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These are the topline findings from the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) 2011 Report: "Next Generation Users: The Internet in Britain 2011" (PDF, 3.1MB), presenting data on British access, use and attitudes to the Internet 2003-2011.
Launched in 2003 by the Oxford Internet Institute, the Oxford Internet Surveys (OxIS) are an authoritative source of information about Internet access, use and attitudes. Surveys have been undertaken in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 of nationally representative random samples of 2000 people in the UK.
Internet Adoption and Use
There has been a slight increase in Internet use across all levels of income. The Internet is now used by 73% of the British population, up from 70% in 2009.
Use of social networking sites represents the single largest increase in Internet use in the last two years.
60% of British Internet users use online social networking sites, up from 49% in 2009, and 17% in 2007.
Use of social networking by people under 25 has stabilized at around 90%.
Almost all the growth in social networking since 2009 has been among employed people aged 25-55 - uniformly, about 15% growth since 2009.
61% of Internet users in 2011 "mainly" use search engines to find information: a 3% decline since 2009, possibly reflecting people using links on social network sites as entry points.
Internet Use and Gender
The gender divide with respect to Internet adoption has effectively disappeared; however there are still clear differences in attitudes and use.
The gender divide continues to decrease, with men and women now only separated by two percentage points (74% of British men are Internet users, vs 72% women), down from nine percentage points in 2003 (64% men, vs 55% women).
Women participate in social networking more than men (63% of female Internet users vs 57% of male Internet users).
Men are more confident in their technology skills than women. 31% of British women report being nervous when using technologies because they "might break something", compared with 16% of British men.
Women are more likely to meet an online acquaintance face-to-face than men (of people who met online acquaintances offline, 59% were women vs 53% men). This is the reverse of 2009 when men were more likely to meet online acquaintances face-to-face.
Government and Politics
Use of online government services overall has been rising steadily since 2005, but use of specific services is remarkably low. Online participation in the political process is also low, despite the 2010 national election.
57% of British Internet users have used at least one online government service in the past year.
Relatively few people use any particular online government service, such as paying Council tax or fines online (24% of Internet users), central Government taxes or fines (21%), or looking for information on Government policy (18%), or information on an MP or politician (15%).
The most frequent online political activity continues to be signing a petition (14% of Internet users signed an online petition in 2011, 18% signed one offline). 9% of Internet users have sent an electronic message supporting a political cause in the last year, and 9% have commented on politics in social media.
While 27% of British people do not use the Internet, proxy use remains a very important link to the Internet for non-users: a point often lost in public discussions over Internet use.
27% of British people do not use the Internet.
23% of British people have never used the Internet. This proportion has declined from 35% in 2003.
4% of British people are ex-users: this proportion has been stable since 2003.
44% of non-users "definitely know" someone they could ask for help with the Internet, for example to send an email; however, 17% of non-users "definitely don't" know someone who could help them.
Reasons for Non-use
While there is no single stated reason for not using the Internet - reasons are multiple and interrelated - the most striking result is the continuous steady rise in the proportion of ex-users who say the Internet is too expensive.
Ex-Internet users are most likely to say they have stopped using the Internet because it is too expensive (62%), that a computer is no longer available (52%), or that they aren’t interested (39%).
Non-users say are most likely to say they don’t use the Internet because they have no interest (62%), or that it is not for people like them (12%). This has important policy implications, because providing subsidized or low-cost access to the Internet may not be enough to get these people online.
Digital Divides: Education, Disability, Income, Lifestage, Age
Age, education, occupation and income continue to divide users, with the young, the wealthy and well-educated continuing to be the most engaged online.
Non-users are more likely to express fears about the Internet or technology; making the digital divide very difficult to bridge. 54% of non-users fear they "might break" new technologies, compared with 18% of first generation users, and 7% of next generation users.
People with no educational qualifications are much less likely to be Internet users (31% are Internet users), than those with basic (80%), further (79%), or higher education (91% are Internet users).
People with disabilities are about half as likely to use the Internet as people without disabilities (41% vs 78% are Internet users).
People with higher household income are more likely to use the Internet. 99% of people with household incomes exceeding £40,000 are Internet users, compared with 65% for incomes of £12,000-£20,000, and only 43% of those with household incomes of less than £12,500.
Retired people are much less likely to use the Internet (37% of retired people) than students (99%) or employed people (87%).
Young people are much more likely to use the Internet than older people. 99% of people aged 14-17 are Internet users, compared with 80% of people aged between 45-54, and only 33% of people aged over 65. | <urn:uuid:be77283c-45e1-4e2d-81bf-ec93f861e7a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/?id=598 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94915 | 1,285 | 2.609375 | 3 |
An official count showed about 21,015 people stood in lines with waits ranging from 3 to 7 hours to see the Emancipation Proclamation, which was on display at the The Henry Ford, in Dearborn, Michigan, for 36 straight hours. Meanwhile, the Sons of Confederate Veterans continue their quest for vanity plates in former Confederate states and even states that never seceded.
Here is some more video from the new documentary, Southern Belle. In this segment historians respond to the attempt on the part of the organizers to remove any discussion of slavery from their program. They address the following question: Why would the “yeoman” farmer go to war with no dog in the Civil War fight? The list of historians interviewed includes, R. Blakeslee Gilpin, Assistant Professor of History, University of South Carolina; Carroll Van West, Director, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area; Tara McPherson, Professor of Critical Studies, University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and Stan Deaton, Director, Georgia Historical Society. Additional films can be viewed on the documentary’s website.
Click to continue
This looks to be a fairly interesting documentary. Here is a brief description:
The Civil War may be long over, but the spirit of rebellion is hard to extinguish even in something as innocent as a girls’ summer camp. Southern Belle is an insider’s look at the 1861 Athenaeum Girls’ School in Columbia, Tennessee, where the antebellum South rises again. Every summer, young women from around the world eagerly sign up to become that iconic and romantic image of southern identity: the southern belle, replete with hoop skirt, hat and gloves, singing the region’s anthem, “Dixie.” However, the camp can only achieve this version of Southern femininity by whitewashing the past. The teachers, all of whom work for no compensation, hope to instill genteel manners and build pride in southern heritage. To accomplish this, they have carefully selected the time period so they can share the “truth” with the next generation about why the South seceded from the Union. For them, the Civil War had little to do with slavery and everything to do with states’ rights and unfair taxation.
Click to continue
Update: Andy Hall has an interesting post up on the absence of any significant debate on the arming of slaves in Texas. Philip Dillard recently wrote an essay that analyzes the various factors that led to the debate in Virginia and the reasons why Texans failed to consider this crucial step. It can be found in Inside the Confederate Nation: Essays in Honor of Emory M. Thomas, which is edited by Lesley Gordon and John Inscoe.
Resolutions Against the Policy of Arming Slaves
Resolved, That the State of North Carolina protests against the arming of slaves by the Confederate government, in any emergency that can possibly arise, but gives its consent to their being taken and used as laborers in the public service, upon just compensation being made.
Resolved, That North Carolina denies the constitutional power of the Confederate government to impress slaves for the purpose of arming them, or preparing them to be armed, in any contingency, without the consent of the States being freely given, and then only according to State laws.
Resolved, That his Excellency Governor Z.B. Vance be requested to communicate a copy of these resolutions to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.
Ratified 3d day of February, 1865.
I would love to be able to transport a group of modern day black Confederate myth proponents back to 1865 to discuss this issue with the North Carolina legislature. Now that would be a real whoot.
Yesterday I shared a short excerpt from the John H. Claiborne letters, which are located in Special Collections at the University of Virginia. I was looking for one particular letter in which he discussed his camp servants. Unfortunately, no date was included in the description of the collection so I had to make my way through roughly 50 letters. I finally found it at the very end, but it was well worth the time spent. Claiborne briefly references a number of slaves that assisted him as chief surgeon in Petersburg, but not until the letter below did he reflect on their place in the army as well as the future of slavery.
Claiborne references the impressment policies of the Confederate government along with his own responsibilities as a slaveholder. There is a great deal of paternalism that courses throughout and an interesting passage in which he reaffirms the supposed loyalty of his slaves. In reading the letters you get a clear sense that Claiborne and his slaves endured great hardship in Petersburg during the final year of the war, but in the end his slaves never move beyond being acknowledged for their instrumental value.
Click to continue | <urn:uuid:58ebca9e-9abb-46d5-9c42-5191cec56955> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cwmemory.com/blog/page/334/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961489 | 992 | 2.59375 | 3 |
1. Patience. In a world full of turmoil it can be really difficult to cultivate patience but as hard as it may be it is essential to happiness. Without patience anarchy would be rampant everywhere. Patience is a virtue that brings the priceless gift of peace. Whether you are a parent of a newborn, a toddler, a younger child, a teenager or an adult patience is required to sustain peace within yourself and within the bonds of family members. A couple tips to cultivate patience are:
a. Breathe. If you feel your temper raising take time to focus on your breathing and you will find that you will gain control over your emotions and over the situation.
b. Analyze the situation without judgment. Ask yourself what happened that made you loose control and then determine why that bothered you and if becoming bothered will improve the situation. Often when we take time to ask ourselves why we are loosing control it is apparent that we are at fault.
c. Count to ten or leave the situation and return when you have regained control. Its best for you to leave then let your child see you loose control because that teaches nothing that can bring happiness.
d. Recognize progress. If you are working on improving your patience recognize your improvements and how it has improved your relationship with your children.
2. Be an example. From birth your child is watching you, wanting to be like you. An important part of being an example is dismissing the notion of "do as I say not as I do". It's a contradiction to tell your children not to swear if you are constantly swearing. It is your priority to strive to be the best example you can. No no-one is perfect so your children will watch you make mistakes and the best thing you can do is be honest and apologize for your behavior. By allowing your children to see your weaknesses and your desire to be better they will admire you and want to be like you.
3. Discipline with love. When your child misbehaves discipline is essential for them to learn. The level of disobedience will determine what type discipline of is used but whatever may be the consequence it is important that your child knows you are doing it because you love him. Try to avoid harsh words of reproving and replace them with truly how you feel. Examples of words or phrases that encourage discipline rather than releasing built up emotions are:
b. Feelings are hurt
c. Did you not understand...
d. I know you can do better than that
e. How can I help you be obedient?
Also the tone of your voice is really essential to disciplining with love.
4. Time. If you are not spending time with your children then how can you influence them for good! Some people get sold on the idea is they just work really hard at their career for five years they will get some promotion that will have more flexible times allowing more family time. This excuse is an excuse of someone who prioritizes work over family. This is not necessarily a bad thing it just means that when your children need help and you are not there they will turn to someone else and that someone else could be anyone, but most likely it will be one of the peers. The advice from a peer is not often as good as advice from an involved loving parent. You need to choose do you want to be the person your children come to or not?
5. Make anytime learning time. Whether your child is 18 months old or 33 years old you need to seize every opportunity to teach them. Teach them about their environment, from colors and numbers to career choices and how to mend a broken heart. Share appropriate stories from your own life. Once your child envisions you in a similar situation as themselves they will value your advice more and your relationship will be strengthened.
By Worldwidehealth Editor
All rights reserved. Any reproducing of this article must have the author name and all the links intact. | <urn:uuid:76506357-7a87-4067-b24a-aee023f07210> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.worldwidehealth.com/health-article-5-Tips-to-Improve-Parenting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961383 | 797 | 2.734375 | 3 |
A new animated video of dwarf planet Ceres, based on images taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, provides a unique perspective of this heavily cratered, mysterious world.
The video is based on observations of Ceres that were taken from Dawn's first mapping orbit, at an altitude of 8,400 miles (13,600 kilometers), as well as the most recent navigational images taken from 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers).
The video is available at:
Data from 80 images are combined into the video. Analysis of overlapping images provided three-dimensional detail. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of two in the video.
"We used a three-dimensional terrain model that we had produced based on the images acquired so far," said Dawn team member Ralf Jaumann of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), in Berlin. "They will become increasingly detailed as the mission progresses -- with each additional orbit bringing us closer to the surface."
Dawn entered its second mapping orbit on June 3. It will spend the rest of the month observing the dwarf planet from 2,700 miles (4,400 kilometers) above its surface. The spacecraft will conduct intensive observations of Ceres, completing orbits of about three days each.
Earlier this year, Dawn made history as the first mission to visit a dwarf planet, and the first to orbit two distinct extraterrestrial targets. It studied Vesta, a protoplanet in the main asteroid belt, for 14 months in 2011 and 2012, and arrived at Ceres on March 6, 2015.
Dawn's mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK Inc., in Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Italian Space Agency and Italian National Astrophysical Institute are international partners on the mission team. For a complete list of mission participants, visit:
More information about Dawn is available at the following sites:
News Media ContactElizabeth Landau/Preston Dyches
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. | <urn:uuid:1ab9b1c4-597b-4c81-9f02-1c7138d48f48> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4614 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914146 | 457 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Living in a way that is friendly to the environment and conserves natural resources will be important wherever you live in the world. Environmental activists and regular people should be encouraged to spread the importance of living green, recycling and reusing to their family, friends and the broader community. One way to spread the message is to develop a public awareness movement to help lesser-informed people who must know the consequences of ruining the environment.
Spreading the word of environmental awareness starts with determining your budget and target audience. An environmental crusader could start by informing their family and friends but a more effective method is to inform certain groups of people. Many people do not know about certain environmental problems because they do not know how these problems will influence their lives. Targeted campaigns have helped sell various products like hybrid cars and energy-efficient appliances to people who formerly did not understand or care about conservation or eco-friendly living. It is best to figure out the target audience first so the campaign can be customized for them. Also, promoters who try to work in an underdeveloped country can reach difficult situations so they will have to contact community leaders who will control communication problems and fill cultural gaps.
One of the best ways to spread a message is to start a website or blog that can be crafted by a web designer. A Godaddy promo code, personalized web design help and hosting tutorials can be used with the Godaddy service, which is one of the most trusted and well-known web hosting services online.
Green living promoters can create a string of events to promote their campaign. They should consider promoting workshops that will tell people how to become more environmentally friendly by using common, energy-efficient products like light bulbs and solar panels. Also, promoters can show TV episodes and movies that discuss minor and major environmental problems like global warming.
There are environmental field trips that people can take which could be the most effective way to promote green living. Going out to interact with the environment and acquire a better sense of it may be the only solution to increase awareness. An outing to the zoo may be the chance for people to know about endangered species all over the world. Visiting a local recycling factory may also assist people who want to know the significance of recycling certain materials.
The next step for environmental promoters is to pass out literature that provides valuable information about the most crucial environmental problems. People who reside next to a busy highway should know about the consequences of living near these polluted environments. Booklets, ads, brochures, magazines and books can contain plenty of facts, stories and images that will help persuade people who want to change the environment. | <urn:uuid:b40e751e-3489-46ff-a349-d85fea7f5c89> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.greenwerkspro.com/ways-to-create-awareness-about-green-living/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948435 | 525 | 3 | 3 |
STEEVES, WILLIAM HENRY, merchant, lumberman, and politician; b. 20 May 1814 at Hillsborough, Westmorland County (Albert County), N.B., son of Joseph Steeves and Martha Cross, and great-grandson of Heinrich Stief (Henry Steeves) who came to New Brunswick from Germany in 1765; d. 9 Dec. 1873 at Saint John, N.B.
William Henry Steeves attended public school at Hillsborough. His teacher was Duncan Shaw, a native of Scotland, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, and a prominent early educator in the colony. Steeves always gave the impression that he had much more education than was usually acquired in New Brunswick by persons attending only public school and he attributed this to the teaching of Mr Shaw. He married Mary Steeves, another great-grandchild of Heinrich Stief; they had six children, two sons and four daughters.
Steeves began his business career with a small store and then became a partner of James Abel Steeves and Gilbert Martin Steeves in the firm of Steeves Brothers, a mercantile and lumber export business with headquarters at Hillsborough. He later moved to Saint John where he continued in the lumber export business and became a leader in the financial and commercial activities of the city. His brother Gilbert moved to Liverpool, England, and established a branch office to handle the company’s overseas interests.
When Albert County was created in 1846, Steeves was elected as one of its first two representatives in the House of Assembly. He was reelected at the general election of 1850, but only sat for one session. Steeves favoured reform of the government and in 1851 voted for an unsuccessful bill which would have required that all members of the Legislative Council be elected; he also voted against paying council members.
Steeves was appointed to the Legislative Council in December 1851. In 1852 he was apparently offered the position of surveyor general by the lieutenant governor, Sir Edmund Head*, who wished to appoint to the government someone from Saint John since that city was the headquarters of opposition to his advisers led by Edward Barron Chandler. Steeves declined the office, which finally went to Robert Duncan Wilmot*, also a Saint John critic of the government. In 1854 the compact government was defeated and Charles Fisher headed a new liberal, reform, or “smasher” administration. The governor, John Henry Thomas Manners-Sutton, described this government as “formed on the principle that the direction of public affairs had been too long in the hands of men of property and liberal education.” Steeves was again offered the position of surveyor general and this time he accepted. His appointment was opposed by many members of the assembly, who felt that the surveyor general should be selected from among the elected representatives. Accepting this criticism, Steeves resigned on 4 Dec. 1854.
In March 1855 he was appointed the first chairman of the newly created Department of Public Works – a position he held until 30 May 1856. He was then out of office for a short time when the government led by Fisher and Samuel Leonard Tilley* was defeated over the unpopular prohibition act. The “smasher” government was returned to power in 1857, Steeves regained his post as chief commissioner of the Department of Public Works, and kept it until 1861. He was the only member of the Legislative Council ever to hold this office. As minister without portfolio he continued in the Tilley government from 1861 until April 1865, when Tilley and his supporters were defeated over the issue of confederation.
Steeves was an advocate of railway communications and was eager to promote schemes which would benefit Saint John. For this reason he was interested in the Intercolonial Railway and the route it would follow through New Brunswick. He was a member of the delegation sent to Quebec in September 1862 to discuss the proposals of the Duke of Newcastle [Henry Pelham Clinton] for imperial aid in the construction of the Intercolonial.
A supporter of Maritime union and confederation, Steeves was a New Brunswick delegate at the Charlottetown conference in September 1864. He was also a delegate to the Quebec conference in October 1864 when the terms of confederation were discussed. In these meetings he supported Sir Leonard Tilley, but there is no record of his having made any speeches of importance. As a reward for his support of confederation, Steeves was called to the Canadian Senate in July 1867 as one of the original 12 senators for New Brunswick.
In his later years, Steeves became interested in the treatment of the insane. Probably encouraged by his brother, Dr James Thomas Steeves, a prominent Saint John physician who in 1876 succeeded John Waddell as superintendent of the provincial insane asylum at Saint John, he supported reform and improved facilities for this institution. One obituary credits him with part responsibility for legislation providing better treatment for the mentally ill.
Although Steeves’ career was not spectacular he served capably in the government of New Brunswick for many years. He consistently advocated reform and his loyal support of Sir Leonard Tilley assisted in the struggle to bring New Brunswick into confederation.
N.B. Museum, Hazen papers, draft of a protest regarding the Board of Works under W. H. Steeves; Steeves family, miscellaneous genealogical notes; Tilley family papers, W. H. Steeves to S. L. Tilley, 13 Jan. 1863; Webster coll., W. H. Steeves to A. R. McClelan, 10 Dec. 1852, 2 May 1855. University of New Brunswick, Graves (New Brunswick), mss, Albert County, 32. Daily Telegraph (Saint John, N.B.), 10 Dec. 1873. Morning Freeman (Saint John, N.B.), 11 Dec. 1873. New Brunswick Reporter (Fredericton), 10 Dec. 1873. Fenety, Political notes and observations, 307–38, 405. Can. parl. comp., 1872. E. C. Wright, The Steeves descendants (Wolfville, N.S., ), 667–68. Hannay, History of New Brunswick, II, 170–71, 185, 201, 221, 225. MacNutt, New Brunswick, 353–88. E. C. Wright, Samphire Greens: the story of the Steeves (Kingsport, N.S., ). | <urn:uuid:6b8b8018-ee05-4151-a831-5db9141bc970> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/steeves_william_henry_10E.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397567.28/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978853 | 1,356 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Last Friday was Earth Day, and I am willing to bet that very few, if any, of the “celebrations” that marked the day touched on today- Africa Malaria Day. Malaria is the single largest cause of death in Africa- ahead of aids, even:
'Malaria kills one child every thirty seconds, about 3000 children every day, one in the five of the 4.6 million deaths in Africa each year is attributed to malaria and over one million people die of malaria each year, the report states in part. Also, more than 900,000 children under five years of age in Sub-Sahara Africa die of malaria.
As a heavy disease burden, an estimated 300-600 million people suffer from malaria each year, and the number of fever cases requiring treatment for malaria in children is much higher at an estimated 1-2 billion. The data from the same report indicates that more than 40% of the world population lives in malaria-risk areas, and 'it is more damaging to pregnant women, their unborn children, and this result into maternal anemia and low birth weight. Malaria in pregnancy kills up to 200,000 newborn babies each year'.
The United States donates $19 billion a year in foreign aid, yet millions of children are dying as a result of mosquito bites. Why? Because the environmental lobby in America and the rest of the world won the battle over DDT in the 1970’s:
The EPA held seven months of hearings in 1971-1972, with scientists giving evidence both for and against the use of DDT. At the end of the hearings, the hearing examiner, Edmund Sweeney, ruled that the scientific evidence provided no basis for banning DDT. In the summer of 1972 Ruckelshaus reviewed evidence collected during the agency's hearings as well as reports prepared by two DDT study groups (the Hilton and Mrak Commissions) that had both come to the opposite conclusion. He did not actually attend any of the EPA commission's hearings however, and according to his aides did not read any transcripts of it. Ruckelshaus overturned Sweeny's ruling and announced a ban on virtually all uses of DDT in the U.S., where it was classified in EPA Toxicity Class II. Ruckelshaus argued that the pesticide was "a warning that man may be exposing himself to a substance that may ultimately have a serious effect on his health." (Tren & Bate, 2004)(Milloy, 1999).
The left has their Silent Spring legacy- as Al Gore said in his preface to the 1994 edition:
Without this book, the environmental movement might have been long delayed or never have developed at all," declared then-Vice President Albert Gore in his introduction to the 1994 edition. The foreword to the 25th anniversary edition accurately declared, "It led to environmental legislation at every level of government."
As a result of that legislation no American diplomat is making the case for the renewed use of DDT in Africa or any other malaria stricken region, regardless of the veracity of the science. So called “liberal” nations like those found in the EU are willing to see countless children die of malaria- and even threaten the existence of those who manage to survive if they do so through the use of DDT:
The chief of the EU mission in Uganda, Sigurd Illing, said there could be dire consequences for outgoing trade with Europe -- which accounts for more than 30 percent of Uganda's total exports -- if DDT was detected in such goods.
"We support the fight against malaria ... but we wanted to make a general warning that all considerations should be made before the spraying," she told AFP by phone
And there it is: “we support the fight against malaria, but…” Never mind the dead children, or the $347,000,000 Uganda spends treating malaria. That is nearly 10% of the GDP of the entire nation., and that is just one nation in Africa.
Stopping malaria in Africa is easy. Admitting that science- liberal approved science in any case, might be wrong is hard. And so we have Kyoto at all costs, euthanization of children, and of course prohibitions against DDT.
While the Al Gore's of the world celebrate Earth Day and bask in the warm fuzzy they get from saving birds while children die needlessly, the mothers and fathers of countless dead children in Africa have their own legacy of the lessons learned from the book that launched the modern environmentalist movement. They would glady take the infinitesmal risk posed by DDT to have their children alive. | <urn:uuid:558c5fc1-1c5f-491e-bc5c-31452e5c332d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dailydemarche.blogspot.com/2005/04/we-support-fight-against-malaria-but.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958539 | 947 | 2.75 | 3 |
Simple Definition of disadvantage
: something that causes difficulty : something that makes someone or something worse or less likely to succeed than others
: a bad or undesirable quality or feature
: loss, damage, or harm
Full Definition of disadvantage
1 : loss or damage especially to reputation, credit, or finances : detriment <the deal worked to their disadvantage>
2 a : an unfavorable, inferior, or prejudicial condition <we were at a disadvantage> b : a quality or circumstance that makes achievement unusually difficult : handicap <his lack of formal schooling was a serious disadvantage>
Examples of disadvantage in a sentence
She had the disadvantage of growing up in a poor community.
They argued that the new regulations would place their company at a competitive disadvantage in the marketplace.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the new system.
Origin and Etymology of disadvantage
Middle English disavauntage, from Anglo-French desavantage, from des- dis- + avantage advantage
First Known Use: 14th century
Definition of disadvantage
: to place at a disadvantage : harm
First Known Use of disadvantage
DISADVANTAGE Defined for Kids
Definition of disadvantage for Students
: a state or condition that favors someone else <Our late start was a disadvantage in the race.>
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up disadvantage? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). | <urn:uuid:01482d11-9b24-43ba-a09b-581c6ef67d8e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disadvantage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941631 | 294 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Carson City residents are undergoing preventative treatment for rabies after being exposed to a puppy that tested positive for the disease. At this time, Carson City Health and Human Services is investigating the origin of this rabies exposure. The infected puppy was purchased in January from a private owner in the Minden/Gardnerville area via Facebook.
Agencies that are assisting in this investigation include: Nevada Department of Agriculture, Douglas County Animal Services, Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health Office of Epidemiology, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Rabies is a deadly viral disease that affects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
People get rabies from the bite of an animal with the disease. You can also be exposed to rabies if infected saliva or tissue containing rabies gets into a fresh wound (one that has bled within 24 hours) or the eyes, nose or mouth. It has been over 20 years since a dog has been reported of having rabies in Nevada.
Carson City Health Officials remind residents that rabies in pets is preventable with a vaccine if administered prior to the animal being exposed. Symptoms of rabies in animals include a change in behavior, biting, aggression, showing no fear of natural enemies, foaming at the mouth and paralysis.
Carson City Health and Human Services urges the following precautions:
• Avoid contact with animals you don’t know.
• Make sure your pets are immunized. Dogs and cats should get initial rabies vaccines beginning at 12 weeks of age and additional boosters over the animal’s lifetime.
• Confine all pets or keep them on a leash.
• All persons, especially children, are warned to avoid all sick or injured animals.
• All stray or wild animals should be avoided.
If you think you have been bitten by a rabid animal wash the wound with soap and water for five minutes and seek medical attention immediately.
If you believe that you may have a puppy from this litter or that your animal has been exposed to rabies, contact Carson City Health & Human Services immediately at (775) 887- 2190. | <urn:uuid:aa2cc930-0df6-42c7-a478-9e542b2dd048> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/10269338-113/rabies-carson-animal-health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943992 | 439 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The Petite Ceinture railway circling through the city of Paris served urban travelers from 1862 to 1934 before being abandoned.
Predating the Paris Métro, the “little belt” railroad connected the main train stations and provided needed fortification for the city. Construction was started in 1852 under the Empire of Napoléon III and Baron Haussmann, the influential civic planner. The 20th century sprawl of Paris beyond the Petite Ceinture and the success of the Métro eventually made the circular railway obsolete.
Certain stretches are now overgrown with over 200 species of flora and fauna, vibrant with colorful flowers and greenery against vivid graffiti and street art. Bridges, tunnels, and the original tracks remain mostly untouched, hidden just beyond the streets and neighborhoods of the outer arrondissements.
A section in the 16th arrondissement was incorporated into the RER regional network system in 1988, and in 2008 a section between the Porte d’Auteuil and the Gare de la Muette was opened to pedestrians as a nature trail.Several other sections are now open to the public, in the 16th, the 15th and the 12th arrondissements. Although the remaining parts are closed, their accessibility from nine arrondissements makes it popular with urban explorers. The catacombs of Paris even have their easiest entry point from one of the tunnels on the Petite Ceinture.
A good way to see some old train stations is to enter via Villa du Bel Air and exit at the old Gare de Charonne before the tunnel.
The majority of the tracks are still owned and managed by the SNCF, and are still in working order, notably the sections that link the Gare de Bercy with the Gare de Nord and Gare de l'Est in the east of the city.
Know Before You Go
Points of entry on the edges of the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements. Easy access at Villa du Bel Air near Porte de Vincennes | <urn:uuid:c3e6a641-c29e-40c6-88b0-9b8a7a12cba9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/petite-ceinture | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.853473 | 444 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Similarly, people interacting with people from other cultures often feel 'lost'. Lacking familiar attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, procedures or structures that shape day-to-day interactions, people in cross-cultural situations often get disoriented, make mistakes and spend time and energy merely surviving rather than understanding and appreciating the differences they encounter. They also often fail to negotiate the most favorable agreements possible or to resolve serious conflicts due to cultural misunderstandings.
Intercultural travelers and negotiators need general principles to guide their negotiation strategies and a culture 'map' that helps them to:
- identify the general 'topography' of cultures - the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, procedures and social structures that shape human interactions;
- identify potential hazards, obstacles and pleasant surprises that intercultural travelers and negotiators might miss if they did not have a trusty guide;
- select responses that will promote successful interactions and outcomes. Unfortunately, few analytical frameworks identify, interpret and respond to cultural differences. Few maps describe how different cultures solve problems, negotiate agreements or resolve disputes. This article will help address this gap.
Culture is the cumulative result of experience, values, religion, beliefs, attitudes, meanings, knowledge, social organizations, procedures, timing, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe and material objects and possessions acquired or created by groups of people, in the course of generations, through individual and group effort and interactions. Culture manifests itself in patterns of language, behavior and activities and provides models and norms for acceptable day-to-day interactions and styles of communication. Culture enables people to live together in a society within a given geographic environment, at a given state of technical development and at a particular moment in time (adapted from Samovar and Porter, 1972).
When we think of culture we often think of the national cultures reported in the international media. However, culture is much broader and encompasses the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of diverse ethnic groups, clans, tribes, regional subcultures or even neighborhoods. Culture also differentiates people by religious or ideological persuasions, professions and educational backgrounds. Families also have cultures, as do the two largest cultural groups in the world, men and women. Companies, organizations and educational institutions also demonstrate unique cultures. With all of these cultural variables, and significant variations within cultures, how can we develop any common understanding, general hypotheses or conclusions about how a particular person or group from any one culture might behave in negotiations or conflicts?
Fig 1 and 2
Yet specific cultures do contain clusters of people with fairly common attitudinal and behavioral patterns. As indicated in Figure I above, these clusters occupy the middle portion of a bell-shaped curve (Trompenaars, 1994).
However, every culture includes outliers - people who vary significantly from the norm. While still contained within the range for their culture, their views and behaviors differ significantly from that of their peers and may even look similar to other cultures. For instance, a businessman or engineer from a developing country who was educated in England may have more in common with his or her peers in Europe than with his fellow countrymen (see Figure II).
For this reason, we must be wary of generalizations about how people from a specific culture may think or act. Rigid notions about a group's cultural patterns can result in inaccurate stereotypes, gross injustice to the group and inaccurate (and possibly disastrous) assumptions or actions. Common cultural patterns found in a group's central cultural cluster should be looked upon as possible, or even probable, clues as to the ways a cultural group may think or respond. But the hypothesis should always be tested and modified after direct interaction with the group in question. You may well encounter an outlier who seems more similar to us than we ever expected.
Preparing for intercultural negotiations and dispute resolution
The next section will be divided into what can be done to prepare before negotiations begin, and strategies that can be used during actual problem-solving activities to accommodate different cultural patterns.
1. Understand that culture can make a difference and pay attention to it.
People just starting to work across cultures, and even some with extensive experience, often make one of two significant mistakes. First, they assume that all of us are basically the same. Underneath our multi-pigmented skin, exotic clothing and diverse languages and practices we all have identical wants and desires and similar approaches to negotiations and conflict resolution. Those who assert the basic similarity of cultures assume that if "we can just communicate" all problems will evaporate.
While this view is less common than it used to be, it is still frequently found in people with little experience working in diverse cultures. It is also prevalent among those who, when abroad, spend most of their time in international enclaves or tourist havens, and among members of dominant cultures who have never had to accommodate or adapt to the cultures of other groups.
The second common mistake, currently in vogue, is to romanticize culture and diversity and to treat other cultures as exotic, sacred and deserving of protection from 'cultural imperialism'. Followers of this approach often overemphasize differences between cultures, try to 'go native', make extreme efforts to be 'culturally correct' and try hard to avoid unpardonable errors.
Both views of culture hold some truth - there are many similarities between cultures and cultures are unique and precious. However, each view represents an unhelpful extreme; the truth probably lies somewhere in between. Cultural differences are important factors in the success or failure of intercultural interactions, yet there are also many similarities among human beings. We must accept that culture plays an important part in interactions between groups, learn how to identify cultural similarities, build upon them and develop strategies that will help to bridge the important differences.
2. Develop an awareness of how cultural differences influence problem solving and negotiation.
A framework for analyzing the impact of cultural differences on negotiations can be useful for understanding both our own culture and other cultures. The Wheel of Culture Map (see Figure III) identifies cultural factors that shape the ways members of societies bargain for their interests and respond to disputes. The Wheel is structured accordingly:
At the center of the wheel are individuals and groups which interact when problems are to be solved, negotiations conducted or disputes resolved. In general cultures can be defined by how much emphasis their members put on the individual, or on groups or collectivities. Some cultural analysts have described this as the individualism/collectivism continuum (Hofstede, 1982) with cultures falling along a spectrum of orientations.
Cultures oriented toward individuals generally value individual autonomy, initiative, creativity and authority in decision making. Those more oriented toward collectivism generally value and emphasize group cohesion, harmony and decision making that involves either consultation with group members before deciding, or consideration of the well-being of the group over that of the individual. Before entering negotiations it is helpful to know whether a culture is oriented toward individualism or collectivism - in comparison to your personal or organizational culture.
The Inner Rim
The individuals or groups engaged in negotiations each demonstrate:
- situations, issues or problems that must be addressed;
- needs or interests they wish to have met in the outcome of problem solving;
- sources of power and influence.
Each culture significantly affects how its members define the social situations they face, the problems they encounter and the issues or topics that are important to discuss (or not discuss). The situations that members of any given culture have to handle are often quite similar: raising or buying food; securing shelter; obtaining work to support oneself or a family; contracting marriages; purchasing other needed goods; and interacting with peers, subordinates and superiors. However, the meanings and importance which members of a culture place on these situations may vary tremendously. This causes problems when people from diverse cultures attach different meanings or importance to similar situations. An important element of preparation for any negotiation is to develop a clear understanding of how the other party defines the situation and the issues to be discussed.
Needs and interests involve the things individuals and groups require, expect or desire. Needs and interests fall along a continuum ranging from those critical for human survival on one end (such as food, shelter, health and physical security) to identity needs (such as meaning, community, intimacy and autonomy) at the other end (Mayer, forthcoming, 2000). In the process of negotiating, parties naturally advocate for their interests and needs. At times, the extent and manner of meeting the interests involved may be quite negotiable and flexible. At other times, particularly when an individual or group feels that basic survival is threatened or fundamental identity is at risk, they may make rigid demands or intimidating statements.
While all cultures have similar minimal biological needs for survival, they differ significantly as to what they consider to be adequate satisfaction of these needs. So, too, do all individuals have generally similar identity needs, but they differ significantly regarding how and how well these are addressed. Therefore, another critical element of preparation is to develop a tentative understanding or preliminary theory about the needs and interests of the other party - and to become clear about your own.
Power and influence have been defined as "the ability to act, to influence an outcome, to get something to happen (not to happen), or to overcome resistance" (Mayer, forthcoming, 2000). Culture influences the preferred forms and sources of power and influence, and how and when they are used. It also often determines the options available when a party has more or less power than another or is in a superior or subordinate position. A slight to someone's spouse by an unknown person in some cultures may result in giving the commenter the 'cold shoulder' or perhaps a quick verbal retort. Others may consider it an attack on the spouse's honor that can be righted only by a physical fight or, in extreme cases, the death of the offender. A follower of Gandhi who believes that his or her rights have been violated may respond with satyagraha, or non-violent resistance - a far different reaction than that of a guerilla fighter who is a member of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Good cultural analysis seeks to identify what forms of power and influence are most likely to be used by whom and in which situations.
The Outer Rim
This section of the Wheel identifies the broad external factors that influence the development of a specific group's cultural approach to negotiations and conflict resolution. These elements include:
The spokes of the Wheel represent specific culturally-based patterns of belief and behavior that influence the interactions between individuals and groups. These factors are strongly influenced by the natural environment, social structures and the history of a cultural group, as well as by the specific situations or problems to be addressed.
The spokes include cultural beliefs, attitudes and behaviors concerning:
- Establishing, building and maintaining relationships
- how established?
- with whom?
- building/changing factors
- Orientation toward cooperation, competition and conflict
- acceptability of overt conflict
- common patterns of conflict behavior
- emotional/non-emotional expression
- one-at-a-time talk vs. overlapping talk
- non-verbal communication
- role of relationships and trust
- positional or interest-based bargaining styles
- ways of performing negotiation stages
- Preferred outcomes to problems or conflicts
- orientation towards 'winning' or success
- preferences concerning substantive, procedural or psychological emphasis or components of outcomes
- culturally acceptable or sanctioned norms about outcomes
- Roles and functions of third parties
- relationship to parties
- procedures used
- involvement in substance
- expectations concerning duration
- timing of activities
- timing allowed for agreement
- Use and set-up of venue and space
- space set-up
The Wheel of Culture is an analytical tool that can be used as a guide. It enables the effective negotiator to analyse cultural responses that are considered appropriate in his or her own culture in each of the above areas and to begin to identify cultural norms held by the negotiating counterpart (a potential partner, buyer/seller, authority, opponent or ally).
3. Educate yourself about a new culture.
Once a negotiator has a general understanding of potential cultural similarities or differences in the context of negotiations, it is often helpful to do more detailed research and exploration regarding the other culture and its members. Some of the things that can be done to gain greater understanding about the other culture and to prepare for direct interactions include:
Read a variety of books, magazines, newspaper articles or Internet sources about the culture you plan to engage. Read authors from both the other culture and your own. Compare and contrast the views of different authors. If possible, include novels, which often reveal the most about cultural differences.
See movies or rent videos about and from the culture with which you will be interacting. Visual media can help you anticipate and prepare to operate in diverse settings and situations, acclimate you to hearing another language and present issues, themes and possible common cultural responses. However, remember that 'Hollywood' treatments do not necessarily present real life; documentaries and movies made in other cultures may come closer.
Find and talk with members of the other culture. One of the best preparations for working with members of another culture is to meet someone from their context prior to conducting negotiations or initiating conflict resolution efforts. Foreign students or faculty at universities are often very willing to talk, and welcome the opportunity to converse with others from another culture. They can be invaluable sources of information and orientation since they have usually encountered both your culture and their own. Also, look for local cultural events sponsored or attended by the cultural group of interest. Go, observe, meet people and get to know some of their cultural behaviors in social settings.
Talk with members of your own culture who have lived or worked in the culture you expect to encounter. Focus especially on people who have had experiences with the other culture that are similar to those you expect in the future.
4. Develop a negotiating plan appropriate to the situation.
Based upon what you have learned in the earlier steps, develop a preliminary plan concerning how you might initiate negotiations, and then respond as the situation evolves. Consider how to:
- establish contacts and build relationships that will be compatible with the other culture and your own;
- develop appropriate forums and formats for interaction;
- comply with their negotiation protocols in a way that is comfortable for all parties;
- start negotiations on substantive issues;
- conduct information exchanges and mutual education;
- decide how you might respond to their more positional approaches or demands;
- develop strategies for encouraging more interest-based approaches;
- manage timing for negotiations as a whole, including relationship building, substantive discussions and timing of offers;
- consider the Wheel of Culture spokes related to problems you might encounter and develop possible strategies for addressing them.
Following the above aspects of preparation, you will need a flexible approach to your interactions with the other party in the midst of problem solving, negotiations or conflict resolution efforts:
1. Recognize when something different appears to be happening.
Once negotiations have begun, participants need to 'put up their antennae' to observe possible cultural differences that may occur. The categories of the Wheel of Culture Map should make it easier to identify such differences. Some questions to ask yourself include:
- What is similar or different about the setting of the meetings or negotiations than would be found in your culture?
- How are the situation, problems or issues that are being addressed similar to or different from those that might be common in your own culture?
- What behavioral similarities or differences do you see?
- Based upon what they say, do you have any clues about what their beliefs or attitudes are about their relationship expectations or the process being used to address issues?
- Are you interacting with an individual or a group? If the latter, is their behavior concerning who talks, what they talk about, how they express themselves or how they interact with one another different than might be expected in your culture?
2. Analyze and interpret what is happening and develop an appropriate response.
Once you identify that cultural differences are influencing the course of negotiations, figure out why they might be thinking or acting in a particular manner. Apply insights gained from pre-entry study, research and interactions, and:
- clarify what is happening;
- develop a hypothesis about why it is happening and what the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors being expressed may mean to those exhibiting them;
- decide how to respond and develop two or more strategies to try.
We have identified five basic strategies for conducting cross-cultural negotiations. The five strategies are based on the variables regarding your willingness or ability to adapt to the counterpart's culture and his/her willingness or ability to adapt to yours. The resulting choices are: adhering; avoiding-contending; adapting; adopting; and advancing. We will discuss each of these in more detail.
Figure IV illustrates how these choices arise out of interactions between your approach and that of your counterpart. If you have a low willingness or ability to adapt to your counterpart's culture, two choices result. If your counterpart is more flexible, you can stick to your own way of doing things - the adhering strategy. If, on the other hand, your counterpart is also unable or reluctant to change his/her approach and you want to persist in your cultural approach, the two of you will engage in an avoiding-contending mode. This pattern of interaction is marked either by ongoing competition regarding whose way of doing things will prevail (contending), or by the parties avoiding interaction, with the potential for miscues and misinterpretations.
In a situation where both parties are somewhat knowledgeable about each other's cultures and fairly compliant towards each other, you may arrive at a strategy of adapting. Each person compromises a bit, probably adhering in some areas and adopting the counterpart's ways in other matters, resulting in a mixed set of procedures.
If you are willing to adapt to the other culture and know more about it, a different set of choices presents itself. If your counterpart demonstrates unwillingness or inability to move toward your way of doing things, while you are more flexible, you will end up adopting the cultural norms of your counterpart. This is the analogue of the adhering strategy with the roles reversed.
An intriguing fifth option is also available. If you and your counterpart both know each other's cultural norms pretty well and both exhibit real willingness to adapt to another way of doing things, you can move into the advancing mode. In this mode you and your counterpart invent a third way that is based neither wholly in your culture nor in his/hers. This shares some attributes with the adapting model, but goes beyond a series of compromises to advance shared norms for interaction that are completely comfortable for both parties.
3. Select and implement a strategy.
Once you have decided upon a strategy, try it out. Observe the responses of the other party. See if your strategy is effective. If not, try another strategy or go back to your analysis and see if another interpretation of the situation or the difficulty might be more accurate. If so, develop new strategies and try
- use a trial and error process to develop strategies or responses that help achieve your desired ends;
- be flexible and consider using multiple possible responses;
- remain open to doing it their way if it will achieve the results you want, and it does not go beyond your comfort level.
Working across cultures can be frustrating and fascinating. We hope the thoughts presented here regarding preparation and flexible response prove helpful, and that the 'road-maps' offered guide your way to successful cross-cultural interactions.
Hofstede, Geert. Culture's Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Cross-Cultural Research and Methodology Series, Volume 5. London: Sage Publications, 1982.
Mayer, Bernard. Conflict and Resolution [working title]. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, forthcoming, 2000.
Moore, Christopher. The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers (2nd edition), 1996.
Samovar, Larry and Porter, Richard. Intercultural Communication: A Reader. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1972.
Trompenaars, Fons. Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin Professional Publishing, 1994. | <urn:uuid:9187b2f6-e3fc-454e-b63d-33c9420aa730> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mediate.com/articles/cdr1.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00135-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940405 | 4,160 | 3.984375 | 4 |
The Oak Fire was ignited by lightning on June 17, 2014 in the Galiuro Mountains in eastern Arizona. It is located on the Safford Ranger District of the Coronado National Forest, burning in the general vicinity of China Peak.
The fire is being managed for multiple objectives within a defined planning area mostly within the Galiuros wilderness area. The planning area includes Rattlesnake Canyon on the west and southwest sides, High Creek on the southeast side with the Forest boundary on the east and north sides.
- Provide for firefighter and public safety.
- Improve wildlife habitat, including wildlife forage.
- Fuel reduction to reduce future fire danger.
- Improve rangeland conditions.
- Improve watershed conditions.
- Maximize overall forest health.
- Contain fire within the National Forest boundary.
- Wildland Fire Module (skilled 8 person hand crew)
- Engines: 7 assigned
- 6 hotshot crews
- BLM Crew 4
- Helicopters: 1
Closures: A temporary closure of the area of the fire is being put into effect for safety purposes. The closed area begins at Bottle Canyon to Power's Hill; Rattlesnake Creek, south and east to Holdout Spring; along the East Divide Trail and Paddy's River to the Forest Boundary; all enclosed by the Forest Boundary to the east and north as illustrated on the closure map. This area is located in T08S, T09S, and T10S, R19 and 20E.
Current as of June 26, 2014 at 6:24:34 PM MDT
Incident Type Wildfire
Date of Origin Tuesday June 17th, 2014 approx. 03:45 PM
Location Galiuro Mountains in Arizona, Safford Ranger District, Coronado National Forest
Incident Commander Scott Glaspie
Incident Description Lightning-caused Fire Is Being Managed For Multiple Objectives To Benefit Natural Resources.
Size 8,200 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained 5%
Brush and timber, grass understory.
Heavy smoke in Safford and the general fire area today is the result of a meteorological phenomenon called an inversion, a situation caused by a warmer layer of air settling above a cooler layer below. The air above essentially traps all of the air below it, preventing the smoke from dissipating as it normally would. Smaller inversions have appeared over the fire area in the past days, but none have caused smoke to reach Safford. The duration of the inversion cannot be predicted.
Aerial ignition (fuel-filled spheres which ignite upon impact with the ground, dropped from a helicopter) may occur along ridgelines within the fire area. This is done to apply fire to the ridgelines and allow it to back down the slope to lower elevations. Generally, backing fires burn more slowly and at lower intensities than fire burning uphill, resulting in consumption of ground fuels and minimal effects to mature trees. These operations are implemented in areas where the fire has already been established.
Projected Incident Activity
The fire is expected to continue to grow to the south and west in the Rattlesnake Creek, Corral Canyon and Paddy's River areas. The fire is expected to stay active until a monsoonal weather pattern settles into the area.
The fire is being managed within a planning area boundary using strategy and tactics necessary to minimize impacts to sensitive areas and values at risk while maximizing benefits to natural resources. Beneficial effects include removal of fuels, decadent grasses, shrubs, and snags. The fire is burning with a mosaic pattern of intensities, with the majority of the area burning at low to moderate intensity.
Expected active fire behavior today through Saturday with increased winds, low relative humidity and a Haines Index of 5-Moderate. (Haines index is used to indicate the potential for rapid fire growth due to dry and unstable atmospheric conditions over a fire area. Measured on a scale of 2-6 a high Haines index is correlated with large fire growth where winds do not dominate fire behavior.) | <urn:uuid:c543469a-0fdb-4801-b9d8-4e886b43f879> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.grantcountybeat.com/index.php/news/news-articles/16532-oak-fire-burning-on-safford-ranger-district-in-arizona | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911526 | 849 | 2.546875 | 3 |
This is the best time in history to be alive. Access to education, healthcare and employment is increasing for populations the world over. If you are born poor, the chances of escaping poverty and leading a long and healthy life are significantly better than ever before. In large part this is due to the leaps in progress associated with connectivity. Development is about the evolution of ideas. The more rapidly that ideas evolve, with older concepts replaced by better ideas, the more quickly societies advance. Whether it's learning that washing one's hands or smoking less improves health outcomes or how economies should be managed to ensure sustainable employment and growth, it is the sharing of ideas with others that can accelerate progress.
Mobile phones will soon outnumber the Earth's 7 billion people. We have seen the transformative power of mobile connectivity in an increasingly wide range of applications, from health and finance to education, political mobilisation and institutional accountability. What is less widely appreciated is how the sharing of ideas can lead to the flowering of collective genius.
There is a random distribution of genius in the world, which now has exciting potential for release through population growth, rising literacy and growing connectivity. It is good news that the number of exceptionally talented people who are able to contribute to innovation and global problem-solving is growing rapidly. But it is not only the few with truly exceptional ability that can solve problems. We all have fragments of ability. Together, we can form teams which may be richer in their potential than single individuals. Diversity has been shown to foster dynamism in societies and innovation in ideas. The challenge is how to harness the extraordinary potential associated with the exponential growth in connectivity.
Positive examples abound, such as the crowd-sourcing techniques used by the Zooniverse project to address problems as wide ranging as climate change and cures for cancer. Farmers, teachers, nurses, retailers and emergency workers around the world already find their smart devices to be an indispensible aid to their activities. Simple text messaging systems have brought revolutions in access to healthcare, education, financial and agricultural information, empowering individuals to improve their bargaining positions or assess their health needs and enhance their life prospects. The power of these devices is doubling every year, for the same price. The potential for permeating every aspect of our lives is growing at a corresponding pace.
However, not all connectivity is good. Much of the potential social gain is threatened by a system which is vulnerable to spam or criminal capture. Connections can also become vectors of systemic risk, with tightly bound systems facing the prospect of being amplifiers of cascading shocks. This can be both psychological - where perceptions of a threat or event lead to herd behaviour - and real, as was evident by the distribution of derivatives around the world, which, when a collapse in value occurred in the US, triggered a global financial tsunami.
We need to be aware of the risks of connectivity. We must find ways to embed resilience and avoid fragility in these diverse systems, so that isolated incidents don't resonate into global shocks. A failure to harvest the upsides of connectivity and to protect against the downside risks will mean that citizens increasingly will see connectivity as a source of threat rather than opportunity. The result will be that societies will become more nationalist, protectionist and xenophobic. These attitudes will propel us towards a more solitary and much poorer future. We need to demonstrate that connectivity is a source of strength, and accelerate the extent to which our mobile devices are a source for good.
Professor Ian Goldin is Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. He will be speaking at the Vodafone Foundation and London Business School's Mobile For Good Summit in London on December 10, 2012. | <urn:uuid:c29a4250-bc06-4bc5-aab4-44141b2ee9cb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ian-goldin/collective-genius_b_2175514.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958907 | 744 | 2.671875 | 3 |
29. Representations of Geometry for Computer Graphics
Full Day / Advanced
The latest research on the most important computational representations of geometry used in computer graphics. The emphasis is on their strengths and weaknesses and how to build a coherent system that supports multiple representations.
Who Should Attend
Industrial software engineers engaged in the implementation of computer-graphics, geometric-modeling, or visualization-based systems, and anyone who is conducting research in these "geometric computation" areas.
