 1206 till he was assassinated in an upsurge in the western regions of Ghorid Dynasty near Jhelum now located in Pakistan. His incessant invasions opened the doors of India to all foreign rulers in future. | <urn:uuid:23d03433-28a8-4f8a-bc5a-787f46dbe543> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indianetzone.com/4/muhammad_ghori.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985225 | 1,322 | 3.109375 | 3 |
A study by Di Xu and Shanna Smith Jaggars from the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University finds that students perform worse in online courses than they do in traditional ones. This is one of the first comprehensive research efforts aimed at figuring out how such courses compare to the ones taught in the traditional classroom environment and the results could serve as a check on the growing popularity of online schooling at the college level.
The authors looked at the results of more than 40,000 students and their results in nearly 500,000 courses and found that those enrolled in online courses were more likely to drop out or fail compared to their peers taking classes face-to-face with the instructor. What is most worrying is the fact that likelihood of failure wasn’t consistent across all groups. Males, Black students, younger kids and those who already had lower grade-point-average had the widest gap between their performance in online courses and those taught in a typical classroom.
The last finding is a concern because these are broadly the exact demographic groups that the expansion of online learning was supposed to help most.
In tackling the subject, the authors also attempted to understand why up till now, the results of research into online education produced such varied results.
One potential cause for the wide variation in results across studies may lie in the different student populations and course contexts examined in each study. Some populations of students—for example, those with more extensive exposure to technology or those who have been taught skills in terms of time-management and self-directed learning—may adapt more readily to online learning than others . In addition, some academic subject areas may lend themselves to high quality online learning experiences more readily than others and thus may support students more effectively in their efforts to adapt.
The adoption of online education has been – in part – bolstered because it was viewed as a way to deliver education to demographic groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in higher education. However, it was exactly those students whose gap in performance between online courses and traditional ones was widest. Which means that the measure that was supposed to battle this kind of academic inequity could – in theory – actually exacerbate it.
The study also found that online course performance also fluctuated by subject. Specifically, the difference in performance in all subgroups was greater in humanities, like English and Social Studies. The authors speculate that these kinds of courses rely on more peer support which is not as present in an online environment. | <urn:uuid:e01264d8-f63c-42ab-af7e-0efc8d9edfb7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.educationnews.org/online-schools/online-learning-may-not-help-those-who-need-help-most/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980523 | 495 | 2.984375 | 3 |
If all of this is new to you, here's the short version.
The theory of plate tectonics says that the crust of the earth is not
whole and unmoving, like the surface of a ball. It's more like a
cracked egg shell. Between the cracks are large pieces of the surface
called plates. These plates are very slowly moving--about an inch per
The edges of the plates are said to be constantly but
very slowly emerging as liquid rock from earth's hot core. Versions
of this have been observed on the ocean floor, where lava boils up
into the water and cools into hard rock.
Plate tectonic theory says that earthquakes and
volcanoes are caused by shifts in the earth's plates most often occur
at or near the plate boundaries.
The blue and green dots represent locations of
earthquakes and volcanoes. Notice, some plate edges almost match the
outlines of continents. They meet at the western edge of North and
South America (to the right of center).
In the picture below, can you see five continents?
Notice, on the right, the plate outlines that appear to
match the outline of the African continent. Are there any others that | <urn:uuid:2a36196b-106e-420e-a3ad-ff85116b9758> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.poleshift.org/PLATE_TECTONICS.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947002 | 258 | 3.828125 | 4 |
by Kate Bannan on Fri, October 15, 2010
Chemistry has made countless contributions to enhancing modern life by making it more comfortable, safe and prosperous.
Chemistry is a physical science that studies atoms, molecules, crystals and other aggregates of matter. Understanding the basic properties of matter and learning how to predict and explain changes are what chemistry and chemists are all about. Chemistry can be very specialized, dealing with the composition, behavior, structure and properties of matter, as well as changes that occur during chemical reactions.
The Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Energy Biosciences Division (CSGB) in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science supports chemistry. CSGB is also involved in DOE’s exciting new Energy Frontier Research Centers and Innovation Hubs. DOE funds approximately 20% of fedderally-funded chemistry research and is the largest source of funding for chemical engineering, sponsoring 40% of all federally funded research in that field in 2007. Over the years, 26 researchers associated with DOE have been awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work.
Do you want to know more about chemistry at DOE? Do you want to find your own research? Learn more about the Nobel Prize-winning chemistry? Science Accelerator, developed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) to advance discovery and to deliver science information, is a gateway to chemistry and all science at DOE, including R&D results, project descriptions, accomplishments, full text documents, conference papers, Scientific e-prints….and more. And all through a single query and with a real-time relevance ranking system.
Celebrate National Chemistry Week by learning more about chemistry (it’s made easier using Science Accelerator!). And remember to thank a chemist. | <urn:uuid:be54094e-dad1-4bec-9559-2639b7133315> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.osti.gov/home/ostiblog/celebrate-national-chemistry-week-2010-%E2%80%93-october-17-23-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932303 | 366 | 3.34375 | 3 |
One of the readings for the conference is Hayek's "The Three Sources of Human Values." In that essay, he argues that "freedom is an artefact of civilization" that requires the "repression" of the innate desires and emotions of the human mind as shaped by genetic evolution for life in hunter-gatherer bands or tribes (155, 161, 163-64). The neural structures of Homo sapiens were adapted for life in small groups of foraging individuals. In such a face-to-face society, social order was deliberately organized to satisfy the needs of the known and recognizable members of the group. By contrast to this prehistoric life in small foraging groups, the advent first of agriculture and then of settled urban life has made possible--over the past 5,000 years--an expansion of social life through trade with distant strangers, which creates an abstract society governed by abstract rules. Eventually, the ancient Greeks discovered how individual liberty and private property made possible the civilization of free men. The modern liberal capitalist society continues the cultural evolution of freedom that began in ancient Athens.
But this civilization of free individuals is painful for human beings because it represses the genetic instincts and desires of the human brain as adapted for life in small primitive groups. "In consequence, the long-submerged innate instincts have again surged to the top. Their demand for a just distribution in which organized power is to be used to allocate to each what he deserves, is thus strictly an atavism, based on primordial emotions" (165). The demand for "social justice"--for a distribution of resources according to individual need and merit--is implicitly a demand to return to a primitive society. By contrast, a "free society" cannot be a "just society," because the spontaneous order of market competition and exchange does not allocate resources according to any shared standard of just deserts. Consequently, socialism is appealing to human beings because it satisfies our innate instincts for social justice.
I call this the "Freudian" theme in Hayek's writing, because it follows the argument of Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents that civilization requires that human beings repress their animal instincts. This could also be called the "Popperian" theme, because Hayek took it from Karl Popper's Open Society and Its Enemies, in which the popular appeal of the "closed society" is explained as an atavistic return to tribal morality based on personal relationships against the impersonal and abstract relationships of life in the "open society."
I will be interested to see if any of the other folks at this conference find this reasoning as confusing as I do.
Generally, Hayek defends the "free society," in which social order arises as an evolutionary order from the unplanned interactions of individuals, and he rejects the "planned society," in which the attempt is made to organize social life by the deliberate design of one or a few minds. But he also suggests that a fully planned society is at least possible in families and tribal groups:
Only in the small groups of primitive society can collaboration between the members rest largely on the circumstance that at any one moment they will know more or less the same particular circumstances. Some wise men may be better at interpreting the immediately perceived circumstances or at remembering things in remote places unknown to the others. But the concrete events which the individuals encounter in their daily pursuits will be very much the same for all, and they will act together because the events they know and the objectives at which they aim are more or less the same.
The situation is wholly different in the Great or Open Society where millions of men interact and where civilization as we know it has developed. . . . each member of society can have only a small fraction of the knowledge possessed by all, and . . . each is therefore ignorant of most of the facts on which the working of society rests. (LLL, vol. 1, 13-14)
And yet Hayek also says that ethology and cultural anthropology have shown that in both animal societies and primitive human societies, the structure of social life is determined by the evolution of unconscious and instinctive rules of conduct--for example, rules of parent-child bonding, social rank, and property--that have not been explicitly and consciously formulated by deliberate design. Moreover, the eventual formulation of such rules in human language depends upon the evolution of language as a spontaneous order that has not been deliberately designed (LLL, vol. 1, 72-82).
It seems then that primitive human beings and other social animals organize their social lives according to abstract rules rooted in their evolutionary instincts. "Men generally act in accordance with abstract rules in this sense long before they can state them" (CL, 148-49). So, contrary to what Hayek says about free society and civilization as the repression of primitive instincts, the "abstract rules" of the "abstract society" are cultural extensions of the social instincts manifest in primitive societies, which permits an extension of cooperation to ever wider groups.
The extension of cooperation in the "Great Society" to embrace millions of individuals who are strangers to one another depends on expanding trading networks. In some of his writing, Hayek suggests that trade arose for the first time in human history five to ten thousand years ago with the invention of agriculture, and thus the propensity to trade could not have been shaped by genetic evolution in the history of primitive human ancestors. But this ignores the extensive evidence for prehistoric trade--both within and between tribal groups--and for the evolution of language and norms of reciprocity as facilitating trade among our hunting-gathering ancestors. This would suggest the possibility that the expansion of trading networks over the past five thousand years was the cultural extension of innate propensities for trade.
Another problem for Hayek's Freudian/Popperian conception of the "open society" as the repression of primitive instincts is that this ignores the ways in which a liberal society allows for human beings to satisfy their desires for personal social bonding in civil society. A fundamental principle of liberal thought, as Hayek emphasizes, is the importance of civil society as lying between the individual and the state--a social realm in which human beings are free to express their social needs through the natural bonds of family life and the voluntary associations of life. This allows for human beings to satisfy their instinctive needs for familial and social bonding in small groups comparable to those of their hunting-gathering ancestors.
The social structures of civil society can satisfy the human instincts for face-to-face social bonding in small groups bound together by traditional moral norms. This is important for Hayek's distinction between "true individualism" and "false individualism."
That true individualism affirms the value of the family and all the common efforts of the small community and group, that it believes in local autonomy and voluntary associations, and that indeed its case rests largely on the contention that much for which the coercive action of the state is usually invoked can be done better by voluntary collaboration need not be stressed further. There can be no greater contrast to this than the false individualism which wants to dissolve all these smaller groups into atoms, which have no cohesion other than the coercive rules imposed by the state, and which tries to make all social ties prescriptive, instead of using the state mainly as a protection of the individual against the arrogation of coercive powers by the smaller groups.
Quite as important for the functioning of an individualist society as these smaller groupings of men are the traditions and conventions which evolve in a free society and which, without being enforceable, establish flexible but normally observed rules that make the behavior of other people predictable to a high degree. The willingness to submit to such rules, not merely so long as one understands the reason for them but so long as one has no definite reasons to the contrary, is the essential condition for the gradual evolution and improvement of rules of social intercourse; and the readiness ordinarily to submit to the products of a social process which nobody has designed and the reasons for which nobody may understand is also an indispensable condition if it is to be possible to dispense with compulsion. (SADR, 66-67)
Hayek sees this free society as emerging for the first time in the ancient Greek world. In Greek antiquity, "freedom" originally meant "not being a slave"--that is, not being subject to the arbitrary will of a master. And, thus, we could say that liberty or freedom could be understood as "the state in which a man is not subject to coercion by the arbitrary will of another" (CL, 11-20).
But then Hayek leaves us wondering why human beings resist being enslaved. If slavery is not natural, if normal human beings are not naturally adapted for submitting to the arbitrary will of others, that suggests a natural propensity for self-rule and for resisting being dominated by others. Some evolutionary scientists--like Christopher Boehm--explain this as an instinctive propensity shaped in the evolution of our hunting-gatherer ancestors, among whom there was a tense balance between the natural desire of an ambitious few for dominance and the natural desire of the subordinate many to resist tyrannical dominance. The establishment of agrarian states allowed for unprecedented oppression of subordinate individuals by ruling elites. But, then, Boehm argues, the emergence over the past few centuries of liberal capitalist societies has restored some of the freedom from oppression enjoyed by ancient foragers while combining it with all the benefits of modern civilization.
This suggests to me that rather than seeing the free society as the repression of the evolved natural desires shaped in prehistoric human societies, we should see it as providing the fullest satisfaction of those desires.
A few of the many posts on related themes can be found here, here, here, here, and here. | <urn:uuid:29ad7b3f-f43e-4bb0-93f5-ee6b446243bd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://darwinianconservatism.blogspot.com/2011/05/hayeks-freudianism-and-prehistory-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95094 | 1,978 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Mild hypothermia improved neurological outcome and reduced mortality after cardiac arrest because of ventricular fibrillation
QUESTION: In patients who are resuscitated after cardiac arrest because of ventricular fibrillation, is mild hypothermia more effective than standard normothermia for improving neurological outcome?
275 patients seen in the emergency department who were 18–75 years of age (median age 59 y, 76% men) and had spontaneous circulation restored after a witnessed cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation or non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia as the initial cardiac rhythm; a presumed cardiac origin of the arrest; an estimated interval of 5–15 minutes from collapse to the first attempt at resuscitation by emergency medical personnel; and an interval of ≤60 minutes from collapse to restoration of spontaneous circulation. Exclusion criteria included a tympanic membrane temperature <30oC on admission and response to verbal commands before randomisation. Follow up was 99% to 100%.
All patients received standard intensive care according to a detailed protocol. Standard treatment included sedation (midazolam, initially 0.125 mg/kg/h, and fentanyl, initially 0.002 mg/kg/h), and pancuronium (initially 0.1 mg/kg every 2 h, then as needed for shivering) for 32 hours, with mandatory mechanical ventilation. Patients allocated to mild hypothermia (n=137) were cooled to a target bladder temperature of 32–34oC with an external cooling device. If cooling did not occur within 4 hours after the return of spontaneous circulation, ice packs were applied. The temperature was maintained at 32–34oC for 24 hours from the start of cooling, after which patients were passively rewarmed. Patients allocated to normothermia (n=138) were placed on a conventional hospital bed, and normothermia was maintained.
Main outcome measures
Favourable neurological outcome (Pittsburgh cerebral performance category of 1 [good recovery] or 2 [moderate disability] on a 5 category scale). Secondary outcomes included mortality.
Analysis was by intention to treat. At 6 months, the hypothermia group had a higher rate of favourable neurological outcome and a lower mortality rate than the normothermia group (table).
In patients who were resuscitated after cardiac arrest because of ventricular fibrillation, mild hypothermia improved neurological outcome and reduced mortality more than standard normothermia.
- Renee Hoeksel, RN, PhD, CCRN
- Associate Professor of Nursing Intercollegiate College of Nursing/ Washington State University College of Nursing Vancouver, Washington, USA
Renewed research interest exists on the use of therapeutic hypothermia after resuscitation for out of hospital cardiac arrest as a means of improving patient outcomes. The Hypothermia After Cardiac Arrest Study Group (HACASG) found that patients surviving cardiac arrest who received controlled hypothermia (32–34°C) for 24 hours had better neurological outcomes without an increase in complications during the first 7 days after cardiac arrest. These findings support and extend those of Bernard et al, who studied Australian patients who survived cardiac arrest and were cooled to 33°C for 12 hours.1
Strengths of the HACASG study include the design and the assessment of neurological outcome by clinicians who were unaware of whether patients received hypothermia or normothermia. Because of the specific inclusion criteria and the focus on patients at high risk for brain damage, only 8% of assessed patients were included in the study. Therefore, these results only apply to the small proportion of patients meeting similar criteria. A weakness of the study is that the attending physicians were not blinded to patient allocation, and therefore could have provided more aggressive care to one group or the other.
The results of these 2 trials are relevant to nurses working in emergency departments and intensive care units. Nurses in these settings need to be prepared to safely and effectively care for patients receiving therapeutic hypothermia. Continuous monitoring of core body temperature, blood pressure, heart rhythm, and urine output during induction, steady state hypothermia, and rewarming is crucial. Because sedation and analgesia are needed to ensure patient comfort, and neuromuscular blockade may be needed to prevent shivering and promote induction, patient neurological status should be carefully monitored, especially as the procedure ends.
Although the differences did not reach statistical significance, more patients in the hypothermia group had bleeding, pneumonia, and sepsis during the first 7 days after cardiac arrest. Patients should be observed for signs of bleeding and infection. Assessing the patient’s skin requires vigilance regardless of the external cooling method used.
Sources of funding: Fourth RTD Framework Programme 1994-1998 of the European Union; Austrian Ministry of Science and Transport; Austrian Science Foundation.
For correspondence: Dr F Sterz, Universitätsklinik für Notfallmedizin, Vienna, Austria.
A modified version of this abstract appears in ACP Journal Club.
↵* Information provided by author. | <urn:uuid:f2b39693-cf8c-4095-b10e-166b10cd3d41> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ebn.bmj.com/content/5/4/111.full?cited-by=yes&legid=ebnurs;5/4/111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927217 | 1,032 | 2.5625 | 3 |
DNA nanoswitches reveal how life's molecules connect
Date: Jan 29, 2015
An accessible new way to study molecular interactions could lower cost and time associated with discovering new drugs
Gel electrophoresis, a common laboratory process, sorts DNA or other small proteins by size and shape using electrical currents to move molecules through small pores in gel. The process can be combined with novel DNA nanoswitches, developed by Wyss Associate Faculty member Wesley Wong, to allow for the simple and inexpensive investigation of life's most powerful molecular interactions. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University
(BOSTON) — A complex interplay of molecular components governs almost all aspects of biological sciences — healthy organism development, disease progression, and drug efficacy are all dependent on the way life's molecules interact in the body. Understanding these bio–molecular interactions is critical for the discovery of new, more effective therapeutics and diagnostics to treat cancer and other diseases, but currently requires scientists to have access to expensive and elaborate laboratory equipment.
Now, a new approach developed by researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School promises a much faster and more affordable way to examine bio–molecular behavior, opening the door for scientists in virtually any laboratory world–wide to join the quest for creating better drugs. The findings are published in February's issue of Nature Methods.
"Bio–molecular interaction analysis, a cornerstone of biomedical research, is traditionally accomplished using equipment that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Wyss Associate Faculty member Wesley P. Wong, Ph.D., senior author of study. "Rather than develop a new instrument, we've created a nanoscale tool made from strands of DNA that can detect and report how molecules behave, enabling biological measurements to be made by almost anyone, using only common and inexpensive laboratory reagents."
Wong, who is also Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in the Departments of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology and Pediatrics and Investigator at the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital, calls the new tools DNA "nanoswitches".
Nanoswitches comprise strands of DNA onto which molecules of interest can be strategically attached at various locations along the strand. Interactions between these molecules, such as successful binding of a drug compound with its intended target, such as a protein receptor on a cancer cell, cause the shape of the DNA strand to change from an open and linear shape to a closed loop. Wong and his team can easily separate and measure the ratio of open DNA nanoswitches vs. their closed counterparts through gel electrophoresis, a simple lab procedure already in use in most laboratories, that uses electrical currents to push DNA strands through small pores in a gel, sorting them based on their shape.
"Our DNA nanoswitches dramatically lower barriers to making traditionally complex measurements," said co–first author Ken Halvorsen, formerly of the Wyss Institute and currently a scientist at the RNA Institute at University of Albany. "All of these supplies are commonly available and the experiments can be performed for pennies per sample, which is a staggering comparison to the cost of conventional equipment used to test bio–molecular interactions."
To encourage adoption of this method, Wong and his team are offering free materials to colleagues who would like to try using their DNA nanoswitches.
"We've not only created starter kits but have outlined a step–by–step protocol to allow others to immediately implement this method for research in their own labs, or classrooms," said co–first author Mounir Koussa, a Ph.D. candidate in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School.
"Wesley and his team are committed to making an impact on the way bio–molecular research is done at a fundamental level, as is evidenced by their efforts to make this technology accessible to labs everywhere," said Wyss Institute Founding Director Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., who is also the Judah Folkman Professor of Vascular Biology at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and a Professor of Bioengineering at Harvard SEAS. "Biomedical researchers all over the world can start using this new method right away to investigate how biological compounds interact with their targets, using commonly–available supplies at very low cost."
Anyone interested in learning more about how to use DNA nanoswitches in their lab can watch a protocol video series and request free materials for making them at wyss.harvard.edu/nanoswitch.
IMAGES AND VIDEOS AVAILABLE
Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
Kat J. McAlpine, email@example.com, +1 617-432-8266
Harvard Medical School
David Cameron, firstname.lastname@example.org, +1 617-432-0441
Boston Children's Hospital
Keri Stedman, email@example.com, +1 617-919-3110
The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University (http://wyss.harvard.edu) uses Nature's design principles to develop bioinspired materials and devices that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world. Working as an alliance among all of Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences and in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston University, Tufts University, and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, University of Zurich and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Wyss Institute crosses disciplinary and institutional barriers to engage in high–risk research that leads to transformative technological breakthroughs. By emulating Nature's principles for self–organizing and self–regulating, Wyss researchers are developing innovative new engineering solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing. These technologies are translated into commercial products and therapies through collaborations with clinical investigators, corporate alliances, and new start-ups.
Harvard Medical School (http://hms.harvard.edu) has more than 7,500 full–time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital–based clinical departments at 16 Harvard–affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew Senior Life, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System.
Boston Children's Hospital is home to the world's largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 1,100 scientists, including seven members of the National Academy of Sciences, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine and 14 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Boston Children's research community. Founded as a 20–bed hospital for children, Boston Children's today is a 395–bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care. Boston Children's is also the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about research and clinical innovation at Boston Children's Hospital, visit: http://vectorblog.org. | <urn:uuid:a43aae6d-47da-499f-bf84-284859a3a5fd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wyss.harvard.edu/viewpressrelease/188/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00052-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928721 | 1,573 | 3.25 | 3 |
By Joe Greco
Not too long ago, when drawings were still done on paper, engineers used a combination of slide rules, calculators, and handbooks, as well as their years of training and experience, to formulate engineering solutions. As drawings migrated to the computer, a lot of these engineering tools didn't. Sure, FEA and motion-analysis programs have answered some engineering needs. But software with the "intelligence" to help solve design problems in engineering has not really existed.
Recently, however, a number of new CAD tools have been introduced that handle some of the thinking that goes into the design process. Here's a representative sample of the new "smart" programs that can help engineers solve problems across virtually all phases of the design process from conceptual design to final tooling.
Even with CAD software, most sketching is still done on napkins and pads with pencils. This is because while most CAD programs make it easy to create and edit the simple geometry that makes up an engineering sketch, until recently few could account for the movement of parts often so critical in a design. Essentially, most CAD and drawing programs lacked the tools necessary to do a 2D kinematic study of a machine design, for example.
While efforts have been made to include kinematics, one of the most successful implementations has been SmartSketch (formerly Imagineer) from Intergraph. With this software, users create sketches as rigid bodies and then control the relationships between these bodies by changing dimensions. Additionally, the sketchers found inside most 3D feature-based MCAD programs can also be used to develop engineering mechanisms. SolidWorks, Solid Edge, and Inventor have similar capabilities, with the latter providing the added benefit of assembling a series of 2D sketches into a more complex mechanism. Even after this early design stage, the kinematic design sketch still comes in handy to resolve miscellaneous details such as how pressing a button makes the door of a hand-held tape recorder pop open.
|The CoBrain.com Web site searches for patented solutions to design problems.|
Once the basic concept of the design starts to take place, some research may be necessary. Often a solution to a problem is already at hand, perhaps in the collective intellectual property of your company. However, reading through hundreds and perhaps even thousands of these documents can take weeks or months.
This is where CoBrain from Invention Machine comes into play by scanning any electronic documents you request and pulling out all the information relevant to the design problem. Users can also apply filters to reduce the amount of information retrieved. CoBrain searches the documents in a variety of formats, including Microsoft Word, RTF, HTML, and PDF, and from this data creates an expert Web portal. After going to CoBrain.com, you can type in a problem such as "cooling an engine," and the program will perform a search through US and foreign patents.
|Analysis of cost per part-in terms of material, setup, process, and tooling-can be done in Boothroyd Dewhurst's DFM Concurrent Costing software.|
Invention Machine also develops Knowledgist, which offers many of the same features as CoBrain, and performs a competitive analysis of patents owned by other companies or individuals. Features of the software include the ability to locate potential new markets for your technology and to perform an invention novelty test. This test helps companies determine whether or not they should develop or purchase new technologies.
After you learn that your design has not infringed on any existing patents and find out which existing technologies you can use, design for manufacturability and assembly (DFM/A) evaluations can commence. The purpose here is to determine if there are more cost-effective ways to build and assemble the components of your design, by rethinking factors such as the materials, manufacturing process, connections, and so forth. For instance, your design may consist of a multi-piece sheet-metal part. An evaluation may show that by bending a single piece rather than joining multiple pieces, you can produce a part that is slightly more expensive in terms of materials, but far less costly overall because of a savings in assembly labor. Alternately, if the part has to be made of separate pieces, perhaps snap fits can be used in place of traditional fasteners.
|Advanced analysis is available in the DFM Injection Molding module.|
These are areas of expertise that Boothroyd Dewhurst has built into two of its programs: DFM Concurrent Costing and Design for Assembly. Both are used early in the design process to help the engineer make smart decisions that will have major effects downstream.
Part of the Concurrent Costing package are three modules called DFM Machining, DFM Sheet Metalworking, and DFM Injection Molding. For designers and engineers who have limited machining knowledge, DFM Machining provides a visual library of machining processes, allowing users to estimate the machining cost of a part. The DFM Sheet Metal-working and DFM Injection Molding modules estimate the costs of making a component considering the relevant manufacturing processes.
Boothroyd Dewhurst also provides software for two relatives of DFM/A, known as Design for Service (DFS) and Design for Environment (DFE). Even though a product may be easy to assemble, it may not be easy to service. With that in mind, the DFS module generates a report that points out areas that should be examined for service improvement. DFE simulates the disassembly of products when their usefulness has expired and reports on the associated cost and environmental aspects of dismantling a design.
|One of the mechanical designer's most frequently referenced manuals, the Machinery's Handbook, can be accessed from SolidWorks 2000. |
Other relatives of DFM/A, such as design for flexibility (DFF), have not yet been addressed. DFF is a process that studies the impact a variation will have on the overall design, such as a bigger engine inside an automobile, and how to make that variation have a minimal effect on other components. SolidWorks has sophisticated techniques to show different assembly layouts, but it doesn't provide tools that evaluate your design and make suggestions about how it can be improved in terms of DFF.
CAD work usually begins when the user is ready to add the design details, and there are many fine programs that accomplish this task. But when working in CAD, many users are stuck with traditional reference materials and tools, including the Machinery's Hand-book and engineering calculators.
Fortunately, many components are standard parts, and some CAD software can use digital models of these. For example, SolidWorks and Inventor both include CAD representations of standard fasteners from the Machinery's Hand book as part of their software. Several programs from Autodesk can use the Web to access standard 3D content of products found in the Thomas Register. Vector Works offers the entire Structural Steel Handbook, allowing the user to pick various I-beams, channels, angles, and tees. Like the items in SolidWorks and Inventor, all of these symbols are parametric, meaning changing their shape is just a matter of entering a new value.
|By calculating part loads and sizes, Mechsoft helps engineers design spur gears (above) and other components.|
Autodesk's Mechanical Desktop (with the Power Pack) offers the engineer an array of standard parametric parts such as belts, pulleys, shafts, and gears. Users can also perform some simple analysis. This has been taken one step further by a European company called Mechsoft.com. Its software, Mechsoft, runs inside all major MCAD programs and allows users to employ its million-part library to build assemblies. The advantage is that these parts are intelligent; for example, the belt driven by a 5-hp motor will update accordingly if the motor is changed to 7.5 hp. It can also be used to calculate engineering alternatives. A new program from Applied 3D Science called ParaLogix offers many of the same tools.
Besides gaining access to reference handbooks and manuals, engineers can also now go way beyond the functionality of another familiar tool, the calculator. With GrafiCalc, users create or import 2D geometry and then apply engineering calculations to it. GrafiCalc can also be used to solve 2D kinematics problems, perform what-if analyses on various conditions, calculate beam deflections, design gears, and handle other chores.
TechOptimizer from Invention Machine specifies design problems in a model and offers potential solutions that can be tested inside the program, such as to improve the airflow of a vacuum cleaner. Two other products to help engineers solve design problems are iSight 5.5 from Engineous Software and Design ++ from Design Power.
High-end MCAD applications such as Pro/Engineer, Unigraphics, and Catia all offer technology designed to make engineers work smarter. For example, Pro/E's Behavioral Modeling concept can be used to optimize the volume of a tank, based on other given data such as surface area and material thickness. In Unigraphics and Catia, a component can be automatically updated as one aspect of a design is changed; for example, more ribs may be added when a plate is made larger.
|GrafiCalc can do a number of chores, including show the effect of a pulley system after one of the components has been moved.|
Recently, mid-range MCAD applications have been introduced that feature integrated intelligent analysis tools. For instance, in Solid Edge 8, sensors are set up to warn users if established design rules have been broken.
As a design takes form, thought must be given to tolerance analysis. Several products can help the user in this area. For example, with eMPower from Tecnomatix, when users import 3D MCAD files, the software evaluates whether they can be inspected. GrafiCalc also offers 2D tolerance analysis, and various plug-ins for both SolidWorks and Solid Edge are available.
The above tools are great, assuming you have a firm grasp of the subject matter. But suppose your design calls for silicon sealers, and you know nothing about them. This is where Web sites such as engineering-e.com come into play by putting users in touch with experts in various fields of engineering. Other such sites include prodeveloper.net from CollabWare and Autodesk's PointA.
While collaboration software is big these days, several MCAD programs have taken the initiative and either built an entire CAD program around collaboration or made it a part of their application. Alibre from Alibre Inc. and GS-Design from CollabWare fulfill the former definition, while Inventor and SolidWorks use Microsoft's NetMeeting to allow a virtual session to take place. While these sessions are usually intended for design reviews, they can also be used by a designer to get some advice from an expert in a given field.
|Sites like engineering-e.com allow users to locate experts in fields such as structural analysis and heat transfer.|
Evaluating a part and knowing where it should be split for molding purposes requires a great deal of experience. For these mold makers, there is Magic RP from Materialize. The company offers a Rapid Tooling module that reads in almost any 3D CAD file and, after determining the parting line, builds the core and cavity, including cooling channels and alignment holes. Cimatron's QuickSplit, DelCam's PowerShape, and Unigraphics Solutions' Mold Wizard also offer tools that assist the mold designer by automatically creating the tooling.
These are just some of many new applications that help engineers make hundreds of decisions concerning a product's function, shape, material, and manufacturability. Expect this list to get longer as computers get faster and software more intelligent.
Joe Greco is a freelance writer specializing in computer-aided design. He can be reached at Joe3D@home.com.
Alibre Design Alibre
Catia Dassault Systemes
GS Design, Prodeveloper.net
Inventor, Mechanical Desktop
Applied 3D Science | <urn:uuid:8778c34c-33b8-4162-9243-4e59644446f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2000/Volume-23-Issue-9-September-2000-/Thinking-Tools.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93154 | 2,506 | 2.890625 | 3 |
David Boulton: Thank you for this opportunity to talk with you.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: My pleasure.
David Boulton: My sense is that you're trying to help us understand something that's generally overlooked, not commonly understood, and yet fundamentally important to understanding how our civilization developed and how our minds function. Your book deals with the consequences of becoming alphabet literate both in terms of its effects on civilization and on an individual brain/being level.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: Let’s begin with a sketch of how you came to this work and then move through some of the components of your book.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: I have been very influenced by Marshall McLuhan, the 1960’s media theorist who said, "The medium is the message." In other words, that the process by which we take in and put out information is actually more important than the content of that information. In parallel, as a vascular surgeon, I’ve had many years of experience operating on the carotid arteries to the brain. So, I've long been fascinated by the very different functions between the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere of the human brain.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Many years ago I went on an archeological tour of Mediterranean sites and our group had the good fortune to have an incredibly knowledgeable guide—a University of Athens professor who told us essentially the same story wherever we went. She said, "You know, these temples that stand before you, whether they're dedicated to Zeus or Poseidon or Apollo," she said, "these were all once consecrated to a goddess. And then unknown persons came along and changed that."
So, the essence of my book is the question: ‘What happened to the goddesses?’ There's indisputable evidence from archaeological and historical records, that there was a time when men all over the world worshipped women. Japan and China, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome—I mean, those rough, tough, warriors in Athens voted to have Athena look over them rather than Poseidon. This is reason that the name of the city today is Athens and not Posieds.
Beginning about 3,000 years ago, with the start of Western culture, there were three religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - that denied the existence of a goddess. My question is: If everyone used to worship a female deity, what event in culture could have been so immense and so pervasive that it changed the sex of God? How did we go from a female deity to a male one?
The more I thought about this, it occurred to me that this all changed in culture about the same time that people learned how to read and write.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: The first forms of writing, hieroglyphics and cuneiform, were extremely difficult to learn, and they were limited to a very small percentage. Less than two percent of the population of Egypt and Mesopotamia could read and write.
There’s an old saying, "In the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." If you know how to read and write, and nobody else does, within a very short period of time, you gain all the power.
Then about 3,500 years ago, a group of people halfway between Mesopotamia and Egypt figured out a much simpler way to read and write called the alphabet.
The alphabet transformed the world. The alphabet continues to transform the world. And the reason why is that alphabets are so simple to learn that a four-year-old can learn the alphabet. I mean, Forrest Gump can learn the alphabet.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: So, the reason I consider reading and writing so very different from speaking and listening is that they reconfigure the brain. Reading and writing are very linear, sequential processes; where speaking and listening engage many more senses, and all together it's a much more holistic kind of processing. The left hemisphere processes linear and sequential information, such as language and algebra and reason and logic, and the right hemisphere processes—and again, I'm talking about right-handed people here—processes primarily holistic image gestalt information, such as recognizing images, seeing patterns, recognizing how the parts fit with the whole.
So, as a result, I concluded that learning how to read and write the alphabet changes, reconfigures – literally - the brain of anybody who learns the skill. This has been confirmed by brain scans on non-literate people compared to literate people.
My questions are: What happens to a culture when brains are reconfigured in such a way that a lot of people learn this skill? How does it cause the whole culture to change? How are the literate culture’s religions reorganized? What happens to the relationship between men and women? I concluded that these were powerful questions.
When you're listening to me right now, what's happening is that your left hemisphere is following what I'm saying in a very linear fashion. But your right hemisphere is watching me. You're checking me out. You want to see if I have dandruff on my shoulders, or alcohol on my breath, or you want to see how sincere I am. If I were drumming my fingertips on a table top, your peripheral vision would pick that up, and that would go into the mix of what's going on in this conversation.
We all tuned into the presidential debates, not because we didn't know what these guys were going to say, we wanted to see how they said it. The Chinese have a wonderful aphorism: "Let us draw closer to the fire that we might better be able to see what we are saying." How many times have you spoken to somebody, and that person’s agreeing with you, while going like this (head’s shaking left-right as if to disagree), and you know that the head movement is the more valid message? So, when you listen to somebody, there's a lot of cross-communication between your two hemispheres to ferret out the message.
Then when I speak, Broca's area area in my left hemisphere is creating these sentences that I'm speaking. But to articulate speech, I need the cooperation of both sides of my lips, tongue and vocal chords. If I've been to the dentist and have had Novocaine, I have trouble talking. So, to speak and listen there has to be enormous cooperation across this broadband of fibers called the corpus callosum that connects the right and left hemispheres.
When you write, you write with only one hand. For 5,000 years, up until the invention of the typewriter keyboard, it didn't matter whether you were a man or a woman writing, it didn't matter what language you were writing in, it didn't even matter what you were writing about. The hand that controlled the writing implement was the same hand that hurled spears, swung swords and pulled triggers. So, it became clear to me that a new form of communication, one that reinforces the left hemisphere of the brain at the expense of the right hemisphere, will cause culture to veer off in a very left hemispheric mode.
People will agree that they're a mixture of masculine and feminine traits. Men (in general) have a more masculine side than a feminine side, but men can't exist without a feminine side, just as women can't exist without a masculine side. Everyone, I believe, would agree with that concept.
I would like to give them anatomical mailing addresses. I think that the processes that are primarily used for masculine thinking—and again, both men and women have these—are located primarily in the left hemisphere of both men and women who are right-handed. It’s the converse for the feminine, in the right hemisphere.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: What happens, then, in a culture when the left hemisphere is given this extra power? Patriarchy and misogyny become evident in the culture, and these manifest themselves in a rather extraordinary way. Number one, image information is suppressed; it becomes an abomination. Women's rights are curtailed, and the goddess disappears.
That's the thesis of my book, The Alphabet versus the Goddess. If you look in history and see what happened, the first book that was ever written in an alphabet is the Old Testament. That's about 900 BC. In this book, the most important centerpiece is the Ten Commandments. The First Commandment is the most revolutionary sentence ever transcribed. It states, "I am the Lord, thy God, there is no other." Now, the Old Testament doesn't actually state that this deity is a male. But all of the nouns and adjectives used to describe this deity, "Lord," "Ruler," "Host," "King of the Universe" - they're all masculine. So, it's safe to assume that this is a male deity. If he's the only one, then what the First Commandment states is that no woman was involved in the creation of the universe. And up until the time this Commandment was written, no people anywhere in the world ever believed that a man alone created the universe. It was usually two women together, or a woman alone, or a man and a woman together—never a man alone.