University of Illinois
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Jarek Rossignac IBM Corporation
8:30 am: Introduction - NaylorCourse objectives and taxonomy of representations.
8:45 am: Discrete-Space Volume Representations - KaufmanVolume graphics is an emerging subfield of computer graphics concerned with the synthesis, manipulation, and rendering of volumetric modeled objects, stored as a volume buffer of voxels. Unlike volume visualization which focuses primarily on sampled and computed data sets, volume graphics is concerned primarily with modeled geometric scenes and particularly with those that are represented in a regular volume buffer. Volume graphics has advantages over surface graphics by being viewpoint independent, insensitive to scene and object complexity, and suitable for the representation of sampled and simulated data sets and mixtures thereof with geometric objects. It supports the visualization of internal structures, and lends itself to the realization of block operations, CSG modeling, and hierarchical multi-resolution representations. The problems associated with the volume buffer representation, such as discreteness, memory size, processing time, and loss of geometric representation, echo problems encountered when raster graphics emerged as an alternative technology to vector graphics and can be alleviated in similar ways.
10:00 am: Break
10:15 am: Boundary/Topological Representations - RossignacWe will discuss boundary/topological representations for characterizing the topological coverages of CAD system, for comparing the data structures they maintain, and for reliably computing boundary models from constructive representations. Creating multi-resolution representation will be addressed.
11:15 am: Shapes, Complexes, and Surfaces - EdelsbrunnerThe main theme of this talk is the idea of using cell decompositions (complexes) to model geometric shapes. The complex is what is often called a grid or mesh. This approach to modeling allows the instantaneous analysis of the created shape. The following specific questions and issues will be addressed.
- What are complexes? (definitions and examples)
- How can the geometric integrity of a complex be guaranteed?
- How can complexes be used to model shape?
- How can complexes be manipulated and maintained?
12:00 noon: Break
1:30 pm: Non-linear Surface-Patch Representations - BajajAlgebraic curves and surfaces can be represented in an implicit form, and sometimes also in a parametric form. We will compare the implicit and parametric representations of algebraic surfaces by considering the the parametric form either as a mapping or alternatively, an algebraic variety. In this course, I shall consider specific geometric operations: scattered data fitting and surface display and compare the implicit and parametric forms for their superiority (or lack thereof) in optimizing algorithms for these operations.
3:00 pm: Break
3:15 pm: Binary Space Partitioning Trees - NaylorPartitioning Trees, a multi-dimensional generalization of binary search trees, provide a computational representation of geometry via recursive subdivision with hyperplanes defined by linear equations. Linearity and recursive subdivision lead to simple algorithms for visibility (hidden surface removal, transparency, shadows) as well as intersections (set operations, collision detection, clipping, ray-tracing). We will present a review of these capabilities as well as present new results on building multi-resolution trees, representing volumetric data, and integrating parametric surfaces into Partitioning Trees to permit local non-linear deformations.
4:15 pm: Building a Whole Geometry System - AllHaving presented each of the representational schemes, we will now be in a position to focus exclusively on the relation between the various representations and how one can build a single coherent geometry system that exploits the strengths of each and avoids their weaknesses. We will be able to draw upon the experience of several of the speakers who have built such integrated systems.
Voxels as a Computational Representation of Geometry, by Arie E. Kaufman, is missing from the printed notes. A PDF version can be downloaded here (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 431KB).
Courses | This Web Site
Final SIGGRAPH 96 Web site update: 25 October 1996.
For complete information on the next conference and exhibition, see: http/www.siggraph.org/s97/ | <urn:uuid:f42ba3f3-642f-4caf-90a9-3659d00bd4e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.siggraph.org/conferences/siggraph96/core/conference/courses/29.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890927 | 973 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Mini-Encyclopedia of Papermaking Wet-End
Additives and Ingredients, their Composition, Functions, Strategies for Use
Composition: The major component of "white pitch" sometimes observed in paper machine systems is latex binder from recycled coated broke. This can include styrene-butadiene resin (SBR), acrylic resins, and polyvinylacetate latex components. It also can contain the associated coating pigments, including clay, plastic pigments, calcium carbonate, and titanium dioxide. White pitch problems are often made more difficult due to mixing with wood resins, defoamer components, and other tacky materials in the furnish.
Function: White pitch can cause reduced papermaking efficiency due to felt filling and down-time required to clean up equipment.
Strategies for Use: It is highly recommended to do a chemical analysis. This may make it possible to determine the most likely root causes of the problem. One of the most general strategies for avoiding pitch problems is to keep the tacky materials bound to the fibers. This is one of the ideas behind a common practice of adding alum during or immediately after mechanical pulping. The alum complexes with any soaps of resin acids and fatty acids, and the presence of these complexes can serve to bind the multi-component droplets of pitch to the fiber surfaces. Addition of highly cationic polymers such as polyethyleneimine (PEI) to the process can have a similar effect. The relative turbidity of filtrate obtained from different points in the process can be used as an indication of the probable effectiveness of such treatments with cationic materials. It is very common also to add talc or another detackifying agent to coat tacky particles and minimize their tendency to form large agglomerates, deposits, or spots in the product. An effective retention aid system can help limit the filling of press felts with pitch.
Cautions: Safe procedures must be followed when collecting samples of pitch deposits. Equipment must be locked out and the air quality checked by qualified people before entering enclosed areas such as headboxes.
|Schematic explanation of why treatment of coated broke with a highly cationic polyelectrolyte can decrease pitch deposit problems|
PLEASE NOTE: Users of the information contained on these pages assume complete responsibility to make sure that their practices are safe and do not infringe upon an existing patent. There has been no attempt here to give full safety instructions or to make note of all relevant patents governing the use of additives. Please send corrections if you find errors or points that need better clarification.
RETURN TO INDEX PAGE OF ENCYCLOPEDIA
This page is maintained by Martin Hubbe, Associate Professor of Wood and Paper Science, NC State University, email@example.com . | <urn:uuid:e284859b-3a2c-42eb-a827-9c1c1098427c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www4.ncsu.edu/~hubbe/WPCH.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396959.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934129 | 578 | 2.71875 | 3 |
stress fracture is an incomplete break or crack in
a normal bone caused by repetitive trauma. While this injury
can occur after a short stress it is more commonly seen after longer
periods of continued trauma. If there is insufficient
rest between the traumas, the bone cannot rebuild. A small "stress"
fracture can go on to a full break. The pain is gradual
and intensifies with continued activity. Swelling is often seen.
An x-ray may not show signs of the break for the first 5-10 days
after the injury. Pain can be felt with direct pressure from above
and below. Another way of determining a fracture would be the use
of a tuning fork over the affected part. Pain may be felt due to
the vibrations of the fork, causing movement in the bone ends.
If pain and swelling does not subside within a few days and normal activities
also become difficult seek professional help.
Discontinue the activity
Elevate the affected part.
Non-impact aerobic activity (e.g swimming and cycling)
Cast (if necessary)
medications (preferably OTC) for pain and swelling
Silicone Dynamic Orthotics by reducing pronation can reduce the "torque" forces
which produce a stress fracture. | <urn:uuid:91b798f5-9562-4cb9-95cf-8683e01dff10> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.drkiper.com/stress_fractures.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900019 | 269 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Product Modelling using Semantic Web Technologies. Abstract This W3C Incubator Group (XG) seeks to enable the use of the (Semantic) Web for Product Modelling (PM): the definition, storage, exchange and sharing of product data.
Product data is information about the structure and behaviour of things that are realized in industrial processes. So principally product data is about things that are manmade, but it can also be about things in the natural world that interact with those industrial processes and/or its resulting products.
Typical products would include automobiles, airplanes, buildings, infrastructures, ships and other manmade complex products. This report describes the role and scope of product data, and initial work in two technical areas: Quantities, Units & Scales; and Product Structure - the decomposition of wholes in parts and the interconnection relationships between these parts. Status of this document This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication.
Table of Contents Abbreviations 1. Protege OWL tutorial at Manchester (School of Computer Science – The University of Manchester) What is an ontology and why we need it. Figure 8.
Hierarchy of wine regions. The "A" icons next to class names indicate that the classes are abstract and cannot have any direct instances. The same class hierarchy would be incorrect if we omitted the word “region” from the class names. We cannot say that the class Alsace is a subclass of the class France: Alsace is not a kind of France. However, Alsace region is a kind of a French region. Only classes can be arranged in a hierarchy—knowledge-representation systems do not have a notion of sub-instance.
As a final note on defining a class hierarchy, the following set of rules is always helpful in deciding when an ontology definition is complete: The ontology should not contain all the possible information about the domain: you do not need to specialize (or generalize) more than you need for your application (at most one extra level each way). For our wine and food example, we do not need to know what paper is used for the labels or how to cook shrimp dishes. Le guide du langage d'ontologie Web OWL. Recommandation du W3C du 10 février 2004 Cette version : Dernière version : Version précédente : Rédacteurs : Michael K.
Chris Welty, IBM Research, Deborah L. Veuillez consulter l'errata de ce document, lequel peut contenir des corrections normatives. Cf. d'éventuelles traductions. Copyright © 2004 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), tous droits réservés. Résumé Le World Wide Web dans son état actuel ressemble à une géographie avec de mauvaises cartes. Le langage d'ontologie Web OWL est conçu pour décrire des classes et leurs relations, lesquelles sont inhérentes aux documents et applications Web.
Ppt. Graph. TONES Ontology Repository. Welcome to the TONES ontology repository. About This repository is primarily designed to be a central location for ontologies that might be of use to tools developers for testing purposes. Usage The repository can be browsed here . The repository supports a RESTful interface. <Repository URL>/download? Example: Ontology file formats The default file format that will be served is . The repository also stores ontologies without entity annotations. What is the difference between RDF and OWL. | <urn:uuid:8b95d130-7c0f-4ac4-aeb3-d707f62246ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pearltrees.com/felixaverlant/owl/id2361400 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.710846 | 771 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Newspaper Page Text
PLAN TOWNS FOR WORKERS
Great Britain and Germany Are Ahead
of the United States in This
Henry Vivian, founder of the British
co-partnership tenants' housing coun
cil, told the City club of Chicago
of the great need for replacing tene
ments with comfortable, sanitary and
livable abodes for working people. He
pointed to the manner in which cot
tages are being provided for the work
ers of London and Liverpool on the
outskirts of those cities where suf
ficient light and air may be had.
Some of the housing ideas now used
In England for the welfare of workers
have been borrowed from the Ger
mans, wb . studiously lay out their
towns in such fashion that the great
majority of the residents are happily
accommodated. Mr. Vivian called Ger
many "the country which invented
In view of the increasing impor
tance attached to this problem the ex
position of city building, organized by
the city of Dusseldorf on the Rhine,
is of more than passing interest, as
the Scientific American points out.
The idea of the exposition has been
suggested by the decision of the city
to call for a general competition for
the building of Qreater Dusseldorf, the
outcome of extensive Incorporations
of neighboring communities. Dussel
dorf, the old and quiet town of art
and gardens, has, with surprising
rapidity, become an industrial center
of nearly 400,000 Inhabitants.
It was intended to exhibit such
plans of modern city builders as would
be received in connection with this
competition, but 5n order to avoid any
one-sided presentation of the subject
the municipality invited all the more
important communities of the western
provinces of Germany to participate in
a city exposition embracing all fields
of communal life. This invitation was
sent out to all townships having more
'than 10,000 inhabitants in Rhenania.
Westphalia and Hessen-Nassau, as
well as to some firms more directly |
connected with communal life. The
Dusseldorf exposition thus is a joint
intercommunal enterprise of the towns
and cities of western Germany, which
in its conception is entirely new.
About 600 exhibitors are sb wing near
ly 4,000 different objects grouped un
der city building, sanitary arrange
ments, hospital management, civil en
gineering and industry.
With its historical and modern town
pictures, its models and photographs
of remarkable monuments and build
ings, old and recent, its reproductions
relating to the designing of streets
and drainage plants, gas and water
supply, the exposition is nothing short
of an illustrated history ot German
towns, and is bound especially to ap
peal to those concerned with the char
acter of modern towns and their mani
fold tasks from a social, educational
and sanitary point of view.
Flowers in a Mill Yard.
In the large interior yard of a New
England foundry, in the center of an
area bare of verdure, surrounded by
the usual piles of pig iron scrap and
flasks, with their backing of bare
brick walls, is a great circular bed
full of foliage and flowering plants.
The effect is almost to startle the vis
itor, the contrast is so great. The gar
den is a striking illustration of the
tendency to make the environment of
the shop more and more attractive,
says the Iron Age. Good light and
pure air and conditions sanitary in
every way come first in putting into
practice the theory that labor cannot
be efficient where surroundings are
cot conducive to good health and gfcod
spirits. Partly for this reason manu
facturing plants began to be moved
from the city to the country, and it
has been demonstrated that the rea
son is even more Important than was
at first supposed. The Influence ' of
restful scenes framed by shop win
dows rather tends to output than to
lagging effort. For a kindred reason
mill engineers are giving greater at
tention to the color schemes of the in
terior of shops and factories.
The old-fashioned village life ls rap
idly fading in the United States. Back
In New England, away from large
cities, some of the quaint charm still
surrounds the primitive groups of vil
lage houses and the ever-present vil
lage "square." also a feature of all
English villages. For the population
village life means much more than
city life. Our Illustration presents a
view of the village of Braunton, said
to have been founded by St. Brannock,
an Italian missionary who went there
to labor A. D. 300. All those farming for
miles about live In the village, not upon
the land. Thus a village population
easily represents a larger area than
that of the larger cities. Early vil
lages in this country were founded for
"Worried?" a iked the friend.
"Terribly." rolled the grand opera
manger. "The >rima donna won't do
.anything .but k ck, and the premiere
danseuse insist? on making a 'hoi
COCOA AND CHOCOLATE
TWO READILY DIGESTED, HIGHLY
Have Real Food Value and Shouto
Take the Place of Tea or Coffee
for Children - Few With
Whom They Disagree.
Of the several beverages used at
meals cocoa and chocolate are the two
that have food value. Cocoa is th6
fruit of the cocoa tree, which grows in
abundance in the tropical countries.
Chocolate is made from cocoa beans
by the addition of sugar and some
Cocoa grows in the form of a bean
and several rows of these beans aro
held together in a single pod. When re
moved from the pod the beans are al
lowed to undergo a process of fermen
tation, called "sweating," and are then
exposed to the sun to dry in order t<
develop their fine flavor. Roughly
speaking, cocoa contains 22 per cent
of protein mattel"-that is, vegetable
meat; 29 per cent, of fat and nearly 39
per cent, of starch.
Together with the Bugar and milk
used In the preparation of the bever
age it becomes a highly nutritious aa
well as palatable drink, far superior to
either tea or coffee. Tea and coffee
are wholly devoid of all nutritive sub
stances. They are used entirely for
the flavor, and, moreover, they are
stimulants, and as such are frequently
harmful, while cocoa and chocolate
are practically free from any stimulat
ing effects. From what has been said
it ls easy to see that though relatively
cocoa and chocolate are dearer than
tea or coffee, yet aa foods they are
A very cheap form of cocoa ls that
made from cocoa shells. It Is prepared
In the usual way, and is nutritious as
well as cheap and wholesome. Cocoa
is adapted for the use of most people.
1 There are some with whom the bever
age does not agree well, and causes In
digestion. But this is the exception
rather than the rule. Children take
cocoa with benefit, and for them it
should always take the place of tea or
Vacuum Clothes Washer.
A vacuum clothes' washer le the
newest Invention to save labor In the
laundry. It operates on the vacuum
suction principle, supposedly releasing
the washwoman from the necessity of
rubbing the garments. All the clothes
to be washed are merely put in the
clothes boiler with Bhaved soap or
washing powder and water, and the
vacuum washer. When the water
reaches the boiling point lt is drawn
automatically from the bottom of the
boiler and forced up in a stream
through the clothes.
The vacuum washer ls made of
zinc which is polished, so that it will
neither rust nor corrode. It ls in fun
nel shape, and is made In ono elze
only. This, however, will flt any boil
er. It measures twelve and a half
Inches high and ten inches wide at
the mouth, and weighs two and a half
pounds. The price ls $2.50 without the
wash boiler, which must be purchased
sepl^ately. Any articles may be
washed with this device, from fine lin
gerie to the heaviest linens.
Rub thfe yolk of a hard-boiled egg
smooth with a tablespoonful of olive
oil, thert add a teaspoonful of salt, one
of cayenne, one of sugar and one of
made mustard, rubbing each in sepa
rately before another 1B added. Then
stir In half a pound of well grated
cheese. The cheese here used should
be old as possible without being
"high." After all these ingredients
are well worked together add a table
spoonful of onion vinegar and serve
with shredded lettuce or other green
Beef and Onion Pie.
Take 1% pounds lean beef about the
size at walnuts, stew gently in a small
amount of water till tender, season to
taste with salt and pepper, line the
sides of a good-sized pudding dish with
plain pastry, half AU it with sliced
onions, put meat on top, draining it
free from gravy; cover with buttered
paper and bake In a moderate oven
1% hours. When done beat the gravy
that was drained from meat, pour it
over the Are and serve at once.
To Clean Feathers.
Into a strong paper bag put about
one cupful of plain household flour and
half the quantity of powdered borax.
Shake well to thoroughly mix. Then
put the feathers in the bag and shake
gently.till clean. If very dirty, repeat
this process. This ia much more satis
factojy than using soap and water, as
lt saves recurllng.
Handkerchiefs and white clotheB
that have become yellow from use of
too much soap, or any other cause,
may be whitened in the following man
ner: Af"*r washing let them soak over
night in a tub of clear water, to which
ls added a teaspoonful of cream of tar
tar. When Ironed they will be a pure
For the Fire.
The nex* time your fire has almost
gone out try throwing a little granu
lated BUgar on it. which will have the
same effect as kerosene, but Ls not at
When Ironing Towels.
If you brush the fringe on your tow
els and tablecloths with a whiskbroom
before Ironing them, it will make them
light and fluffy.
RUNNING OF THE CHUTE
By NATHANIEL DICKENSON.
It waa with the bitterness of gall
that her captain swung the Marcus
Baldwin into the wharves of Blank
City.- Disappearing around the bend
below were the twin stacks of the
Queen of the River. Yes. the Marcus
Baldwin had been fairly beaten. To
the passengers and crew this had
been but a friendly race of boats, but
to the captains it had meant infinitely
Three miles below this landing was
the Chute and the locks through
which the steamers were lowered past
IL To the one first landing at Blank
ville, then, it meant first reaching the
city, a mlle below, owing to the long
delay at the locks. At the city a cer
tain young lady had said to these
two young captains but a week before
that he who first arrived on the re
turn trip could marry her.
Upstream there had been no race at
all, for the boats, being passenger
carriers, were booked to arrive and
leave on schedule days. So of the
down trip until that last day. Then,
with their destination within the hun
dred-mile mark and some half dozen
landings to make, it had been touch
and go; the Marcus Baldwin ahead
at one landing, the Queen of the Riv
er, by some turn of the wheel, at the
next Then had come that last long
stretch of some 20 miles, when the
Marena Baldwin,, ahead at the last
landing, had been overtaken at the
crucial point by her rival and the
dark featured De Witte had almost
danced In his exultation as his boat
crept by the other, while Banks had
eaten his soul out In sullen silence.
. And now the race was as good as lost
to him-and the giri. So, at least, he
reasoned, with the Queen of the River
as good as a the locks.
And he had given up hope as, her
freight aboard, the lines of the Mar
cus Baldwin were cast off and she
gathered way out into the stream.
Yet, the very fact that she was again
In motion fanned the dying Bpark.
Was there no hope? Had he left no
stone unturned? The Queen of the
River's engines might break down!
What If, her engines disabled, the
freshet current In the river should
carry her through the Chute? Yet,
boats had gone through that safely.
And with this thought Captain
Banks grew of a sudden quite dizzy,
for what had been done might be done
again, he reasoned. Ordinarily a good
ten feet of water ran in the Chute.
With the river at its pr?sent height
he could fairly count or. finding 15.
For a width of 100 feet the Chute was
clear of rocks, and the water ran In
great olly seas. Yes. it was possible,
yet the risk I A wrecked steamer,
lives lost, maybe! But when a man
loves as Banks did he throws cost to
A quarter of an hour later the Mar
cus Baldwin rounded the bend above
the Chute. Below her lay the locks.
Half way through these, Banka saw
the tall st?c?rs and upper structure of
the Queen of the River; a half hour
and she would be through them.
It needed but this to steady him in
his growing resolve.
"Wilson," he aald quietly to the
pilot, "I will take the wheel now; you
may go on bow."
With a six-mile current hurrying
her on and her engines forcing her
through lt at a 12-knot clip, the Mar
cus Baldwin swept on. As she neared
the Chute, Banka could see that the
atrong wind from the aouth had stir
red thia into a maelstrom of frothing
waters. Yet, there was not time to
turn now, even if he had BO wished.
On past the lock slip swept the steam
er. For a moment it seemed she hesi
tated on the brink of the yawning
Chute, paaaengera ahrlnking from her
forward decks In horror, then she
bowed majestically and plunged for
Before she had gone 100 yards she
sheered herself halfway across the
channel, ?Bting horribly the while.
With the energy of despair Banks
spun the wheel to meet her. Her
bow rose for the moment on a huge
created comber, and the rudder once
more controlling, she shot back across
the Chute, burying her stern to the
lower deck and sending the spray
clear over her Again Banks met her
erratic fllgt.., but to have her zig-aag
back across the storming current this
time, missing the white hill of a
8pray-drowned rock by the width of
This could not last Again she rose
for the charge. In the flash of a
glance Banka saw the crowded decks
of the rival ateamer in the laBt of the
locks as she drove by. Down plunged
the bows of his own hoat again, at
an angle which nearly broached her,
too, and in which passengers, crew
and even captain thought her last mo
ment had come in the shocking roar
of waters and blinding apray. Then
she rose, Blowly at first, and then as
a dog, shaking the water from her,
and swept into the calm water below
the rapids. Far astern, hopelesaly out
of the race, Banks Baw the Queen of
the River pulling out of the last of
the locks. .
And the captain'a reward?
A month later there waa a wedding.
(Copyright, by Dally Story Pub. Co.)
"The man I meet so often la the
library is a pedicurist"
"Then I suppose he is after tiie
works of Foote and Bunyan.'*
"Does your wife play bridge?'
"Yes, but then I generally bold
rood ooker bands."
Studebaker Automobiles I
I desire to inform the public that I have accepted
the agency for the celebrated Studebaker automo
biles, than which there are no better cars on the
market for the money.
Thev manufacture four or five sizes and stvles of
cars, but the mest popular are the two passenger
runabout and the four and seven passenger touring
cars. The manufacturers pride themselves upon
putting quality into their cars, just as they do in
their farm wagons. The word Studebaker stands
for merit and quality. Drop me a card if you con
template purchasing an automobile and I will call to
I G. D. MINIS, Clark's Hill, S. C
No better buggy made than the
Brookway. Have you ever used
one? Let us show you our stock.
Wilson & Cantelou.
The late models that are out in
the American lady corsets to fit all
figures, Rived Bros has and sells
When you want a good buggy
try a Tyson & Jones. They have
stood the test of Edgefield roads
Wilson ifc Cantelou.
A beautiful assortment of mat
ting art squares. They are cheap
er and more appropriate for the
summer season than the heavy
vool art squares. Buy one for
your front hall and you will not
Ramsev & Jones.
We can supply you with roof
paint, a good quality, in red and
black at 50 and lo cents per gallon.
Just as good quality as that which
Penn <fc Holstein.
A lot of odds and ends in summer
goods that can be found at Rives
Bros at a price-Adv.
A full supply of mineral water
always on hand. Can furnish either
Harris or Glenn Springs water.
Penn & Holstein.
For farm wagons there is noth
ing better made in this country
than the celebrated Studebaker
wagoBS. Ask the man who uses
one what his opinion is. Use a
Studebaker once and you will always
Wilson & Cantelou.
Boys dress and work shirts in all
Treat your eyes fairly. Do not
deny them the help of a pair of
glasses if they need it. Remember
you will need them for a long time.
Geo. F. Mims.
Men's and boys summer under
wear sold by Rives Bros.
Gun metal, patent leather, tan,
in lace or button, at cost.
Come in and look at a pair of
oxfords at cost.
Shoes of every style and quality
that are made of solid leather can be
found on sale at
IS YOUR CREDIT GOOD?
The Representatives of The ?
Merchants' Credit Co
Are Arranging for the Publication of a
FOR THIS DISTRICT AS A BASIS OF CREDIT
By this system each individual is placed on record
showing how many places they secure credit and
with what degree of promptness they pay their bills.
The book will show, not the financial standing, but
the credit standing? of everybody, man or wo
man, who trades on time, and as it is not a financial
rating the poor man who pays his bills promptly will
secure a higher rating than the man of means who
I NOW IS THE TIME TO PAY THE
OLD ACCOUNT AND SECURE A
Good Credit Rating, | <urn:uuid:efc4ffc1-2f96-4311-9b01-7a299fc556e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026897/1913-08-20/ed-1/seq-3/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939137 | 4,521 | 2.515625 | 3 |
and well-being of children and youth
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Housing affects the health of children and youth. One-third of households in Canada live in substandard conditions or in housing need. The present statement reviews the literature documenting the impacts of housing on personal health and the health care system. Types of housing need are defined, including unsuitable or crowded housing, unaffordable housing and inadequate housing, or housing in need of major repairs. The health effects of each type of housing need, as well as of unsafe neighbourhoods, infestations and other environmental exposures are outlined. Paediatricians and other physicians caring for children need to understand the housing status of patients to fully determine their health issues and ability to access and engage in health care. Recommendations and sample tools to assess and address housing need at the patient, family, community and policy levels are described. Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy. Recommendations also include advocating for enhanced action at all levels of government and for housing-supportive policies, including a national housing strategy.
Key Words: Determinants of health; Health advocacy; Housing; Public health; Social paediatrics
Housing directly affects the health of children and youth, including their ability to develop optimally and achieve life goals. One-third of households in Canada live in substandard conditions or in housing need, as defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (Table 1). Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy.
Paediatricians and other physicians caring for children can help their patients mitigate the health impacts of housing need in daily practice. Addressing the issue of housing need more broadly requires coordinated and collaborative effort among key sectors, including health professionals, social services, educators and all levels of government. Legislation in the form of housing-supportive policies and a national housing strategy would help establish safe, adequate, accessible, suitable and affordable housing for all families in Canada. Physicians caring for children have a responsibility to ensure that representatives at all levels of government understand the multiple impacts of housing need on child and youth health.
The present statement reviews the literature regarding the health impacts of housing, and how housing problems influence a family’s ability to access and engage with the health care system. The importance of understanding the housing status of patients is emphasized. How physicians can better assess a family’s housing situation in the clinical setting, and their role in addressing housing need when it is identified – at the patient, family and community levels – are examined. Finally, recommendations for advocacy initiatives, policies and legislation are made.
The term ‘housing need’ is used to describe substandard living conditions. Table 1 summarizes definitions and standards developed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to describe some forms of housing need in the Canadian context. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is a national housing agency that provides and facilitates housing policy and programs, housing research and mortgage loan insurance.
Not included in these terms are additional factors that also lead to housing need. These include:
Government-subsidized housing is provided by municipal governments to families and individuals who cannot afford local rents. Wait times for subsidized housing vary widely depending on the municipality, but can be several years. Accurate national data regarding wait times, wait lists and the number of households in need of subsidized housing are not available. However, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ estimates suggest several tens of thousands of families are waiting for subsidized housing in Canada.
|Types of housing need|
|Inadequate housing||In need of major repairs|
|Unsuitable housing (crowded)||Fails to meet the National Occupancy Standard requirements for number of bedrooms for the size and make-up of the household|
|Unaffordable housing||30% or more of gross household income spent on shelter costs|
|Unacceptable housing||Does not meet at least one of the standards of adequacy, suitability and affordability|
|Core housing need||Unacceptable housing and household would have to spend 30% or more of their gross household income to access acceptable housing in their community|
|Adapted from reference 2|
Living in housing need can negatively impact all aspects of child and youth physical, mental, developmental and social health.
The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth is a long-term study that follows the health, development and well-being of a cohort of Canadian children and youth, pairing these parameters with national census data. Compared with peers living in adequate housing conditions, children and youth living in inadequate and crowded housing exhibit a number of negative outcomes, including aggressive behaviours, property offences, diminished school performance, asthma symptoms and diminished overall health status. Other studies link inadequate housing with poor air quality and lead exposure, an increased risk for asthma, and exposure to health hazards and injury risks.
Crowded housing is associated with a wider and faster spread of communicable diseases, such as lower respiratory tract infections and gastroenteritis. Children and youth living in crowded housing conditions were also found to experience more psychological distress and helplessness, and to not perform as well in school.
High housing cost is one of the most frequently cited causes of hunger. Unaffordable housing is linked to food insecurity and inadequate childhood nutrition. One American study involving children from low-income families who rent in six urban centres revealed that receiving housing subsidies was associated with improved nutritional status, demonstrated by healthier weight-for-age percentiles.
Youth and families in housing need are more likely to move frequently, and may be forced to rely on temporary shelters or to stay with friends or family members (“couch surfing”). Children and youth who have moved ≥3 times in their lives are at a higher risk for experiencing emotional problems, repeating a grade, or being suspended or expelled from school. A 2013 position statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society, “Meeting the health care needs of street-involved youth”, addressed the problem of accessing health care for this vulnerable group.
Children and youth living with a disability in inaccessible housing often feel stranded in one part of the home and must rely on an adult to move them around. Inaccessible housing impacts a child’s or youth’s independence and mobility, and can negatively impact self-esteem. Inaccessible housing has also been associated with higher rates of unintentional injuries for individuals with mobility issues and their caregivers (ie, from falls, unsupported lifting and transfers).
Children and youth spend most of their time at home. Living in housing need can lead to prolonged exposure to environmental hazards. Exploratory behaviours and being physiologically more vulnerable to toxic effects on immature and developing organs, tissues and metabolic systems, means that children and youth are more susceptible to harmful environmental toxins than adults. Pests in the home, such as bedbugs, cockroaches and mice, have effects on physical and mental health. Bedbug bites can cause allergic reactions and secondary infections, and cockroach and rodent allergens are associated with worsening asthma. The presence of pests also increases exposure to the pesticides used to control infestations. Mental health effects of pests include anxiety and insomnia.
Housing need has been associated with lack of access to a safe water supply. In 2011, >1,800 First Nations homes in Canada did not have running water. In 2006, two-thirds of the First Nations reserves in Canada had drinking water systems that posed potential health risks, and 76 First Nations communities were under boil water advisories.
Children and youth who perceive their neighbourhood as unsafe or untrustworthy have been found to experience higher rates of anxiety disorders. Concerns about neighbourhood safety can also play a role in limiting their outdoor physical activity levels. Neighbourhoods with quality sidewalks and parks have been associated with less screen time and more physical activity among local children and youth.
Housing instability has been associated with lack of access to a primary health care provider. Crowded and inadequate housing have been associated with increased paediatric hospital admissions for respiratory tract illnesses.
Housing need costs the health care system and society at large, both directly and indirectly. One economic model estimated the direct cost of housing need on England’s public health care system, based on 2006 injury and illness data, to be UK£600 million per annum (approximately CAD$900 million). There has not been a comparable study performed in the Canadian context, but we know from associations described above, that significant health impacts result from living in housing need, which in turn increase demands on the health care system. Furthermore, unaffordable housing leaves limited resources for prescription medications and other uninsured health services, such as dental and vision care. In the United States, unaffordable and unstable housing have been associated with delayed use of prescribed medications and increased use of emergency departments.
According to 2006 census data, one-third of Canadian households were living in housing need. The incidence of core housing need was highest in the territories, with Nunavut having the largest need (37%). British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador were the provinces with the highest levels of core housing need.
A study conducted at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (Ottawa, Ontario) in 2005, revealed that 54% of children and youth accessing the emergency department lived in housing need. A study involving children and youth presenting to seven other Canadian paediatric emergency departments in 2011 found that slightly more than one-half, at 53%, were living in housing need (preliminary data, verbal communication). In both studies, unaffordable and unstable housing were the most-cited causes for housing need. Single-parent (lone-parent)-led families, families new to Canada, Aboriginal families and families of individuals with a physical, developmental or mental health disability were at greatest risk for experiencing housing need.
A 2013 Ipsos Reid poll suggested that as many as 1.3 million Canadians had experienced homelessness or extremely insecure housing at some point within the previous five years. There are approximately 15,467 permanent shelter beds in Canada, and in 2009 alone, an average of 14,400 were occupied each night. The number of children staying in shelters increased >50% between 2005 (6,205) and 2009 (9,459). The average length of a shelter stay for families was 50.2 days, more than triple the average stay for the total population of people who experienced homelessness in that same period.
Some populations are disproportionally affected by housing need. According to 2006 census data, more than one-half of First Nations individuals on reserves are living in inadequate or crowded housing. One-half of Inuit households are living in housing need, and more than one-third live in core housing need. Inuit households are about four times more likely to live in crowded housing compared with the general population. Recent immigrant households (living ≤5 years in Canada), lone-parent-led households and visible minority households are also at significantly higher risk for living in housing need.-
There is a strong association between housing need and living in poverty. In 2010, an estimated 14.5% of children in Canada were living in poverty, along with more than one-half (52.1%) of lone-mother-led-households with children <6 years of age, almost one-half (48%) of recent immigrant families, and one in four First Nations children. Children and youth from a visible minority or living with a disability are also at higher risk for living in poverty. In 2001, more than one-half of parents of children with a disability reported that their child’s condition had an impact on the family’s employment situation. On average, the households of children with a disability have 88% of the family income of the general population, while the costs associated with raising a child with a disability can be much higher.
Housing affects child and youth health. To fully comprehend the health care needs of patients, physicians must know whether they are living in housing need. They can then assess for associated health effects, adjust their risk assessment and ensure that older patients and parents are aware of the potential health effects of their housing situation. Knowledge of the impacts of their housing on their children’s health enables families to make more informed choices.
The way to determine whether patients are living with housing need is to ask. Paediatricians and other physicians caring for children should include an assessment of housing status as part of every patient history. There are many ways to screen for housing need. No particular screening or assessment tool has been validated at this time. One way to screen for housing need is by asking a single question, such as: “Do you have any concerns about where you live?” Another way is to use a screening tool. One example is the mnemonic HOME (Table 2), which was developed by the Ottawa Child/Youth Housing Advocacy Initiative and piloted in different clinical settings. This tool can help practitioners identify whether a more in-depth assessment of housing need is warranted. A questionnaire to guide in-depth assessment is also available.
Some organizations have recommended a broader screening approach by asking the question, “Do you have difficulty making ends meet at the end of the month?”- Physicians may consider asking this question and when they get a positive response, proceed to specific questions regarding housing concerns.
|Ottawa Child/Youth Housing Advocacy Initiative screening questionnaire for assessment of housing need|
|On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a difficult living situation and 10 being an ideal living situation), how would you rate where you are living now?
What would you like to make better about where you are living?
|Screening questions by topic (HOME):|
|Harm||Is your home in need of major repairs?|
|Occupancy||How many people live in your home, in how many rooms?|
|Moves||How many times has your child or youth moved? Have you used a shelter or informal, temporary housing such as staying with friends or family?|
|Enough/Income||Do you have enough money for housing, food and utilities?|
|Adapted from reference 39|
Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy. Paediatricians and other physicians caring for children are uniquely qualified to advocate for enhanced action from all levels of government for housing-supportive policies, including a national housing strategy. However, they also need to collaborate within the health care system, work with other sectors caring for children and youth, and engage with organizations involved in building community and housing support.
Addressing housing need is a complex process. Physicians can help policy makers recognize and act on the link between housing and health. By implementing a national housing strategy, the federal government can lead and facilitate the development of policies and programs to create and maintain enough affordable housing for all. Canada’s commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 included an obligation to ensure that everyone in Canada has access to housing that is adequate for health and well-being. Canada also ratified the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, which recognized the right of all children and youth to housing of a standard that enables full development. The Convention states that “governments shall assist parents (…) to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to (…) housing”. Housing-supportive policies at all levels of government will help ensure that Canada meets these longstanding obligations.
Physicians caring for children need to advocate for and work with children, youth and families experiencing housing need. To improve the health of children and youth long term, they must help ensure better access to safe, adequate, accessible, suitable and affordable housing for all. Evidence of recent success using collaborative approaches has been seen in Toronto, where the involvement of pro-bono lawyers with a multidisciplinary health team enabled direct housing support for patients, joint advocacy efforts and new social policy recommendations.
Health care providers can help families be more aware of how their housing situation impacts their health. When housing need is identified, physicians should support families in mitigating associated negative health impacts. They may need to modify management advice to optimize adherence (eg, not prescribing medications that require refrigeration for a family with no refrigerator, or tailoring advice about “tummy time” to include out-of-home locations, such as a community centre, for households living with a cockroach infestation). Physicians should be ready to connect a family in need with a local housing service, agency or professional who can facilitate their interactions with a difficult landlord or an application for subsidized housing. They need to be familiar – and interact if needed – with housing and related supportive services in their community.
Physicians should receive training and be prepared to evaluate and address housing need, both with patients and the broader community. Education on the health impacts of housing must to be incorporated into undergraduate and postgraduate medical curriculums in the future.
All levels of government need to develop and implement housing-supportive policies informed by a national housing strategy. Collaborative action should involve the following:
Paediatricians and other physicians caring for children are uniquely qualified to support and promote enhanced action by governments to develop and implement housing-supportive policies, including a national housing strategy. They should also:
Undergraduate and postgraduate medical training programs must ensure competencies in assessing and addressing housing need. Related research priorities include:
This position statement was reviewed by the First Nations, Inuit and Métis Health and Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committees of the Canadian Paediatric Society, as well as by Dr Elizabeth (Lee) Ford-Jones and representatives from the Canadian Child and Youth Health and Housing Network.
CPS COMMUNITY PAEDIATRICS COMMITTEE
Members: Carl Cummings MD (Chair); Umberto Cellupica MD (Board Representative); Sarah Gander MD; Barbara Grueger MD (past member); Julia Orkin MD; Larry Pancer MD; Anne Rowan-Legg (past member)
Liaisons: Krista Baerg MD; CPS Community Paediatrics Section
Principal authors: Sarah Waterston MD; Barbara Grueger MD; Lindy Samson MD
Disclaimer: The recommendations in this position statement do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or procedure to be followed. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate. Internet addresses are current at time of publication. | <urn:uuid:1ae7fe58-2c0d-4935-8da2-96726bb38281> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cps.ca/en/documents/position/housing-need | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959003 | 3,801 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Cancer researchers have discovered that a type of regulatory RNA may be effective in fighting ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer isn't typically discovered until it's in the advanced stages, where it is already spreading to other organs and is very difficult to fight with chemotherapy. This new discovery may allow physicians to turn back the clock of the tumor's life cycle to a phase where traditional chemotherapy can better do its job.
Scientists at the Ovarian Cancer Institute Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found in initial tests that a regulatory RNA called miR-429 may be successful in inducing metastatic or spreading cancer cells to convert back to a less metastatic, non-invasive form. The research appears online in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.
"Primary tumors are rarely fatal," said John F. McDonald, director of the Integrated Cancer Research Center in Georgia Tech's School of Biology and chief research scientist at the Ovarian Cancer Institute. "Most cancer patients succumb because the cancer metastasizes, and current chemotherapies are not designed to kill metastasizing cancer cells."
Cancer cells exist in two forms: epithelial cancer cells and mesenchymal cancer cells. The primary tumor is mostly comprised of rapidly dividing epithelial cancer cells that are "sticky" so they stay together, they're not mobile and generally not invasive. Cells at the edge of tumors often change into mesenchymal cancer cells; they lose their adhesiveness and become highly mobile and invasive, allowing the cancer to spread, or metastasize, to other areas of the body.
In the new trial, McDonald's lab used two ovarian cancer cell lines, one with epithelial characteristics, like primary tumor cells, and the other with mesenchymal traits, like metastasizing cancer cells. They used miR-429, one of a family of microRNAs previously implicated in epithelial to mesencymal changes in other cancers, to see if it could turn the mesenchymal cancer cells back into epithelial cancer cells. They found that miR-429 was highly successful in helping cells turn back the clock.
"We found that when we introduced miR-429 into the highly metastatic ovarian cancer cells, they became less invasive, less migratory and more like the cancer cells associated with primary tumors," said McDonald.
Currently the McDonald lab is testing to see if cells that have been treated with miR-429 to change from mesenchymal to epithelial cancer cells are more susceptible to chemotherapy than metastasizing cells that haven't undergone this change.
"We are hopeful that we have found an effective way to drive metastasizing ovarian cancer cells back to their primary cancer stage where they can be more effectively treated with existing chemotherapies." added McDonald.
|Contact: David Terraso|
Georgia Institute of Technology | <urn:uuid:87093f6f-bc1b-488e-8d2d-15aadbb6a23c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Discovery-may-lead-to-turning-back-the-clock-on-ovarian-cancer-17599-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945783 | 578 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Sewing Without A Pattern -
Beginning with a rectangular length of fabric - even an attractive bedsheet - you can sew shapes that may seem complicated but are not. The mysteries of a bias cut apron, of a circular cape that swirls, or of a round tablecloth that completes a bedroom ensemble, are not difficult to solve.
You will not need special equipment. Pins, tailor's chalk, pencil, ruler, and scissors are sufficient for measuring and marking the fabric and cutting out the shapes. A pencil at the end of a taut piece of string makes an adequate compass for describing a circle. If you need to make an adjustment in the size of any of the garments shown here, or if you want to determine the number and size of the sheets you will need for the room ensemble that comes later, it may be helpful to work out the proportions on a sheet of graph paper, making each square on the paper equal to an inch.
The Bias Cut Apron/Shawl
Making the bias cut calico apron is a good investment of time and energy because it can also be worn as a shawl or as a beach skirt knotted at one side of the waist.
The triangular shape of the apron is arrived at by folding a length of material on the diagonal, cutting along the fold, and rounding off the opposite tip. The ruffle is then made with two strips of fabric taken from the material remaining after the triangle has been cut. It is trimmed with lace, gatered, and attached. The longest side of the triangle becomes the apron waist. The ruffle begins 12 inches down from the points, freeing them to serve as ties.
The triangle is cut on the bias - the diagonal of the fabric (see figure A) - which is not the usual way to cut fabric. Woven fabric consists of two sets of threads, one running lengthwise called the warp and the other running crosswise called the weft. They cross each other at right angles. Usually fabric is cut along these straight thread lines for stability. but when fabric is cut on the bias, angling across the thread lines, it will stretch slightly when pulled. The bias cut of this apron lets it cling and mold itself to the body as it is tied into place.
You will need 1 and 2/3 yards of material for the apron and 3 and 1/4 yards of 1/2 inch wide lace for the trim. In order to cut a fabric triangle 28 inches long down the center front, not counting the ruffle, you will need material at least 45 inches wide. The long side of the triangle measured diagonally is 56 inches.
To obtain the basic apron triangle, with two sides equal, from a rectangular piece of fabric, fold the fabric diagonally. Measure and mark the desired length (28") from the bottom right hand corner. To obtain two bias strips 8 1/2" wide for the ruffle, measure and mark that width and twice that width along the fold line, connecting the points on the diagonal of the fabric, as shown.
Fold the aprons's triangular section to the left, pin it there temporarily, and cut along the diagonal fold.
To cut a perfect triangle from the length of fabric, fold the fabric as shown in figure B and cut along the fold. Round off the tip, as shown in figure A, by measuring 3 inches in from the tip on either side and cutting a freehand curve.
Ruffles are gathered strips of fabric used for trimming. By cutting them on the bias, you can make them produce softer folds than they would if cut along the lengthwise or crosswise threads. To make a ruffle of average fullness, use a strip of fabric 1 1/2 to 2 times the length of the edge to be trimmed. For the apron, cut two strips, each 8 1/2 inches wide and 56 inches long. round off one end of each strip by measuring 3 inches in from a corner and cutting a freehand curve. Join the two strips end to end with a French seam - figure C - so the raw edges will not be visible on the wrong side of the ruffle. With the wrong side of the two strips facing, stitch 1/4 inch in from the edge. Trim the seam allowance to 1/8 inch, turn the fabric so the right sides are facing, and stitch 1/4 inch in from the seamed edge to encase the raw edges of the seam allowances.
A French seam encloses raw edges to provide a neat finish. Firs, machine stitch the two pieces, wrong sides facing, 1/4 inch from the edge (top). Trim the seam allowance to 1/8 inch. Fold along the stitched line, right sides facing, and stitch again 1/4 inch from the fold to enclose the raw edges.(bottom)
To attach the lace trimming, turn up the raw edge 1/8 inch to the right side of the apron and stitch it. Then sew the lace on top.
With right sides facing, stitch the lace trimmed ruffle to the apron triangle 1/2 inch inside the latter's raw edge.
Fold over the 1/2 inch allowance twice, so its raw edge and the raw edge of the ruffle are enclosed. Then stitch close to the edge of this fold.
Making the Ruffle
It is not necessary to hem the raw edge of the ruffle before sewing on the lace trimming. Simply turn up the raw edge 1/8 inch, right sides facing, and stitch it down with invisible nylon thread.
To gather the ruffle, loosen the tension on the sewing machine slightly, and sew a row of stitches along the raw edge of the ruffle opposite the lace, 1/4 inch in from the raw edge. Knot one end of the threads, pull the bobbin thread at the other end with one hand to reduce the length from 112 inches to 52 inches, and arrange the fullness evenly with the other hand.
Finish the raw edge of the triangle across the top and 12 inches down on each side before attaching the ruffle. If your sewing machine has a hemming foot, it will double roll the edge for you. If not, fold under 1/8 inch of fabric and then a second 1/8 inch and stitch.
Join the ruffle to the triangle so the seam on the wrong side will have a clean finish. With right sides together, place the ruffle 1/2 inch in from the edge of the triange, pin it in place, and baste it with a loose running stitch before sewing a row of permanent stitches right over the basting and gathering stitches. Then turn under the 1/2 inch of fabric twice, and stitch it down so it encases the raw edge of the ruffle.
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Definitions for improvised
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word improvised
improvised, jury-rigged, makeshift(adj)
done or made using whatever is available
"crossed the river on improvised bridges"; "the survivors used jury-rigged fishing gear"; "the rock served as a makeshift hammer"
Simple past and past participle of improvise.
created by improvisation; impromptu; unrehearsed.
The numerical value of improvised in Chaldean Numerology is: 5
The numerical value of improvised in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
The alliance of love between a man and a woman, an alliance for life, cannot be improvised, and is not made in a day.
Isil tries to build a variety of improvised or homemade weapons but their effectiveness is limited against our technology.
I stepped on a bomb on Thanksgiving 2011, the ground was peppered with IEDs( improvised explosive devices) and we went down on an incline and I stepped right on it.
At that time, Austin Police noticed what appeared to be an improvised explosive device inside the vehicle. the officers noticed that the suspect was wearing some sort of vest.
A suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber detonated IEDs (improvised explosive devices) at a mosque in Ajilari and some insurgents also threw IEDs at a viewing center, total casualty figure is now 54.
Images & Illustrations of improvised
Translations for improvised
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for improvised »
Find a translation for the improvised definition in other languages:
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America’s new cap-and-trade system for energy as a result of the Waxman-Marxley legislation is designed to reduce energy use. It does this by increasing the price of energy through rationing — that is, putting a cap on energy use. After this cap is in place, the market must readjust to a new, higher cost of energy.
This is interesting because, as Time points out, health care is America’s second most energy-intensive industry.
Square foot by square foot, hospitals use twice as much energy as office buildings. Health care is the second most energy-intensive industry in the U.S., after food service and sales, with energy costs of $6.5 billion a year — a number that continues to rise. As the nation’s 78 million baby boomers age, their need for medical services will dramatically increase.
Since health care is so energy-intensive and the government is increasing the cost of energy, we can expect the costs of running hospitals and other health care facilities to go up, effectively increasing health care costs — just the latest example of government driving up health care costs. | <urn:uuid:5c3a3105-d023-470e-b454-256d21f8ee67> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mackinac.org/article.aspx?ID=11711 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958615 | 234 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Castle Dore is a defended settlement of Iron Age date.
Worcester (1415-1482) described the site as "a delapidated castle by the name of
Dirford, near Golant" and
Leland identified it as "Castledour".
The defences consist of a circular rampart set within an oval one;
both ramparts were constructed from material excavated from external
ditches. The ditch to the inner rampart survives well but that
associated with the outer rampart is now infilled on the west side
of the earthwork. Recent work by the Ordnance Survey indicates that,
apart from the entrances on the eastern sides of the two enclosures,
other breaches in the ramparts are modern.
McLauchlan carried out a detailed site survey and his plan,
published in 1849, shows three circular banks with an additional
outwork on the east side, in a field called Castle Meadow.
McLauchlan commented that this outwork was barely visible at the
time, and there is now no trace of it. Recently, however, traces of
two annexes were identified as cropmarks to the south and east of
the site on an aerial photograph. Of the ‘three circular banks’
recorded by McLauchlan, it is likely that the middle one is in fact
the result of the cleaning out and dumping of material from the
inner ditch, a common feature of such sites and known to
archaeologists as a ‘counterscarp bank’.
Parts of the interior and defences were excavated by
in 1936-37. He proposed that Castle Dore originated as a
multivallate site during the Iron Age and that the entrance was
altered during a long period of occupation. Some twenty Iron Age
round houses were revealed in the interior, representing three
phases of activity. The two best preserved houses had internal rings
of six posts to support the roof timbers and large post-holes were
interpreted as porches. Pottery from the excavations mainly
consisted of late Iron Age types such as ‘south-west decorated’
ware’ and ‘cordoned’ wares. Some abraded amphora sherds and a bead
were also recovered.
Radford's excavation in 1936-37 indicated that the two ramparts were
of glacis construction and of equal size. During the occupation of
the hillfort, the site was strengthened by raising the inner bank to
2.5m high and adding a stone revetment to its outer face. At the
same time the access through the inner rampart was re-designed by
creating an inturned entrance which would have been easier to defend
against attack. The entrance through the outer rampart was not
excavated. A roadway linked the two entrances, flanked by banks and
ditches on either side, with gaps allowing access to the
inter-rampart spaces on each side.
Radford considered that a number of roughly parallel lines of post
holes which he discovered during the excavations were the remains of
a ‘Dark-Age timber hall’ with an attached kitchen; this he
interpreted as the palace of King Mark. The amphorae sherds and the
bead were also assigned to this phase of the occupation. However,
the archaeological evidence for Dark Age activity was extremely
scant, and when
Quinnell and Harris re-examined the evidence from
the excavations, they concluded that all structural phases,
including the supposed Dark Age hall, and almost all the finds, fall
between the 5th BC to the 1st century AD. The parallel lines of post
holes were re-interpreted as a series of four-post above ground
granaries. The bead has been re-dated by Fitzpatrick to between the
mid-3rd to later-1st centuries BC, and the amphora sherds from
the 2nd century BC to the end of the 1st century AD. It seems that
no post-Roman finds came from the site.
The area around the site was the scene of a civil war battle in
It is possible to park in a small lay-by to the south of the site
from where the monument can be reached by a short walk back along
the B3269 road to a gateway on the west side of the fort. This is a
busy road, however, and great care should be taken. Access over the
site is permitted by the owner, although there is no formal right of
Leland, J, 1540. The Itinerary of John Leland.
Harvey, J, 1969 (Ed). Itineraries of William of Worcestre.
McLauchlan, H, 1849. Unknown Title, pp 29-31. RRIC.
Quinnell, H and Harris, DG, 1985. Castle Dore - The Chronology
Reconsidered in Cornish Archaeology 24, pp123-131.
Radford, CAR, 1951. Report on excavations at Castle Dore.
Rahtz, P, 1971. Castle Dore - A Reappraisal of the Post-Roman
Structures in Cornish Archaeology 10, pp49-54. | <urn:uuid:e30947fc-c7c4-4d8a-a5be-c07e7b7ff7dd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/a2m/iron_age/hillfort/castle_dore/castle_dore.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966714 | 1,117 | 3.765625 | 4 |
It’s dark and wet out there – no wonder you have the blues. When the winter rains and dark days return, many people experience a change in mood — and not of the happy, joyous type.
“Everyone goes through an adjustment when the weather changes, especially in a place where the weather prevents us from going outside and getting exercise,” said Allison Taylor, a licensed clinical social worker from Samaritan Mental Health.
Generally, we experience the winter blues as an overall decrease in energy and increase in stress. We also participate less in social and physical activities.
Most of us will adjust in time. For others, the winter blues get in the way of work, school or relationships. That’s a good time to call your primary care provider and share your concerns.
To understand your own seasonal pattern, maintain an awareness of your stress and mood over time. “We remember the highs and lows but not the overall pattern,” said Taylor. “Better self-knowledge helps you understand if you are going through your normal seasonal adjustment or something more.”
Taylor offers these tips to help cope with the winter blues:
- Continue to eat a healthy diet
- Exercise for 30 minutes at a time, three times a week
- Take time daily to quiet your mind
- Go outside as often as you can
- Continue social engagements
- Acknowledge your moods and emotions as they occur | <urn:uuid:4a6c57ae-f9be-412b-b49f-0dc882486ebd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.samhealth.org/aboutus/newsevents/featuredarticles/Pages/Winter-Blues.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953297 | 296 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Raising Earth Worms
It’s funny, I spend so much time reminding people that ‘regular’ soil worms are not well suited for worm composting, yet here I am talking about raising ‘earthworms’. Be assured that the term ‘earthworm’ refers to a wide assortment of different worms, including those used for composting, and does not in fact solely refer to the ‘worms of the earth’ (aka the soil dwellers).
With that out of the way, let’s now talk about how to properly raise worms. I think a lot of people forget about the fact that they are essentially taking care of a living breathing creature – a large number of them in fact – when they start up a worm composting (or worm farming) system. In general, most of the composting worm species are quite tolerant of less-than-ideal conditions, but for the optimal performance of your worm system, your wiggly friends need to have their needs met.
The following is a basic (and brief) guide to the conditions required to raising earthworms effectively. Be assured, I will continue to add more to this page over time.
So what exactly do the worms need?
3) A Food source
These are the major requirements (in no particular order) when it comes to taking care of your worms. Let’s now chat about each of them in more detail.
Earthworms breathe through their skin and thus need to stay moist at all times. Anyone who has had worms crawl out of their bins will know from experience that they can shrivel up and die relatively quickly, so it is vitally important to make sure that the material in yoru worm bins/beds never dries up – in fact, you should be keeping your bedding as moist as possible. That being said, moisture content can be a double-edged sword. Too much moisture can interfere with one of the other mentioned requirements – oxygen! Water can only hold a certain amount of oxygen (a lot less than air), and as such can go ‘anaerobic’ (ie lose its oxygen) quite quickly – especially in the case of organically-rich liquids which are full of oxygen consuming microorganisms.
Many people refer to the ideal moisture content of a worm bin as being similar to that of a “wrung out sponge”. This is an easy do-it-yourself determination of moisture content that has been borrowed from the composting (ie ‘regular’ composting – not worm composting) field. Research has actually shown that composting worms typically prefer a moisture content higher than that typically recommended for thermophilic composting – even as high as 80-90% (Edwards & Lofty, 1996). That being said, the ‘wrung out sponge’ level of moisture is almost certainly a better approach – especially for those with limited worm composting experience – since it can be very easy to end up with too much moisture in your bin. This is especially true when using sealed plastic bins.
Red Worms (Eisenia fetida) are certainly amongst the most cold-hardy of the composting worms. According to Glenn Munroe, author of the ‘Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture’ (you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to view), adults of this species have been known to survive being encased in frozen material, and that cocoons are well adapted to survive sub-zero temps for extended periods. I know from personal experience that it is relatively easy to keep a population of Red Worms alive outdoors over the winter with some protection from the cold. Of course, keeping the worms alive is far different than providing them with the requirements for optimal performance! Interestingly enough, optimal temperatures for breeding can be a fair bit different than those for overall worm growth. According to Edwards (1988), the optimal temperature range for breeding Eisenia fetida (red wigglers) is 15-20C (59-68F), yet maximum growth (weight gain) occurs closer to 25C (77F). A similar pattern is reported for other species as well. Speaking of other species, I should also mention that the tropical composting species, such as the African Nightcrawler (Eudrilus eugeniae) and the Blue Worm (Perionyx excavatus) will actually die at temperatures below 10C (50F).
On the other end of the spectrum are the upper limits for worm survival. Eisenia fetida once again outshines the competition, tolerating bed temperatures reportedly as high as 43C (109.4F) according to Reinecke et al. (1992). That being said, it is definitely best to avoid letting your worm bed temperatures go above 30C (86F) whenever possible, as the success of your worms will decline markedly past this point.
As I’ve discussed elsewhere on the site, it is actually the microorganisms growing on waste materials that provides the main source of nutrition, not the material itself – but of course the worms do manage to slurp up the rotting material in the process. This is the reason I highly recommend setting up your worm bin (with bedding and ‘food’) well before you even get your worms. By the time you add the worms to the system there will be a very rich microbial community waiting. Ever since starting to take this approach myself I had no problems with worms trying to escape from a new bin.
The best food sources are therefore the materials that support the richest microbial population. This helps to explain why animal manures are pretty well the best material to grow composting worms in! One important factor to keep in mind when considering the potential of various waste materials is the carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratio. Generally speaking, a C:N in the range of 20:1 to 30:1 is going to be ideal (similar to thermophilic composting). Below this range there is the tendency for nitrogen to be lost as gaseous ammonia; above this range decomposition can proceed more slowly, with N being the limiting factor.
Worms prefer it dark – there is no doubt about it! In fact, extended periods in direct sunlight can kill worms. One of the commonly used techniques for keeping worms in a new bin relies on this very principle. If you find that your wigglers are attempting to migrate out of the bin (and don’t notice any obvious hazard that is causing the stress) you can generally keep them where they are by shining a light directly overhead!.
Some guideliness for maintaining darkness for your worms can include using opaque (ie not ‘see-through’) containers, keeping your worm systems in low light areas (not really necessary if you take other measures), and providing ample bedding material to help block out the light. Don’t let this scare you too much though – you can still play with your worms from time to time without harming them.
If you are keen to observe your worms for extended periods (ideal for a classroom setting) you can set up your own ‘dark room’ using red lights (this wavelength of light does not bother worms).
While way more tolerant of low O2 concentrations than us, composting worms are still aerobic organisms, thus it’s important to make sure your worm bin doesn’t go anaerobic on you. You need to be especially cautious when using plastic containers, since they do not ‘breathe’ the way some other materials (such as wood) do. If you are using a homemade plastic tub worm bin you should probably drill some holes in the top and sides (1/8″ drill bit should work well) – you don’t need to go too overboard though – obviously you don’t want the contents of the bin to dry out, or to let too much light in. If you have some sort of catch tray or lower reservoir (as shown in my ‘deluxe’ worm bin video), drilling some drain holes in the bottom of your bin (perhaps 2-4) will help alleviate the potential for water pooling in the bottom of your bin.
Another great way to encourage increased oxygenation is the use of bulky bedding materials like shredded cardboard, paper and leaves (although paper can sometimes become matted down, thus impeding air flow). This allows air to reach the inner zones of the composting mass, where the worms are typically hanging out. The choice of container for your worm bin is also an important consideration. You will want a container that has a high surface area to volume ratio. A relatively shallow Rubbermaid tub for example, is much better than a bucket since it encourages much greater air-flow throughout the materials contained inside.
The activity of the worms themselves will also aid in aerating the system, so unlike a hot composting pile, you won’t ever need to ‘turn’ your worm systems.
So there you have it! As you can see, successfully raising your worms depends on a small handful of important considerations. If you master these variables you’ll be amazed with the success of your worm population!
Once again, I will definitely be adding more to this page over time so be sure to check back periodically – or better yet, sign up for my newsletter and be kept up to date on all the new and exciting developments on the site!
Edwards, C.A. 1988. Breakdown of animal, vegetable and industrial organic wastes by earthworms. In: Earthworms in waste and environmental management. Edwards, C.A. & Neuhauser, E.F. (eds). SPB Academic Publishing Co, The Hague, pp. 21-31.
Edwards, C.A. and P.J. Bohlen. 1996. The biology and ecology of earthworms (3rd Edition). Chapman & Hall, London, 426pp.
Reinecke, A.J., Viljoen, S.A. and R.J. Saayman. 1992. The suitability of Eudrilus eugeniae, Perionyx excavatus and Eisenia fetida (Oligochaeta) for vermicomposting in Southern Africa in terms of their temperature requirements. Soil Biology & Biochemistry 24(12): 1295-1307.
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You are in a room with three light switches, each of which controls one of three light bulbs in the next room. Your task is to determine which switch controls which bulb. All lights are initially off, and you can't see into one room from the other. You are allowed only one chance to enter the room with the light bulbs. How can you determine which lightswitch goes with which light bulb?
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The HOW TO of Alphabetics Scripture Word-Number Code
Studies. Looking up names, numbers, people, places for a scripture-based
-- b o o k m a r
k t h i s p a g e --
Alphabetics on 888 (Jesus) --
and 888 on Alphabetics
This simplified document was created for the purpose of
introducing the Alphabetics code to those unfamiliar with it. A look at many
of the occurrences of 888 is used to illustrate the various means of looking
things up, and to show the insights obtained through such studies.
The following principles, methods and resources are meant to assist you as
you undertake to employ Alphabetics as a tool of learning.
These descriptions also serve the purpose of helping you better understand
where I am coming from in the studies I have posted here at Greater Things web
|Liken to Us:|
All things testify of Christ. All things. That is all
Wherever you turn, you can find parallels and analogies that can assist you
in your life and your understanding of society if you will yield to the Lord
in humility, ask in faith, and let his Spirit guide you.
The lessons in some things are more readily apparent than in others.
But nothing is devoid of a message of truth if we turn it to the Lord.
Inasmuch as God has equated himself with the "Word," turning to
words, especially from the scriptures, their spelling, their meaning, their
usage, the numbers associated with them, and even the pages on which they
occur, is sure to be a rich source of meaningful truth.
|Left Brain and Right Brain|
Like in any other mode of receiving greater light and knowledge from God,
with Alphabetics you need to engage both the left-brain analytic abilities and
the right-brain creative juices to get the most out of your studies and
|Let the Spirit be Your Guide|
The most important thing of all is that you engage in these studies with
faith in the Lord, asking that the Spirit of God be your companion as you
|The Miracle of Synchronicity|
While any two things could be compared and analogies and lessons derived, a
characteristic feature of Alphabetics is that the degree of applicability
usually is much more along the lines of "a match made in
heaven." For example, when I looked up word 33 in Greek a couple of
years ago to see what commentary I might derive about my life at the time,
insamsuch as I was then 33, the fact that the Greek word is age
goes far beyond a remote coincidence. I could then feel more confident
in applying that word's meaning, "go," in my own life in the spirit
of the admonition given Isaiah, "Go, tell these people...," a
calling which is already applicable to anyone, but which few dare fulfill.
|Our Callings in Life|
Everyone has a calling in life, based on their talents and their
weaknesses. The Alphabetics word-number studies are a powerful tool in
helping us discover our divine gifts, overcome our weaknesses, and carry out
our missions. Most importantly, they help us come to know God, as we
come to realize that each of us is a part of the body of Christ, that his mind
might be in us, and that we might dwell in him, perfected in him.
name to Greek/Hebrew | Calculate
sum of letter values | ASCII code | mnemonic/phonetic | chiasm/parallel | divide
"What's in YOUR name?"
to report problems or here
to learn how to install this code on your site.
|Convert a name to a Greek
or Hebrew spelling to look it up alphabetically in the Old or
New Testament Lexicon.
|A basic faculty with the Hebrew and Greek alphabets is helpful but not
to see the English, Hebrew, and Greek alphabets side-by-side.|
|Calculate the sum
of letter values spelling a word according to its Greek or
Hebrew spelling, then look up that number in its various locations.
to see the numeric values for each of the Hebrew and Greek letters.|
|Look up a word or name's ASCII code
numeric value, then look up that number.
here for a program that converts names, words, phrases
into a number into
|ASCII [best place to get a number conversion for your e-mail
address or website URL]|
|Straight Alphabetic Conversion (a=1)|
|Alphabetic plus 100 conversion|
|Alphabetic times 6 conversion|
|Alphabetic times 6 reverse conversion|
|click here to see a
|click here to go
to a web site that enables you to enter a word or phrase and then
calculate its alphabetic value.|
|click here to see sample
write-up: "Why HOLY BIBLE = 666 in ASCII code"|
|Convert the spelling of a word to numbers by reversing the mneumonic phonetic
memorization scheme for memorizing numbers.
|The standard scheme is usually used to convert numbers to words
whereby a number can thus be memorized by creating a word or phrase from
the letter-equivalents of the numbers.|
|click here to see chart showing
|Look for chiasms or parallels
in alphabetic listings of words.
|click here to see an
index of Alphabetics chiasms/parallels|
|Divide a number in half or 1/3 or
2/3 or 1/4 or 3/4 and see what the words associate with those numbers mean.
|For example, my previous phone suffix, 9155, was too big to look up,
so I divided it by 2. Word 4577.5 in Gesenius' OT lexicon is on
page 491, which happened to be the phone suffix for that phone number.|
|Your name in
|Be willing to be creative in the possibilities. Go with your
intuition, but don't leave common sense behind.|
|In the mouth of two or three witnesses|
The discoveries you make in Alphabetics Word Studies should be borne out by
additional witnesses from other sources, such as direct scriptural statements.
|Take the Spirit for Your Guide|
These things in no way should replace the process of personal revelation in
which truths are borne to our minds and our hearts through the power of the
Holy Ghost. They are but a tool to facilitate that process.
|Agency is Supreme|
God will honor your agency. If you desire to do a deception, he will
endeavor to influence you otherwise, but ultimately will allow you to get
caught up in a delusion. Make sure, therefore, that you are
striving first and foremost to align your life with God's will, that your will
might become one with God, for it doesn't go the other way around.
|The BibleBible, King James Version,
published by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1979.|
| James Strong; Exhaustive
Concordance of the Bible; Hendrickson Publishers, ISBN
Now from Amazon.com|
Spiros; Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament AMG
Publishers, Chattanooga, TN 37422; 1992. ISBN 0-89957-663-X. Purchase
Now from Amazon.com|
| H.W.F. Gesenius;
Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon of the Old Testament;
Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI 49516; 1979. ISBN: 0-8010-3736-0 (softcover)
Purchase Now from Amazon.com|
|English Dictionary (whatever happens to be lying
about the house).|
|Virginia S. Thatcher, Alexander McQueen; The New Webster Encyclopedic
Dictionary of the English Language; Consolidated Book
Publishers, Chicago, 1971. ISBN
New International Dictionary, 3rd
Ed., Unabridged; G. & C. Merriam Company (established,
1831), Springfield 2, Massachusetts, U.S.A.; 1961. [huge library edition]|
|Webster's II: New
Riverside Dictionary; Berkley Books, NY, 1984. ISBN:
|Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh; The Alef-Beit: Jewish Thought
Revealed through the Hebrew Letters; Jason Aronson Inc.,
Northvale, New Jersey & London; 1995; ISBN 1-56821-413-8. Purchase Now from Amazon.com|
| Joe Sampson; Written by the Finger of God: Decoding
Ancient Languages: A Testimony of Joseph Smith's Translations;
Wellspring Publishing and Distributing, P.O. Box 1113, Sandy, UT 84091;
1993; ISBN 1-884312-05-5.|
|Books that Employ Alphabetics-Related Methods
|Infobases (Scripture Search software); Infobases, Inc., 305
N. 500 W., Provo, UT 84601-2644; (801) 375-2227. Visit web site at
contents not necessarily endorsed by Greater Things | <urn:uuid:a06d9826-c133-4b61-9ba4-831b6e2d730e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.greaterthings.com/Intro/alphabetics_tools.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00073-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.855146 | 1,987 | 2.5625 | 3 |
homestead 1) n. the house and lot of a homeowner which the head of the household (usually either spouse) can declare to be the principal dwelling of the family and thereby exempt part of its value (based on state statutes) from judgment creditors. A similar exemption is available in bankruptcy without filing a declaration of homestead. 2) v. jargon for filing a declaration of homestead, as in "he homesteaded the property."
Homestead laws exist in many states in the United States generally serves two main purposes:
1. to prevent forced sale of the home by creditors
2. to provide a surviving spouse and family with shelter
An act passed by Congress in 1862 promising ownership of a 160-acre tract of public land to a citizen or head of a family who had resided on and cultivated the land for five years after the initial claim. A homestead is one's primary residence no matter where they live. It can be a farm, with the buildings around it, or any place of abode such as a shack, villa, boat, condo or tent.
Florida Homestead Act: To claim homestead is to establish ownership of previously owned or unowned property in writing.
Florida - The Homestead Act of 1862 was originally passed by the U.S. Congress. It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence. The land could also be acquired after six months of residence at $1.25 an acre. The government had previously sold land to settlers in the west for revenue purposes. As the west became politically stronger, however, pressure was increased upon Congress to guarantee free land to settlers (see Foot Resolution offered in 1829 by Samuel Augustus Foot in the U.S. Senate). This resolution instructed the committee on public lands to inquire into the limiting of public land sale. The Jacksonian Democrats, who wished to encourage migration to the West, opposed the resolution. The New England manufacturing interests, who demanded a ready labor supply, backed it. When the Foot statute passed in 1841 by the U.S. Congress in response to the demands of the Western states that squatters be allowed to preempt lands.
Pioneers often settled on public lands before they could be surveyed and auctioned by the U.S. government. At first the squatter claims were not recognized, but in 1830 the first of a series of temporary preemption laws was passed. Several bills providing for free distribution of land were defeated in Congress. In 1860 a bill was passed in Congress but was vetoed by President Buchanan. With the ascendancy of the Republican party (which had committed itself to homestead legislation) and with the secession of the South (which had opposed free distribution of land), the Federal Homestead Act, sponsored by Galusha A. Grow, became law. In 1976 it expired in all the states but Alaska, where it ended in 1986.
In US history, an act of Congress in May 1862 that encouraged settlement of land in the west by offering plots of up to 65-ha/160-acres, cheaply or even free, to citizens aged 21 years and over, or heads of family. In return, they had to promise to stay on the plot for five years, and to cultivate and improve the land, as well as build a house. The law was designed to prevent people from controlling vast amounts of land in order to make a quick fortune. By 1900 about 32 million ha/80 million acres had been distributed. Homestead lands are available to this day.
Homesteaders could buy their land after living on it for six months for $1.25 per acre, or they could expand the amount of land by paying $50 for 16 ha/40 acres, a huge amount of money at that time. A later act allowed homesteaders to file a timber claim, which allowed them to get another 65 ha/160 acres free if they planted at least 4 ha/10 acres in timber producing trees. The soil in the Plains area was very hard to plough, and the settlers were unable to plant very much until John Deere invented the Grand Detour steel plough, which had a suitably tough blade.
HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTION LAWS are laws (principally in the United States) designed primarily either to aid the head of a family to acquire title to a place of residence or to protect the owner against loss of that title through seizure for almost any debt. These laws have all been enacted in America since about the middle of the 19th century, and owe their origin to the demand for a population of the right sort in a new country, to the conviction that the freeholder rather than the tenant is the natural supporter of popular government, to the effort to prevent insolvent debtors from becoming useless members of society, and to the belief that such laws encourage the stability of the family.
By the cessions of several of the older states, and by various treaties with foreign countries, public lands have been acquired for the United States in every state and territory of the Union except the original thirteen, and Maine, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. For a time they were regarded chiefly as a source of revenue, but about 1820, as the need of revenue for the payment of the national debt decreased and the inhabitants of an increasing number of new states became eager to have tile vacant lands within their bounds occupied, the demand that the public lands should be disposed of more in the interest of the settler became increasingly strong, and the homestead idea originated. Until the advent of railways, however, the older states of the North were opposed to promoting the development of the West in this manner, and soon afterwards the Southern representatives in Congress opposed the general homestead bills in the interests of slavery, so that except in isolated cases where settlers were desired to protect some frontier, as in Florida and Oregon, and to a limited extent in the case of the Pre-emption Act of 1841, the homestead principle was not applied by tile national government until the Civil War had begun. A general homestead bill was passed by Congress in 1860, but this was vetoed by President James Buchanan. Two years later, however, a similar bill became law.
The act of 1862 originally provided that any Citizen of the United States, or applicant for citizenship, who was the head of a family, or twenty-one years of age, or if younger, had served not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States during an actual war, might apply for 160 acres or less of unappropriated public lands, and might acquire title to this amount of land by residing upon and cultivating it for five years immediately following, and paying such fees as were necessary to cover the cost of administration. A homestead acquired in this manner was exempted from seizure for any debt contracted prior to the date of issuing the patent. A commutation clause of this act permitted title to be acquired after only six months of residence by paying $1.25 per acre, as provided in the Pre-emption Act of 1841. Act of 1872, amended in 1901, allows any soldier or seaman, who has served at least ninety days in the army or navy of the United States during the Civil War, the Spanish-American War or in the suppression of the insurrection in the Philippines, and was honorably discharged, to apply for a homestead, and permits the deduction of the time of such service, or if discharged on account of wounds or other disability incurred in the line of duty, the full term of his enlistment, from the five years otherwise required for perfecting title, except that in any case he shall have resided upon and cultivated the land at least one year before the passing of title. Since 1866 mineral lands have been for the most part excluded from entry as homesteads.
In accordance with the provisions of the homestead law, 718,930 homesteads, containing 96,495,414 acres, were established in forty-two years, and besides this principal act, Congress has passed several minor laws of a like nature, that is, acts designed to benefit the actual settler who improves the land. Thus the Pre-emption Act of 1841 gave to any head of a family or any single person over twenty-one years of age, who was a citizen of the United States or had declared his intention to become one, permission to purchase not to exceed 160 acres of public lands after he had resided upon and improved the same for six months; the Timber-Culture Act of 1873 allowed title to 160 acres of public prairie-land to be given to any one who should plant upon it 40 acres of timber, and keep the same in good growing condition for ten years; and the Desert-Land Act of 1877 gave to any citizen of the United States, or to any person who had declared his intention to become one, the privilege of acquiring title to 640 acres of such public land as was not included in mineral or timberlands, and would not without irrigation produce an agricultural crop, by paying twenty-five cents an acre and creating for the tract an artificial water-supply.
These several land acts, however, invited fraud to such an extent that in time they promoted the establishment of large land holdings by ranchmen and others quite as much as they encouraged settlement and cultivation, and so great was this evil that in 1891 the Timber-Culture and Pre-emption Acts were repealed, the total amount of land that could be acquired by any one person under the several land laws was limited to 320 acres, the Desert-Land Act was so amended as to require an expenditure of at least three dollars an acre for irrigation, and the original Homestead Act was so amended as to disqualify any person who was already proprietor of more than 160 acres in any state or Territory of the Union for acquiring any more land under its provisions; and in 1896 a residence of fourteen months was required before permitting commutation or the purchase of title. But even these measures were inadequate to prevent fraud. In 1894 Congress, in what is known as the Carey Act, donated to California, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico and the Dakotas so much as 5 million acres each of desert-lands as each should cause to be irrigated, reclaimed and occupied within ten years, not less than 20 acres of each 160 acres to be cultivated by actual settlers; and in several of these states and territories’ irrigating companies have been formed and land offered to settlers in amounts not exceeding 160 acres to each, on terms requiring the settler to purchase ample and perpetual water-rights. In 1902, Congress appropriated the proceeds of the sales of public lands in these states and territories to form a reclamation fund to be used for In 1901 it was provided that the ten years should date from the segregation of the lands from the public domain.
The construction and maintenance of irrigation works, and lands reclaimed by this means are open to homestead entries, the entry man being required to pay for the cost of reclamation in ten equal annual installments without interest. When Texas was admitted to the Union the disposal of its public lands was reserved to the state, and under its laws every person who is the head of a family and without a homestead may acquire title to 160 acres of land by residing upon and improving it for three years; every unmarried man eighteen years of age or over may acquire title to 80 acres in the same way.
A short time before the National Homestead Act for aiding citizens to acquire homesteads went into operation, some of the state legislatures had passed homestead and exemption laws designed to protect homesteads or a certain amount of property against loss to the owners in case they should become insolvent debtors, and by the close of the century the legislature of nearly every state in the Union had passed a law of this nature. These laws vary greatly. In most states the exemption of a homestead or other property from liability for debts can be claimed only by the head of a family, but in Georgia it may be claimed by any aged or infirm person, by any trustee of a family of minor children, or by any person on whom any woman or girls are dependent for support; and in California, although the head of a family may claim exemption for a homestead valued at $5000, any other person may claim exemption for a homestead valued at $1000. In some states exemptions may be claimed either for a farm limited to 40, 50, 160 or 200 acres, or for a house and one or more lots, usually limited in size, in a town, village or city; in other states the homestead for which exemption may be claimed is limited in value, and this value varies from $500 to $5000.
With the homestead are usually included the appurtenances thereto, and the courts invariably interpret the law liberally; but many states also exempt a specified amount of personal property, including wearing apparel, furniture, provisions, tools, libraries and in some cases domestic animals and stock in trade. A few states exempt no homestead and only a small amount of personal property. Maryland , for example, exempts only $100 worth of property besides money payable in the nature of insurance, or for relief, in the event of sickness, injury or death. To some debts the exemption does not usually apply; the most common of these are taxes, purchase money, a debt secured by mortgage on the homestead and debts contracted in making improvements upon it; in Maryland the only exception is a judgment for breach of promise to marry or in case of seduction. If the homestead belongs to a married person, the consent of both husband and wife is usually required to mortgage it. Finally, some states require that the homestead for which exemption is to be claimed shall be previously entered upon record, others require only occupancy, and still others permit the homestead to be designated whenever a claim is presented.
Following the example of either the United States Congress or the state legislatures, the governments of several British colonial states and provinces have passed homestead laws. In Quebec every settler on public lands is allowed, after receiving a patent, an exemption of not to exceed 200 acres from that of his widow, of his, her or their children and descendants in the direct line. In Ontario an applicant for a homestead may have not to exceed 200 acres of unappropriated public land for farming purposes by building a house thereon, occupying it for five years, and bringing at least fifteen acres under cultivation; the exemption of such a homestead from liability to seizure for debts is, however, limited to twenty years from the date of application for the land, and does not extend even during that period to rates or taxes. Manitoba , British Columbia , Queensland , New South Wales , South Australia , West Australia and New Zealand also have liberal homestead and exemption laws. -
- See J, B. Sanborn, Some Political Aspects of Homestead Legislation, in The American historical Review (1900); Edward Manson, The Homestead Acts, in the Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation (London, I899)~ S. I). Thompson, A Treatise on Homesteads and Exemptions (San Francisco, 1886); P. Bureau, Le Homestead... ( Paris , 1894), and L. Vacher, Le Homestead aux Etats-Unis ( Paris , 1899). (N. D. M.)
The purpose of the homestead exemption is to protect a debtor and his or her family in a home from forced sale on execution or attachment. See Fisher v. Kellogg, 128 Neb. 248, 258 N.W. 404 (1935). Any interest in real estate, either legal or equitable, that gives a present right of occupancy or possession, followed by exclusive occupancy, is sufficient to support a homestead right therein. Mainelli v. Neuhaus, 157 Neb. 392, 59 N.W.2d 607 (1953). See, also, Fisher v. Kellogg, supra. It is not necessary that the ownership be of an estate in fee simple, but any interest, either legal or equitable, that gives a present right of occupancy or possession, followed by exclusive occupancy, is sufficient to support a homestead right therein.
1862, passed by the U.S. Congress. It provided for the transfer of 160 acres (65 hectares) of unoccupied public land to each homesteader on payment of a nominal fee after five years of residence; land could also be acquired after six months of residence at $1.25 an acre. The government had previously sold land to settlers in the West for revenue purposes. As the West became politically stronger, however, pressure was increased upon Congress to guarantee free land to settlers. Several bills providing for free distribution of land were defeated in Congress; in 1860 a bill was passed in Congress but was vetoed by President Buchanan. With the ascendancy of the Republican party (which had committed itself to homestead legislation) and with the secession of the South (which had opposed free distribution of land), the Homestead Act, sponsored by Galusha A. Grow, became law. In 1976 it expired in all the states but Alaska , where it ended in 1986.
The original Homestead Act was passed by Congress May 20, 1862 , and took effect January 1, 1863 (the same day that the Emancipation Proclamation took effect). The benefits of the Act were not available to residents of Florida until after the Civil War. The first homestead grants in Florida were made on January 6, 1873 . On that day, 12 were granted in West Florida , 2 in Leon County and 10 in Gadsden County. It was not until June 24, 1878 when the first homestead patents were granted west of the Apalachicola River. On that day, 7 were granted. One was to the Rev. John Newton, the former school master of the Walton County Knox Hill Academy. His grant was for the land surrounding his sea side cottage on the narrows of Santa Rosa Sound, where he had moved 7 years before with his daughters, Mary and Esther.
Over the years, there were many changes to the Homestead Act. The following summary applies only to the original act.
ELIGIBILITY: To be eligible, a person had to be 21 years of age, or the head of a family, or have met certain military requirements. He or she also had to be a U.S. citizen or have filed a declaration of intention to become one. And the final requirement was that he or she must not have borne arms against the U.S. or given aid and comfort to its enemies (a significant restriction at the time of enactment with the Civil War well underway).
RIGHTS GRANTED: The act permitted an eligible person to enter (move onto) unappropriated public land upon which the applicant already had preemption rights, or which was subject to preemption rights, after filing an application with the register of the Land Office, along with an affidavit and a $10 fee. The affidavit attested to the above requirements, plus the requirement that the land was being entered for the exclusive use of the applicant and for settlement and cultivation.
AMOUNT OF LAND: The maximum quantity of land which could be entered was one quarter Section (160 acres) of land if it was the type having a minimum price of $1.25/acre or less (almost always the case in West Florida), or 80 acres of land if it was the type having a minimum price of $2.50/acre. The entire quantity of land had to be in one body and not spread around. For those who already owned land which they resided on, they could homestead land contiguous to their land, so long as the total of their previously owned land and the contiguous land being homesteaded did not exceed 160 acres.
5 YEAR REQUIREMENT: A patent certificate could be obtained by the homesteader after continuously residing on and cultivating the land for 5 years. To obtain the patent, the homesteader had to file another affidavit attesting to the original requirements, plus having met the 5 year requirement and a statement that no part of the land had been sold, given away or otherwise alienated. Affidavits from two witnesses to the above effect were also required. And, of course, an additional fee was required. If the homesteader was not a U.S. citizen at the time of his original application, he must have become one before being issued a Homestead Patent. The patent certificate must have been applied for within 2 years of completing the 5 year residency and cultivation requirement.
HOMESTEAD COULD NOT BE SOLD OR SUBJECT TO DEBTS: During the period from initial entry and application until final issuance of the patent, no part of the homesteaded land could be sold or taken for debts of the homesteader. Even after the issuance of the patent, the homesteaded land could not be taken for debts which were contracted before the issuance of the patent. (This was probably intended to prevent sales of the land hidden behind sham loans.)
SHORTCUTTING THE PROCESS: At any time during the 5 year settlement and cultivation period the Homesteader could short-cut the process by paying the minimum price established for the land.
RIGHTS OF HEIRS: The Act provided extensive protection for heirs in the event the homesteader died before completing the process.
The Homestead Act is a piece of U.S. history.
By the end of the 19th century over 570 million acres (2,300,000 km²) remained open to settlement, but very little of this was usable for agriculture. The frontier was the term applied until the end of the 19th century to the zone of unsettled land outside the region of existing settlements of European immigrants and their descendants. In a broad sense, the notion of the frontier was the edge of the settled country was the place where unlimited cheap land was available to anyone willing to live the hard but independent life of the pioneer farmer.
Farmers moved west onto the arid Great Plains The Great Plains is the broad expanse of prairie which lies east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States of America and Canada, covering the US states of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. Much of Minnesota and Iowa and much of the Canadian province of Manitoba also lies in the Great Plains . The amount of land a homesteader was allowed to claim was changed to 640 acres (2.6 km²), a full section.
Much of the remaining public domain was included in the National Forests U.S. National forests are protected forests and woodland areas in the United States . National forests are controlled by the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, under the direction of the United States Secretary of Agriculture. The management of these lands focuses on timber harvesting, livestock grazing, water, wildlife, and recreation. Commercial use of national forests is permitted and in many cases encouraged, unlike national parks.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America 's public lands, totaling 262 million acres (1,060,000 km²) or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. Most public lands are located in Western states.
The first claim under the Homestead Act was made by Daniel Freeman Daniel Freeman (1826–1908) was an American homesteader, physician and Civil War veteran. He was the first person to file for a claim under Homestead Act of 1862. He was also the plaintiff in a landmark separation of church and state decision.
The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 ended homesteading; the government believing that the best use of public lands was for them to remain in government control. The only exception to this new policy was Alaska , for which the law allowed homesteading until 1986.
The last claim under the Homestead Act was made by Kenneth Deardorff for 80 acres (32 ha) of land on the Stony River in south-western Alaska . He fulfilled all requirements of the Homestead Act in 1979, but he did not actually receive his patent until May 1988. Therefore, he is the very last person to receive the title to land claimed under the provisions of the Homestead Act.
Ironically, the Homestead Act was often used as a scam. Usually, the land that was available was in too poor a shape to farm on, especially in the middle of the plains where droughts were common occurrences. Because of hardships like these, not many families actually stayed for the entire 5 years.
Many corporations also took advantage of this act. They would pay people to buy the top-of-the-line property which contained an abundance of resources such as timber, minerals, and oil. Then the settlers would claim later on that they had "improved" the land. In reality, the improvements made to the land were minimal.
In the history of the world, only a few people owned land. Ownership of land provides empowerment and social responsibility. This was unavailable to the great majority of the world's population. The Homestead Act, for a short time and in one place, reversed this balance and helped to create the current state of America . Property given to impoverished East-coast city dwellers and masses of new Northern European immigrants distributed wealth evenly among a working populace. Homestead tracts were often excellent farmland and provided subsistence and a steady income. Homestead farmers in time became the agricultural producers to the nation as a whole. Additionally, strong communities with a commitment to social values, education, and personal responsibility were spawned throughout the territories (eventually, new States) covered by the Homestead lands.
The economic, agricultural, and social stability generated by the Homestead Act was utterly inconceivable in other times and places -- and formed a large part of the foundation of American prosperity in the 20th century.
This prosperity was primarily for white settlers while at the same time devastating the lives and cultures of native Americans, who were forced from lands they had lived on for thousands of years. This act further advanced the largest act of genocide in the history of the United States .
The act was later copied with some modifications by Canada in the form of the Dominion Lands Act, and similar acts, usually termed the Selection Acts were passed in the various Australian colonies in the 1860s, beginning in 1861 in New South Wales.
* Homestead National Monument of America
* Public Land Survey System
A homestead ad valorem tax exemption is an exemption from property taxes. Property tax is an ad valorem tax that an owner of real estate or other property pays on the value of the thing taxed. The taxing authority performs or requires an appraisal of the value of the property, and tax is assessed in proportion to that value. Forms of property tax used vary between countries and jurisdictions. A homestead claim can survive any creditor claims which can be applied to a home. Home is a place where a person lives, spends much of her time, or feels generally comfortable with. While a house (or other residential dwelling) is often referred to as a home, and is home to many people, the concept of "home" is broader than a physical dwelling. Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade, with things and people you love becoming the focus. Home is central to one's life, primarily emotional, and partially physical. A homestead exemption is most often only on a fixed monetary amount, such as the first $25,000 dollars of the assessed value. Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies, or actions. The remainder is taxed at the normal rate. In this case, a home valued at $150,000 would then only be taxed on $125,000; a home valued at $75,000 would only be taxed on $55,000. The tax exemption is generally intended to make the property tax a progressive tax. A progressive tax, or graduated tax, is a tax that is larger as a percentage of income for those with larger incomes. It is usually applied in reference to income taxes, where people with more income pay a higher percentage of it in taxes. The term progressive refers to the way the rate progresses from low to high, but over time it has become confused with other terms. read the Florida law on homestead tax exemption HERE.
37th Congress Session II 1862
Chapter LXXV. - An Act to secure Homesteads to actual Settlers on the Public Domain.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws of the United States, and who has never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid and comfort to its enemies, shall, from and after the first January, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, be entitled to enter one quarter section or a less quantity of unappropriated public lands, upon which said person may have filed a preemption claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to preemption at one dollar and twenty-five cents, or less, per acre; or eighty acres or less of such unappropriated lands, at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and after the same shall have been surveyed: Provided, That any person owning and residing on land may, under the provisions of this act, enter other land lying contiguous to his or her said land, which shall not, with the land so already owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the person applying for the benefit of this act shall, upon application to the register of the land office in which he or she is about to make such entry, make affidavit before the said register or receiver that he or she is the head of a family, or is twenty-one years or more of age, or shall have performed service in the army or navy of the United States, and that he has never borne arms against the Government of the United States or given aid and comfort to its enemies, and that such application is made for his or her exclusive use and benefit, and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for the use of benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; and upon filing the said affidavit with the register or receiver, and on payment of ten dollars, he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land specified: Provided, however, That no certificate shall be given or patent issued therefor until the expiration of five years from the date of such entry; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or, if he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her death; shall prove by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately succeeding the time of filing the affidavit aforesaid, and shall make affidavit that no part of said land has been alienated, and that he has borne true allegiance to the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, if at that time a citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as in other cases provided for by law: And provided, further, That in case of the death of both father and mother, leaving an infant child, or children, under twenty-one years of age, the right and fee shall enure to the benefit of said infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving parent, and in accordance with the laws of the State in which such children for the time being have their domicil, sell said land for the benefit of said infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United States, on payment of the office fees and sum of money herein specified.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the register of the land office shall note all such applications on the tract books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, and make return thereof to the General Land Office, together with the proof upon which they have been founded.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That no lands acquired under the provisions of this act shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the patent therefor.
Sec. 5. And be if further enacted, That if, at any time after the filing of the affidavit, as required in the second section of this act, and before the expiration of the five years aforesaid, it shall be proven after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of the land office, that the person having filed such affidavit shall have actually changed his or her residence, or abandoned the said land for more than six months at any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the government.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That no individual shall be permitted to acquire title to more than one quarter section under the provisions of this act; and that the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; and that the registers and receivers of the several land offices shall be entitled to receive the same compensation for any lands entered under the provisions of this act that they are now entitled to receive when the same quantity of land is entered with money, one half to be paid by the person making the application at the time of so doing, and the other half on the issue of the certificate by the person to whom it may be issued; but this shall not be construed to enlarge the maximum of compensation now prescribed by law for any register or receiver: Provided, That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to impair or interfere in any manner whatever with existing preemption rights; And provided, further, That all persons who may have filed their application for a preemption right prior to the passage of this act, shall be entitled to all privileges of this act: Provided, further, That no person who has served, or may hereafter serve, for a period of not less than fourteen days in the army or navy of the United States, either regular or volunteers under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this act on account of not having attained the age of twenty-one years.
Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, That the fifth section of the act entitled "An act in addition to an act more effectually to provide for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," approved the third of March, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits, required or authorized by this act.
Sec. 8. And be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prevent any person who has availed him or herself of the benefits of the first section of this act, from paying the minimum price, or the price to which the same may have graduated, for the quantity of land so entered at any time before the expiration of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the government, as in other cases provided by law, on making proof of settlement and cultivation as provided by existing laws granting preemption rights.
APPROVED, May 20, 1862 | <urn:uuid:eb5811c2-787e-4851-85ab-bc0eb1794ee5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.netside.net/~c3i/act.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970883 | 7,495 | 3.609375 | 4 |
Signing: The gift sign is a natural sign, looking like you are giving someone a gift. Make both hands into a fist with your index finger extended and curled. Starting with your hands close to your body, move them away from your body.
Usage: You can start to teach baby about the idea of a gift by making small presents to baby and making the gift sign. And encourage baby to make the sign to you before they give you something. This also starts to introduce baby to the idea of sharing, giving and receiving. | <urn:uuid:cc928a95-161f-40f2-b0eb-ffeb3649e313> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.babysignlanguage.com/dictionary/g/gift/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950534 | 108 | 2.609375 | 3 |
These are some of the fundamental conclusions of the research programme Eunamus (European National Museums), soon to be reported. A final report has been produced and a final conference will be held in Budapest 12-14 December.
For the first time the program has conducted a comparative study of politics and museums in 37 countries. Using more than 5,000 surveys and interviews as a basis, the study makes it possible to see distinct patterns, says Peter Aronsson, Professor of Cultural Heritage and the Uses of History at Linköping University (LiU), and coordinator of Eunamus.
"We can see that museums play an important role when nations are formed, such as in Germany in the 1800s and in Scotland today. A tangible picture of what a nation is, its history, and its cultures and values are formed in its museums."
However for this to work, the image conveyed should not be too insipid and idealized. Conflicts, difficult phases and tension in the nation should also be brought forward. Countries that have succeeded at this have today better cohesiveness than those that avoided it.
"It is, of course, not only to the museums' advantage, but they absolutely do influence the ability to achieve a social contract," explains Aronsson and provides two examples:
"The National Museum in Berlin successfully handles the German trauma of the Hitler era, the Second World War, and its division into East and West. This strengthens the idea of national continuity that remains during difficult phases."
"In Portugal, Greece and Italy, the museums don't play the same role. These countries benefit from their classic heritage of national pride and tourism. However they are not so vocal about the last century's traumas such as fascism, the junta and the civil war. Remaining silent about such issues cripples trust in society, and the social contract."
In Eastern Europe a distinct recoding of history post-1989 is occurring, where black and white are interchanged. There, museums that have survived the political fluctuations are a great resource.
Another conclusion of the program is that national museums need to remain free from political governance in order to succeed with their task. It is critical that politicians and cultural workers retain respect for each other's roles.
One goal of Eunamus was to investigate how stronger cohesiveness can be created in Europe. The recommendation given is to move in the same direction, at the European level, that many nations already have taken, successfully: To render museums with a more central role to devise a relevant treatment of Europe and its opportunities and challenges.
"This is also under way," Aronsson says. For example in 2014 the House of European History will open in Brussel. Europiana is a digital investment depicting Europe's collated material cultural heritage.
The same history that once gave rise to war and conflict can be turned into a foundation for collaboration and community. Just think of the Nordic countries in the 1600s, with Sweden and Denmark in constant bloody conflict, and those same countries today, where we solve our conflicts with methods other than violence.
Eunamus homepage including programme and the concluding conference http://www. | <urn:uuid:b0e9ff92-132f-4262-8535-d70e1cefa34a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/lu-nma120712.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958643 | 646 | 2.59375 | 3 |
What is ASP? ASP is primary a database access language, which allows you to quickly and easily get at information in a database. You can have an inventory page update with the latest items to sell, with current pricing and photographs. You can have your counters track up-to-the-second, creating reports that are truly current. You can create rotating ads, contests, bulletin boards, and much, much more.
ASP is not separate from HTML. You do not need to 'choose' whether to make your pages in ASP or HTML. Instead, ASP is code you add TO a webpage in order for it to perform functions.
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If you're looking to create dynamic pages, you've come to the right place? Start in the beginners area, and start learning about this fun and fantastic language!
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Download this ebook to get everything you need to know about learning ASP - from a step by step tutorial to function lists, sample code, common errors and solutions, and much more! 101 pages. | <urn:uuid:96a97e04-e5e4-4937-872b-52ac7b3fa944> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bellaonline.com/ArticlesP/art6698.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92671 | 302 | 2.875 | 3 |
Mars rover breaks off-Earth record
Published 29/07/2014 | 14:54
Nasa's Mars rover Opportunity has broken the distance record for off-Earth travel.
Opportunity's odometer hit 25.01 miles over the weekend, which was enough to surpass the miles covered by the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover, Nasa said.
Nasa project manager John Callas said Opportunity, which was not designed for distance, has driven further than any other wheeled vehicle on another world.
Nasa said if the rover hits 26.2 miles it will reach the next major investigation site that scientists refer to as Marathon Valley - because it will have travelled the distance of a marathon.
The Russian Lunokhod 2 rover landed on Earth's moon in 1973 and drove 24.2 miles. | <urn:uuid:da1dcd81-867a-42a5-ac56-b091604c677a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.independent.ie/world-news/mars-rover-breaks-offearth-record-30468231.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944005 | 166 | 2.703125 | 3 |
This lesson focuses on the May 1, 2013, press release by the Federal Reserve System's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on the current Federal Reserve monetary policy actions and goals, and specifically, the federal funds rate target. This lesson is intended to guide students and teachers through an analysis of the actions the Federal Reserve is taking and can take in influencing prices, employment, and economic growth. Through this lesson, students will better understand the dynamics of the U.S. economy, current economic conditions and monetary policies.
This lesson focuses on the March 28, 2013, third (final) estimate of U.S. real gross domestic product (real GDP) growth for the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2012, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). The current data and historical data are explained. The meaning of GDP and potential impacts of changes of GDP are explored. This lesson will also raise questions about the impact of the current level of growth on the U.S. economy and individuals.
Students learn the meaning and measurement of six important economic indicators and use the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank National Economic Trends website to assess the current state of the economy. | <urn:uuid:505a83b7-4343-4651-a8d2-af7b26fa2ae8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.econedlink.org/economic-standards/EconEdLink-related-publications.php?lid=131 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927524 | 244 | 3.34375 | 3 |
LEGO Education digs deeper into the ‘S’ in STEM Education
• The LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Science Activity Pack consists of 14 physical science experiments for middle school that utilize the data-logging capabilities of the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 hardware and software, as well as the LEGO Education Renewable Energy Set and the MINDSTORMS Temperature Sensor.
• The experiments are centered on energy (energy production and consumption), heat and temperature (melting points, insulation, and heat transmission), force and motion (mechanics and kinematics), and light (light intensity).
• The EV3 Science Activity Pack is correlated to Next Generation Science Standards and is available today.
NSTA – Boston, MA – April 3, 2014 – LEGO® Education announced today at the National Science Teachers Association national conference the LEGO MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Science Activity Pack. Developed together with Fraunhofer, a global application-oriented research organization, in close collaboration with science teachers, the activity pack is a fresh take on teaching energy, thermal physics, mechanics, and light through the engagement of building and programming robots.
Digitally delivered and carefully designed, each part of the 14 new experiments comes with teacher notes and student assistance that makes implementation easy and seamless. Each experiment is structured to fit within a 45- to 90-minute science lesson with small, engaging LEGO models that do not require a lot of time for building and programming.
Science teachers who want to take advantage of all 14 activities will need to add the EV3 Science Add-On Classroom Packs. For every two students, these packs include one Renewable Energy Set and one MINDSTORMS Temperature Sensor.
“Ten years ago, robots in the classroom would have been a stretch, but now everywhere you look there is robotics,” said Bill Church, STEAM teacher, Bethlehem, NH. “Where before we did stuff in the science classroom relating to the everyday world of mechanisms and structures, now our world is full of sensors and actuators. This connects the students to real life.”
When installed and integrated in the LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 Software, educators get the following:
• Student material including Digital Workbook and resource materials
• Teacher materials including introduction, teacher notes, and learning-goal descriptions
• Building instructions with Quick Start videos and step-by-step tutorials
• Graph environment for data logging
• Review Questions for instant assessment
• LEGO MINDSTORMS Education EV3 and the EV3 Science Activity Pack are available here.
• Case Study: STEAM teacher uses robotics to help his science students take charge of their own learning!
About LEGO Education
Since 1980, LEGO Education (LEGOeducation.us) has delivered hands-on, curriculum-based resources for teachers and students worldwide. LEGO Education believes a hands-on, minds-on approach helps students actively take ownership of the learning process and develop 21st-century skills such as creative thinking and problem solving through real-life, engaging experiences.
LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2014 The LEGO Group. | <urn:uuid:5a8e3125-a441-4aa8-8622-f7bc3f5109c7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eschoolnews.com/2014/04/04/lego-mindstorms-education-ev3-science-activity-pack-takes-robots-fiction-fact/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00061-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905233 | 658 | 3.390625 | 3 |
Steamboat Springs When young children are learning a new skill, star charts and stickers are popular. Potty training, making a bed, picking up toys, brushing teeth and feeding the pet are tasks commonly rewarded this way. Kids love stickers because they are sparkly and provide an opportunity to make a personalized choice. Earning a sticker after the task was performed is a reminder of a job well done. Star charts show a child their progress toward a valued goal or reward. Stickers and charts can be paired with verbal praise and encouragement and can incentivize some kids to learn otherwise boring life skills and make tedious tasks more fun.
Tips for using stickers
• Tell your child, “First you make your bed, then you can pick out a sticker.” A reward comes after the job is done.
• Give your child the sticker immediately after doing the task.
• For children ages 3 and younger, put the stickers on their hand or shirt.
• When giving the sticker, state the behavior you saw that you liked. “You remembered to use the potty when it was time to go!”
• Keep the sticker stash stocked with a varied selection. Make new choices available so the stickers stay interesting.
Tips for using star charts
• When the child is age 3 to 4, use simple star charts.
• Choose one or two behaviors on which you want to work. Too many is overwhelming.