Now, if I were to place the Ten Commandments on a table and ask viewers to come up and put them in order of importance in their lives today, I have no doubt that every single person would put as number two, "Don't murder." But that's not number two, that's number six. The second most important rule [Commandment] of righteous living is, "Make no images." How strange! And for those who would argue that it's a prescription against graven images, if you read the Commandment, it says, "And thou shall create no images of anything that flies in the air, creepeth in the ground, or is under the sea" - in other words, no art.
So, the question is: Why would art be more dangerous than murder? Why was there a prescription against art that you see playing itself out every time people become alphabet literate? For example, the first act of the Orthodox Christians in 313 AD, when they became the state religion of Rome, was instructions to the minions to go into the street and destroy all of the images. Not just graven images but every Greek or Roman image they could lay their hands on. And then after this incredible destruction of images, all the goddess temples were shut down.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Then you have this extraordinary period in Western culture called the Dark Ages where literacy got lost. It was during this period of time when less than one percent of the population of Europe could read and write. So, this was a time filled with superstition and barbarity. Strife was the order of the day. Commerce dried to a trickle. Travel was exceedingly dangerous. You would think that this would be the period when women's rights would have thoroughly suffocated, but when the stage of history gets re-illuminated in the 9th Century, what you find is male troubadours all over Europe, singing the praises of women.
So, you have courtly love and the chivalric code; women Christian mystics are hailed by the Popes as having a clearer connection to the Kingdom of Heaven than the male clerics. It's nearly always illiterate peasant girls that are having visions that the church certifies. It isn't some lawyer in the Vatican that's having these visions. Why illiterate peasant children?
Then you have this extraordinary phenomenon, and the people of Medieval Europe begin to spend enormous sums of time, energy and money erecting these fabulous cathedrals dedicated to Notre Dame. So, the question is: Where did Mary come from? Mary is mentioned eight times in the New Testament and the Gospels. She's a peripheral character in the whole story. And yet, during the medieval period, she becomes the central figure of Christianity. Mary doesn't say anything. I mean, there are no gospels according to Mary. It's her image that is everywhere. She leads every procession and is at every crossroads. The phenomenon of Mary reaches its height during the high Middle Ages.
The reason I believe that
Mary is the resurgence of the
during a time of low
literacy rates is because you can travel in a wide arc through Poland,
Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, and you'll find a church where they
venerate a statue of a black Madonna. And the question is: Why would a Caucasian
population—who is substantially blonde and blue-eyed—why would they venerate a
statue of a black Madonna? The answer is, I think, that all of the
manifestations of the earth goddess were black. I mean,
Kali was black,
Artemis was black,
black. The phenomenon disappears and begins to wane with the beginning of the
Dr. Leonard Shlain: The Renaissance was this extraordinarily testosterone-driven surge of male creative energy driven by the left hemisphere, which was supported by what LIFE magazine called, "The most important invention of the last thousand years” - Gutenberg's printing press of 1453. Literacy rates that were in Western Europe were in the high teens in some of the cities and, with the invention of the printing press, skyrocketed.
So, books became cheap, easy and available, and everyone rushed to learn this new art called "reading and writing," because they all wanted to read this book that they had heard so much about, but it was always locked up in a monastery somewhere. Once they read the book, the New Testament, which is indisputably about love and kindness and forgiveness - shouldn't it follow that the people would behave towards each other in a loving, kind and forgiving fashion?
But that's not what happened. What happened? Religious wars broke out all over Europe so that neighbors began to murder their neighbors. In France, the Huguenots and the Catholics killed each other with the most unbelievable ferocity. In England, Anglicans killed Presbyterians, and Puritans killed Anglicans. In Germany, Calvinists and Lutherans were killing each other at the start of the Thirty Years’ War before the Catholics and the Protestants squared off, and they killed one third of the population of Germany and destroyed their economic base for a hundred years. In Spain, Jews and Moors had lived side by side with Catholics peacefully for centuries - then the Catholics suddenly decided they couldn't tolerate the presence of Jews and Moors, and they had to either kill them or expel them.
Now, if you're looking for this period of history in the history books, you'll find it under the heading, "The Age of Reason." And it's really strange, because this is the time in Western culture when the left-brain is exercising dominion and making the most extraordinary contributions in science, mathematics and architecture and global exploration.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: But evidence suggests that some new factor was driving this culture mad - that the men suffered a psychosis so extreme, thinking that their women were so dangerous, they needed to be murdered. And murder them, they did! The witch-hunts were the most severe—not in the Dark Ages, not during the bubonic plagues—they were the most severe in the gilded Renaissance. The people who were bringing about the witch-hunts were not the peasants. The peasants were trying to protect their women. It was the lawyers and doctors and clerics and priests who were supporting the witch-hunts.
Now, if you were to go to a Polynesian, or a Hopi, or a San Bushman, and you were to tap him on the shoulder, and say, "Would you believe that there is a culture in the world where the men are murdering their wise women?" - they'd look at you in disbelief. They'd say, "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard of. Everybody knows that the men are supposed to raid the next village and kill those men and steal their women. You don't kill your own women." There has never been an explanation for why sophisticated Europe, the only culture in the world that dined with a knife and fork, killed their own women. The witch-hunts were the most severe in those countries that had the steepest rise in literacy rates: Germany, France, England, Switzerland. They had terrible witch-hunts. Russia, which remained illiterate, did not have any witch-hunts. Bosnia and Hungary, which were under Muslim rule - and the Muslims did not adopt the printing press until the 19th Century - they didn't have any witch hunts. So, it's a strange set of coincidences that you have along with these extraordinary developments.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Now, two things happened in the 19th Century that changed all of this. One was the discovery of electromagnetism, and the other was the invention of photography. Photography did for images what the printing press had done for the written word, made them cheap, easy and available. By the end of the 19th Century, there was virtually no one who had not sat for a photograph at least once. In the 200 years after the Protestant Reformation, if you were to ask people, "Your house is on fire. If you can run in and retrieve one personal object, what would it be?" The answer would be the same - it would be the family Bible. Within one generation of the invention of photography, the answer changed. It became "the family photo album."
Then electromagnetism and photography had begun to interweave to bring forth a new medium of communications based on images. The first one was film. Think of this: film attendance surpassed church attendance within eight years of its introduction, and it's never been close since.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Then in the 1950’s, all of the people who had been educated in the standard Western style—a very linear, sequential method of reading, writing and arithmetic—suddenly had to contend with a new form of communication called television. And television completely up-ended our culture. Television required a new hemispheric strategy to see television. And by that I mean, if you put EEG leads on a person’s scalp to measure their brain waves, and you give him a book to read, as McLuhan said, "Medium is the message, it's the process." It doesn't matter what the content of the book is. It could be about sex and violence, it could be a mystery story, it could be a political book - doesn't matter. The person generates beta waves.
Beta waves are what you generate when you're concentrating on a task. Everyone knows that if you're trying to read a book, you have to concentrate. If you're in a real noisy room, you'll get up and find some place to sit that's quiet. But if you ask that person to look up from the book and start watching a television program—it doesn't matter what the content of the program is: cuddly koala bears or some violent cops and robbers program—what happens is the beta waves go away and alpha and theta waves come up.
Alpha and theta waves are what you generate when you meditate. Who here has not had the experience of going home after a hard day's work and taking that clicker in your hand and just kind of going into a trance watching television? When asked, people say that the word they most commonly use to describe watching television is "hypnotize." If you look at it from another way, if you put somebody in a brain scanner, you give him a book to read, and you measure brain activity, it doesn't matter what the book is—any reading will generate it—the whole left hemisphere is lit up, and the right hemisphere is relatively dark. If you ask the person to look up from the book and start watching any television program, the left hemisphere goes dark and the right hemisphere lights up. Now, in a world that has one television set for every two people on the planet, how could that not make a profound difference in our culture?
What's happened is that Western culture has been moved for 3,000 years by long, imageless tomes written by esteemed white males. Augustine, Aquinas, Marx, Hegel, Freud - those are the authors of books that moved our culture. I challenge anybody to name a single book written since the advent of television that has the power to change consciousness as much as images have.
We now live in a culture where we have a virtual archive in our brain of the most important events that have happened in our lifetime. If I mention "little naked girl running down the street with her arms outstretched," I don't have to finish the sentence, because most of your viewers know that I'm talking about that image from the Vietnam War. The image of the atomic bomb did more to change the consciousness of the planet than anything that was written about the atomic bomb. Does anybody doubt that the atomic bomb would have been used if there was only a written description of its effects? I think it was that film clip of the extraordinary power of the bomb, after it had been dropped in Japan, that stayed the hands of people from using it. And ultimately, the image that was even more powerful than that was of the earth beamed back from space in 1968. People seeing this blue marble floating in this dark space were moved by not only the sheer beauty of this image, but the implications of seeing our world as one interconnected whole, instead of some geographical map with artificial lines drawn in.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: I think that we're witnessing—and the reason I think you're able to even make this program now is that we've exited 5,000 years of text-based culture. It's only because we're moving away from text information that we're able to develop some degree of objectivity, to look back at it and begin to assess what exactly the effect was on our human culture, particularly Western culture, because it's primarily in the West that the alphabet has played such an important role. And why is it that Western culture is so different from native, indigenous cultures and Eastern cultures, which haven't used alphabets until recently? I think that McLuhan was absolutely right on the money when he said, "The medium is the message." The process by which we take in information and we put it out is very important.
We know that babies come into the world with all these extra neurons in their brain. It's almost as if evolution said, "Okay, go learn something." So, what is the effect of aiming a machine gun at a child's eye at about age five and firing in a steady stream of numbers and letters, numbers and letters, numbers and letters, for the next twenty years? We know that there's a dying off of neurons that aren't used. So, if you diminish the value of dance, music and art, and focus only on reading, writing and arithmetic—left hemispheric stuff as opposed to right hemispheric stuff—you're going to get a culture that's going to be very left hemispheric—very macho, very yang, very beta-mode—and that will manifest itself in the larger arena of world history.
In the Alphabet Versus the Goddess, I essentially show how these trends in history have played out against the backdrop of whether or not the culture was acquiring alphabet literacy or losing it. And as a result there was this extraordinary number of coincidences that you could say, "Well, maybe they're not causal, they're just coincidences." But they require some explanation.
David Boulton: Right. The ‘coincidences’ are amazing. In Alphabet, Mother of Invention (McLuhan and Logan) and also in The Alphabet Effect (Logan) both of which you took to another level in your book -- I was startled by the historical intersection that was apparent when archaeological linguists traced back the origin of the alphabet to the same tribe the Bible says Moses was living with when he received the Ten Commandments.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Yes. Well, the oldest alphabet ever discovered is called the Proto-Canaanite alphabet and it dates to about 1800 BC, where on a temple dedicated to a goddess they found what looks like the very first beginnings of an alphabet. This was in an area of the Sinai that the Midianites were traveling through, and the Midianites were the family that Moses married into when he ran away from Egypt after killing his overseer. So I find it an extraordinary coincidence that the most important event memorialized in the Israelite and Hebrew and Jewish religion is the giving of the Ten Commandments that takes place at Mount Sinai.
If you mention the name "Sinai"
historically, there's only
one event that's associated with it, and that is the giving of the Ten
Commandments. I think it's amazing that the oldest alphabet that was ever
discovered was in Sinai. So the question is: Was the enormous event that really
happened there the invention of the alphabet? (see
Johanna Drucker interview for more)
David Boulton: Yes, it seems like a significant coincidence. Whether the alphabet originated there or not, it’s still significant that the major radiation of the alphabet into the world takes off from there.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Was Moses the first wordsmith? Was the giving of the law in the Ten Commandments really the ability of the first people, the common people, to be able to learn a process of communicating, using twenty-plus little squiggles—squiggles that just stand for sounds and are able to be arranged in such a way to make it very easy to communicate?
David Boulton: Relative to this initial invention, there are a couple of different theories as to the reason it was created, or the background pressure that created it. There's Robin Allott's articulatory theory that says the letters are icons representing side views of facial expressions made when producing their sounds. Such a notation would allow a trader in a bazaar to basically note-take any language and be able to play it back like a transcription system. And then there's Acrophonics, where each letter represent the image of something whose beginning sound shares the same sound as the letter.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Well, it's interesting that it developed in a place somewhere halfway between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Here you had these two very different writing systems: cuneiform, which was this very complicated system of wedge marks; and then hieroglyphics, which is primarily based on images. So, the cuneiform was based on a linear sequence of syllables and hieroglyphics on a icon like images. All it takes is a pollinator from cross-cultures who sees "these are the advantages of this system, these are the advantages of that system," and then combines the two to make it simple.
Many people think the Phoenicians were the ones who invented the alphabet, because the Phoenicians taught it to the Greeks. But if the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, what did they write in it? I mean, when somebody invents a new form of communication, they leave you a written record. Was there any books written by Phoenicians? Is there a single anything left that they wrote? Is there anything ancient documents written in Punic, the language of the Phoenicians? Did they leave any significant documentation in writing? If they invented something as significant as an alphabet who was their law giver, what major religious reforms did they initiate, what was their artistic contribution? Compared to Hammurabi, Akhenaten, Moses, Plato, and Sophocles it seems highly improbable that the Phoenicians invented the alphabet and failed to have been transformed as a society by their discovery.
The first book of any consequence written in the alphabet is the Old Testament, 900 BC. And the Iliad follows closely in 800 BC. The Jews and Greeks —Jerusalem and Athens —form the two major currents whose confluence is the basis of Western culture. Our law, morality, philosophy, and our science can be traced back to those two entirely different streams. Yet both societies were firmly rooted in the alphabetic word.
David Boulton: The story of Moses is of somebody learned in the Egyptian system moving on to become a man of significant influence in a Jewish tribe.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right. What's interesting is that when he leaves Egypt, he travels to a strange land and marries Zipporah who was the daughter of Jethro, a Midianite priest. The Midianites lived east of the Nile. An intriguing clue is that the Old Testament tells us that Moses had a speech defect. The Bible tells us, Moses says, "I am not swift of speech." So, we think that he had a stammer or some stutter. When somebody has a speech defect, they're looking for a better way to communicate. And he would be the ideal person to be the one to have first introduced a simpler way to read and write
But you have to understand that there were other people that were experimenting. The Canaanites and the Midianites and others must have been experimenting with ways to simplify cuneiform and hieroglyphics because these older two systems were too complex. I believe it was probably some collaborative organic effort. But it always takes one genius to crystallize an idea, and what better way to inspire people to learn how to read and write this new form of communication than to say that these tablets were originally written by the moving finger of God?
David Boulton: So you're suggesting that the alphabet has had a significant influence on consciousness, on the brain, on the way people think—how we dice up and process reality. And that this is somehow underlying the emergence of a kind of artificial abstraction processing that led to the codification of legal systems, the development of complex, organized civilization systems and so forth and that led to our world today. Can you speak to the relationship between how the alphabet changes the brain and how that relates to the start of these different components of civilization?
Dr. Leonard Shlain: I find it to be an extraordinary coincidence that the concept of a written law, contained in written codes of law, only developed in alphabet nations. The Israelites introduced the Ten Commandments. Aeschylus in his trilogy about the fall of the House of Atreus tells how the Greeks came to be ruled by laws. Roman common law became the foundation of English common law. leading to the Magna Carta. The U. S. Constitution and.the Miranda rights have their roots in these traditions. Egypt and China, both of which made enormous contributions to the storehouse of human civilization, did not use written codes of law and both empires were based on a non-alphabetic writing system. When American administrators went into Japan after World War II, they had to help the Japanese write a constitution because the Japanese did not have the concept of a society ruled by law.
I think that the propagation of
the concept of the law accompanies alphabet literacy.
pointed out that no one in an indigenous society ever corrects somebody for
making a grammatical mistake. Two
talking to each other don't say, "Excuse me, you just put the direct object in
front of the indirect object, and you ended your sentence with a preposition."
It just didn't happen. The laws of alphabet grammar inspire the innovation of
codes of laws
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Learning how to speak is a skill that, as linguist Noam Chomsky has pointed out, is derived from what he called the “deep structure” in the brain. We're born with the ability to pick up any grammar that we first hear. Every child can learn the language of whichever culture they're born into. But no child is born with the ability to learn how to read and write. This is a process that's extraordinarily complicated, and much different than listening and speaking. So, what has to happen is this change over, and the brain has to be reconfigured.
Now, there is a remote fishing village in northern Portugal, where the older generation were non-literate. And then the government opened up public schools, and the younger generation became literate. A group of neuroscientists from Portugal and Sweden did brain scans on the two different groups.. As you would anticipate, the brain scan of somebody who learns literacy is markedly different than the brain scan of somebody who is non-literate, because if you're living in an auditory world as opposed to a visual world, where you're reducing sound to visual marks on a piece of paper, it requires a whole different set of connections.
What most people in the literate world have failed to notice is that you trade an ear for an eye. Vision becomes crucial in reading and writing, as opposed to your ear, which is listening. So as a result, there has to be a shift in the neurocircuitry of the brain. Until recently, no one has examined what effect does this reconfiguration of the brain have on the wider issues of history, culture, religion, and gender relationships. I am convinced that it affects all of them.
David Boulton: I'm going to come back to the neurocircuitry question. It's very important to what we're doing. But before I do I want to go back to explore a couple more historical pieces. There are a number of scholars, McLuhan and his group, David Abram, yourself and others as you indicate in your book, who seem to be saying that the explosion of Western civilization, which we often attribute to the emergence of Greek civilization, is really connected to the alphabet. In the case of the Greeks, it’s almost as if the Phoenicians inseminated them with this viral alphabetic mind germ.
David Boulton: And that within a couple of hundred years it enabled them to generate philosophy, science, politics and so many other dimensions we credit them for inventing. It took a few hundred years from the time it was first introduced, until it caught on…
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: But that, in a way, you could say the operating system of
Western civilization—the ‘OS’ of Western civilization and the Western mind—is
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Well, I'm intrigued by the fact that in the English language there are only two common uses of the word "hemisphere." If you're speaking and you want to use the word hemisphere in a sentence, you're either talking about the hemispheres of the planet or the hemispheres of the brain. And isn't it interesting that the planet has two very distinctive cultures, Eastern and Western, and the brain has two functionally lateralized hemispheres, right and left? If you look at these differences, you'll notice that the religion, the art, the language, the writing systems and the kind of philosophy that exists in the East are primarily the kind of thinking processes that go on in the right hemisphere. And the processes that go on in the left hemisphere correlate to all those things that I talked about in Western culture.
So, for example, our religions in the West are all rooted in alphabetic sacred texts, whether it's the Old Testament, the New Testament, or the Koran. It's basically, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was of God, and the Word is God." And then in the East you have Lao Tzu "The way that can be spoken is not the way. He who knows does not speak, and he who speaks does not know." So, it's sort of this intuitive, nonverbal knowledge that the right hemisphere is an expert in, compared to the kind of linear, sequential, black-and-white, written-in-a-book kind of information that the West has. I think the reason that the East and the West developed in such extraordinarily different ways is our writing systems. I mean, if a Chinese ideograph, for example, can have up to eight different concepts within one image, and when you see this image, you see it all at once as a gestalt—if you were to write on a piece of paper all of those images in an alphabetic language, it'd take you pages. You’d have to do it in a linear, sequential fashion.
They did a fascinating study on Chinese-Americans who were born in this country and learned how to speak and write both English and Chinese as small children. Among them, this select group either had a brain tumor, a stroke or some damage to one hemisphere or the other later in their lives. Somebody examined these people, and this was what they found:
If a right-handed Chinese American, who has their speech centers primarily in their left hemisphere, had a stroke in their left hemisphere, they lost the ability to speak English, they lost the ability to speak English, the ability to speak Chinese and couldn't write English; but he could still write Chinese, because Chinese ideographic writing is an image gestalt-based form of writing primarily processed by the right hemisphere.
If, in that same group of people, somebody had a stroke in the right hemisphere, he could speak English and Chinese, he could write English, but he could no longer write Chinese. So it's clear that the writing systems of the world have layered out into different hemispheres. The implications for understanding history and understanding these cultures are profound, because if the brain is actually structured differently, then communication between people of these different cultures is going to be different.
These differences are starkly
highlighted when someone from in a literate culture interacts with someone from
a non-literate culture. People in the non literate culture have a very
different world view about space and time, about causality and generally
differently. Benjamin Lee Whorf
It’s no coincidence that when the West conquered and colonized much of the world, first came the conquistadors, and right behind them came the missionaries. The first thing the missionaries said: "We're going to teach you how to read and write." And then once the natives learned how to read and write, they were enfolded into Western religions.
David Boulton: Just as David Abram's suggests when discussing self-reflection and generalization, it seems as if there's a point at which literacy folds back on consciousness and culture — even on the people who don't become literate—because it changes the vocabulary and structures of the oral language used in literate cultures.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Well, the story in Genesis about the fall is really about our fall into consciousness. You know, we humans developed this ego consciousness that allowed us to come out of nature and look back at nature. We developed this dualistic, objectified reflexivity, so we're able to look back on things. And that was a big plus. But it also meant that we no longer saw ourselves within the matrix of nature. Now, if you add on to that layer learning how to read and write, it creates even another filter—that people become so divorced from nature that they can treat nature as if it were an object.
And our current despoiling of our environment, would be alien to people who are non-literate. I wish to emphasize that I don't want to seem like I am telling people that they shouldn't read and write anymore Reading and writing are incredible skills that give you access to information you wouldn't be able to get any other way. But I think that we in the West, in particular, have been stuck for too long using primarily one hemisphere.
David Boulton: Let’s talk about the alphabet’s affect on consciousness and processing, and brain lateralization, and specialization of the hemispheres. Let’s begin at a more superficial level—about the utility differences of the alphabet, as distinct from other writing systems. You mentioned earlier that the complex, almost cryptic nature of the writing systems prior to the alphabet were such that they required a level of training that only a small percent of the population had, and these people became the gatekeepers and communicators for everybody else.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: The alphabet is the point at which writing went from being this highly specialized, scribe-controlled system of communication to something that was more accessible in a widespread way. And that connects with allowing a new civil infrastructure to form, a new communication system, or a kind of World Wide Web #1 the alphabet has made possible.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: Let’s talk about the alphabet as a technology—the kind of communication it enabled that we could say was a fulcrum for lifting and facilitating civilization. (see Searle)
Dr. Leonard Shlain: In a culture with only a small percentage of people who are literate, the literate gain control and have an advantage over non-literate people because of their ability to communicate in this form. And people who are in control don't want to share this power. So they make it real difficult for anybody else to learn writing and reading. But once you have an alphabet, no one can keep it from the masses. It's just very easy to learn how to read and write. We know the reason the Christian church made such an impact on the medieval period is that the only people who were literate in Europe were the clergy —the rest of the people were not. The Christians were able to supplant all of the other indigenous religions throughout Europe. And that was largely due to the fact that the church was literate, and nobody else was.
So, what happens when you have to learn alphabet literacy? It's a reductionistic process, because it's the linear arrangement of these letters that produces meaning. It forces you to think in a very linear and sequential fashion. There’s a certain concreteness and reductionistic form of thinking ingrained in the minds of people who learn an alphabet—that they tend to think in a very cause-and-effect, one-thing-after-another, linear-sequential way. Alphabets proceed line by line, line by line.
David Boulton: Let's go back to the point at which the alphabet emerges in Greece. How were the writing systems used, and how is it that being able to have wider-spread literacy enabled the kind of civic infrastructure that created the west?
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Well, it's the story of two city-states. You have Sparta and Athens right next door to each other. They're both contemporaneous. They both worshipped the same gods and they spoke the same language. No one has read anything written by a Spartan, because they didn't leave a written record. They had an extraordinary society with a system of law that had to be memorized. And on pain of death, you never told anybody else about the law. Right next-door was Athens that embraced the written word, produced this extraordinary outpouring by Euripides, Sophocles, Plato and Aristotle. They wrote down a lot of what they said. You have these two societies, side-by-side, that were very different.
For example, you would think that a culture like the Athenian one—where they sat around and discussed the merits of democracy and the esthetics of art—that they would have treated women better. But in Athens, women were not allowed to own property. They could not be publicly educated. They could not participate in politics. Right next door in Sparta, the girls could compete in the games. They could be queens. They owned property. They led armies. I mean, it was quite extraordinary that they had such different rights. That's just one difference between these two cultures.
So, we see in Greece that the Greeks had a Golden Circle of twelve deities on Mount Olympus. Isn't it interesting that the fourth century BC—at the height of Greece embracing the alphabet, its Golden Age—was the time when the Greeks collectively decided there was something wrong with Mount Olympus, that they needed to make room for a new deity? So they demoted Hestia, who was the goddess of the hearth and home, and elevated Dionysus, who was the god of madness and creativity, to this position to sit next to Apollo, and become part of the Golden Circle.
Now, Dionysus represents the sensuality and the madness that has to be balanced whenever a culture becomes so rational and logical and linear that it produces an imbalance. So, you have people worshipping this strange deity who was a cannibal god. The Dionysian Rites were practiced and became the fastest growing cult in ancient Greece coincident with the moment in history when the Greeks were most embracing rationality.
Dionysus combined two aspects: there was a very spiritual side and a very hedonistic side. When the Romans conquered the Greeks, they took Dionysus and they split him in two. He became Bacchus, they named Bacchanals after him—a sort of drunken, sexual orgy-type of deity. And then the other part of him became Orpheus, this gentle poet-musician who was very spiritual. Orpheus was killed—he died, and then he came back to life.
When early Christianity began, they took the story of Orpheus and attached it to Jesus and they took the story of Bacchus and attached it to the devil. So you had dark and light, good and bad, and good and evil—the strains that run through Greek and Roman religious ideas and that manifest themselves in our current religion.
David Boulton: I am interested in the actual uses of writing in Greece, and, as you just mentioned, in Rome. What did the utility that they had with it—or the degree of literacy that they had with it—enable them to do? It seems like we've developed ever more complex and powerful ways to apply the alphabet, enabling us to organize what we are doing together. The alphabet affected how we think about organization.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: The alphabet has another utility aside from its ability to communicate thought in writing. And that is that the alphabet allowed the systemization of information. Can you imagine a library, a dictionary, an encyclopedia, or an index without the alphabet? Using the alphabetical order to systematize and catalog information made not only the communication of information easier, but its retrieval. So, the problem with ideographic forms of writing, like hieroglyphics or Chinese icons, is that there's no good way to systematize information. That's one enormous advantage to an alphabet that's sort of a freebie. It’s something that came along that no one really had anticipated when it was set up. But it became a crucial means of storing information and retrieving information—under an alphabetical heading.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: And then, of course, you had this other critical aspect of the alphabet, that the printing press was invented in China during the Sung Dynasty in about nine hundred AD. Then a Korean invented metal movable type. This was long before Gutenberg ever invented his printing press. The problem was that the Korean and Chinese printers needed to have a bin with an enormous number of blocks for printing, because their language was not alphabetized. Gutenberg only needed to set up maybe twenty-six or thirty bins with the letters of the alphabet, and the speed with which they could set up a line of print for the printing press was much faster than any Chinese or Korean printer could do. It became this invention that spread printing, which transformed the world.
I read the other day that printing spread so rapidly that there were 8,000 printed books in Europe in the 1450’s, and by the end of the century, there were eight million copies. It just made books available to people. And the more books you have, the more incentive there is for people to learn how to read them and the more ease with which ideas can be transferred. So, the printing press was a means of producing the same thing over and over and over again, and a means of spreading ideas.
Luther could never have brought about the Reformation without printing. And you see how scientific ideas spread through Europe through journals, the Royalty Society, people able to distribute publications. Then, instead of writing a laborious letter to one person, you could have this thing printed and send it to a whole bunch of people. So there are two aspects to the alphabet—the ease with which it can be used with a printing press and its ability to store and retrieve information—that are secondary to its main function, which is to transfer information.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: But one problem I associate with alphabets is that they tend to produce schismatic religions. They tend to produce a Tower of Babel. Whereas anywhere in China, Chinese scholars, even though they may speak different dialects and can't understand each other—they can all read the same language. They can all read the ancient Chinese text, because it’s written in a way that's understandable. Whereas, we can barely read Shakespeare's English—you know, Middle English. And what's happened is that even though everybody in the West uses an alphabet, if you're a Portuguese writer writing to a German reader, you may be using the same alphabet, but it's broken down into all of these incommunicable ways of talking to each other. So, whereas the East tends to have this holistic system of holding everything together, the West keeps breaking down and breaking down.
When you think of all the Protestant denominations, of all the schisms within the church, and all the bifurcations of all the Shiites and the Sunnis, and you realize that in the west, we kill each other over religion. In the east you can be a Buddhist, a Taoist, a Confucian, and a Shintoist all at the same time. It's not a problem. In the west, you can't be a Jew and a Catholic and a Muslim all at the same time. It's impossible.
One of the reasons I wrote Alphabet Versus the Goddess is I wanted to try to understand if there was a time in the world when people didn’t kill each other over religion. I mean, if you wanted to worship Apollo and I wanted to worship Athena, no problem. We’d kill each other for a lot of different reasons, but religious ideology would never be one of them.
Then there came a time in the world, only in the West, when people killed each other over religion. And they were killing each other over the most minor doctrinal disputes. I mean, Jews and Catholics and Protestants and Muslims agree that they're all worshipping the same deity, whether it's Yahweh, or God Almighty, or Allah… it's the same entity. So why are we killing each other? It's all due to the fact that we have alphabetic sacred texts, and my text is different from your text. My text contains the truth, your text doesn’t, so we kill each other over it. It's a very strange phenomenon, because you don't have that in other religions of the world.
David Boulton:Let’s go back to an earlier point. What I heard you say was that the alphabet gave rise to a way of thinking about organizing.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Exactly.
David Boulton: It promoted a different way of thinking about how to organize.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: You could alphabetize information so it could be stored in a library. My thesis is that the limit of human intelligence was set by the diameter of the female's pelvis. You couldn't get a bigger brain through that little tiny hole. So the solution that evolution came up with—one that is extraordinary—is to get the baby past the birth canal, which is so life threatening to both the mother and baby. Once the baby is on the other side of the mother's pelvic ring of bone, ladle back into its brain the missing pieces the baby needs to know to function in the world. We call it culture. And the astonishing evolutionary development to ladle those pieces back in was language.
But then we went beyond that. We started to develop an extra nervous system outside of our nervous system and the first form of it was writing. Writing is a peripheral. Just as there are peripherals for a computer, writing is just another piece that sits on the desk, but it aids the central computer, the brain. And once you have writing, you have libraries, and you now have these extraordinary means of the Internet and movies and television. You can store information in cans and on magnetic tapes. These are all manifestations of your extended nervous system, outside your skull.
The reason my computer is colored gray is that it's a piece of my brain sitting on my desk. It just doesn't happen to be wet, you know. But it's an extension of my nervous system. We humans have figured out a way to beat the limit of how big our brain can be by adding information devices to our brain, outside of our skulls—devices like libraries and books and movies. All of these allow us to store information and retrieve it in an extraordinarily easy way.
David Boulton: Right. My view on that is that the yolk of our instinctual nature got broken, and we became more dependent on learning than on instinct.
David Boulton: Yes.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: The meme replaces the gene such that an idea can live beyond you. And we've short-circuited the whole process of evolution. We don't need to wait for genetic mutations.
If I wanted to have a child who knew to look both ways before crossing the street, and I had to wait for a genetic mutation, I'd have to have millions of years go by with kids getting run over before one developed a gene mutation to look both ways. I can short-circuit that whole process by simply teaching the child to look both ways.
David Boulton: By explicitly learning together, which is what humans do better than any other species.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Exactly..
David Boulton: Which is the core of our work... how we do that, how we learn together.
So, we touched on organization. The alphabet is a medium. It's like the first World Wide Web, and by using it, we create an artificial reality experience in our brains.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
It was a net that allowed—you know, prior to a writing system you have to
remember that the
They used it for business transactions, because
commerce became so complicated that they needed to keep track of things: "I'm
giving you eight sheaves of grain and you're giving me four jars of oil. And
next year, I'm going to be doing…" They used that system for 800 years before
somebody figured out that we could actually use this writing system to tell our
stories, to keep our king's lists, to write our poetry and tell our mythology.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: So, it was a long time before they finally figured out that this new means of communication could have another use. And alphabets just sped up the process tremendously, and we were able to just blossom out as a result of learning the alphabet. But there's no free lunch in the universe. Sophocles once warned that "Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse." And I think everyone would agree with that. If you won the lottery tomorrow and you got all those millions of dollars, you can count on something unpleasant happening as a result.
Everyone would agree that the invention of the alphabet was vast. So the question is: What was the curse? What was the price we paid as a species to learn this magnificent gift, because all magnificent gifts come with a price? Well, the price has been that it's changed the way we communicate and interact with each other and nature, and in such a way that has been detrimental. So, it has not been an unvarnished good, even though the good that it has brought—I certainly wouldn't want to go back on that. It's tremendous. But we're now starting to assess what the cost was. What was the price we paid to become literate?
David Boulton. Let me give you a little sketch of what we're doing, so you can understand how these things we have been talking about connect.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Okay.
David Boulton: As you probably know—based on attributing the invention to the Phoenicians—we use the word ‘phonetic’ describe a 1 to 1 correspondence between letters and sounds.
Plato once said, in effect: "Once we knew the letters of the alphabet, we could read." Reading was a case of seeing the letters and saying their sounds. When it's done fast enough, you’re reading. It was like code-cued speech. As you were mentioning earlier, the Romans improved it with punctuation, so it started to evolve into this general form that starts to become more familiar to us. But the point that interests us is that the Romans spread this system all around Europe. And as their empire withered and died, their writing system was left behind as the medium that the powers of Europe grew up in.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: Common people didn't, but the well-born powers-to-be did. So these people were having their minds conditioned by Latin, by it’s writing system and its spoken language, which had a pretty clear phonetic correspondence.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: But, particularly as it relates to our work, a problem develops in England. The common people were speaking a language that had forty-plus sounds. The Roman alphabet and Latin sound system didn’t have enough letters or letter sounds to represent the sounds of English. The people who were in control, so to speak, ‘watching the store’ – who were responsible for the emergence of English writing - really didn't care that much about the people’s spoken language or its forty-plus sound elements. They lived inside the language that was powering their lives which was compatible with its writing system.
over a period of time, a collision—a confused juxtapositioning began to happen.
The letters of the Roman alphabet became pair-bonded and were complexly combined
to represent the sounds in the English language that the original alphabet
didn’t have enough letters for.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right. Well, there's an interesting concept that language is an entity. It's ectoplasmic—it doesn't have a body. And it's living symbiotically with humans. Humans can't live without language, and language can't live without humans. So, there's something new in the world in terms of evolution, in that for the first time we have an organism that you can't actually see. It doesn't have a corporeal body, but it exists. If you look at all language as a whole, it's this thing that we humans generate, and it has an almost amorphous life of its own. And languages are living things—I mean, some of them die, some of them live, but the strongest survive. (see Deacon)
I happen to think that English is an extraordinary good choice for becoming the world language, because in French, German, Spanish and Italian, a two-year-old has to learn that all nouns have a value, and the value is sexual. Well, what a strange concept, that a noun has to have a gender article that's masculine or feminine. And you could sort of figure out using a rustic-barnyard common sense that the drills and forks and knives are masculine, while the windows and vessels and thresholds are feminine. But once you get into abstract nouns, why is it that the majority of abstract nouns that are negative, such as sickness and folly and foible and disability are feminine, and the majority of masculine nouns are positive? What does that do in a culture if little girls learn that the good nouns belong to the guys? What does that do to their self-esteem? And what does that do to a little boy in terms of how he's going to relate to the opposite sex?
Then you have this extraordinary phenomenon that in English, there are no gender articles, there's none, zero, zip. There's no noun that has a gender article. But if I want to address you in German, Spanish, French or Italian, just as I start to address you, I have to make a decision whether or not I can address you with the familiar or the formal.
David Boulton: There's a great story about Richard Fenynmangoing to Japan once to have a conference with a number of Japanese physicists, and in the course of that, learning all the different inflections he had to use in order to properly honor or distance himself relative to this complex social hierarchy. And he finally said, "I don't want to learn that language."
Dr. Leonard Shlain: You have a built-in hierarchy, a built-in gender patriarchy and misogyny in all these languages except English, because in English, all I can address you as is "you."
David Boulton: What I'm trying to get to is that written English has a different problem. On the one hand, it's got this fantastic dexterity and freedom from a lot of the overhead that you're describing. But on the other hand, English—and other romance languages where there is this schism between sounds and letters—requires a new kind of mental processing, a new set of decoding reflexes that were not part of the original written system.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: But we're getting beyond that, because our language is evolving into what I call the "iconic revolution." I mean, if you're looking for the men's room, don't look for m-e-n anymore. Instead, it's a little icon of a man or a woman. So what's happening is that, when I grew up, all the road signs were in text. And now all the road signs are in icons. You go into a hospital or an airport, you're looking for something, you don't see the signs in text anymore. What's happening is that we're developing a hieroglyphic form of writing, It's coming back to images that are easily recognizable to anybody, regardless of what language, in what alphabet, or non-alphabet. We can recognize these icons. It's happening. It's in process.
You know, Voltaire recommended in the French Enlightenment that we needed to get rid of all the European written languages, because a Frenchman couldn't talk to a German, and an Englishman—you know, there was this Tower of Babel. And he said, "Let's use Chinese. Let's use ideograms that are understandable to everybody." It's not based on phonetics; it's just based on gestalt recognition. And of course, that movement never took off.
What's catching on today is the iconic form of language, so wherever you go today there are now images, icons, hieroglyphs to convey information that used to be written in text.
David Boulton: I see that. And at the same time, ninety-two million adults can't read above a fifth-grade level. We're losing hundreds of billions of dollars, our culture is diminished, and many millions of people are living impoverished lives because they are not able to read well.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: Thirty-five million children are trapped in a public school system in which sixty percent or so are below the level of reading proficiency. And research says they're feeling ashamed of their minds...
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Sure, sure.
David Boulton: So there's been numerous attempts to change the writing system, as you know, from Benjamin Franklin, one of my favorite heroes in this story. Up until the early 20th Century, there was attempt after attempt after attempt to say, "Look, this thing is messing with the quality of life of our people. It's retarding the advance of our language around the world. What are we going to do about it?" They rose intentionally to try to do something about it, and it all got snuffed out.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Right.
David Boulton: And so while I do think, given a large grand view, that we're going to end up with more of an iconic writing system that has some of the benefits of the new hyper-technologies, right now we're still trapped in this situation where, millions and millions of people's lives are suffering from trying to get up the on-ramp into literacy that's required today to live in the world.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Marshall McLuhan said that, "At the interface between the changeover from one major form of communication to another form, there's an enormous explosion of energy released, much of it creative, and some of it very destructive." And what you're talking about—literacy rates falling dramatically around the world—I believe is because the school system, once designed to bring people into this educational system to teach them how to read and write, this system now has to compete with an alternative school system, which is television and movies.
Children are being exposed, on a daily basis now, to an enormous amount of image information. It's competing with the kind of linear-sequential ingraining that has to happen in order to teach people how to read and write. So there's this collision between these two forms of communication—one is producing a level of creativity in our society that in some future age will be talked about as a golden age or a renaissance, but the other is getting this extraordinary fallout of kids and people who are being left behind, because they don't know how to read and write. It's a terrible problem. And it's something that has happened every time a culture comes in contact with a new form of communication.
David Boulton: Thank you for talking with us.
Dr. Leonard Shlain: Thank you. | <urn:uuid:5db3685d-07ff-46ee-bd30-cd37ea571749> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/shlain.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975049 | 13,841 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The shells of abundant, tiny, marine organisms known as foraminifera deform when exposed to environmental pollutants. When foraminifera die they leave behind these shells as a record of the conditions through which they lived. A team of researchers, including professor emeritus/UCMP curator Jere Lipps, reported on the usefulness of forams as environmental indicators after studying the impact of the 1978 Amoco Cadiz oil spill on the Brittany Coast. This work was presented on September 7 by Lipps' colleague, Marie-Thérèse Vénec-Peyré at the international Forams 2010 symposium in Bonn, Germany.
Developing a better understanding of forams as indicators of pollution gives scientists a powerful tool to measure the impact of future enviornmental disasters. Read more in this UC Berkeley News press release. | <urn:uuid:7d890ee2-37a1-4e69-a6ce-5c0783e33573> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ucmp.berkeley.edu/blog/archives/927 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00017-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932571 | 171 | 3.1875 | 3 |
4.2. Hiragana table
A table of the hiragana ( "hiragana") is called "gozyûonzu", which means a fifty-sound chart. It contains all the hiragana except ones with voiced sound marks, ones with semi-voiced sound marks, and small hiragana (/Q/ and double hiragana). Since Japanese characters are ordinarily written vertically from top to bottom, the table items are written in that way. The lines are written from right to left.
Each hiragana is shown with its Romanization, and it is linked to audio files.
*1 There are special single-kana words with these kana.
*2 These two kana are not used in modern Japanese.
*3 This kana actually doesn't contain the vowel "a".
This is an additional table that contains hiragana with voiced sound marks and semi-voiced sound marks:
Consonant groups are called "gyô", which means lines in Japanese, and vowel groups are called "dan", which means columns. So the hiragana is the hiragana of "sagyô idan" (sa-line, i-column). The hiragana is the only exception; it doesn't belong to a vowel column because it has no vowel.
Voiced sound marks and semi-voiced sound marks have no effect on the order of characters in dictionaries. So , , and have the same order. Small hiragana also have the same order as ordinary ones. So and have the same order.
As you know, some of the hiragana have different pronunciations from what you might expect them to have. You may think the vowel "i" works almost like "yi". Linguists call it palatalization. That's why "si" is like "shi" and "ti" is like "chi".
The order of kana came from Devanagari, which is a phonetic alphabet used for Indian languages such as Sanskrit and Hindi. Devanagari's vowel order is: a, â, i, î, u, û, r, e, ê, o, ô. Its consonant order is from the back of the tongue to the lips: velars (k, g, ng), palatals (ch, j, ny), retroflexes (.t, .d, .n), alveolars (t, d, n), bilabials (p, b, m), semivowels (y, r, w), and fricatives (sh, s, h). Japanese doesn't have retroflexes, and the consonant of the syllables now represented by "h" + vowels was "p". In addition, some linguists think the consonant of the syllables now represented by "s" + vowels was "ch". (Other linguists think it was either "ts" or "sh".) Devanagari's consonant order thus gives the Japanese consonant order: k, ch (later s), t, n, p (later h), m, y, r, and w.
Go to the previous page
Go to the next page
Return to the index
Copyright(C) TAKASUGI Shinji (firstname.lastname@example.org) | <urn:uuid:19cdd9dc-08bb-4470-b441-8edd2160785b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/%7Ets/japanese/table.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915547 | 713 | 4.09375 | 4 |
Circuit Scribe is a rollerball pen that writes with non-toxic conductive silver ink. It makes creating circuits as easy as doodling.
Our goal is to make circuits intuitive and accessible to learners of all ages!
Basic Kit + Workbook
Stupidly Conductive Inks
No shaking, no squeezing, no goop, no smell, no waiting for ink to dry. Circuit Scribe draws smooth lines with conductive silver ink and allows you to create functioning circuits instantly.
- Non-toxic silver ink dries instantly on most surfaces
- Resistance is 0.05-0.2ohms/sq/mil (2-10ohms per cm of writing)
- Eliminates the need for wires, draw instead!
Check out our Kits!
Our kits contain groups of modules and accessories which can be used together to learn and teach many lessons in electronics. Kits are also available in larger bundles for teachers to teach a group of students from 10-30.
Topics in our kits include:
- Current and voltage
- Conductivity and resistance
- Series and parallel
- Digital electronics and logic
Need a specific module?
Modules complete your circuit. You use our Circuit Scribe pen to connect batteries to input, output or neutral modules. To wire up a simple switch-activated LED you'd use a 9V battery adapter, LED, and SPST switch module. You may want an extra NPN to make some logic gates, a dozen more LEDs to make some holiday artwork, or four motors to make a paper robot. Have no fear, we offer modules individually as well!
Simulate with 123D Circuits
We have an online simulator, thanks to our partnership with Autodesk! Play online with all of our components using Autodesk's 123D Circuits Simulator. Share your schematics with other users, and print projects to build circuits with your real-life components.
DESIGN AND SIMULATE
All Circuit Scribe components are available and can be simulated. See the RGB light up, turn the potentiometer, all components are ready to play!
PRINT AND SHARE
Export and print a template to easily build your project. Embed your project on any website and learn from the community of makers on the 123D Circuits platform.
Funded on Kickstarter
We could not have made Circuit Scribe a reality without our loyal backers.
Funded successfully on January 1st, 2014 by 12,277 backers with $674,425 in funding. Changing the way we teach and learn electronics ever since.
Check out our Kickstarter video that went viral, you'll see how we started!
Interested in what else you can do with our products?
Replace circuit boards altogether by using circuit scribe + pen plotter, integrate with Circuit Stickers, or draw your own computer touch pad with Makey Makey. The possibilities with Circuit Scribe are truly endless! | <urn:uuid:d38be1fd-25a0-41f0-8ac7-04fa60dc011c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.electroninks.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889897 | 607 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Outpatient Nutrition Centers: Nursing Children Back to Health in War Zone
Supporting outpatient nutrition centers is one way Action Against Hunger fights severe acute malnutrition in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a region torn apart by over a decade of brutal conflict. At the centers, local health workers trained and equipped by Action Against Hunger diagnose, treat and monitor acutely malnourished children during their weekly visits.
“Mothers are happy with [these nutrition centers] because their children don’t have to stay in the hospital for a month,” said Hodaru Bulenda, head nurse at the Bitale Health Center in South Kivu, which is managed by the Congolese Ministry of Health.
"Mothers are happy with [these nutrition centers] because their children don’t have to stay in the hospital for a month." —Hodaru Bulenda, Head Nurse, Bitale Health Center
In the past, severely malnourished children had to stay in the hospital for weeks or even longer while being treated. One parent was required to stay with them, keeping them away from the rest of the family, their jobs, and their other household duties. And, some parents were forced to stop their children’s treatment because they could not stay at the hospital with them, Hodaru pointed out.
Now, because of a new national nutrition protocol and ready-to-use foods like Plumpy’nut, a specially formulated product designed to jump-start children’s metabolisms, malnourished children can visit the outpatient centers once a week to get a medical check-up, be weighed and measured, and receive ready-to-use foods to consume at home. Those with certain medical or nutritional complications are referred to therapeutic Stabilization Centers for further treatment.
The health center staff also discusses the children’s progress with their parents and trains them on how to improve nutrition and hygiene practices like hand-washing and including fresh fruits and vegetables in meals. The weekly visits continue until the children are discharged.
South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo
Laguerre, a five-year –old in Bitobolo, South Kivu, and his elder brother, Mussafir, have benefited from the centers. Six months ago, their family was forced to flee their village due to armed conflict and have been living with a host family ever since. Far from their fields, their food intake was greatly reduced. Mussafir was the first of the boys to become severely malnourished.
Their mother Fora took Mussafir to the outpatient nutrition center in Bitobolo, trekking down a long muddy path to the center. In this remote, rural region of the country, Action Against Hunger has reconstructed the shelter at the local health center and is helping to support and manage the provision of treatment for malnourished children from all over the area.
Many children newly arrived at the center were mere skin and bones, while others had swollen feet, legs and arms, signs of severe acute malnutrition. At the clinic, nurses weighed and measured Mussafir and gave Fora ready-to-use foods for the young boy. After his treatment, his appetite came back, and “now he eats everything he can get his hands on!” Fora said.
Having seen what happened to Mussafir, Fora brought Laguerre to the outpatient center to have him checked for malnutrition as soon as she spotted some of the warning signs she had learned to recognize. She now comes every Tuesday with the boys and promises to “keep coming every week.”
Thanks to the local nutrition centers, both of her boys will be strong and healthy. In time, the family hopes to be able to return to their home and pick up their lives where they left off. | <urn:uuid:a9a9f56b-b051-4f8a-b159-3f9570c5c902> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.actionagainsthunger.org/blog/outpatient-nutrition-centers-nursing-children-back-health-war-zone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973696 | 785 | 2.75 | 3 |
|Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute||Home|
Sequella H. Coleman
In contrast, we as teachers take for granted that reading books of quality can add to a student's range of experience. However, for the most part, our students view reading as a chore. To combat this view, we must find ways to enhance their ideas of quality by selecting (beginning with) literature of interest to our student populations.
Each year a colleague and I conduct a reading for enjoyment program that we dubbed "Readers are Leaders." The students are allowed to read books that interest them, setting a goal of the number of pages they will read in a given time period. The teacher also sets a goal and reads. The class goal is then set from all the individual goals. This curriculum unit incorporates the basic premise of the "Readers are Leaders" program, that students enjoy reading more when books are of interest to them. The books selected here are a result of past class interests. The themes have appealed to several classes in recent years. The content of the books is integral to the unit direction.
The major focus of this unit is on the varying teaching strategies that can be utilized to have students conduct a comparative study of cultures using at least three novels. The unit incorporates a plan to correlate the readings with writing assignments. The novels have been selected for ethnicity, content and the "teachability" of the material. A list of supplemental reading materials that reflect the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the Fair Haven Middle School students has been included. The list is appropriate to varying age and reading levels. The students can read and report on other books that they read independently.
The ultimate goal of any literacy plan is to have students read, write and speak fluently. Listening and comprehension skills are imperative for the accomplishment of this goal. The overall goal of reading instruction is to produce independent, strategic learners. The first component of such instruction is planning. The writing of this curriculum unit is my planning phase -- selecting appropriate materials and suggesting methods of presenting the materials.
The second instructional phase could be called the teaching phase. This is where the teacher presents, models and discusses the strategy of the day. Pre-reading activities help activate prior knowledge or build background information to stimulate student curiosity about the pages to come. The third and fourth phases are guided practice and independent practice. The teacher will alternate reading methods to accomplish the third and fourth phases of the instructional plan.
Reading is a complex interactive process between the background knowledge of the reader and the novel. Comprehension takes place when the reader builds meaning between the novel and the reader's own experiences. The reader needs to engage in active thinking and use key strategies to build this meaning before, during and after reading. Hence, this unit proposes to provide the teacher with the key strategies to focus the reading instruction of a cross cultural study.
The major emphasis in the reading text throughout the year is placed on the elements necessary for a complete story. A story has several components --characters, setting, conflict or plot and theme. The questions the story answers are who, what, when, where, how and why. These are also the questions we attempt to answer when we examine a culture different from our own.
The three cultures that I have chosen for this study of novels are African American, Hispanic and Asian (Chinese). The criteria used for actual book selection were: promoting a positive image; presenting accurate, factual or believable material; exhibiting cultural specificity; and revealing strong three-dimensional characters. Positive images leave a lasting impression so the books chosen should reflect a positive image of the community or culture discussed. Accurate factual information can be enjoyable to read if presented in a fun manner. Stories written in the first person point of view are usually entertaining for students. The cultural references in children's material should reflect the authentic experiences and background of the culture discussed. Students should be able to see that the material is specific to them or those around them. The characters in books used should be well-rounded and fully developed, showing the multifaceted nature of people in general. The books outlined within this unit and those in the bibliography comply with these criteria.
The selections vary in length and degree of difficulty. Sharon Draper's Forged by Fire is the fictional tale of an African American young boy and his family relations during his childhood. Although many African American families are quite stable, this story takes a look at various factors that can and do effect many youngsters in urban environments; such issues as physical and drug abuse, criminal activity, alternative living arrangements and the myriad uncertainties that accompany poverty. Joseph Krumgold's ...and now Miguel is the story of a twelve year old Mexican boy and his journey for respect. Universal issues of growing up, dreaming of responsibility, accepting challenges, and father/son relationships are explored from a cultural perspective. The setting, topics and bits of Spanish will be delightful for my Hispanic students. Ji-li Jiang has written a historical piece about China when she was twelve entitled Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. The story details the changes within one family that occur when the government is in a state of turmoil. The location and governmental beliefs are so different students will be required to examine the geography and the society structure closely. Discussions about the process of change and its importance will be beneficial to adolescents experiencing their own "personal cultural revolutions".
The sequence of the novels was determined by the populations of the majority of my classes. This unit of study will follow closely behind a segment on Afro-American biographies. The cultural references to various time periods should be fresh in the students' minds. The social issues discussed in Forged by Fire will have been recently reviewed in the social development curriculum. The Hispanic novel should begin around the discussion of Cinco de Mayo to bring about a natural flow in the background information presented to the students. The Asian material is saved for last because this should be the most unfamiliar area to students requiring more guided pre-teaching, necessitating more geographical and historical information and more vocabulary introduction. The time period, however, will be familiar as the sixties and the Civil Rights movement in the United States will have been discussed in social studies and the African American history unit. Prior to reading each novel an appropriate picture book will be read to the students as a precursor to the longer study of the culture proposed in the novel assignments. Mention of past stories such as Hatsuno's Great-Grandmother in the Vistas text will also serve as cultural references for students. It was a story about an Asian woman in San Francisco who spoke no English and how she related to her surroundings and family with their American ways. These prior knowledge references should make the reading of the stories easier and more enjoyable for the students, thus allowing the comprehensive skills review to be a smooth transition as we read and compare novels.
The comprehension skills to be reviewed are time order; cause and effect; conflict; main idea; characterization; theme and mood; and setting. Comprehension is increased when unfamiliar or forgotten concepts and vocabulary are discussed prior to reading. Each of the stories has material conducive to time order study, particularly Forged by Fire: Gerald is three in chapter one and eighteen at the end of the book. Amazingly, the novel is only one hundred and fifty-six pages. The concept of cause and effect proves to be a difficult one for students to grasp in the text but chapter books give numerous examples and are very useful tools for reviewing and understanding the concept. Ji-li tells of her experiences between the ages of twelve and fourteen. The epilogue answers some of the questions students may have about her life after that time period and how she was affected by he events of those two years. This is a good example of how time order and cause-and-effect strategies go hand in hand. The following is a lesson plan that demonstrates the connections of the two strategies to a study of a novel.
Objective: To review the concepts of time order and cause-and-effect relationships.
|time order||cause||effect||sequence||finally||later||first||then||soon||cause||therefore||since||in order that||various other clue words|
Activities and Procedures:
Preteaching - write a list of events on the board:
Ask the students what they notice about the list of events. They should notice that they are out of sequence. Then, have them rearrange the events in the correct sequence (3,1,5,4,2). Talk about the fact that life and stories occur in a particular order. Then ask the students what caused David to awaken, the ringing of his alarm clock. Point out that events in life and stories often occur for reasons and causes. This point can be tied into previous social development discussions about choices. One would then review the vocabulary as clues to determining time order and cause and effect.
- 1. David woke up and turned off the alarm.
- 2. After eating breakfast, David finally left for school.
- 3. David's alarm clock rang.
- 4. David then got dressed for school.
- 5. David got out of bed.
While reading the novel students will maintain journal entries that will chronicle the events of the story. They will also be responsible for finding and referencing these vocabulary clues in their journals. These entries will be beneficial for writing assignments given throughout the unit such as the following cause and effect chart :
Several other examples with one or both sides blank would finish the chart for students to complete either individually or in arranged pairs.
1. a. Gerald plays with the lighter b. The curtains catch on fire. 2. a. ______________________ b. Gerald was taken from his mother. 3. a. ______________________ b. Gerald must go back to live with his mother.
Once the novel is complete the students will create a close time line of story events. This would not be a new concept only a review of an activity completed several times over the course of the year.
Assessment - Student understanding of the concepts will be derived from the verbal answers, the cause and effect chart and the time line of story events. Writing assignment: What effect did fire have on Gerald? Explain the cause of this reaction.
The preteaching lesson given here is seemingly simplistic, however necessary, particularly in combination with the vocabulary list. Students must recognize the words that indicate transition in literature in order to include these words in their own writings.
Some of the reading method strategies to be utilized are silent sustained, paired and other groupings, individual and teacher reading aloud to students.
Forged by Fire takes place in the midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio. The features of importance are the river in an urban area that has cold winters. Riverfront Stadium is a place of wonderment and fascination for a young boy. The story is a modern tale without any actual year references.
...and now Miguel's action is located on the New Mexico/Colorado border in the Carson National Forest. Miguel prefers to call the area Rio Grande Sangre de Cristo, the mountain range name. Farm land, open space, animals and independence are the keys to this novel. The time period and farming concepts will require explanation, but are not far fetched for the students. Prior reading will have been Where the Red Fern Grows and other short stories with similar settings.
Red Scarf Girl takes place in China during the '60's during the cultural revolution. The memoir format allows for the review of non-fiction materials. Students need to be reminded that the elements discussed in this curricular unit are equally relevant to non-fiction.
Upon completion of the three novels a semantic map will be completed by the students for the purpose of comparing the effects of the setting upon the story.
|STORY||SETTING(s)||EFFECT ON CHARACTER|
|1. Forged by Fire|
|2. ...and Now Miguel|
|3. Red Scarf Girl|
2. Could Miguel have lived in Gerald's neighborhood? Why or why not? Use story details to explain your answers.
3. Name two similarities between each setting.
4. In which setting would you most like to live and why?
Students will be able:
- 1. To recognize character traits and relationships among characters.
- 2. To recognize changes in traits and relationships as the book progresses.
- Chalkboard; large pieces of drawing paper; pencil or markers; writing paper. (an overhead projector and transparency are optional).
This activity can be done as a whole group, in small groups or on an individual basis, depending upon the abilities of your class. (If this is completed as a whole class use an overhead transparency or the board to make a semantic map as you make yours.)
Question: Who is the main character of the novel?
Response: Write that name in the center of a large piece of paper.
Question: What is he or she like?
Response: Write specific descriptions of the person under their name, then draw box around the name and all of the descriptors.
Question: Who else is important in the story?
Response: Write their names evenly spaces around the center box.
Question: How does the main character feel about these people?
Response: Write descriptive feeling words on lines running away from the center box toward each other box.
Question: How does each minor character feel about the main character?
Response: Write thoughts on arrows running from the outer boxes toward the center box.
Tell the students when they have finished filling out the boxes as described they are to write about how they felt about the main character at the beginning of the story and at the end of the story. A small group discussion about their feelings will help them share and formulate their written ideas.
To further develop individual thinking the students would then be asked to write a brief character analysis for each of the main characters. Afterwards they would then be asked to write an analysis for one minor character in each book. The final writing piece would be to have the students compare the two characters and explain how their similarities and differences influenced the story's action. A sample prewriting chart would be:
|CHARACTER||TRAITS||EFFECT ON STORY|
Unfortunately, many of the students in our society have experienced the multiplicity of familial relationships similar to Gerald's plight in Forged by Fire. Some have experienced first hand the shuffling from one relative to another and/or the redefining of family by remarriage and blending and most are aware of someone who has adjusted to such changes.
The conflicts Gerald faces are physical and internal fires. The story plot is effected by actual fires and Gerald's reactions to the result of each fire moves the story along. His anger toward his mother and Jordan disturbs him greatly. Despite his anger, his compassion for Aunt Queen and Angel helps him move forward in a positive manner as he attempts to resolve the negative issues. The balancing of positive and negative feelings is a concept discussed often in the social development curriculum.
Middle school itself is a time of transition and self-awareness. Confidence, courage and independence are qualities built and tested during these years. The desire to prove one's self no longer a child is quite strong. Miguel's story provides an example of how one boy handles an experience that grants his wish to be allowed to expand his responsibilities. Despite the era and location differences students can relate to the qualities Miguel exhibits. Miguel has an external conflict with the mountains and sheep but he also has an internal conflict with his fear. As a teacher you can help the students make analogies to their own lives, for example being allowed to venture to the mall by themselves or to baby-sit for the first time.
While Red Scarf also presents a different location and time the lessons for courage and determination are similar. This time period was also one of world upheaval; therefore, the potential for enlightening classroom discussion is abundant. Ji-li is confused by new governmental philosophies and her father's treatment. She alternates between withdrawal and outspoken rebellion. Ji-li is also discovering her family's history and how the past is affecting her present and changing her future. She is often confronted with the question of how to react. This idea is familiar and appealing to middle school students.
Prediction exercises are useful strategies for conflict/plot discussions and writing assignments. What might have happened to Gerald if his mother had not been available to take him when Aunt Queen died? Would things have been different for Ji-li if she had gone to the audition? Would Miguel have different feelings if he did not like Johnny Marquez?
The discussion around conflict should be interactive, whereby the students review the characters of the book together examining each one's emotions. A discussion worksheet could be constructed similar to the following one. This sheet could be completed in groups or individually prior to a whole group or small group discussions.
|NAME||INTERNAL CONFLICT||EXTERNAL CONFLICT|
Forged by Fire - the title itself creates the essence of determination. The initial discussion to have with the students is on the meaning of the word "forge". "Forge" as a noun is an open furnace in which metal is heated before shaping. Use of the same word as a verb means to progress slowly or with difficulty. Both meanings have significance to Gerald's life. Students should be asked to give words to describe fire. Then, asked to write in their journals what it might mean to be "forged by fire" as a piece of metal and as a person. Upon completion of the novel these thoughts should be revisited -- Do you have different ideas about the meaning of "to be forged by fire" after reading the book? It should be apparent to the students that Gerald's life was moved forward by fire, not once but twice. Early in life, Gerald almost dies in a fire he set when his mother left him home alone as she searched for drugs. He thrives until he is nine with a tough and loving Aunt Queen. Suddenly, his mother is back with an abusive husband and a small sister, Angel. This step-father proves to brutal with a flaming temper that makes Gerald unhappy. Gerald grows close to Angel as he tries to protect her from Jordan. Gerald shows that good can come from evil and that persistence, patience and determination can see one through a difficult situation.
Miguel learns to be patient, talk through problems and be observant of changes around him. He also accepts responsibility for his wishes and the action that occurs after he gets his wish. He admits at one point when he is feeling anger toward Johnny that it was not Johnny's decision that got them to this point but his and he must react accordingly. Miguel turns within himself for strength to continue his journey. Again the character is demonstrating that persistence and patience can see one through a difficult situation.
Miguel's story also points to an important theme in many cultures, food and family meals. The key to an attitude change for Miguel is being invited to eat "first" with the men after shearing. He needs his father's permission to sit and Johnny acts as his intermediary. This section of the book is a good beginning for a writing lesson.
Objective: The students will practice expository writing by completing a Type 1 and a Type 3 assignment explaining a family meal time custom.
Materials: paper, pen or pencil and ...and Now Miguel p153-156.
Activities and Procedures:
The students will be asked to brainstorm and then write about a family celebration that involves a big meal. Questions to stimulate thoughts might include --Does everyone sit together? Is there a children's table? Do they long to sit with the adults?
Note: A journal question before or after this assignment might be -- Why would Miguel find sitting with the men so special? Is his being allowed to join them for a meal a symbol of his acceptance for more responsible chores?
Assessment: Written papers will be checked for details. Oral sharing of corrected Type 4 papers will be encouraged.
The Red Scarf Girl location is China but the problems Ji-li faces in school are identifiable to students everywhere. Early in the novel the students are told to participate in a movement to criticize the educational system by writing big posters called da-zi-bao. During the Cultural Revolution these da-zi-baos, normally used to discuss important issues, were used to attack and humiliate people. Ji-li came to school one day to discover she was accused of having a "relationship" with a teacher on a da-zi-bao. The poster stated that he had made her the math teaching assistant because she was rich not because she was smart and worked hard. This accusation hurt Ji-li but she finds solace in her friend An Yi who also had things written about her mother being an evil monster. The two girls comforted each other.
Ji-li had to endure many other changes that summer as their neighbors' houses were raided and she was forced to stay inside or close to home in case her family home was raided too. Her parents felt the need to dismiss the housekeeper to help them to keep a lower profile. This decision meant more work for Ji-li, shopping, cooking and cleaning. She was not good at these things but learned through her mistakes. The book continues with many events that are unpleasant and Ji-li details how she dealt with each. Students should be reminded that Ji-li examined each event carefully and kept a positive attitude as she realized she could not control the situation. This book will be read aloud by the teacher one chapter at time, because the events are good for group discussion and written journal entries. For example, after reading "The Sound of Drums and Gongs" the assignment will be :
Ji-li had a summer experience that was unpleasant. Describe a time when your plans were changed by circumstances beyond your control.
Change evokes emotional decisions such as those made by Gerald, Miguel and Ji-li, and this idea is a great source for thematic comparison of the three novels. All three books emphasize the importance of history, change and the continuity of the generations, this is one source of comparison I will explore with my students. Gerald's story shows the extended family caring for each other in a difficult time. Miguel is joining the men in the family tradition of sheep herding. Ji-li learns her family history as it relates to the political climate within her country.
This discussion of family, history and geography will be the segue into the project's overall objective to conduct a comparative study. Once the students have completed all three novels a comparative study will be conducted to illustrate the "cultural" similarities and differences of the characters in the given stories.
The three main characters are similar in age, while differing in gender. The students will be able to speculate the differences in dress, schooling, foods, celebrations and other issues through research within the novels and from other sources. I will divide the class into study groups. The students will then list the similarities and differences between the characters in the three novels. Another class session will be used to analyze maps of the story locations. The students might be divided into three groups, each group representing one of the story locations. Each group would make an oral presentation on their location after making maps, researching climate, natural resources, customs and other areas of interest.
The culminating project will be a class book with the working title of "The Clock Tower on Grand Avenue". This title is derived from the center piece of the middle school, a large clock tower rising toward the sky. The clock tower also symbolizes the students standing tall and making a statement of who they are and from whence they came. The students will write their own vignettes and essays to reflect the similarities and differences they see within the small Fair Haven community. They will be encouraged to write about their own family experiences, cultural celebrations, and/or any thing that has challenged them in their lives. All forms of expression will be accepted -- plays, poetry, prose, songs stories and artwork. The students will use the Collins Writing Across the Curriculum method to complete all phases of the project.
The Collins Writing Across the Curriculum Method is way of standardizing the format of student written product in all middle school subject areas. Students are taught to set up their papers with the name on the top line of the right hand side of the paper with date underneath their name. The method features " types" of writing that are not necessarily sequential. Type I writings encompass the brainstorming phase of composition. Students are told the subject and asked to reflect their thoughts either in lists, webs, outlines or by whatever method is desirable to the teacher and students. Usually they are then asked to use the brainstormed information to write a draft essay or a Type 3 paper.
Type 3 writing is in rough draft form. Students are told to skip lines as they write. In the upper left hand corner they are asked to write the focused corrections areas (FCA'S) for this assignment. A sample FCA might be use of subject/verb agreement. The teacher will only correct those areas of the draft. Once student's finish writing they are asked to read heir work aloud to themselves as a means of self-correction. Type 4 writing is a re-writing of the corrected Type 3 in paragraph form. The Type 5 is a totally corrected completed published work usually with a cover and ready for sharing and/or display.
Perhaps you are wondering about Type 2 writing. This is used for answering questions or essays that have a definitive answer and is very good to use as a method of checking for understanding after a lesson. They are quicker to write, can be given any time and are usually written in normal paragraph form.
In summary, this writing method concentrates on various types of written expression and the writing assignments given during each novel study will reflect this variety. Techniques such as brainstorming; definitive answer questioning to check for reading comprehension; open ended questioning to elicit opinions; predicting and character analysis are some of the methods that will be written into the unit discussion and lesson plans. It should be noted that the student's journals maintained throughout the reading of each novel will make the final comparisons easier. Therefore, periodic checks of the journals is advisable.
As previously stated, the overall objective of this unit has been to incorporate reading strategies and writing techniques into a cultural adventure for students. It is my intention that my students will read, enjoy reading and learn something about other cultures in the process. Ultimately, I hope they will learn to express themselves in humanistic terms that just happen to reflect their cultural heritage.
An anthology of writings of various kinds - poetry, fiction and drama- by a wide range of recent Latino authors. This contains some good read aloud material.
Baruth, L. G.& M. L. Manning. Multicultural Education of Children and Adolescents. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 1992.
An education textbook containing good background and resource materials for planning a multicultural unit.
Freeman, Judy. The Best New Children's Books (Grades K-6). Bellevue, WA: Bureau of Education and Research. 1997.
A very comprehensive resource handbook that contains several annotated bibliographies of children's books. The author is a school librarian who offers numerous tips and evaluating children's books and using the library.
Irvin, Judith L. Reading and the Middle School Student: Strategies to Enhance Literary. Boston : Allyn and Bacon. 1990
An excellent text that examines the special needs of middle school adolescents and how their needs effect the teaching strategies used in a literacy program. Contains many activities and suggestions to use in the classroom during reading and other instruction.
Labbo, Linda D and Field, Sherry L. Celebrating Culturally Diverse Families. (Booklogues) Language Arts, 73 (No. 1, Jan. 1996): 54-62.
A detailed annotated bibliography written in column form. The books are divided into five sections: appreciating cross-cultural and multicultural families; understanding nontraditional families; meeting intergenerational and extended families; dealing with cultural conflict through humor and realism and enjoying feast of language play and illustrations. Each book
____is described in detail with points for student observation.
Lauter, Paul. General ed. The Heath Anthology of American Literature (2 vols.). 2nd ed., 1994.
|A large anthology that includes contributions from a variety of racial and||ethnic groups. Primarily for college students, but contains selections appropriate for younger children. Good read aloud material.|
This article discusses the goals of global education and geography instruction. Then, they explore the ways that trade books can provide links among cultures and used to enhance the teaching of geography.
Marzan, Julio. ed. Luna, Luna: Creative Writing Ideas from Spanish, Latin American and Latino Literature.
There are twenty one essays in which poets, fiction writers and teachers tell how they used Spanish, Latin American, and Latino literature in the classroom to inspire their students to write imaginatively. Also, contains a good bibliography and resource list.
Richardson, Judy S. A Read-Aloud for Cultural Diversity. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 39(No. 2, Oct. 1995): 160-62.
Suzanne Fisher Staples' young adult novel Haveli is described. Two passages are presented from the book as "read-alouds". She suggests class activities related to the book as a means of discussing cultural diversity and differing attitudes towards literacy in other cultures.
Rodriquez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriquez, an Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books. 1982.
A memoir of a Mexican-American intellectual who begins school in Sacramento, California knowing only fifty words of English and concludes his university studies in a reading room of the British Museum.
____ Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. New York: Back Bay Books. 1993.
American History told as the story of the many racial and cultural groups who have come together here to a new society. Each group's tale is told separately and as it connects and compares to other group's experiences.
Thomas, Lorenzo. ed. Sing the Sun Up: Creative Writing from African American Literature. 1994.
Teaching writers present practical ideas and methods for motivating students to write imaginatively, inspired by African American poetry, fiction, essays, and drama.
Gerald was fascinated by fire as a child, accidentally ignited his apartment and was sent to the loving home of his favorite aunt. When she dies, Gerald moves back with his substance addicted mother, little sister and an abusive step-father. The author includes "Discussion Topic" and "Activities and Research" sections at the end of the book.
English, Karen. Just Right Stew. Honedale, Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills Press. 1998.
A wonderful story of family members adding their own "special" ingredient to a pot of stew to make it just right an excellent read aloud for a discussion of individuals within families and various cultures adding to the "pot" to make the family and/or world just right.
Fleischman, Paul. Seedfolks. New York: HarperCollins Children's Books. 1997.
Thirteen voices tell one story of the flowering of a Cleveland vacant lot into a neighborhood garden. The group of strangers is young, old, Haitian, Korean, Hispanic, tough, haunted and hopeful.
Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. New York: HarperCollins 1997.
|Ji-li grew up in Shanghai where, in 1966, Mao's Cultural Revolution caused her "bourgeois" family to become outcasts. This memoir gives a||child's eye view of a terrifying time and tells of how one family's courage under fire.|
|Twelve-year old Miguel Chavez longs to accompany the adult males of his close-knit, sheep-herding family in to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains,||where for generations they have pastured their sheep during the summer. A coming of age classic.|
Lee, Milly Nim and the War Effort. Boston: Farrar 1997.
|Determined to gather together the most newspapers for her class paper drive during World War II, Nim competes for first place with Garland, a classmate who belittles her for being Chinese and not American, though she is||proud of being both.|
Great reference for various aspects of Chinese Americans - history; family and community life; religion; customs and contributions to American culture. Contains quick chronology history list from 5000 BC to 1991. A helpful glossary of important terms is included.
Payton, Sheila. African Americans. (Cultures of America Series). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation 1995.
Great reference for various aspects of African American. The chronology list covers 1526 to 1992.
Press, Petra. Mexican Americans. (Cultures of America Series). New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation 1995.
Reference book that covers Mexican American history from Old Mexico to recent contributions to the American culture. The quick reference list spans from 4000 BC to the 1960's. The glossary of terms is quite useful.
Speare, Elizabeth G. Sign of the Beaver. Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1983.
Matt lives in the wilderness in the 1700's and his father is away. An Indian chief and his grandson, Attean, save him from a bee attack. The two boys become friends and learn about each other. It is a story of physical survival and the understanding of a culture unfamiliar to you. Matt experiences emotional dilemmas at the Beaver tribes moving on and
____at his father's proclamation of more settlers coming. Good for classroom discussion.
Taylor, Mildred D. The Gold Cadillac. New York: Dial Books 1987.
A view of the South in the 1950's as one family travels from Ohio to Mississippi in a brand new gold Cadillac. Other books
____ by author Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry and The Friendship.
Contents of 1998 Volume V | Directory of Volumes | Index | Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute | <urn:uuid:8f7d05a1-c82d-4318-8ecc-922697befbf7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/5/98.05.07.x.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954581 | 7,037 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Adopt-a-School Public Relations Plan
The Local Section Public Relations Guide provides a very detailed description of how to publicize a program including the suggested timeline below.
Adopt-a-School Program Overview
Adopt-A-School fosters a better understanding of the community's school system, strengthens and improves school programs and curricula, and creates a sense of personal involvement and interaction between organizations and schools.
Adopt-A-School programs do not generally require financial support from the sponsor. Neither party in the adoption is the sole beneficiary. The adopter derives a sense of satisfaction in service and benefits from excellent public relations throughout the community. The adoptee reaps benefits when the organization makes a commitment to assist in the development of the full educational potential of a school.
Adopt-A-School Talking Points
- Fosters a better understanding of the community's school system
- Strengthens and improves school programs and curricula, and creates a sense of personal involvement and interaction between organizations and schools.
- A strong public school system is basic to the health and growth of a community.
- The schools benefit from the increased community support and professional assistance.
- Students benefit through receiving additional enrichment, reinforcement of skills, expanded learning opportunities, motivation towards excellence, and a better understanding of the business world.
- Business and industry receive better-trained future employees, positive public relations, and participation and ownership in education.
- The community gains an understanding of the educational process and becomes involved in a joint effort that benefits the school, the home, and the community and promotes educational excellence.