• Explain what the chart means. “Every time you help Mom set the table, you get to put a sticker on the chart. You pick out the sticker. When you’ve earned five stars, you can pick the movie Friday night.”
• Your child should put the sticker on the chart himself or herself immediately after doing the task.
• Review the chart each day at the same time.
• Give a small reward or privilege contingent upon the number of stickers on the chart. The total number should be easily attainable. If the number is too high, it could breed discouragement. Consider increasing the quota with time as your child’s skill improves.
• Brainstorm a menu of rewards with your child.
• Rotate the skill you are working on and the reward or privilege. This keeps it fresh, interesting and rewarding.
• Focus on positive effort rather than perfect performance.
As children become adults, stickers and charts are replaced with verbal praise for a job well done; a paycheck, bonus or raise; or pure satisfaction. When used appropriately, stickers and charts can be a step to lifelong goal setting and attainment.
Information from "Preventive Parenting with Love, Encouragement, and Limits" by Dr. Tom Dishion and Scot G. Patterson.
Barbara Gueldner, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist specializing in children and families. She is a member of First Impressions, the Early Childhood Council of Routt County. Read her blog at www.successfulkidstoday.com. | <urn:uuid:482209ce-6064-4c76-8f53-35a9f5fd2905> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2013/jul/23/thoughtful-parenting-star-charts-and-stickers-101/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929871 | 614 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Our exhibit Reinvention in the Urban Midwest, on view now at BSA Space, focuses on current forms of reinvention in the urban Midwest and explores the drivers for this phenomenon. As a part of the exhibit, we launched an interactive survey, titled MyMidwest, intended to capture how people define the Midwest.
Conversations at the exhibit opening and comments submitted within the MyMidwest survey confirm that defining the Midwest is a touchy subject. Why such an emotional response? For many, being Midwestern is core to their individual identity—it is the root of who they are. Half of the nearly 4,000 people who responded to our MyMidwest survey were born in the Midwest and about three-quarters have lived over half their life there. For others, the strong response seemed to come from the belief that there are "right" and "wrong" answers to the questions we posed.
The US Census "officially" defines the Midwest as 12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. And definitions from respondents born in New England fell mostly along those lines. But Midwesterners allowed for much more variation along that boundary, indicating an experiential definition as opposed to one informed by state borders.
In addition to contention about how to define the borders of the Midwest, some survey respondents called into question the degree to which we can typify the communities within these borders. As one survey respondent said:
It makes more sense to approach the region as two sub-regions that share a common history and culture... On the one hand there is the Great Lakes region with its industrial history and major cities (Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland). The narrative is one of rust belts and race... Meanwhile the Great Plains Region is defined by its agricultural past (and present) and the vast open landscape that stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the banks of the Mississippi.
Analysis from our exhibit supports a similar delineation of prairie and woodlands as two distinct ecoregions that have experienced different trajectories. The natural resources of these prairie and woodland landscapes, coupled with access to different transportation systems, gave rise to two economic bases: heavy industry in the cities of the Great Lakes (woodland) region and agricultural industry in the cities of the Great Plains (prairie). Today, these sub-regional distinctions are playing out in another way—the historically smaller prairie cities, by and large, are growing due to de-ruralization and in-migration to city centers. Many of the large woodland cities, like Detroit, are experiencing notable population decline.
Atlantic Cities writer Jenny Xie offers further analysis of preliminary MyMidwest results in this article.
Politics, Pop, and Pick-Up Trucks
In addition to geography and industry, the survey responses delved into the cultural, linguistic, religious, and political characteristics that the region. And while some responses parroted stereotypes, many were nuanced, funny, and insightful. Survey responses include:
Midwestern cities are my favorite to visit. They have a nice balance of urbanity and down-home style.
Square-planned towns, with gridded streets. Predominance of Catholicism and Lutheranism. People who refer to carbonated beverages as pop. Cold winters, lots of lakes. Friendly people who talk to each other while in line at the supermarket.
Hardworking people, but with a strong belief in having a work-life balance.
It's the "breadbasket of America" where goodhearted, hardworking people, who might have prejudices due to a homogenous upbringing, would not deny any person human kindness or human rights. Their knowledge of American geography and their map reading skills soar above coastal Americans. They are truly interested in learning about other people and places, but are happy to stay put.
Within this unique cultural context, Midwestern cities are evolving. The Midwest is no longer simply the breadbasket, but also an increasingly important part of the American ideas economy and a driver of innovation in higher education. Midwestern community groups, political leaders, artists, developers, and individual citizens are reimagining and remaking their cities and the region.
Collectively, Sasaki has worked on 775 projects in the Midwest. And while it is certainly a distinct place, we've come to regard the region as a microcosm of the country in many ways. Areas of growth and decline exist in relatively close proximity. Cities face the challenges of a "new normal"— global competition, cultural shifts, dwindling resources, and the acute need for greater resilience. And people and places are always more complex than they seem. To develop meaningful, implementable interventions, planners and designers must be incredibly sensitive to the many forces already at work in urban reinvention. The MyMidwest survey responses help underscore the complexity of the region, and ways in which we can continue to contribute to, and learn from, the Midwest.
Don't miss our curatorial talk for Reinvention in the Urban Midwest on September 12 at 6 pm, which will explore in greater detail the Sasaki projects included in the exhibit. Please RSVP here. | <urn:uuid:c3b6c809-c797-41cb-a83f-83cc565bf250> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sasaki.com/blog/view/346/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955237 | 1,058 | 2.5625 | 3 |
US President Abraham Lincoln gave a number of great speeches but his greatest is one which, at the time, was not very well received because of its brevity. The Gettysburg Address as it became known was delivered by Lincoln on November 19 1863. It dedicated the Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
This is quite a remarkable piece of animation, the Gettysburg Address as infographic, as it were. It is read by Mitch Rapoport, with the design and animation by Adam Gault and Stefanie Augustine.
This is not only one of Lincoln's best speeches, it is one of the best of all time.
Give a Gift
If you enjoyed this article, please consider making a gift to help Kuriositas to continue to bring you fascinating features, photographs and videos. | <urn:uuid:6efe7cde-2756-46e2-9dce-976ecd66c2dd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kuriositas.com/2010/11/gettysburg-address.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980983 | 161 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The raster maps can be used for any type of location reporting not just ‘geographic’ maps. For example you could use these for:
- Floor Plans
- Car Body Parts
- Network Maps
- Country Maps
How do they work?
Loading a Raster Map
- To load a Raster Map Image, ensure that your image has unique colour for every region required.
- Ensure that you have reference code setup for your map data. E.g. For the example in Yellowfin you have a country reference code defined by ISO code. These ISO codes will be linked to each zone.
- Similar to loading an image click the add link, provide a name and select map type.
- You will now see a Map details section. For a basic Map you can leave the reference type as None.
- In the layer section you will have to load the actual image you want to use. Maps support multiple layers for the same map. For example you could have a layer for country or region which uses the same world outline.
- On the layer choose the name and description for the image layer that you are loading
- Browse and upload the map you want to load.
- Choose layer as the layer type.
- Choose the zone reference type. This is used to link the zones to specific reference code values.
- For each colour select the appropriate reference code value.
- Click Save to save your Raster map.
See Image Map Tutorial for more information. | <urn:uuid:9c7abf20-7f75-425d-8343-c3b76cab45b5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wiki.yellowfin.com.au/display/USER71/Raster+Maps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.770802 | 309 | 2.734375 | 3 |
PETE CREEK. Pete Creek rises (at 33°38' N, 101°03' W) on the eastern Crosby county line and runs south ten miles to its mouth (at 33°31' N, 101°05' W) on White River, four miles north of the White River Dam. The stream initially passes through flat to rolling terrain with local escarpments, surfaced by deep, fine, sandy loam soils that support brush and grasses. Later in its course it traverses an area of moderately steep slopes and locally high relief, surfaced by shallow to deep silt loams that support mesquite and grasses.
Image Use Disclaimer
All copyrighted materials included within the Handbook of Texas Online are in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 related to Copyright and “Fair Use” for Non-Profit educational institutions, which permits the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA), to utilize copyrighted materials to further scholarship, education, and inform the public. The TSHA makes every effort to conform to the principles of fair use and to comply with copyright law.
For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Handbook of Texas Online, "Pete Creek," accessed June 28, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rbp74.
Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:975e374f-46cd-4164-8e5e-fb977ec3a809> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rbp74 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921573 | 363 | 3.015625 | 3 |
United States USA Dark Sky Locations, Observatory Sites, Astronomer Locations
To show United States USA light pollution, simply click on "Earth" on the top right of the map, and drag to your location. To magnify or zoom to your location, scroll with your mouse on the map. To add a location, click on "Map" on the top right of the map, then find the exact street/location on the map, and click on that area with your mouse button. When you see the red marker, drag it to the exact location, click on it, then fill out all information. When finished lick on Save & Close, and then click on the small "x" to close the box. Your new location has been added!
When clicking on the "Earth" button, please be patient the light pollution map takes some time to load (about 10-20 seconds for most connections).
After you plot your location on the United States USA map, for more information on the light pollution see the Bortle Scale below and what you may see from your location.
Bortle's light pollution summary table of the classes. The colors are from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, and are provided as a convenience to the reader. The correlation between the colors and Bortle classes is approximate at best.
|Class||Title||Color key||Naked-eye limiting magnitude||Stellar limiting magnitude||Description|
|1||Excellent dark-sky site||black||7.6-8.0||19 at best||Zodiacal light, gegenschein, zodiacal band visible; M33 direct vision naked-eye object; Scorpius and Sagittarius regions of the Milky Way cast obvious shadows on the ground; Airglow is readily visible; Jupiter and Venus affect dark adaptation; surroundings basically invisible.|
|2||Typical truly dark site||gray||7.1-7.5||17 at best||Airglow weakly visible near horizon; M33 easily seen with naked eye; highly structured Summer Milky Way; distinctly yellowish zodiacal light bright enough to cast shadows at dusk and dawn; clouds only visible as dark holes; surroundings still only barely visible silhouetted against the sky; many Messier globular clusters still distinct naked-eye objects.|
|3||Rural sky||blue||6.6-7.0||16 at best||Some light pollution evident at the horizon; clouds illuminated near horizon, dark overhead; Milky Way still appears complex; M15, M4, M5, M22 distinct naked-eye objects; M33 easily visible with averted vision; zodiacal light striking in spring and autumn, color still visible; nearer surroundings vaguely visible.|
|4||Rural/suburban transition||green||6.1-6.5||15.5 at best||Light pollution domes visible in various directions over the horizon; zodiacal light is still visible, but not even halfway extending to the zenith at dusk or dawn; Milky Way above the horizon still impressive, but lacks most of the finer details; M33 a difficult averted vision object, only visible when higher than 55°; clouds illuminated in the directions of the light sources, but still dark overhead; surroundings clearly visible, even at a distance.|
|5||Suburban sky||orange||5.6-6.0||15 at best||Only hints of zodiacal light are seen on the best nights in autumn and spring; Milky Way is very weak or invisible near the horizon and looks washed out overhead; light sources visible in most, if not all, directions; clouds are noticeably brighter than the sky.|
|6||Bright suburban sky||red||5.1-5.5||14.5 at best||Zodiacal light is invisible; Milky Way only visible near the zenith; sky within 35° from the horizon glows grayish white; clouds anywhere in the sky appear fairly bright; surroundings easily visible; M33 is impossible to see without at least binoculars, M31 is modestly apparent to the unaided eye.|
|7||Suburban/urban transition||red||4.6-5.0||14 at best||Entire sky has a grayish-white hue; strong light sources evident in all directions; Milky Way invisible; M31 and M44 may be glimpsed with the naked eye, but are very indistinct; clouds are brightly lit; even in moderate-sized telescopes the brightest Messier objects are only ghosts of their true selves.|
|8||City sky||white||4.1-4.5||13.5 at best||Sky glows white or orange--you can easily read; M31 and M44 are barely glimpsed by an experienced observer on good nights; even with telescope, only bright Messier objects can be detected; stars forming familiar constellation patterns may be weak or completely invisible.|
|9||Inner-city sky||white||4.0 at best||13 at best||Sky is brilliantly lit with many stars forming constellations invisible and many weaker constellations invisible; aside from Pleiades, no Messier object is visible to the naked eye; only objects to provide fairly pleasant views are the Moon, the Planets, and a few of the brightest star clusters.|
References - Australian Light Pollution Map Adapted from Cinzano, P., Falchi, F., Elvidge C.D. 2001, The first world atlas of the artificial night sky brightness, accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society; The World Atlas of the Artificial Night Sky Brightness Images from http://www.lightpollution.it.
Bortle, John E., Sky and Telescope, The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale | <urn:uuid:bf771cb6-493c-4471-b204-cea8d2038f6f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.astronomyforum.net/astronomy-locations/usa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.838417 | 1,213 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2009 June 25
Explanation: From 400 kilometers above planet Earth, the Expedition 20 Crew onboard the International Space Station (ISS) was able to witness a remarkable event from a remarkable vantage point -- the June 12 eruption of the Sarychev Peak Volcano. The active volcano is located in Russia's Kuril Island chain, stretching to the northeast of Japan. Emphasizing the orbital perspective, this stunning color stereo view was made by combining two images from the ISS and is intended to be viewed with red/blue glasses (red for the left eye). Punching upwards into the atmosphere at an early stage of the eruption, the volcanic plume features a brown column of ash topped with a smooth, bubble-like, white cloud that is likely water condensation. Below, a cloud of denser grey ash slides down the volcanic slope. About 1.5 kilometers of the island coastline is visible at ground level. The evolving ash plume posed no danger to the Expedition 20 crew, but commercial airline flights were diverted away from the region to minimize the danger of engine failures from ash intake.
Authors & editors:
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U. | <urn:uuid:6ee1845b-cdf7-4142-8b24-91281a5bf15c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090625.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913943 | 290 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Final library makes it possible to point out return values in
(monadic) functions. This adds extra compile-time safety to your
code, because the compiler will warn you if marked return values
accidentally became middle parts of a big function written with do
- final :: (Monad m, FinalClass f) => x -> m (f x)
- runFinal :: Monad m => m (Final a) -> m a
- joinFinal :: Monad m => m (Final (m a)) -> m a
- atomicJoinFinal :: (Functor m, MonadIO m) => STM (Final (m a)) -> m a
- atomic :: MonadIO m => STM a -> m a
- class FinalClass f where
- finalV :: a -> f a
- runFinalV :: Final a -> a
Most common, monadic usage
Most commonly used at the beginning of functions to mark the
point in the code where
final calls "return to".
simple = runFinal $ do print "line1" do return False return True final True
This fails at the first "
simple = runFinal $ do print "line1" do return False final True final True
Useful when the final return value is a monadic computation itself that after returned has to be joined into the current computation.
A version of atomically, that joins and runFinals. This is the most common usage for the author. Details and example can be found in Control.Final.Example.
MonadIO version of atomically. Not really related to
but if we already have
atomicJoinFinal in this module, it makes
sense to provide this too.
Usage in pure code
This class is the main idea behind
finalV is in a
type class, so we we can have to instances, therefore if used
incorrectly the compiler sees an ambiguity. | <urn:uuid:fcb81508-240e-40c6-8a4d-ce0cec3eb93a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://hackage.haskell.org/package/final-0.1/docs/Control-Final.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.797735 | 399 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Muslims and Islam: Key findings in the U.S. and around the world
Muslims are the fastest-growing religious group in the world. The growth and regional migration of Muslims, combined with the ongoing impact of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other extremist groups that commit acts of violence in the name of Islam, have brought Muslims and the Islamic faith to the forefront of the political debate in many countries. Yet many facts about Muslims are not well known in some of these places, and most Americans – who live in a country with a relatively small Muslim population – say they know little or nothing about Islam.
Here are answers to some key questions about Muslims, compiled from several Pew Research Center reports published in recent years:
How many Muslims are there? Where do they live?
There were 1.6 billion Muslims in the world as of 2010 – roughly 23% of the global population – according to a Pew Research Center estimate. But while Islam is currently the world’s second-largest religion (after Christianity), it is the fastest-growing major religion. Indeed, if current demographic trends continue, the number of Muslims is expected to exceed the number of Christians by the end of this century.
Although many countries in the Middle East-North Africa region, where the religion originated in the seventh century, are heavily Muslim, the region is home to only about 20% of the world’s Muslims. A majority of the Muslims globally (62%) live in the Asia-Pacific region, including large populations in Indonesia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey.
Indonesia is currently the country with the world’s single largest Muslim population, but Pew Research Center projects that India will have that distinction by the year 2050 (while remaining a majority Hindu country), with more than 300 million Muslims.
How many Muslims are there in the United States?
According to our best estimate, Muslims make up just less than 1% of the U.S. adult population. Pew Research Center’s 2014 Religious Landscape Study (conducted in English and Spanish) found that 0.9% of U.S. adults identify as Muslims. A 2011 survey of Muslim Americans, which was conducted in English as well as Arabic, Farsi and Urdu, estimated that there were 1.8 million Muslim adults (and 2.75 million Muslims of all ages) in the country. That survey also found that a majority of U.S. Muslims (63%) are immigrants.
Our demographic projections estimate that Muslims will make up 2.1% of the U.S. population by the year 2050, surpassing people who identify as Jewish on the basis of religion as the second-largest faith group in the country (not including people who say they have no religion).
A recent Pew Research Center report estimated that the Muslim share of immigrants granted permanent residency status (green cards) increased from about 5% in 1992 to roughly 10% in 2012, representing about 100,000 immigrants in that year.
Why is the global Muslim population growing?
There are two major factors behind the rapid projected growth of Islam, and both involve simple demographics. For one, Muslims have more children than members of other religious groups. Around the world, each Muslim woman has an average of 3.1 children, compared with 2.3 for all other groups combined.
Muslims are also the youngest (median age of 23 years old in 2010) of all major religious groups, seven years younger than the median age of non-Muslims. As a result, a larger share of Muslims already are, or will soon be, at the point in their lives when they begin having children. This, combined with high fertility rates, will fuel Muslim population growth.
While it does not change the global population, migration is helping to increase the Muslim population in some regions, including North America and Europe.
What do Muslims around the world believe?
Like any religious group, the religious beliefs and practices of Muslims vary depending on many factors, including where in the world they live. But Muslims around the world are almost universally united by a belief in one God and the Prophet Muhammad, and the practice of certain religious rituals, such as fasting during Ramadan, is widespread.
In other areas, however, there is less unity. For instance, a Pew Research Center survey of Muslims in 39 countries asked Muslims whether they want sharia law, a legal code based on the Quran and other Islamic scripture, to be the official law of the land in their country. Responses on this question vary widely. Nearly all Muslims in Afghanistan (99%) and most in Iraq (91%) and Pakistan (84%) support sharia law as official law. But in some other countries, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia – including Turkey (12%), Kazakhstan (10%) and Azerbaijan (8%) – relatively few favor the implementation of sharia law.
How do Muslims feel about groups like ISIS?
Recent surveys show that most people in several countries with significant Muslim populations have an unfavorable view of ISIS, including virtually all respondents in Lebanon and 94% in Jordan. Relatively small shares say they see ISIS favorably. In some countries, considerable portions of the population do not offer an opinion about ISIS, including a majority (62%) of Pakistanis.
Favorable views of ISIS are somewhat higher in Nigeria (14%) than most other nations. Among Nigerian Muslims, 20% say they see ISIS favorably (compared with 7% of Nigerian Christians). The Nigerian militant group Boko Haram, which has been conducting a terrorist campaign in the country for years, has sworn allegiance to ISIS.
More generally, Muslims mostly say that suicide bombings and other forms of violence against civilians in the name of Islam are rarely or never justified, including 92% in Indonesia and 91% in Iraq. In the United States, a 2011 survey found that 86% of Muslims say that such tactics are rarely or never justified. An additional 7% say suicide bombings are sometimes justified and 1% say they are often justified in these circumstances.
In a few countries, a quarter or more of Muslims say that these acts of violence are at least sometimes justified, including 40% in the Palestinian territories, 39% in Afghanistan, 29% in Egypt and 26% in Bangladesh.
In many cases, people in countries with large Muslim populations are as concerned as Western nations about the threat of Islamic extremism, and have become increasingly concerned in recent years. About two-thirds of people in Nigeria (68%) and Lebanon (67%) said earlier this year they are very concerned about Islamic extremism in their country, both up significantly since 2013.
What do American Muslims believe?
Our 2011 survey of Muslim Americans found that roughly half of U.S. Muslims (48%) say their own religious leaders have not done enough to speak out against Islamic extremists.
Living in a religiously pluralistic society, Muslim Americans are more likely than Muslims in many other nations to have many non-Muslim friends. Only about half (48%) of U.S. Muslims say all or most of their close friends are also Muslims, compared with a global median of 95% in the 39 countries we surveyed.
Roughly seven-in-ten U.S. Muslims (69%) say religion is very important in their lives. Virtually all (96%) say they believe in God, nearly two-thirds (65%) report praying at least daily and nearly half (47%) say they attend religious services at least weekly. By all of these traditional measures, Muslims in the U.S. are roughly as religious as U.S. Christians, although they are less religious than Muslims in many other nations.
When it comes to political and social views, Muslims are far more likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (70%) than the Republican Party (11%) and to say they prefer a bigger government providing more services (68%) over a smaller government providing fewer services (21%). As of 2011, U.S. Muslims were somewhat split between those who said homosexuality should be accepted by society (39%) and those who said it should be discouraged (45%), although the group had grown considerably more accepting of homosexuality since a similar survey was conducted in 2007.
What is the difference between Shia Muslims and Sunni Muslims?
Sunnis and Shias are two subgroups of Islam, just as Catholics and Protestants are two subgroups within Christianity. The Sunni-Shia divide is nearly 1,400 years old, dating back to a dispute over the succession of leadership in the Muslim community following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. While the two groups agree on some core tenets of Islam, there are differences in beliefs and practices, and in some cases Sunnis do not consider Shias to be Muslims.
With the exception of a few countries, including Iran (which is majority Shia) as well as Iraq and Lebanon (which are split), most nations with a large number of Muslims have more Sunnis than Shias. In the U.S., 65% identify as Sunnis and 11% as Shias (with the rest identifying with neither group, including some who say they are “just a Muslim”).
How do Americans and Europeans perceive Muslims?
A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2014 asked Americans to rate members of eight religious groups on a “feeling thermometer” from 0 to 100, where 0 reflects the coldest, most negative possible rating and 100 the warmest, most positive rating. Overall, Americans rated Muslims rather coolly – an average of 40, which was comparable to the average rating they gave atheists (41). Americans view the six other religious groups mentioned in the survey (Jews, Catholics, evangelical Christians, Buddhists, Hindus and Mormons) more warmly.
Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican Party gave Muslims an average rating of 33, considerably cooler than Democrats’ rating toward Muslims (47).
Republicans also are more likely than Democrats to say they are very concerned about the rise of Islamic extremism in the world (83% vs. 53%) and in the U.S. (65% vs. 38%), according to a December 2015 survey. That survey also found that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say that Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers (68% vs. 30% of Democrats) and that Muslims should be subject to more scrutiny than people of other religions (49% vs. 20%). Overall, most Americans (61%) say Muslims should not be subject to additional scrutiny solely because of their religion, while U.S. adults are closely divided on the question of whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence. (Note: This paragraph was updated Dec. 17 to reflect a new survey.)
In spring 2015, we asked residents of some European countries a different question – whether they view Muslims favorably or unfavorably. Perceptions at that time varied across European nations, from a largely favorable view in France (76%) and the United Kingdom (72%) to a less favorable view in Italy (31%) and Poland (30%).
How do Muslims and Westerners perceive each other?
In a 2011 survey, majorities of respondents in a few Western European countries, including 62% in France and 61% in Germany, said that relations between Muslims and Westerners were bad, while about half of Americans (48%) agreed. Similarly, most Muslims in several Muslim-majority nations – including Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan – agreed that relations were bad, although fewer Muslims in Pakistan (45%) and Indonesia (41%) had this view.
The same survey also asked about characteristics the two groups may associate with one another. Across the seven Muslim-majority countries and territories surveyed, a median of 68% of Muslims said they view Westerners as selfish. Considerable shares also called Westerners other negative adjectives, including violent (median of 66%), greedy (64%) and immoral (61%), while fewer attributed positive characteristics like “respectful of women” (44%), honest (33%) and tolerant (31%) to Westerners.
Westerners’ views of Muslims were more mixed. A median of 50% across four Western European countries, the U.S. and Russia called Muslims violent and a median of 58% called them “fanatical,” but fewer used negative words like greedy, immoral or selfish. A median of just 22% of Westerners said Muslims are respectful of women, but far more said Muslims are honest (median of 51%) and generous (41%).
Michael Lipka is an editor focusing on religion at Pew Research Center. | <urn:uuid:a9babe11-c0f0-4927-81ed-f4e3dc16f445> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/07/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96501 | 2,569 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The face of Mars
In 1976, NASA’s Viking 1 spacecraft circled Mars, photographing the surface of the Red Planet. When the images were released, there was a lot of excitement about what appeared to be the mark of a human face chiseled into the landscape. Soon speculation about an ancient, advanced civilization on Mars ran rampant, driven by the image of a human head that looked something like an Egyptian pharaoh. In 1998, images from the Mars Global Surveyor debunked the myth of the man on Mars. Subsequent images of the “head” showed it was simply a natural landform that seemed human-like due to shade and angles of photography. | <urn:uuid:faff15d1-c55a-4e00-b03c-272dbce989c8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/space/photos/7-memorable-ufo-inspired-images-from-nasa-and-beyond/the-face-of-mars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00120-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952425 | 137 | 3.421875 | 3 |
The number of deaths related to the prolonged evacuation of residents in Fukushima has already exceeded the total of those directly caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 2011 in the prefecture. As of November 30, there are already 1,605 deaths associated with the evacuation, two more than the 1,603 on record for the 2011 natural disasters.
The number is expected to rise as officials collate further data on the plight of the thousands of people who are still unable to go home due to radiation problems from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Cause of deaths include those who were unable to receive proper medical care in the aftermath of the disaster, which resulted in their deteriorating health or developing new illnesses, and those who developed mental illness due to the evacuation situation and then committed suicide.
There is no precedent or clear standards for evacuation-related deaths, as the country has not seen a situation like this before, with thousands of displaced residents, the length of time they’ve been away and the distance to which they were evacuated to. An official from the Tomioka government said that the situation is “getting more complicated” as they see more diversification. Kunihiro Fukutome, a researcher at Tohoku Institute of Technology, said that in this case of the evacuees, it is necessary not just to prevent illnesses or injuries but even more so to improve the living conditions of the people. “…Damage from the disaster is on a different scale from what we’ve seen in the past,” he said.
The number also exceeds the indirect deaths from the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995, which recorded 919. With other prefectures that were strongly affected by the 2011 disasters, the number of indirect deaths is relatively low; 878 from Miyagi Prefecture and 428 in Iwate Prefecture.
[ via Mainichi ]
Comments Off on JDP Startup Corner: Pros & Cons of Working with a Partner in Japan | <urn:uuid:f7bc34a8-c6c5-417a-b8ce-fe86bab40d0e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://japandailypress.com/evacuation-related-deaths-now-more-than-quaketsunami-toll-in-fukushima-prefecture-1841150/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967515 | 400 | 2.734375 | 3 |
|The journey from being Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus was an evolutionary process that took sixteen centuries with additions from many customs and cultures. Clement Clark Moore’s Santa in ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas was not an established character. Moore created an entirely new character of Santa for his poem which was originally published in the Troy, New York Sentinel in 1823. Before this, Santa was a tall, thin man in a long red robe without a sleigh or reindeer.
The famous cartoonist, Thomas Nast, created the current image by a series of drawings published in Harper’s Weekly Magazine from 1863 to 1886. In the drawings Santa is a stout fellow in a sooty red suit with fur and, for the first time a white beard. He is pictured working in his toy shop with elves, driving a sleigh with reindeer and putting toys in stockings.
It all started with Saint Nicholas, a priest, born in Patara, Turkey in the 4th century A.D. The legend says that he was a generous, gift giving man who once threw three bags of gold through the window of an impoverished nobleman whose daughters needed dowries in order to marry.
Gift giving during mid winter celebrations was practiced in Rome before Christianity. After Christianity became established, St. Nicholas became the symbol of gift giving among Christians on the eve of December 5th his Feast Day on December 6th.
During the Reformation in the 1500s, the Protestants established a non-religious character for St. Nicholas. In England, he became Father Christmas, in France Pere Noel, and the Weihnachismann in Germany. People in the Netherlands were especially fond of St. Nicholas. The first Dutch settlers in America had his figure on the prow of their ship. They kept the custom of celebrating his feast day on December 6th. Children were told he had visited their homes on the eve of his day and left them gifts. In time, English settlers adopted the legends and festivities associated with St. Nicholas. English children pronounced the Dutch name for the Saint, “Sintereclass” as “Sinti Claus” and eventually as “Santa Claus”.
Until the 1800s, people pictured Santa Claus as a tall, thin man wearing a bishop’s robes and riding a white horse. In 1809, American author Washington Irving published “Knickerbocker’s History of New York” in which he presented a new version of Santa. He described him as a stout, jolly man, who wore a broad brimmed hat, huge breeches and smoked a long clay pipe. He rode over tree tops in a wagon and filled kid’s stockings with presents. Moore took it from there and created the Santa we all know and love. Other countries adopted the imagery.
Whether practiced on St. Nicholas Eve or Christmas Eve the action remains the same. No matter how the name is spelled or pronounced the dear old fellow is loved by children everywhere.
Now, I’d like to turn your attention to the other part of Christmas, to Him whose birthday is celebrated by many on December 25th. I have always thought the following one of the most beautiful pieces of writing ever and I wished the author were not unknown so I could thank him. I think of this as my Christmas card to all my dear friends, readers and family:
ONE SOLITARY LIFE
Here is a young man who was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman. He was raised in another village working as a carpenter until the age of thirty when He became an itinerant preacher.
In all His life He never wrote a book. Held public office or attended a college. He had no home or family of His own. Large cities were unknown to Him and He was never more than 200 miles from the place of His birth. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.
After three years as a preacher public opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him leaving Him to suffer the mockery of a trial at the hands of His enemies. He was sentenced to death and was nailed to a cross between two thieves. As He was dying his executioners gambled for his robe, His only possession on earth.
Twenty centuries have passed since His death and today He is a central figure of the human race and a leader of the column of progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the kings that ever reigned and all the generations that ever ruled, combined, have not influenced the life of man upon this earth nearly as much as that one solitary life. | <urn:uuid:914dcc46-3208-4548-ac2e-60502d0d0391> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rollingthunderexpress.com/columnsarchive/thatslife/thatslife1060.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984872 | 965 | 3.78125 | 4 |
supercomputer, a state-of-the-art, extremely powerful computer capable of manipulating massive amounts of data in a relatively short time. Supercomputers are very expensive and are employed for specialized scientific and engineering applications that must handle very large databases or do a great amount of computation, among them meteorology, animated graphics, fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy research and weapon simulation, and petroleum exploration. There are two approaches to the design of supercomputers. One, called massively parallel processing (MPP), is to chain together thousands of commercially available microprocessors utilizing parallel processing techniques. A variant of this, called a Beowulf cluster, or cluster computing, employs large numbers of personal computers interconnected by a local area network and running programs written for parallel processing. The other approach, called vector processing, is to develop specialized hardware to solve complex calculations. This technique was employed (2002) in the Earth Simulator, a Japanese supercomputer with 640 nodes composed of 5104 specialized processors to execute 35.6 trillion mathematical operations per second; it is used to analyze earthquake and weather patterns and climate change, including global warming. Operating systems for supercomputers, formerly largely Unix-based, are now typically Linux-based.
Advances in supercomputing have regularly resulted in new supercomputers that significantly exceed the capabilities of those that are only a year older; by 2012 the fastest supercomputer was more than 250,000 times faster than the fastest in 1993 in terms of the number of calculations per second it could complete. Although calculation speed is the standard for measuring supercomputer power, it is not, however, an accurate indicator of everyday performance; most supercomputers are not fully utilized when running programs. Supercomputers can require significant amounts of electrical power, and many use water and refrigeration for cooling, but some are air-cooled and use no more power than the average home. In 2003 scientists at Virginia Tech assembled a relatively low-cost supercomputer using 1,100 dual-processor Apple Macintoshes; it was ranked at the time as the third fastest machine in the world.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:3125374d-5fee-414e-9f2e-9b28a14430b6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/science/supercomputer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942517 | 445 | 4.0625 | 4 |
The five skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāli) are the five "aggregates" which categorize or constitute all individual experience according to Buddhistphenomenology. An important corollary in Buddhism is that a "person" is made up of these five aggregates, beyond which there is no "self".
In the Pali canon, the aggregates are causally related as follows:
Form (rupa) arises from experientially irreducible physical/physiological phenomena.
Form – in terms of an external object (such as a sound) and its associated sense organ (such as the ear) – gives rise to consciousness (viññāṇa).
From the contact of form and consciousness arise the three mental (nāma) aggregates of feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā) and mental formation (sankhāra).
Figure 1: Aggregates' interactions (as represented in the Pali Canon).
In this scheme, form, the mental aggregates, and consciousness are mutually dependent.
Other Buddhist literature has described the aggregates as arising in a linear or progressive fashion, from form to feeling to perception to mental formations to consciousness.
Bhikkhu Bodhi (2000b, p. 840) states that an examination of the aggregates has a "critical role" in the Buddha's teaching for multiple reasons, including:
Understanding the Four Noble Truths: The five aggregates are the "ultimate referent" in the Buddha's elaboration on suffering (dukkha) in his First Noble Truth (see excerpted quote below) and "since all four truths revolve around suffering, understanding the aggregates is essential for understanding the Four Noble Truths as a whole."
Future Suffering's Cause: The five aggregates are the substrata for clinging and thus "contribute to the causal origination of future suffering."
Release: Clinging must be removed from the five aggregates in order to achieve release.
Below, excerpts from the Pāli literature will bear out Bhikkhu Bodhi's assessment.
"The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha), monks, is this: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering, association with the unpleasant is suffering, dissociation from the pleasant is suffering, not to receive what one desires is suffering — in brief the five aggregates subject to grasping are suffering." [Boldface added.] (Trans. from the Pali by Piyadassi Thera, 1999 .)
According to Thanissaro (2002):
"Prior to the Buddha, the Pali word khandha had very ordinary meanings: A khandha could be a pile, a bundle, a heap, a mass. It could also be the trunk of a tree. In his first sermon, though, the Buddha gave it a new, psychological meaning, introducing the term 'clinging-khandhas' to summarize his analysis of the truth of stress and suffering. Throughout the remainder of his teaching career, he referred to these psychological khandhas time and again."
In what way are the aggregates suffering? For this we can turn to Khandhavagga suttas.
The Samyutta Nikaya contains a book entitled the "Khandhavagga" ("The Book of Aggregates") compiling over a hundred suttas related to the five aggregates. Typical of these suttas is the "Upadaparitassana Sutta" ("Agitation through Clinging Discourse," SN 22:7), which states in part:
"...[T]he instructed noble disciple ... does not regard form [or other aggregates] as self, or self as possessing form, or form as in self, or self as in form. That form of his changes and alters. Despite the change and alteration of form, his consciousness does not become preoccupied with the change of form.... [T]hrough non-clinging he does not become agitated." (Trans. by Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 865-866.)
Put another way, if we were to self-identify with an aggregate then we would cling (upadana) to such; and, given that all aggregates are impermanent (anicca), it would then be likely that at some level we would experience agitation (paritassati) or loss or grief or stress or suffering (see dukkha). Therefore, if we want to be free of suffering, it is wise to experience the aggregates clearly, without clinging or craving (tanha), as apart from any notion of self (anatta).
Many of the suttas in the Khandhavagga express the aggregates in the context of the following sequence:
An uninstructed worldling (assutavā puthujjana)
regards: form as self; self as possessing form; form as in self; self as in form.
lives obsessed by the notions: I am form; and/or, form is mine
this form changes
with the changes of form, there arises dukkha
An instructed noble disciple (sutavā ariyasāvaka) does not regard form as self, etc., and thus, when form changes, dukkha does not arise.
(Note that, in each of the suttas where the above formula is used, subsequent verses replace "form" with each of the other aggregates: sensation, perception, mental formations and consciousness.)
Example of Aggregate-Clinging
To give a simplistic example, if one believes "this body is mine" or "I exist within this body," then as their body ages, becomes ill and approaches death, such a person will likely experience longing for youth or health or eternal life, will likely dread aging and sickness and death, and will likely spend much time and energy lost in fears, fantasies and ultimately futile activities.
In the Nikayas, such is likened to shooting oneself with a second arrow, where the first arrow is a physical phenomenon (such as, in this case, a bodily manifestation associated with aging or illness or dying) and the second is the mental anguish of the undisciplined mind associated with the physical phenomenon (see the Sallatha Sutta).
On the other hand, one with a disciplined mind who is able to see this body as a set of aggregates will be free of such fear, frustration and time-consuming escapism.
But how does one become aware of and then let go of ones own identification with or clinging to the aggregates? Below is an excerpt from the classic Satipatthana Sutta that shows how traditional mindfulness practices can awaken understanding, release and wisdom.
In the classic Theravada meditation reference, the "Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta" ("The Foundations of Mindfulness Discourse," MN 10), the Buddha provides four bases for establishing mindfulness: body (kaya), sensations (vedana), mind (citta) and mental objects (dhamma). When discussing mental objects as a basis for meditation, the Buddha identifies five objects, including the aggregates. Regarding meditation on the aggregates, the Buddha states:
"How, monks, does a monk live contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging?
"Herein, monks, a monk thinks, 'Thus is material form; thus is the arising of material form; and thus is the disappearance of material form. Thus is feeling; thus is the arising of feeling; and thus is the disappearance of feeling. Thus is perception; thus is the arising of perception; and thus is the disappearance of perception. Thus are formations; thus is the arising of formations; and thus is the disappearance of formations. Thus is consciousness; thus is the arising of consciousness; and thus is the disappearance of consciousness.'
"...Or his mindfulness is established with the thought, 'Mental objects exist,' to the extent necessary just for knowledge and mindfulness, and he lives detached, and clings to nothing in the world. Thus also, monks, a monk lives contemplating mental objects in the mental objects of the five aggregates of clinging." (Nyanasatta, trans., 1994.)
Thus, through mindfulness contemplation, one sees an "aggregate as an aggregate" -- sees it arising and dissipating. Such clear seeing creates a space between the aggregate and clinging, a space that will prevent or enervate the arising and propagation of clinging, thereby diminishing future suffering.
As clinging disappears, so too notions of a separate "self." In the Mahasunnata Sutta ("The Greater Discourse on Emptiness," MN 122), after reiterating the aforementioned aggregate-contemplation instructions (for instance, "Thus is form; thus is the arising of form; and, thus is the disappearance of form"), the Buddha states:
"When he [a monk] abides contemplating rise and fall in these five aggregates affected by clinging, the conceit 'I am' based on these five aggregates affected by clinging is abandoned in him...." (Nanamoli & Bodhi, 2001, p. 975.)
In a complementary fashion, in the Buddha's second discourse, the Anattalakkhana Sutta ("The Characteristic of Nonself," SN 22:59), the Buddha instructs:
"Monks, form is nonself. For if, monks, form were self, this form would not lead to affliction, and it would be possible to [manipulate] form [in the following manner]: 'Let my form be thus; let my form not be thus....' [Identical statements are made regarding feeling, perception, volitional formations and consciousness.]
"...Seeing thus [for instance, through contemplation], monks, the instructed noble disciple becomes disenchanted with form [and the other aggregates].... Being disenchanted, he becomes dispassionate. Through dispassion [his mind] is liberated." (Bodhi, 2005a, pp. 341-2.)
As seen below, the Mahayana tradition continues this use of the aggregates to achieve self-liberation.
In one of Mahayana Buddhism's most famous declarations, the aggregates are referenced:
"Form is emptiness, emptiness is form."
What does this mean? To what degree is it a departure from the aforementioned Theravada perspective? Moreover, more generally, how are the aggregates used in the Mahayana literature? These questions are addressed below.
After this penetration, he overcame all pain.
From its very first verse, the Heart Sutra introduces an alternative practice and worldview to the Theravada perspective of the aggregates:
Prajnaparamita: Whereas Theravada meditation practices with the aggregates generally use change-penetrating vipassana meditation, here the non-dualistic prajnaparamita practice is invoked.
Svabhava: In Theravada texts, when "emptiness of self" is mentioned, the English word "self" is a translation of the Pali word "atta" (Sanskrit, "atman"); in the Heart Sutra, the English word "self" is a translation of the Sanskrit word "sva-bhava". According to Red Pine, "The 'self' (sva) ... was more generalized in its application than 'ego' (atman) and referred not only to beings but to any inherent substance that could be identified as existing in time or space as a permanent or independent entity." (Italics added.)
"That form is empty was one of the Buddha's earliest and most frequent pronouncements. But in the light of Prajnaparamita, form is not simply empty, it is so completely empty, it is emptiness itself, which turns out to be the same as form itself.... All separations are delusions. But if each of the skandhas is one with emptiness, and emptiness is one with each of the skandhas, then everything occupies the same indivisible space, which is emptiness.... Everything is empty, and empty is everything.
"When the sutra says that the five Skandhas have the character of emptiness ..., the sense is: no limiting qualities are to be attributed to the Absolute; while it is immanent in all concrete and particular objects, it is not in itself definable."
That is, from the Mahayana perspective, the aggregates convey the relative (or conventional) experience of the world by an individual, although Absolute truth is realized through them.
Referring to mahamudra teachings, Chogyam Trungpa (Trungpa, 2001, pp. 10-12; and, Trungpa, 2002, pp. 124, 133-4) identifies the form aggregate as the "solidification" of ignorance (Pali, avijja; Skt., avidya), allowing one to have the illusion of "possessing" ever dynamic and spacious wisdom (Pali, vijja; Skt. vidya), and thus being the basis for the creation of a dualistic relationship between "self" and "other."
According to Trungpa Rinpoche (1976, pp. 20-22), the five skandhas are "a set of Buddhist concepts which describe experience as a five-step process" and that "the whole development of the five skandhas...is an attempt on our part to shield ourselves from the truth of our insubstantiality," while "the practice of meditation is to see the transparency of this shield." (ibid, p.23)
"[S]ome of the details of tantric iconography are developed from abhidharma [that is, in this context, detailed analysis of the aggregates]. Different colors and feelings of this particular consciousness, that particular emotion, are manifested in a particular deity wearing such-and-such a costume, of certain particular colors, holding certain particular sceptres in his hand. Those details are very closely connected with the individualities of particular psychological processes."
Perhaps it is in this sense that the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Fremantle & Trungpa, 2003) makes the following associations between the aggregates and tantric deities during the bardo after death:
"The blue light of the skandha of consciousness in its basic purity, the wisdom of the dharmadhātu, luminous, clear, sharp and brilliant, will come towards you from the heart of Vairocana and his consort, and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear it." (p. 63)
"The white light of the skandha of form in its basic purity, the mirror-like wisdom, dazzling white, luminous and clear, will come towards you from the heart of Vajrasattva and his consort and pierce you so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 66)
"The yellow light of the skandha of feeling in its basic purity, the wisdom of equality, brilliant yellow, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, unbearable to the eyes, will come towards you from the heart of Ratnasambhava and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it." (p. 68)
"The red light of the skandha of perception in its basic purity, the wisdom of discrimination, brilliant red, adorned with discs of light, luminous and clear, sharp and bright, will come from the heart of Amitābha and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it." (p. 70)
"The green light of the skandha of concept [samskara] in its basic purity, the action-accomplishing wisdom, brilliant green, luminous and clear, sharp and terrifying, adorned with discs of light, will come from the heart of Amoghasiddhi and his consort and pierce your heart so that your eyes cannot bear to look at it. Do not be afraid of it. It is the spontaneous play of your own mind, so rest in the supreme state free from activity and care, in which there is no near or far, love or hate." (p. 73)
The first five external sense bases (that is, the sense objects of visible form, sound, smell, taste and touch) are part of the form aggregate and the mental sense object (that is, mental objects) overlap the first four aggregates (form, feeling, perception and formation).
The first five internal sense bases (that is, the sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue and body) are also part of the form aggregate and the mental sense organ (mind) is comparable to the aggregate of consciousness.
While the benefit of meditating on the aggregates is overcoming wrong views of the self (since the self is typically identified with one or more of the aggregates), the benefit of meditation on the six sense bases is to overcome craving (through restraint and insight into sense objects that lead to contact, feeling and subsequent craving).
Twelve Nidanas / Dependent Origination: The Twelve Nidanas describe twelve phenomenal links by which suffering is perpetuated between and within lives. It is through the five skandhas that clinging (upadana) occurs, a pivotal link in this endless chain of suffering.
Eighteen Dhatus: The eighteen dhatus function through the five aggregates. The eighteen dhatus can be arranged into six triads, where each triad is composed of a sense organ, a sense object and sense consciousness. In regards to the aggregates:
The first five sense organs (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) are derivates of form. The sixth sense organ (mind) is part of consciousness</u>.
The first five sense objects (visible forms, sound, smell, taste, touch) are also derivatives of form. The sixth sense object (mental object) includes form, sensation, perception and mental formations.
The six sense consciousness are the basis for consciousness.
↑Thanissaro (2002). Also see, for example, Thanissaro (2005) where khandha is translated as "mass" in the phrase dukkhakkhandha (which Thanissaro translates as "mass of stress") and Thanissaro (1998) where khandha is translated as "aggregate" but in terms of bundling the Noble Eightfold Path into the categories of virtue (silakkhandha), concentration (samadhikkhandha) and wisdom (pannakkhandha).
↑Contemporary writers (such as Trungpa Rinpoche and Red Pine) sometimes conceptualize the five aggregates as "one physical and four mental" aggregates. More traditional Buddhist literature (such as the Abhidhamma) might speak of one physical aggregate (form), three mental factors (sensation, perception and mental formations) and consciousness.
↑In Rawson (1991: p.11), the first skandha is defined as: "name and form (Sanskrit nāma-rūpa, Tibetan gzugs)...". In the Pali literature, nāma-rūpa traditionally refers to the first four aggregates, as opposed to the fifth aggregate, consciousness.
↑External and internal manifestations of rupa are described, for instance, in Bodhi (2000b), p. 48.
↑In these definitions, "object" refers to either a cognized form (what Western epistemologists might refer to as "sense data") or a mental expression, such as a cognized memory.
↑The Pali canon universally identifies that vedana involves the sensing or feeling of something as pleasant or unpleasant or neutral (see, for instance, SN 22). When contemporary authors elaborate on vedana, they define it similarly (see, for instance, Nhat Hanh, 1999, p. 178; Trungpa, 2001, p. 21; and, Trungpa, 2002, p. 126). The one exception is in Trungpa (1976), pp. 20-23, where he states that the "strategies or impluses" of "indifference, passion and aggression" are "part of the third stage [aggregate]," "guided by perception." (This section of Trungpa, 1976, is anthologized in Trungpa, 1999, pp. 55-58.)
↑Generally, vedanā is considered to not include "emotions." For example, Bodhi (2000a), p. 80, writes: "The Pali word vedanā does not signify emotion (which appears to be a complex phenomenon involving a variety of concomitant mental factors), but the bare affective quality of an experience, which may be either pleasant, painful or neutral." Perhaps somewhat similarly, Trungpa (1999), p.58, writes: "Consciousness [the fifth aggregate] consists of emotions and irregular thought patterns...." And Trungpa (2001), p. 32, notes: "In this case 'feeling' is not quite our ordinary notion of feeling. It is not the feeling we take so seriously as, for instance, when we say, 'He hurt my feelings.' This kind of feeling that we take so seriously belongs to the fourth and fifth skandhas of concept and consciousness."
↑The Abhidhamma divides sankhāra into fifty mental factors (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 26). Trungpa (2001), pp. 47ff, states that there are fifty-one "general types" of samskara.
↑According to the Visuddhimagga XIV.82, the Pali terms viññāṇa, citta and mano are synonymous (Buddhaghosa, 1999, p. 453). However, Trungpa (2001, p. 73) distinguishes between viññāṇa and citta, stating that viññāṇa (consciousness) is "articulated and intelligent" while citta (mind) is a "simple instinctive function .... very direct, simple and subtle at the same time."
↑See, for instance, SN 22.79, "Being Devoured" (Bodhi, 2000b, p. 915).
↑In commenting on the use of "consciousness" in SN 22.3, Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1046-7, n. 18, states:
"The passage confirms the privileged status of consciousness among the five aggregates. While all the aggregates are conditioned phenomena marked by the three characteristics, consciousness serves as the connecting thread of personal continuity through the sequence of rebirths.... The other four aggregates serve as the 'stations for consciousness' (vinnanatthitiyo: see [SN] 22:53-54). Even consciousness, however, is not a self-identical entity but a sequence of dependently arisen occasions of cognizing; see MN I 256-60."
↑This conception of consciousness is found in the Theravada Abhidhamma (Bodhi, 2000a, p. 29).
↑While not necessarily contradicted by the Nikayas, this is a particularly Mahayana statement. For instance, Nhat Hanh (1999, pp. 180-1) states: "Consciousness here means store consciousness, which is at the base of everything we are, the ground of all of our mental formations." Similarly, Trungpa (2001, pp. 73-4) states that consciousness "is the finally developed state of being that contains all the previous elements.... [C]onsciousness constitutes an immediately available source of occupation for the momentum of the skandhas to feed on."
↑See, for instance, SN 35.93, "The Dyad (2)" (Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1172-3).
↑In the Pali canon, the concurrence of an object, its sense organ and the related consciousness (viññāṇa) is called "contact" (phassa). In addition to referring to the five form-derived sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body), their associated objects and consciousness, phassa also pertains to these aspects of mentality (nama): mind, mind objects and mind-consciousness. In the Abhidhamma (e.g., see Bodhi, 2000a, p. 78), phassa is a mental factor, the means by which consciousness "touches" an object.
↑Traditional Buddhist texts do not directly address Western philosophy's so-called mind-body problem since in Buddhism the exploration of the aggregates is not primarily to ascertain ultimate empirical reality but to obtain ultimate release from suffering.
↑A mental aggregate arises either from conscious contact with form or from another mental aggregate (Bodhi, 2000a, pp. 78ff).
↑Form and the mental aggregates together are technically referred to as nāmarūpa, which is variously defined as "name-and-form," "materiality-mentality" and "matter-mind." Bodhi (2000b), pp. 47-48, mentions that Ñāṇamoli translated nāmarūpa as "mentality-materiality," which Bodhi assesses to be "[i]n some respects ... doctrinally more accurate, but it is also unwieldy...." Bodhi goes on to note that, "in the Nikāyas, nāmarūpa does not include consciousness (viññāṇa)."
↑According to Bodhi (2000b), p. 48, based on suttas in SN 14, consciousness "can operate only in dependenece on a physical body (rūpa) and in conjunction with its constellation of concomitants (nāma); conversely, only when consciousness is present can a compound of material elements function as a sentient body and the mental concomitants participate in cognition." Also, for example, see the Nagara Sutta ("The City," SN 12:65) (Thanissaro, 1997a), where the Buddha in part states: "[F]rom name-&-form as a requisite condition comes consciousness, from consciousness as a requisite condition comes name-&-form."
↑For an example of this unidirectional, linear causal model, see Trungpa (2001), pp. 36-37, where, in part, he states: "The first flash is the form and the next, feeling. As you flash further and further, the content becomes more and more involved. When you flash perception, that contains feeling and form; when you flash consciousness that contatins all the other four."
↑In regards to how Theravada practitioners view the aggregates, Bodhi (2000b, p. 840) cautions:
"[T]he analysis into the aggregates undertaken in the Nikayas is not pursued with the aim of reaching an objective, scientific understanding of the human being along the lines pursued by physiology and psychology.... For the Buddha, investigation into the nature of personal existence always remains subordinate to the liberative thrust of the Dhamma...."
"The [Pāli] canon depicts the Buddha as saying that he taught only two topics: suffering and the end of suffering (SN 22.86). A survey of the Pali discourses shows him using the concept of the khandhas to answer the primary questions related to those topics: What is suffering? How is it caused? What can be done to bring those causes to an end?"
In other words, Theravada practitioners do not see the notion of the aggregates as providing an absolute truth about ultimate reality or as a map of the mind, but instead as providing a tool for understanding how our method of apprehending sensory experiences and the self can lead to either our own suffering or to our own liberation.
↑Note that, in Buddhism, one clings to (guards) something they have (or mistakenly believe they have) whereas one craves (searches) for that which they lack. (See the articles on upadana and tanha for references.) Thus, the notion of the "clinging aggregates" refers to things with which we identify or which we think we can possess. When, instead, one desires such, it is technically craving, not clinging.
↑In the Sutta Pitaka and Abhidhamma Pitaka, there are four types of clinging: (1) clinging to sensual pleasure; (2) clinging to wrong views; (3) clinging to rites and ceremonies; and, (4) clinging to a doctrine of self. (For references, see the article on upadana.) By definition, the fourth type of clinging (clinging to a doctrine of self) involves having one or more of twenty possible identity views (sakkayaditthi). The twenty identity views are beliefs in:
form is self, is possessed by self, is in self; contains self.
sensation is self, is possessed by self, is in self; contains self.
perception is self, is possessed by self, is in self; contains self.
mental formation is self, is possessed by self, is in self; contains self.
consciousness is self, is possessed by self, is in self; contains self.
In other words, references to "clinging" in terms of the aggregates generally refer to "'clinging to a doctrine of self."
↑For a more body-specific meditation method for developing detachment from bodily forms, see Patikulamanasikara.
↑Unlike the Satipatthana Sutta, the classic Anapanasati Sutta ("Mindfulness of Breathing Discourse," MN 118) does not directly reference the aggregates. However, the Pali literature includes works that interpret the Anapanasati Sutta in light of the aggregates.
In the Patisambhidāmagga: The Khuddaka Nikaya's book, the Patisambhidāmagga ("The Path of Analysis"), includes an analysis of the following meditative instruction (first tetrad, third instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:
"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.'" (Thanissaro, trans., 2006.)
Regarding this instruction, the Patisambhidāmagga (Ñāṇamoli, 1998, p. 75) analyzes the word "body" (kaya) as follows:
"Body: There are two bodies - the mentality-body and the materiality body.
"Feeling, perception, volition, sense-impression, attention -- mentality and the mentality of the body -- and those (things) which are called the mental formations -- this is the mentality body.
"The four great primaries and the materiality derived from the four great primaries -- in-breath and out-breath and the sign for the binding (of mindfulness) -- and those (things) which are called the bodily formations -- this is the materiality body."
In other words, the Patisambhidāmagga frames the practice of the Anapanasati Sutta's third step as a contemplation of the five aggregates.
In the Visuddhimagga: The Visuddhimagga's analysis of the Anapanasatti Sutta includes an analysis of the following meditative instruction (fourth tetrad, first instruction) from the Anapanasati Sutta:
"He trains himself, 'I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.'" (Thanissaro, trans., 2006.)
In regards to this instruction, the Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 282-3; see also Ñāṇamoli, 1998, p. 40) advises one to apprehend "inconstancy" (or "impermanence") as meaning the following:
"Herein, the five aggregates are 'the impermanent'. Why? Because their essence is rise and fall and change. 'Impermanence' is the rise and fall and change in those same aggregates, or it is their non-existence after having been...." [Boldface added.]
Impermanence (anicca) is a characteristic common to all aggregates. This impermanence will lead to suffering (dukkha) if we identify with the aggregate. To avoid such suffering, the suttas instruct us to see the aggregates as the selfless (anatta) objects they are.
↑Bodhi (2000b, pp. 743, n. 58) points out that this formula for aggregate-contemplation can also be found in SN 12.21, 12.23, 22.78, 22.89 and 22.101, as well as MN 122.
↑That meditation creates a space between the aggregates (including clinging) is a readily accessible meditation experience. For a published authoritative statement regarding this experience, see, for example, Trungpa (2001), pp. 85-86, where in response to a student's query he replies: "By meditating you are slowing down the process. When it has slowed down, the skandhas are no longer pushed against one another. There is space there, already there."
↑Nhat Hanh (1988), p. 1. See also Red Pine (2004), p. 2, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26.
↑Suzuki (1960), p. 29, notes that the last sentence of this first stanza ("After this penetration, he overcame all pain") is unique to Hsuan-chuang's translation and is omitted in other versions of the Heart Sutra.
↑While Red Pine (2004) contextualizes the Prajnaparamita texts as a historical reaction to some early Buddhist Abhidhammas, some interpretations of the Theravada Abhidhamma are consistent with the prajnaparamita notion of "emptiness."
↑Nhat Hanh (1988), p.1. Again, also see Red Pine (2004), p. 2, and Suzuki (1960), p. 26.
↑Bodhi (2000b), pp. 1125-26; and, Bodhi (2005b). Bodhi conceptuatlizes the six sense bases as providing a "vertical" view of experience while the aggregates provide a "horizontal" (temporal) view (e.g., see Bodhi, 2000b, pp. 1122-23).
↑For instance, see the Samadhi Sutta (SN 22:5).
↑Bodhi (2000b, pp. 839-840) writes: "Whereas the teaching on dependent origination is intended to disclose the dynamic pattern running through everyday experience that propels the round of rebirth and death forward from life to life, the teaching on the five aggregates concentrates on experience in its lived immediacy in the continuum from birth to death." Perhaps in a similar vein, Bodhi (2000b, pp. 762-3, n. 132) notes elsewhere that, according to the Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary: "There are two kinds of origin, momentary origin (khanika-samudaya) and origin through conditions (paccaya-samudaya). A bhikkhu who sees one sees the other."
↑The Pāli word dhātu is used in multiple contexts in the Pāli canon. For instance, Bodhi (2000b), pp. 527-8, identifies four different ways that dhātu is used including in terms of the "eighteen elements" and in terms of "the four primary elements" (catudhātu).
↑Bodhi (2000b, p. 1070, n. 110) points out and Thanissaro (2001a, nn. 1 and 2) suggests that this definition is at least in part "word play" related to the homophonic (non-etymological) correspondence between the Pāli words for "form" (rūpa) and "afflicted" (ruppati).
↑Bodhi (2000b, pp. 743-4, n. 58, pp. 1064-5, n. 81) refers to MN 109's identification of the aggregates' causes/conditions as "proximate" or "synchronic" conditions, while the causes/conditions identified in other suttas, such as SN 22.5, are "collective distal" or "diachronic" conditions.
space element (empty and delimiting region between material objects)
matter's lightness, malleability, wieldiness
matter's growth, continuity, decay, impermanence
↑Regarding SN 22.79's typifying perception (saññā) through visual colors and consciousness (viññāṇa) through assorted tastes, Bodhi (2000b, p. 1072, n. 114) mentions tha the Samyutta Nikaya's subcommentary states that perception grasps appearances and shapes while consciousness "can grasp particular distinctions in an object even when there is no appearance and shape."
Similarly, in the Visuddhimagga (Buddhaghosa, 1999, pp. 435-6), there is an extended analogy about a child, an adult villager and an expert "money-changer" seeing a heap of coins; the child's experience is analogous to perception, the villager's experience to consciousness, and the money-changer's experience to understanding (paňňā).
↑Consistent with MN 109's distinguishing between vinnāna and nāmarūpa, Bodhi (2000b, p. 48; also see Bodhi, 2005a, p. 447, n.19) states: "Nāma is the assemblage of mental factors involved in cognition: feeling, perception, volition, contact and attention (vedanā, sanna, cetanā, phassa, manasikāra...).... [I]n the Nikāyas, nāmarūpa does not include consciousness (vinnāna). Consciousness is its condition, and the two are mutually dependent...."
↑Of the 89 kinds of consciousness, 54 are of the "sense sphere" (related to the five physical senses as well as craving for sensual pleasure), 15 of the "fine-material sphere" (related to the meditative absorptions based on material objects), 12 of the "immaterial sphere" (related to the immaterial meditative absorptions), and eight are supramundane (related to the realization of Nibbāna) (Bodhi, 2000a, pp. 28-31).
Buddhaghosa, Bhadantācariya (trans. from Pāli by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli) (1999). The Path of Purification: Visuddhimagga. Seattle, WA: BPS Pariyatti Editions. ISBN 1-928706-00-2.
Fremantle, Francesca & Trungpa, Chõgyam (2003). The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-59030-059-9.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) (1998). Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati): Buddhist texts from the Pāli Canon and Extracts from the Pāli Commentaries. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0167-4.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.) & Bodhi, Bhikkhu (ed.) (2001). The Middle-Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 0-86171-072-X.
Nhât Hanh, Thich (1988). The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra. Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press. ISBN 0-938077-11-2.
Nhât Hanh, Thich (1999). The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching. NY: Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-0369-2. | <urn:uuid:aa6eeab4-ec1c-4196-abc2-79e96412e723> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Skandhas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914296 | 8,533 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Recently, Congress proposed legislation allowing the FDA to approve generic versions of biotechnology drugs after a shortened period of brand-name patent exclusivity. While legislators tout the obvious benefits of such a move, Jim Hollingshead from Deloitte digs deeper to find some unintended consequences:
• Make Hay" effect: Once a drug is introduced to the market, an innovator has a short time to recoup its development costs -- upwards of $1 billion over 12 years -- before a competitor enters the market. Faced with patent protection of limited duration, innovator companies must maximize their revenues in the short period before generics are introduced. To do this, they generally raise prices and invest more in marketing the drug, tactics that run counter to Hatch-Waxman, the intent of which was to lower prices.
• "Blockbuster" effect: Facing increased drug development costs and a limited period of time before generics can compete, innovators typically focus only on those drugs that promise huge returns on investment. To recoup the amount of time and money an innovator spends on a new drug, experts have shown that to break even, a drug would have to achieve annual revenue of roughly $150 million, which is impossible unless a drug targets a large population, or charges a high price per treatment. This blockbuster effect has led pharma companies generally to focus development efforts on only the largest potential indications.
• "No Man's Land" effect: As soon as a company receives a patent for a compound, the clock for commercialization begins ticking. Each year a patented drug spends in development is another year of lost revenue. If enough time elapses, there comes a point where the compound will never be able to earn sufficient return on investment. This could lead to promising compounds being dropped from development, including those for critical diseases like cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and others, because there is no way to fund the research once the compound has crossed into this "no man's land." Deloitte estimates this can occur within as little as one year of achieving a patent.
Read the press release here (link)
Download a copy of the study here (link) | <urn:uuid:54530a34-c060-4d01-9d61-0e7aef6629ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://271patent.blogspot.com/2009/04/deloitte-releases-study-on-effects-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00177-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944604 | 440 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Performing the first open heart surgery in 1958, St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center is a leader in cardiac care. A pioneer in prevention, detection and the treatment of heart disease, St. Joseph’s performs more than 800 open heart procedures per year, many of them minimally invasive with the assistance of the da Vinci® Surgical System. With da Vinci®, surgeons gain enhanced vision, precision, dexterity and control.
An open heart surgery that used to require sternotomy (splitting of the breastbone and ribcage), can now be done through a few tiny incisions between the ribs with da Vinci®. Compared to traditional open surgery, minimally invasive da Vinci® surgery provides a quicker and safer operation, less recovery time, pain and risk of complications and shorter hospital stays – on average three to four days compared to six to seven days with traditional surgery. With robotic surgery, there is also no broken bone to heal so most patients are fully recovered within one month. Quicker recovery time means getting you back to your life – and the activities you enjoy – faster.
The da Vinci® Surgical System is commonly referred to as a robot, but the device is actually run by the surgeon. Controlled remotely, the robot, in essence, enhances the surgeon’s eyes and hands, increasing visualization and instrument dexterity, for procedures that require small incisions such as robotic coronary bypass or mitral valve repair.
To operate da Vinci®, the surgeon sits at a console separate from the patient and views a 3D image of the surgical field, while controlling instruments that mimic the complex motions of the human hand. The surgeon’s technique is actually improved by the daVinci® robot’s ability to scale motion and filter any tremor, thereby allowing very precise movements.
By offering direct 3-D visualization, full range of motion and an intuitive sense of control for surgeons, those that use da Vinci® know their procedures to be less invasive and more precise than traditional surgery, resulting in fewer complications, less pain and blood loss.
St. Joseph’s was the first to acquire and use the da Vinci® robotic surgical system in 2005 and today offers a variety of cardiothoracic procedures with da Vinci®, including
- Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Repair
- Coronary Artery Bypass: Single vessel
- Mitral Valve Repair
- Myxoma (tumor) Removal
- Severe Mitral Regurgitation
- Three-vessel Coronary Artery Disease treatment (hybrid)
- Tricuspid Valve Repair
- Valve Prolapse
Unfortunately, at the present time, patients requiring aortic valve surgery, multiple valve procedures, or a combination of valve and coronary bypass surgery are not candidates for the robotic approach. As technology advances, however, this will certainly change. | <urn:uuid:3065767a-27a3-4aac-b449-61ab0d01c3a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sjhsyr.org/davinci/cardiothoracic | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00150-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926957 | 596 | 2.65625 | 3 |
CenterPoint Energy participates in a recovery transformer installation drill.
The U.S. electric utility industry has a long track record of reliability. Long-term outages are rare, but serious outage events can pose a threat to the economy as well as national security. As demonstrated by Hurricane Sandy’s rampage up the Eastern Seaboard in 2012, the economic cost of sustained power outages can quickly run into billions of dollars, as approximately 60% of America’s gross domestic product is directly tied to electric power. The societal cost is potentially far higher. America depends on its critical energy infrastructure for food, water, transportation, communications and more.
Electric utilities have spent billions of dollars and made huge strides toward strengthening their systems against natural disasters as well as man-made attacks. However, the fact remains the geographic and physical nature of these networks makes them vulnerable targets. The second line of defense, therefore, is rapid recovery from an outage, which is the goal of the Rapid Recovery Transformer (RecX) program.
Ready to Roll
The RecX program consists of a consortium of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T), transformer manufacturer ABB Inc., and Houston, Texas, U.S.-based transmission and distribution utility CenterPoint Energy. The consortium developed a prototype transformer that could conceptually replace a failed extra-high-voltage (EHV) transformer in about a week as opposed to several months.
But could it really be done? Could a trio of single-phase 200-MVA, 345/138-kV autotransformers be disassembled, loaded onto over-the-road trailers, transported 900 miles (1,448 km), reassembled and energized in less than one week? To answer that question, an installation drill was planned and conducted by the consortium in March 2012, with CenterPoint Energy serving as host utility.
The drill began at 8:05 a.m. on Monday, March 12 at the ABB manufacturing plant in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. The partially assembled units were pulled from storage, simulating an actual emergency scenario. ABB personnel drained oil from the units to reduce the shipping weight and two of the smaller, more easily transportable transformers were disassembled and loaded onto conventional lowboy trailers for the trip to Houston. The third unit was disassembled and loaded onto a 65-ton capacity trailer (MA65) specially designed for the project. The MA65 resembles an over-the-road Schnabel railcar and proved to be an amazingly versatile heavy hauler.
Also prepared for the trip to Houston were six 18-wheel flatbed trailers (two trailers per unit) loaded with ancillary equipment and three oil tankers containing 5,700 gal (21,577 l) of oil each, one tanker per unit. Obtaining transportation permits for loads this size takes hours versus weeks for permitting heavier units, which require states to perform road- and bridge-capacity studies.
Preparation and Testing
CenterPoint Energy personnel began preparing an existing EHV three-phase autotransformer position for arrival of the transformers. However, to prove the emergency response concept, minimal preparations were allowed by drill monitors from the Idaho National Laboratory. Preparations included test and checkout of existing low- and high-side breakers and switches, test and checkout of relay panels, installation of two wood transmission poles to support the rerouting of primary conductors and layout of crane mats. Furthermore, primary conductors were measured and cut to length but not installed. Site preparation outside the oil-containment basin was minimal because of the sled attached to the third unit for use with the MA65 trailer.
The ancillary equipment trailers arrived in Houston early Tuesday morning. Each equipment trailer had been meticulously mapped and loaded using input from those who would load the equipment, those who would transport it, those who would unload it and those who would test it prior to assembly. Pieces were unloaded and carefully staged for test and assembly. Testing of lightning arresters, bushings, current transformers and each unit’s self-contained power modules began immediately.
Soon after the ancillary equipment trailers, the oil tankers arrived. A full battery of oil tests ensued. Transformer trailers arrived in Houston late Tuesday afternoon. Two of the 125,000-lb (56,700-kg) units were positioned atop the existing foundation by a crane, which is a common practice at CenterPoint Energy. The third unit was positioned just outside the oil-retention basin of the existing foundation by the MA65 trailer. The MA65 trailer’s hydraulics and maneuverability made quick work of setting the third unit in place.
On Wednesday morning, assembly began. With the exception of oil-servicing personnel, the assembly crews worked 12-hour to 14-hour days. Each crew member (of the 35 total) was an experienced CenterPoint Energy substation technician and had sequentially coordinated tasks to perform within specific time frames. Had this been an actual emergency, the crews probably would have worked around the clock. In this case, the team thought the plan to use valuable daylight and available support services during normal hours and was free of time-wasting shift hand-off issues. The level of activity reminded one observer of ants methodically repairing a disturbed anthill.
The modular design of the transformers and components enabled quick assembly of the units. Further, the draw-rod bushing design precluded the need for personnel to enter the main tank of the transformers to connect bushings. This minimized the introduction of moisture and potential introduction of other debris into the main tank compartment. By Wednesday evening, oil servicing began simultaneously on all three units. Because of the size of the units and the relatively short time the core and windings were without oil, the oil-servicing time was reduced to less than one-quarter that of a conventional unit.
With oil processing complete, primary connections were made using double 795-kcmil conductors and double 2,000-kcmil conductors on the 138-kV side. This involved sagging low-side conductors over the two foundation-mounted units. The high-side and low-side conductors were routed over the outside unit using the two wood poles, set prior to the arrival of the transformers.
By late Friday evening, the project was near completion and a decision had to be made: Should workers push into the night and early morning to do final checks, or should they come back fresh on Saturday morning? The decision was made to return on Saturday morning, and it turned out to be the appropriate one. The usual commissioning issues, including a damaged sudden-pressure relay connector, held the project up for nearly four hours. Units were successfully energized with load at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday evening — 5 days, 10 hours and 10 minutes after the simulation had started. Then at that point, the clock started on the in-service trial period of one year. The one-year trial period was selected in association with the time estimated to obtain a permanent replacement in an actual emergency scenario.
One Year Later
Monitoring of the transformers is state of the art. Each unit is equipped with on-line dissolved gas monitoring as well as ABB’s TEC intelligent cooling control and data logger, which uses fiber-optic hot-spot temperature monitoring technology. The units have functioned well over the past year. Units were scheduled for outages several times since being energized, once to revise primary grounding, three times to revise tertiary station service grounding and once to test the modular remote oil cooler feature.
Loading has been a challenge because the 14% impedance of the RecX is twice that of the three autotransformers operated in parallel with the RecX. Hence, the units have not been loaded to more than half their capacity since the installation. Moreover, because the RecX units do not have tap changers, the load tap changers of parallel units must be blocked to control circulating current.
The RecX prototype is designed to replace the most common EHV transformer in the U.S. utility power fleet — a 345/138-kV autotransformer. According to the team’s analysis, the RecX design is a suitable replacement in the event of an emergency to more than 90% of the transformers in its voltage class. Next steps for the project are to review the design, applicability and logistics based on lessons learned from the drill and industry input. Conceptually, RecX transformers could be stored at various secure regional locations, designed to the specific voltage levels used in each region and rapidly deployed when needed. EPRI and other stakeholders are working to analyze more innovative approaches to transition the recovery transformer concept to industry.
Good Work Recognized
The RecX project was an exciting one for CenterPoint Energy. Working with the DHS S&T, EPRI and ABB was a positive experience. The project was an opportunity for success by all the participants. CenterPoint Energy also was pleased with the opportunity to showcase its transformer team. Of course, it is hoped the type of event this drill represented will never actually happen. But, it is comforting to know that, if it does happen, the plan, the equipment and the skills to quickly return to some semblance of normal are in place.
For its work with this project, CenterPoint Energy received an EPRI Technology Transfer award in February 2013. Then in June 2013, the utility was distinguished with the South-eastern Electric Exchange Substation Industry Excellence award.
The author acknowledges contributions from several organizations in the planning and success of this endeavor. These contributors include Clay Perry and Rich Lordan of the Electric Power Research Institute; Craig Stiegemeier of ABB also provided critical planning leadership and support. The leadership, motivation and encouragement provided by Project Lead Sarah Mahmood from the DHS S&T were key to the project’s success. Also, DHS provided the photographs used in this article. The CenterPoint Energy crew that accomplished this drill was remarkable and led by KC Jones. Noteworthy internal engineering support for the project was provided by Bert Crego, Don Sevcik and Lee Talley.
Jack Heintschel Jr. (email@example.com) is an operations manager in the substation performance division of CenterPoint Energy’s Houston Electric organization with 38 years in the electric utility business. His current responsibilities include oversight of the division’s transformer service and repair group, diagnostics group, substation training group and substation administrative staff. Heintschel coordinates the recruiting and hiring process for CenterPoint Energy’s substation technicians and holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical technology from the University of Houston.
ABB | www.abb.com
CenterPoint Energy | www.centerpointenergy.com
DHS S&T | www.dhs.gov/st-organization
EPRI | www.epri.com
INL | inl.gov | <urn:uuid:7fa46d9d-7fa9-4435-b89e-6936bbcd7d8e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://tdworld.com/substations/ready-roll-training-disaster-recovery-0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953928 | 2,296 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Have you ever thought why people are different from each other? There are many differences such as intelligence, opinions, appereances, personalities, and genders which, in my opinion, are the most basic ones. Genders represent the differences and also similarities between female and male, or women and men. In general, men undertake different responsibilities, tasks and women too. From history to modern time, the border –differences- between women and men hasn’t changed exactly yet. However, many people pretend not to see the similarities between men and women. In my opinion, it may be claimed that there are some differences and similarities between men and women in terms of responsibilities and tasks.
First of all, we can say that there are some resemblance between men and women in terms of their responsibilities. According to many ancient and modern philosophers, people born in equal conditions. Their appereances may exactly be different, but they have same intelligence, opinions such as beliving God, living in a good way, helping each other, etc. However, their social environment changes from people to other people. Then the differences begin since people continue their own individual way, and the basic reason of these differences is being a man or woman. In addition, many married couples share their duties in their homes equally and similarly. For example, in many countries, men and women prepare meals with helping each other. Especially, in developed country, they help each other since both women and men work in their job. Moreover, married couples are more sensitive at loking after their children than their previous generation. For instance, they help each other to put their baby or young child to the bed. Also, they show their love to the child. In the past, chidren love their mother more than they love their father since most of the things such as feeding, changing diapers, playing with them were being done by mothers. However, their mind has changed because fathers look after them too. Now they love both their father and mother equally. Furthermore, in business life, people take on similar tasks without looking their gender. For example, women can promote in their profession as easily as men do. That’s not all, they may also become a manager in their job like their oponent gender. Also, men can take place in the jobs, which are appropriate for women, for instance, beauty experts, baby sitter, birth doctor, etc. Also, They have started to learn how to work under a successful woman manager.
While it is true to say that there are some similarities between women and men, in fact, vice versa, there are many differences because of the unchangable facts; for example man is stronger than women, and women is foxier than men. Despite of philosphers, many people believe that the concept of one person is unique. That is to say, this person or nobody can have exactly similar twin including real twins. As a result, it is natural to say that men and women have many different responsibilities, tasks, objectives since they are two concepts which have different characteristic and proporties. In addition, at home, they take on different responsibilities, and they share the household tasks. For example, in many countries, generally, women wash the dishes, do the loundry and the ironing, tidy and clean the house. However, men work and earn money, do the necessary daily shopping, repair hosehold goods, take care of the car if it is present, etc. Furthermore, in business life, some companies regard their staff according to their gender. For instance, women can not work in construction work because it needs endurance and strenght, which are not available in the women’s bodies, and as a consequence of this, construction companies don’t hire woman builders. Also, in Turkey, men don’t tend to work as secretary and nurse since they are known as a woman job. As a result companies release the job advertisement for women.
All in all, it may be accepted that men and women have both similarities and differences. In my opinion, all people are created in a different way. Before the birth, they are loaded their destiny, and during their lives, people experience their faith. Due to these facts, people, namely men and women, undertake different tasks, responsibilities. It shouldn’t be important to share all the things equally between man and woman; the important thing is to be understanding and to help each other. | <urn:uuid:9506cd5e-a057-4733-bb31-8bf5fbd9d510> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://toeflgencligi.blogspot.com/2008/11/men-and-women.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98337 | 909 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Setting the Stage: The Origins of
“Safe From the Start”
The stakes are high . . .
I’ve never forgotten this child, because when I asked her to tell
me about her picture, she said: “I’m screaming and no one
—Eliana Gil, Ph.D.,
registered Art and Play Therapist
Every day, there are reports about violence in communities and families
and about the children who are either the victims of or witnesses to it. Children
encounter violence in the streets, at school, and in their own homes. They are
bombarded by images of violence on television, in movies, and in video games.
In short, the likelihood that today’s children will be exposed to some form of
violence is enormous. Tragically, too many children never experience a basic
level of physical and emotional safety.
What happens to these children? In the short term, exposure to violence can result
in the total upheaval of a child’s life. First, there is the pain and suffering
that comes from being abused or seeing a parent, another loved one, or a friend
or an acquaintance hurt. Caregivers, parents, and professionals may disbelieve a
child’s account of violence experienced or witnessed, minimize the violence,
or withdraw affection from the child. The child may be threatened with further
harm or with harm to a loved one. If the report of abuse is not properly documented,
nothing may be done about the abuse. Alternatively, a suspected abuser
may be arrested, but then havoc may arise in the family, including loss of financial
support and recriminations from family members. Children may be removed
from the home and placed in foster careseparated from their family,
friends, pets, and school.
What happens next? Children exposed to violence often experience heightened
levels of depression and feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety, fear,
rage, and aggression. They can have great difficulty making friends and sustaining
relationships, accomplishing developmental tasks, and participating in everyday
activities like school and play.
What awaits these children in the future? In many cases, they imitate what
they have experienced: children exposed to violence are at greater risk of becoming
offenders themselves. The Nation is facing the consequences of previous
inadequate investments to protect its children. Childhood experiences
affect a lifetime, and too many youth are reenacting the violence they have
experienced, damaging their lives and the lives of others through criminal violence.
There are also, of course, enormous consequences for those children who do not become violent offenders: many experience difficulties in school, at work, and in relationships; have physical and mental health problems; and may be at risk of being revictimized by violence throughout their lives. Thus, every day that society fails to address this tragedy increases the suffering of future generations.
. . . But success is possible by taking action
|The likelihood that
today’s children will be exposed to some form of violence is enormous.
Most children are remarkably resilient. This means that the way society understands
and responds to the violence children experience can determine its impact
on their lives in the long run. The term “children exposed to violence” can
mean a number of things: experiencing physical or sexual abuse or neglect by a
parent or caretaker, being assaulted by an acquaintance or stranger, or witnessing
violence at home or at the home of a friend, at school, in the community, or
through the media. The impact of these different kinds of violence varies greatly
and depends on a number of factors, such as frequency, predictability, the age
of the child, and the nature of the relationship between the perpetrator and the
child. This variability, in turn, requires flexibility in the type and depth of
There are many opportunities to intervene across the age spanit is never too early
or too late. Prevention strategies can reduce the incidence of trauma. Providing early
treatment that is appropriate to children’s needs can help them begin to heal. Bringing
perpetrators of violence to justice supports efforts to prevent and treat abuse and
sends a clear message about the consequences of future violence. Professionals of
all kinds have the power to respond effectively and sensitively and to work together.
The means to meet this challenge exist, and the challenge must be met.
|There are many
opportunities to intervene across the age spanit is never too early or too late.
My dad was chasing my mom around the house with a knife.
He was smiling. He hit my mom with a knife and he started
Safe From the Start: The National Summit on Children Exposed to Violence
These children are the reason we are here . . . not just to talk
about the problems, and not just to preach to the choir, but to
galvanize the knowledge and skills we have garnered over the
decades in working with young people and families . . . if we
want to see a movement catch fire, then it will be up to us to set
it on fire with our passion and our commitment.
For 3 days in June 1999, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Health and Human
Services (HHS), with the leadership of U.S. Deputy Attorney General Eric
Holder, convened a summit of 150 practitioners and policymakers to build on
their commitment to a common goal, think through the problem of children
exposed to violence, and create a framework for a national blueprint for action.
—Shay Bilchik, Former Administrator,
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention; currently Executive Director,
Child Welfare League of America
Summit participants included many of the Nation’s leaders in analyzing how to help
children and in making solutions a reality. Professionals from both the public and
private sectors joined together, representing child protective services; domestic violence
services and advocacy; juvenile and family courts; law enforcement and prosecution;
mental health, substance abuse, and healthcare services; family violence
prevention services; childhood education and services; and State legislatures. Participants
also included members of the National Advisory Council on Violence
Against Women chaired by Attorney General Janet Reno and HHS Secretary
Donna E. Shalala. With such a diverse group of professionals, the Summit was, in
effect, a demonstration of one of its own key recommendations: collaboration across
disciplines. Participants worked to find common ground across their different professional
vocabularies, assumptions about the nature of the problem, and views on
the solutions. In the end, the National Summit on Children Exposed to Violence,
also known as the Safe From the Start Summit, provided the opportunity to learn
from participants’ experience and expertise and to craft a set of key operating principles
and concrete steps: a practical action agendafor local, State, and national
leaders; professionals across disciplines; communities; and parents,
youth, and familiesto help prevent and reduce the impact of children’s
exposure to violence.
This Action Plan integrates the most up-to-date data on children exposed to violence
with the key elements of known best practices. It suggests both discipline-specific
and general action steps. It also identifies resources for additional information.
|The Summit was,
in effect, a demonstration of one of its own key recommendations:
|Safe From the Start: Taking Action on Children Exposed to Violence
| November 2000 | <urn:uuid:d18e25cd-505e-4038-aeb7-1768f85db11e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.ncjrs.gov/html/ojjdp/summary_safefromstart/chap1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935863 | 1,581 | 3.390625 | 3 |
- Virginia Johnson
First, a Little History
Originally, strawberries were wild things. Their unique flavor and sweetness led to their cultivation. At Monticello, Thomas Jefferson grew Alpine Strawberries, a European import, among other varieties and shared the seeds with his friends. The plants were hardy and delicious, but the berries were tiny. Jefferson remarked that "100 would fill half a pint." Wild strawberries grew freely in abandoned fields and woods and were gathered by Indians and colonists alike.
Our modern strawberries are the descendants of an 18th-century cross between large, juicy Chilean strawberries and the more flavorful native Virginia or Scarlet Strawberry. Monticello's Twinleaf Journal posts an excellent article on the early cultivation of strawberries in America.
A Fresh Strawberry Menu for a Summer Evening
Although it's a time-honored tradition to put away pints of jam for winter gifts, it can be equally satisfying to create a menu featuring strawberries in all their field-fresh glory.
Strawberry Spring Rolls
A sweet, savory, and low-calorie (88 per roll) appetizer.
Strawberry Dipping Sauce:
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) sliced, stemmed strawberries
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons Vietnamese fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
3/4 pound cooked, shelled shrimp
3/4 teaspoon seasoned rice vinegar
8 spring roll wrappers
16 mint leaves
16 cilantro sprigs
3/4 cup (about 3 ounces) quartered, stemmed strawberries
1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber cut into 2 x 1/4 x 1/8-inch strips
To make Strawberry Dipping Sauce:
In blender or food processor, puree strawberries, vinegar, oil, sugar, and fish sauce until smooth. Add chili flakes; blend until chili flakes are mixed in but still visible.
To Make Spring Rolls:
In bowl, toss shrimp with vinegar; set aside. Dip 1 wrapper into very hot water for a few seconds until soft and flexible; blot on towel to remove excess water. Place 2 mint leaves, 2 cilantro sprigs, 3 pieces strawberry, 3 shrimp and 3 cucumber strips in a line down the center of wrapper. Fold bottom over filling, fold in sides and roll up into tight cylinder. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 8 rolls. Serve each roll with 1 tablespoon strawberry Dipping Sauce. Tip: Rolls may be made up to 8 hours ahead. Place in single layer on plastic wrap-lined pan, cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until needed.
Recipe courtesy of MedicalNewsServices.com
Spinach Salad with Strawberries
The contrasting flavors and colors of the salad and its dressing make for a memorable beginning.
5 cups fresh torn spinach, about 1 pound
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 ounces Gouda cheese, cut into thin strips
1/3 cup toasted pecans
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons honey*
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Toss together spinach, strawberries, cheese, and toasted pecans. Whisk together dressing; pour over spinach mixture, and toss just before serving. Serves 6.
*Please note: very young children should not have honey.
This recipe is from About.com's U.S. Southern Cuisine site.
For the main course, grill your choice of fish, chicken, or pork and serve with
Honey Strawberry Salsa
1-1/2 cups diced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup diced fresh tomato
1/4 cup chopped Anaheim pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon tequila (optional)
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red chili pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Of course, strawberries are a dessert in and of themselves. However, adding chocolate to a dessert is rarely a bad move. Consider finishing off the evening with Anniversary Strawberries or Chocolate Fudge Strawberry Shortcake. Both recipes are from Cooks.com.
1 and 2/3 cups vanilla milk chips
2 tbsp. shortening, divided
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 pints fresh strawberries, rinsed, patted dry and chilled
Cover tray with waxed paper. In medium bowl place vanilla chips and 1 tablespoon shortening. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Stir vigorously until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. If necessary, microwave on HIGH an additional 30 seconds at a time, just until smooth when stirred. Holding by top, dip lower 2/3 of each strawberry into vanilla mixture; shake gently to remove excess. Place on prepared tray; refrigerate until coating is firm, at least 30 minutes.
In clean bowl, repeat microwave procedure with chocolate chips; dip lower third of each berry. Refrigerate until firm. Cover and refrigerate leftovers. Yield: about 2-3 dozen berries.
Chocolate Fudge Strawberry Shortcake
6 oz. butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 pint heavy cream, whipped with ½ cup powdered sugar and 2 tsp vanilla
1 quart fresh, sweet strawberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 (9") cake pans. Line pans with parchment or wax paper. Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate over low heat and allow to cool. Whisk together eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla until just combined. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Add cooled, melted butter and chocolate mixture. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Cool cakes in pans for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on cake racks.
Place one brownie cake on serving platter and spread with thick layer of whipped cream (about 1/3 of the total). Top with whole or sliced strawberries. Put 1/3 whipped cream over berries. Add second brownie layer and spread with remaining whipped cream. Top with whole dipped berries (see above recipe) and chocolate curls. Refrigerate until serving.
You can find more berry recipes in Berries: A Cookbook by Robert Berkley.
Interested in growing berries in your backyard? These books and Web sites can give you useful information on choosing the best plants and growing them to their full potential:
All About Growing Fruits, Berries & Nuts by the editorial staff of Ortho Books.
"Grow fresh fruit and nuts in your own garden. Complete instructions for over 100 varieties, selected for all parts of the country, are included here. You will also learn how to get the most fruit out of small gardens, and how to use fruit trees as ornamentals."
The Backyard Berry Book: A Hands-on Guide to Growing Berries, Brambles, and Vine Fruit in the Home Garden by Stella Otto. The Complete Guide to Growing Berries and Grapes by Louise Riotte.
This organic gardening guide discuss how to prepare the ground, plant, trellis, cultivate, protect, harvest, and winter over many kinds of berries. Includes recipes.
Movable Harvests: Fruits, Vegetables, Berries: The Simplicity & Bounty of Container Gardens by Chuck Crandall & Barbara Crandall.
Even those gardening in small, wee spaces can enjoy fresh berries, vegetables, and fruits by planting in containers.
Taylor's Guide to Fruits and Berries edited by Roger Holmes.
"In this Taylor's Guide, experts introduce readers to the best varieties, explain how to grow them, and show in words and photos how fruits and berries can be incorporated into any garden."
On the Web:
Pick-Your-Own Strawberry Farms in Virginia
Virginians celebrate their strawberries both in the mountains and at the beach. Why not take a trip for a day of strawberry celebration? The Delaplane Strawberry Festival will be held May 23 & 24 (Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend) in 2009, at Sky Meadows State Park. The Pungo Strawberry Festival will be held the same weekend in Virginia Beach. | <urn:uuid:9c44e61c-e418-4b6a-aca0-dffaebedd361> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.librarypoint.org/strawberry_season | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396147.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00071-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.868774 | 1,712 | 2.515625 | 3 |
By PAUL HETZLER
It’s well known that stopping to smell the flowers, both in the literal and figurative sense, can help reduce stress and lower blood pressure. What’s not as widely known is that stopping to eat certain flowers can also benefit your heart.
Due to the late spring this year, many plants are a bit behind where they usually are in their bloom schedule. Right now cherry trees are in bloom, although the flowers of our native black cherries, small grape-like clusters of tiny blossoms, are less showy than those of domestic cherry trees. Apples, both wild and cultivated, are in most cases replete with white flowers in spite of having spent loads of energy on last year's very heavy fruit crop.
A tree makes flower buds only in late summer of the previous year, and the amount generally reflects the condition of the tree at that time. Vegetative buds are also set the previous summer. However, if these are damaged by weather or insects in springtime, a tree can release dormant buds under its bark to make new leaves. This is why a late freeze that destroys tree buds may put an end to a season's fruit crop but it won't kill the trees.
Another wild tree, a cousin to apple, is flowering these days. Through the end of May, fencerows and pastures will be festooned with the brilliant white blossoms of hawthorn, a small tree in the rose family native to North America. There are many species of hawthorns, and they would be more popular if they didn’t wear long thorns sturdy enough to puncture tires. Hawthorn fruit, sometimes called thorn apples or haw apples, are good for making jelly—in fact I make some every fall—and at times were an important food source for pioneers. The wood is rot-resistant and exceptionally strong and hard.
But it’s the fragrant and attractive hawthorn flowers which have a rich history of medicinal use as cardiac tonic. Hawthorn flowers, along with its leaves, are often dried, powdered and made into capsules, or sometimes used for tea. While herbalists and other practitioners of traditional medicine are often doubted, they have in some cases been supported by science. Ginkgo and St. John’s Wort are two examples of folk-medicine vindicated by research.
While hawthorn hasn’t yet been endorsed by the American Medical Association, several studies have shown hawthorn does have beneficial cardiac effects. An article in the July 2002 issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing stated that hawthorn “…consistently demonstrates its ability to improve exercise tolerance and symptoms of mild to moderate heart failure.” However, the authors admit that “In order to properly use hawthorn in the treatment of heart failure, a large, controlled, multi-center trial…is needed.”
Given hawthorn’s abundance, if it is proven to be beneficial it could be practically free. (Which leads to the question of who exactly would fund such studies.)
If you can find the time, consider going for a walk this week to smell some hawthorn flowers. But if you’re going to consume more than a few, please check with your doctor first. And do watch those thorns.
Paul Hetzler is a forester and Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County horticulture and natural resources educator. | <urn:uuid:21b22e37-7cca-41e6-be20-ac19f02a9ead> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://northcountrynow.com/news/stop-and-smell-blossoms-and-maybe-eat-few-says-st-lawrence-county-horticulturist-0116046 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960109 | 716 | 2.953125 | 3 |
21 Easter Activities for Kids
This is a fun Easter game that all ages can enjoy. It can be used with a small group or a large
Using large sheets of construction paper, cut three different sized eggs – a large, a medium
and a small egg - in three different colors. Glue the medium sized egg in the center of the
large egg and glue the small egg into the center of the medium egg. The small egg will be the
equivalent of the bull’s eye on a dart board.
Next give a value to each of the three different colors, for example, the smallest egg could be
worth 20 points, the medium sized egg could be worth 10 points and the large egg could be
worth 5 points.
Place the eggs on the floor and mark a spot about 3 to 4 paces away from the egg. This spot
could be marked with a cutout egg shape for children to stand on.
The children stand on this space and take turns to gently toss or roll a small solid chocolate
Easter egg onto the egg cutouts. Points are awarded according to where the egg lands. After
several turns each, a prize is awarded to the person with the most points.
EASTER EGG TOSS TEAM GAME
The Easter Egg Toss Game can also be played as a team game.
Divide the group into even teams and allow each member to have one toss.
Tally the points and the team with the highest points will be the winner.
If teams don’t all have the same number of people allow those with fewer
members to have someone toss twice so that each team has the same
number of turns.
Kids Easter Activities www.kids-easter-activities.com | <urn:uuid:769fa7d6-7b61-4ab8-992f-3b0f8a914f5c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/21-Easter-Activities-for-Kids/html/5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934321 | 363 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Botanical name: Syzygium cumini
jambul, Java plum, jamun, jambolan,
Black plum, Jamun, Kalojam or Jam.
Syzygium cumini is fast-growing tree ranges up to 30m in India and Oceania; 12-15m in Florida. The bark on the lower part of the tree is rough, cracked, flaking and discolored. The fruit is round or oblong, often curved, usually turns from green to light-magenta, then dark-purple or nearly black as it ripens. The fruit is usually astringent, sometimes unpalatably so, and the flavor varies from acid to fairly sweet.
Syzygium cumini trees start flowering from March to April.
The flowers are fragrant and small, about 5 mm in diameter. S. cumini fruits develop by May or June and resemble large berries.
Ecology/environment to grow/habitat:
The Syzygium cumini tree can be grown on a wide range of soils. However, for high yield potential and good plant growth, deep loam and a well-drained soil is needed. Such soils also retain sufficient soil moisture which is beneficial for optimum growth and good fruiting. It can grow well under salinity and waterlogged conditions too. However, it is not recommended to grow Syzygium cumini on very heavy or light sandy soils. Soil pH preference: 5.6 to 6.0 (acidic).
It is a tropical species which prefer mean annual temperatures around 25-27°C though will grow in sub-tropical areas, being sensitive to frost when young but mature trees have been undamaged by short frosts in southern Florida.
S. cumini grows best in wet regions with annual rainfall generally in excess of 1000 mm and up to 4000 mm, and even in some of the wettest places in the world (10,000 mm), though it will tolerate drier sites especially when established and on stony and/or gravely soils.
The S. cumini tree grows well from sea-level to 6,000 ft. (1,800 m) but, above 2,000 ft. (600 m) it does not fruit but can be grown for its timber.
The tree occurs in the tropical and sub-tropical climates under a wide range of environmental conditions. Syzygium cumini is native to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Economic Importance / Uses:
Wood uses: Sources of strong heavy timber which is commonly used for beams and rafters, posts, bridges, boats, oars, masts, troughs, well-lining, agricultural implements, carts, solid cart wheels, railway sleepers and the bottoms of railroad cars. It is a fairly satisfactory fuel.
Fruit uses: Jam fruit possesses considerable nutritive value. Apart from minerals, sugars, and proteins, it is a good source of iron also. Good quality jam juice is excellent for sherbet, Vinegar, syrup and "squash".
Medicinal Uses: The fruit is stated to be astringent, stomachic, carminative, antiscorbutic and diuretic. Cooked to a thick jam, it is eaten to allay acute diarrhea. The juice of the ripe fruit, or a decoction of the fruit, or jam vinegar, may be administered in India in cases of enlargement of the spleen, chronic diarrhea and urine retention.
Bark uses: Jam bark yields durable brown dyes of various shades depending on the mordant and the strength of the extract. The bark contains 8 to 19% tannin and is much used in tanning leather and preserving fishing nets.
Leaves uses: The leaves have served as fodder for livestock and as food for tassar silkworms.
Nectar uses: The jam tree is of real value in apiculture. The flowers have abundant nectar and are visited by bees.
Seed uses: Seed powder of Syzygium cumini has significantly
reduced bith blood sugars (4-5) and fasting.
Other uses: The tree is grown as shade for coffee in India and being wind-resistant is sometimes planted in dense rows as a windbreak, and if topped regularly, such plantings form a dense, massive hedge. | <urn:uuid:3ee630ff-0aad-4070-84f0-3c8c1819c59a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://plantsdescription.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913735 | 920 | 2.84375 | 3 |
More than numbers: how better data is changing health systems
The Health Data Collaborative, launched by WHO and partner development agencies, countries, donors and academics, will strengthen countries' capacity to collect, analyse and use reliable health data, thereby reducing administrative burden. A list of 100 core health indicators has been produced, and 60 low income and lower-middle income countries, and their supporting donors, will be using common investment plans to strengthen their health information systems by 2024.
Less than a decade ago, visiting a clinic in Bangladesh meant a patient’s data went into 1 of 33 separate systems, none of which were linked. Data from private and public clinics in urban and rural areas were fragmented in a chaotic patchwork, resulting in heavy paperwork for health workers and less time for patient care.
Things began to change in 2009. With support from WHO, the government of Germany, and other partners, a more modern approach was introduced that integrates all data into one coherent health information system. The benefits are both local, allowing health workers to follow pregnant women and children, and national, enabling more efficient and effective planning as well as rapid response to spikes in disease through the use of real-time data.
Today, more than 13 000 health facilities across Bangladesh report data electronically, and about 40 000 health workers use the system. It all means less paperwork for health workers, better planning, and better care for people.
Good data is essential for planning and decision making
“The weaknesses in our heath data made good planning and decision-making extremely difficult," said Professor Abul Kalam Azad, Additional Director-General and Director of Management Information System in Bangladesh's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. "We made almost all decisions from assumptions. Now things have changed, especially at the local level. We are getting better data on time which is making a real difference to the quality of care people receive.”
No health system can operate without good information. But around the world today, many countries don’t count who is born, who dies, and other important details about people’s health. Health data is often fragmented and piecemeal.
More than two-thirds of the world's population lives in countries that do not produce reliable statistics on mortality by age, sex, and cause of death – one of the most important health indicators for understanding a country's health priorities. Only half of countries reported cause of death data to WHO in 2014, and more than 100 countries worldwide don’t have reliable systems for registering births and deaths. Many countries lack good data on their health workforce, or for their health financing system.
A lack of data makes it harder to make good decisions about where to target resources to improve health and help people to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals, adopted in September 2015, set an ambitious agenda for a fairer, safer and healthier world, with 17 goals and 169 targets. It’s clear that achieving the goals will require reliable data, in order to properly understand the scale of the work to be done, and to make good decisions about how to allocate resources for the most efficient and effective results. Attaining these goals will require investments at the domestic and international levels in robust health information and statistical systems.
"Money alone is not enough," said Ties Boerma, director of information, evidence and research at WHO. "Many developing countries are faced with numerous data demands from donors. We can collectively do better through better coordination and alignment among donors, in order to ease the administrative burden on countries and strengthen their capacity to collect, analyse and use reliable health data."
Common investment plans to strengthen health information systems
The Health Data Collaborative aims to do just that. Launched on 9 March 2016 in New York, the Collaborative is an informal partnership involving WHO and other development agencies, countries, donors and academics. Its objective is to strengthen country capacity for health data by getting an array of global partners to work together to support country needs, instead of adding to their workload.
The Health Data Collaborative aims that by 2024, 60 low income and lower-middle income countries, and supporting donors, will be using common investment plans to strengthen health information systems, and that countries will transition away from international assistance for these systems by 2030.
The Collaborative’s first product is a list of 100 core health indicators, which attempts to narrow the focus on a small, agreed upon set of health metrics, instead of the more than 600 indicators that some countries have previously reported on under their various relationships with donors.
Bangladesh is one of the first countries to receive support from the Health Data Collaborative for its overarching monitoring and evaluation strategy. The country has shown how technology can be harnessed to improve the way data are collected and used. In April the country is hosting a Health Data Collaborative meeting to share experiences with other nations. | <urn:uuid:2d9be4c9-93d7-442e-b03e-2f678c165dbe> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://who.int/features/2016/health-data-collaborative/en/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949493 | 998 | 3.265625 | 3 |
I used to use all sorts of counting activities to help my students learn their 1, 2, 3’s.
Egg Carton Counting is one of the easiest – and it’s very simple to tote around the house.
You will need:
- Empty (clean) egg carton
- Permanent marker
- Beans (or similar small objects for counting)
- Ziploc bag
How to make:
- Using a permanent marker, write a number in each egg holder. I chose to number my carton from 1-12. You might decide to differentiate, depending on what counting skills your child is practicing (ie counting by twos, fives, etc).
- Kids practice math skills by counting the number of beans that each egg holder calls for – then placing those beans in that space.
- That’s it! Super simple!