6 months before program begins:
Determine site for project
- Take “before” pictures – What did site look like before the program?
- Determine the message (e.g. outreach, education, partnerships, service)
- Determine the audiences (local media, national media, partner’s outlets for media)
- Prepare materials (media release(s), invitations, signage, t-shirts, online products)
2 weeks before program begins:
- Invite the public through media outlets (television, radio, newspaper, Internet)
- Identify the spokesperson and key messages
- Gather sample data from site to use in key messages
- Depending on the news outlet timing send media release
(Note: do not ignore local media)
2 days before program begins:
- Make follow-up phone calls to the media
Day of the Event
- Send summary of the event and photos to the media
- Upload summary of the event and photos to the SOP webpage
After the Event
- Send notes of appreciation to participants and organizers. | <urn:uuid:ffa435cb-5400-458b-adea-bbf45144f492> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/outreach/getthemicrophone/adopt-a-school-pr-plan.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907629 | 556 | 2.546875 | 3 |
ATLANTA (AP) - A government panel is now recommending that
virtually all Americans get a flu shot each year, starting this
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices had gradually
been expanding its recommendation for flu shots - 85 percent of
Americans were already included.
On Wednesday, the panel voted to recommend a seasonal flu
vaccination for everyone except babies younger than 6 months and
those with egg allergies or other unusual conditions.
The panel's recommendation now goes to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. The CDC usually follows the panel's advice
and spreads the message to doctors and hospitals across the
"Now no one should say 'Should I or shouldn't I?"' said Dr.
Anthony Fiore, a CDC flu specialist.
CDC vaccination recommendations tend to be influential with the
doctors who give the shots and the health insurers who pay for
Flu shots are already recommended for 85 percent of the U.S.
public, including pregnant women, children older than 6 months,
adults 50 and older, people with certain chronic health conditions,
health care workers and those who take care of people in a
recommended group. The only people who weren't specifically
included were healthy people ages 19 to 49 who don't have close
contact with anyone at risk of flu and its complications.
But only about 33 percent of Americans actually get a flu shot,
and unusually millions and millions of doses get thrown away
The swine flu pandemic that hit last year caused a new momentum
for flu vaccinations. Virtually all the 114 million doses of
seasonal flu vaccine doses made were distributed, and more young
adults and children got the swine flu vaccine than usually come out
for seasonal flu.
The panel voted 11 to 0 - with one abstention - for the
recommendation, prompting a short round of applause in the CDC
auditorium where the meeting was held. Some public health experts
and physicians had been pushing for a universal flu vaccination
recommendation for more than 10 years.
Also on Wednesday, the panel gave its nod to a proposed
formulation of next year's seasonal flu vaccine. The vaccine will
be built to protect against three strains of flu scientists think
will be circulating next fall and winter. Swine flu is to be one of
the strains incorporated into the vaccine.
At past meetings, the panel stopped short of recommending flu
shots for everyone. Panel members were mindful of a history of
temporary flu vaccine shortages in the United States. They worried
a universal recommendation might cause demand to far surpass supply
and endanger those at the highest risk of life-threatening flu
"Yet every year we wasted millions and millions of doses,"
said Dr. Gregory Poland, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases expert
who for years has passionately pushed the panel to recommend flu
shots for all.
The swine flu vaccine campaign appears to be ending the same
way. Doses were scarce when the swine flu vaccine first became
available in early October, but now roughly 90 million people have
been vaccinated, demand is dying and millions of doses are unused.
Swine flu provided another argument for universal vaccination.
The new virus proved to be unusually dangerous to young adults, and
also took a surprising toll on Native Americans and obese people.
Many of those hospitalized and killed by swine flu were not in
groups previously recommended for annual flu shots, and that fact
was another reason to expand the vaccination recommendation,
There are a few exceptions to the universal recommendation.
Children under 6 months of age, who have undeveloped immune
systems, will continue to be exempt. So too will people who have
egg allergies (the vaccine is made using eggs) and those who have
had certain severe reactions to flu shots in the past.
The panel also decided that elderly people can consider a new,
revved-up version of the seasonal flu shot. It's a Sanofi Pasteur
vaccine for adults 65 and older.
In years when the flu shot is well matched to circulating flu
viruses, vaccine is 70 to 90 percent effective in people younger
than 65, the CDC estimates. But it tends to be only 30 to 70
percent effective in those who are older because they generally
have weakened immune systems.
The Sanofi vaccine - called Fluzone High-Dose - has four times
as much immunity-building antibodies as a standard dose. The U.S.
Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine in December, and
it should be available for the 2010-2011 flu season. It would cost
about $25 a shot, or about twice the standard version.
The panel did not state a preference for the vaccine, however.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine through
an accelerated process, and Sanofi is to do further studies to show
the shot reduces flu illnesses.
On the Net:
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:a35291fd-144d-4cad-be07-f1f299a3633b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/85288202.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948428 | 1,037 | 2.71875 | 3 |
color="#FFFFFF" size="2">Back to Regional News Digest
Wednesday, September 30, 1998 Last modified at 12:53 a.m. on Wednesday, September 30, 1998
Researchers say chili peppers flex muscles as mollusk repellent
SOCORRO, N.M. (AP) - Chili today, no mollusks tomorrow.
Researchers say a new pest repellent that uses the heat of the world's hottest chili pepper repels troublesome freshwater and saltwater mollusks - including the zebra mussel, which has plagued the Great Lakes.
"The zebra mussel easily could be termed aquatic enemy number one," said Daniel Lopez, president of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology.
The repellent, developed at the school's Research Foundation, exploits the heat of the ripe, red habanero pepper - 60 times hotter than its fiery cousin, the jalapeno, and 10 times hotter than cayenne.
Researchers mix the non-toxic chili additive into caulks, paints, glues and rubber-coating materials. Animals misguided enough to nibble get a red-hot surprise.
Tests found rats shunned pepper-coated cables, and a corral post treated with the repellent kept pests at bay for five years, said Darwin Van De Graaff, president of MEDD4, a Santa Fe company that plans to market the repellent.
Zebra mussels, meddlesome mollusks that have invaded water intake pipes and displaced native species in the Great Lakes and Mississippi and Ohio rivers, were among the first targets of the repellent.
Lopez and Timothy Early of the Indiana-based Aquatic Research Institute issued a joint announcement Monday that the mollusk tests were a success.
"We have extensively benchtested the repellent material in our controlled aquarium environment," said Early, "and for the last four months have fieldtested it in Lake Michigan.
"Throughout all phases of the study, we observed no permanent attachment on test materials by either the larvae or juvenile mussels," Early said. "Compared with the control materials, we observed substantially reduced and often temporary attachments by mature adults on moderately `hot' materials and no attachment on the hottest materials."
Earlier research confirmed saltwater animals like scallops, sea anemones and barnacles also avoid pepper-treated material, scientists said.
The U.S. Coast Guard was among those interested. Since boats are the most common method of transferring zebra mussels from one waterway to another, it is thought that pepper-treated hulls might discourage the European invader.
"That would be really great if it works," Coast Guard Lt. Chris Boes said in July.
Mussel repellents currently use chlorine, ultraviolet light, sound vibrations and electric currents. And there's always the old-fashioned scraper.
Lakeside and riverside residents - and businesses such as Inland Steel Co. of East Chicago, Ind. - would be likely customers for the repellent.
"It's going to be a real hot item," Boes said.
Inland Steel draws huge amounts of Lake Michigan water for its operation. Its officials have said they see potential in a chili-based repellent that could block fish and other aquatic life from entering the mill's pipes.
Capsaicin, the substance that gives chili its heat, and its derivatives have been used on animals with some success for years. Many hikers, for instance, carry pepper spray to protect themselves in bear country.
Even though it's organic, developers may have to test for toxicity, cancer risk and reproductive harm before it's ready for market, said Harold Harlan, an entomologist at the National Pest Control Association in Dunn Loring, Va. It will also have to be tested for side effects.
Tests by New Mexico scientists have found the current repellent works on many animals, birds and insects and is long-lasting because it forms a molecular bond to surfaces, Van De Graaff has said.
The Socorro-based research foundation applied for a patent on the repellent last year. | <urn:uuid:ab8f894a-e0c9-4cbf-bc31-d4fd3bacb25a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://lubbockonline.com/stories/093098/LQ7337.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945504 | 864 | 2.515625 | 3 |
GOES N / Delta IV
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Program (GOES) is a joint effort of NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The GOES-N satellite is based on the Boeing 601 bus and will help meteorologists observe and predict local weather events, including thunderstorms, tornadoes, fog, flash floods, and other severe weather. In addition, GOES observations have proven helpful in monitoring dust storms, volcanic eruptions, and forest fires. GOES N will supports the search and rescue satellite aided system (SARSAT), contribute to the development of worldwide environmental warning services, improve the capability for forecasting and providing real-time warning of solar disturbances, and provide data that may be used to extend knowledge and understanding of the atmosphere. | <urn:uuid:7a5945ed-fccb-4192-8675-a1f8ec95e709> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/launch_data/launch_details/index.cfm?launchId=179 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874126 | 158 | 3.15625 | 3 |
In the plan it will be seen that only one set of the hips (No. 1), meet at the center. Set No.2 lacks the thickness of No. 1 of coming together, or an amount equal to OA taken from the run of each rafter. The next two sets, No. 3, are of the same length, and the deduction for this is equal to OB plus BC to obtain the plumb cut for the side bevel . The run of the common rafter, No. 4, being GO the deduction from which is equal to DO plus ED to obtain the plumb cut for the side bevel.
Now, referring to the elevation, the above reference letters are used for like measurements, showing the proper deductions to be made to obtain the lengths for the different rafters by simply squaring back the above amounts from the plumb cut for the full length rafter.
The run and rise taken on the square regulate the seat and plumb cuts, but the above deduc tions remain the same for any pitched roof.
To Obtain Length of Various Rafters for Any Width of Building.—In Fig. 49a, we gave an illustration showing the comparison of the runs of the octagon hip and for a hip resting on a square cornered building, to that for a one-foot run of the common rafter.
Now since these lengths taken diagonally from 12, 13 and 17 on the tongue to the figures designating the rise on the blade represent the lengths of the rafters for a one-foot run, it is an easy matter to find the lengths for any run by simply multiplying the lengths given by the number of feet and fraction of a foot in the run, and point off as many figures in the product as there are decimal figures in the solution and reduce to feet and inches. The finding of the length for a fractional part of a foot in the run may be avoided by finding the length only for the number of feet as described above and lay .off a plumb cut, then from this measure square out the amount of the fraction, which will be the point for the proper plumb cut. Or the calcu lation in figures for the whole length may be avoided by running the square as shown in Fig. 56a. In this is shown a rafter with a 6-foot 6-inch run and a 9-inch rise, or I pitch. Apply the steel square six times as shown, then measuring six inches square out from the last application of the steel square, will give the point for the plumb cut. Proceed in like manner for the cor responding hips, using the figures 13 and 17 on the tongue respectively for the octagon and com mon hip or valley, but instead of measuring six inches square out as for the common rafter, it must be to the ratio of 13 and 17, as 6 is to 12 nches.
Therefore in this example, it would be 61 inches for the octagon hip and 81 inches for the hip, or valley, for the square cornered building.
In Fig. 56b are shown these pro portions in connection with the steel square. The run of the hip for a square cornered building rests at 45 degrees from that of the common raf ter and that for the octagon hip at 221 degrees. So then, we let the tongue of the square represent the run for the common rafter, and by laying off the diagonal lines to 5 and 12 (the fig ures that represent the degrees) on the blade, and by squaring up six inches to the right of the starting point (12 on the tongue) it will be seen the diagonal lines are cut at the center of their lengths.
Therefore, one-half of their lengths represents the amount to square out to correspond with a six-inch run of the common rafter.
This proportion exists at any point that may represent the fraction of a foot in the run. If the fraction be one inch, the scale is then reduced to one-twelfth of the full size, and these lengths are simply read as twelfths inches, . instead of inches.
Great care should be exercised in making measurements as shown in Fig. 56a, as it is a very easy matter to get off a little each move ment of the square, and for that reason it is better to multiply the decimal lengths given in Fig. 49a.
For example we will find the length of the rafter shown in Fig. 56a. By referring to the table in Fig. 49a, we find the length for the com mon rafter to be 15 inches. Then 15x61 (6.5)=97.5 inches, or 8 feet 11 inches. For the correspond ing octagon hip, the length is 15.81 inches. Then 15.81x6.5=102.765 inches, or 8 feet 61 inches. Bear in mind that the 102 is inches and that 12 goes into 102 eight times and six over, making 8 feet 6 inches, and the .765 is only a fractional part of an inch and is equal to only a little over three-quarters of an inch. See table of equiva lents in Fig. 49a. For the corresponding com mon hip or valley, the length is 19.21 inches. Then 19.21 x 6.5=124.865 inches, or 10 feet 4-1 inches. While the lengths, 15, 15.81 and 19.21, given above, represent the rafters for one-foot run, they may also represent the length of the rafters for one-inch run, as before mentioned, and in that case the lengths given above would be so many twelfths of an inch and the decimal fractions would only be fractions of a twelfth of an inch. Thus, to find the lengths of the hip for a 7-inch run, would be 19.21 x 7=134.47 twelfths inches, equal to 11 2-12 inches. The .47 is discarded because it is less than one-half of a twelfth of an inch. This also applies to finding the common difference in the length of jacks. Since a jack is simply a part of a common rafter, it is only necessary to multiply the length of the common rafter (15) by the number of inches in the spacing and divide by 12, will give the answer. Thus—if the jacks be placed 16 inches on centers 15 x 16=240+12=20 inches, will be the length of the first jack or the common difference for a roof with a 9-inch rise. As this example is without fractions, we will give another, taking that for the 8-inch rise or 1-3 pitch. In this, the length of the common rafter is 14.42. Then 14.42 x 16=230.72+12=19 2-12 inches, and IS the answer. To find the common difference for the octagon jack for the above pitch, proceed in like manner, but multiply 14.42 by 2.4 and the product by the spacing and divide by 12 will give the answer. Thus 14.42 x 2.4=34.608 x 16=553.728+12=46 1-12 inches. The decimal fractions in the two last examples are discarded for the same reason as before described. These lengths are calculated to a center line at the ridge and at the center of the back of the hip or valley. | <urn:uuid:f4f65738-c59d-4674-9ff8-24b5d06e8ab9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gluedideas.com/content-collection/Radfords-cyclopedia-of-construction-Vol-8-Steel-Square/Hip-Roof-Framing_P6.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932528 | 1,535 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Depending on the domain names in the applications' URLs the second application may be able to read the contents of the cookie set by the first application.
If the first application runs at http://nonprofit.org/a/
and the second application runs at http://nonprofit.org/b/
then the second application will get the cookie data because the browser will send it via HTTP headers.
If the applications are on different subdomains like a.nonprofit.org
then you may have to update the code that creates the cookie to specify the cookie's domain be nonprofit.org
. That will tell the browser to send the cookie data to both applications. Of course then c.nonprofit.org
will also get sent a copy of the cookie data when the browser visits it and that may not be desirable for privacy reasons.
is right about the path. For some more cookie information visit http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/#3.2 | <urn:uuid:44eaec0a-44ab-4e45-85c0-13a4d92f9219> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl/jacques?node_id=860386 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.83236 | 200 | 2.65625 | 3 |
This document describes implementation details of the Pointer Lock
, and the shared user interface Full Screen Bubble UI .
What is Pointer Lock? From the specification:
The Pointer Lock API provides for input methods of applications based on the movement of the mouse, not just the absolute position of a cursor. A popular example is that of first person movement controls in three dimensional graphics applications such as games. Movement of the mouse is interpreted for rotation of the view-port, there is no limit to how far movement can go, and no mouse cursor is displayed.
Pointer Lock is related to Mouse Capture [MDN-SETCAPTURE]. Capture provides continued event delivery to a target element while a mouse is being dragged, but ceases when the mouse button is released. Pointer Lock differs by being persistent, not limited by screen boundaries, sending events regardless of mouse button state, hiding the cursor, and not releasing until an API call or specific release gesture by the user.
Chrome 16 introduced Mouse Lock only in full screen mode:
- For trusted sites, full screen is entered without a user prompt to confirm.
- For untrusted sites full screen is entered and the user is prompted (see strings below). Mouse lock will not be possible until the user confirms fullscreen.
- Attempts to lock the mouse prior to requesting full screen will fail.
- Attempts to lock the mouse after full screen is entered but before it is confirmed will be merged with the full screen request and presented to the user as a single confirmation.
- After locking, exit instructions are shown for a brief amount of time (see strings below).
- A content setting remembers the permission for any domain a user previously allowed. (done in 97768)
- Mouse lock can be exited in many ways:
- User pressing Esc.
- There is a conflict with Esc meaning "stop loading". Assuming the page is loading content and mouse lock is enabled, repeated presses to Esc will:
- ESC to exit mouse lock & full screen
- ESC to stop loading
- ESC again is handled by the page.
- Another window or tab getting focus.
- Full screen mode is exited.
- Navigation or a page refresh.
Chrome 21 added support for Mouse Lock without the full screen prerequisite:
- A request to lock the mouse when the tab is not in full screen will succeed if it is made with a user gesture (e.g. a mouse click)
- For trusted sites mouse lock will be entered with exist instructions presented (see strings below).
- For untrusted sites the user is prompted to allow mouse lock (see strings below)
- If full screen is then requested, the prompt will be merged to a single prompt
- After mouse lock is accepted the site will be marked trusted, and the mouse locked.
- If full screen is requested while the mouse is locked and user confirmation is required the mouse will be unlocked to allow the user to allow full screen (the site will need to request mouse lock again).
Also, when an application exits (i.e. not due to the user pressing ESC, etc.) and reenters mouse lock there is no user gesture required and no exit instructions are shown. This provides for an improved user experience when an application frequently shifts in and out of mouse lock, such as a game with first person controls but a cursor used for inventory management.
- Access restricted to same document only, and blocked from sandboxed iframes.
Chrome 23 enables Pointer Lock via sandboxed iframes.
- <iframe sandbox="webkit-allow-pointer-lock ...">
- "You have gone full screen. Exit full screen (F11)"
- "MyExtension triggered full screen Exit full screen (F11)"
- It will be "An extension triggered full screen Exit full screen (F11)" if the extension is already uninstalled.
- "google.com is now full screen. [Allow] [Exit full screen]"
- "google.com is now full screen and wants to disable your mouse cursor. [Allow] [Exit]"
- "google.com wants to disable your mouse cursor. [Allow] [Deny]"
- "google.com is now full screen. Press ESC to exit."
- "google.com is now full screen and disabling your mouse cursor. Press ESC to exit."
- "google.com has disabled your mouse cursor. Press ESC to exit."
- (URLs in all strings are bold)
Content Settings Preferences Page Strings:
(_) Allow all sites to disable the mouse cursor
(o) Ask me when a site tries to disable the mouse cursor (recommended)
(_) Do not allow any site to disable the mouse cursor
State transitions for the initial Chrome 16 launch were enumerated in this spreadsheet
, which is now out of date with the addition of extension triggered full screen and non fullscreen permission of mouse lock.
Tests are in: | <urn:uuid:b50d737f-ccf0-4e98-b869-03dee3a3caa6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/mouse-lock | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908609 | 1,029 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Author and Page information
- This page: http://www.globalissues.org/article/194/terminator-technology.
- To print all information e.g. expanded side notes, shows alternative links, use the print version:
A half-century after the Bengal famine [where, during British colonial rule, most of the food grown was exported for trade and for UK, instead of feeding hungry local people], a new and clever system has been put in place which is once again making the theft of the harvest a right and the keeping of harvest a crime. Hidden behind complex free-trade treaties are innovative ways to steal nature's harvest, the harvest of the seed, and the harvest of nutrition.
— Vandana Shiva, Stolen Harvest (South End Press, 2000), p.6
This web page has the following sub-sections:
What is the purpose of switching off seed germination?
Many believe it is purely a business idea by forcing farmers to buy a fresh supply of seeds each year -- many of whom are in the developing world and cannot afford to do this.
The traditional practice (tried and tested for thousands of years) of saving seeds for the next harvest comes under threat due to a US patent on this technology to prevent "unauthorized seed-saving" by farmers.
Supporters of the terminator, or suicide, technology believe that the idea of it is for the protection of corporations from unscrupulous farmers. Control of seed germination helps prevent growers from pirating their technology. If crops remain fertile, there is a chance that farmers could use any saved transgenic seed from a previous season. This would result in poorer profits for companies. (See the bottom parts of this article and this article for more.).
This then becomes a battle over a farmer's (traditional) right and a corporation's right.
Effect on farmers
In India, this is a cause for some concern as scientists fear for the livelihood of 400 million farmers and for food security in the country. Already some poorer Indian farmers have been driven to suicide. It is feared that this type of technology could be used to make the poorer farmers even more dependent.
Set back for corporations, for now
In a major victory for activists and protestors around the world, Monsanto, a major investor in this technology has decided not to market it. However, it will still look into sterility research, which, as the Guardian newspaper points out, could mean that Monsanto's announcement just a public relations exercise and that they are waiting until the current attention on the negativity surrounding terminator technology has reduced. (Check out the Public Reaction part of this web site for more about the protests all over the world at the rapid, untested introduction of GE Food.)
However, even without such terminator technology, under patent laws in Canada, U.S. and a number of other industrialized nations, it is illegal for farmers to re-use patented seed, or to grow Monsanto's GM seed without signing a licensing agreement. Hence the underlying motives behind terminator technologies have still been achieved while being stacked against the farmer. In a prominent case, a Canadian farmer was found guilty of growing patented seeds, even though he did not know of it. The pollen from the patented canola seeds from a nearby farm had pollinated with his and thus he had to pay Monsanto for licensing and profit from the seeds. As the previous link's title suggests, corporate liability is reduced, while that of the individual farmer is increased.
- Is GE Food Safe?
- "GE Technologies will solve world hunger"
- Food Patents—Stealing Indigenous Knowledge?
- GE Food Media Coverage
- Functional Foods—the next wave of GE foods
- Terminator Technology
- Monsanto—a major player in GE Technology
- Public Concerns and Protests on GE Food
- Genetically Engineered Food Links for more Information
- World hunger related links for more information | <urn:uuid:65adcf72-54f6-414a-9f5e-c11623b2e470> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.globalissues.org/article/194/terminator-technology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94656 | 799 | 2.75 | 3 |
Be inspired by the events and people that influenced the African American Civil Rights Movement. Each of the features below is a window into a documentary or program about this transformational period in American History, including key influencers like the Freedom Rides and Black Power Movement. The features will connect you directly to the website of a PBS partner where it can be viewed in full or allow you to watch a preview directly within the collection below. Get started now. Venture back into history with PBS to explore The Civil Rights Movement.
Described as "a television experience that seared the conscience."
Malcolm X appears on Boston public television alongside MLK and James Baldwin.
Guests: King, Martin Luther; Waring, J. Waites
Talib Kweli becomes a figure of interest while researching speeches of Stokely Carmichael.
The music that defined the Black Power Movement.
Pulitzer Prize winner Matthew Lewis shares iconic photos from Civil Rights era & more. | <urn:uuid:90435a4c-62a0-4c4f-acb7-6344f672e858> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/explore/civil-rights-movement/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923498 | 195 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Editor's Note: This post is authored by Giulio Boccaletti, Global Managing Director of Water at the Nature Conservancy, and Gary White, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Water.org This post was originally featured as part of a "Climate Justice" series produced by The Huffington Post, in conjunction with the U.N.'s 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris. You can find the original post here.
In Paris, the world will seek -- once again -- an agreement on the future of climate. Yet for a billion of the poorest people in the world, the language of that agreement will not do nearly enough to address the impacts of climate change they are already feeling today.
Water is how we experience the planet's climate; droughts and floods will overwhelmingly define our experience of climate change. Meeting a growing need for water while the climate is changing will be even harder. Even the richest in the world are susceptible. The drought in the western United States has threatened California's way of life, while the East Coast was recently hit by devastating floods that made places like South Carolina look like Bangladesh.
But it is our world's most vulnerable -- those living on less than U.S. $5 a day -- that should come first in our concerns. The upcoming climate negotiations present us with an opportunity to not only address global emissions, but also test our ability to truly solve interconnected environmental issues like climate and water as a necessary means to avoid social instability worldwide. By scaling innovative financing options, expanding use of available technology and investing in nature-based solutions, we can make water available and affordable to the world's poor, freeing-up household income that drives economies and improving health conditions around the world.
Today, nearly 700 million people around the world lack basic access to water, and a striking 2.4 billion lack access to sanitation. It is not surprising that these numbers contribute to making the water crisis the highest threat to global prosperity. Yet, a persistent misunderstanding of this challenge is the notion that the poor are in this predicament because they cannot pay. The truth is, the poor spend an estimated U.S. $200 billion per year on water access.
The high costs are due in part to what the poor have to pay for bottled and well water due to a lack of infrastructure or the means to tap into infrastructure. Many of those without access rely on informal water vendors -- known as "tanker truck mafia" -- in slums around the world. The price of water in these informal markets is remarkably high and can reach U.S. $15 per cubic meter; compare that to the U.S. $1 per cubic meter paid by households in New York City.
The poor also pay in the forms of forgone income and illness. The World Health Organization estimated that the total global economic losses associated with inadequate water supply and sanitation is approximately U.S. $260 billion annually. In short, the poor incur huge coping costs because they lack access to safe, efficient piped water networks.
Charity alone will not be able to solve global access to water. Conservative estimates of the expenditures required to provide and maintain safe water access is U.S. $1 trillion with only U.S. $8 billion provided in international aid each year.
But what if we could cut those costs in half while also giving the poor much needed access to water at a rate closer to what those in developed countries pay for water and sanitation services? Such a measure would free-up more than U.S. $100 billion per year for those households and would allow dramatic improvements in water security for the vulnerable, which would have a marked stabilizing effect on social structures across the developing world.
This is possible and it does not require inventing new technology, but rather scaling proven solutions that we have seen work on the ground.
Financing urban water connections through micro loans to individuals and community groups is showing real promise in many communities. India and China are home to one-third of those without access to water and more than half of those without access to sanitation. A long trail of countries from Nigeria to Indonesia follow. For the poor that are close to an existing water grid in a city, extending financing to buy last mile connections and toilets can have huge impact in increasing access to services. The work done at Water.org has shown that, when extended a loan to pay a connection fee, people are able to tap into the water supply or build a toilet, and repay the loan in full with consistent reliability -- Water.org's repayment rates exceed 99 percent.
The growth of off-grid water treatment technologies is also showing potential for positive change. The number of rural households without access to water and sanitation is roughly five times higher than that of the urban poor. For these individuals, and some in peri-urban areas, connecting to a public utility is often not an option. Because of falling water treatment costs and the growth of social impact investment capital, there are new possibilities to set-up water kiosks and deliver treated water to dispersed populations. Off-grid solutions, such as those offered by Water Health International, allow rural communities to tap local sources of water and render them potable, at a cost that can greatly undercut their current cost.
And we cannot forget about the benefits of investing in our most basic water infrastructure: nature.The poor often live in degraded watersheds or where utilities are unable to cope with deteriorated water sources. Water funds, which create mechanisms for downstream water users to pay for upstream conservation, have shown that investments in nature-based solutions, such as reforestation and riverbank repair, can improve the quality of the water supply. This drives economic development while saving utilities money by reducing water treatment costs. A recent study conducted by The Nature Conservancy of 500 large cities shows that in at least a quarter of those cities, the savings from reduced treatment costs more than paid for the conservation activity. These interventions disproportionately benefit the rural poor and contribute to a sustainable water management system.
Social entrepreneurs, powered by smart philanthropy and social impact investing, are spurring this trend to leverage market-based solutions in service to the poor, seeing them not as a "problem to be solved" with traditional charity, but as having intrinsic power as customers. Smarter, more efficient solutions allow the poor to redirect their coping costs to affordable, sustainable and higher quality water and sanitation services.
In the year when the world is concerning itself with climate change, we must address the current impacts, including global water security. That starts with providing access to basic water and sanitation. By putting the needs of the poor front and center during the climate discussions, we stand to address many of today's greatest social and environmental challenges.
Editor’s Note: This guest blog post was authored by Alix Lebec, Director of Strategic Alliances at Water.org. Alix writes about the potential for impact investing to help address the global water crisis, which currently attracts far less funding than the WHO estimates is needed. She describes how Water.org has adopted this approach to leverage philanthropic capital and scale up their WaterCredit model in India.
Impact investing is gaining momentum worldwide. Seen as the future of double bottom-line investing – which seeks to measure investment performance in term of positive social impact, as well as fiscal performance, many believe this approach has the potential to leverage trillions in private capital to address social causes. Wealth holders are increasingly looking for ways to direct their resources and business acumen toward initiatives that generate financial returns and a positive impact at the same time, what we call “doing well by doing good.”
And while impact investing is still an evolving field, social entrepreneurial organizations such as Root Capital and Acumen Fund are paving the way with innovative finance models to accelerate progress toward alleviating poverty. We know there will never be enough philanthropy to tackle pervasive challenges such as the global water crisis that continue to cripple poor communities economically. The World Health Organization estimates that it will cost $200 billion in capital annually to solve the global water crisis over five years, and maintain the infrastructure. Currently, annual investments combined amount to roughly $9 billion, far short of what is needed to solve this crisis. Combining innovative financing, such as impact investing, with smart philanthropy presents one of the greatest opportunities to optimize social returns per philanthropic dollar invested, and scale solutions.
Today, there is a $12 billion demand globally among families at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) for access to microfinance to meet their water supply and sanitation (WSS) needs. This is a huge market waiting to be discovered. Water.org’s WaterCredit model strives to tap into this demand, and enable local microfinance institutions (MFIs) to provide small and affordable loans to families at the BOP for WSS needs. To date, Water.org has directed $10.9 million in philanthropic capital toward its 51 MFI partners to help them jumpstart WaterCredit loan portfolios. As a result, these MFIs have attracted more than $100 million in commercial and social investment capital to provide WaterCredit loans. That’s $100 million Water.org did not need to fundraise from philanthropic supporters.
The impact? At a macro-level, this means this model leverages philanthropic resources to attract much larger pools of investment capital to address WSS needs at the BOP. At the household level, this means a family living in an urban slum in India, for instance, can participate as a customer, and pay for the construction of a toilet or water connection at home. Globally, Water.org has reached 2 million people through WaterCredit.
While this progress is encouraging, ongoing investment capital constraints for WSS lending at the BOP in key markets such as India still represent a significant barrier for scale. Our local MFI partners repeatedly emphasize how much more they could accomplish if they had access to greater and more reliable sources of social investment capital to meet the growing demand for WaterCredit. In its quest to continue attracting more capital to the water sector, Water.org saw this challenge as a unique opportunity to develop and launch the WaterCredit Investment Fund.
Building on the achievements of WaterCredit, this new $12 million Fund will connect, for the first time, social impact investors in the US and Europe directly with WSS needs at the BOP in India. Supporting Water.org’s highest performing MFI partners in this country, this Fund will provide a targeted, annual pre-tax return to investors of 2 percent. And while this is a modest financial return, the potential for social impact returns is tremendous, particularly as the Fund will help scale a proven model – WaterCredit.
Moreover, Water.org has identified $36 million in demand among just a handful of MFI partners in India alone for access to lower cost capital to scale their WaterCredit loan portfolios. Just imagine how much larger that demand becomes when looking at capital needs for WSS lending across India, and around the globe. Water.org plans to build on the lessons learned and achievements of its pilot WaterCredit Investment Fund to address these larger capital needs.
How is Water.org bringing this effort to life? By continuing to garner the support of leading strategic funding partners that have a strong appetite for innovation and embrace risk, and see the role catalytic philanthropy and impact investing can – together – play in achieving systemic change that works for the poor. Over the past few years, Water.org has secured $40 million in commitments from a growing community of change-makers and visionaries such as the IKEA Foundation, PepsiCo Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation and Caterpillar Foundation for its WaterCredit programs.
And while impact investing is still a new “tool in the toolbox” that needs time to develop, it is one that presents a great potential for creating a win-win-win situation – for the investors, the implementers and the recipients of impact. What better reason for Water.org to venture into this field in pursuit of scaling what already works?
We’re pleased to share that a recently released report from New Philanthropy Capital recognized WASHfunders.org as a top innovation in global philanthropy. The report, 10 Innovations in Global Philanthropy, praises the information on funding flows available through WASHfunders’ mapping tool and notes that the site reflects the broader push for open data in the philanthropic sector.
WASHfunders was also selected as the ‘Experts’ Top Pick’ among the innovations featured within the report, with Cath Tillotson of Scorpio Partnership commenting that, “If you define innovation as doing something differently, bigger or better, WASHfunders ticks all the boxes.”
WASHfunders and other innovations featured in the report will be discussed on a webinar to be held Wednesday, November 12th. Registration information and additional details are available here.
NPC’s report has been covered widely in philanthropic circles. Additional coverage includes an interview with WASHfunders’ lead, Seema Shah, on Philanthropy Age, a write up on Pro Bono Australia, and a mention on Health Affairs. In August, our Twitter feed was also cited as a top ten Twitter influencer in water and development by the Guardian.
We’re honored to receive the recognition and understand that the value of WASHfunders ultimately depends on our engagement with -- and usefulness to -- those working in the WASH sector! To contribute case studies, suggest recommended reading for the Knowledge Center, or submit a guest blog, contact us as firstname.lastname@example.org.
Editor’s Note: This guest post is authored by Greg Allgood, MSPH, PhD, Vice President at World Vision, where he helps lead their water, sanitation, and hygiene efforts. He is also the retired Founder of the P&G Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. In his post, Dr. Allgood affirms that, despite recent focus on innovative business solutions in WASH, philanthropic institutions play a crucial role in solving the global water crisis. He also encourages implementing organizations to participate in a survey sponsored by World Vision that will generate aggregated estimates of the number of people reached with WASH. The survey can be accessed here.
I applaud the work to create sustained business models providing clean drinking water; however, we need to remember that philanthropy has a critical role in reaching the poorest of the poor.
As a person who spent 27 years with the private sector, I know the power of brands and the resources that can be mobilized based on using a for-profit model. And I believe that everyone should have clean water as well as adequate sanitation and hygiene that is sustained. But, I also know that the base of the pyramid -- the billions of people living in poverty -- represent a diverse population. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of millions of people who do not have clean water and cannot currently afford to pay for access to water.
In my visits to villages in the developing world, I frequently meet with people who do not have the resources to invest in clean water. Women have told me that they’d gladly pay for water if they had the money, but they can’t even afford the few pennies it takes to buy salt. People like these are probably best served by a philanthropic model that builds up the capacity of the community instead of investment in a for-profit model that may quickly fail and discourage future private sector investment.
In the development community, it seems recently that the voice for innovative business solutions to solve the global water crisis is drowning out the legitimate role of philanthropy. Both are needed. My organization, World Vision, -- like many other non-profit groups -- reaches into the hardest to reach places to provide clean water. We are playing a role to help enable governments to serve their people with clean water and to lift communities out of poverty so that the private sector can function.
Furthermore, I frequently hear that charity isn’t going to solve the problem of the global water crisis. This is a misleading statement. Philanthropy or charity is playing a big and critical role in solving the global water crisis. But, I agree that philanthropy alone will not solve the crisis. We need philanthropic and private sector investment as well as governments all playing their role.
The good news is that there’s growing confidence that we can solve the global water crisis by 2030. The scale of current efforts is estimated to reach 50,000 people a day in Sub-Saharan Africa with clean water. For perspective, World Vision, one of the largest providers of clean water, is reaching one new person with clean water every 30 seconds. And, we have plans to do even more.
While it’s true that there is still a gap that we need to fill to make sure that everyone has clean water, dignified sanitation, and proper hygiene, isn’t it best that we give adequate voice to the role of charity in solving the global water crisis?
In order to better quantify the role of philanthropy in doing their share to help solve the global water crisis, World Vision has commissioned a survey by KPMG. We are asking WASH implementing organizations to participate in a brief survey. It should take less than 20 minutes to complete. The survey results from all responding organizations will be used by KPMG to generate an aggregated estimate of the people who will be reached this year and next year with WASH. The overall purpose is to show the progress being made and the gaps needed to fill in order to solve the global water crisis. We anticipate that the combined tally of people being reached will be significant and help give a stronger voice to the legitimate and critical role of philanthropy.
Here is a link to the survey: KPMG World Vision survey
The 2020 Water Partnership aims to unite ONE DROP's expertise and unique approach to sustainable water and sanitation programs with the power of Rotary International's 1.2-million-member network in support of projects that expand access to clean water and sanitation. To that end, the two organizations will work to raise $5 million each and $10 million jointly, for a total investment of $20 million, for the 2020 Water Fund. The first program financed by the fund is set to begin this fall in Mali.
"The primary focus of our organization is on delivering sustainable water and sanitation programs on three continents and we are now more than ever determined to increase the scale and impact of our work through strategic partnerships," said Catherine B. Bachand, CEO of ONE DROP. "Between our partnership with Water For People and now Rotary, that’s $36 million in new direct investments in the countries where we operate, unleashing millions more in local and corporate funding, and we are just getting started."
"ONE DROP and Rotary launch the '2020 Water Partnership' to Provide Sustainable Water and Sanitation Access to Communities in Need on Three Continents With an Investment of $20M." ONE DROP Press Release 07/22/2014.
Last week, the UK-based Stone Family Foundation, in collaboration with New Philanthropy Capital, published a paper that summarizes 10 lessons learned as a WASH funder since the Foundation made the decision to concentrate much of its grantmaking in the sector in 2010.