- Use a Ziploc bag to store beans when not in use. The bag fits inside nicely, allowing the egg carton to close completely for storage. | <urn:uuid:d6ef1b49-75cc-4191-83b4-c118d817462b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thatscountryliving.com/2012/04/egg-carton-counting-activity/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.888541 | 216 | 2.984375 | 3 |
2005 Global: Evaluation of DFID-UNICEF Programme of Cooperation to Strengthen UNICEF Programming as it Applies to Humanitarian Response 2000-2005
The DFID-UNICEF Programme of Cooperation in Capacity Building for Humanitarian Action and Response was launched in early 2000 to support UNICEF’s efforts to strengthen its capacity to respond to children in unstable situations. In recognition of the growing number of natural disasters globally and the protracted nature of armed conflicts, UNICEF established new strategies at a key conference in Martigny, Switzerland in 1998 to ensure children’s survival, protection and development. The Programme of Cooperation has supported the ‘Martigny Agenda’ for six years over two Phases (Phase I: 2000 to 2002; Phase II 2002 to 2005). The principal aim of the Martigny Agenda is for UNICEF to respond in a predictable and efficient manner to children in unstable situations. In May 2000, UNICEF established Core Corporate Commitments that were revised in June 2003 as Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies. The CCCs outline the response that all children affected by humanitarian crisis should expect. The CCCs cover a broad range of sectors: health, nutrition, water and sanitation, HIV/AIDS, protection and education. UNICEF is not expected to provide for all of these sectors itself, but has committed to ensure that such provision is made. The principal strategy of the Martigny Agenda is to mainstream humanitarian response as the responsibility of all staff, at all times. The Programme of Cooperation, known in this report as the CB (Capacity Building) Programme, provided a total of GB£22.2mn (approximately US$39mn) over the five years. Phase I of the Programme comprised three projects: humanitarian preparedness and response, children and armed conflict and mine action. Phase II covered a broader set of goals, including the continuation of work in humanitarian preparedness and response, operations, human resources, a learning strategy and children affected by armed conflict.
This evaluation comes at the end of Phase II which ran from May 2002 to December 2005 . The purpose of the evaluation was to inform the development of UNICEF’s Mid Term Strategic Plan 2006-9 on humanitarian action and response as well as decisions on the future of DFID-UNICEF collaboration in the humanitarian arena, including the proposed Institutional Strategy 2006-9 that sets out DFID’s support for UNICEF in a broader context. For DFID, the evaluation will also inform its Public Service Agreement on support to humanitarian action.
Evaluation objectives were to provide an overall assessment of the CB Programme, track the changes and current status of UNICEF preparedness and response, provide recommendations on priorities and strategies for future response capacity and CB efforts, draw lessons for partnership in organisational capacity building and on policy and programming for children affected by armed conflict.
Data collection for the evaluation took place between January and May 2005, including visits to UNICEF HQ (New York, Geneva, Copenhagen) and DFID in London, three country case studies (Ethiopia, DRC and Sri Lanka), interviews at HQ and RO levels, questionnaires to Country Management Teams and individuals in countries selected at random. Findings were validated through a joint UNICEF-DFID workshop in Geneva in May 2005. A separate evaluation on the learning strategy (Goal 4 of the Phase II CB Programme) was undertaken simultaneously by a team through Le Group-Conseil Baastel Itée.
Findings and Conclusions:
In both phases of the CB Programme, there was a focus on building the capacity of the Regional Offices, only established within UNICEF in 1998, to support and oversee humanitarian preparedness and response at country level. In both phases one third of CB Programme funds were allocated to HQ Divisions to focus on policy guidance and strategic direction in humanitarian response, as well as some very practical inputs, in particular the Operations Centre (OPSCEN). Two thirds of the funds were divided between the seven Regional Offices to support the establishment of Regional Emergency Advisers and to mainstream humanitarian response within all programme sectors and operational functions. This approach was adopted to support the current decentralised model in which Country Offices, especially Country Management Teams, have primary responsibility for humanitarian response, with support and oversight from Regional Offices.
UNICEF set out a framework of objectives for the way in which funding was to be applied and invited Regional Offices and HQ Divisions to submit proposals. EMOPS, the Office for Emergencies Operations managed the overall CB Programme. The evaluation has found that this bottom up approach detracted from maintaining a strategic overview of how funding was used. Given that the objectives of the CB Programme were so ambitious – to shift an organisation of some 8,000 staff in 157 offices worldwide towards more predictable humanitarian response – the Programme needed to be very tightly driven at HQ level.
Additionally, for a programme that aimed to change the organisation as a whole, a comprehensive organisational assessment at the early stages would have been advisable but this did not take place. EMOPS also lacked sufficient financial information for strategic management; the fact that budget codes were not established against goals at the beginning of the CB Programme meant that financial information was dispersed and difficult to use as an overview.
The overall conclusion of the evaluation is that UNICEF has made important advances in building capacity supported by the CB Programme and there are examples of very effective response. However, UNICEF remains some distance from achieving the goal of reliably delivering humanitarian response as the rights-based approach and the CCCs require.
UNICEF’s role was universally appreciated by other UN agencies, partner NGOs and national governments. Humanitarian response was good in the three country case studies: Sri Lanka, DRC and Ethiopia. In DRC and Sri Lanka, advocacy for children’s rights was also strong. However, there are also examples where response has been poor and lives have been put at risk (e.g. Darfur, Liberia). Equally, UNICEF has found it difficult to draw attention to rights violations in some contexts (e.g. Nepal).
1. UNICEF’s principal achievements in capacity building for humanitarian response.
Emergency Preparedness (and Response) Planning(EPRP) has been rolled out to more than 90% of UNICEF COs over the last five years, an impressive achievement. The EPRP tools have recently been updated and improved to make the process lighter in response to requests from the field. The evaluation concludes that emergency preparedness planning is not sufficient on its own to translate into effective humanitarian action. It needs to be bolstered with other measures including surge capacity from managerial, technical and operations specialists. However, EPRP has been important in changing attitudes towards emergencies being the responsibility of all and in bringing operations and programmes staff together in planning.
The development of the Core Commitments for Children in Emergencies has provided a framework to define exactly what services UNICEF aims to guarantee for children as a right in humanitarian response. There was universal agreement by staff that the CCCs are a very useful reference tool, although very few agencies outside UNICEF are yet aware of their existence.
UNICEF has made impressive contributions to high-level advocacy in recent years that have created the drive for resolutions in the Security Council and General Assembly on children and armed conflict. This built on UNICEF’s earlier seminal work through the Graca Machel study on Children and Armed Conflict. In some countries where children are affected by conflict, UNICEF has driven the agenda for the rights of children in armed conflict, especially notable being the Action Plan for Children in Sri Lanka.
UNICEF has strengthened work in child protection over the last five years by increasing the size of the team (although still relatively small) and introducing the ‘Protective Environment’ as a framework to support greater cohesion in programming and advocacy. Importantly, NGOs consulted are impressed with UNICEF’s work in protection and want UNICEF to lead in standards and approaches. UNICEF and partners produced the landmark ‘Guidelines on Unaccompanied and Separated Children’ during this period.
Important contributions have been made to the UN Reform agenda and especially to working groups and task forces. In particular, UNICEF has led the IASC process of rolling out training in sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian contexts. UNICEF has also been a strong and important defender of humanitarian principles within and beyond the UN system.
Enhanced security management systems through OPSCEN in New York as a 24 hour a day, 7 day a week centre providing ongoing information to UNICEF at all levels on key events and potential hazards. Considerable investment has gone into the hardware of security, substantially improving MOSS compliance and into staff training. There is a question of whether enough attention is being given to implementation of security accountabilities through the management system. Security management remains an area that must be given continuing priority and resources.
The Supply Division has made significant improvements over the period including establishing an Emergencies Coordination Unit in Copenhagen and stockpiling a set of emergency items directly related to the CCCs. This has brought delivery time down to 48 hours from the receipt of an order for items in stock. Regional warehouse hubs were established in Dubai and Johannesburg in 2003 (and later Panama in 2005). Dubai appears to be the most successful in reducing costs and timings in delivery of items.
To bolster specialist capacity in humanitarian response, UNICEF established a five person Emergency Response Team. The Team was agreed in principle in 2004 and established in early 2005 and funded under the ECHO capacity building programme. The team has considerable experience that can be called upon to provide overall management and coordination of UNICEF’s response. As yet, the Team does not include sector specialists according to the CCCs (including no Protection specialist). The ERT represents recognition that whilst mainstreaming humanitarian response is fundamental as a foundation, mainstreaming does not obviate the need for some specialists to be available at short notice. There are plans to expand the team in the next MTSP period through core funding.
The introduction of technical capacity at regional level through the network of Regional Emergency Advisers. The REAs have provided technical support closer to Country Office level and rolled out emergency preparedness and response planning and training to more than 90% of offices. They provide the first wave of surge capacity support to Country Offices in most emergencies and have raised the profile of emergencies within most regions. All but two of these key posts have now been incorporated into core funding to ensure sustainability.
There has been an increased focus on HR for emergency response through the creation of the ‘Corporate Trigger’for emergencies in August 2004 and through the introduction of the post of Emergency Focal Point in HR Division at HQ level from 2003. The Corporate Trigger has noticeably enhanced priority to staff deployment in emergencies (although it has only been used in Darfur and the tsunami response to date). The post of Emergency Focal Point has developed systems for surge capacity and was pivotal in identifying UNICEF staff for redeployment and external consultants for the tsunami response.
The CB Programme has also placed increased emphasis on training for emergencies and has facilitated the roll out of training on Emergency Preparedness and Response and humanitarian issues in emergencies through PATH training. The Learning Strategy Evaluation concluded that EPR Training has contributed significantly to the understanding of country office staff teams about individual roles in emergency response and, as such, has supported mainstreaming. The training has also increased dialogue between programmes and operations staff about emergency response as it is one of the few opportunities for the two principal arms of CO staff to work together. EPR training has been successfully linked to EPR planning as a streamlined process.
A network of peer supporters has been created to support staff coping with stress in humanitarian crises (although more work needs to be done to increase use and coverage).
The Capacity Building Programme has supported most of the above achievements and linkages.
2. Internal constraints on UNICEF’s capacity to reliably deliver humanitarian response
UNICEF’s decentralised model places a great deal of emphasis on the Country Office – especially the Country Management Team – to manage emergency response and not all teams are able to fulfil the role effectively (see leadership below). It also makes heavy demands on Regional Offices to exercise an oversight role.A question for the evaluation was whether a centralised model for emergency response (not for development programmes) may produce a better response overall. The evaluation has concluded that centralisation would require a much larger team than at present and would not be sustainable given the size and duration of emergencies. HQ could only manage the very largest emergencies and it would be difficult to sustain more than one or two countries on the ‘global trigger’ at any one time.
The evaluation has also concluded that UNICEF’s strategy of developing Regional Offices as the base for support, oversight and a back up trigger to Country Offices is the most appropriate. However, the Regional Offices face a number of constraints on their capacity to exercise this role. The extent of authority and accountability of the Regional Office remains unclear in practice, even if stated in theory. In addition, the sheer number of countries within each region and growth in humanitarian crises makes it extremely difficult for Regional Advisors in each sector to meet the demand for support to development programmes and humanitarian response. There are also issues about independent travel budgets and the quality of the technical skills of some Regional Advisers.
Nevertheless, the role is appropriate and needs to be strengthened. It also needs to be more pro-active and directive in some circumstances. It needs to counterbalance the reluctance of some Country Offices to recognise a looming emergency and to act. Fundamentally, it needs to bolster country level leadership.
Country level leadership is variable. This has emerged clearly as one of the principal determinants of an effective humanitarian response. Reliable humanitarian response will require reliable leadership from the Country Management Team, especially the Country Representative, with proven emergency experience. In weak response scenarios, CO level leadership has invariably been a key factor.
HR planning for emergencies at CO and RO levels is weak and organisation wide systems for surge capacity and mainstreaming have not progressed as fast as needed. Most Country Offices have not mapped and identified skills strengths and gaps for humanitarian response as part of the EPRP process. When an emergency happens, they have to begin that process or, worse, try to manage with technical teams that do not adequately match the requirements of the CCC sectors. The Human Resources Officer at RO level has also not actively engaged in planning for rapid response. At HQ level, systems based around the recommendations of the Brasilia Conferenceand follow up analysis (Heffinck, 2004), have been slow to develop.
Technical capacity in all CCC sectors is not yet guaranteed. Water and sanitation capacity is particularly weak. Over the last decade, there has been a shift in development programming towards the life-cycle approach and particularly to young child survival. Water and sanitation has been the main casualty of this approach in terms of technical expertise (although nutrition is also weaker than other sectors). Up to very recently there had been no permanent posts of water and sanitation regional adviserand a reduced water and sanitation staff overall in comparison with other sectors. Child Protection has also been weak in coverage at all levels. There has not been sufficient technical training through the learning programme in the CCC sectors. While the new Mid Term Strategic Plan for 2006-9 is more closely aligned between development and emergency contexts, the legacy of this decline must be addressed otherwise UNICEF remains exposed to serious technical capacity gaps in the CCCs.
Many COs have not maintained EPRPs as operational planning processes. The evaluation recognises the importance of the EPRP process as a major contribution to enhancing capacity for response. However, to make a difference to the effectiveness of response they must be coherent with the CCCs (not always the case to date), updated as live documents, shared and agreed with partners and made operational by following through on plans (e.g. for procurement, staffing etc).
Gender integration is not yet effective. Despite a strong policy commitment to gender integration in humanitarian assistance, this has not been followed through consistently or systematically to programme level. Instead, the record is patchy and inadequate. There is a tendency to equate gender sensitivity with targeting of women and girl children in programming, rather than adopt a truly gendered approach that analyses and addresses issues of gender inequality. Rather than gender integration being everyone’s responsibility, the default position seems to be that it is no one’s. There is limited support to Country Offices in promoting gender awareness and limited monitoring of the extent to which gender is truly integrated into UNICEF’s humanitarian work.
UNICEF has a central role in developing and implementing a system to monitor and report on six egregious child rights violations in conflict areas, established through Security Council Resolution 1539, April 2004 and a Plan of Action set out by the Secretary General in February 2005. Systems and tools have not yet been agreed and it is also not clear whether current staffing levels are adequate to fulfil the mandate. The system for monitoring and reporting on child rights is essential to ensure strong advocacy for children in armed conflict and should be addressed as soon as possible.
Learning and training has been especially weak in the area of child protection. UNICEF staff’s confidence in applying the international legal frameworks, policy approaches and good practice is essential to ensure strong programmes and advocacy for children affected by armed conflict. It is also a prerequisite for effective coordination in the area of child protection. The Child Protection Section is aware that much greater investment needs to be made in this area at all levels (including formal training, mentoring, coaching, dissemination of guidelines and even opportunities within a possible Masters Degree in child protection).
Finance and administration proceduresremain cumbersome and bureaucratic. Designed for development programmes, finance and administration procedures are difficult to apply in emergency contexts. This causes delays in processing essential functions in emergencies such as purchasing essential items, approving contracts and releasing funds to partners. Although provision has been made for adaptations to some of these systems for emergency response, they are not well known or used by operations staff. Institutional requirements are likely to be put ahead of rapid response requirements where staff lack confidence in adapting systems.
Organisational culture: too great a focus on excellence, while simpler and faster tools may be more effective in practice. UNICEF has produced many excellent guidelines, tools and policy papers. There are two issues with producing guidelines of this quality. First they are often complex tools that require determined dissemination and learning programmes to ensure that they are applied effectively in the field, otherwise they remain little known and little used (e.g. tool for Vulnerability Capacity Assessments, the standards in emergency education, the CCCs themselves). The second is that striving for excellence delays publication. Simpler, faster tools and guidelines, fewer and more basic indicators may prove more effective.
Organisational learning through practice is weak and there is not yet a culture of learning. Monitoring and evaluation systems are weak in most countries and there is not an established practice of concise and focused lessons learned workshops or after-action-reviews. Overall, there are relatively few evaluations of CO level performance. UNICEF has not yet consolidated a culture of learning and staff reported feeling guilty about taking time out to learn.
Strong partners are essential for effective and reliable response but are not always identified at the planning stage. As UNICEF does not directly implement in emergencies, except where no suitable partners have been identified, it is essential that planning for humanitarian response is done together with partners. In the best-case examples, that planning is ongoing with government and NGO partners, as in Ethiopia, but in many other contexts, potential partners were not aware of the plans. There was also extremely low awareness amongst partners, including UN agencies, of the CCCS that represent UNICEF’s commitments to children in emergencies.
The CCCs and standards for humanitarian response are not well known by UNICEF teams.An effective and reliable response should be shaped by the framework of the CCCs plus additional internationally accepted standards in each sector. The evaluation found that only just over half of Country Management Teams considered that their staff were familiar with the CCCs. There are probably even greater gaps in knowledge of the interagency humanitarian response standards by sector, even where they are standards that UNICEF has approved such as the Inter Agency Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies and Inter Agency Guidelines for HIV/AIDS in Emergencies. Knowledge of Sphere standards, used by the majority of NGOs in humanitarian response, is even lower and this has serious implications for sector-based coordination.
Variable capacity in coordination skills. UNICEF is usually required to lead and coordinate in the technical sectors of the CCCs. NGOs look to UNICEF to provide guidance on technical standards, consolidate assessments identifying gaps in provision, coordination of supplies and advocacy when necessary with the government, donors or other agencies. These are major tasks that require specific coordination skills, as well as strong technical capacity and awareness of the situation on the ground. They also require time investment and should be considered as a fundamental part of the technical role. To be really effective, coordination needs to be funded as a distinct activity. At present, skills and time-investment are variable and do not support reliable performance in coordination.
Local distribution systems are often weak. Given that UNICEF usually supplies items to beneficiaries through government and NGO partners in development programmes, UNICEF does not usually have independent logistics capacity. In humanitarian response, however, UNICEF can be called upon to rapidly deliver items. Unless plans are made for this beforehand, including identifying private transporters or alternative systems, this is likely to be slow. It may also be difficult to reach a decision on shifting away from the ‘normal’ system of warehousing and distribution through government to UNICEF taking on direct responsibility for logistics as well as supply.
Pre-positioning items in country clearly enhances response but is discouraged. Pre-positioning of emergency items was regarded as key to effective response in all country case studies. However, the Supply Division discourages pre-positioning because it can be wasteful and expensive to maintain. While the policy is appropriate, local circumstances can mean that pre-positioning would make response vastly more effective and greater flexibility on this issue is required.
Recommendations of evaluations and reviewsare not always analysed, approved and plans made for implementation. Many of the issues raised in this report had already been raised in previous evaluations.
Lack of strategic leadership in the capacity building programme The CB Programme depended largely on funding applications from Divisions and Regional Offices and lacked strategic overview aimed at unblocking the blockages to effective response. Strategic decisions should have been taken at the level of the Inter Divisional Standing Committee on Children in Unstable Situations but that Committee is not yet fulfilling that role. There was also insufficient financial information on the use of the funds for EMOPS to make strategic decisions.
Inadequate staffing levels in some areas Technical staffing is inadequate in water and sanitation, protection, gender and security management.
Lack of confidence in career development systems: a very low percentage of staff consider that UNICEF’s approach to promotion is objective, fair and correct. Promotion on the grounds of merit and competency is essential to ensure the most capable reach senior managerial and leadership positions.
3. External constraints on UNICEF’s capacity to reliably deliver humanitarian response
Growing demand for humanitarian response means UNICEF is called upon for ever greater response capacity. This can lead to over-commitment and a risk of poor performance and motivation. To reliably provide effective humanitarian response, UNICEF has two options:
i) Increase its response capacity, which would require more staff and more funding.
ii) Prioritise specific sectors within the CCCs and negotiate with other agencies to accept sectors that are no longer feasible. In the short term it could be advisable for UNICEF to clearly state that shelter is not one of the CCC sectors and advocate for another UN agency to take responsibility for this area.
Reliable humanitarian response requires reliable and timely funding. The evaluation observes the vast differentials in funding per capita of populations affected by humanitarian crises. Clearly, the volume of funding available rapidly to the tsunami response made a significant difference in the capacity to respond. Until more progress is made in the Good Humanitarian Donorship and other funding initiatives, this will continue to be a barrier.
Funding for capacity building is not a popular option with donors and it has been difficult to encourage other donors to support UNICEF’s efforts.
The deteriorating security situation in some contexts, coupled with UN security management procedures, is increasingly reducing UNICEF’s access to the affected population.
The blurring of boundaries between humanitarian action, foreign policy and military intervention, within the UN and by some of its donor governments, compromises UNICEF’s and other UN agencies ability to deliver impartial and rights-based humanitarian assistance.
4. Priority recommendations: Unblocking the blockages
Detailed recommendations are included in the body of the report and all recommendations are consolidated at the end of the report, together with time frames as: i) within Year 1 ii) within the MTSP period 2006-9 and iii) strategic directions for the long term.
What follows is a summary of the priority recommendations directly related to unblocking the blockages and to the future of capacity building for humanitarian preparedness and response.
Enhance Regional Office oversight capacity
The objective of the recommendation on RO oversight capacity is to reinforce the pro-active and (if necessary) directive elements of RO support where COs do not recognise looming crises or have difficulty in planning an effective response. While some Country Management Teams will provide an effective response without this support, others will not. For that reason, the proposal is that standard operating procedures are introduced to counter balance potential weak leadership on emergency response.
i) Establish a standard operating procedure that requires ROs to send in a representative of senior level personnel (Regional Emergency Adviser, other individual Regional Advisers or even RD) to COs as they move into a higher state of alert. The first priority should be to establish a 90 day response plan that will cover all aspects of response (leadership/management, funding, surge requirements, supply systems, partnerships, security, additional technical/operations support) and the respective responsibilities of CO and RO. This should happen whether the CO requests support or not to overcome the reluctance of some COs to request back up.
ii) Ensure that the post of Regional Adviser is considered to be a stepping stone to greater seniority to attract candidates of high technical quality.
iii) Analyse what has been successful in regional office oversight to date and replicate those characteristics in all ROs
Enhance Country Office level leadership
Reliable response to emergencies will require reliable and quality leadership on humanitarian response, especially at CO level. Leadership should be enhanced in three ways:
i) By including significant humanitarian experience and demonstrated performance as selection criteria for the appointment of the Country Management Team (Country Office Representatives, Senior Programme Officers and Senior Operations Officers)
ii) Through the Learning Programme for Leadership and Management, that should include modelling for effective leadership, coaching and mentoring for leaders and analysis of leadership in After Action Reviews. After Action Reviews should reflect on the influence of training on leadership in actual humanitarian response.
iii) Building in standard operating procedures to address leadership issues in emergency response (Enhancing Regional Office Oversight Capacity above).
Strengthen coordination capacity
UNICEF is increasingly called upon to coordinate in emergencies, especially in the CCC sectors. This is an extremely important role but requires a high level of technical skill and should not be considered as an add-on to Programme Officer posts. There is also a need for donors to accept that additional funding will be required for effective coordination.
Enhancing coordination capacities will include training for coordination, inclusion of coordination capacities in competency profiles/job descriptions, using standards (e.g. Sphere) as a tool, ensuring that posts attract technically competent personnel and additional funding for the coordination function.
Enhance Surge Capacity with a focus on CO and RO levels
The principal focus in enhancing surge requirements in the next period will be at RO and CO levels, although HQ needs to complete systems already begun. Mainstreaming responsibility for emergency response should continue to be the major strategy but must be enhanced by specialists. One of the principal objectives of the following recommendations is to ensure adequate coverage in the CCC sectors in all countries. Procedures should work as follows:
i) COs conduct a detailed mapping of skills and gaps as part of the EPRP process on an annual basis. While this should already happen as part of EPRPs, it is not sufficiently reliable to date. Mapping should relate specifically to the CCC sectors, as well as operational functions. The HR mapping should be shared with Regional Offices to maintain a regional overview of likely skills gaps and relate needs to the Regional Redeployment Register.
ii) At RO level, a Regional Roster for Redeployment should be established as redeployment is the principal surge mechanism in UNICEF, especially for the early phase. National staff should be included in the register. Staff willing to be part of the Regional Roster for Redeployment should be prioritised for learning opportunities and recognised in the Performance Evaluation Report.
iii) UNICEF should continue strengthen Standby arrangements including providing training on UNICEF commitments, standards and procedures to staff on key standby registers.
Advocate for greater reliability and equity in funding for humanitarian response
Reliable response requires reliable funding. This is essentially an advocacy issue and one which should be addressed by UNICEF through the Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative and direct negotiations with donors. Demonstrating the difference to children’s lives between well funded response (e.g. in the tsunami) and poorly funded responses (e.g. chronic emergencies such as DRC) could support the debate.
Enhanced supply and logistics functions, especially at CO level
To ensure that the right items are in the right place at the right time, Country Offices need to invest more time in planning for supply and logistics within the EPRP process, with the support of the Regional Adviser, Supply. UNICEF does not have independent capacity in logistics, usually relying on government facilities and private suppliers. Often in an emergency UNICEF will need to establish independent systems for a period of time. The assessment should include agreements with potential suppliers and with transporters, as well as how warehousing would be managed and make a case for pre-positioning if necessary. The Supply Division should review the list of standard emergency items against the CCCs and in conjunction with field personnel based on recent emergency experience.
Ensure that procedures for Finance and Administration support effective humanitarian response
At present, there are different views within UNICEF about whether the major issue for effective finance and administration within emergencies concerns over-bureaucratic procedures or whether the blockage is that CO level staff are not aware/sufficiently confident in adapting systems. DFAM should be accountable for clarifying this issue. Over the next 18 months-2 years, DFAM should aggressively disseminate financial procedures (through Regional Finance Advisers) and conduct a field-based review at the end of that period. The review should clarify this issue and recommend appropriate action.
Enhancing child protection capacity at all levels in programming and advocacy
To strengthen UNICEF’s capacity in further policy development, coordination of CP agencies and enhanced CP practice in programming and advocacy, UNICEF should:
i) Increase the HQ staff team to address current policy gaps (including policy development in child protection in natural disasters).
ii) Roll out the new training package (to be developed this year) and back it with follow up, mentoring and coaching of staff.
iii) Regional Advisers in Child Protection should provide greater support to COs in dissemination and debate on key guidelines/policies, assessment of the factors that promote/detract from CO level advocacy for children’s rights, analyse what has worked across countries in developing Child Protection Networks.
iv) Seek resources to augment the number of highly qualified staff for field and regional level coordination in the child protection sector.
Roll out the systems for Monitoring and Reporting of Child Rights Violations in Armed Conflict
Complete the indicators and data collection tools and roll out the Monitoring and Reporting system for violations of children’s rights as soon as possible. Complete mapping of Child Protection Networks and assess what will be required to ensure effective functioning of CPNs at CO level, not underestimating the size of this task. Review staffing levels overall in relation to capacity to comply with the mandate (Inter Divisional Working Group on Monitoring and Reporting).
Reinforce partnerships for humanitarian response
Continue to explore innovative mechanisms for partnership with local and international NGOs for emergencies (such as the developing partnership with Oxfam GB in water and sanitation). Initiate open discussions with NGOs on capacity, oversight and support needs at the outset of any form of partnership, contractual or otherwise. Actively disseminate the CCCs to partners so that they understand the parameters of UNICEF’s humanitarian response commitments.
In the face of increased demand for humanitarian response, either increase resources or reduce commitments
UNICEF’s commitments to the CCC sectors are extremely ambitious. As demand for response continues to grow, it will become increasingly difficult for UNICEF to achieve reliable coverage, especially as Regular Resources are not growing in the same proportions as Other Resources. UNICEF should take a strategic decision on the best of two options:
i) to lobby for greater resources to achieve CCC commitments
ii) to reduce commitments in CCC sectors. Either way, UNICEF should clarify with humanitarian actors that shelter is not one of the CCC sectors and advocate for another UN agency to take this responsibility.
Operationalise and update EPRPs and roll out the Early Warning-Early Action system
To ensure that UNICEF is adequately prepared for emergencies at CO level the EPRP process should continue to improve, with the support of Regional Emergency Advisers. This should include: enhanced Regional Office oversight functions, outsourcing facilitation of EPRPs, tailoring EPRPs to the level of risk, enhanced assessment of HR and logistics requirements and conducting EPRPs in two phases, engaging partners in phase II. The evaluation endorses the roll out of the Early Warning-Early Action system that helps to define accountabilities in response and links response to alert levels.
Enhance technical capacity in the CCC sectors
Technical capacity in each of the CCC sectors is essential for reliable response. This should include:
i) Actively disseminate understanding of the CCCs and of appropriate humanitarian standards by sector during visits of all Regional Advisors (not just Regional Emergency Advisors).
ii) Addressing skills in the CCC sectors within the Learning Programme (below)
iii) Matching RO and CO technical capacity to the CCCs by ensuring that each sector is supported by an Advisor or Programme Officer with relevant skills/experience. Mapping technical capacity in the CCCs at CO level on an annual basis and feed this information into the RO to coordinate plans for Regional Redeployment.
iv) Enhancing technical capacity through strategic partnerships in the CCC sectors.
Enhance learning programme
There are plans to develop new programmes at three levels: Basic, Programme Excellence and Leadership and Management. The Evaluation endorses the importance of these programmes, includes proposals of themes to cover in each level and proposes outsourcing some of the training. Sector based learning in relation the CCCs should be enhanced as part of this programme. To promote take-up and demand for learning programme, staff should be informed that each post carries 5% of staff time for learning and 2% of total staff costs. Learning should be valued within staff performance evaluations and taken into consideration in promotion. Preference in access to learning opportunities should be given to staff on the Regional Redeployment Register.
Strengthen Gender Integration
The Gender Mainstreaming Unit should be strengthened with a staff member dedicated to humanitarian work. Fundamentally gender integration must be understood as much more than a focus on targeting children and women towards greater assessment and awareness of underlying gender inequalities. The analysis of sexual abuse and exploitation and gender based violence should be deepened and related to gender inequalities and structural issues within society. Humanitarian tools, including the CCCs, should be revisited for gender integration. UNICEF could collaborate with other UN agencies in training/learning on gender integration (e.g. UNFPA and UNHCR).
Ensure that UNICEF has sufficient access to populations in insecure contexts
Work vigorously within the UN system at both NY and CO levels for more sophisticated and sensitive UN security management systems
Focus on field-friendly tools, ‘good-enough’guidelines and light lesson learned systems
Support the planned development of simplified tools, e.g. worked examples of Vulnerability Capacity Analysis and a small number of readily collectable indicators on early warning. Hold one-day workshops on monitoring and evaluation and lightweight After Action Reviews.
Develop a long term vision for UNICEF’s role within the UN Reform Process
This should include an analysis of how planned activities in capacity building are influenced by the UN Reform process and which aspects can be done in collaboration with other agencies.
5. Future capacity building
Enhance strategic management of CB Programmes
UNICEF should strengthen centralised strategic leadership for future capacity building for humanitarian response. EMOPS should seek to actively engage other Divisions ideally through the Inter Divisional Standing Committee on Children in Unstable Situations, alternatively the Global Management Team. The post of Capacity Building Programme Manager should be upgraded and financial information should be prepared against programme goals to facilitate strategic management. Preparedness and response goals should be separated from child protection.
DFID should continue to support UNICEF’s capacity building for humanitarian preparedness and response
Given i) the scale and importance of UNICEF’s role in humanitarian response and in the UN Reform process and ii) the fact that UNICEF has made improvements but to make sustainable changes in an organisation the size of UNICEF takes considerable time, the evaluation recommends that DFID continues to support and enhance UNICEF’s capacity building efforts in the medium term. Further capacity building support should be earmarked or ring-fenced within an ISP.
Future capacity building should be considered in a holistic way, of which DFID, ECHO, UNICEF and hopefully other donors, are co-funding. Given DFID’s experience in capacity building with UNICEF and other large agencies, DFID could support UNICEF in monitoring the effect and impact of the whole programme (not just inputs funded by DFID). DFID could also support UNICEF in developing a tool to monitor effects organisation-wide.
Funding should continued to be applied strategically to make ‘catalytic’ gains, especially (but not exclusively) in relation to the oversight role of the Regional Offices. This could include, for example: (a) continuing to support the further development of EPRPs and the Early Warning Early Action system; (b) travel budgets to all Regional Advisers, not just REAs, with a view to dissemination of policy directions; (c) support to developing the Regional Office redeployment system; (d) support to developing strong EPRPs including finance, supply and HR; (e) roll out of guidance by DFAM; and (f) the follow up analysis to determine whether greater dissemination has led to improved performance or whether procedures should be changed. Funding should continue to support elements of the Learning Programme but also thinking strategically such as outsourcing training to specialist organisations already supported by DFID such as RedR/IHE.
All elements of the recommendations should be considered in relation to the direction taken by the UN Reform Programme, including the role of each agency in coordination. In terms of child protection, there are excellent opportunities for DFID to continue to build on policy development in the gaps already identified through considering funding a post at HQ level. DFID could consider supporting an MA course in child protection (as recommended by the inter agency group on child protection) and funding part of the development of Child Protection Networks to fulfil the mandate on monitoring and reporting.
DFID should also consider supporting UNICEF in advocacy and debate on two aspects of humanitarian response:
1. Monitoring the impact on children of vastly different funding levels to different emergencies.
2. Lobbying donors for more recognition of the fundamental importance of coordination in humanitarian response and the fact that this can be a role on its own. The aim would be to sensitise donors to accepting inclusion of posts in sector coordination within programme proposals for humanitarian response.
Le Group-Conseil Baastel Itée, Evaluation of UNICEF Learning Strategy to Strengthen Staff Competencies for Humanitarian Response, 2000-2004.
ECHO has provided complementary funding for capacity building in Emergency Preparedness and Response (supply, distribution and telecommunications) since 2004 and Child Protection in 2005.
The Corporate Trigger is a mechanism to prioritise supply, procurement and delivery; emergency fundraising and deployment of staff for a period of 90 days in the first stages of an emergency.
Conference on ‘Transforming the Human Resources Function in UNICEF’ June 2002.
UNICEF has recently established four Regional Adviser posts in Water and Sanitation.
The Security Council is expected to approve the Action Plan in the near future
Full report in PDF
PDF files require Acrobat Reader. | <urn:uuid:1fed9a87-24b3-43f9-95cc-74f08e45fefd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unicef.org/french/evaldatabase/index_31129.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944002 | 8,600 | 2.625 | 3 |
In the past, I have been "the abused" in emotionally/verbally abusive relationships. I had no idea what my rights were as a person. I also did not know what a healthy relationship was supposed to look like and used to think I deserved no better that to be treated badly. Learning what my rights and responsibilities are as an individual and with my family, friends, and those I do life with, has been a very important part of my recovery.
It is important to remember that our rights are also our responsibilities in relationships. and that we have the right to express ourselves as long as we are not abusive towards others.
The Following is a list of Basic Rights in Relationships from The Verbally Abusive Relationship by Patricia Evans and other soures.
Basic Rights in Relationships
- The right to be treated with respect.
- The right to assert yourself.
- The right to good will from the other.
- The right to emotional support.
- The right to be heard by the other and to be responded to with courtesy.
- The right to live free from angry outbursts and rage.
- The right to have your own view, even if your partner has a different view.
- The right to have your feelings and experience acknowledged as real.
- The right to receive a sincere apology for any jokes you may find offensive.
- The right to clear and informative answers to questions that concern you.
- The right to live free from accusation and blame.
- The right to live free from criticism, judgment, put-downs or ridicule.
- The right to have your work and your interests spoken of with respect.
- The right to encouragement.
- The right to live free from emotional and physical threat.
- The right to be called by no name that devalues you.
- The right to be respectfully asked rather than ordered.
I have internalized these rights and refer back to them when something doesn't feel right in a relationship, but I remember the time when these rights were foreign to me and I thought I deserved nothing better than abuse.
If you are in a situation of abuse, ask for help. YOU MATTER and YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to live free of emotional, verbal and physical abuse***.
peace, hope and love,
***note: both women and men can be victims of abuse in both personal and professional settings. | <urn:uuid:a8f4eabd-8ab6-4c08-8451-01eb9e825b37> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://onedayatatimebroward.blogspot.com/2009/11/basic-rights-in-relationships.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964992 | 494 | 2.53125 | 3 |
According to an American survey, more than one third of U.S. citizens would fail the country’s citizenship test for immigrants.
The study, conducted by the Center for the Study of the American Dream at Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio, found that one in three respondents would fail the civics portion of the test given to those applying for U.S. citizenship.
More than 1,000 Americans over the age of 18 were asked 10 random questions from the civics test, which asks about US history and government topics.
Of those questioned, 35% were unable to answer the pass mark of five correctly.
The most common questions people got wrong revolved around the different functions of government, and how power was distributed between the federal and state governments.
Seventy-five per cent of respondents didn’t know what the judicial branch does, while 71% could not name the U.S. constitution as the “law of the land”.
Furthermore, 57% could not define what an amendment was.
Most of those surveyed did the best on history and geography-related questions.
Despite this, another study found that 60% of Americans believe that being able to pass the government portion of the naturalization exam is a prerequisite for a high school diploma.
There are two parts to the citizenship exam, namely the English test and the civics test.
In the English test, an applicant’s ability to speak, read and write using the language are all assessed.
In the civics portion, the applicant is quizzed on US history and government topics.
According to U.S. News and World Report, 97% of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship pass the test.
Ten sample questions
The House of Representatives has how many voting members?
We elect a President for how many years?
What is the name of the President of the United States now?
If the President can no longer serve, who becomes President?
What is the highest court in the United States?
What do we show loyalty to when we say the Pledge of Allegiance?
Who lived in America before the Europeans arrived?
When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
There were 13 original states. Name three.
What territory did the United States buy from France in 1803? | <urn:uuid:16a71142-92b4-4470-9e6c-4a1049f2c62e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bellenews.com/2012/05/04/world/us-news/more-than-one-in-three-americans-would-fail-citizenship-test/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00161-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963492 | 478 | 3.21875 | 3 |
New Image of Earth, Seen Through Gamma-Ray Eyes
A NASA-funded scientist has produced a new type of picture of the Earth from space, which complements the familiar image of our "blue marble". This new picture is the first detailed image of our planet radiating gamma rays, a type of light that is millions to billions of times more energetic than visible light.
The image portrays how the Earth is constantly bombarded by particles from space. These particles, called cosmic rays, hit our atmosphere and produce the gamma-ray light high above the Earth. The atmosphere blocks harmful cosmic rays and other high-energy radiation from reaching us on the Earth's surface.
Image above: Here we see a false-color image of the Earth in three gamma-ray energy bands, analogous to the colors red (lower energy), green (mid energy) and blue (higher energy) in the visible spectrum. For the complete caption and print-resolution versions, see the links at the end of this article. Image credit: NASA/CGRO/EGRET/ Dirk Petry
"If our eyes could see high-energy gamma rays, this is what the Earth would look like from space," said Dr. Dirk Petry of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Other planets -- most famously, Jupiter -- have a gamma-ray glow, but they are too far away from us to image in any detail."
Petry assembled this image from seven years of data from NASA's Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, which was active from 1991 to 2000. The Compton Observatory orbited the Earth at an average altitude of about 260 miles (420 km). From this distance, the Earth appears as a huge disk with an angular diameter of 140 degrees. The long exposure and close distance enabled Petry to produce a gamma-ray image of surprisingly high detail. "This is essentially a seven-year exposure," Petry said.
The gamma rays produced in the Earth's atmosphere were detected by Compton's EGRET instrument, short for Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope. In fact, 60 percent of the gamma rays detected by EGRET were from Earth and not deep space. Although it makes a pretty image, local gamma-ray production interferes with observations of distant gamma-ray sources, such as black holes, pulsars, and supernova remnants.
Petry created this gamma-ray Earth image to better understand the impact of "local" cosmic-ray and gamma-ray interactions on an upcoming NASA mission called GLAST, the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope. GLAST is planned for launch in 2007. Its main instrument, the Large Area Telescope, is essentially EGRET's successor.
In 1972 and 1973 the NASA satellite SAS-II captured the first resolved image of the Earth in gamma rays, but the detectors had less exposure time (a few months) and worse energy resolution.
Petry, a member of the GLAST team at NASA Goddard, is an assistant research professor at the Joint Center for Astrophysics of the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country. A scientific paper describing his work is available at:
Here we see a false-color image of the Earth in three gamma-ray energy bands, analogous to the colors red (lower energy), green (mid energy) and blue (higher energy) in the visible spectrum.
Gamma rays are millions to trillions of times more energetic than visible light; and they span an energy range far wider than the familiar visible rainbow from red to violet. Visible light has an energy value of about 1.6 to 3.3 electron volts (eV). Gamma rays are measured in Mega-electron volts (MeV) and Giga-electron volts (GeV) -- and sometimes Tera-electron volts (TeV). The red image corresponds to gamma rays at 35-100 MeV; the green image corresponds to gamma rays at 100 MeV to 1 GeV; the blue image corresponds to gamma rays at 1-10 GeV; and the brownish image shows the full mix of energies.
Because the satellite was so close to the Earth, the image has an extreme wide-angle view as if one were taking a picture with a 35 mm photo camera equipped with an 8 mm fish-eye lens. The Earth's rim is much brighter than the center because cosmic rays hitting the rim at a shallow angle are more likely to create detectable gamma rays. The asymmetry in intensity between East and West is caused by the Earth's magnetic field.
Image credit: NASA/CGRO/EGRET/ Dirk Petry
Print-resolution Image Links:
Click here for all four panels together
Click here for the RED panel
Click here for the GREEN panel
Click here for the BLUE panel
Click here for the TRICOLOR panel
Compton Gamma-ray Observatory
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | <urn:uuid:d3c75b56-a389-4974-a0cd-7d9dcc82deb3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/gamma_earth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903845 | 996 | 3.84375 | 4 |
FRIDAY, Feb. 7, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Exercise has long been
credited with both reducing the risk of breast cancer and surviving
Now a new study suggests, but doesn't prove, that breast cancer
survivors who run have an even greater survival edge than those who
"Exercise per se lowers the risk of breast cancer death, but, more importantly, we found a difference between walkers and runners," said study author Paul Williams, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif.
"We see these huge reductions [in breast cancer deaths] in women who run -- much greater than those who walk," Williams said. "[Even so], we don't see this as negating the benefit of walking."
But running appears to confer more protection than walking in
reducing the risk of dying from breast cancer, he said.
The study was published online recently in the
International Journal of Cancer.
Williams compared two groups from his long-running National
Runners' and Walker's Health Study. He followed nearly 300 runners
and more than 700 walkers, all of whom had been diagnosed with
breast cancer. During the nine-year study, 33 of the walkers and 13
of the runners died from breast cancer.
Williams took into account other factors that might influence
survival, such as age, family history, race and menopausal
When he looked at all the women as a single group, he found
about a 25 percent reduction in death from breast cancer during the
follow-up period for every mile of brisk walking or two-thirds of a
mile of running.
When he looked at just the runners, however, he found that the
same amount of running reduced the risk of death by more than 40
percent. The runners who averaged more than two and a quarter miles
per day had a 95 percent lower risk of death from breast cancer
during the follow-up period.
The walkers' risk of breast cancer death for every mile walked
each day declined just 5 percent, which wasn't statistically
significant, Williams said.
Williams said he can't explain the link between more vigorous
exercise and a lower death risk. And he found only an association
between the two, not a cause-and-effect link.
"Running may be more effective in interrupting the hormone cycle and lowering estrogen in a woman's system," he said, and the lower estrogen levels mean less fuel for breast cancer to grow.
But some breast cancer experts have reservations about the study
findings, including Leslie Bernstein, director of cancer etiology
at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Institute, in Duarte,
Although the message to exercise is a good one, the data used
for the study lacks some vital information, Bernstein said.
Williams acknowledged the lack of certain data, such as the
self-reporting of the participants, how advanced the cancer was at
diagnosis, what type of breast cancer it was and what treatment was
Other factors might have influenced the findings, too, Bernstein
said. For instance, the runners might have had less advanced
disease than the walkers. She said she is not aware of any other
studies showing such a dramatic difference in survival between
runners and walkers, and she has published extensive research on
exercise and breast cancer.
Her advice to breast cancer survivors? "I would say it's better
to run than to walk because you spend more energy," Bernstein said.
"But you can only do what's good for you. Older women will probably
not want to run unless they have been running all along."
The plan to run after breast cancer treatment might be better
for younger women, she said. Experts advise checking with a doctor
before starting a workout regimen.
Those who decide to walk can think about doing so more briskly,
with a doctor's approval. "If you walk, push yourself so you're out
of breath," Bernstein said.
To learn more about breast cancer, visit the
American Cancer Society.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © EBSCO Publishing. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:cca0d931-5e07-49f4-9eca-7eacdc2b29d9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wkhs.com/Heart/Education/News.aspx?chunkiid=886763 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960922 | 946 | 2.625 | 3 |
The Way Back: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
2 "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you—may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.' "
5 Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem. 6 All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. 7 Moreover, King Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god. 8 Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
9 This was the inventory:
gold dishes 30
silver dishes 1,000
silver pans 29
10 gold bowls 30
matching silver bowls 410
other articles 1,000
11 In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along when the exiles came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah (one book-in the Hebrew Bible) trace the story of the return of the people of God to the land of Israel after the 70-year captivity in Babylon. Scholars differ as to the chronological order of the books, some maintaining that the events of Nehemiah occur before those of Ezra. Other historians place the return under Zerubbahel (recounted in the first six chapters of Ezra) as the earliest return, dated approximately 537 B.C., with Ezra and Nehemiah leading later returns in that order. Be that as it may, we shall follow the biblical order so that we might learn the meaning of these events in the spiritual parallel of our individual lives.
The book of Ezra begins with the same words which close the book of 2 Chronicles. They recount the decree of Cyrus, king of Persia, to reestablish and restore the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. This gives us our clue to the meaning of Ezra, for it is a book which recounts the method of God in restoring a heart which has fallen into sin.
The book divides naturally into the ministries of two men: Zerubbabel, chapters 1-6 and Ezra, chapters 7-10. Both of these men led expeditions of Jewish captives back to Jerusalem from Babylon. Zerubbabel was a descendant of David and thus of the kingly line. Ezra descended from Aaron and is therefore a priest. This suggests immediately that in the work of restoration both a king and a priest are needed. The work of the king is to build, or in this case, to rebuild. The work of the priest is to cleanse. Restoration in an individual life always requires these two ministries. There is need to rebuild the character through a recognition of the kingship and lordship of Jesus Christ in the human spirit. Such building involves the recognition of God's right to own and direct us and to change us according to His will.
But restoration also involves cleansing. The spirit and the soul are to be cleansed by our great High Priest, who is able to wash away our guilt, tidy up our past and restore us to a place of fellowship and blessedness before God.
Under Zerubbabel an early return takes place. This kingly descendant led about 50,000 people from Babylon back to Jerusalem. This is far fewer in number than those who have returned to the land in our own day, but the biblical record attaches great importance to this first return. Cyrus, the king of Persia, may have known of Isaiah's predictions concerning his instrumentality in the hands of God, for he gave willing aid to the Jews who returned, putting in their hands again the vessels of the Temple and giving them goods and animals (Ezra 1:7).
When they came to Jerusalem it was the seventh month of the year and they arrived in time to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This feast (also called the feast of ingathering) was the time when Israel dwelt in booths to remind them of their pilgrim character. This feast also looks forward to the eventual regathering of Israel from their vast worldwide dispersion to celebrate the personal reign of Messiah upon the earth in great power and glory.
The careful list of those who returned, given in chapter 2, indicates that not only did various families and clans go back but also a company of priests, a smaller number of Levites, certain servants who were to assist the Levites I their service, and a number of people whose genealogy was somewhat uncertain.
Their first act upon return was to build an altar on the original Temple site, in the midst of the ruins. Under the open sky they erected an altar to God and began to worship and offer sacrifice as the Law of Moses had bid them. This is most significant, for the first act of a heart that really desires to return from wandering in darkness and the ways of the world to real fellowship with God is to erect an altar. The altar is the symbol of divine ownership and involves sacrifice, worship and praise. The sacrifice is that of our right to run our own lives; worship is the enjoyment of the restored relationship where the heart is ministered to by the only One who can fully meet its needs; praise is that of a rejoicing heart.
The second thing they did was to lay the foundation of the Temple (3:10). This work when finished was met with mixed feeling, for some of the people shouted with a great shout of joy and others, including those who had seen the first Temple built by Solomon, wept with a loud voice, so that it was impossible to distinguish the shouts of joy from the sounds of weeping (3:13).Perhaps you too may have felt this way. Have you ever returned to God after a time of coldness and withdrawal, with a great sense of joy as the foundations of fellowship were re-laid by the Spirit, yet with regret for the loss of wasted years? This is what is portrayed here. Tears of joy mingled with tears of sorrow as the people saw the Temple being rebuilt.
The third factor in the return of Zerubbabel was the immediate opposition which developed to the restoration of the Temple. Here we see portrayed the force at work in every human heart which immediately rises up to oppose everything God attempts to do. There is a great lesson here in how this force reveals itself. The opposition first appears as friendly solicitude. The people of the land approached Zerubbabel and said, "Let us build with you, for we like you seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here" (4:2).This apparently friendly and openhearted desire to participate in the work marked a very subtle attack upon the returning exiles. It is not difficult to say no to an enemy who breathes fiery threats of slaughter, but when he comes dripping with solicitude and offers to help with your project it is difficult to say no.
But this Zerubbabel did, for he declined their offer of help and stated the Jews would do the work alone. It may have seemed a bit churlish, but it was not mere caprice, for God had commanded Israel not to fellowship with other nations or engage with them in joint enterprises concerning faith. It meant simply that God rejects utterly the philosophy of the world in carrying out His work in the world. There is a worldly religion. and a worldly philosophy which tries to interject the concepts and methods of the world into the lives of God's people. God has made it clear that these are to be rejected. The thinking of the world reflects the spirit of the devil, who is the god of this age. His philosophy is, "Advance yourself; do this for your own glory. Use religious ways to advance your own purposes and thus win admiration, power and fame. " But God rejects this principle in its totality.
When the offer of friendship was rejected, it quickly turned to hatred. The people of the land began to mock and taunt the Jews, thus discouraging Israel from doing the work that God had commanded. These so-called "friends" even used legal means to undermine Israel's authority and right to build, for they obtained from Artaxerxes, the king, a decree to stop the rebuilding of the Temple in view of the rebellious history of the Jews. The work was stopped for a period of six years and the Temple lay with only its foundations completed, overrun with weeds and grass (4:24).It was during this period that, according to the prophet Haggai, the people turned instead to building their own homes with many luxuries and comforts. Those who attempt a return to fellowship with God may often find that the record of their past rises again to haunt them and impede their progress, but a determination to go on with God would overcome even this handicap.
To aid the people, God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, who proved to be God's instruments to turn the people back to their work (5:1). God also moved the heart of Darius the king to search for the original edict of Cyrus which allowed the restoration of the Temple. When it was found a decree was sent to Israel to permit the rebuilding to continue.
At last the work was finished, and in chapter 6 we read of the celebration of the Passover, marking the beginning of their new life under God. Since the Passover pictures the conversion of a Christian, it is clear from this that our new birth will never be a source of delight to us until we are restored in the temple of our spirit to fellowship with the living God. Unless we are enjoying the glory and the light of heaven upon our hearts we have nothing for which to give thanks, nothing to celebrate.
Chapters 7-10 concern the ministry of Ezra the priest. He too led a band of captives back to Jerusalem, though the exact dates are difficult to determine. It is said of him that "he was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given; and the king granted him all he requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him" (7:6). What kind of a man is this whom a Gentile king regards so highly that he will give Ezra anything he asks? The secret is given in 7:10, "For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel." He was not only a Bible reader; he was also a Bible doer. As a result, Ezra could ask anything of the king and it would be granted.