How to Spend a Penny: 10 lessons from funding market-based approaches in water, sanitation and hygiene (PDF) presents lessons drawn from the Foundation’s experience that have helped it to target funding toward the most effective and sustainable solutions -- from the value of market-based solutions that go beyond the ‘toilets and taps’ approach to the importance of understanding customer motivations.
How to Spend a Penny also identifies challenges in WASH that philanthropy may be uniquely positioned to address. Noting the lack of high risk capital in the WASH sector, as well as the attendant risks of scaling up a solution too quickly, the paper describes how the Foundation identified one of its niche areas: providing support to projects that have gone through the pilot stages, but still need to refine their business models in order to become attractive to investors and other funders.
To learn more about the Stone Family Foundation’s investments in WASH – and those of other foundations active in the sector – view our Funder Profiles.
Editor’s Note: This post was authored by Sue Dorsey, chief financial officer at Water For People. In the post, Sue identifies several issues with current funding mechanisms in the social sector and proposes solutions that will support rather than hamper organizations in building resilience and realizing bold visions. The post originally appeared on Water For People’s blog.
In a sea of social entrepreneurs, I am a rather unique voice. As the CFO of Water For People, I am part of a team that makes our vision of ensuring Everyone around the world has access to safe water and sanitation, Forever, a reality. Our Everyone, Forever initiative spans 30 districts across four continents reaching more than four million people, and we are proving that ending water and sanitation poverty is possible in our lifetime. Behind every bold vision is a “reality team” working to bring it to life. Being a member of that team is a huge responsibility and incredibly inspiring.
I believe that a critical component to making a world free of social, cultural, political, and economic barriers a reality is building strong nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government institutions. Our vision is the spark, and resilient organizations with appropriate funding mechanisms and a regulated environment is the engine that will get us there. But as it stands, current practices in the nonprofit sector won’t get us there. Here’s why, and what needs to change:
1. Funders offer small short-term commitments forcing organizations to create short-term solutions for long-term challenges.
#ChangeThat: Funding streams need to adjust their timelines to fit long-term solutions and outcomes.
2. Nonprofits struggle with success indicators, putting too much focus on overhead ratios that are easy to calculate but also easy to manipulate, leading to misdirected philanthropic investments.
#ChangeThat: Making outcome-based grants requires nonprofits to focus on long-term sustainable outcomes.
3. Funders generally resist financing capacity-building, and only focus on tangible projects.
#ChangeThat: Financing monitoring and evaluation, talent acquisition and IT investments would actually increase efficiencies and reduce overhead.
4. Out of control donor restrictions lead to soaring overhead costs and trumps appropriate and necessary programmatic changes.
#ChangeThat: What if funding under $1M or less than five years could not legally be restricted under FASB rules?
5. Lack of public transparency for the true costs to run a nonprofit organization.
#ChangeThat: What if we got rid of the functional allocation and asked NPOs to report on a full cost recovery basis on their 990, educating and sensitizing the public on the real costs to change the world?
6. Limited to no communication between donors and NPOs about organizational pain points.
#ChangeThat: Donors should ask and nonprofits should offer insight into what they need to succeed from a programmatic and operational standpoint.
There is an exciting opportunity to bring the reality teams from behind the curtain to be a voice for change in the nonprofit sector, by educating donors and effecting change in organizations. We have seen examples of this - InsideNGO has created a community of international development organizations to advocate for effective funding from USAID and other institutional funders. They are currently working on a database of information around the true costs of running an effective organization. And Dan Pallotta has been a strong voice on this issue for years. His TedTalk about the way we think about and execute charity has over three million views and growing, which shows there is an appetite to reinvent the nonprofit sector so we can actually change the world.
If you peek behind the curtain, you will find “reality teams” around the world poised to lead this change.
I see a nonprofit sector stepping up and making investments in data collection and analysis to allow for more data-driven decision-making. I see nonprofits sharing indicators and data across sectors to align us around a common set of benchmarks, providing a clearer picture of what success looks like and progress made towards that success. Greater transparency and accountability will build trust and collaboration with the funding community, and this will lead donors to reduce burdensome and unnecessary restrictions that only serve to increase overhead and reduce programmatic outcomes. I see government regulation pulling back from functional allocation to ensure nonprofits show the public a true picture of what it costs to run an effective, sustainable philanthropic organization.
Reaching our vision where Everyone has access to safe water and sanitation Forever is something we take very seriously. Anything less would just not be good enough.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and India's Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council have announced the winners of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge: India.
Six organizations were awarded grants totaling $2 million to develop innovative "next-generation toilets" that can deliver safe, affordable, and sustainable sanitation solutions in India. A collaboration between the Gates Foundation, BIRAC, and the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology, the competition is funded by investments of $1 million each from the Gates Foundation and the ministry's Department of Biotechnology.
Announced at the "Reinvent the Toilet Fair: India" in New Delhi, the grant recipients are Eram Scientific Solutions, which, in partnership with the University of South Florida, will field test a solar-powered modular electronic toilet that is integrated with a mixed-waste processing unit; the Amrita School of Biotechnology, which will test the use of viral agents to kill pathogens and odor-producing bacteria in fecal waste; Pradin Technologies, which will test the viability of using ultrasound to reduce water use in toilets; the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, which, in partnership with Fresh Rooms Life Sciences, will develop a single-household container that uses human feces to incubate black soldier fly larvae, which can be processed into marketable products; the Institute of Chemical Technology, which will evaluate the concept of using fine sand-like material and an air blower to create a water-free toilet interface free of odor and flies; and BITS Pilani K.K. Birla Goa Campus, which, in partnership with Ghent University and Sustainable Biosolutions, will design a septic tank that uses electrochemistry to reduce organic pollutants and improve the quality of discharged effluent.
"Effective and comprehensive sanitation seems an impossible dream for India," said BIRAC chair K. Vijay Raghavan. "Yet today we see a congruence of new and applicable science and technology, its affordability, and sustainable implementation. This congruence is a great opportunity, which we cannot afford to let slip. By implementing effective solutions in each kind of social context, big problems can be dealt with in small units and be catalysts for scaling up."
The Gates Foundation also announced a partnership with South Africa's Department of Science and Technology to field test technologies developed as part of the global Reinvent the Toilet Challenge. The foundation and DST will invest $1 million and approximately $2.76 million (30 million rand), respectively, in the effort.
"By applying creative thinking and new approaches to sanitation challenges, we can improve people's lives. And we have no doubt that these new partnerships with India and South Africa will help us achieve this," said Brian Arbogast, director of the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene team at the Gates Foundation. "We believe that with governmental leadership, new business models, and innovation, we can dramatically increase the progress made in tackling this global sanitation crisis."
"Indian Researchers Selected to Develop Next Generation Toilets." Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Press Release 03/22/2014.
The International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) in The Hague has announced a $3 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in support of efforts to provide access to clean water in rural Ghana.
The grant will support IRC's work with the Ghanaian government to bring national and local partners together on efforts to provide sustainable water services for 1.3 million people in thirteen rural districts. The project, which is focused on building the government's capacity to deliver and maintain water services rather than taking the more conventional approach of installing hardware, will scale earlier efforts by the IRC in partnership with Ghanaian government agencies and communities in three districts.
"IRC believes strongly that strengthening the ability of governments to lead the provision of services is not only the best route to scale, but the only viable exit strategy for charitable giving," said IRC chief executive Patrick Moriarty. "By supporting our work in Ghana, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is giving strong support to the achievement of our vision of providing everyone in Ghana with water services that will last forever — without the need for endless charitable donations."
"We have been working with our partners in Ghana to increase access to safe water for more than twenty years," said Steven M. Hilton, board chair, president, and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. "We're teaming up with IRC to build on our experience and focus on improving how water systems are managed. This grant will help contribute towards providing reliable safe water into the future."
"Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Backs IRC With US $3 Million for Work in Ghana." International Water and Sanitation Centre Press Release 03/18/2014.
Vermont-based specialty coffee company Keurig Green Mountain has announced grants totaling $11 million to four nonprofit organizations working in the United States and abroad to promote water security.
Grant recipients include charity: water, which will use the funds to help one million people gain access to clean drinking water by 2020; the Global Water Initiative, which was created by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in partnership with CARE, Catholic Relief Services, the International Institute for Environment and Development, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and will use its grant to improve management of water resources in coffee-growing areas of Central America; Raise the River, a coalition of conservation NGOs working within a U.S.-Mexico policy framework to restore the Colorado River Delta by reconnecting the Colorado River to the Gulf of California; and American Rivers, with which Keurig has partnered for several years to help communities clean up and restore local rivers.
Keurig also announced that it would work to reduce the water footprint of its processes and products and will convene water experts at its first annual water summit later this year to discuss solutions to the global water crisis.
"Freshwater resources are dwindling and communities throughout the world are threatened with scarcity," said Brian Kelley, president and CEO of Keurig Green Mountain. "Water is a critical natural resource that is fundamentally important to our company, our consumers, our stakeholders, and our supply chain. As a business and as global citizens, we have a responsibility to promote good water stewardship in the world."
"Keurig Green Mountain Funds Four Organizations with $11 Million Water Commitment." Keurig Green Mountain Press Release 03/19/2014. | <urn:uuid:df52e559-6899-4333-9cf8-129ae2e49f85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://washfunders.org/Blog/(tag)/Philanthropy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947013 | 6,407 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Every day, we hear from parents who believe that games might help them cultivate habits of lifelong learning and prepare the next generation of engaged citizens. Parents want to know:
- “What are my kids learning from the games they play?”
- “Why and how should I support my child’s interest in game design?”
- “How do schools and other places of learning use games, and what benefits do they see as a result?”
Games As… Guide
Let these infographics be your guide to how, why, when and where games can be used to support learning.
Browse and download the Games As Guide.
Playmakers: Case Studies on Games & Learning
This series of videos might inspire you with stories about the experiences and innovations that are changing the way we think about learning in the 21st century.
Watch the videos on Playmakers.
Playforce: Learning from the Games We Play
Get the lowdown on who learns what from which games by browsing a database of player perspectives in this community dedicated to discovering and sharing learning experiences in games. Or challenge your kids to think critically and articulate what they learn from games by adding their perspectives to the site.
Join Playforce, currently in open beta.
Gamekit: Game Design Challenges for Teens
Help aspiring teen game designers hone their skills as designers, developers, critical problem-solvers and systems thinkers with these self-directed design challenges created and moderated by a community of professional game designers.
Visit Gamekit‘s beta site and start making games today.
Playtime Online Webinars
Connect live with the Institute’s teams and partners for panel discussions, Q&As, product demos, Office Hours, hands-on workshops and other interactive activities.
Learn about upcoming events or browse archived webinars on the Playtime Online homepage.
Gamestar Mechanic and Learning Guide
With Gamestar Mechanic, players learn the fundamentals of game design and systems thinking through an online adventure game. Download the free learning guide for lessons, activities, and other associated learning tools. | <urn:uuid:bbcbb65c-4777-4b0a-ba86-c2c17425781c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.instituteofplay.org/2013/05/resources-for-parents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927238 | 435 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Acute cholecystitis is an acute inflammatory process of the gallbladder accompanied with right upper abdominal pain, tenderness, and fever and is usually triggered by obstruction of the cystic duct. The most common cause of acute cholecystitis is a continuous obstruction of the cystic duct by gall stones causing acute inflammation of the gallbladder.
The prevalence of cholecystitis is similar to the prevalence of gallstones. Cholecystitis commonly found in women with 2-3 times greater frequency than in males. Pregnancy can also increase the risk of cholecystitis, because progesterone in pregnant women can cause gall bladder emptying and common bile litogenesis estrogen increases in pregnancy. In addition, cholecystitis also influenced by age. Get older the greater the risk of gallstones which can cause cholecystitis, because estrogen androgen inhibits enzimatik conversion of cholesterol to bile acids that increase cholesterol saturation of bile. The groups of different ethnicities, one of them. Indians and Scandinavians have an increased risk of gallstones that can cause cholecystitis. The risk is lower in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, in the United States tend to whites than blacks. Lifestyle factors such as diet, obesity, and medecines separately by hormonal especially in women.
Many patients with cholecystitis to complete recovery for 1-4 days, although it needs to be done surgery or cause complications. Patients with cholecystitis have a mortality rate of around 10-50%, with 4% of patients suffering from cholecystitis calculous, 15% and 10-15% empysematous cholecystitis caused by perforation.
Physiology bile production and flow
Bile produced by the liver as much as 500-600 mL per day which then flowed into the gallbladder and stored there. Hepatic bile is an isotonic and contain electrolyte which has a composition similar to plasma electrolyte composition. But the electrolyte composition of bile in the gallbladder that are different from the hepatic bile because many inorganic anions (chloride and bicarbonate) and water reabsorbed through gallbladder epithelium, so that the bile concentration increased from 3-4 g / dL to 10-15 g / dL in the gallbladder.
The main ingredient contained in the bile are bile acids (80%), phospholipids and non esterified cholesterol (4%). Lecithin is a major phospholipid found in bile, although it also found lisolesitin and phosphatidil etanolamin in a small percentage. Phospholipids would be hydrolyzed in the intestine and did not participate in the enterohepatic cycle.
Instead of bile acids into the enterohepatic cycle except litokolat acid. Some of the major bile acids are cholic acid (cholic acid) and (chenodeoxycholic acid).
These acids conjugated with glycine and taurine, and in the lumen of the colon converted by bacteria into secondary bile acids (amino acids deoxycholate and litokolat). Acid litokolat almost not found in bile, because this acid is not included in the enterohepatic cycle. Bile acids are detergent-like molecules, can dissolve substances that are basically insoluble millimolar, bile acid molecules will aggregate to form aggregates called micelles (micelle). Solubility of cholesterol in bile depends on the concentration of cholesterol itself and comparison between bile acids and lecithin. Comparison of normal will dissolve cholesterol, whereas the ratio of abnormal causes precipitation of crystals of cholesterol in bile. This is one of the factors the initial formation of cholesterol stones. The human body efficiently conserve bile acids through the enterohepatic circulation.
Bile acids, either not conjugated or conjugated, are passively absorbed along the intestinal lumen, but active transport as important role in the conservation of bile acids. Transport activism is particularly the case in the distal ileum. Bile acids are absorbed into the portal flow and taken back by the hepatocytes, then reconjugated and secreted. Under normal circumstances, bile acid enterohepatic circulation experience as much as five to ten times a day. Bile acid absorption through the intestinal lumen is very efficient, so that bile acids are wasted in faeces only about 0.3 to 0.6 g per day, and the amount will be replaced by de novo synthesis of bile acids in the liver. Bile acids returning to the liver via enterohepatic circulation will inhibit the de novo synthesis and enterohepatic circulation interruption in return will increase bile acid synthesis.
In the fasting state, Oddi sphincter pressure increased so that impede the flow of bile from the duct into the duodenum choledochus. This prevents the reflux of duodenal contents into the duct choledochus and also facilitate gallbladder filling. Cholecystokinin released by the duodenal mucosa in response to amino acid intake of fat and otherwise facilitate the emptying of the gallbladder.
Cholecystokinin cause gall bladder contraction and relaxation of sphincter of Oddi, so that bile can flow from the gallbladder into the duodenum.
Etiology and Pathogenesis
In nearly 90% of cases accompanied by Cholelitiasis. Inflammatory response caused by three factors, namely, mechanical, chemical, and bacterial. Mechanical inflammation due to increased intra-luminal pressure and stretch the lead to depressed blood vessels and ischemia of the mucosal wall infarction and gangrene can occur. Chemical inflammation caused by the release lisolesitin (due to the action of phospholipase on lecithin in bile), reabsorption of bile salts, prostaglandins and other inflammatory mediators are also involved. Lisolesitin toxic gallbladder mucosa. Bacterial inflammation that play a role in 50-85% of cases of acute cholangitis. Germs are often isolated from the culture fluid gall bladder, among others, E. Coli, Klebsiella spp, Streptococcus spp and Clostridium spp.
Generally cholecystitis is associated with colelithiasis. Cholecystitis
Complaints are typical for the attack is acute cholecystitis biliary colic and tenderness as well as an increase in body temperature. Nearly 60-70% of patients reported ever have previous abdominal colic pain that healed spontaneously. The pain often occur late at night or dawn, usually on the upper right quadrant of the abdomen or epigastrium and radiating down the right corner of the scapula, the right shoulder. Pain feels like in the drill or the like is pressed and no comfortable body position. Pain usually increases to a plateau and can last for 30-60 minutes without abating, his trademark for more than three hours and after that the pain shifted from the epigastrium to the right quadrant of the abdomen, not like a short spasm of biliary colic.
Attacks can be triggered by eating fatty foods or heavy meals at night. The patient was sweating, lying when moving and curved body position. Often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and fever. The spectrum of symptoms in acute cholecystitis wide, in some patients into severe and acute pain in a short time.
On physical examination of patients obtained pain in the right upper quadrant which often extends to the epigastrium. Classic signs of Murphy showed significant pain and limited inspiration on palpation (that in) below the right costal arch. In most cases (30-40%) can be touched a gallbladder mass.
Jaundice observed in 20% of cases, mostly mild (bilirubin <4.0 mg / dl). If the bilirubin concentration is high, should be considered a stone in the bile duct extrahepatic.
Laboratory tests found leukocytosis and counts that showed a shift to the left. Disruption of liver function tests such as the increase of serum bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase / gamma-GT and serum transaminase suspicious biliary tract obstruction (stone choledochus). The increase in levels of serum amylase and lipase striking or suspicious of acute pancreatitis.
Ultrasound examination will show gallstones in 90-95% of cases, gallbladder wall thickening (edema), Murphy sign and pericholestitic cholesyntigraphy (eg HIDA) will confirm the diagnosis when biliary tract showed no visualization of the gallbladder which was evidence of duct obstruction cystic.
Diagnosis of acute cholecystitis is established on the basis of disease history typical physical examination. The existence of the triad of right upper quadrant pain, fever and acute cholecystitis leukocytosis very suspicious. Abdominal ultrasound examination showed edema and the presence of gallbladder stones in it in most cases.
Complications of Acute cholecystitis
a. Empyema and gallbladder hydrops
gallbladder empyema usually occurs as a result of progression from acute cholecystitis with persistent cystic duct obstruction, and superinfection with stagnant bile which is accompanied by the formation of pus.
The clinical manifestations resembling cholangitis with high fever, severe pain in the right upper quadrant and leukocytosis real. Empyema at high risk for gram-negative sepsis or perforation. When the diagnosis suspicious circumstances, immediate surgical intervention with an appropriate antibiotic protection. Or mucocele from gallbladder hydrops may also arise as a result of prolonged obstruction cystic duct, usually by a large solitary stone. In these circumstances, a clogged gallbladder lumen widened with progressive by mucus (mucocele) or by a clear transudate (hydrops). On physical examination found the mass of visible, easily palpable, not pain that sometimes extends from the upper right quadrant to the right iliac fossa in. Usually asymptomatic although may arise chronic pain in the right upper quadrant. In these patients needs to be done cholecystectomy.
b. Gangrene and gallbladder perforation
gangrenous gallbladder caused by ischemia and necrosis of the wall and predispose to the occurrence of perforation. Gallstones may erode the wall of a necrotic. Another situation that can be reason including severe distension gallbladder, vasculitis, diabetes mellitus, empyema resulting torque of artery occlusion. Perforation usually occurs in the fundus, which is part of at least vasculary perforation into the omentum will cause pericholesistic abscess, perforation into adjacent organs will cause internal fistula biliary into the duodenum, jejunum, hepatic flexure of the colon or the stomach. More rarely happen again 1-2% free perforation into the peritoneal cavity, the prognosis is poor with mortality rates around 30%. Handling of adequate antibiotics and surgical measures as soon as possible.
c. Gallstone ileus
when a large gallstone (> 3.5 cm) into the fistula and into the intestine, gallstone ileus can occur. Location valvulus ileocaecal obstruction is common. In these patients there were complaints of symptoms and radiological examination of intestinal obstruction.
Diagnosis is confirmed by radiological examination. Plain abdomen showed small bowel obstruction in the presence of the bile duct and an ectopic gallstone. Action choice is laparotomy with stone extraction (or push the stone into the colon)
d. Abscess pericholesistic
pericholecystic abscess is a form of perforation most often occurs with localized content and tightly restricted by the omentum and adjacent viscera. This situation need to be suspected when a slow recovery of acute cholecystitis, specially there is second episode of fever, right upper abdominal pain or mass arising in the upper right abdomen. By ultrasonography and CT scan of this abscess will appear. This situation occurs mainly in older patients or patients receiving long-term steroid with a fever and a minimal inflammatory response.
e. Cholecystitis emphysematus
This term is used to indicate gallbladder infection with gas forming organisms, E coli, Clostridium welchii or Streptocoocus anaerobic. Patients in a state of severe pain, a palpable mass in the abdomen. On radiological examination of the gallbladder appears as a shadow of a pear limited gas formed is very clear. Sometimes it appears air infiltrating the wall and surrounding tissue. In the upright position the liquid surface appears in the gallbladder. CT scan can also reveal the gas. The form of adequate antibiotic therapy and surgery. | <urn:uuid:979698bd-f0fc-4be6-b05f-78e1ad508587> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mbahdukunbagong.blogspot.com/2011/02/acute-cholecystitis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914174 | 2,777 | 3.46875 | 3 |
ACF-801 Online Help - Element 18
Hispanic or Latino (Ethnicity)
A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. The term "Spanish origin" can be used in addition to "Hispanic or Latino."
Out of Range
0 - 1:
0 = No
1 = Yes
No internal consistency standard.
Enter the one digit code indicating whether the child is Hispanic or Latino. Ethnicity must be determined for every child.
The child ethnicity and race definitions comply with the Census Bureau definitions of race published in the Federal Register of October 30, 1997.
For further information concerning ethnicity, view the OMB Revision initiated in 1997.
Note that a zero is used for a specific reason. Leave the field blank as "missing" data for those that refused to report their ethnicity. This is the same way "unknown" is reported. | <urn:uuid:cacc5e61-b3a2-4935-9ef4-c8f8b6bdd3c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/occ/resource/acf-801-online-help-18 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.869397 | 192 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Historical skills : dating documents
Explains the different dating conventions employed in historical documents. For example, the system of dating by reference to a religious feast day and the year of the reigning monarch has little in common with the modern calendar. Even where a recognisable date is provided, it may not be what it at first appears.... The resource includes a glossary, bibliography and translation of relevant Latin numbers/phrases. Illustrative images of items from our collections appear throughout.
Historical skills : using archives
This resource provides a general introduction to what archives are, where they are kept, how to find relevant material, and what to expect on a visit to an archives office. A glossary and bibliography are also provided along with numerous links to relevant external resources. The scope of this unit principally reflects the archival holdings of the University of Nottingham and illustrative images of items from our collections appear throughout.
Historical skills : weights and measurements
Aims to identify and explain some common difficulties in deciphering units of weights, measurements, and money in historical documents. Explores English and Welsh measuring systems, predominantly those used from the late sixteenth and early 17th centuries onwards, and those in force after the Weights and Measures Act of 1824. The resource includes a glossary and bibliography. Illustrative images of items from our collections appear throughout.
Looking back: when the Festival of Britain came to Nottingham
The populace of Nottinghamshire, who are old enough to remember, have been given the opportunity to contribute to an exhibition of the Festival of Britain, currently on display at the University Adult Education Centre, Shakespeare Street until 23 March 2007. The Exhibition opened with a lecture delivered by Sophie Hollinshead, Art Historian for the School of Education, who was also responsible for collating the material.
Student Life at The University of Nottingham
In this student podcast you'll discover what makes studying at The University of Nottingham so memorable and pick up a few tips for settling in and making the most of your time here.
Ningbo to Nottingham
This video from the School of history gives Chinese exchange students a background on coming to England to study. Also available in Mandarin through the University of Nottingham Podcast.
Ningbo to Nottingham (Mandarin)
This video (in Mandarin) from the School of history, gives Chinese exchange students a background on coming to England to study. Also available in Mandarin through the University of Nottingham Podcast.
Registrarism Ep. 4 - Student Employability
Registrar Dr Paul Greatrix looks at student employability in the current economic climate, and the Nottingham Advantage Award which aims to give our students a head start.
Open for business - Nottingham University Samworth Academy opens its doors
Go behind the scenes at the opening of the UK's first 'university academy'; the Nottingham University Samworth Academy.
Postgraduate study skills in science, technology or mathematics
Are you about to undertake a PhD in science, technology or mathematics? If so, this unit will help you to examine your work processes. You will consider and develop the nature of postgraduate work and look at the planning of work needed at doctoral level.
Developing modelling skills
This unit is the third in the MSXR209 series of five units on mathematical modellng. It provides an overview of the processes involved in developing models, starting by explaining how to specify the purpose of the model. It then moves on to look at aspects involved in creating models, such as simplifying problems, choosing variables and parameters, formulating relationships and finding solutions. You will also look at interpreting results and evaluating models. This unit assumes that you have pr
Dance communicates ideas through movement and is an expressive art form. Students need to learn how to use their body in a safe and healthy way, whilst developing a wide-ranging movement vocabulary. The use of different dance techniques can be an effective way of building vocabulary and developing different kinds of skills and abilities. Technical dance skills can form the foundation on which to develop and enhance each individual's performance. As dance teachers, we may have a range of skills,
Essay Writing Skills
Essay Writing Skills
A Personal Reflection Paper on the Importance of Self-Analysis of Communication and Listening Skills
In Summer 2007, a Virginia Tech Doctoral cohort completed EDAE 6924, School Community Partnerships. Here is a personal reflection authored by Stanley Jones.
Teaching Reading Skills: Disciminating Vowel Sounds
Teaching vowel sound discrimination skills using the Early
Interventions in Reading program from SRA/McGraw-Hill. Early
Interventions in Reading uses scaffolded and explicit direct instruction
to provide young students with the reading skills needed for academic
Modeling Research Skills
The fifth lesson in the Family, History and Memory module centers on developing students' research skills. Using the book The Diary of Anne Frank as a starting point, it guides students through the necessary steps for conducting good-quality research and developing a subsequent presentation. Students work as a group to develop their presentation. The lessons can be delivered as a module or as individual units.
The aim of this lesson is to help students acquire skills that help them prepare for examinations in a focused and organized way. Students devise strategies for reviewing material and developing a revision timeline, and learn to identify the areas of study on which they should concentrate to prepare for tests. They review helpful tips and learn to use past examinations as a guide for future ones. It is the seventh lesson in the study skills series and is intended to support adult learners who ar
Grouping skills for mastery
Thematic planning helps relate mathematics to students' lives.
Computer Skills Assessment Test
The CSAT is used mainly for employers who wish to evaluate a person's knowledge on computer systems but students and individuals can use this as a self-assessment on computer skills. It contains questions on the various components of the computer, popular and practical Microsoft office applications like word, powerpoint, and excel. This exam also includes a section on using the internet and email. Co-author of this exam is Lee Steven Zantua.
2006 Technology Breakthrough Competition and Award Ceremony
In the Tradition of Innovation at Berkeley Engineering... The College of Engineering is hosting the 3rd Annual Technology Breakthrough Competition to recognize the University's technology and scientific research that could make the world a substantially better place. PROGRAM: Dean Richard Newton in conversation with Steve Domenik, General Partner, Sevin Rosen Funds, and Lip-Bu Tan, Founder & Chairman, Walden International Technology Breakthrough Winners Ceremony and presentation of $25,000 in p | <urn:uuid:3d09f642-0571-46d6-a024-881dc400b5cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xpert/scoreresults.php?keywords=Nottingham%20advantage%20award%20skills%20for%20employability | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917714 | 1,349 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Lawrence has had some beautiful visitors from the North this brown winter.
Though not unheard of, visits from snowy owls are definitely an exception to the rule in Kansas. These majestic birds range from the upper 48 states into Canada, the Northwest Territories and Alaska. If seen south of this normal range, they are assuredly starving.
Biologists have conjectured that a spike in last year’s population of lemmings — the owl’s favorite food — may have led to an associated spike in snowy owl breeding. This year, the tables have turned for both lemmings and owls. The crash in the lemming population has driven snowies far south of their normal range in search of alternative food sources.
Seeing so many people in Lawrence with snowy owl fever has warmed my heart. Witnessing biophilia, a phrase coined by biologist E.O. Wilson which means the love of living things, is always cause for celebration. It evidences our species awareness of the very real biological connection we share with other beings. The more we can learn about others, the larger and richer our own lives become.
Though seeing such magnificent birds as snowy owls can be an unforgettable experience, we need to be careful not to add to the stress they are already under by getting too close. Wildlife watching remains one of the most rewarding and least expensive of activities. If you want to see an animal behaving in natural ways though, here are a couple of important things to remember:
l Keep your distance. I read a deceptively simple piece of advice in the park guide for Glacier National Park: “If the animal moves away, you’re too close.” Though we may not be aware of it, other beings watch us, and, except in rare cases, they’re afraid, and wisely so since we’re one of the biggest and loudest things on the planet. Just as you would a shy person at a party, give animals plenty of space, and you’ve given them the ability to carry on their lives in dignity and privacy. A good set of binoculars or a scope will allow you to bridge the distance from an animal that has piqued your curiosity.
l Become part of your surroundings. Sitting quietly at a safe distance for an extended period does require patience, but you’ll be rewarded with the opportunity to glimpse the secret lives of animals. Wearing camouflage gear, like a hunter, can help as well. Wildlife and bird photographers even go so far as to construct blinds in a habitat and capture rare glimpses of their subjects. As a landscape painter, my partner Lisa Grossman can attest to the power of extended periods of stillness. She’s had up-close sightings of many animals. Painting near Creede, Colo., she once even had a bluebird land on her head, possibly mistaking her for just another fencepost.
So the next time you’re out for a walk or hike and see an animal, give them the gift of a wide berth. They’ll thank you by giving you a glimpse of their lives.
Speaking of wildlife watching, the annual Great Backyard Bird Count, sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology, is open to citizen scientists of all abilities and ages. Between Feb. 17–20, write down all the bird species you see and report them online at birdsource.org/gbbc.
Another great event you won’t want to miss out on is the Kaw Valley Seed Project Fair on Feb. 11, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. | <urn:uuid:05d443d8-6d9a-404c-9205-0bb5cb29862e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/feb/06/tips-observing-snowy-owls-and-other-wildlife/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948543 | 751 | 2.734375 | 3 |
US veterans Ito Susumu and Erwin Blonder recall how Japanese-American soldiers rescued the 'Lost Battalion' of the Texas National Guardsman from behind German lines in the Vosges Mountains during World War II.
MARCO WERMAN: The US military presence on Okinawa dates back to World War Two, so does our next story. It's about a battle that took place in October 1944. A US infantry battalion broke through German lines in northeastern France. The men, mostly members of the Texas National Guard found themselves surrounded by Nazi forces. They were dubbed the Lost Battalion. Many thought they were goners. A combat team of mainly Japanese-American soldiers was sent to rescue them. A fierce battle ensued, there were heavy casualties, but the Lost Battalion was indeed rescued. I spoke to two veterans of the battle. First Lieutenant Erwin Blonder, a member of the Lost Battalion. He told me how his unit ended up behind enemy lines.
ERWIN BLONDER: We were lured by the Germans and trapped. They knew we were coming. We were about 280 men, and after the first day there, we were surrounded by the Germans. We had no way of getting out. One of the companies tried to leave the area, and they were captured by the Germans, and we never heard from them again, then leaving us about 220 men. We had no food, no water. We had a problem. We were told by the divisions to try to break out. We decided we wouldn't leave because we had wounded with us, and we didn't wanna leave them there. And we told the Americans that they would have to come and rescue us. But we were being attacked by the Germans. They would throw in artillery shells into our area every night, and during the day we'd get these tree bursts, which were horrible, but we were able to dig in deep enough in our foxholes to protect ourselves. It was cold, rainy, damp, it was a nightmare.
MARCO WERMAN: Well let's turn to the rescue team. Lieutenant [SOUNDS LIKE] Ito Susumu, your combat team, the 442nd regiment was sent into rescue Lieutenant Blonder's regiment. You, like most others in your regiment, we should say, were serving your country despite the fact that
your entire family was forced into an interment camp here in the United States, and that was the case for most of those in your combat team, right?
ITO SUSUMU: Yes, it was for half of us. The other half came from Hawaii, and they were very young. Many of them were 18, 19 year olds. I was a [INDISCERNIBLE] sergeant, but that was very routine and boring. So when an opportunity came up to join the instrument section, which is involved in directing artillery fire, I volunteered for this. And casualties were enormous, but at the time, I thought, this is what war is like, and this is what I'd asked for.
ERWIN BLONDER: All I remember is being cold, wet, dreary. I got trench foot when I was up there. I had to be carried off the battlefield ?cause we were not able to change our socks, or to change our clothing. It was just miserable. However, the morale was such that we decided we would never give. We wouldn't surrender, and we would, we would really probably fought to the last man if we had to.
MARCO WERMAN: And Lieutenant Ito, I mean, we have to say that it is something of a miracle that you survived this. I mean, you were the one who went up on the front lines before everybody else, kind of marking positions and where the infantry from the 442nd behind you would fire.
ITO SUSUMU: Yes, we could hear machine guns. I could hear Germans shouting at us when they pinned us down to surrender. ?Hands up. Hands up.? They would say. But you had no idea where they were. Even at this very moment when I think about it, when I see a dark forest, heavily wooded, and as dank and dark, even on a sunny day, I get goose bumps all over me. I don't recall like having goose bumps during the war, but I certainly get them now.
MARCO WERMAN: Lieutenant Ito Susumu, you went in, you rescued Lieutenant Blonder's regiment. How did it end? What was kind of the finale of the battle?
ITO SUSUMU: Well, it was fierce infantrymen. We had tanks, but they couldn't see their targets either. It was mostly the riflemen who went from tree to tree, and finally overran the last of the resistance. I saw many of the 36 divisions coming out of foxholes. Their foxholes were the deepest ones I've ever seen. But they would come out of these holes, blurry and wary looking. They seemed almost stunned to me.
ERWIN BLONDER: The important thing about this whole operation was, they went through hell to get to us. They had to crawl in their hands and knees, crawl up this mountain. And when you realize what they went through, the prejudice, how they wanted to prove they were Americans, and to fight as Americans, they were the most decorated outfit they US army's ever had. I believe they had about 28 metal of honor winners, which really were not given to them until President Clinton did this in 1990. You know, the sad thing about this, this particular action got a lot of publicity in newspapers in the United States when it happened. Not one word was said that we were rescued by the 442nd Japanese American combat team. That's the kind of prejudice we had in those days.
MARCO WERMAN: What did they say, the media just said [INDISCERNIBLE].
ERWIN BLONDER: [OVERLAPPING] They didn't mention anything. They mentioned, they just said we were rescued. They mentioned, never mentioned the 442nd, never mentioned they were rescued by the Japanese Americans.
MARCO WERMAN: Lieutenant Ito, if I were Japanese American during World War Two, and I got called up for this, I think one of two things would've gone through my mind. I might have felt as though I had to prove I was a good American. Or, maybe I would've been angered that suddenly I got called up and they're gonna stick me on the frontline in this kind of sacrificial lamb move? Did either of those two things go through your head?
ITO SUSUMU: No, I did not experience with any of my colleagues any reservation, resentment, or feelings of being discriminated against, although it probably were. But since we in the United States are a land of immigrants, except for the Native Americans, the barriers between groups are breaking down, so maybe next thousand or two thousand years, I see the future as an integration of the society with perhaps much, much less ethnicity groups.
MARCO WERMAN: Well, a 1,000, 2,000 years is certainly a long time. Let's just talk about 65 years. I'm wondering if you see a parallel between Japanese Americans and Muslim Americans today. Japanese Americans in World War Two, and Muslim Americans today, and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
ITO SUSUMU: Yes, definitely. I can see where the Muslim Americans now are discriminated against. Their position is quite parallel to the Japanese Americans in World War Two, but I feel confident that this will be overcome, and that we'll accept Muslims as equally good Americans. And this may take a few years, but I see that it's coming. I hope it's in my lifetime. [LAUGHS]
MARCO WERMAN: I hope so too.
ERWIN BLONDER: Boy. Susumu's story is a remarkable story. I admire him for what he's done, and I think everybody should admire all the Japanese Americans who really came back home
and made a life for themselves, in spite of all the prejudice. They couldn't even go back to the West Coast and get back their homes after the war. It was just a shameful block in our history.
MARCO WERMAN: And Susumu of course is the gentleman sitting with us here in the studio, in Boston.
ERWIN BLONDER: [OVERLAPPING] Susumu's a man sitting with you.
MARCO WERMAN: Yeah.
ERWIN BLONDER: I'm six foot four, and Susumu's about what? Five foot four, Susumu.
ITO SUSUMU: No, I've shrunk to about five feet two.
ERWIN BLONDER: I've shrunk to five feet two. [LAUGHS] Anyhow, we're the long and the short of it.
MARCO WERMAN: [LAUGHS] Alright. One way to put it. Lieutenant Ito Susumu, and Lieutenant Erwin Blonder, thank you very much for taking the time to tell us your stories today.
ITO SUSUMU: Happy to be here.
ERWIN BLONDER: Thank you. Thank you. Susumu good-bye.
ITO SUSUMU: So long.
ERWIN BLONDER: Okay. | <urn:uuid:73bc42a1-49ee-4ab7-a715-c2846b6160d6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pri.org/node/10436/popout | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990307 | 1,961 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Third molars or wisdom teeth, as they are more commonly known, are the teeth which are most often missing, impacted and with altered morphology. Advances in dental anthropology states that there is a reduction in the number of teeth and size of jaws on evolutionary basis for the past 100000 years. Third incisors, third premolars and fourth molars have disappeared already. At present human third molars or wisdom teeth or wisdom teeth often fail to develop, which indicate that these teeth may be on their way out. Although there are some who advice the early removal of the third molars or wisdom teeth, many strongly believe that the retention of asymptomatic third molars or wisdom teeth may be useful in later years as a substitute for badly decayed teeth or may even be useful as a transplant.
Development and Eruption of Wisdom Teeth or Third Molars
There is great variation in the timing of development, calcification, and eruption of third molars or wisdom teeth. Development of wisdom teeth may begin as early as 5 years or as late as 16 years, with the peak formation period at 8 or 9 years. Calcification can start at age 7 years in some children and as late as age 16 years in others. Enamel formation is normally complete between 12 and 18 years and root formation is normally completed between 18 and 25 years. Hellman reported that the average age of eruption was 20.5 years. In 1962, Fanning reported that average ages of eruption of 19.8 years for females and 20.4 years for males. Early formation of third molars or wisdom teeth is generally regarded as predictive of early maturation but not always of early eruption. Most surveys report that more than 17% of lower third molars or wisdom teeth become impacted. Lower third molars or wisdom teeth normally have their occlusal surfaces tilted slightly forwards and lingually during early calcification. As the mandible increases in length, with bone resorption at inner angulation between body and the ascending ramus of the mandible, the third molars or wisdom teeth become more upright. In contrast, upper wisdom teeth erupt downwards, backwards, and often outwards. There is, therefore, a possibility of crossbite, but tongue pressure on lower crowns and buccinator pressure on upper crowns will often correct this. If there is a lack of space, then normal eruptive paths cannot be followed, and crossbite can result.
Eruptive Pathways of Third molars or Wisdom Teeth
Richardson investigated the development of lower third molars or wisdom teeth between ages 10 and 15 years, using models and four cephalometric radiographs (90 degree left lateral, straight posteroanterior and 60 degree' left and right lateral views). She found that the angle of the occlusal surface of the lower third molars or wisdom teeth to the mandibular plane was 41 degree on average she found this decreased by 11 degree by age 15. Successful eruption of the lower third molar or wisdom teeth occurs by the tooth continuing to decrease its angle to the mandibular plane and moving occlusally into sufficient space.
J .N. Fayad et al in AJO 2004 determined the relationship between the maxillary molar’s sagittal inclination and the eruption of third molars or wisdom teeth using CT scans. In their study the sagittal inclination of maxillary first and second molars were greater in the subjects with erupted maxillary third molars or wisdom teeth than in those with impacted third molars or wisdom teeth and particularly in the younger subjects. They concluded that the vertical position of the first maxillary molar in the sagittal plane is a predictor of the eruption of the adjacent third molar and that the sagittal inclination of the maxillary molars increases with age which could be the effect of mesial drift.
Kahl et al when valuated ortho pantomograms of orthodontically treated 58 individuals in which the third molar was asymptomatic. He found out that with time some third molars or wisdom teeth became more upright while others showed more inclination either towards the mesial side or the distal side. They concluded that with third molars or wisdom teeth nothing can be predicted. It is not influences by age, amount of space, amount of bone, developmental stage.
Assessment of Space for Third molars or Wisdom Teeth
Shortage of space between the second molar and the ramus has long been identified as a major factor in the etiology of lower third molar or wisdom teeth impaction. Henry and Morant suggested a technique for predicting impaction of lower third molar or wisdom teeth using their third molar space index obtained by expressing the mesiodistal width of the third molar as a percentage of the space available measured on bimolar radiographs, If this index, exceeded a value of 120 for a person at maturity, impact ion could be predicted. This index decreases as the growth continues and the space available increases. Ledyard, studying lateral jaw radiographs, found that less than a 2 mm increase in space between the lower second molar and the ramus could be expected after the age of 14 years and a negligible increase after 16 years.
Ricketts claimed that, if 50% of the third molar crown lies ahead of the external oblique ridge at maturity, there is a 50% chance of eruption. Schulhof in 1976 claimed that growth prediction can estimate the adult dimension from Xi point to the mandibular second molar on a lateral cephalogram taken at the age of 9 years with a standard error of 2.8 mm. Schulhof suggested that lower third molars or wisdom teeth could not be classified as likely to erupt to good occlusion if the Xi point to lower second molar was measured less than 25mm.
Richard Olive et al in AJO 81 in a study on dried human skulls, examined the reproducibility of estimates of a space width ratio (space available between lower second molar and the ramus divided by mesiodistal width of mandibular third molar or wisdom teeth) on the lateral cephalogram, rotational tomograms (OPG), intraoral bitewings and 60 degree Cephalograms.
A template of cellulose acetate was prepared with a right angle T drawn in line through the lips of the most superior, anterior and posterior cusps of the first premolar to second molar section of buccal segment. The template was placed over the radiograph with the horizontal part of the T on the occlusal plane and the vertical pan touching the most distal part of second molar crown. The space available (AB), the mesiodistal width of the lower third moIar (CD) and space width ratio (AB/CD) were computed from the Digitized data. If this ratio is less than 120% then chances of third molar or wisdom teeth impaction are more. The rotational tomogram, intraoral bitewing and 60 degree rotated cephalogram were superior to the lateral cephalogram on the basis of reliability of results and reproducibility of radiograph technique for estimating the space width ratio.
The results suggested the difficulties in landmark location on lateral cephalogram. Locating anterior border of the ramus on lateral cephalogram is often difficult, which militates against good reproducibility of results. It was shown that the reliability for the lateral cephalogram technique alone was not as good as for the other techniques. The rotational tomograms yielded the most accurate estimates of space width ratio. Intraoral bitewings yielded the next best estimates. | <urn:uuid:fc0cf0d1-8f74-433d-a9bf-71452f2bf815> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.identalhub.com/dental-what-is-third-molar-or-wisdom-tooth-734.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00048-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939197 | 1,575 | 3.640625 | 4 |
These audio recordings capture historic moments and reflections that span the timeline of UT Dallas.
President Lyndon B. Johnson
"The Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, under the leadership of Dr. Berkner, helps to fill a vital need for the vigorous future of Texas and the Southwest. It has long had my admiration and my support."
- President Lyndon Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson's words were taped on October 27, 1964, for use on October 29, 1964 at the dedication of the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest. The center was founded in 1961 by Cecil Green, Erik Jonsson and Eugene McDermott and was renamed the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies in 1967. In 1969, it joined the University of Texas System to become UT Dallas.
Space Scientist Dr. John Hoffman
"It seemed like when a person came (here) they stayed almost forever. ... I think the work conditions were so good that people just liked it here."
- Dr. John Hoffman
Dr. John Hoffman reflects on his long career at UT Dallas in a talk recorded recently. Hoffman joined the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest, the predecessor to UT Dallas, in 1966. His instruments have helped unpack the mysteries of the Solar System, including three Apollo missions to test the moon's atmospheric conditions, a Pioneer Mission to Venus in 1978, and the landmark Phoenix Mission to Mars in 2008. His spectrometer helped explore Halley's Comet in 1986, and his experiments on a handful of satellites still revolve around the Earth. The recent Phoenix Mission – in which the presence of water was definitively determined – depended heavily on a system of small furnaces and a mass spectrometer system that Hoffman designed and built.
Dr. Francis S. Johnson Former UT Dallas Acting President
"I don't know that the organization could have survived without some leadership in this. The other part of it was the matter of financing—of course that was at the heart of it. It was proving more costly than private philanthropy could support...that was one of the things that led really to the realization that the only way to preserve the institution was to bring it under state support."
- Dr. Frank Johnson
Dr. Frank Johnson discusses his years as president of the Southwest Center for Advanced Studies (SCAS) and the business of presiding over the organization's transition to becoming a full-fledged member of the University of Texas System in 1969. Dr. Johnson was interim president of the newly named UT Dallas through July of 1971, when Bryce Jordan became the first president of UT Dallas.
During our visit, Johnson shared recollections and thoughts about:
- Dr. Lloyd Berkner's role in recruiting him to UT Dallas.
- Space research he conducted using captured German V2 rockets.
- The transformation of SCAS into a state university and opposition to that effort in the late 1960s.
- The positive and lasting contributions of his time in leadership.
- Current work underway to grow UT Dallas to Tier One status.
President John F. Kennedy
"I am honored to have this invitation to address the annual meeting of the Dallas Citizens Council, joined by the members of the Dallas Assembly — and pleased to have this opportunity to salute the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest. It is fitting that these two symbols of Dallas progress are united in the sponsorship of this meeting. For they represent the best qualities, I am told, of leadership and learning in this city — and leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. The advancement of learning depends on community leadership for financial and political support and the products of that learning, in turn, are essential to the leadership's hopes for continued progress and prosperity. It is not a coincidence that those communities possessing the best in research and graduate facilities — from MIT to Cal Tech — tend to attract the new and growing industries. I congratulate those of you here in Dallas who have recognized these basic facts through the creation of the unique and forward-looking Graduate Research Center."
Excerpt from a speech that was to be given on Nov. 22, 1963, by President John F. Kennedy, during a luncheon ceremony at the Dallas Trade Mart. Find the complete speech here.
President Emeritus Robert Rutford
"I was looking and had interviewed at several universities, but the uniqueness of this place and the opportunity... When you came here then, you interviewed with Erik Jonsson and Cecil Green and the local people here. I mean, it was clear that this place had fantastic backing from the community, and not just from the local Richardson community, but from downtown as well. So I just saw it as a wonderful opportunity to become a university president. I was very happy when I was named."
- Dr. Robert Rutford
Dr. Rutford is an Antarctic explorer and scientist of international acclaim, having been recognized with the naming of the Rutford Ice Stream and Mt. Rutford, in Antarctica. A main thoroughfare on the campus of UT Dallas was named in his honor. He served with distinction as president of UT Dallas throughout a very formative period during the Universitys 40-year-history, 1982 to 1994. During his tenure as president, the university secured approval for a school of engineering, added freshmen and sophomores to its student body and built the first on-campus housing.
Former President Bryce Jordan
I went up to Dallas to meet with the so called Selection Committee of the faculty that was chaired by a cosmologist, a space scientist, named Ivor Robinson. I met with that committee...and we talked for a while. I was puzzled enough that I said to Ivor Robinson, Why in the world would you scientists want this musicologist to be president of your university? And I never will forget Ivor s response. He said, Dr. Jordan, you dont know a thing about what we do, and we like it that way. And that s how I became president of UT Dallas.
- Dr. Bryce Jordan
Dr. Jordan became the Universitys first president in July, 1971. He went on to serve as president of UT Dallas for 10 years before being appointed UT System vice chancellor for academic affairs. He later became president of Penn State, serving there from 1983 to 1990. A visionary academic and campus planner known for strategic thinking, Dr. Jordan crafted the Universitys first strategic plan. The plan envisioned an interdisciplinary campus with a strong showing in the arts, humanities and social sciences to compliment the Universitys stellar reputation for science and mathematics. | <urn:uuid:172709b5-166e-4264-a9b0-8f1120d2f04e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.utdallas.edu/create/recordings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971655 | 1,314 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This is not legal advice. This is only general legal information to provide you only with a basic understanding of the topic. Parts of this article may become suddenly outdated at any time either by a new case or a change in legislation. Do not rely on this article to make legal decisions. Read it and then see a lawyer.
A will is the document by which a person can distribute his or her belongings after their death.
Some are quite imaginative.
But a person dying without a will, or with with an invalid will, is said to die intestate and his or her assets are then distributed according to the Estate Administration Act.
This statute pays no attention whatsoever to what the wishes of the deceased might have been had there of been a will. There is no requirement to search diaries or letters and to try to consruct testamentary wishes from anywhere. If there is no valid will, the statute sets out the distribution.
What follows is a rough outline of how property is divided if someone dies intestate. It is based on hypothetical situations and may not be adjusted to recent case law so do not rely on this table as legal advice.
||Who Gets What
|Just a spouse; no descendants.
||Spouse gets all.
|Spouse and one child (eg. child or grandchild)
||Spouse gets first $65,000, household furnishings and estate for life in matrimonial home. Whatever is left is divided ½ to spouse and ½ to descendant per stirpes.
|Spouse and more than one child.
||Same as above except that spouse gets only 1/3 of residue; 2/3 goes to descendant per stirpes.
||Descendants receive entire estate per stirpes.
|No spouse or descendants.
||Equally to parents or all to sole surviving parent.
|No spouse, no descendants, no parents.
||Equally to siblings. If a sibling has passed away, their children take their deceased parent's share (i.e. per stirpes distribution).
|No spouse, no descendants, no parents, no siblings.
||Nephews and nieces equally but no representation of deceased nephews or nieces (i.e. per capita distribution).
|No spouse, no descendants, no parents, no siblings, no nephews or nieces.
||Equally between next-of-kin of equal relation to deceased; no representation for those next-of-kin that have died before the deceased (i.e. per capita distribution).
Next-of-kin of half-blood inherit on par with those of whole blood.
Also, persons conceived at the time of death but not yet born, inherit as if they were alive at the time of death.
And even if a person dies with a will, remember that the distribution rules of intestacy apply for that property which has not been distributed by the will.
Note that most wills have a clause which says that "the residue of my estate goes to X" and when such a clause is present, this covers the residue and eliminates any referral to the rules distribution under intestacy.
The Estates Administration Act also says that if spouses were living separate for a period of a year before the death, then the surviving spouse does not inherit on an intestacy basis.
The Act also provides limited rights to a common law spouse provided that they were living together for "not less than 2 years immediately preceding his death" and the deceased had been supporting the common law spouse.
In such a case, the surviving common law spouse can apply to the court for an order providing for her (or his) maintenance and such a request must be made within the 6 months after the date of the issue of the letters of administration.
These are not the only ways a common law spouse can receive a benefit from an intestacy estate; see, for example, the Peter v. Beblow case.
The Act makes no such distinction when it comes to recognizing children of the deceased. Whether they were born out of wedlock or not has no affect on their standing in an intestacy situation.
If a person dies without leaving any successors, the property goes to the government.
The Estate Administration Act is not necessarily tax-friendly.
If you have minor children, the Infants Act allows you to appoint a guardian in your will. Without this, a court will appoint a guardian for your child! These are just some of the good reasons to not only prepare a will, but to consult a lawyer when doing so.
The general rule, as set out in the Wills Act, is that:
"... a person may by will devise, bequeath or dispose of all property, whether acquired before or after making his will, to which he is entitled .... at law."
Nevertheless, some property cannot be transferred by will. Some obvious examples include the proceeds of a life insurance policy which will go to the designated beneficiary regardless of what the will says. Property held in joint tenancy passes to the other joint tenants and some matrimonial property is protected under the Family Relations Act.
The preparation of a will in British Columbia is governed by the Wills Act.
- A will is valid only when it is in writing.
- Signed at its end by the testator or signed in his name by some other person in his presence and by his direction.
- Signature executed or acknowledged in the presence or two or more witnesses both present at that same time. Handwritten, unwitnessed wills (holograph wills) are not recognized under British Columbia law.
- Witnesses must undersign the will in the presence of the testator.
- The testator must be 19 years or older unless married or in the Armed Forces.
To these general rules there are exceptions.
For example, a will can be signed on behalf of the testator in some circumstances.
Some special wills are recognized in British Columbia such as the serviceman will, which does not require a witness. Membership in the armed forces may also lower the age of majority for the purposes of preparing a valid will. Hand-written wills are valid in BC provided they are signed by the testator and two witnesses. Wills which do not have witnesses are which are fully handwritten are called holograph wills and are not recognized in British Columbia except in the limited circumstances of servicemen wills. Again, because of the exceptions, readers are advised to consult a lawyer before preparing a will.
For witnesses, the rules are more complex. The witnesses must know you and they cannot be beneficiaries. If a witness or their wife or husband is a beneficiary, the bequest to them is void to validate their witnessing. The only thing that could save the bequest under these circumstances would be if there were more than 2 witnesses, and one is a beneficiary (or husband or wife thereof), then the two non-beneficiary witnesses would suffice to validate the will and salvage the bequest to the third witness. Note also that executors can be witnesses to a will.
Wills are not that easy to revoke. The Wills Act is quite specific. First of all, a marriage nullifies an existing will unless the will was made in contemplation of the marriage (there is another technical exception related to trusteeship; for more, see the Wills Act). Other methods include making another, more recent will; declaring in writing that you revoke your will following the same formalities as would be required for a valid will; or the purposeful destruction of the existing will with the intent of revoking it.
Alterations to a will, such as hand-written insertions, are invalid unless, again, they follow the formalities of the will. In other words, the alterations must be signed by the testator and witnesses, in the margin and near the alteration. Interlineations (words added between lines) are presumed to be inserted after the will was signed so even if they are inserted before signed and witnessed, interlineations should be formally attested to in the margin. Note the Supreme Court Rules 61(14) and (15):
"When an interlineation or alteration appears in the will, which is not properly executed, or recited in, or otherwise identified by the attestation clause, an affidavit in proof of its existence in the will before execution must be filed, except when the alteration is of small importance and is evidenced by the initials of the attesting witnesses.
"An erasure or obliteration shall not prevail unless it is
(a) proved to have existed in the will at the time of its execution,
(b) properly executed and attested, or
(c) rendered valid by the re-execution of the will, or by the subsequent execution of a codicil,
but if no satisfactory evidence can be adduced as to the time when the erasure or obliteration was made, and the words erased or obliterated are not entirely effaced, but can be ascertained on inspection, the words must form part of the probate."
Note the distinction that you may want to make between distribution per capita or per stirpes.
A per capita distribution means "by the head" and requires beneficiaries to be alive in order to acquire their share. If a beneficiaries des before the testator, his or her share goes to the other beneficiaries; not to the heirs of the beneficiary.
Per stirpes is also Latin referring to the offspring of a person; his or her descendants. For example, inheriting per stirpes means having a right to a deceased's estate because you happen to be a descendant of the deceased. If a beneficiary dies before the testator where a per stirpes distribution applies, the share passes to the beneficiary's heirs.
British Columbia also has a Wills Variation Act that says:
"Notwithstanding any law ... to the contrary, if a testator dies leaving a will which does not, in the court's opinion, make adequate provision for the proper maintenance and support of the testator's wife, husband or children, the court may, in its discretion, in an action by or on behalf of the wife, husband or children, order that the provision that it thinks adequate, just and equitable in the circumstances be made out of the estate of the testator for the wife, husband or children."
The "court" referred to is the Supreme Court and an application under the Wills Variation Act must be "commenced within 6 months from the date of issue of probate of the will."
The Wills Variation Act does not apply in an intestacy situation, in which case the statutory rank detailed above is imposed. A divorced spouse does not qualify (as of the date of death) nor is a court bound to the terms of a prenuptial or separation agreement when considering a variation under the Wills Variation Act.
When these applications occur, the executor usually remains neutral. If the executor wishes to contest the matter, they must resign as personal representative.
The courts are divided as to what criteria to use although that of "need" is the most generally accepted. Note also that the Wills Variation Act allows the court to refuse the application where the applicant's "character and conduct, in the court's opinion, disentitles him or her."
Here's a sample will:
1. This is the will of (insert your name here), of the city of (insert your city or town of permanent residence here), province of British Columbia, made on (insert complete date).
2. This revokes all previous wills.
3. I appoint (insert name of executor here) to be the executor of this will and to pay all my debts, funeral expenses and testamentary expenses as soon as possible after my death and to this end, my executor shall have full rights and powers to do anything in regard to my property which I could do if living including, as may be necessary, and in the sole discretion of my executor, the conversion on parts or the whole of my property into money.
4. My executor shall transfer the following specific items of my property to the following beneficiaries:
(insert the specific items and to whom, using full names, they are to be given).
5. My executor shall pay or transfer the residue of my estate to (insert the name of the person to whom the rest of your estate is to go once the above distribution of specific bequests has been made).
Signed by (insert your name here) in the presence of two witnesses who, at the request of (insert your name here) and of each other, and believing (insert your name here) to be of sound mind and body and under no duress, have subscribed our names as witnesses.
(add signature in the presence of two witnesses)
(have both witnesses add their signatures)
This is a very basic will. There are many other factors which can impact significantly on the validity of your will. For example, they can be revoked or altered. There are some basic rules on the appointment and powers of your preferred executor. If the testator is a parent of a minor child, instructions for guardianship should be included. Some of your property may be kept outside of British Columbia. These and other issues are well known to lawyers and far exceed the scope of this introductory article.
Once you've read this article, you will be well prepared to consult a lawyer to have your will prepared with the peace of mind of knowing that all legal issues will have been covered with the professional metamorphosis of your final wishes to the text of a professional will. | <urn:uuid:c878c517-4100-4b74-aa79-d7b4a0bb5252> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.duhaime.org/LegalResources/elderlawwillstrustsestates/lawarticle-24/wills-in-british-columbia.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95739 | 2,803 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Between the rugged coastal mountains, in central Luzon, lies the Central Plain, watered by the Pampanga and Agno rivers. Barely above sea level, c.100 mi (160 km) long and 40 mi (64 km) wide, it is the most important agricultural land in all the Philippines. It supplies food for almost the entire Manila area and is the nation's major rice-producing region and its second (after Negros island) sugarcane-producing area. Elsewhere, the Bicol peninsula is known for its extensive coconut plantations; the Cagayan River valley for its tobacco and corn. Other major crops are fruits, vegetables, and cacao. Luzon has important lumbering and mining industries; there are gold, chromite, nickel, copper, and iron deposits, and the bamboo on Bataan peninsula has many commercial uses. Manufacturing is centered in the Manila metropolitan area, where the major industries produce textiles, chemicals, and metal products. Scattered throughout the island are fertilizer plants, an occasional oil refinery, cement factories, and plywood mills and wood product plants.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:ecff3d4f-4fb8-4417-a8fc-c0991a29bebd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/luzon-economy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915512 | 246 | 2.984375 | 3 |
On the way to a safe and secure Smart Home
A growing number of household operations can be managed via the Internet. Today’s “Smart Home” promises efficient building management. But often the systems are not secure and can only be retrofitted at great expense. Scientists are working on a software product that defends against hacker attacks before they reach the building.
Botnet. A term from the world of computers is gradually tiptoeing its way into the world of building automation. You have to anticipate this kind of attack scenario, according to Dr. Steffen Wendzel of the Fraunhofer Institute for Communications, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in Bonn. The researcher from the “Cyber Defense” department is the expert in hacker methods and, working jointly with Viviane Zwanger and Dr. Michael Meier, meticulously examines them. Attackers infiltrate multiple computers – “bots” (from the word “robots”) – without their owners’ knowledge, weave the computers together into nets, and misuse them for computer attacks. The researchers studied something that does not yet exist at all today: attacks by Botnets on “Smart Homes” using Internet-linked buildings or building operations. The finding: The threat is absolutely real: Internet-controlled electric roller shutters, HVAC and locking systems could all be used for these kinds of attacks.”Our experiments in the laboratory revealed that the typical IT building is not adequately protected against Internet-based attacks. Their network components could be highjacked for use in botnets,” Wendzel continues. In the process, the hackers do not have to seek out the PCs as in the past; instead, they look for the components in building automation that link the buildings with the Internet. These are small boxes installed in the buildings that look and work like routers for home computers.”However, they are configured quite simply, can only be upgraded with some difficulty, and are loaded with security gaps. The communications protocol that they use is obsolete,” explains Wendzel.
Sentinel software switches between Internet and building IT
To ensure that the heating, lighting, and ventilation of buildings can be controlled via the Internet, it is necessary to install special equipment: This involves mini-computers that measure temperature, light or humidity and are incorporated into networks. “Keeping them up to the latest standards is expensive,” Wendzel says. At FKIE, the team has developed security software that can easily switch between Internet and building IT. The technology filters out potential attacks from communications protocols even before they reach the four walls of the actual brick-and-mortar home or office building. No matter what technologies are being used within the building: With this approach, they do not have to be replaced.
The researchers additionally examined the conventional communications standards of building automation, and building upon these, they have developed rules for data traffic. If arriving data do not adhere to these rules, then the communications flow is modified. “The software operates like a firewall with normalization components,” explains Wendzel. All the results that are sent on their way to the systems are tested for plausibility by an “analyzer”. If the alarm goes off, then the incident is immediately dispatched to the “normalizer.” This either blocks the incident in its entirety or modifies it accordingly. The basic research has been concluded successfully. “In the next stage, we want to make the technology production-ready with an industrial firm. In no later than two years, there should be a product on the market,” states Wendzel.
In their analysis of Botnet attacks, the researchers sketched out definitive threat scenarios for smart homes.”From my perspective, the most compelling issue is ‘monitoring,’” the cyber defense researcher says. When the attacker hacks into the building operations IT, he or she will learn where the residents or tenants are located and what they are doing, in a worst case scenario. That includes everything, right down to going to the toilet. Intruders, for example, could use this data in order to prepare for a burglary or raid. In this case, the hacker is acting in a passive capacity, simply tapping data. However, he or she could be equally capable of actively invading the systems. Take a contractor from the energy industry, for example. He could profit from more oil or gas sold if the consumption of multiple heating systems is artificially elevated. A recent example demonstrates how real this scenario is: Last year, there was a gap in the security system of a heating system connected to the Internet. Attackers had the ability to shut down or damage heaters. Therefore, security expert Wendzel is currently advising against carelessly linking all building functions in private homes to the Internet. | <urn:uuid:e88e733d-fec4-458f-9a56-5637cfa783e2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2014/september/on-the-way-to-a-safe-and-secure-smart-home.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953295 | 994 | 2.890625 | 3 |
An 1,800-year-old carved stone head of what is believed to be a Roman god has been unearthed in an ancient rubbish dump.
Archaeologists made the discovery at Binchester Roman Fort, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham, England.
First year Durham University archaeology student Alex Kirton found the artefact, which measures about 20cm by 10cm, in buried late Roman rubbish within what was probably a bath house.
The sandstone head, which dates from the 2nd or 3rd century AD, has been likened to the Celtic deity Antenociticus, thought to have been worshipped as a source of inspiration and intercession in military affairs.
A similar sandstone head, complete with an inscription identifying it as Antenociticus, was found at Benwell, in Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1862. Dr David Petts, Lecturer in Archaeology at Durham University, said:
"We found the Binchester head close to where a small Roman altar was found two years ago. We think it may have been associated with a small shrine in the bath house and dumped after the building fell out of use, probably in the 4th century AD
"It is probably the head of a Roman god - we can't be sure of his name, but it does have similarities to the head of Antenociticus found at Benwell in the 19th century.
"We may never know the true identity of this new head, but we are continuing to explore the building from which it came to help us improve our understanding of late Roman life at Binchester and the Roman Empire's northern frontier in Northern England.
"Antenociticus is one of a number of gods known only from the northern frontier, a region which seems to have had a number of its own deities.
"It's also an excellent insight into the life and beliefs of the civilians living close to the Roman fort. The style is a combination of classical Roman art and more regional Romano-British traditions. It shows the population of the settlement taking classical artistic traditions and making them their own."
Dr David Mason, Principal Archaeologist with the site's owner, Durham County Council, said:
"The head is a welcome addition to the collection of sculpture and inscriptions from Binchester. Previous religious dedications from the site feature deities from the classical pantheon of gods and goddesses such as the supreme god Jupiter and those associated with healing and good health such as Aesculapius, Salus and Hygeia.
"This one however appears to represent a local Romano-Celtic god of the type frequently found in the frontier regions of the Empire and probably representing the conflation of a classical deity with its local equivalent. The similarity with the head of Antenociticus is notable, but this could be a deity local to Binchester."
The Binchester head is African in appearance, but Dr Petts, who is also Associate Director of Durham University's Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, said experts were unsure whether these features were deliberate or coincidental.
He explained: "This is something we need to consider deeply. If it is an image of an African, it could be extremely important, although this identification is not certain."
Dr Mason added: "The African style comparison may be misleading as the form is typical of that produced by local craftsmen in the frontier region."
The find was made as part of a five year project at Binchester Roman Fort which is shedding new light on the twilight years of the Roman Empire.
The Binchester dig is a joint project between Durham University's Department of Archaeology, site owner Durham County Council, Stanford University's Archaeology Centre and the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham and Northumberland.
Each summer, undergraduate archaeology students from Durham and the United States are joined by volunteer members of the public to painstakingly reveal more fascinating details from Binchester's past.
* Visitors attending the Binchester Roman Festival on the weekend of July 13/14 will be able to see the head for themselves, along with other objects found during the current excavations. The Festival features guided tours of the excavations by Dr Mason as well as a programme of re-enactment events including firing of a full-size model of a ballista, a Roman artillery catapult, and demonstrations of ancient riding and fighting skills. | <urn:uuid:6054f7e9-72f7-4f3f-a43f-ed5772422225> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-07/du-auc070113.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965934 | 907 | 2.546875 | 3 |
This is a guest post by the authors of the People+Place blog.
Over the years, Granville Island has received much attention from urban planners, developers, architects and Placemakers as a successful model for brownfield redevelopment. Truly successful places—those that appeal to our minds, hearts and souls—offer us a way to connect with each other. These places develop organically over time, and are more about emotion than they are about economics and design. Granville Island is one of those special places, created out of necessity and a unique sense of what the community needed at the time.
It is doubtful that Granville Island could be replicated somewhere else today, and further, whether one would want to replicate it in any regard. The island, as it is today, is so much a product of its time, the people who saw a vision for what it could become, and some several unique conditions that allowed it to develop as it did. Nevertheless, many of the elements and processes used in the re-development of Granville Island are applicable to other sites. To better understand the island in its present state, let’s look at how it came to be.
Granville Island originally comprised two sand bars in Vancouver’s False Creek, which were used by local First Nations people as places to meet and to collect shellfish. In 1916, the federally-administered Vancouver Harbour Commission (VHC) built a seawall around the sand bars and created 41 acres of land to be used by industry. The VHC leased parcels of land to tenants who built their factories and mills in post and beam structures clad in corrugated tin. For 40 years, industry thrived on the island while the city of Vancouver grew around it.
In the 1960s, many of the industries began to move away due to changing market conditions. Those that remained were dirty. The island became an eyesore while the waters of False Creek became heavily polluted. The public’s sense of the environment was increasing, and they felt that something should be done to clean up the area; both the City of Vancouver and the Federal Government agreed.
The Canadian government transferred the management and redevelopment of the Island to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in 1973. This occurred at a time when CMHC was developing the south shore of False Creek for housing. A group of influential and innovative people was appointed to a new body, the Granville Island Trust, to assist CMHC in implementing a plan for the future. A budget of $20 million was allocated for the redevelopment.
While the City of Vancouver and the Trust couldn’t initially agree on a vision for the Island, they eventually came to a compromise and a basic concept came together. This vision is articulated in a plan, the Granville Island Reference Document, which still acts as the chief formal agreement between the City and the Federal Government, providing a regulatory framework for the island.
A fundamental principal was that Granville Island would become a “people place” while still remaining reflective of its industrial maritime heritage. The Reference Document establishes some broad guidelines: the island is accessible to everyone, existing buildings are re-used when possible, and space is allocated for a variety of land uses (limiting retail to arts and crafts, maritime products and a pubic market).
However, unlike most land use plans, the Reference Document does not establish any zoning or other criteria for urban works such as street profiles. Nor does it prescribe how the vision shall be implemented. This permissive regulatory framework was acceptable to the City of Vancouver because Granville Island is federal land. If the land was privately owned, city zoning would have applied. This framework, along with the limited government funding for redevelopment, set the stage for Granville Island to develop in a very unique and organic way.
The redevelopment of Granville Island commenced in 1975 and was essentially completed with the opening of the Public Market in 1979 (though one could argue that its redevelopment still continues in an incremental manner to this day). Another principle that was established at this time was that Granville Island would involve both public and private investment. The cost to implement the vision exceeded the $20 million budgeted by the federal government.
It was determined that the federal funds could best be used for infrastructural projects such as replacing underground services, building new seawalls, roads, street lighting and providing other unifying design elements. Some of these funds were also needed to reacquire industrial leases that were years away from expiration. However, not all leases could be reacquired, as the money available simply wasn’t sufficient. This explains why a concrete plant is still located on the island, mixed in with the Public Market, artisan studios, and other public attractions!
The public sector was invited to bid on development opportunities relating to specific sites. The successful bidders were offered long-term leases. The old post and beam tin clad buildings were turned over to the developers in an as-is condition. Therefore the new tenants had to make significant investments to bring the buildings to code and the projects to market. CMHC imposed strict requirements for design and use of space to ensure that efforts to create a “people place” were not compromised. These design requirements ensure that the industrial maritime heritage is respected. Similarly, building use is strictly controlled by lease agreements so that all activities are harmonious.
Early tenants included those from the public sector (the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, False Creek Community Centre), those from the not-for-profit sector (Arts Club Theatre), and those from the private sector (The Creekhouse, Granville Island Brewery, Bridges Restaurant, Maritime Market, Kid’s Only Market, and the Granville Island Hotel), as well as many independent artisans who occupied CMHC buildings. The diversity of tenants has contributed to the unique experience that we see today on Granville Island. | <urn:uuid:5ce774b4-e577-4e11-9bbf-20f39f9454fa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pps.org/blog/how-granville-island-came-to-be/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971527 | 1,204 | 2.859375 | 3 |
|Research and Conservation|
|About the J. Paul Getty Museum|
|Museum Home Past Exhibitions|
October 18, 2007–January 14, 2008 at the Getty Villa
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, archaeological excavations across the Italian peninsula at sites such as Pompeii and Herculaneum resulted in the rediscovery of Roman glass. Artisans in Europe were exposed to ancient glass vessels that were made using a variety of methods unknown to them. They set out to imitate ancient techniques and designs, basing their replicas either on the artifacts themselves or on illustrated publications of glass collections. Amid a growing demand for products influenced by past periods, many glass artists looked to ancient Rome for inspiration.
Reflecting Antiquity is the first major exhibition to examine the impact of the rediscovery of Roman glass on modern glassmakers. It features Roman vessels as well as modern glassmakers' reproductions of these ancient pieces, and vessels inspired by ancient ones.
The exhibition explores several forms and techniques of Roman glassmaking, including mosaic glass, gold glass, cameo glass, and cage cups, and examines how nineteenth-century glassmakers, particularly in Italy, Germany, and England, studied Roman glass both to create exact replicas of ancient models and to craft unique vessels that ultimately bore little resemblance to the glass of ancient Rome. The exhibition also presents the work of contemporary glassmakers who continue to study Roman glass in order to understand and reproduce ancient glassmaking techniques. It is a testament to the beauty of Roman glass vessels, and the skill of the artisans who created them, that these ancient pieces continue to impress and inspire us today.
This exhibition will be on view at The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, February 15–May 27, 2008.
This exhibition is organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum and The Corning Museum of Glass. Generous support is provided by the Villa Council. | <urn:uuid:f14ea30b-9397-48ec-9946-d4c2c7040080> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://getty.edu/art/exhibitions/reflecting_antiquity/overview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948678 | 395 | 2.859375 | 3 |
You have discovered that your old hangman game was a bit too easy and all of the kids at school are making fun of you for it. You come up with a brilliant but very secretive idea: you are going to modify your game into a new version that you have appropriately named Evil Hangman.
This assignment is due at 11:59 PM on Friday as listed on the course calendar via bSpace.
You absolutely must work with one other person on this assignment. Your partner may be from any section of CS10. You can ask around in lab or on Piazza to find a partner.
Evil Hangman is played in exactly the same way as the original game. In fact, the player should have no idea that they are not playing the original game. The difference, however, is that the computer is actually cheating to make the game as hard as possible for the player. The computer does not actually settle on a word until the very end of the game. It tries to keep the player in the dark for as long as possible. Instead of picking a word at the very beginning a la regular hangman, the computer chooses a word but readily changes to a different word if the player starts guessing letters correctly.
A flowchart describing one possible approach below is available here.
The dialogue between the player and computer should look exactly the same as it did in your last assignment. In fact, it will probably be in your best interest to start from your project that you submitted as Homework 2. We have also provided a few word lists (see below), but you are welcome to use your own for testing if you prefer. You can test your program on the 2000 words list before convincing yourself that your program completely works. However, your homework submission must have the 1000 words list set as the default words list.
Your program should continue to switch letters as long as there are words available given the letters guessed and your code's choice of whether to keep words with that letter in a specific place or to discount all words with that letter in it. Note that you should not worry about making your program work as efficiently as possible since you will not be graded on your homework’s performance in terms of speed. You will only graded on correctness.
NOTE: A "letter pattern" refers the positions that will be revealed in a word if a particular letter is guessed. For example, _ p p _ _ is one way to represent the letter pattern for "p" in the word "apple." The idea here is that even after you revealed a letter, you may still be able to pick another word.
Remember that, when played well, it should be possible to win a game of Evil Hangman. The computer may not cheat!
There are many slight variations on the game of Evil Hangman. Below is a video of the way Evil Hangman should be played. It includes an overview of the basic algorithm, and some examples.
––– Special Extra Credit Opportunity –––
There are a few options for earning extra credit on this assignment. If you would like to earn this particular type of extra credit on this assignment, you must format your Homework 3 in such a way as explained here. The extra credit you will receive for this falls under item 2 of the Extra Credit Opportunity section below.