Ezra's specific assignment by Artaxerxes the king was "to adorn the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem" (7:27). To achieve this Ezra gathered a great company about him, taking special care to include among them a company of Levites. After prayer and fasting they set out on their journey, committing themselves to the overruling providence of God to keep them safe on their way. In due time they arrived in Jerusalem and there Ezra found an incredible condition. The Jews and the Levites had again begun to marry with their ancient enemies, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians and the Amorites.
Centuries before, God had given specific orders that the Israelites were not to intermingle with these tribes. Now they were starting the whole wretched mess over again. It was this intermarrying which had broken the strength of the nation before. It had undermined the power of God among them and finally divided the people, broken up the tribes and separated them into two nations. At last, as they succumbed to the idolatrous practices of those whom they had married, God delivered them into the hands of their captives. Now it appears that after 70 years of captivity they had not learned a thing. This is a vivid reminder that the flesh within us never changes. No matter how long we may walk in the Spirit, we will never arrive at a place where we cannot revert to the worst we have ever been, if we depart from dependence upon the Spirit of God.
When Ezra heard that the people had disobeyed God in intermarrying he tore his garments, pulled the hair from his head and beard, and sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. It was unbelievable to him. But as the book nears its close Ezra prayed to God and confessed this great sin of the people. In graciousness God moved the hearts of the people and the leaders came in brokenhearted contrition to Ezra and acknowledged their wrong. A great proclamation was issued and the people assembled together. It happened to be a day when it was raining, but despite the rain the people stood, thousands of them, in front of the Temple and confessed their guilt and agreed to put away the wives and children they had acquired outside the will of God (10:9-17).
This was not an easy thing to do, but it is surely what Jesus meant when He said, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children...he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26). It does not mean that a man must put away his wife today, for this is symbolic teaching. It means that we are to put away whatever comes from the flesh (which is always pictured by the Canaanite tribes).
The book closes with a listing of the men in Israel who were faithful to the Word of God, and obeyed Him in this painful matter. Thus the work of Ezra was completed and the task to which he had been assigned, that of beautifying the Temple, went forward. So it is also in the parable of our lives.
As the book of Ezra recounts the building of the Temple, so the book of Nehemiah gives us the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. This is a significant order, for always the way back to God after a period of declension and captivity to evil must begin within the human spirit--the temple of man. But the next step is to begin a reconstruction of the walls, since walls are universally the symbol of strength and protection. This is a clear picture of the process of rebuilding the defenses of the spiritual life to protect against the attacks of any enemy. Many human derelicts drift up and down the streets of our cities, hopeless and helpless, because their defenses have crumbled away; but frequently God in grace reaches them, against all the expectations of those who have known them, and their walls of defense are rebuilt again. This is the story of the book of Nehemiah.
REBUILDING THE DEFENSES
The first step in this process is given in chapter I where a report is brought to Nehemiah in the city of Susa concerning the ruin and decay of Jerusalem. When Nehemiah heard these words he wept and mourned for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven 1:4). Thus the first step in rebuilding the defenses of any life is to become greatly concerned about the ruins.Have you ever taken a good look at the ruins of your life? Have you ever stopped long enough to assess what you could be to God, compared to what you are? Have you looked at the possibilities that God gave you and seen how far you have deviated from that potential? If you have, then like Nehemiah, you have received word in some form or other of the desolation and ruin that is present. If you will begin to be concerned and weep over those ruins, you will have begun the process of rebuilding.
This mourning is immediately followed by confession(1:5-9). Nehemiah prays a great prayer in which he acknowledges the sin of his people and the justice of God in having fourfold the words of Moses, given in warning centuries before. Also in Moses' words, recorded in Deuteronomy, was the promise that when anyone, even in a distant country, would begin to pray to God, a recovery and restitution to the place of blessing would begin.
The prayer of confession is followed by a great commitment (1:10, 11). Nehemiah asked for divine success to be given him, for a plan is already forming in his mind even while he has been in prayer. He has something definite which he wants to ask and he prays that God will grant him mercy in the sight of the king.
Here is a man who, out of his concern and after the confession of his heart, commits himself to a project. Invariably in an enterprise like this there are factors over which man has no control and God must arrange them. So Nehemiah prays about his appearance before the king.
When, in his work as cupbearer, he comes before the king (2:4-8),his face shows concern over the city of his fathers. At the king's request he makes known to him what is troubling him. .The account especially notes that the queen was sitting beside the king. Our Bible scholar has identified the king as Ahasuerus who appears also in the book of Esther. If this is the case the queen here is Esther herself. The names Artaxerxes and Ahasuerus are not proper names but are really titles meaning the great king (Artaxerxes) and the venerable father (Ahasuerus). If Esther is the queen then it would explain why the king in Nehemiah is willing to restore Jerusalem; for Queen Esther is also a Jewess.
The next need in rebuilding the defenses of a city, or of a life, is that of courage to face the opposition that immediately arises. Encouraged by the king, Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem (2:8) where he found certain Canaanite leaders who were greatly displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. Whenever a man like Nehemiah says "I will arise and build," Satan always says, "Then I will arise and oppose."
Such opposition requires not only courage but caution. Nehemiah rode out around the city of Jerusalem by night (2:15), surveying the ruin that was there and taking careful note of what needed to be done. He made an honest survey of the facts and then began to lay his plans. There was no public announcement of what he intended to do, for that would have stirred up even further opposition. But without conceit or ostentation he began his work.
PRINCIPLES OF RECONSTRUCTION
If the walls of your life are broken down or your defenses have crumbled so that the enemy is getting at you on every hand, and you easily fall prey to temptation, it would be well to pay special heed to the principles of reconstruction set forth in chapter 3 of this book. We learn, first of all, that the people were willing to work. Second, that they became personally involved and began right where they were. Each began to work on the part of the wall that was nearest to his own house, and so called forth the deepest of personal involvement on his part.
It is noteworthy that the reconstruction of the walls centered about the 10 gates of the city. Again, in one of the marvelous hidden revelations of truth which is frequently found in Scripture, the names of these 10 gates, in the order in which they appear, is most instructive.
First, there is the Sheep Gate (3:1). Through this gate the sacrificial animals were brought into the city to be offered on the altar. This clearly pictures the Lamb of God, whose blood was shed on the cross for us, and therefore stands for the principle of the cross. That is always the starting place to regain strength in your life. You must recognize anew that the work of the cross is to cancel out your selfish ego and put to death that which is for your own glory and advancement.
The account then moves to the Fish Gate (3:3). When we remember that Jesus said to His disciples, "Follow Me, and I will make you to become fishers of men" (Mark 1 :17), this gate suggests the witness of a Christian. Every Christian is called to be a witness. If you can never give an account of what the Lord has done for you, then this wall is broken and the Fish Gate needs to be rebuilt.
In verse 6 the Old Gate (3:6) represents the unchangeable truth of God upon which everything new must rest. As someone has well said, "Whatever is true is not new and whatever is new is not true. " In many places today the old truth is being forsaken, but if you allow this old truth to go you will find that the wall crumbles and enemies outside gain access to your soul.
The next gate is the Valley Gate (3:13). This suggests the place of humility, the place of lowliness of mind and humbleness of heart. On almost every page of Scripture God speaks against the pride of man. He looks always for the lowly, the humble, the contrite and those who have learned that they are not indispensable. This gate seems to be frequently in need of repair with many of us. But we need to be reminded that "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James. 4:6).
Next in order is the Dung Gate (3:14). This is not a very beautiful name but it represents an essential process in life: you need to eliminate that which is corrupt and defiling. No life can be strong or healthy that does not have an often used elimination gate within it.
The Fountain Gate is mentioned next (3:15). This name reminds us instantly of the words of Jesus to the woman at the well: "The water that I shall give [you] shall become in [you] a well of water [a fountain] springing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). This speaks of the Holy Spirit who is to be like a river of life in you, enabling you to obey God's will and His Word. To drink from that flowing fountain is to be refreshed in spirit, and to find power to do what God requires.
The Fountain Gate is followed by the Water Gate (3:25,26). Water is always, in Scripture, the symbol of the Word of God. The interesting thing about this Water Gate is that it did not need to be repaired. Evidently it was the only part of the wall that was still standing. The people who lived near it are mentioned, but nothing is said about its repair. Thus the Word of God never breaks down nor does it need repair, it simply needs to be reinhabited.
The eighth gate is the East Gate facing the rising sun (3:29). This is, therefore, the gate of hope, anticipating that which is yet to come when the trials of life and the struggles of earth end, and the glorious new sun rises on the day of God. This gate needs to be rebuilt in many of us who fall under the pessimistic spirit of this age and are crushed by the hopelessness of our times.
The ninth gate is the Horse Gate (3:28). The horse in Scripture is the symbol of warfare, that is, the need to do battle against the forces of darkness. It too is often in need of repair. As the apostle Paul says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world-forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness" (Ephesians. 6:12).
The final gate is the Muster Gate (Nehemiah. 3:31). The Hebrew word means literally "the examination" gate. This is evidently the place where judgment was conducted, and speaks of our need to take a good look at ourselves now and then and evaluate what we are doing.
That brings us around again to the Sheep Gate (3:32), the gate of the cross. The cross must be at the beginning and end of every life.
PRAY AND WATCH
The derision and scorn of their Canaanite neighbors continued to mount, and threats were made against the lives of Nehemiah and other leaders. In response, Nehemiah did two important things: He went to prayer, and set up a guard. From then on, the workers labored with their weapons beside them, keeping watch and building at the same time (4:16). It was a practical demonstration of, "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."
Seeing his persistence, his enemies tried various approaches to stop the work. Nehemiah retained a single eye to the work to which God had called him. The end result was the finishing of the wall and the gaining of the respect of surrounding nations when they saw the hand of God at work.
When the walls were completed the people were encouraged to move back from the suburbs to homes within the city walls (chap. 7). The register of peoples is almost identical to the list in Ezra, which lends confirmation to the theory that it was Nehemiah who first returned from Babylon and Ezra who came later. This also is strengthened by the fact that it is only at this point in Nehemiah that Ezra appears in the book.
When the walls were completed, the time came to reaffirm the spiritual strength of the nation. In a great gathering of the people, the Law was read to them anew, accompanied by exposition given by Ezra the priest (chap. 8). It is especially significant that when the people were convicted by the reading of the Law to the point of weeping, Ezra and Nehemiah comforted them with reassurances that the Lord Himself had made provision for their forgiveness, and that "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (8:10).
Chapters 11 through 13 conclude the book, with first a recognition of certain gifts among the people. Levites, gatekeepers, singers and various other ministries were recognized. This is similar to the New Testament which sets the church to discover the gifts of the Spirit that are given among them, and put them all to work. In chapter 12 is the story of the dedication of the wall. The people gathered and marched around the wall with instruments, singing and shouting, playing and rejoicing.
During the reading of the Law, it was learned again that the people of God should give no official place to either an Ammonite or a Moabite. Nehemiah, who had gone back to Persia and apparently had returned for the dedication of the walls, reminded the high priest that Tobiah was an Ammonite and had been given a place to live within the very Temple itself. This is the Tobiah who had done so much to hinder the work of building the wall. To correct this, Nehemiah went in and threw Tobiah's furniture out into the street. Further, he found that the priests and Levites had been cheated, so he restored the money that belonged to them. Then discovering that the people were violating the Sabbath, he commanded that the doors of the city should be shut when the Sabbath began and kept shut until it was ended. Finally, he dealt with some violence with the problem of intermarrying with forbidden races again. When he learned that one of the priests was the son-in-law of Sanballat, who had done so much to oppose Nehemiah's work, he chased the young man from his presence.
To us it may appear that Nehemiah was overly severe with these violations, but here is a man who has learned that there can be no compromise with evil. He manifests one of the greatest lessons the Spirit of God can ever teach us: to say no when it needs to be said and to say it with firmness and determination. Those who have made a mark for God throughout the history of the church have been those who have learned to say no at the right times.
Thus the book of Nehemiah has given itself to a clear demonstration of how to rebuild the walls of strength in our individual lives, and to maintain those walls in strength by unceasing resistance to allurements and attacks which attempt to force us to compromise. How important it is to be ruthless against the forces that undermine and sap the vitality of our lives in Christ.
The book of Esther is an historical incident that occurred during the days of Jewish captivity in Babylon. Some Bible scholars feel that the Persian king, Ahasuerus in the book, is Xerxes the Great. one great Bible scholar, however, identifies him with Astyages--also called Artaxerxes in Nehemiah and Ezra, the father of Cyrus the Persian.
Esther doesn't appear to be a religious book because nowhere does the name of God appear--nor any mention of heaven or hell. However, the name Jehovahdoes appear four times in the original Hebrew in a hidden way: in the form of acrostics. It is interesting to note that Jehovah declared in Deuteronomy 31 that if His people forsook Him He would hide His face from them.
As in our study of other Old Testament events, the greatest lesson in the account of Esther is in its spiritual parallel to man himself. This pattern appears in the Tabernacle, is repeated in the Temple, appears in the three-fold division of the nation Israel and now is the key to the book of Esther.
Ahasuerus, the king, depicts the soul of man, comprising mind, emotions and, especially, will. His capital city, Susa, is the body in which all his decisions and actions will be most immediately felt. His empire is the sphere of influence which each one of us exerts on all whom we contact. His queen is the spirit of man, closely bound to the soul in such a way that no division or separation can be felt. The queen, bound in marriage to the king, depicts the place of fellowship, refreshment and communion with God which is intimately related to our soul.
Ahasuerus's empire was in a time of peace and blessing, fullness and fruitfulness. No enemy threatened his kingdom from the outside; there was nothing to do but display the lavish glory of his kingdom. Unfallen Adam in parallel, was just such a king. His whole empire, the Garden of Eden, lay at rest and he was free to do nothing more than manifest the riches, fruitfulness and glory of his kingdom while enjoying unhindered communion with God.
During a six-month long feast, which began in joy and merrymaking but ended in tragedy, the king was lifted up in pride and sought to disgrace his queen. Her refusal to submit to his demands resulted in her being deposed from the throne. This decree became a law which could not be changed. When Adam chose to assert the desire of his will over what he knew in his heart that God wanted, he laid the groundwork for the eventual fall of the entire race. His disobedience caused him and all his descendants to enter a fallen state, losing communion with God, which they were helpless to change.
In his loneliness, Ahasuerus sought a new queen. Esther one of the Jewish captives, who was under the control of her cousin Mordecai, was chosen and was exalted to second place in the kingdom. In the spiritual parallel of our life, fallen man, in loneliness and restlessness, also searches for a new place of communion and fellowship with God, even though he himself hardly knows what he is looking for. The new queen depicts our moment of conversion. At this moment we receive a new spirit who, though we do not yet understand it, is under control of another--the Holy Spirit. Throughout this book, "the little man," Mordecai, is the power behind the throne, thus depicting the humility and self-effacement of the Spirit of Christ.
When Haman, a descendant of Amalek--who always pictures the aspects of the flesh--convinced Ahasuerus to decree that the Jews should be destroyed, Esther risked her life to save her people. She told the king that his decree would mean her death as well as her people's death. The king, in consternation, had Haman hanged; Mordecai is exalted to a place of power and instantly everything begins to change. Another decree by the king removed the threat of death from the Jewish captives and allowed them to kill their enemies, just as in Romans 8:2 Paul tells us that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
The book ends with the establishment of the feast of Purim as an enduring memorial to the events of this stony. There is a tradition among the Jews that the feast of Purim is the only feast that will be observed after the Messiah comes. This reflects the truth that to walk in the Spirit is normal for both time and eternity. It is the greatest lesson which God wants us to learn.
In this book we have the same king and the same kingdom at the end as we do at the beginning. The only difference is that Haman is out and Mordecai is in. But what a difference! Just as the king and kingdom remain the same, so the Christian remains the same person when the Spirit is given the place of control in his life. Personality does not change, but it is cleansed and enhanced by the presence of the Spirit. So Paul can say, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians. 2:20). The person remains the same; the principle upon which he lives and acts is entirely different. That is the secret of the Spirit-filled life. As Mordecai, through the will of the king, brings power and peace to the kingdom, so the Holy Spirit, through our human will and never beyond it, brings peace and prosperity into our lives.
Copyright © 2010 by Ray Stedman Ministries — This material is the sole property of Ray Stedman Ministries. It may be copied for personal non-commercial use only in its entirety free of charge. All copies must contain this copyright notice and a hyperlink to www.RayStedman.org if the copy is posted on the Internet. Please direct any questions you may have to webmaster@RayStedman.org. | <urn:uuid:71b838d2-404f-442a-a065-9978b1ee7d10> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.raystedman.org/bible-overview/highlights/the-way-back-ezra-nehemiah-esther | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977352 | 7,303 | 3.125 | 3 |
Response: The Role Of Arts Education In Schools
This week's question is:
What role should arts education have in an overall school curriculum?
There's certainly been a lot of interest in this topic, and I've included many readers' comments in this post.
In addition, I'm featuring guest responses from three educators -- Virginia McEnerney, David Booth and Heather Wolpert-Gawron.
You can also listen to a ten minute conversation I had with Virginia and David on my BAM! Radio Show.
I'm compiled additional related resources at The Best Resources Discussing The Importance Of Art In Education, and you can watch a number of videos and read about how I work closely with a talented teacher at our school to use art as a language-learning activity.
Response From Virginia McEnerney
Virginia McEnerney is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit administrator of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards which recognizes and provides scholarship opportunities for creative teens:
In order to create change, students must first learn to create. Just like adults and perhaps even more so because they are still developing their own identities, young people turn to and respond to the arts to help them communicate and understand ideas, viewpoints and emotions. In this way, the arts cultivate creative thinking which leads to other supplemental skills such as problem-solving which ultimately can benefit students across disciplines.
Arts education should play an essential role in affirming and developing creative abilities among students of all skill levels, without limiting it to those who aspire to be professional artists or writers. It's just as likely that a biologist who developed creative thinking in middle or high school arts classes could think of a new way of looking at cancer research as it is that an artist can develop new forms and media for artistic expression. In fact, I've seen this among the past winners of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Our contemporary economy depends and thrives on innovation and new ways of thinking about and seeing the world. This is exactly what arts education nurtures - young people who, through creative practice, develop the skill to imagine the world differently. Studies such as Reinvesting in Arts Education: Winning America's Future Through Creative Schools from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, display the powerful role that arts education can play in increasing student engagement, closing the achievement gap, and nurturing the skills that will ultimately change our world.
If young people have an inherent pull to create, which we believe, then the arts must be integral to students' education, rather than viewed as separate.
Response From David Booth
David Booth is Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. For more than 25 years he has worked with teachers in creating, applying, and evaluating approaches to how children learn to read and write. His latest book is I've Got Something to Say: How Student Voices Inform Our Teaching:
As caring and concerned members of our home and school communities, we want our children to grow into adulthood with arts-enhanced lives, engaging fully in the world's activities with their aesthetic, cognitive, physical, and emotional strengths, and entwining all these processes as often as possible. We need to "feel our thoughts," and we need to "think about our feelings." Knowing that emotion is a powerful component of life's intellectual responses, we require opportunities to grow as whole beings, to fill our personal worlds with events and experiences that reveal as many shades of color as possible, that widen the possibilities inherent in everything we see and do.
What if our schools opened up the repertoire of artful choices that children could encounter each day, so that as their knowledge expands, their senses grow, and their feelings find form, their responses to life's situations could become more mindful and thoughtful? That is the real role of the arts in school--to help youngsters construct their worlds in wonderful and meaningful ways and, at the same time, gain satisfaction from their expanded understanding of how to accomplish this lifelong process.
The arts are an imperative. In the concentration camps in World War II, some children drew and wrote poems; you can read their poems and find their drawings in the book I Never Saw Another Butterfly. After the disaster of 9/11 in New York City, parents and schools were at a loss about what to tell vulnerable and shocked youngsters. What followed in New York is a metaphor for arts education, as thousands of schoolchildren turned to creating paintings and drawings and poems and stories and letters to somehow give form to their feelings and to share in the sadness that had enveloped their communities. As they engaged in arts responses, they revealed so much more than they could articulate in talk. They were able to imagine hope beyond the destruction. They were able to find catharsis, to seek out ways of demonstrating their compassion and anger. They were able to use art to construct a present reality and to recognize a better future. As parents and teachers and friends, we view their pictures and read their words in the book Messages to Ground Zero, and recognize the depth of their feelings and the connections they have made to the human family. We were better able to cope because of their artistic efforts.
The arts are a way of learning, of exploring, of responding, of revealing and demonstrating, of imagining, depicting, and making meaning. They belong in the school curriculum, as they belong in the minds and hearts of all lifelong learners.
Response From Heather Wolpert-Gawron
Heather Wolpert-Gawron is an award-winning middle school teacher. She has authored workbooks on teaching Internet Literacy, Project Based Writing, and Nonfiction Reading Strategies for the Common Core. She is the author of ˜Tween Crayons and Curfews: Tips for Middle School Teachers and Writing Behind Every Door: Teaching Common Core Writing Across the Content Areas. Heather blogs for The George Lucas Educational Foundation's Edutopia.org as well as her own www.tweenteacher.com:
This country is going crazy for STEM. STEM, STEM, STEM. But the fact is that if we don't focus on the arts, on writing, on speaking, we're neglecting how to communicate that which we find so important. You can't get funding for your inventions without writing. You can design a building based on green technologies without some level of art. You can't be selected from an interview of you can't speak with confidence.
Incorporating the arts into your curriculum is about developing kids that are well rounded, that are exposed to things other than simply the CORE subjects. Think about our innovators, or simply about those people in your life you respect the most. They have elements about them that are diversified.
Additionally, it's vital that we expose students to things in life that are NOT in their nature, which may NOT be what they believe to be interesting or important. We are meant to expand their knowledge and make their world bigger. So we can't limit them by focusing solely on one subject group or the other. Our subjects need to be interconnected. Our subjects need to weave more than ever before.
Besides, going to school is like going to the gym. We can't only work out our biceps while neglecting our glutes. We'd be off-balance, or we wouldn't function at the level we could have had we focused our attention on all of the important muscles. Art is a muscle. Math is a muscle. Writing is a muscle. So are history, and PE, and Theater. By shutting off one or by cutting funding to an entire outlet, we've stunted our students' growth and learning.
Teaching sequencing from one variable to another? Try having the kids create hand drawn or digital storyboards.
Assigning persuasive writing? Have the kids write a speech to the United Nations asking for them to support a researched solution to an international problem.
Having students observe a cow's eye? Have them pair their note taking with labeled sketches and drawings.
The opportunities are there to incorporate the arts no matter what subject you teach. It's critical that we develop those STEM muscles, yes. But it's more critical that we focus on STEAM.
Responses From Readers
Arts are incredibly important for all schools and all types of students to think and act creatively as well as innovative way for student to problem solve.
The beauty of the Arts is that they are incredibly broad and should be kept as so. Art is not simply a 2D drawing course and Pottery. They include music, theatre, sculpture, drawing, creative writing, design, woodshop, and many, many more courses.
The Arts must absolutely be integrated into students' education in order liberate them from the overtly oppressive nature of a school, despite teachers' beliefs. The Arts cannot be quantified unfortunately for those desiring data and numbers for every single class; this is not possible, but the Arts are still as important as ever.
Curriculum should not define Art nor assign specific values to other forms of Art. Curriculum should provide many different paths for students to freely follow in order for self-expression and realization.
Without being educated necessarily in other forms of Arts education such as theatre and digital or media arts, I can say that these forms of learning are important to help students express what they are learning in a contemporary and innovative way. If students are asked to record videos, to utilize social media or blogs, this enables them to produce their own sense of voice in the twenty-first century. By adding these strategies or methods into contemporary curricula, we get students engaged and thinking about how they can be effective learners and workers in the future. Starting students off with this sort of curricula at an early age, will ensure that they are crafty and intelligent workers, who can collaborate with peers and colleagues in their future. Thus, Arts education is essential to the modern curricula, if we are to encourage all students, who are interested in all disciplines to adequately support their ideas, to be able to debate, and to produce an effective rhetoric that will prepare them for college work, and ultimately for the workforce. This will eventually contribute to our country's economy and well being.
Performing and visual arts must be a part of school curriculum. I am passionate about this. Students discover gifts and abilities, they feel a part of the school when involved in the arts, and it motivates them to further their education. Students can learn a life long skill in such classes. These classes blend many subjects - math, history, science, English. A play is set in a time period, lines are memorized and presented, themes analyzed, sets and stage have dimension and balance, programs are formatted. Music and art is historically and mathematically grounded. It makes everything personal and practical. Students produce something they are proud of, often in a group, and on a deeper, personal level. I could go on and on...
Readers sent many comments via Twitter, and I've used Storify to collect them:
Thanks to Virginia, Paul and Heather, and to readers, for their contributions!
Please feel free to leave a comment your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at [email protected].When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it's selected or if you'd prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind. You can also contact me on Twitter at @Larryferlazzo.
Anyone whose question is selected for weekly column can choose one free book from a number of education publishers. I'll be highlighting one particular publisher every two months, and it's Jossey-Bass' turn now..
Just a reminder -- you can subscribe to blog for free via RSS Reader or email.... And,if you missed any of the highlights from the first two years of blog, you can see a categorized list of them here. You won't see posts from school year in those compilations, but you can review those new ones by clicking on the monthly archives link on blog's sidebar.
You can also see annual lists of my most popular posts.
Education Week has published a collection of posts from blog -- along with new material -- in an ebook form. It's titled Classroom Management Q&As: Expert Strategies for Teaching.
Last, but not least, I've recently begun recording a weekly eight-minute BAM! Radio podcast with educators who provide guest responses to questions. You can listen and/or download them here.
Watch for the next "question-of-the-week" in a few days.... | <urn:uuid:064f5846-31a7-4450-8937-edb260ccee6d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2014/06/response_the_role_of_arts_education_in_schools.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968334 | 2,605 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Today I present the strange case under excavation (by Omniknos/Era): 145 pits, with no archaeological material inside, very close to each other, but with no overlaps, producing several aligned rows. They are clearly for large posts (trunks) and do not define a circle, but an elongated area, partially curved. In the outside curved row an interruption is visible and might correspond to a passage.
This is a very strange context. If it is prehistoric (there are several prehistoric contexts nearby), it reinforces the idea that many pits are post holes and that we have to have notion of their spatial distribution to detect the kind of structures they belong to (as it happened at Outeiro Alto 2).
Detail of the outside curved row of pits | <urn:uuid:c5f269c1-eb75-420c-83a9-5de6598397cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://portugueseenclosures.blogspot.com/2013/10/0211-wood-constructions.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965211 | 156 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The most senseless death is a child committing suicide because of bullying.
It seems impossible that mothers and fathers could be grieving the ultimate loss because we can’t stop kids from bullying each other.
We as parents, schools, communities and governments must finally put a stop to bullying.
It’s not easy… Bullying is a problem that goes unsolved over and over again taking lives with it. Earlier this year, I blogged about my personal experiences with bullying and how I didn’t take the best approach to dealing with a school bully. But I didn’t know better because 25 years ago nobody talked about bullying and how we all play a part in the problem and solution.
But we know better now. We can stop bullying. The momentum is building. Kids, parents, celebrities, film makers, musicians, corporations, organizations and governments are speaking up and I believe we are getting close.
I’m honoured to be attending the ERASE (Expect Respect and a Safe Education) Bullying Summit in Vancouver, BC on Tuesday, Nov 13 with Premier Christy Clark.
I will be furiously taking notes and tweeting with hashtag #ERASEBullying, doing my best to bring the information presented at the summit to you.
“ERASE Bullying (Expect Respect And a Safe Education) is a comprehensive strategy that will make British Columbia a leader in addressing bullying and harmful behaviours.”
You can join in the live summit discussion on Twitter from 9 am to 4 pm, Tuesday November 13, 2012. As it is a live event, it may not be possible to respond to all questions received
I’ve created a Pinterest Board – Stop Bullying and a public Twitter List – Stop Bullying that I’d love to see our community build into valuable resources. Please leave me a comment or tweet me any suggestions for Twitter Profiles to add or webpages to Pin. | <urn:uuid:c903adc4-1da1-4868-b14d-4b82381418b7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.5minutesformom.com/67369/erasebullying/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938284 | 393 | 2.625 | 3 |
10 facts (and a video) on the prolific genius who died a relatively unknown artist.
1. Vincent van Gogh was born on March 30, 1853, in Groot-Zundert, Netherlands. He was named after his grandfather and his stillborn brother who died one year before Van Gogh was born.
2. Van Gogh was 27 years old when he painted his first piece.
3. When Van Gogh first began painting, he used peasants as models. He would later paint flowers, landscapes and himself, mostly because he was too poor to pay the models.
4. Van Gogh suffered from temporal lobe epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures.
5. During one of his seizures, Van Gogh attempted to attack his friend Paul Gauguin with an open razor. This ultimately resulted in Vincent cutting off a piece of his own ear – but not the whole ear as is often rumored.
6. Van Gogh created his most famous work “The Starry Night” while staying in an asylum in Saint-Remy-de-Provence, France.
7. In a short period of ten years, Van Gogh made approximately 900 paintings.
8. It is thought that Vincent shot himself in a wheatfield in Auvers, France but did not die until 2 days later at the age of 37. This fact is widely contested, though, and several alternate theories have sprung up, including one that he was shot by two boys. His brother Theo, at his side when he died, said that Vincent’s last words were “La tristesse durera toujours,” which means “the sadness will last forever.”
9. Vincent Van Gogh visually depicted turbulence, an incredibly complex (and still unsolved) mathematical principle in several paintings during a particularly chaotic time in his life.
10. Vincent only sold one painting during his lifetime and only became famous after his death.
Check out the full TED-Ed Lesson “The unexpected math behind Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” that these GIFs were pulled from: | <urn:uuid:1655865e-26a3-4ae8-8716-a728763bb17e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.ed.ted.com/2015/03/30/10-facts-you-should-know-about-vincent-van-gogh/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988665 | 448 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Each chapter in this book includes four sections: (1) an opening quotation that briefly introduces the focus of the chapter; (2) “From the Life of John Taylor,” which illustrates the messages of the chapter with a story or counsel from President Taylor; (3) “Teachings of John Taylor,” which presents important doctrines from his many messages and sermons; and (4) “Suggestions for Study and Discussion,” which encourages personal review and inquiry, further discussion, and application to our lives today through questions.
How to Use This Book
For personal or family study. This book is intended to enhance each member’s understanding of gospel principles taught by President John Taylor. Through prayerful reading and thoughtful study, each member may receive a personal witness of these truths. This volume will also add to each member’s gospel library and will serve as an important resource for family instruction and for study in the home.
For discussion in Sunday meetings. This book is the text for Melchizedek Priesthood quorum and Relief Society Sunday meetings. Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught that the books in the series Teachings of Presidents of the Church “contain doctrine and principles. They are rich and relevant to the needs of our day, and they are superb for teaching and discussion.”1 Teachers should focus on the content of the text and related scriptures and should apply these teachings to circumstances with which class members will be familiar.
Teachers should draw from the questions at the end of the chapter to encourage class discussion. Reviewing the questions before studying President Taylor’s words may give additional insight into his teachings.
The Sunday meetings should concentrate on gospel principles, personal examples that teach these principles, and testimonies of the truth. When teachers humbly seek the Spirit in preparing and directing the lesson, all who participate will be strengthened in their knowledge of the truth. Leaders and teachers should encourage class members to read the chapters before they are discussed in Sunday meetings. They should remind class members to bring their books to their meetings and should honor class members’ preparation by teaching from President John Taylor’s words. When class members have read the chapter in advance, they will be prepared to teach and edify each other.
It is not necessary or recommended that members purchase additional commentaries or reference texts to support the material in the text. Members are encouraged to turn to the scriptures that have been suggested for further study of the doctrine.
Since this text is designed for personal study and gospel reference, many chapters contain more material than can be fully addressed in Sunday meetings. Therefore, study at home becomes essential to more thoroughly benefit from President Taylor’s teachings.
Sources Quoted in This Book
The teachings of President Taylor in this book are direct quotations from a variety of sources. Unless editorial changes were necessary to improve readability, the quotations have retained the punctuation, spelling, and capitalization of the original sources. For this reason, readers may notice minor inconsistencies in the text. | <urn:uuid:ac8c03c5-a16c-4625-9a16-d5b3c57a054a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-john-taylor/introduction?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953813 | 620 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This is a complex infographic about how the choices you make in selecting a bag affect the environment in a variety of ways.
The data here will show you that, at least according to the calculations by Australian researchers published in Packaging Technology and Science, paper isn't necessarily better than plastic. When they ran the numbers, Helen Lewis, Karli Verghese, and Leanne Fitzpatrick found that paper bags actually fared worse on most measures than even a plastic bag made with unrecycled material.
The best option, given their assumptions and estimates, was actually a reusable plastic PET—that's a type of plastic—bag.
But let me make things even easier for you: Reusing bags of any kind radically increase their efficiency. The more times you use a bag of any type, the better it is for the environment. Of course, some bags are easier to re-use than others, especially the ones built for that purpose. But most plastic and paper bags can also be re-used at least a number of times. And think about it: Every time you do that, you spread the material and energetic cost of making that bag over another trip.
So, in the paper or plastic wars, I think you can find true virtue not just in the material of the bag itself, but in the way that you use it.
Here's how we're defining the parameters you see in the graphic:
- Global Warming is a measure of the carbon dioxide or equivalent greenhouse gases created by the bag production.
- Oxidation is a measure of the methane or equivalent released by the bag production. Methane is also a greenhouse gas.
- Eutrophication measures the amount of phosphorous (or equivalent) pollution created by the bag production. These chemicals can throw of aquatic ecosystems if they end up in lakes or, say, the Gulf of Mexico.
- Land Use is an easy one. It measures how much land is needed for the production.
- Water Use is another easy one. It measures the amount of water needed for production.
- Solid Waste is, roughly, the trash generated by the process.
- Fossil Fuels is a measure (in joules) of how much oil, gas, and coal were used.
- Minerals is a measure of how many minerals of other kids were used in the bag process. | <urn:uuid:1b0cd462-5d94-4ae9-8c25-d5d4d0f91995> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/10/the-bag-dilemma/381581/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953553 | 481 | 3.34375 | 3 |
Enjoy tomatoes year round. You can successfully over-winter tomato plants indoors.
Here are some simple tips.
Cut the tomato plant back to the new growth and place the trimmings in your compost pile.
(The photos above show 2 plants that were cut back three weeks ago and have already started to re-grow and flower).
Remove the plants from the ground and re-plant into a pot of organic soil that you can move indoors. When digging out the plant you will notice the roots are quite small in comparison to the plant. Be careful with the roots as this is a transitionary period. Be sure to have an appropriate catch dish so you will not stain or soil the floor or carpet. If you wish you may place a rubber mat under the dish for backup.
Place the tomato plant in a sunny area indoors. If you do not have a sunny area consider a floodlight or your preferred source of artificial light. Water as needed with tepid water and feed as you would outdoors.
You may bring the plant outside on sunny warm days and back in before the evening cools.
When spring arrives and the temperatures average 70 degrees F you can re-plant into the ground out of doors. | <urn:uuid:a3eccc26-ab80-400a-ac11-60fb12b48818> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gardensofcalifornia.com/Over-winter_Tomatoes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942116 | 248 | 2.625 | 3 |
Wa is in the southern part of the Sahel, the semi-arid area south of the Sahara that ranges from Senegal to the Sudan. Average annual rainfall is around 1000 mm, almost all of which occurs between May and October.
Following the May–October rainly season is a cool dry period called the Harmattan (in Waali sesiao sanga) when a steady, often dusty, north wind blows from the Sahara. The hottest period of the year is in February and March when daytime temperatures often reach 110 °F (42 °C)
Food and agriculture
Despite its urban status, Wa is in many ways still an agricultural community, and many people make a good portion of their living in small scale farming. The main crops are corn, millet, yams, okra and groundnuts. Upland rice is also farmed in a few areas. The major fruit crop is the mango. Shea nuts are collected from wild trees, for food or refinement into oils and cosmetics.
The staple food of Wa is known as T-Zed in English.
This is an abbreviation for the Hausa expression tuo zaafi, meaning 'very hot'. In Waali, this food is referred to as sao. It is a thick porridge of corn flour eaten like fufu - by tearing off a chunk and dipping into a soup, usually of okra.
The Wa chieftaincy
The paramount chief of the Wala people is known as the Wa-na (na means chief in Waali.)
The Wala chieftaincy has an unusually long recorded history, in various documents in Arabic. A dispute over the order of succession for the Wa-na began with the death of the Wa-na in 1998. This acriminous and sometimes violent controversy was partially resolved in 2003 with the enskinment of a new Wa-na.
His death in September 2006 left an uncertain future to the Wa-na.
The Wa-na's palace is a good example of traditional Sahelian architecture, with an exterior similar to that of the main mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso.
The Dumba Festival
The Dumba festival was the main traditional event of Wa. It was typically held in late September to correspond with the harvest. The highlight of the year was a ceremony in which the Wa-na stepped over a small cow lying on the ground.
According to traditional belief, if any part of the chief or his clothing touched the cow, he would probably die within the year. If on the other hand he stepped over the cow successfully, he was guaranteed a successful coming year.
Source:Wikipedia under the creative commons act | <urn:uuid:f759b740-1696-4f90-8443-05f4b37ef220> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ghanaliveradio.sharepoint.com/Pages/wa.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969843 | 552 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The report noted a heightened level of distribution of extremist fliers and other racist literature by the neo-Nazi National Alliance, various Ku Klux Klan factions, White Revolution, White Aryan Resistance and David Duke's European-American Unity and Rights Organization.
What does EURO stand for?
EURO stands for European-American Unity and Rights Organization (formerly National Organization for European-American Rights)
This definition appears frequently and is found in the following Acronym Finder categories:
- Organizations, NGOs, schools, universities, etc.
See other definitions of EURO
- Europeans Using Roundwood Innovatively and Sustainably
- European Robotics and Intelligent Systems Conference
- European Union for Responsible Incineration and Treatment of Special Waste
- Emory Undergraduate Research Journal
- Entreprise Unipersonnelle A Responsabilite Limitee
- Exeter University Rugby League (UK)
- European Meteorological Data System
- European Union Recreational Marine Industry Group (International Council of Marine Industry Associations)
- Esfahan Urban Railway Organization (Esfahan, Iran)
- European Monetary Unit
- European Organization for an Audiovisual Independent Market
- European Council of Applied Sciences and Engineering
- European Council of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering
- European Citizenship Practise
- European Design Automation Conference
- European Internet Service Providers Association
- European Internet Exchange (also seen as EURO-IX)
- Euro-Mediterranean Resources Network (Brighton, UK)
- Electronic Systems Design Promotion of Best Practice
- European Community of Chefs
Samples in periodicals archive:
21 /PRNewswire/ -- The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) today announced that a speech by EURO National President David Duke entitled "No War for Israel," that was cancelled due to threats by militant Jewish organizations, will continue as planned at a new privately owned facility that will not be made public until Saturday afternoon.
NEW ORLEANS -- The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO), led by nationally known civil rights leader David Duke, will hold a "Celebration of Southern Heritage" flag rally on the beach in Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi, Saturday, July 20 at 10:00AM.
The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) today expressed horror and outrage at the vicious attack and kidnapping of Michael Streeter, a 20-year-old White male, who was kidnapped from a truck stop on April 11 by two Black attackers.
The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) says its "Welcome Patrols" will greet tourists at the NCAA tournament this Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina, in an effort to "counter hate with love.
NEW ORLEANS -- The European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) today expressed horror and outrage at the vicious attack on sixteen-year-old Jason Smith, a White teen from Collinsville, Alabama, who had his nose bitten off by a Black attacker. | <urn:uuid:85e3e0c4-14ff-4a98-807e-ca3ec134d915> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.acronymfinder.com/European_American-Unity-and-Rights-Organization-(formerly-National-Organization-for-European_American-Rights)-(EURO).html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.889976 | 632 | 2.515625 | 3 |
FRENCHTOWN, TEXAS. Frenchtown was a neighborhood of four square blocks in Houston's Fifth Ward in Harris County. It comprised 500 blacks of French and Spanish descent from Louisiana, who came to northeastern Houston and organized a community in 1922. Many Frenchtown skilled or semiskilled workers, including mechanics, carpenters, sawmill workers, and bricklayers, were employed by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Their community of largely French-speaking Catholics was centered around Our Mother of Mercy Roman Catholic Church and had a rich Creole culture distinguished by its colorful patois, unique cuisine, and characteristic zydeco music. The women of the community refused to take employment as cooks, despite the appeal of their cooking. With no further influx of new residents, Frenchtown gradually merged into the larger community.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Handbook of Texas Online, Diana J. Kleiner, "Frenchtown, TX," accessed July 01, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrfvg.
Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:815c3472-efac-4bd0-a991-6c25a73d06f4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hrfvg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948928 | 403 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Bad news for people who spend most of their time sitting in their office chair or meeting rooms without much physical activity, as reported in a study report which was released during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Los Angeles. In the study report it has been revealed that most of the Americans usually exhaust their time sitting in office chairs. All this results in accumulation of unhealthy form of fat which crop up around the heart.
The study further said that the cause of worry has been that the stubborn fat remains their all the time even if a person go on for exercise or use gym. The result of the study was the outcome of CT scans of more than 500 senior citizens of America. These persons reported they spent their substantial time sitting in one way or the other, revealed study author Britta Larsen, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of cardiovascular epidemiology at the University of California, San Diego, he said the outcome of the study was related to pericardial fat accumulated around the heart of the people who took part in the study.
Various earlier studies too have focused on the fact that sitting most of the time not only results in lack of physical activity, but it is much more than that as it affects the whole body. The study author further said that even if you run daily but sit for eight hours at a place without any much physical activity it will adversely affect your health.
During the course of the study Larsen’s team consulted CT scan data of around 504 Californian adults with an average age of 65, and it worked out to reveal how much a certain type of body fat has been deposited in the participant’s body. The team looked into the subcutaneous fat like a pot belly; they also looked for visceral fat which could be found around your organs, intramuscular fat, which has been found in your muscles. More the team also looked into intrathoracic fat which is often found around your heart.
The study author reported that the culprit in the study was none other than pericardial fat which has some relation with cardiovascular disease. This fat often clogs up your arteries.
So what is the solution?
The study author said, that in an effort to remain healthy you are required to focus on getting enough exercise and avoid sitting for around 10 hours a day like most people do.
Another solution could be efforts should be made so that workplace becomes more standup-friendly.
Healthandcare.in online health portal has also earlier depicted through various articles that, in order to remain healthy you have to indulge in various physical activities and should refrain from stress. Do meditation, but for this you have to just sit at one place for only 15 minutes! | <urn:uuid:17fd7afa-cee7-45a4-8db3-49df4453110f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://healthandcare.in/how-sitting-at-one-place-and-sedentary-lifestyle-affects-your-heart/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979608 | 552 | 2.59375 | 3 |
What is the most common kind of tapeworm dogs and cats get?
The most common tapeworm of dogs and cats in the United States is called Dipylidium caninum. Infection is common and found throughout the world.
How did my pet get the Dipylidium tapeworm?
By swallowing a flea infected with a tapeworm larvae. A dog or cat may swallow a flea while self-grooming. Once the flea is digested by the dog or cat, the larval tapeworm is able to develop into an adult tapeworm.
The adult tapeworm is made up of many small segments, called proglottids, each about the size of a grain of rice. Adult tapeworms may measure 4-28 inches in length. As the tapeworm matures inside the intestine, these segments (proglottids) break off and pass into the stool.
How would I know if my pet has a tapeworm infection?
Although cats and dogs are rarely ill as a result of a Dipylidium tapeworm infection, the proglottids can sometimes be seen crawling near the anus or on the surface of a fresh bowel movement. Proglottids contain tapeworm eggs; these eggs are released into the environment when the proglottid dries out. The dried proglottids are small (about 2 mm), hard and yellowish in color and can sometimes be seen stuck to the fur around the pet's anus.
What kind of problems do tapeworms cause for the dog?
Tapeworms are not usually harmful to your pet. Weight loss may occur if your pet is heavily infected. Sometimes, an infected dog will "scoot" or drag its anus across the ground or carpet because the segments are irritating to the skin in this area.
Occasionally, a portion of this tapeworm will be passed when the dog vomits. If this happens, a worm several inches long may be seen.
How is tapeworm infection diagnosed in my pet?
Tapeworm infection is usually diagnosed when the moving segments are seen crawling around the anus or in a bowel movement. Dipylidium tapeworm eggs are rarely released into the feces and are therefore not usually detected by routine fecal exams performed by your veterinarian. Because of this, veterinarians depend on you to notify them of possible tapeworm infection in your pet.
Can I get a tapeworm infection from my pet?
Yes; however, the risk of infection with this tapeworm in humans is very low. For a person to become infected with Dipylidium, he or she must accidentally swallow an infected flea. Most reported cases involve children. The most effective way to prevent infections in pets and humans is through flea control. A child who is infected will usually pass proglottids (or what appears as rice) in a bowel movement or find them stuck to the skin around the anal area.
How is tapeworm infection treated?
Treatment for both animals and humans is simple and very effective. A prescription drug called praziquantel is given, either orally or by injection (pets only). The medication causes the tapeworm to dissolve within the intestine. Since the worm is usually digested before it passes, it may not be visible in your dog's stool. The drugs are generally well-tolerated.
What should I do if I think my child is infected with tapeworms?
See your health care provider for diagnosis and treatment.
How can tapeworm infection be prevented?
To reduce the likelihood of infection you should:
- Control fleas on your pet, and in their indoor and outdoor environments.
- Have your veterinarian treat your dogs and cats promptly if they have tapeworms.
- Clean up after your pet, especially in playgrounds and public parks. Bury the feces, or place it in a plastic bag and dispose of it in the trash.
- Do not allow children to play in areas that are soiled with pet or other animal feces.
- Teach children to always wash their hands after playing with dogs and cats, and after playing outdoors.
This information is not meant to be used for self-diagnosis or as a substitute for consultation with a health care provider. If you have any questions about the parasites described above or think that you may have a parasitic infection, consult a health care provider. | <urn:uuid:0415da0e-a474-4d7a-9a4c-ee6ccd3331c5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/dipylidium/faqs.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940168 | 921 | 3.140625 | 3 |
CDC: Adolescent Vaccine Rates Rising
But Study Shows Progress Still Needs to Be Made for Kids Aged 11 and 12
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News
Reviewed By Laura J. Martin, MD
Sept. 6, 2011 -- More 11- and-12-year-olds are getting their recommended vaccines, but there's room for improvement, a CDC study shows.
The study compared immunization rates for 13- to 17-year-olds born from 1991 to 1996. It shows that nearly 55% of kids had made vaccination visits to doctors at age 11 to 12, but many still hadn't received all recommended immunizations.
Immunization rates were examined for three childhood vaccines: measles, hepatitis B, and varicella, better known as chickenpox. Rates were also analyzed for adolescent vaccines recommended for 11- and 12-year-olds, including tetanus-diphtheria, tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis (whooping cough), meningoccal vaccine, and for girls, human papillomavirus (HPV).
The study is published in the September issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Most Parents Follow Guidelines
In general, the study shows that by age 11 most adolescents have had their childhood immunizations.
During the period studied, tetanus-diphtheria or tetanus-diphtheria-pertussis vaccination for kids aged 11 to12 increased from 33.8% to 68.2%.
Meningoccal-containing vaccination increased from 8.4% to 50%. HPV vaccination among girls increased from 11.1% to 30.5%.
But CDC researchers say "more can be done to increase the frequency with which adolescents receive all necessary vaccines during a visit."
Researchers point out, though, that meningococcal and HPV vaccine recommendations were not in place when many youths included in the survey were within the studied age range.
Still, the researchers say the study "shows encouraging progress with implementing the three vaccines specifically recommended for 11- and-12-year-old children."
The study is based on data from the 2009 National Immunization Survey-Teen telephone interviews involving 35,004 households and information from vaccination providers on 20,066 adolescents.
News release, CDC.
Stokley, S. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, vol 165; pp 813-818.
© 2011 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Find out what women really need. | <urn:uuid:189b39a6-db5a-4547-8af2-51a0eefb8b75> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rxlist.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=149133 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95088 | 517 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Two of the farthest supernovae ever detected have been found by using a new technique that could help find other dying stars at the edge of the universe. The two cosmic blasts occurred 11 billion years ago. The next-farthest large supernova known occurred about 6 billion years ago. Jeff Cooke from the University of California Irvine said this new method has the potential to allow astronomers to study some of the very first supernovae and will advance the understanding of how galaxies form, how they change over time and how Earth came to be.
A supernova occurs when a massive star (more than eight times the mass of the sun) dies in a powerful, bright explosion. Cooke studies larger stars (50 to 100 times the mass of the sun) that blow part of their mass into their surroundings before they die. When they finally explode, the nearby matter glows brightly for years.
Typically, cosmologists find supernovae by comparing pictures taken at different times of the same swath of sky and looking for changes. Any new light could indicate a supernova.
Cooke built upon this idea. He blended pictures taken over the course of a year, then compared them with image compilations from other years.
“If you stack all of those images into one big pile, then you can reach deeper and see fainter objects,” Cooke said. “It’s like in photography when you open the shutter for a long time. You’ll collect more light with a longer exposure.”
This image shows the host galaxy containing one of the newly discovered supernovae. Comparing the images shows how the galaxy visibly brightens in 2004 and then returns to normal. This suggested that in 2003 the supernova was not detected; it appeared in 2004 and was beginning to fade in 2005. The last frame subtracts the images from the years that the supernova was not detected as well as the galaxy’s light to reveal only the supernova. Credit: Jeff Cooke/CFHT
Doing this with images from the Cooke found four objects that appeared to be supernovae. He used a Keck telescope to look more closely at the spectrum of light each object emitted and confirmed they were indeed supernovae.
“The universe is about 13.7 billion years old, so really we are seeing some of the first stars ever formed,” Cooke said.
Cooke’s paper is published in the journal Nature on July 9. | <urn:uuid:803804d2-e4fa-4b9e-8a7e-44299da86fb5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.universetoday.com/34433/new-technique-finds-farthest-supernovae/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948178 | 508 | 4.15625 | 4 |
With dry land increasingly at a premium, a Japanese construction company has come up with a plan to sink a spiralling city into the depths of our oceans.
Each Ocean Spiral will be home to about 5,000 people, according to Shimizu Corp., with each structure also incorporating business and office facilities, hotel and entertainment facilities.
A blueprint for the city of the future was unveiled in Tokyo this week, with Shimizu confidently predicting that the first of its underwater cities would be ready for residents to move in as early as 2030.
At the surface, the city will have a vast floating dome that could be made watertight and retracted beneath the surface in bad weather.