You can either start with your submission for HW2 or our solution to HW2.
Using the HW2 solution, you will be given 3 different word lists and some blocks. A description of what you will find in your starter file is listed below:
In order to receive full credit, there are a few simple requirements which you must meet. Refer to this list as you complete your Homework 3.
You will submit your Homework 3 on bSpace to the Homework 3 assignment slot. Only one person from each group should submit your assignment.
Your submission must contain two items:
(These are not required, but may prove extremely helpful!)
Extra credit is available for Homework 3! Please make sure to let us know if you are implementing extra credit by adding a comment beneath your list of your partner names and SIDs in the bSpace comments box when submitting your assignment.
(NOTE: Your Homework 3 assignment will still be graded by a human! This option is geared towards helping us develop new options for an online version of CS10.)
CS10: The Beauty and Joy of Computing -- HW3 -- Evil Hangman | <urn:uuid:d76bcf60-35f5-4456-a22f-79e972903f1b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://docs.google.com/document/d/1giyUGQ26NccYLTevbSxhM1wQ6oBHLC2k2GesIKv_SC4/pub | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961604 | 904 | 2.875 | 3 |
" 'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher [or 'Preacher',
Heb "Qoheleth']. 'Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless' " (Ecc 1:2).
This full phrase -- expressing the theme of the Book -- is duplicated in Ecc
12:8. These two verses (Ecc 1:2 and Ecc 12:8) form a kind of frame around the
main part of the book. The main argument of the book (Ecc 1:3-12:7) takes place
within the boundaries of this frame.
Both the introductory title (Ecc 1:1 only) and the conclusion
(Ecc 12:9-14) are written in the third person: the Preacher is referred to as
"he" (the Preacher), not as "I". In the main body of the book (Ecc 1:3-12:7),
the Preacher speaks as "I" to the reader, and gives us his personal
observations. There is only one place in this main body of the book in which
third person speech ("he") is again introduced: Ecc 7:27: it includes the phrase
"says the Preacher, or Teacher". This little phrase, occurring as it does
roughly in the middle of the book, is a reminder to us that what we are reading
all the way through this central section (Ecc 1:3-12:7) is a first person
account, the personal observations of the Preacher.
The key word
The key word in Ecclesiastes is "hebel", which occurs about 37
times in the short book. (This is remarkable because the same word only occurs
no more than a like number of times -- 33 by one count -- in the entirety of the
rest of the Bible.) "Hebel" literally means "a breath", and signifies that which
is "vain" or "meaningless".
Qoheleth consistently uses "hebel" with the nuance of
"transient" of "fleeting" when he uses the term to describe man's life (Ecc
11:10; 6:12; 7:12; 9:9; 3:19).
Qoheleth uses "hebel" with the nuance of "perplexing" or
"enigmatic" if occurrences upon earth which contradict the established moral
order (Ecc 6:2; 8:10; 8:14).
Qoheleth employs "hebel" often with the nuance of "futile,"
"fruitless," "not beneficial."
With reference to pleasure and wisdom, Qoheleth employs
"hebel" with the nuance of "profitless" (Ecc 2:1; 2:15):
With reference to events under the sun generally, to the laughter of fools
and to bequeathing one's estate to an heir, Qoheleth employs "hebel" with the
nuance of "profitless/futile" (Ecc 1:2; 12:8; 2:19,21,23; 7:6).
reference to a stillborn child and to death, Qoheleth employs "hebel" in the
sense of obscure or "unknown" (Ecc 6:14; 11:8).
Qoheleth employs "hebel" in conjunction with a feeding on or a
striving after wind ("ruach") to denote a futile effort (Ecc 1:14; 2:11,17,26;
4:4,16; 6:9; cp Joh 3:8).
Qoheleth employs "hebel" in contradistinction to "yithron"
(profit) and "tob" (good) and other terms which heighten the vividness of
"hebel". The absence of "yithron" for activity is "profitless." The lack of
"tob" in activity is "not beneficial." Among the words used in antithesis to
"hebel", "yithron" -- "profit, advantage, gain" -- plays a dominant role as a
term meaning "that which counts or matters", "that which results or issues from
all our work". It forces upon "hebel" the special sense of "that which does not
count or matter", "null", "vain", "that which yields no results". Qoheleth's
goal is to find what is lastingly "tob" (good) or gives abiding "yithron"
(profit, advantage). However, in his quest he finds nothing permanent in man's
experience, hence his verdict -- "hebel" (eg, Ecc 1:3; 2:3,11; 3:19;
Qoheleth's observations about the "hebel" nature of existence
fall into two categories:
those things concerning creation and the present order which confront him
on every hand and cause him to perceive the "hebel" condition of the world, and
all human endeavors by which a man seeks for "profit and good" but which
ultimately mock his attempts.
Qoheleth observes the cyclical patterns in nature and
concludes that the meaning to life cannot be found in the created order (Ecc
Qoheleth then looks at man for progress in history and
technology as possibly giving the key to life, but concludes that any apparent
progress is only illusionary, and that this does not hold the key to life (Ecc
Qoheleth ponders the fact that the righteous and the wicked
both suffer the fate of death, and concludes that this is another example of
"hebel" (Ecc 2:14, cf Ecc 8:14).
Qoheleth observes the common fate of man and beast as another
example of "hebel" (Ecc 3:19).
Qoheleth sees that the reordering of the present system is
beyond man's control (Ecc 1:15; 7:13).
Qoheleth sees prevalent injustice in the world as another
example of "hebel" (Ecc 3:16; 4:1; 5:7,8; 7:15).
Qoheleth also sees the moral order overturned in his
experience and concludes that this is "hebel" (Ecc 8:14).
Qoheleth laments that the profit from his labor will be left
to another and is hence "hebel" (Ecc 2:18).
Qoheleth sees the fact that the future after death is darkness
(Ecc 11:8) and thus "hebel".
Qoheleth observes all human endeavors by which a man seeks
"profit" and "good" to give meaning to life, and concludes that they are all
"hebel" (Ecc 1:14, 12:8).
Qoheleth concludes that toil is "hebel" because it is
motivated by greed, does not yield happiness, and is impermanent.
Toil is "hebel" because it is motivated by the competitive desire of one
man to get ahead of another. In trying to outstrip one's neighbor, one forfeits
rest and enjoyment of life (Ecc 4:4-6).
Toil is "hebel" because it is
motivated by greed. A rich man continues to amass riches with no thought as to
the reason why and consequently deprives himself of the enjoyment of them (Ecc
The result of toil does not yield satisfaction, but days filled with
pain and nights without sleep, due to worry (Ecc 2:23; cf Ecc 2:11), and is
The fruit of a man's labor cannot be enjoyed by him but must
rather be left to another who did not labor for them and who may be undeserving.
Hence, toil is "hebel" (Ecc 2:18,21).
A minimum of effort to meet life's
basic needs is superior to advancement through toil (Ecc
Qoheleth concludes that wealth is "hebel" because it does not
satisfy nor bring enjoyment, but rather brings anxiety (Ecc 2:4-10, 4:17,
Wealth is "hebel" because it brings anxiety rather than fulfillment (Ecc
Wealth is "hebel" because it can be easily lost through a rash
vow, through oppression or through a bad investment (Ecc
Wealth is "hebel" because rather than give satisfaction, it
demands increased vigilance to keep it (Ecc 5:12).
Wealth is "hebel" because
it brings misery (Ecc 5:6).
Wealth is "hebel" because a man may not enjoy it
(Ecc 2:26; 4:8).
Wealth is "hebel" because it does not satisfy (Ecc
Qoheleth concludes that wisdom is "hebel" since, rather than
give meaning to life, it gives only a temporary advantage.
The pursuit of wisdom yields grief and is thus "hebel" (Ecc
Wisdom is "hebel" because its advantages are seen in this life only
Wisdom doesn't guarantee success since its advantage can be
thwarted by various means, such as unpredicted misfortune (Ecc 9:11), sin and
folly (9:18; 10:5-7), and improper timing (Ecc 10:8-11). It is thus "hebel" (Ecc
Yet wisdom is not valueless. It has great relative advantage
in this life (Ecc 2:14; 4:10-14; 8:1-9; 9:14-18).
Qoheleth concludes that pleasure-seeking in its various forms
is "hebel" because it ultimately accomplishes nothing (Ecc 2:2):
Sensual gratification, while pleasing for the moment, yields no lasting
benefit (Ecc 2:3,8,11).
The pleasure derived from the accomplishment of
ambitious undertakings is only temporary (Ecc 2:4-6,11).
derived from great wealth brings no lasting satisfaction (Ecc
The pleasure derived by fools is of the briefest nature (Ecc
Pleasure is "hebel" since it yields no "yithron" (profit, advantage)
Qoheleth concludes that fame is "hebel" since it is
short-lived, depending on the masses who have only the briefest memory (Ecc
4:13-16). [Cited generally from M. James Sawyer]
Ecclesiastes has been called "the book of Solomon's call to
the Gentiles" (BM 78:17).
It has also been subtitled "The things that won't work!"
Where is the meaning of life? The meaning of life is
NOT in wisdom...
NOT in withdrawal...
NOT in weeping...
NOT in wind...
NOT in worship without obedience...
NOT in weapons of war...
NOT in writing...
...but in walking uprightly.
Conclusion: Fear God, and keep His commandments.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a book for deep study and
meditation. It is concerned with the age-old search for happiness and
satisfaction. What is good? What is real? What is worthwhile? What is the great
purpose and meaning of life?
Its theme is summed up in its opening and closing verses. It
begins with: " 'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Utterly
meaningless! Everything is meaningless' " (Ecc 1:2).
And it ends with: "Now all has been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every
hidden thing, whether it is good or evil" (Ecc 12:13,14). We note from the
italics in the KJV that the word "duty" is not in the original. The thought is
really broader and deeper. Literally it says: "This is the whole man" -- that
is, this is everything for man -- all his meaning and purpose -- all his life
Cp Luk 17:26,27; 2Ti 3:1-5: The Last Days will be a time of
unprecedented pleasure-seeking. "What's it all about?" A realization of the
emptiness of such pursuits turns one to Christ: as the only lasting
Two "incomplete answers"
"Two books fill a vital place in the scheme of revelation by
raising questions to which the full answers are only to be found in Christ.
Exploring life fearlessly, they seem to baffle the believer with doubts and
difficulties, yet they really pave the way to a deeper faith by bringing into
full light the problems which only the Gospel can wholly solve.
"Job leads through the problem of suffering to the wider
problem of man's relation to God. Is it a simple profit-and-loss account in
which well doing is rewarded and wrong doing punished? Obviously it is more than
that, since a righteous man can suffer and know that he is not guilty of the
secret sins his friends attribute to him. Still more is that evident when the
Son of God himself suffers on the cross; but the cross deepens the problem only
to solve it, since the way of life is opened up in the risen Christ, who becomes
the Mediator between God and men foreshadowed in the speech of Elihu.
"Ecclesiastes probes the problem of man's relation to his own
life. What is it worth when lived as an end in itself? What other end is there
by which life can be related to something outside itself? The field of inquiry
is wider than in Job since it covers the experience of life generally and not
only the particular experiences of loss and pain; but in the same way it raises
fundamental questions to which only partial answers can be given within the
book's own limits -- the final answers are in Christ" (LGS).
The "contradictions" in Ecclesiastes?
"It has been observed that often "the Preacher is using a
strategy that we might term, 'Yes... but...' He presents one truth and agrees
with it -- but only in certain respects. He is prepared only to go so far with
it because he realises there are other angles and other truths which qualify or
contextualize the first. Thus, it may be true that it is good to be diligent or
to be wise (indeed it is true); but there are other aspects which must also be
considered, as the Preacher is quick to point out. [This] is a phenomenon which
appears again and again throughout the book. It may be true that there is a time
for everything, but if humans do not know when that time is, and if they cannot
fathom the eternity which is God's, then they are hopelessly at sea unless God
condescends to help them out.
"Interpreters have agonised over paradoxes and apparent
contradictions in Ecclesiastes throughout the centuries, and where they have
become unstuck it is often because they have failed to realise truth can be
expressed in contradictory statements. One statement can be true to a certain
extent. Another statement, which is apparently contradictory, can be true in
another sense. Put the two together, and one begins to develop a complete
"This is somewhat akin to the position we find ourselves in
when we discuss freewill and predestination, or when we ask the extent to which
God is involved in controlling people's lives and the extent to which we take
the initiative in controlling our own destiny. There is truth in both: God
directs and we have free will. The precise sense in which they are to be
reconciled is not spelled out for us in scripture, and we are to take
encouragement and instruction from both truths. Many arguments arise because of
apparent overemphasis on one side or the other, but it is when they are taken
together that we can begin to perceive the truth of the matter. Likewise in
Ecclesiastes, the apparent contradictions are the Preacher's way of expressing
truth. There are different ways of looking at things, different perspectives and
levels, and this means that apparently contradictory statements can turn out to
be simultaneously true and can express the whole truth in a way that one simple
statement could not. This is very important to remember" (MV).
The title: Ecc 1:1
The theme stated: All is meaningless: Ecc
The futility of human efforts without God: Ecc 1:3–11
test of practical experience: Ecc 1:12 – 2:26
limited by time: Ecc 3:1–22
Human futility greatly increased by
oppression: Ecc 4:1–16
The futility of insincere worship: Ecc
The futility of riches: Ecc 5:10 -- 6:2
The futility of
human desires: Ecc 6:3 – 11:6
Advice and warning to youth: Ecc 11:7
The theme restated: All is meaningless: Ecc
Conclusion: Fear God, and keep His commandments: Ecc | <urn:uuid:f5257cd1-51a1-4a0e-a3ab-1b2cc30caadb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.christadelphianbooks.org/agora/comm/21_eccl/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938609 | 3,745 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Burns are never pleasant to get, but burn remedies for most minor burns can be handled at home. Your first step is to determine whether your burn is mild enough to forgo professional burn treatments. Consider these factors:
Degree of the burn. First-degree
burns, which affect only the top layer of skin, cause pain, swelling, and
redness. Second-degree burns, which go deeper, will also produce blisters.
Third-degree burns, the most severe type, are characterized by white or charred
skin and numbness. People with
third-degree burns may need skin grafts, so medical assistance should always be
sought immediately. For other burns,
seek medical burn treatments if you’re
at all in doubt.
- Location of the burn. Burns to the eyes, mouth, hands, and genital areas should always be treated by medical professionals, even if they are mild.
- Size of the burn. Burns that are the size of your palm or larger should always be treated by a doctor.
- Unusual physical symptoms. Burns that are accompanied by fever, excessive swelling, pus-like or bad-smelling drainage, or a blister filled with greenish or brownish fluid require medical attention. Burns that do not heal within two weeks should also be seen by a doctor
Burn Treatments at Home
If you feel confident that your burn can be treated at home without medical intervention, follow these steps to help it heal:
- Get it wet. Run cool (not cold) water over the burned area and hold a cold compress on it until the pain lessens. Ice is not recommended.
- Cover it. Use a dry, sterile bandage or other dressing to shield the burned area from further harm. Antibiotic cream may be used before the bandage is applied.
- Relieve the pain. Any remaining pain from the burn can be treated with over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs, like acetaminophen and ibuprofen. (Don’t give aspirin to kids younger than 12.)
- Check on your tetanus immunization. Even minor burns can lead to tetanus, a serious condition that causes the muscles in the body to tighten painfully. Adults should be immunized for tetanus once every 10 years. If the burn patient’s tetanus vaccination is not up to date, he or she should get a booster at the doctor’s office.
Special Care for Chemical Burns
To treat mild burns caused by chemical substances, first remove any remaining chemical from the skin. If the chemicals are dry, brush them off with your hands while wearing gloves, and then place the victim in a cool shower for at least 15 minutes. Wet chemicals should be flushed with running water for at least 20 minutes.
Burn Remedies “Don’ts”
There are some old wives’ tale burn treatments that can actually cause further harm and must be avoided. These include:
Applying butter. Despite
centuries of suggestion, butter and other greasy substances can cause infection on burns.
They may also make it harder for doctors to treat
the burn later, if that's necessary.
- Breaking blisters. This can also increase the chance of infection.
- Removing stuck clothing. If clothing is trapped on the burned skin, do not try to remove it – get medical help.
Home burn remedies are often enough for minor mishaps, but remember to call your doctor whenever you’re in doubt or if the burn fails to heal.
Last Updated: 7/31/2013 | <urn:uuid:4fcbe662-7806-4fac-b4e4-1c43dc963ba0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/pain-burns-first-aid-7703.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916488 | 743 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Breaking the Frequencies
The Internet, the city, and recently augmented space are flooded with disinformation, meaningless images, contrasting interpretations, unreliable sources and corporate spam. Public space is filled with images that consequently construct, direct and control our reality. Attempts to countervail, reform and improve should start at roots of our society; our children. Knowing how to acquire the appropriate information lays at the basis of survival. Society has changed in fundamental ways, the world’s wealth has been drastically redistributed, and individuality and locality are drowning in a pool of homogeneity. Finding your way around is essential; knowing how the key.
In 2005 the Locative Media department of Waag Society developed a mobile learning game, in which “students are transported to the medieval Amsterdam of 1550 via a medium that’s familiar to this age group: the mobile phone”. Frequency 1550 took place again in June 2007. The game uses 3G cell phones and network to allow students to compete in finding answers to questions about the old city of Amsterdam, for history class excursion and assignment. Frequency 1550 explores the social potential of location-aware devices, inspired by the use of tracking technology and wireless media, human relationships, movement and identity; the project seeks to extend and re-appropriate the functions of locative technologies by exploring ways in which they can be socially constructive and facilitate new dynamics to occur within everyday school life. Children are taught to look beyond city facades, interact socially and technically, and move through the city in new ways.
Frequency 1550 is an annotation of the current transition of social and traveling space, moreover, it is concerned with the medium and plays with its possibilities, ultimately shaping and advancing it. Frequency 1550 is, like Internet art, formed by commercial interests. Corporate minded sponsors, such as phone providers and cell phone producers, are constantly seeking how to control the market. Projects such Frequency 1550 are an ideal way of testing commercial applications and practices. Furthermore, introducing cell phones in the domain of education, as Frequency 1550 intends, offers a new market, one which is able to acquire governmental sponsoring as well as annex potential customers at an early age. Likewise, the city is used as testing ground for creative, commercial and governmental institutions to assess flaws and threats.
However, there are many problems regarding usability, expense, network stability and game design. Frequency 1550 is most certainly not the first Locative Media project that is constrained by the limitations of the available technology. Central in the game play is the challenge of roaming the environment while deciphering the presented information on a miniature screen and interacting with the device through a bad designed cell phone keyboard (in ten years it probably will be considered ridiculous to use your thumb to text messages on a 10 button keyboard). Furthermore, at this commencing stage the mobile network, the Bluetooth and GPS connection, and communication to a central server are simply not advanced enough to separate the world and the presented scenario. These barriers make it almost impossible to engage with the plot and temporarily escape from reality. Frequency 1550 does not go beyond positioning; engagement is limited to location, not its context. Of course the project is not only about concentrating context in a coordinate point, nor is the project merely about gaining greater understanding of place through the cell phone screen. Frequency 1550 is not a museum or digital touring guide; the focus is on opening up spaces of play through in which context may be discovered.
Frequency 1550 is protocological in many ways; besides the technical protocols enabling communication and information visualization, the users are presented a scenario that directs and narrates the city. The project differs from an ordinary excursion or contemporary artistic practices because the users are voluntarily engaged in the situation whilst following a set of rules. These rules instruct historical facts, social interaction, coordination and navigation. The children are stimulated to actively participate in the ‘lesson’ – and this is generally different in a disciplinary form of education. Currently the University of Utrecht and the University of Amsterdam are collaborating with Waag Society to research the learning effects of learning games. Furthermore Frequency 1550 aptly demonstrates the dominant presence of the control society. Disciplinary institutions, such as schools, are crumbling down and turned over to a more pervasive form of training that uses both the privacy intrusive technology and also the corporate means. | <urn:uuid:167e4d2e-f1ab-4e20-9ad7-30cab0658a8b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/2007/11/17/breaking-the-frequencies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941291 | 880 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Definitions for Meterˈmi tər
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word Meter
meter, metre, m(noun)
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
any of various measuring instruments for measuring a quantity
meter, metre, measure, beat, cadence(noun)
(prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse
meter, metre, time(verb)
rhythm as given by division into parts of equal duration
measure with a meter
"meter the flow of water"
stamp with a meter indicating the postage
"meter the mail"
(always meter) A device that measures things.
A parking meter.
The base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the distance light will travel in a vacuum in 1/299792458 second.
an increment of music; the overall rhythm; particularly, the number of beats in a measure.
The rhythm pattern in a poem.
To measure with a metering device.
To imprint a postage mark with a postage meter
Origin: From mètre, from μέτρον
one who, or that which, metes or measures. See Coal-meter
an instrument for measuring, and usually for recording automatically, the quantity measured
a line above or below a hanging net, to which the net is attached in order to strengthen it
alt. of Metre
Origin: [L. metrum measure, or the allied Gr. . See Meter rhythm.]
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented. Hence it may also refer to the pattern of lines and accents in the verse of a hymn or ballad, for example, and so to the organization of music into regularly recurring measures or bars of stressed and unstressed "beats", indicated in Western music notation by a time signature and bar-lines. The terminology of western music is notoriously imprecise in this area. MacPherson preferred to speak of "time" and "rhythmic shape", Imogen Holst of "measured rhythm". However, London has written a book about musical metre, which "involves our initial perception as well as subsequent anticipation of a series of beats that we abstract from the rhythm surface of the music as it unfolds in time". This "perception" and "abstraction" of rhythmic measure is the foundation of human instinctive musical participation, as when we divide a series of identical clock-ticks into "tick-tock-tick-tock". "Rhythms of recurrence" arise from the interaction of two levels of motion, the faster providing the pulse and the slower organizing the beats into repetitive groups. "Once a metric hierarchy has been established, we, as listeners, will maintain that organization as long as minimal evidence is present".
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
a form of metre.
mē′tėr, n. one who, or that which, measures, esp. an apparatus for recording automatically the quantity of a fluid passing through it, as in gas-meter, water-meter, &c.—v.t. to measure by a meter.—n. Mē′terage.—Dry meter, a gas-meter with bellows-like apparatus and no liquid. [Metre.]
The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
The gas man's trysting place. "Meet her in the cellar!"
The numerical value of Meter in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
The numerical value of Meter in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
It was built so close, less than a meter away in some places.
We think we can expect to do (the 100-meter race) in about a minute and a half.
If the sea level is rising by one meter, the map of Bangladesh will be changed.
We've already received about three feet (one meter) of snow overall this season.
Shame is that intrinsic meter of our own heart to tell us that we have failed to follow our own moral compass.
Images & Illustrations of Meter
Translations for Meter
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- metro, medidor, contadorSpanish
- اندازهگیر, سنجهPersian
- mittari, mittatikku, mitta, tahtilaji, runomittaFinnish
- mètre, compteurFrench
- méadar, meadaracht, aisteIrish
- inneal-tomhaisScottish Gaelic
- հաշվիչ, չափիչArmenian
- metro, contatoreItalian
- 計量器, 拍子, メーター, 韻律Japanese
- мерач, ме́тарMacedonian
- meter, tellerDutch
- miernik, metrumPolish
- metru, ritm, contorRomanian
- разме́р, ритм, счётчик, измери́тельRussian
- mȅtar, ме̏тарSerbo-Croatian
- -meter, mätare, takt, taktartSwedish
Get even more translations for Meter »
Find a translation for the Meter definition in other languages:
Select another language: | <urn:uuid:e634f837-0857-495d-a199-6d5b2eb98208> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/Meter | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00019-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.817671 | 1,270 | 3.1875 | 3 |
"What does it matter to us? Look away if it makes you sick"
— Heinrich Himmler in response to complaints about Auschwitz
They conspired to murder millions with lethal gases. They plotted to seek out and kill children. When challenged about what they had done, they lied, they covered up, they tried to silence their critics. They ranked among the country's wealthiest executives. They are the officers of the US tobacco industry.
A proposed $368 billion settlement would shield the tobacco industry from future lawsuits in exchange for halting advertising, financing anti-smoking programs and underwriting healthcare for children.
The trade-off is uncomfortably reminiscent of Latin American "amnesty" agreements. In Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Peru, military leaders who plotted the political assassinations of thousands of civilians have escaped punishment entirely under the cover of such deals.
If a particular make of car is shown to roll over, lose control or explode, that auto is recalled. If pesticide residues in food send people to the hospital, those products are taken off the shelves. Toys that choke children and eat little girls' hair are banned.
Now that the cigarette makers have admitted that their products kill, why should they be allowed to remain in business?
Nicotine and Nuremberg
When individuals and corporations commit crimes of demonstrable evil, by what standard should they be judged?
The world first confronted this question in Nuremberg, Germany, on November 20, 1946, when an International Military Tribunal of distinguished jurists tried 23 Nazi officials for war crimes.
On May 3, 1947, a second Nuremberg tribunal was convened. This court charged 24 officials of a powerful German chemical corporation — I.G. Farben — with committing crimes of "slavery and mass murder" at the company's sprawling Auschwitz chemical plant.
I.G. Farben officials initially claimed that they had no idea what was happening at Auschwitz. When that failed, they fell back on the excuse that, had they tried to prevent the extermination of their Jewish workforce, they could have been sent to jail for "undermining the fighting spirit" of the German nation — a capital offense.
US tobacco companies do not have this excuse. They did not kill and conspire to save their skins — they did it simply to line their pockets.
In The Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farben (The Free Press, Macmillian Publishing, 1978), Joseph Borkin reports that the judges were moved by defense lawyers' attempts "to equate the I.G. defendants with their industrial counterparts in the US and other countries as God-fearing, decent and vigorously opposed to communism."
As the lawyer for Farben executive Carl Krauch told the court: "Replace I.G. by ICI [Imperial Chemical Industries] for England, or Du Pont for America, or Montecatini for Italy and at once the similarity will become clear to you."
On July 29, 1948, the court sentenced 12 of the 24 Farben officials to prison terms ranging from 18 months to eight years.
A Corporate Crimes Tribunal?
The next question became: What was to become of I.G. Farben itself?
US Gen. Dwight Eisenhower concluded that a peaceful Germany could be assured only by fracturing Farben's strategic role in the German economy. To this end, Eisenhower proposed the following actions:
* Seize I.G. plants and assets and use them to make reparations to the victims.
* Destroy I.G. plants used exclusively for war production.
* Break up I.G.'s monopoly by dispersing ownership of the remaining plants.
* End I.G.'s interests in global cartels.
* Take over I.G.'s research programs and facilities.
"The same day Eisenhower's recommendations were released to the papers," Borkin writes, "the United States Army announced plans to dynamite three I.G. plants in the American zone... [declaring that] these factories would be `the first of many hundreds... designated for actual destruction.'"
The American military government promulgated a sweeping antitrust law. Companies found to maintain an "excessive concentration of economic power... were to be reorganized and broken up." On June 17, 1947, decartelization began as Farben's holdings in the American zone were broken into 47 independent units.
But Eisenhower's plan was sabotaged in 1947 by a team of 14 US businessmen who objected that the anti-monopoly drive might interfere with the "possible recovery of the economic life of a starving people."
The dismantling of I.G. Farben was halted. The firm's assets were consolidated into three holding companies — Bayer, BASF and Hoechst. In December 1951, when these companies announced their new officers, the names included many former Farben executives.
In September 1955, Friedrich Jaehne, a former war criminal, emerged as the new chairman of Hoechst. In 1956, Fritz ter Meer, a war criminal convicted of both plunder and slavery, became the chair of Bayer's supervisory board.
As Borkin notes: "In 1977, Hoechst, BASF; and Bayer were among the 30 largest industrial companies in the world.... Each one is bigger than I.G. at its zenith."
What's To Be Done?
The late author/activist Richard Grossman has explained how to put law-breaking corporations permanently out of business by seizing their charters of incorporation ["Seize their Charters," Spring '93 EIJ]. The giant tobacco companies are a good place to start.
The tobacco giants should be boycotted. In the case of Philip Morris, this means shunning scores of products including Duracell batteries, Miller beer, Sanka, Yuban, Shake In' Bake, Post cereals, Kool-Aid, Jello-O, Miracle Whip, Cheez Whiz and Velveeta.
Tobacco farmers should be encouraged to grow "substitution crops" — e.g., kenaf for tree-free paper and food for the poor. (The US finances similar anti-drug substitution crop programs for opium farmers in Thailand and cocoa farmers in Peru.)
Genocidal exports of cigarettes targeting kids in Asia and Africa should be banned.
Finally, corporate reparations should be offered to the victims in terms of lifetime medical treatment for tobacco-linked diseases. Seized corporate assets also could finance drug-treatment programs to help people break their addictions to nicotine.
(c) 1997 Earth Island Institute. This article originally appeared in the Summer 1997 issue of Earth Island Journal. Reprinted by permission of the author. | <urn:uuid:e8ce6f44-c194-4aba-9ddf-c1d0d220f95f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2012-01-17/article/39144?headline=How-Do-We-Handle-Industrial-Evil---by-Gar-Smith | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956602 | 1,378 | 2.953125 | 3 |
|Antiques Digest||Browse Auctions||Appraisal||Home|
DADO: An ornamental border around the lower part of a room, usually with a plain or paneled surface. The dado came into use when paneling to the top of the room was discontinued.
DAY BED: See BEDS, Day.
DEAL: A timber used in England in the 16th and 17th centuries for furniture-making. It is the wood of the North European pine with hard and soft fibers alternating. Red deal is the wood of the Scotch pine.
DECORATED QUEEN ANNE STYLE: See GEORGIAN PERIOD. A form of molding ornamentation made by small oblong blocks, set at equal distances from each other, placed usually on cornices.
DESK: A piece of furniture, an early distinctive feature being a sloping front lid. It originally meant in England a box with a slant top, usually plain, sometimes carved, set on a table, for holding writing materials. In this form it was in use in the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Some of them had the owner's name and a date carved upon them, perhaps with a lock for safe keeping of money, wills, etc. Later, the box and table were combined in one piece and often referred to in the 17th century as a scrutoir. The desk in its present form came into use in the William and Mary period. The space below the desk box had been filled with drawers, and behind the lid, small drawers and pigeon-holes were arranged, many of the desks having secret drawers for the safety of valuable papers. Pine, maple, cherry, walnut, and later mahogany were used. The desk in its present form is known in England and in France as bureau. See SECRETARY.
Knee-Hole Desks. A desk with a flat top and a recessed space below, between drawers at each side. While seated at it one may have the whole resources of it at hand. With the fall-front desk when the lid is down it is difficult to get at the drawers beneath it. It belongs to the 18th century almost exclusively and the best examples of these desks have the block front. The knee-hole desk is similar to the smaller dressing table with which it is often confused.
DIAPER WORK: A method of surface decoration, consisting of a design, usually geometrical, made up of regular repeats, and generally used in friezes.
DIPPED SEAT: See DROPPED SEAT.
DISHED CORNER: A table corner, usually a card table, slightly hollowed out, to hold a candlestick, or for counters.
DISH-TOP: A table top with plain raised rim.
DIVAN: A low cushioned seat, similar to the seats provided for the council chamber in Eastern palaces.
DOLE CUPBOARDS: See CUPBOARDS, Dole.
DOLPHIN: A marine animal, whose head and body, or head alone, is seen on Renaissance furniture for conventionalized decorative purposes. It was also in use frequently in 18th-century work.
DOVETAIL: A manner of joining wood by interlocking wedge-shaped tenons and spaces. In Colonial times, the spacing was greater than on modern work.
DOWEL: A wooden pin fastening two pieces of cabinet work. In old pieces these were made by hand, and seldom round, often octagonal or square.
DOWRY (DOWER) CHESTS: See CHESTS, Dowry.
DRAGON'S CLAW: A name sometimes given to the claw and-ball foot.
DRAW-BORE PIN: A method employed in Colonial times to tighten a mortise and tenon joint. The tenon hole was about one-sixteenth inch nearer the shoulder than in the mortised piece.
DRAW-RUNNER: See RUNNER.
DRESSER: (French, Dressoir) Not unlike the cupboard in its development in the Gothic period, the dresser retained its simplicity of plain open shelves, on which were placed the flagons and cups. Sometimes the lower shelves were enclosed with a door or doors, the open shelves being used for displaying pewter or pottery. Toward the end of the 17th century in the more opulent families, its place was taken by the handsomer press or court cupboard. Dressers made in this country in the 17 th century were usually of pine with a cornice of moldings at the top. In England in the country districts, a dresser was made of oak in the 17th century, similar in form to the sideboard of the late 18th century. It had drawers immediately below the top, and sometimes shelves were arranged at the back with a canopy top. With variations this form of dresser persisted until well into the 18th century.
DRESSING-GLASS OR MIRROR: See MIRRORS.
DROP ORNAMENT: A turned ornament used on Jacobean work, also a decoration resembling a husk to be seen on late 18th-century furniture.
DROPPED SEAT: A seat concaved so that the middle and front are lower than the sides.
DUMB WAITERS: An English invention of the 18th century, consisting of tiers of trays affixed to a central stem. There were generally three trays revolving on the stand, mounted on tripod feet for floor use.
DUTCH FURNITURE: The furniture designs of both Dutch and Flemish furniture were influenced strongly by the French styles of the Huguenot refugees, who fled from France following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Marquetry was much used for ornamentation and the variety of furniture was greatly increased. Ball feet as a support for cabinets, bureaus (desks), etc. is typically Dutch. The "bombe" or swell front, also Dutch, was used extensively on such pieces as chests of drawers, bureaus, wardrobes and cabinets. Another feature is that of hanging drawers on runners attached to the carcase, the runners sliding in grooves cut in the drawer sides. The interiors of cabinets were usually painted, and the carving on Dutch chairs is very elaborate. Examples of genuine Dutch furniture of the late 17th and early 18th centuries are rare. During the William and Mary period the influence of Dutch styles on English furniture was very pronounced.
DUTCH FOOT: A foot which spreads from the leg in a circular termination. Frequently used as a terminal of cabriole legs. See CLUB FOOT. | <urn:uuid:8801aa47-b343-451e-b3e8-dd7759d727cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles02/furniture-d.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966682 | 1,415 | 3.0625 | 3 |
An edublog about integrating technology into the classroom.
Virtual Forest Challenge
What it is: Scholastic and Nature’s Source have teamed up to create the Virtual Forest Challenge game to help students understand how their actions have real implications in local and global ecosystems. The game leads students through a variety of virtual environments and...
What it is: Sign Up Genius is an easy-to-use site that makes it a snap to organize all of your classroom helpers and volunteers, parent teacher conferences, fundraisers, etc. Quickly build custom sign up forms, invite the group, people sign up online and Sign Up Genius automatically sends email reminders. Sign Up Genius has professionally designed graphical templates, tools for bulk email, email reminders for those who have signed up, email privacy settings, and even the ability to view statistics for sign up pages. Sign Up Genius also has great Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest making sharing SO easy!
How to integrate Sign Up Genius into the classroom: Sign Up Genius is your one stop shop for organizing groups. Use this handy tool to create Sign Ups for classroom volunteers, parent teacher conferences, fundraisers, class snacks, classroom parties, office hours, student presentations, special room use, etc. Sign Up Genius could also be really useful for creating sign ups for coordinating online projects with other classes around the world. My favorite feature: email or text reminders get automatically sent out so there is no need to keep track of everyone’s schedules…it is hard enough keeping track of your own anyway!
For older students, Sign Up Genius could be a useful tool for allowing them to sign up for class project/presentations, meeting hours with you, or coordinating their own clubs or group projects.
Tips: There are all kinds of great themes built in-all customizable to fit your needs!
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Sign Up Genius in your classroom.
What it is: As news of Japan’s tsunami and earthquake(s) continues to roll in, students may be feeling overwhelmed by the devastation of it all. Following natural disaster current events can give students (and adults) a real sense of helplessness. As adults, we often ease this by donating money or time. What do students do to make an impact? Today I learned of a truly wonderful site called Students Rebuild from a tweet from my friend @MZimmer557. Students Rebuild is a site that helps students around the world connect, learn, and take action on critical global issues. There are a few projects that students can get involved in currently:
1. Haiti- building stronger, permanent schools in Haiti. This is a call to action for middle and high school students to rebuild strong, permanent schools in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. Students and educators create a team to raise money. Any money raised is matched dollar-for-dollar up to $2,500 per team.
2. Japan-folding cranes to support rebuilding in Sendai. This is a way for young students to take action. “Through a simple, powerful gesture of making and mailing in a paper crane, students worldwide are promoting hope, healing, and triggering dollars for reconstruction ($2 for each crane received).”
Students Rebuild gives students the opportunity to connect to a global community, learn about the challenges of a natural disaster, and do something real to make a difference.
In addition to the Rebuild challenges, educators can use Student Rebuild to connect students with others around the world. The site helps build that global learning community Interactive video conferencing encourages two-way dialogue and emotional connections. Webcasts between Haiti and multiple schools around the world engage, and inspire. (Learn more on the “Educators” page)
How to integrate Students Rebuild into the classroom: Register your class to take part in one of the Students Rebuild activities. The newest way to take part is through the Paper Cranes for Japan project. Students Rebuild partnered with DoSomething.org to give students worldwide a way to support their Japanese peers. Start by watching the video of how to make paper cranes on the Students Rebuild website. Take a photo and upload it with a message to the Paper Cranes for Japan Facebook Page. Mail the finished paper cranes to Students Rebuild to turn those cranes into dollars for reconstruction and an art installation. This would be a great project to take on as a class. Don’t stop there, encourage your students to make more paper cranes. They can have a paper crane party, or encourage their families to join in on the paper crane creation. Download the one-page flier to send home with students.
Using Students Rebuild projects in your classroom is a great way to teach students about our global community, empathy, current events, and give students a way to make a difference.
Tips: Be sure to check out the comprehensive toolkit on the Students Rebuild site. In the toolkit you will find photos, videos, posters, fact sheets, logos, media coverage, and fundraising tips.
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Students Rebuild in your classroom!
What it is: Yesterday as I was scanning through my Twitter stream when I came across this tweet from my friend @jasonshmidt123: “Holy buckets of love, this is cool! RT @plugusin: Checking out Wiggio: http://wiggio.com/ for collaborating.” Now, any time buckets of love are involved I am intrigued- I had to check it out. I must say, Wiggio is a way cool tool for collaboration. Wiggio is a completely free online toolkit that makes it easy to work and coordinate with groups. Wiggio is SO very simple to use and has a very straight forward interface that makes it easy for even those who are low-tech. Wiggio lets you share and manage files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls (including voice, webcam, shared whiteboard space, and screen sharing), chat online, send out mass text messages, and send voice or email messages to the entire group. Wiggio has a lot of features that remind me of Google Groups but some additional features that truly make it a “holy buckets of love” experience. Everything is in one place, handy and easy to use!
How to integrate Wiggio into your curriculum: I can see a lot of possibilities of Wiggio in the classroom. Use it to create a class group with student families each year. Keep families up to date with the latest happenings in your classroom, volunteer opportunities, and class projects that will need some parent support. Share all important documents, videos, and resources that you use in your classroom for easy access from home. (I can’t tell you how many, “I’ve lost the permission slip could you please send a new one?” I get in a year!). Keep all those documents in your Wiggio group file and parents will never have to worry about lost paperwork again. Live meeting opportunities mean that you can hold a virtual parent university where you catch parents up on the new math/reading/science/writing curriculum. Teach your parents everything from reading strategies to use at home to working through math problems together. Parents would love a little support in this area! Offer virtual conference opportunities for parents who are unable to make it for a live conference due to long-term illness, job travel, or in multiple parent homes.
Use Wiggio to create student groups where you keep students up to date with classroom happenings and resources. Offer your students a study hour where they can meet with you virtually for a little extra support or mentoring. Remind your students of upcoming assignments by creating to-do’s. Collect digital assignments using Wiggio files.
Students can create study groups of their own for collaborative projects. As they work together they can meet virtually, share resources and links, and create a schedule to keep themselves on task.
Working with a class outside of your school? Maybe in another state or country? Wiggio is the perfect platform for connecting them, they can work together with shared space and chat live from your classroom.
Wiggio can be used with teaching staff to keep teaching teams organized and give them a place to share resources, ideas, and share a common calendar of events.
Have ambitious parents? They can use Wiggio to collaborate and work with other parents for fundraiser events, coordinating volunteers, and special days.
I am currently using Vyew as my virtual classroom meeting space but Wiggio offers so much more functionality all in one place, I think for the next round of virtual class I will be making the switch! To quote Jason again, “Holy buckets of love, this is cool!”
Tips: Wiggio has a demo area where you can play with all of the features yourself without registering or creating an account. Note to all web 2.0 companies…this is a really nice feature, I wish you all would do it
Please leave a comment and share how you are using Wiggio in your classroom! | <urn:uuid:66230656-2a31-49ab-86ce-0dcd96a48b06> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ilearntechnology.com/?tag=fundraiser | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932026 | 1,885 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Since the 1860s when the church began, wholeness and health have been an emphasis of the Adventist church. Adventists are known for presenting a "health message" that recommends vegetarianism and expects adherence to the kosher laws in Leviticus 11. Obedience to these laws means abstinence from pork, shellfish, and other foods proscribed as "unclean". The church discourages its members from the use of alcohol, tobacco or illegal drugs (compare Christianity and alcohol). In addition, some Adventists avoid coffee, tea, cola, and other beverages containing caffeine.
Sanitarium products on sale
The pioneers of the Adventist Church had much to do with the common acceptance of breakfast cereals into the Western diet, and the "modern commercial concept of cereal food" originated among Adventists. John Harvey Kellogg was one of the early founders of Adventist health work. His development of breakfast cereals as a health food led to the founding of Kellogg's by his brother William. In both Australia and New Zealand, the church-owned Sanitarium Health Food Company is a leading manufacturer of health and vegetarian-related products, most prominently Weet-Bix.
Research funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health has shown that the average Adventist in California lives 4 to 10 years longer than the average Californian. The research, as cited by the cover story of the November 2005 issue of National Geographic, asserts that Adventists live longer because they do not smoke or drink alcohol, have a day of rest every week, and maintain a healthy, low-fat vegetarian diet that is rich in nuts and beans. The cohesiveness of Adventists' social networks has also been put forward as an explanation of their extended lifespan. Since Dan Buettner's 2005 National Geographic story about Adventist longevity, his book, The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, named Loma Linda, California a "blue zone" because of the large concentration of Seventh-day Adventists. He cites the Adventist emphasis on health, diet, and Sabbath-keeping as primary factors for Adventist longevity.
An estimated 35% of Adventists practice vegetarianism
, according to a 2002 worldwide survey of local church leaders.
Adventists' clean lifestyles were recognized by the U.S. military in 1954 when 2,200 Adventists volunteered for Operation Whitecoat to be human test subjects for a range of diseases the effects of which were still unknown:
The first task for the scientists was to find people willing to be infected by pathogens that could make them very sick. They found them in the followers of the Seventh-day Adventist faith. Although willing to serve their country when drafted, the Adventists refused to bear arms. As a result many of them became medics. Now the U.S. was offering recruits an opportunity to help in a different manner: to volunteer for biological tests as a way of satisfying their military obligations. When contacted in late 1954, the Adventist hierarchy readily agreed to this plan. For Camp Detrick scientists, church members were a model test population, since most of them were in excellent health and they neither drank, smoked, nor used caffeine. From the perspective of the volunteers, the tests gave them a way to fulfill their patriotic duty while remaining true to their beliefs. | <urn:uuid:8bfe5663-0ba3-4ce9-9b32-479fd9a3fea5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread772-616.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967698 | 685 | 2.65625 | 3 |
From Our 2007 Archives
Breast-Feeding Cuts Food Allergy Risk
Latest MedicineNet News
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- Breast-feeding in the first three months of life appears to help shield children from developing food allergies.
Research has determined a possible role for food allergy prevention strategies in high-risk children, including maternal food avoidance in pregnancy, breast-feeding, maternal food avoidance while breast-feeding, use of hypoallergenic formulas, delayed introduction of allergenic foods and probiotics, noted one expert.
"A review of 18 studies demonstrates a significant protective effect of exclusive breast-feeding for at least three months for children with high risk for atopy (genetic tendency to develop allergic diseases) against the development of atopic dermatitis and early childhood asthma-like symptoms," Dr. Robert Wood, international health director for pediatric allergy and immunology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said in a prepared statement.
He offered a number of recommendations for children at high risk of allergic diseases:
In a planned presentation about allergies and dietary restrictions, another expert noted that a person may have an allergy to one member of a food family, but may be able to eat other members of the same food family.
For example, one study on nine common fish found cross-reactivity and allergenicity were highest among cod, salmon and pollack and lowest among halibut, flounder, tuna and mackerel. Another study on edible nuts found cross-reactivity was strong among walnut, pecan and hazelnut; moderate among cashew, pistachio, Brazil nut and almond; and extremely low between peanut and tree nuts.
"You may be allergic to a particular part of a food, but not to another part," Dr. Sami Bahna, chief of allergy and immunology at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, said in a prepared statement.
Another expert said doctors need to consider food allergy as a potential cause of gastrointestinal or dermatological symptoms in patients.
"The eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID) which may affect the esophagus, stomach, colon and rectum are mostly chronic and recurrent disorders that adversely impact quality of life for patients and families," Dr. Amal Assa'ad, director of the Food Allergy & Eosinophilic Disorders Clinic at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.
"Patients with EGID have a high rate of sensitization to food and environmental allergens, and many of them have a high rate of clinical symptoms with various food ingestions. A subset of patients respond to removal of major food allergens from their diet," Assa'ad said.
"EGID management often requires multiple specialists, including the primary physician, allergy and immunology, gastroenterology, nutrition and psychology," she noted.
-- Robert Preidt
SOURCE: American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, news release, Nov. 14, 2007
Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:87029e94-f577-479d-9523-6e6061682154> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=85242 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930236 | 635 | 2.9375 | 3 |
I'm having trouble starting this problem out. I don't know where to begin. Could anyone point me in the right direction or link me to a tutorial?
Find the work done in pumping all the water out of a conical
reservoir of radius of base 3 ft and height 5 ft, if the water is
to be lifted one foot above the top of the reservoir.
You picture (of the reservoir seen from the side) should look like two intersecting diagonal lines with a horizontal line connecting them at the bottom. Since the sides are lines, the distance "across" at any point is proportional to the distance "down" ("similar triangles"). You can use the fact that the distance across at the top is 3 and the distance across is 3 at "down 5" to determine the proportionality.
Now imagine a "layer of water" at depth z. It is a disk with radius half the distance across and depth "dz". Its volume is and its weight is that times its density. To find the work done is lifting that layer, multiply its weight by the distance lifted- z+ 1 since you are to lift it to a point "one foot above the top of the reservoir".
To find the work done to lift all of the water, integrate over the depth of the rezervoir. | <urn:uuid:8e5c272a-4caa-4750-8de0-249d9bb6e86b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathhelpforum.com/calculus/143920-applications-integrals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938091 | 272 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Target 5. Reduce by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate
Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
E - Estimated. The figure is estimated by the international agency, when corresponding country data on a specific year or set of years are not available, or when multiple sources exist, or there are issues of data quality. Estimates are based on national data, such as surveys or administrative records, or other sources but on the same variable being estimated.
Source: United Nations Statistics Division - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of February 15, 2007 | <urn:uuid:fb7db3a9-4ee0-4d7c-8235-d172ef62793d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.indexmundi.com/saint_lucia/children-under-five-mortality-rate-per-1,000-live-births.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933224 | 119 | 2.875 | 3 |
Smokers with high levels of a carcinogen byproduct (NNAL) are at higher risk of developing lung cancer.
Smoking is a lot like Russian roulette: You never know who will end up developing lung cancer and who won't. But Dr. Jian-Min Yuan, as well as other researchers from the University of Minnesota, say they are one step closer to determining a smoker's risk for developing the disease. In a study, they tracked the carcinogen and nicotine levels in nearly 500 smokers through a simple urine test and discovered a link between the level of a specific carcinogen and lung cancer. Their findings were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research conference.
Why did researchers track only the levels of one carcinogen?
We all know that tobacco smoke is bad: It's loaded with 60 different carcinogens, which cause all sorts of health risks. There is one carcinogen in particular that researchers suspected for years contributed to human lung cancer. But there were never any scientific human studies showing this relationship. This carcinogen is known as NNK. It releases into your body when you inhale smoke, quickly passes through the liver, gets metabolized and releases NNAL, a byproduct of NNK, into the bloodstream. University of Minnesota researchers were tracking the NNAL levels via urine samples. Watch Dr. Gupta explain the findings »
How much did a person have to smoke to develop high levels of NNAL?
The exact amount is a little tricky to determine because a lot depends on how honest a person is about how many cigarettes he or she smoked per day. Additionally, the type of cigarette and how deeply a person inhales could affect the amount of carcinogens in the body. Researchers say a person with high levels of NNAL and high levels of nicotine (equivalent to smoking about a pack of cigarettes a day) is 8.5 times more likely to develop lung cancer compared with a smoker with lower levels. While the researchers point out that not everyone who has a high level of NNAL is going to develop lung cancer, it does help assign a number to a risk that was hard to quantify before.
Isn't smoking bad for you regardless? What is the benefit of having this type of information?
There is nothing healthy about smoking. Even if this test pegs you at low risk of developing lung cancer, it doesn't mean you won't develop a dozen other cancers commonly cause by smoking. If you smoke, the No. 1 thing you should do is quit. But that is easier said than done. If it were easy, 23 percent of adults in the United States would not smoke regularly. One benefit of knowing whether a smoker is at increased risk for lung cancer is for his or her doctor to screen the person regularly for abnormalities, in the hopes of catching the cancer early.
Lung cancer is but one consequence of smoking, so this type of testing is not going to fix everything. But as far as lung cancer goes, it may give people a better idea of when and how often to get screened.
Reported by CNN's Danielle Dellorto
The information contained on this page does not and is not intended to convey medical advice. CNN is not responsible for any actions or inaction on your part based on the information that is presented here. Please consult a physician or medical professional for personal medical advice or treatment. | <urn:uuid:6bfe9b60-b5f2-412e-9f57-be0a8ef7c792> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/dailydose/04/21/lung.cancer.test/index.html?iref=nextin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967459 | 684 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Many studies that use the Mayo Clinic Biobank are aimed at better understanding how a person's genes (DNA) may influence overall health and wellness.
A blood sample and medical information is collected from all Mayo Clinic Biobank participants, who may also permit the use of tissue samples from past and future surgeries at Mayo Clinic.
The Mayo Clinic Biobank is overseen by several groups, including a Community Advisory Board that ensures decisions are made with input from the community.
Established in spring 2009 at Mayo Clinic's campus in Rochester, Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic Biobank has a goal of enrolling 50,000 Mayo Clinic patients by 2015.
Mayo Clinic and the Center for Individualized Medicine have made a significant commitment to building a world-class, scalable biorepository infrastructure, which includes two specimen processing core laboratories and several large centralized biospecimen collections.
One of these biospecimen collections is the Mayo Clinic Biobank, a collection of samples, including blood and blood derivatives, and health information donated by Mayo Clinic patients. Unlike many biobanks in existence at Mayo Clinic and elsewhere, the Mayo Clinic Biobank is not focused on any particular disease. Rather, the Biobank collects samples and health information from patients and other volunteers regardless of health history. Once a participant becomes a part of the Biobank, he or she becomes a part of ongoing health research. | <urn:uuid:2fcd990f-6630-4ad8-8678-92ed40e08fe9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mayo.edu/research/centers-programs/mayo-clinic-biobank/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00180-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936665 | 285 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Treatments Of Poor Soil
( Originally Published 1920 )
OUR conception of a healthy soil as has been indicated is one which is ideally suited to plant growth, through proper physical and chemical makeup, and by the presence of groups of beneficial micro-organisms. A sick soil is one in which plants would grow very languidly or not at all. Soil sickness may be caused through the improper use of fertilizers, or through the introduction of parasitic disease-producing organisms.
Soils which contain an excess of acid, in which crops refuse to grow, may be termed acid-sick. Acids in soils have a directly poisonous effect on plants. Soil acidity may be brought about by the loss of lime and of other bases; and by the decomposition of organic and of inorganic matter.
Crops are known to draw heavily on the lime of the soil, and thus to increase the proportion of acidity. This, then, is one direct way of depleting the soil lime. Lime and other bases are further lost from the soil by leaching. The soluble carbonates are but slowly soluble in pure water. However, carbon dioxide, nearly always present in soils, changes the calcium carbonate into calcium bicarbonate, which is very soluble, and readily leaches out with the drainage water.
Soils which are heavily manured are apt to be-come more acid. The decomposition of the organic matter yields large quantities of carbon dioxide which act on the carbonate in the manner above indicated. In addition to these causes, poor drain-age has a tendency to increase the soil acidity. The application of ammonium sulphate as a fertilizer leads to a development of acidity by the production of sulphuric acid. The same is true when other acid fertilizers are used. In the process of nitrification, in which nitrogen is made more available for plants, acids are produced. Acidity in a soil is usually characterized by a languid condition of the growing crop. This may be due directly to the effect of the acid on the plants, or to the inhibiting effect of the acid on the soil flora. In the latter case the plant food in the soil, although very plentiful, may not be in a form available for plants.
Not all crops are equally sensitive to soil acidity. Hartwell and Damon have determined the degree in which truck crops are benefited by the application of lime to an acid soil. Those which are very sensitive to soil acidity are followed by the number (3), while a lesser degree of sensitiveness is indicated by the numbers (2) and (1). Crops which tolerate a moderate amount of acidity are followed by the figure (o), and those which thrive best in acid soils (—I) ; beans (o), beets (3), carrots (1), cauliflower (2), celery (3), cucumber (I), egg-plant (2), lettuce (3), muskmelon (o), parsley (o), pea, garden (1), pepper (3), radish (1), rhubarb (3), sorrel (—i ), spinach (3).
TREATMENT OF ACID SOILS
The best known remedy for soil acidity is lime. Its effect is to neutralize the acidity, and to restore the normal equilibrium for the activity of the soil flora, thus overcoming the antagonism to normal growth. The amount of lime to be used depends on the kind of soil, its degree of acidity, and the crops grown. It is very unlikely that injury would result to greenhouse crops from the use of moderate amounts of lime. Lime is sold as ground limestone or as burned lime. A ton of burned limestone will yield 1,120 pounds. If enough water is added, it will weigh 1,48o pounds. If 1,120 pounds of burned lime or the 1,48o pounds of hydrated lime are allowed to air slack, the weight of both will be 2,000 pounds. Air slacked lime has the same composition as ground limestone. In buying hydrated lime we do not get any better quality, but merely pay an excess in freight for the amount of water it contains. The cost of delivery should determine the kind of lime to buy.
Wood ashes may often be used instead of lime to correct soil acidity. Hardwood ashes contain about 3o per cent. lime and 60 per cent. potash.
Two and a half tons of good wood ashes are equivalent to one ton of burned lime for overcoming soil acidity. Leached ashes have lost their potash and its lime is in the form of a hydrate or carbonate.
Magnesium lime, which contains a high percentage of magnesia, is not objectionable for use. In fact, a ton of limestone, which contains magnesium carbonate is more effective on acid soil than a ton of limestone without magnesium carbonate. Lime should be applied only when the acidity of the soil requires it.
Alkali soils are termed sick, since plants thrive there poorly or not at all. The alkali problem generally concerns only those greenhouse men located in the irrigated districts of the arid or semi-arid regions of the United States.
For convenience, alkali soils are here divided into black and white. The black alkali lands are known to contain sodium carbonate or washing soda as the essential salt. The latter does not act so much on the soil as on the organic matter, turning it black. This dark material is always found on the surface with the salts. The blackening of the soil, however, is not always an indication of black alkali. Many dark spots are found to contain the white alkali. Moreover, soils which contain little or no organic matter may contain large quantities of sodium carbonate and never turn black. The white alkali in reality is not a true alkali. The salts found in it are sodium chloride or table salt, calcium sulphate or gypsum, sodium sulphate, magnesium sulphate or epsom salt. In addition to these may be found salts of potassium.
Methods of Control. Generally speaking the alkali problem is not serious in greenhouse culture. The alkali soil when mixed at the compost heap generally loses much of its salts due to the action of the manure used. However, in alkali regions alkali soils should be avoided as much as possible. When this is not possible the soil to be used with the compost should be spread out and exposed to the action of winter weather conditions and to the washing by rain. This treatment will result in a loss of the injurious salts through leaching.
Damping off, whether induced by Pythium, Rhizoctonia or any other parasitic organism, is usually confined to seedlings in the seed bed under cover or in the open. The loss of seedling not only means a waste of seeds, but it also results in poor stands. The disease-producing-organisms are usually brought in with the manure and the compost. Most growers are in the habit of using the same soil in the seed bed or in the greenhouse year in and year out. A number make it a practice to empty their beds and use fresh soil every year. This, however, is too expensive and, moreover, is not always a safe method, for the new soil, too, may be contaminated, or may become infected as soon as it is placed in the bed previously contaminated. Fortunately, sick soils in the greenhouse, unlike the soil outdoors, may be readily treated so as to destroy all forms of parasitic micro-organisms or injurious animal life which are present in it. The various methods to be mentioned make it possible to use the soil over and again. Rid the soil of parasites, then all chances will be in favor of good crops whether vegetables or flowers.
SOIL TREATMENT WITH FORMALDEHYDE
When steam sterilization is not feasible, because of the absence of suitable steam pressure, the formaldehyde treatment is the next best. With this method we may control Fusarium, Rhizoctonia, and Pythium in infected beds. It is doubtful, however, if it will entirely eradicate eel worms from infested soils. The method is as follows : the beds are thoroughly prepared in the usual way with all fertilizers worked in and then the soil is drenched with a solution of formaldehyde composed of one pint of the chemical (40 per cent. pure) to 30 gallons of water applied at the rate of one gallon per square foot. The solution should be put on with a watering can and distributed as evenly as possible over the bed, so as to wet the soil thoroughly to a depth of one foot. It will, in most cases, be necessary to apply the solution in two or three intervals, as the soil may not absorb the full quantity of the liquid at one time. 'After treatment the beds should be covered with heavy burlap to retain the formaldehyde fumes for a day or two, and then aired for a week before planting. Stirring the soil at frequent intervals after uncovering hastens the more rapid escape of the formaldehyde fumes.
STERILIZING SOILS WITH STEAM
Steam sterilization of soils is by far the best method. There are four ways of steaming soils : (I) Inverted pan method, (2) the perforated pipe system, (3) the steam rake device, (4.) the drain tile method. The choice of any one of these methods is a matter of expediency. All four methods have been successfully used on a commercial scale.
The Inverted Pan Method. This was first devised by A. D. Shamel of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. To carry it out, the boiler must maintain a pressure of not less than 8o pounds, for at least one and a half hours. In setting a pan, the rim is sunk into the soil of the seed bed or bench, to a depth of two to three inches, to make the inclosed chamber steam tight. In heavy soil, trenching may be necessary. It is also advisable to put a heavy weight on the pan when the steam operates. For one pan, a traction engine or a portable boiler of ten to twelve H. P. will suffice. While the standard of the pan is six by eight feet, the dimensions may be modified to suit the seed beds or greenhouse benches.
Selby and Humbert* describe the method of constructing an inverted pan as follows :
"Material used for construction of a pan is galvanized sheet iron; the most useful weight is No. 20 gauge, which weighs 26.5 ounces per square foot. The heavier material requires little in the way of frame supports. The galvanized iron sheets come in sizes varying from two to three feet in width by eight to ten feet in length. The standard is a pan 6 x ro feet in area, six inches deep, constructed from 5 such strips 2 1/2 x 8 feet in size. These sheets are joined by double fold seam and riveted at intervals of 6 to I o inches to make the pan steam tight. This pan is further strengthened by a band of strap iron 2 x 1 inch riveted to the bottom edge, and stiffened by a brace of 1 1/4-inch angle iron across the top and extending down the sides. This is bolted at the sides to the supporting strap iron stiffener.
"The entrance pipe for the steam may be placed at the side or end of the pan or may enter from the top. The latter form has the advantage in that it will not interfere with the box boards when used on frames. The pipe, after entrance, should be a T form, so that steam in being forced into the pan when in place does not blow holes in the soil."
The pans, together with the sand bags used for weight, are mounted on a frame which rests upon wheels. The wheels run on the edges of the concrete walks on either side of the house. By using a pulley, the pan may be conveniently placed wherever desired.
Perforated Pipe Method. The apparatus consists of a set of perforated pipes buried in the soil and connected with a steam boiler. The main and cross-head pipes are 2 inches and those which are buried 1 1/2 inches. The length of the beds, and especially the capacity of the boiler, will determine the number of pipes to use. However, 7 to 8 pipes are as many as could be used to advantage. These should not be over 40 feet long. The perforations should be one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch in size, 12 to 15 inches apart and on the upper side of the pipes. The latter are buried about six inches deep and when the steam is turned on the beds are covered with a heavy canvas to retain the heat and to prevent the escape of steam (fig. 6, a and b.). When-ever convenient, it is well to have two sets of pipes sous to save time and fuel.
Steam Rake Method. This consists of a two-inch main pipe which may be run between two sets of houses. The pipe is connected with the boiler at one end and with a heavy hose at the other. The rake is attached to the hose through which the steam is introduced. There are either two rakes used in a single house, or four rakes operated in pairs, end to end in two adjoining houses. The rake is generally composed of three main pipes 13 feet long, which run crossways of the house, and of several cross pieces one inch in diameter that are gradually reduced to three-fourths inch, then to one-half inch, then to three-eighths inch. The pegs are six inches long, and are placed eight inches apart, and consist of one-fourth inch pipe pounded together at the lower end. The steam escapes through a three-sixteenths inch hole at the lower wedge-like end of the pipe. The advantage of this apparatus is that it can be made to fit any bed. At 90 to 100 pounds pressure, more steam will naturally pass through the pipes than at thirty to forty pounds pressure. During the operation, a canvas cover laid on the beds will prevent the rapid escape of steam.
The Tile Method. This system is at its best when the steam pressure is low, at 25 to 30 pounds. With higher pressures the steam will blow out between the tiles. With this method, therefore, the soil should be sterilized for a longer period of time, from two to four hours, depending on the depth of tile and on soil conditions. Usually the tiles are not laid over one foot deep and from two to three feet apart. The joints of the pipes should be well matched.
Hot Water Sterilization. Numerous greenhouse men seem to prefer the use of hot water as a soil sterilizer to any other method here mentioned. Mr. Wm. L. Doran of the Massachusetts Experiment Station, who has made considerable study of this method, writes as follows:
"The soil should be thoroughly dry in the beginning so that it will take up the maximum amount of water. Before treatment, it is spaded over to a depth of one foot to insure an open, porous condition. The water is heated in an ordinary boiler such as is used for heating the greenhouse, no extra equipment being needed. It is moved by a small pump operated by a motor and gasoline engine of a small horse power. The water comes out under forty pounds pressure, which insures considerable penetration into the soil. It is piped from the boiler through the center of the greenhouse in 1 1/2-inch iron pipes. Most growers take the water from the bottom of the boiler rather than from the top, the object being to keep the temperature high but to avoid the steam which is objectionable. A thermometer is screwed into the main outlet pipe and is read frequently; the temperature should be above 201 degrees F., but if it goes much above 215 degrees F. the outlet pipe spits steam and is difficult and dangerous to use. To this iron pipe in the center of the house is attached a one-inch rubber hose fifty feet in length. This hose is replaced annually to decrease the danger of blow-outs and burns. Most growers sterilize once a year, some twice. The rubber hose is attached at the other end to a Y joint which is in the middle of a five-foot iron pipe one inch in diameter. The upper half of this pipe is plugged at both ends, serving simply as a handle, and from the lower half the water is delivered to the soil. A few feet back of this exhaust pipe the rubber hose is wrapped with burlap so that it may be carried over the shoulder of the workman. Some growers shove the iron pipe down into the soil six inches; others hold it above the surface of the soil. The water penetrates equally well either way, because the soil is in a loose condition and the water goes out under pressure. There are no figures as to the exact amount of water per cubic foot of bed surface, but hot water is applied until it stands on the surface of the soil in pools and will no longer penetrate. The exact amount will, of course, vary with the physical condition of the soil and its relative dryness. The greenhouse men do not practice covering the soil with anything to hold in the heat. Out of doors, however, a cover would be desirable because of wind currents. Three or four days after treatment, the soil is cool enough and dry enough to plant."
It will require about two days for five men to treat a house 275 feet by 34 feet.
Roasting or Pan Firing. By this method, the soil to be sterilized is removed from the bed and placed in a pan, over a hot fire. After roasting, the soil is returned to the bed and more of it sterilized. This method is too slow and has the disadvantage, besides, of destroying the humus in the soil. The advantage of steam sterilization and of the "fire" methods lies in the destruction of all weed seed, together with the fungi which cause damping-off (fig. 7, a and b.) .
A NEW METHOD OF STEAM STERILIZATION FOR CONTROLLING NEMATODES
It has been our common experience, when at-tempting to control nematodes by steam sterilization of the soil, that very frequently one is unable to secure sufficient steam pressure satisfactorily to use the common harrow-type of sterilizer, the inverted pan or any modification of these types. When the steam pressure is only 5o to 6o pounds or less at the boiler, and where it becomes necessary to carry this a considerable distance in the green-house, condensation takes place, and as a result these sterilizers cause puddling of the soil and otherwise inefficient work. In our experiments, all modified types of steam sterilizers which originated from those already mentioned were equally unsatisfactory; therefore, a method which could utilize a low steam pressure and still do good work without in-jury to the soil, seemed urgent.
The method to be described herewith was used in a span of fifteen greenhouses, which had the soil badly infected with nematodes. For two successive seasons previous to the treatment of the soil, the entire crops of tomatoes and cucumbers were a total loss. After unsuccessfully trying out all styles of steam sterilizers, the device herein described was devised and proved successful.
It should be remembered where 80 pounds or more pressure is obtainable, the aforementioned kinds of apparatus may give very good results, but where the pressure is less, as in many cases in steam heated plants, they are not satisfactory.
The necessary equipment for this new device consists of two 2 x 4'S cut at suitable lengths, a few boards either the entire length or half the length of the width of the greenhouse, canvas, burlap, sacking or tarpaulin. This method has been devised purposely for greenhouses growing vegetables on the ground, although modifications of this method could be made to suit other conditions.
The first operation in carrying out the work consists of digging a pit at one extremity of the house to the depth that one wishes the soil sterilized. The width and length depend somewhat upon the width of the greenhouse. In our work the pits were dug 12 inches deep, 6 to 8 feet wide and 10 to 15 feet long. Two 2 X 4'S are laid on edge in the bottom of the pit. These pieces should be the length of the pit and placed about 6 to 12 inches from the sides of the pit. One or two leads of steam pipes with T out-lets in the center and at the ends of the pipes should be laid in between these two stringers (2 x 4's). The pipes can best be run in from the ends of the pits. It has been found better to let the steam out in large quantities and not through perforated pipes. Pieces of 2 x 4'S are then laid across these two stringers and should be long enough to reach across the width of the pit. Quite a large number are necessary to form a kind of platform. About a quarter of an inch should be left between the 2 X 4 cross pieces to allow for the ascent of the steam (fig. 8, a, b, c.).
When the bottom has been laid, the soil which was removed can be thrown onto the platform. Boards should be staked around the sides of the platform to retain the soil. This forms a kind of wagon box. The steam can then be turned on, thermometers placed in the soil and the entire pit covered with any suitable covering to retain the heat.
Since steam rises, this method is much more satisfactory than where it becomes necessary to force the steam downward. There is no puddling of soil, even at the lower pressures, and 212 degrees F. and higher temperature can be obtained when sterilizing 12 inches of soil. It should be remembered that a few inches of soil below the wooden platform is likewise sterilized in this process. The skeleton platform is easily removed by means of an iron bar with a hook at the end for catching hold of the 2 x 4's and jerking them from underneath the soil. When the framework has again been set and the steam pipes adjusted in place, the platform is ready for the second batch of soil, which is dug immediately adjoining the soil which was just sterilized. In order to avoid extra labor, it becomes necessary to have one pit already dug just ahead of the bed being sterilized, so when the 2 x 4'S are removed they can be laid immediately in the pit which is ready for them. This is accomplished by erecting the second bed on top of the first one, i.e., on top of the soil just sterilized,
When the second bed is ready for sterilization (it is directly on top of the one first sterilized), one has a pit already dug to set the framework in for the third batch, and from hence on, a pit will always be in readiness for the framework. It will be seen by this process and by such procedure that it becomes necessary to return one batch of sterilized soil to the opposite end of the greenhouse, after the whole house has been sterilized. This is the second batch, which was sterilized and sets on top of the first. This cannot be avoided, but the soil can easily be carted back by means of wheelbarrows.
Many greenhouses are irregularly constructed, with uprights and other obstructions more or less promiscuously scattered; therefore, the pan method is often difficult to use and it is less easy with the other unadjustable apparatus, but with the method just described these obstructions are much less serious, since they can be allowed to come in any part of the bed without hindrance to sterilization.
There is a little more expense connected with this method, on account of extra labor which is necessary, but this method is not being advocated as a superior way of steaming the soil, but rather to do the work where situations arise that cannot be handled otherwise.
Effect of Soil Sterilization on Seed Germination. The main object in sterilizing soils is to destroy the harmful fungus flora. Of all the methods here recommended, steaming is the most effective. Not all soils, however, are alike benefited by this treatment. With lettuce seed, for instance, there is a higher per cent. of germination usually obtained in the sterilized soil. With tomatoes, however, germination is retarded under similar soil treatment. On the average, germination is favored by soil sterilization.
Effect of Soil Sterilization on Plants. That soil sterilization is practicable cannot be doubted. With some crops, the beneficial effect is especially marked. The Massachusetts Experiment Station f found a considerable increase in the production of violet blossoms as a result of soil sterilization.
Not only was production of flowers increased in the sterilized soil, but there was also a decided decrease in leaf spots.
Changes in the Soil due to Sterilization. Various investigators have found that by steam heating, the physical, chemical, and physiological properties of a soil are more or less changed. Through chemical action there is an increase of soluble matter in some of the inorganic substances such as potash and phosphoric acid as well as in the organic matter. Ammonia is also formed by the reduction of nitrates to nitrites and by the decomposition of organic compounds, large amounts of which are also made available for plant growth. This, then, would explain the reason of the stimulation of growth in sterilized soils. However, steamed soils may also contain injurious substances, which upon becoming soluble are harmful to plant growth and to the germination of certain seed. This seems especially the case in steamed soils deficient in lime. The investigations of Schreiner and Lathrop have shown that as a result of heating, dehydroxystearic acid is produced, and that this is harmful to plant growth. Heating soil produces both beneficial and harmful substances. The fertility is raised or lowered, depending on which of these predominates. The result, however, is influenced by the crop, the fertilizer used, and the amount of lime applied. Cole-man t has found that intermittent sterilization by means of dry heat at 82 degrees C. for five successive days in moist soil produced but very slight chemical changes. But this slow method is not very popular with the grower. Since, however, sterilized soils lose their harmful substances by standing, the treatment of the soil during the summer months, when there is no crop in the greenhouse, will obviate the main difficulty.
Other Methods of Controlling Damping Off. Damping off may be largely controlled by careful cultural conditions. Unless the soil of the seed bed has been sterilized, it is unwise to use the same soil in the beds where damping off has occurred previously. Thick sowing, too, should be avoided. In Table 4, Johnson presents some interesting data, showing the -effect of thick sowing on damping off.
Certain soils are especially favorable to damping off. Soils which contain a higher percentage of unrotted vegetable matter, and those which are hard to drain need special attention. Great care should be taken to keep the seed bed at the right temperature. The latter cannot be guessed at by personal sensation. It should be accurately determined by thermometers placed in the bed at suitable distances. It should also be remembered that any covering cloth or sash will exclude light and air. Every precaution should, therefore, be taken to prevent the seedlings from becoming "drawn," for in that condition they are most susceptible to damping off. The safest plan is to keep the temperature a trifle lower than is generally required, and to allow as much ventilation as possible. Very often damping off starts only in one corner of the bed. To check the rapid spread of the disease, the infected area may be removed. Spraying the seedlings with various fungicides in a bed where damping off has become well established will be of little help.
Control of Insect-Infested Soil. Spraying the soil will be of little value in the control of under-ground insect pests. Fortunately, however, there are other means of dealing with them. All insect pests may, of course, be controlled by steaming the soil in the benches.
Gut worms may be controlled by the use of a poisoned bran made as follows : To three ounces of molasses add one gallon of water and sufficient bran to make a fairly stiffened mixture. To this add a teaspoonful of Paris green or arsenic and stir well into a paste. A heaping teaspoonful of the mixture is scattered here and there over the infested bed. The cut worms will he attracted to the sweetened bran and after eating it will die from the poison.
SUMMER TREATMENT OF GREENHOUSE SOIL
The greenhouse is rarely used the whole year round. During the summer the house is usually idle one or two months. This is especially true regarding truck crops, for at that time outdoor products put the greenhouse out of competition.
It is a common belief that if the soil is allowed to remain dry in the intense heat under glass during July or August all injurious insects, fungi and bacteria will be destroyed. To determine this point Green and Green* have carried out some interesting experiments. They used beds which had been treated as follows : New soil, straw mulch, manure mulch, and a summer soil, sun-dried soil, in the greenhouse. The results of these experiments with tomatoes are shown in Table 5.
Plot 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 Average
New soil 5.2 4.5 3.5 ... 3.3 4.1
Straw mulch 4.9 3.2 3.1 ... ... 2.5 3.4
Manure mulch 5.1 4.2 3.0 ... 2.6 3.7
Dry 2.6 3.1 2.1 ... ... .9 2.1
It is seen from Table 5 that as far as tomatoes are concerned the new soil gave the best results. The manure mulch is second in productiveness. The effect of the dry mulch shows a rapid decline, and the dried soil showed the poorest yield. It must be added that in this soil the greatest amount of disease was present.
The result obtained with the soil treatment of tomatoes was found to be different from that with winter lettuce.
This table shows that the drying of the soil does not affect the lettuce crop to the same extent as it does tomatoes. Unlike most crops in the green-house, lettuce thrives best in old soil. On the other hand, cucumbers are as sensitive as the tomato to old, well manured soil in the greenhouse. This does not imply, therefore, that it is necessary to renew the soil every year for cucumbers or tomatoes. Soil sterilization, good drainage, and liming will tend to overcome the ill effect of old soils on these crops. | <urn:uuid:1cc55cf5-c4e8-4b07-a4bc-c4a38e24e529> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles24/greenhouse-3.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957727 | 6,389 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.