Beneath the dome, the spiral structure would descend as much as 9 miles to the seabed, where an "earth factory" would produce methane from carbon dioxide by using micro-organisms, the company said.
The seabed could also be mined for rare earth minerals and metals.
Generators would create power by taking advantage of the difference in the temperature of sea water at varying depths, while undersea docking facilities would enable supplies to be delivered and research to be conducted.
Shimizu plans to build the Ocean Spiral from resin instead of concrete and to use industrial-scale three-dimensional printers to create the components.
The cost of developing the first undersea city has been estimated at 3 trillion yen (£16.24 billion), although the company says that subsequent versions will be significantly cheaper.
An artist impression of the modern-day Atlantis (Shimizu Corp)
Shimizu has been working on the project with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and Tokyo University and believes it will take five years to build the first unit.
Shimizu has a reputation for blue-sky thinking in a country in which construction firms are traditionally conservative in their approaches to projects.
Previously, Shimizu has proposed creating a 250-mile wide "belt" of solar panels around the Moon that would gather and relay a constant supply of energy to "receiving stations" on Earth by way of lasers or microwave transmission.
Another plan is to build vast floating islands for the shrinking atoll nations of the Pacific, such as Kiribati. | <urn:uuid:ca629307-840a-499c-ba5a-c7879da8741f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11244758/City-of-the-future-sinks-into-the-ocean.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955766 | 455 | 3.140625 | 3 |
WEATHER GUIDE: COLD WEATHER TIPS
When temperature approaches freezing in Southwest Florida special precautions need to be taken to prevent permanent injury to our cold sensitive plantings.
What to protect: All tropical plants, whether planted in the ground or pots will need protection when the temperature is expected to drop below 35º F. Hibiscus, Crotons, Bouganvillas, and Ixora along with Coconut Palms, Areca Palms, Royal Palms and Adonidia Palms (Christmas Palms) to name a few, must be protected. Tropical fruit trees like Mangos and Carambolas will also need attention. Citrus very rarely require protection from cold unless the temperature is expected to drop below 29º F for more than 3 or 4 hours.
How to protect your plants: The first thing to do before cold weather is expected is to make sure that your plants are well watered. Give all your plants a good drink during the day. Be sure to water early enough in the day to ensure the plants are dry going into the dark.
Containerized plants are best moved into a covered area like a garage, carport or patio. If the structure is open to the air choose a location that is open to the south.
For plants outside, it is best to cover the plants with a cloth cover. Old sheets and blankets are best, but contrary to what some may say, plastic and other synthetic material covers will work too. If you can create a “structure” to keep the covering material off the plants, that would be ideal. Any portion of the plant that comes in contact with the covering material will likely get injured because the cold will transfer through the covering materials to the foliage. So keep as much of the covering material as possible off the plants foliage.
This covering process is most effective in protecting your plants against injury from frost. Frost will occur only if there is no cloud cover AND there is NO wind. If either of these conditions is not met there won’t be any frost. I have seen frost occur on plants in our area at temperature as high as 36º F. If the temperature is expected to drop below 32º F your covering alone may not be sufficient to protect your plants.
When the temperature drops below freezing, especially if it drops into the 20’s, you will need to add a heat source to your covered plants. In many cases the easiest way to get heat to your plants is by adding a lighted floodlight or two under the covered plants. Christmas tree lights will also work if you add enough. It is also advisable to make sure your covering materials go all the way to the ground, so that any heat coming from the ground will be trapped inside the cover.
Larger plants and palms that can’t be easily covered are very difficult to protect. For palms if you can wrap the top of the trunk at the bud area this may help protect the bud (growing point) from cold injury. Because the palms only have one growing point, if the bud dies or is damaged the palm will not recover. Protecting the foliage of a palm is not as important as protecting the bud. Infrared type outdoor space heaters can also direct heat toward the bud area of a taller palm. As a last resort, if you can create a heat source close to the trunk this will create an updraft around the trunk and bud of the tree that may prevent frost from settling on the bud area of the palm.
Larger shrubs can be protected by “banking” the base of the plant with dirt. Because the soil in our area doesn’t freeze, pilling up dirt around the base of the plant will stop the cold from killing the portion of the plant that is banked with dirt. This is an especially effective method to protect grafted plants like Hibiscus, Gardenias and young Citrus. If the graft is protected, and the plant is severely injured, the plant will regrow back from the grafted portion of the plant. However, if the graft area is killed the plant that regrows from the rootstock will not be the same desirable species as before the cold.
What about water to protect my plants? You will no doubt see TV coverage of farmers and nurserymen protecting their plants from cold damage with water. This is NOT a practical method of cold protection for homeowners. In order for water to work as a protective blanket for your plants, you must continuously apply water to the plants. The idea is that as long as you are applying water to the foliage of the plants the temperature will stay at 32.1º F, preventing the plant from freezing. The scientists will say that by definition when a gram of water freezes it gives up 1 kilocalorie of heat. However, if the water stops, or slows down plants covered in ice will actually super cool to below the air temperature. Home irrigation systems just don’t provide enough water fast enough to do any good.
What about after the cold? In the morning, once the temperature gets above 38º F you should uncover your plants. If your covered plants are in the sun, the cover can quickly trap in excess heat causing more damage to your plants. “Banked” plants can remain covered for several months until the danger of frost is past.
If your plants sustain cold damage it is very important to reduce your watering right away. Excess water can cause root rot problems, so we recommend shutting off your sprinkler system until plants begin to show signs of regrowth or undamaged foliage begins to wilt.
When can I trim my damaged plants? Wait, Wait, Wait!!! It is best for you to wait until your plants begin to show signs of new growth before doing any trimming. There are several reasons why:
Over the years I have seen numerous situations where plant tissue I was sure was dead has miraculously grown. If you trim too early you are very likely cutting off portions of the plant that will regrow, if you give it a chance.
Until the chance of frost is completely past (approximately mid-February to mid-March in our area), the damaged foliage will provide some additional protection from future frost injury.
Pruning too early may stimulate new growth that can be injured again. Your plants may not be strong enough to come back twice.
We hope this information will be helpful in protecting your plants from cold injury.
COLD WEATHER TURF DAMAGE
Injury to warm-season turfgrasses often occurs when temperatures drop below 20°F (-6.7°C). In general, major winter injury to turfgrass is caused by the following:
For example, damage from the 1989-90 freeze can probably be attributed to poor cultural practices which weakened turf and made it more susceptible to injury or death from low temperatures. Subsequent damage may also have resulted from effects of traffic on frozen turf.
Most warm-season grasses have very poor cold tolerance ratings when compared to cool-season grasses. Due to lower fall temperatures and reduced day length, warm-season grasses enter a state of dormancy, evidenced by brown, dead shoot tissue. This death of shoot tissue or lack of growth does not generally indicate that the grass is not going to recover; instead, this is a natural state and provides protection for the grass when faced with cold temperatures.
In cases of severe freezing temperatures, some grasses may suffer irreversible damage, and use of these grasses should be limited to warmer climates. For instance, St. Augustine grass, which generally exhibits poor cold tolerance, is not used as extensively in north Florida as other grasses, and is used less as you progress into northern Georgia.
Cultural factors that tend to promote cold injury include: poor drainage (soil compaction), excessive thatch, reduced lighting, excessive fall nitrogen fertilization, and a close mowing height. The weather pattern preceding a severe and sudden cold wave also influences a turf's low temperature tolerance.
In general, if turf has had several frosts prior to a drastic temperature drop, it has been better “conditioned” to survive. The 1989-90 cold snap in much of north and central Florida was preceded by three to five frosts. These helped increase carbohydrates and proteins in plants that enabled crown tissue to withstand cold temperatures without severe membrane disruption. The freezes that occurred in the early 1980s did not have these preconditioning periods, resulting in severe damage. In this case, grasses were still green, and protective crown tissue was succulent and therefore susceptible to cold temperatures.
Shaded areas may suffer more intense cold damage. Shade (low light intensity) prevents normal daytime soil warming. Shade also reduces the plant's ability to produce carbohydrates needed for increased cold tolerance.
Traffic (foot or vehicular) may further increase injury to cold damaged turf. Traffic should not be allowed on frozen turf until the soil and plants have completely thawed.
For more information go to: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/LH067
||Recently planted grasses can expect to be more severely damaged by cold. Ooverall stress tolerance is reduced in grasses undergoing establishment. In south Florida care should be taken to protect immature turf from occasional cold temperatures.|
|•||Fertility can also influence cold tolerance. Late season (after mid October in the central and southern regions) application of nitrogen will promote shoot growth in the fall, when the grass growth and metabolism are slowing down. This will deplete carbohydrate reserves and will produce new, tender shoot growth that is less able to tolerate cold. Therefore, late-season application of nitrogen is not recommended.|
|•||Potassium fertility in the fall has been shown to enhance cold tolerance and promote earlier spring green-up of grass. Application of potassium at the rate of ½ to 1 lb. per 1000 square feet is recommended for the last fertilization of the year.|
|•||Shade can increase cold damage because shade does not become as warm as areas in full sun. Injury in these areas may be more severe. Compacted soils also remain cooler than well-drained areas, which increases the probability of cold temperature damage.|
|•||Increasing mowing height can reduce cold injury, promote deeper rooting, allow for production and storage of more carbohydrates late in the summer, and can create a warmer micro-environment due to extra canopy cover.|
|•||Because cold damage may initially resemble drought stress, people sometimes feels that additional water may be needed. Overall, correct irrigation practices as described throughout the Florida Lawn Handbook can alleviate many stresses faced by turf, but as the grass goes into dormancy, water needs are reduced.|
|•||Unless your turfgrass has been subjected to unusually cold or freezing temperatures for long periods, or your management practices have augmented the effects of the temperatures, your grass should begin to green-up as temperatures and day lengths increase in the spring. At this time, recommended fertility, irrigation, and mowing practices should be resumed for best health of your lawn all season.| | <urn:uuid:849e12f8-9597-4edf-81aa-44cdc47a78be> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.royalpalmnurseries.com/landscape_care/weather_guide/cold_weather_tips.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00088-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946199 | 2,277 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Images are signals with special characteristics. First, they are a measure of a parameter over space (distance), while most signals are a measure of a parameter over time. Second, they contain a great deal of information. For example, more than 10 megabytes can be required to store one second of television video. This is more than a thousand times greater than for a similar length voice signal. Third, the final judge of quality is often a subjective human evaluation, rather than an objective criteria. These special characteristics have made image processing a distinct subgroup within DSP.
In 1895, Wilhelm Conrad R?ntgen discovered that x-rays could pass through substantial amounts of matter. Medicine was revolutionized by the ability to look inside the living human body. Medical x-ray systems spread throughout the world in only a few years. In spite of its obvious success, medical x-ray imaging was limited by four problems until DSP and related techniques came along in the 1970s. First, overlapping structures in the body can hide behind each other. For example, portions of the heart might not be visible behind the ribs. Second, it is not always possible to distinguish between similar tissues. For example, it may be able to separate bone from soft tissue, but not distinguish a tumor from the liver. Third, x-ray images show anatomy, the body's structure, and not physiology, the body's operation. The x-ray image of a living person looks exactly like the x-ray image of a dead one! Forth, x-ray exposure can cause cancer, requiring it to be used sparingly and only with proper justification.
The problem of overlapping structures was solved in 1971 with the introduction of the first computed tomography scanner (formerly called computed axial tomography, or CAT scanner). Computed tomography (CT) is a classic example of Digital Signal Processing. X-rays from many directions are passed through the section of the patient's body being examined. Instead of simply forming images with the detected x-rays, the signals are converted into digital data and stored in a computer. The information is then used to calculate images that appear to be slices through the body. These images show much greater detail than conventional techniques, allowing significantly better diagnosis and treatment. The impact of CT was nearly as large as the original introduction of x-ray imaging itself. Within only a few years, every major hospital in the world had access to a CT scanner. In 1979, two of CT's principle contributors, Godfrey N. Hounsfield and Allan M. Cormack, shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine. That's good DSP!
The last three x-ray problems have been solved by using penetrating energy other than x-rays, such as radio and sound waves. DSP plays a key role in all these techniques. For example, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses magnetic fields in conjunction with radio waves to probe the interior of the human body. Properly adjusting the strength and frequency of the fields cause the atomic nuclei in a localized region of the body to resonate between quantum energy states. This resonance results in the emission of a secondary radio wave, detected with an antenna placed near the body. The strength and other characteristics of this detected signal provide information about the localized region in resonance. Adjustment of the magnetic field allows the resonance region to be scanned throughout the body, mapping the internal structure. This information is usually presented as images, just as in computed tomography. Besides providing excellent discrimination between different types of soft tissue, MRI can provide information about physiology, such as blood flow through arteries. MRI relies totally on Digital Signal Processing techniques, and could not be implemented without them.
Sometimes, you just have to make the most out of a bad picture. This is frequently the case with images taken from unmanned satellites and space exploration vehicles. No one is going to send a repairman to Mars just to tweak the knobs on a camera! DSP can improve the quality of images taken under extremely unfavorable conditions in several ways: brightness and contrast adjustment, edge detection, noise reduction, focus adjustment, motion blur reduction, etc. Images that have spatial distortion, such as encountered when a flat image is taken of a spherical planet, can also be warped into a correct representation. Many individual images can also be combined into a single database, allowing the information to be displayed in unique ways. For example, a video sequence simulating an aerial flight over the surface of a distant planet.
Commercial Imaging Products
The large information content in images is a problem for systems sold in mass quantity to the general public. Commercial systems must be cheap, and this doesn't mesh well with large memories and high data transfer rates. One answer to this dilemma is image compression. Just as with voice signals, images contain a tremendous amount of redundant information, and can be run through algorithms that reduce the number of bits needed to represent them. Television and other moving pictures are especially suitable for compression, since most of the image remain the same from frame-to-frame. Commercial imaging products that take advantage of this technology include: video telephones, computer programs that display moving pictures, and digital television. | <urn:uuid:ce712ff1-de42-4a8f-ab2b-1b5147ea478e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dspguide.com/ch1/5.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944261 | 1,043 | 3.5 | 4 |
Editor's Note: More students have been removed from a Massachusetts school in the investigation of the alleged bullying campaign against a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide, a school official said Tuesday. Nine students at the school have been charged in what a prosecutor described Monday as a months-long campaign of bullying that led to the suicide in January of Phoebe Prince. Bullying is an issue in schools across the United States. Barbara Coloroso is an author and a consultant on parenting, teaching, positive school climate and nonviolent conflict resolution. She advised the school district on how to prevent bullying. Read an excerpt from her book below.
'The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander'
The bully, the bullied, and the bystander are three characters in a tragic play performed daily in our homes, schools, playgrounds, and streets. As the examples in the introduction make clear, the play is real and the consequences can be deadly. A child who is playing “the bully” dresses, speaks, and acts the part, as do “the bullied” and “the bystander.” It is the posturing, the words, the actions, and the consequences of these elements combined that is the concern of this book. Most young children try out all three roles and play each one with relative ease, then abandon the bully and bullied roles to become bystanders. Some children play both bully and bullied and move effortlessly between the two. A few get typecast and find it almost impossible to break out of the role they have mastered, with no opportunity to develop more constructive social skills.
Typecasting raises the issue of language. As a former teacher, I have seen how easy, efficient, and nonproductive it is to use language as a kind of shorthand to mold a diagnosis and a child into one entity and use that term as if it encapsulates that child’s entire identity. A child who has diabetes is identified as a diabetic, a child with epilepsy is an epileptic, a child with asthma is an asthmatic, a child with a learning disability is a learning-disabled child. It takes a bit more effort and a few more syllables to say a child who has epilepsy, a child who has asthma, a child with a learning disability. I think it is worth both more effort and more syllables to keep from defining a child by his or her illness or disability.
So why use the terms the bully, the bullied, and the bystander? Some argue that to label the participants of a bullying episode is to typecast them and prevent them from moving out of their negative character roles. These writers prefer to focus on changing behavior and avoid labeling participants: the person bullying, the person bullied, the person observing. The emphasis is on providing alternatives for those taking part in or subjected to bullying.
Others use labels to intentionally typecast kids, viewing the bullying issue in black and white, as a good guy/bad guy script: “Bullies and Their Victims; the Game of Blame and Shame.” In this view, it’s a matter of them versus us—get rid of the bully and you get rid of the problem.
A third option is to use labels as identifiers of certain roles and the behavioral characteristics of those roles. I choose this option. When any one of these terms—the bully, the bullied, or the bystander—is used in this book, it is intended to identify only a role that a child is performing at that moment, in that one scene of the bully, the bullied, and the bystander one act in a longer play. It is not intended to define or permanently label a child. The goal is to gain a clearer understanding of these roles and how the interactions involved in such role-playing, though commonplace in our culture, are not healthy, not normal, and certainly not necessary and in fact can be devastating to children playing any of the three characters.
Once we understand these roles, we can begin to rewrite the script and create alternative, healthier roles that require no pretense and no violence. We can rechannel the governing or controlling behavior of the bully positively into leadership activities. The nonaggressive behaviors of the bullied can be acknowledged and developed as strengths. The role of bystander can be transformed into that of a witness: someone willing to stand up, speak out, and act against injustice.
Our children are not merely acting out their scripts, they are living them. They can’t go home after a performance and “get real,” because home is a part of their stage. But the scripts can be rewritten, new roles created, the plot changed, the stage reset, and the tragic ending scrapped. The actors can’t do it alone. We adults have to get out of our seats—we cannot afford to be a passive, inattentive, bored, alarmed, or deeply saddened audience. We can’t walk out, close the show, and send it somewhere else. We can’t merely banish the bully and mourn the bullied child. It’s the roles that must be abandoned, not our children. Our children need a new play, and we adults can become active participants in a total rewrite. Before we can begin the rewrite, though, we need to analyze and understand the original tragedy.
Reprinted by permission of the publisher Harper Paperbacks, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
Anderson Cooper goes beyond the headlines to tell stories from many points of view, so you can make up your own mind about the news. Tune in weeknights at 8 and 10 ET on CNN.
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Want to know more? Go behind the scenes with | <urn:uuid:cfcbc60f-978e-4801-a25a-e51bbcca8751> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/01/excerpt-the-bully-the-bullied-and-the-bystander-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397636.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955353 | 1,175 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Researchers say they have found the “missing link” between humans and apes in a fossilized primate they have dated at 47 million years old. According to Daily News:
A team of researchers Tuesday unveiled an almost perfectly intact fossil of a 47 million-year-old primate they say represents the long-sought missing link between humans and apes.
Officially known as Darwinius masillae, the fossil of the lemur-like creature dubbed Ida shows it had opposable thumbs like humans and fingernails instead of claws.
Scientists say the cat-sized animal’s hind legs offer evidence of evolutionary changes that led to primates standing upright – a breakthrough that could finally confirm Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
“This specimen is like finding the Lost Ark for archeologists,” lead scientist Jorn Hurum said at a ceremony at the American Museum of Natural History.
“It is the scientific equivalent of the Holy Grail. This fossil will probably be the one that will be pictured in all textbooks for the next 100 years.”
The History Channel will air a film concerning the fossil next week, the promo is below: [Link to Video]
Interestingly, the announcement of this research comes just a few weeks after the launch of evangelical Christian Francis Collins’ pro-evolution BioLogos initiative (for perspective on how the BioLogos team believes God could have had a role in evolution, click here).
Robert Crowther at Evolution News & Views of the pro-intelligent-design Discovery Institute was not shaken by the news:
If they weren’t atheists, you’d think the scientists raising the ballyhoo over Ida were hailing the second coming.
Here is yet another icon of evolution. Every time one of these discoveries is made, there’s a huge PR snow job from the Darwin lobby to make it seem like it answers all the questions and objections. I thought Tiktaalik did that. Or maybe Archaeopteryx. It goes at least as far back as Proconsul. Each time the Darwinists seem to forget they already found the missing link — the one fossil to rule them all — and re-find it all over again.
At least CBS News was a bit more skeptical than Sky News when they reported it on Friday.
While the fossil doesn’t relate to the more heated debate over whether chimpanzees and humans share a common identity – the fossil is not the so-called “missing link” — the two factions will likely pounce on this new find with evolutionists claiming the skeleton adds to the limited fossil record.
Today’s Sky News article is amazing in its breathless excitement over this latest missing link. Naturally, this more nuanced and balanced piece is the one the media is jumping on and trumpeting today.
The discovery of the 95%-complete ‘lemur monkey’ – dubbed Ida – is described by experts as the “eighth wonder of the world”.
For perspective on another fossil that was proclaimed to have “illuminat[ed] our ancestors’ transition from sea to land,” only later to be dismissed as a fossil of “poor” quality with radials that “did not seem to match the way modern fingers and toes radiate from a joint, parallel to each other” by evolutionists, take a look at Evolution News & Views’ TikTaalik article.
, discovery institute
, francis collins
, missing link
Possibly Related Posts | <urn:uuid:82b14d0d-2d75-42eb-9a51-a333393f188e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.voiceofrevolution.com/2009/05/20/missing-link-between-humans-and-apes-found/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00022-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940607 | 738 | 3.140625 | 3 |
Jean-Paul Sartre and Existentialism. A Few Basics. Kierkegaard Nietzsche Hegel Husserl. Heidegger Dostoevsky Kafka Camus. The Seeds of Existentialism. Basic Sartre. Objects Objects exist and simultaneously have an “essence” (identity, nature) - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Jean-Paul Sartre and Existentialism
A Few Basics
- From "A propos de l'existentialisme: Mise au point," Action Magazine, December 29, 1944
A Bar at the Folies-Bergere Edouard Manet 1881-82, oil on canvas | <urn:uuid:31bb0984-cec8-4d8f-af9b-bd80df37166f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slideserve.com/valiant/jean-paul-sartre-and-existentialism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.793609 | 207 | 2.796875 | 3 |
A blue-grey mineral, typically occurring as hexagonal crystals. It consists of molybdenum disulphide and is the most common ore of molybdenum.
- Willman reported astrophyllite, biotite, molybdenite, and riebeckite associated with smoky quartz and microcline (variety amazonite) on Mount Kineo at North Cheyenne Canyon.
- The central potassic core normally contains low-grade mineralization consisting of minor chalcopyrite, molybdenite, and pyrite.
- High on the slopes of Bartlett Mountain, it contained not only gold values but also veinlets of a soft gray mineral - molybdenite.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: mo¦lyb|den¦ite
Definition of molybdenite 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:25183352-be5a-4105-b5ba-1ece55f9e5dc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/molybdenite | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00201-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.851269 | 219 | 3.125 | 3 |
Definition of Banties
1. banty [n] - See also: banty
Click the following link to bring up a new window with an automated collection of images related to the term: Banties Images
Lexicographical Neighbors of Banties
Literary usage of Banties
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. The Pet Book by Anna Botsford Comstock (1914)
"If we should ask our grandparents what they knew about bantams in their childhood, they would tell us many stories of the "banties" which ..."
2. Publications by Surrey Parish Register Society (1907)
"Richard Strudwick & Barbara Smith, both of this Parish, ware married by banties Aprili ij, 1697. George Phillips & Mary Palmer, both of this Parish, ..."
3. Modern Eloquence by Thomas Brackett Reed, Rossiter Johnson, Justin McCarthy, Albert Ellery Bergh (1903)
"... a flourishing business at selling banties, but he wanted to do all kinds of huckstering, and his nice little property took wing of ducks and turkeys and ..."
4. History of the House of Austria, from the Foundation of the Monarchy by by William Coxe (1847)
"... to awe the other states of bert;butin 1683, after tl Huguenots, from respec revoked the edict of Na banties exercised against! ith persecutions, ..."
5. Classified Models of Speech Composition: Ninety-five Complete Speeches by James Milton O'Neill (1921)
"Mr. Plod-on was doing a flourishing business at selling banties, but he wanted to Ho all kinds of huckstering, and his nice little property took wing of ..."
6. An Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain by Jeremy Collier (1840)
"8. banties ot the war. 1 o this purpose there was a canon Hist. Angi. passed, that whosoever violated the privileges of a church or ^J^ri ens churchyard, ..." | <urn:uuid:de49de41-684e-409e-adf2-52b0e3aca662> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/banties | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931098 | 460 | 2.78125 | 3 |
ESA's Faint Object Camera First Images
Two views of a small (4.6 by 6.2 arcsecond) star field in the galactic cluster NGC 188 containing two stars separated by 2.9 arcseconds in the sky. Located at a distance of about 5,000 light years, both stars are far too remote for their surfaces to be resolved, and are therefore suitable point sources for evaluating optical imaging quality.
The ground-based image on the left was obtained with the 2.5 meter Nordic Optical Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma. At the time this exposure was taken the atmospheric conditions were such that the stellar images were blurred to an apparent diameter of 1.9 arcseconds - somewhat poorer than typically found at this excellent site.Credit:
About the Image
|Release date:||22 June 1990, 06:00|
|Size:||1026 x 1082 px|
About the Object
|Type:||Milky Way : Star|
Milky Way : Star : Grouping : Cluster
|Distance:||6000 light years|
Colours & filters
Hubble Space Telescope
Notes: The left image was taken using the 2.5 meter Nordic Optical Telescope at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on the island of La Palma. | <urn:uuid:f9a7040f-be22-4a3a-9ec1-8ef93ff3f347> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://spacetelescope.org/images/opo9006a/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00130-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.832581 | 281 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Religious Freedom Day Each year, the President declares January 16th to be Religious Freedom Day, and calls upon Americans to "observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools, and places of worship." The day is the anniversary of the passage, in 1786, of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom. We encourage schools to recognize Religious Freedom Day during the school week leading up to January 16.
The goal of ReligiousFreedomDay.com is to promote and protect students' religious expression rights by informing educators, parents, and students about these liberties.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DAY
The guide to commemorating the day in your classroom, school, and home. | <urn:uuid:ac1f8195-0fdb-479d-a14e-61ccb8eb927b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.religiousfreedomday.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00125-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948833 | 142 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Silly as it may sound, ladder-related injuries are among the most common easily preventable accidents. Roughly 250,000 Americans were injured as a result of ladder accidents in 2012 alone. Most of these injuries (97%) occurred at home, not construction sites. Extension ladders, which can be used to reach great heights, played a part in some of these worst of these accidents. Though not especially challenging to use, this article will teach you how to use an extension ladder while keeping yourself safe.
Getting to Know Extension Ladders
1Familiarize yourself with the parts of the extension ladder. There are a few basic parts of the extension ladder that you should be familiar with before you attempt to use it. Here are the most important:
- The safety shoe or foot of the ladder consists of the pads that are designed to be in contact with the ground when the ladder is in use. These typically will swivel or rotate slightly in order to be make better contact with the surface the ladder is on.
- The fly section is the portion of the extension ladder that will be extended upward. This is the portion that you will climb as you get closer to the top. Additionally, it should be noted that some extension ladders have a two-part fly (and three primary ladder components in total).
- The base section is the portion of the extension ladder that will remain in place. When you begin to climb the ladder, you will start out on the rungs of this section.
- The rung lock is attached to the fly and is used to keep the fly in place by fitting over the top of a rung of the base or fly section underneath. It will essentially act as a bracket, and the fly will not be able to slide down after weight if put on it.
- The rope and pulley are used to extend the largest of extension ladders. Smaller ladders do not have this component, but larger ones are essentially unusable if this is broken.
2Understand why extension ladders are considered dangerous. Serious injuries resulting from the use (or misuse) of extension ladders are so common that they have developed a bit of a reputation. Knowing how they earned that reputation--and how those accidents could have been prevented-- can help you stay safe.
- Extension ladders typically only have two points of contact with the ground. Some varieties of smaller ladders fold out to create four separate points of contact with the ground. Extension ladders typically have nothing other than the "feet" or "shoes" on the two side rails. Consequently, they can be a bit unstable.
- Extension ladders are among the tallest available in retail sales outlets. It is not merely that their height makes for longer falls (though that is true as well). Instead, the height only accentuates the preexisting instability issues. Think of the ladder as a lever. When you climb the ladder, the weight is actually moved closer to the end of the lever.
- People commonly misuse extension ladders. Because of their instability issues, there are certain precautions that must be taken. First, two people must be involved in the use of the ladder. When one person climbs, another must be available to "foot" the ladder (hold it in place). Secondly, the ladder cannot be used a vertical or near-vertical angles. Instead, they must bed tilted or leaned on to another object for support as a person climbs to the top (more on this in a moment). This will minimize the "leverage" issue previously noted.
3Know what your ladder is capable of handling. Each ladder is capable of bearing a different quantity of weight, and you must know how much yours can handle before you you use it. There are a number of ladder classification systems in use--several of which use very similar terminology to mean rather different things--and so it is not practical to list them here. Regardless of type, your ladder should state directly on it (at least when it is new) how much weight it can bear. Do not ever exceed that limit.
Setting up and Using the Ladder
1Inspect the ladder before use. Damage to the rungs, the rung lock, or pulley could make it dangerous or impractical to use an extension ladder. Look the ladder over carefully before you begin use.
2Move the ladder. It should be locked in place using the rung lock or other safety feature. If the fly slides as you are moving the ladder, fingers and hands could be pinched or broken as they get caught between the fly and the base or between the rungs of the two sections.
3Begin to position the ladder. Move the ladder into place (without yet extending it) and set it down on the shoe or foot that is attached to the base. For most extension ladders the fly should be on top of the base--that is, not only should it extend higher, but should on the outer/climbable side.
- Understand that in order to obtain the proper climbing angle, the base of the ladder should be 1/4 of the height of the extended ladder away from the building. For example, if the working height of the extended ladder is 12 feet (3.66 m), the base of the ladder should be 3 feet (.914 m) away from structure.
4Raise the fly section. If your ladder uses a pulley, simply pull on the rope to extend the ladder. If not, push the fly up manually.
- Make sure that the base of the ladder is continuously footed (with at least one person holding both rails of the base continuously) during the raising process.
- Observe extreme caution if extending the ladder in windy conditions.
- If working on or examining a roof, extend the ladder to about 3 feet (.914 m) above the working height.
5Lock in the fly in place with the rung locks. This will ensure that the fly will not slide closed while climbing the ladder.
6Lower the ladder carefully to the structure. making sure that you continue to foot the ladder so that the base of the ladder does not kick out. Make sure that both sides of the ladder have good contact with the structure. If one edge of the ladder is not touching the structure, it is not safe and no one should climb the ladder.
7Use the ladder. Climb the ladder one rung at a time. Maintain a hold with both hands as you move your feet up each rung. Do not carry other items in your hands at this time. If you need small tools with you, place them in a tool belt that you can carry around your waist.
- Center your body between the rails of the ladder and climb facing the ladder. Do not lean too far to one side, which could result in the ladder tipping over.
- You must always have two people involved when using an extension ladder. Someone should always be footing the ladder while raised.
- Make sure you wear proper clothing when using a ladder. Do not work with a ladder if you have bare feet.
- Before raising any ladder, make sure that there are no overhead obstructions. Watch out for overhead electric wires, and do not lift or raise a ladder anywhere near them.
- When lifting the ladder, make sure that proper lift techniques are employed. Lifting or raising a ladder incorrectly could lead to injury.
Sources and Citations
- ↑ http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/skills/dont-be-an-idiiot-how-to-use-any-kind-of-ladder-safely-16123359
- ↑ http://www.americanladderinstitute.org/?page=ExtensionLadder
- ↑ https://engineering.purdue.edu/AAE/InfoFor/Safety/laddersafety
- ↑ https://www.ceiwc.com/i-am-an-employer/newsletters/fall2010/preventing-falls-from-extension-ladders-article-and-safety-tip-sheet.pdf
- ↑ http://www.americanladderinstitute.org/?page=ExtensionLadder
- ↑ https://www.osha.gov/Publications/portable_ladder_qc.html
- ↑ http://www.nachi.org/accessing-roof-part5-50.htm
In other languages:
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 57,791 times. | <urn:uuid:5fd817de-cc15-4916-af69-a0655218790b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Extension-Ladder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926047 | 1,768 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Depression can strike at any age, but women are at a higher risk for experiencing depression, especially after age 40. Statistically, women are twice as likely to develop clinical depression as men, with one in four women suffering a depressive episode at some point in their lives. The numbers get even more sobering as women reach middle age, and hormonal shifts and life responsibilities (such as the stresses of parenthood) take their toll.
Sadly, more than 15 percent of women between the ages 40 and 64 suffer from recurring depression, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In reality, the number is likely higher because many cases go unreported.
A notable recent example is actress Dina Eastwood, the wife of legendary director Clint Eastwood. Dina, 44, checked into rehab earlier this week for depression and anxiety. While depression can sometimes go away on its own, oftentimes getting proper treatment at a reputable facility can mean the difference between life and death.
"Most people suffer from some form of stress every day, and many manage to cope with the short-term depression and anxiety caused by these situations quite admirably," according to specialists at Bridges To Recovery. "For millions of people, however, this is not the case." Alarming statistics indicate that people between the ages of 45 and 54 have the highest rates of suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Depression is a serious mood disorder that causes feelings of sadness, hopelessness, helplessness, and worthlessness. If left untreated, the condition can debilitate and destroy lives. Fortunately, depression is very treatable, and can often be alleviated through talk therapy, medication, or both. The important thing is not be afraid to seek help.
Common symptoms of depression:
- Persistent sad, anxious, or "empty" mood
- Loss of interest or pleasure in activities, including sex
- Restlessness, irritability, or excessive crying
- Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness, pessimism
- Sleeping too much or too little, early-morning awakening
- Appetite and/or weight loss or overeating and weight gain
- Decreased energy, fatigue, feeling "slowed down"
- Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
- Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
- Persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain. | <urn:uuid:0419ee21-3591-492c-a42d-4e6975c8bf1d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.examiner.com/article/study-women-at-higher-risk-for-depression | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402699.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953221 | 508 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Belief in the “bad school” is at the heart of modern school reform and accountability methods. We don’t always call them bad schools of course (failing schools?) but the concept is always the same. These are the schools that are failing students, that need to be fixed and that good parents need to avoid.
Standardized testing is a tool often used to identify which are the bad schools and which are the good ones. Education systems differ with how they respond to this information. Some try to help the bad schools while others simply close them and open up newer (better?) schools. But this is all predicated on the idea that we can identify which are the bad schools.
International testing programs such as PISA, TIMMS and PIRLS are examples of this practice taken to the nth degree. By using standardized testing, so the logic goes, we can determine where the good school systems are. Then the bad school systems can learn from them and become good.
School choice programs in their many forms are another example of a reform based on the premise that we can identify who the bad schools are. Parents who have children in a bad school should be able to move their child to a good school. Who can possibly disagree with a parent who wants the best for their child?
The main problem with these reforms is that bad schools simply don’t exist. Proponents of this thinking are missing the trees for the forest.
A school is not a single fixed entity that can be definitively labelled. The learning that happens in a school is dependent on many factors, but the relationship between educators and students is critical. Human relationships are complex and complicated beasts that change and evolve over time. The question of whether a school is effective or not must always be asked in the context of “for which student?”.
Anyone who’s attended school can remember effective teachers and others who weren’t. What we may not appreciate, however, is that in every class we attended, no matter who the teacher was, effective or not, there was a group of students who were having the exact opposite experience that we were.
Students are incredibly diverse. The teacher who is too laissez faire for one student is the very same teacher who allows another student the “room to breathe” and to “express their individuality”. Some students crave structure while others run from it. Competition brings out the best in some students while others shrink from it. Educators work to meet all of these diverse needs in a single, flexible program.
Further complicating this task is that students are constantly changing and growing. At the start of each school year I take head shots of students. At the end of the school year I give those pictures back to students and they are often amazed at how much they have changed in just ten short months.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of change when we include the other emotional and intellectual development occurring. I may be very effective at teaching a student in September, less effective in December and more effective again in May. Of course, teachers themselves change and grow and other students, support staff, the physical environment and student capacity all affect student learning.
This very complex dance of interactions take place every day in every classroom in a school and are the reason school based learning is much too complex be reduced to a simple good or bad dichotomy. Schools aren’t a single spotlight, they just look like a spotlight if you’re standing far away from them. Schools are more like a thousand small beams of light, moving in concert, shifting, individually dimming and brightening in an effort to meet the needs of students.
Schools are not effective all the time, because perfection is a theoretical concept, not a realistic expectation. When schools don’t meet all the needs of a student, without minimizing this, it’s also important to remember that there are many other students successfully learning under those same conditions.
When we think about education it’s important that we don’t miss the forest for the trees. It’s also important to remember that, like a school, a forest isn’t a single entity, it’s a collective. You can only create a healthy forest one tree at a time. | <urn:uuid:70d00954-d1b5-4710-af62-8769e0e8d8d8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://andrewscampbell.com/2014/05/20/the-myth-of-bad-schools/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971355 | 886 | 3.125 | 3 |
The amount, direction, intensity and angle of sun all affect how your plants will grow. Here are several surefire ways to evaluate your sun to help determine what to plant where.
- Sun Angle
The range of sun angles during a growing season can help you determine which parts of a yard will get enough sun to support plants that need it and which parts will be in shade most of the time. Knowing how much ground will be in the shade during your growing season will let you know where to put plants that need full sun. For example, we planted tomatoes four feet north of our one story garage and they were in full sun all day long from early June to late August. Here are some sun angle ranges for a few cities:
- Minneapolis: 68º - 22º
- Kansas City: 74º - 27º
- Houston: 82º - 37º
- Azimuth Angle
The azimuth of the sun determines how far north the sun will strike the east and west sides of a shaded area. (or how far south if you are in the southern hemisphere). The closer you live to the equator, the less this changes throughout the year. If you live closer to either pole, your shaded planting zone will grow and shrink throughout the year. In order to ensure that shaded plants don't get too much sun, keep them away from the far eastern or far western edges of a shade making object.
- Shade Making Obstacles
How close to the fence can your vegetable garden be before it will get too much shade? Is there enough room on the north side of the house to plant vegetables? Why aren't my tomatoes growing? Most of these questions can be answered by looking at shade making objects and moving the plantings. We like to plan our garden in February so we have enough time to get seedlings started before the ground thaws in Minneapolis. During that time the yard looks very different than it will in June because the sun angles are lower and none of the trees have leaves. Keep in mind where your deciduous trees are and how much shade buildings and trees will cast before planting in the spring.
MORE GARDEN PLANNING ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
Look! Sunset's Plant Finder Tool
(Images: Laurie McGinley) | <urn:uuid:c7826de1-3f36-44c4-afa6-244d894f5f31> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-evaluate-your-sun-169458?img_idx=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956273 | 469 | 3.34375 | 3 |
MAC 130 Conventional Lathe Operations
Up one level
Includes calculation of speeds and feeds on various materials, identification and application of various work-holding techniques, tool forming, advanced machining practices and applications, and spindle tooling. You will learn how to calculate and turn tapers using the compound slide or taper attachment, offset work on a four-jaw chuck, turning between centers, boring, grooving, finishing, single point threading, knurling, tool grinding, drilling operations, and reaming.
Click arrowheads to expand or collapse contents | <urn:uuid:813d8327-fd74-4f2c-a5a8-e7fa057aa60b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rrcc.edu/catalogs/12-13/mac-130-conventional-lathe-operations.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.84787 | 116 | 2.609375 | 3 |
December 29, 2011
Open with music....
Narrator: The moon is expecting twins-for the New Year. I'm Jane Platt with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. The New Year will bring the arrival of twins-twin spacecraft, that is-at the moon.
The two GRAIL spacecraft, launched September 5th from Cape Canaveral, Florida, are scheduled to begin orbiting the moon-one on New Year's Eve, the other New Year's Day. David Lehman of JPL is the GRAIL Project Manager.
Lehman: OK, On New Years' Eve, the GRAIL-A spacecraft is going to be sent into orbit around the moon. Alright, we're going to go through the south pole of the moon and do about a 38-minute burn, a 38-minute maneuver to slow the spacecraft down enough so it's going to go into orbit around the moon. And the orbit's about a period of 11-1/2 hours. It takes 11-1/2 hours to go around the moon.
Narrator: It's a tricky task, but Lehman says the team is up for the challenge....thanks to some very careful preparations.
Lehman: To capture the spacecraft into orbit takes a lot of planning and a lot of practice and a lot of maneuvers before that happens. Like just recently, the GRAIL-A spacecraft, we did a maneuver to change the speed by .05 miles per hour. That's how small we had to make this change in order to affect going into orbit precisely around the moon. So it does take a lot of planning, a lot of testing and then a lot of small maneuvers in order to get ready to set up to get into this big maneuver when we go into orbit around the moon.
Narrator: So GRAIL-A enters moon orbit on New Years' Eve, and then the next day, the team does it again-with GRAIL-B.
Lehman: The purpose of the GRAIL mission is to obtain gravity data on the moon. And with that data, the scientists are able to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core.
Narrator: This info will help scientists figure out how the planets in our solar system were formed.
Lehman: Five billion years ago, the Earth was formed, and all the other terrestrial planets were formed, and the moon was formed. But since that time, the Earth evolved, there's earthquakes, there's erosion, there's lots of rain. And so when we study the earth now, we really don't have good feeling for what happened because it changed so much.
Narrator: So they hope to fill in pieces of the puzzle by studying how the moon was formed, using not one, but two spacecraft.
Lehman: The reason we need two spacecraft is we use the spacecraft to measure the distance between each other. And with that information, we're able to determine the gravity. Because we're gathering this information on the distance between the two and how they change over time very precisely. And with that information we can understand the gravity. For example, as the spacecraft flies over a big moon mountain, GRAIL-A will accelerate towards that mountain. And then a few minutes later, GRAIL-A passes that mountain, GRAIL-B will get close to that mountain, and it will accelerate towards that mountain. So that's how the distance between the two is changing, and with that information, you can infer the gravity.
Narrator: And then in February, the team will start putting the two spacecraft into formation, which is a technique currently being used by the Grace mission to measure Earth's gravity. With GRAIL-it's the moon.
Lehman: So we have to start formation flying. And we have to align the spacecraft very precisely together. That to me is the challenging part is setting up the maneuvers so that the spacecrafts are very precisely aligned from the orbit's standpoint.
Narrator: More information on the GRAIL mission is online at http://www.nasa.gov/grail . Thanks for joining us for this podcast from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. | <urn:uuid:02b959ce-9f1f-4d31-a9b8-4f5b3df0956b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/podcast/content.php?content=1048 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953225 | 876 | 3.75 | 4 |
Intro: The Hausdorff dimension (also known as the Hausdorff–Besicovitch dimension) is an extended non-negative real number associated with any metric space. In general the Hausdorff dimension generalizes the notion of the dimension of a real vector space. That is, the Hausdorff dimension of an n-dimensional inner product space equals $n$. This means, for example, the Hausdorff dimension of a point is zero, the Hausdorff dimension of a line is one, and the Hausdorff dimension of the plane is two. There are, however, many irregular sets that have noninteger Hausdorff dimension. Many of the technical developments used to compute the Hausdorff dimension for highly irregular sets were obtained by Besicovitch.
Intuitively, consider the number $N(r)$ of balls of radius at most $r$ required to cover $X$ completely. When $r$ is small, $N(r)$ is large. For a "well-behaved" set $X$, the Hausdorff dimension is the unique number $d$ such that $N(r)$ grows as 1/rd as r approaches zero. More precise see here>>>.
Having in background the real number line in mind, I am struggling, how to find:
What is the Hausdorff dimension of the set of rational numbers within a certain interval? | <urn:uuid:6b71be68-f62d-4bd8-b0ec-bcdce780cc3c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/477119/hausdorff-dimension-of-the-set-of-rational-numbers-within-a-certain-interval | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890363 | 304 | 3.25 | 3 |
September 18, 2012
New Technique Allows Scientists To Track Sperm Movements
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com — Your Universe Online
A new imaging technique is allowing scientists to get more up close and personal than ever before with human sperm.UCLA researchers developed an imaging technique allowing them to track the movements of 1,500 human sperm at one time in 3D.
Imaging moving objects like sperm has been difficult to do through microscopes and other tools, so scientists developed the new technique to watch sperm like never before.
The new technique images the shadows of sperm using light of two different wavelengths produced from two different angles at the same time. The researchers are able to simultaneously track hundreds of sperm as they move.
Sperm were placed on a silicon sensor chip, with LED lights shining from different directions to track their movements, and plot their paths in 3D.
The team determined through the research that sperm actually swim in several different ways. The first is a generic head-forward trek, but the second way is a bit different. About 4 to 5 percent of sperm swim in curved, helical tracks, while a smaller percentage move in a more random fashion. The scientists found that each sperm doesn't just use one of these motions all the time, but instead switch from one to another.
Whether the sperm was swimming head-first or in the helical tracks depended on if they were in the fluid that surrounds semen in the testicles, or the fluid found in the fallopian tubes.
Currently, there is no finding of this study between the relationship of a sperm's swimming style, and whether or not it is healthy. However, future studies might reveal relationships between healthy semen and different swimming strokes through fluid.
The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. | <urn:uuid:e6bad57f-7803-4738-bd7f-8711aa1d27de> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112696135/sperm-movements-technique-091812/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961259 | 369 | 3.390625 | 3 |
But though he was so free of hand, Coriolanus was a proud, shy man, who would not make friends with the plebeians, and whom the tribunes hated as much as he despised them. He was elected consul, and the tribunes refused to permit him to become one; and when a shipload of wheat arrived from Sicily, there was a fierce quarrel as to how it should be distributed. The tribunes impeached him before the people for withholding it from them, and by the vote of a large number of citizens he was banished from Roman lands. His anger was great, but quiet. He went without a word away from the Forum to his house, where he took leave of his mother Veturia, his wife Volumnia, and his little children, and then went and placed himself by the hearth of Tullus the Volscian chief, in whose army he meant to fight to revenge himself upon his countrymen.
Together they advanced upon the Roman territory, and after ravaging the country threatened to besiege Rome. Men of rank came out and entreated him to give up this wicked and cruel vengeance, and to have pity on his friends and native city; but he answered that the Volscians were now his nation, and nothing would move him. At last, however, all the women of Rome came forth, headed by his mother Veturia and his wife Volumnia, each with a little child, and Veturia entreated and commanded her son in the most touching manner to change his purpose and cease to ruin his country, begging him, if he meant to destroy Rome, to begin by slaying her. She threw herself at his feet as she spoke, and his hard spirit gave way.
“Ah! mother, what is it you do?” he cried as he lifted her up. “Thou hast saved Rome, but lost thy son.”
[Illustration: ROMAN CAMP]
And so it proved, for when he had broken up his camp and returned to the Volscian territory till the senate should recall him as they proceeded, Tullus, angry and disappointed, stirred up a tumult, and he was killed by the people before he could be sent for to Rome. A temple to “Women’s Good Speed” was raised on the spot where Veturia knelt to him.
Another very proud patrician family was the Quinctian. The father, Lucius Quinctius, was called Cincinnatus, from his long flowing curls of hair. He was the ablest man among the Romans, but stern and grave, and his eldest son Kaeso was charged by the tribunes with a murder and fled the country. Soon after there was a great inroad of the AEqui and Volscians, and the Romans found themselves in great danger. They saw no one could save them but Cincinnatus, so they met in haste and chose him Dictator, though he was not present. Messengers were sent to his little farm on the Tiber, and there they found him holding the stilts of the plough. When they told their errand, he turned to his wife, who was helping him, and said, “Racilia, fetch me my toga;” then he washed his face and hands, and was saluted as Dictator. A boat was ready to take him to Rome, and as he landed, he was met by the four-and-twenty | <urn:uuid:d38d1c79-2406-4d60-84b4-4ee0a056d33e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/16667/27.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994858 | 723 | 2.84375 | 3 |
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- Animals & Exhibits
- Fun & Learning
- Aquatic Research
There are over 200 species of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae, or poison frogs; they range in size from .5 inches to just over 2 inches.
Poison frogs are found in the tropical forests of Central and South America, ranging from Costa Rica to Brazil.
The bright colorations of these small frogs, from reds and yellows to blues and greens, make them easy to recognize. This color pattern will warn predators of the frog’s toxicity; however, not all members of the poison frog family are toxic.
Excellent climbers and jumpers, poison frogs spend most of their days walking on the forest floor and climbing on tree trunk vegetation. However, some members of this family will be found among the tree tops while others, such as the skunk frog, live in cold water streams of cloud forests.
Although scientists are not sure exactly which food item helps to create the frog’s toxic property, they eat a variety of ants, beetles, and other insects. Poison frogs in aquariums and zoos are not toxic as their diet is different than in the wild.
Leimadophis epinephelus, a frog eating snake is the only known predator of the poison frog.
Mating can be a loud affair with males making loud calls to attract females. In some species, multiples males will court a female at one time. Depending on the species, a female could lay between 2 to thirty eggs on a leaf or in a small body of water. Poison frogs are unique, in that they put much effort into the care of their young. Some species will “backpack’ their young, adults will watch over the eggs and when they hatch into tadpoles place the young on their back to relocate them to safer regions. Another species of frog will place one egg in a small pool of water on a leaf returning to each pool to lay unfertilized eggs for the growing tadpole to consume.
Q: What is the difference between an amphibian and a reptile?
A: “Both reptiles and amphibians have common characteristics such as being vertebrates, lungs as adults, and being cold blooded. However, amphibians will undergo a metamorphosis during development while a reptile will not. Also, reptiles are covered in scales while amphibians have a premeable skin."
Q: What is the largest amphbian species?
A: “The largest amphibian species is the Giant Chinese Salamander (Andrias davidianus) which can grow to a size of over 5 feet.”
Q: What kinds of poison frogs do you have at Mystic?
A: "At Mystic, we have a variety of poison frogs including blue poison frogs, bumblebee poison frogs, dyed poison frog, and splash-black poison frog."
Q: Do you have to wear any protective gloves when working with the frogs?
A: “No, poison frogs in the wild obtain their toxins from thier diet. Here at Mystic, we feed our animals small crickets and fruit flies which will not cause the frogs to become toxic."
Learn how we educate students on amphibian species through the use of a very unique costume created by costume maker Julie Cook. Also, check out the video to learn more on how you can become involved in monitoring local amphibian species.
Species of the Month Podcast: Croak?
Join Mystic Aquarium's Kelly Matis and MaryEllen Mateleska as the talk about amphibian population decline and what you can do to help.
Kelly and MaryEllen want to hear from you! Send questions, comments and suggestions for future podcast topics to [email protected].
Scientific Name: Family Dendrobatidae
Size: African penguins range from 18 to 25 inches tall and weigh up to 11 pounds
Range/Distribution: The only penguin to breed in Africa, the African penguin ranges from Namibia to South Africa. Young penguins have been known to migrate north and west along the coastline and are found between Southern Angola, Namibia, and sometimes found off Gabon, Congo, and Mozambique, but generally reside in South Africa.
Appearance: The African penguin has a robust, torpedo-shaped body with black feathers on their back, flippers, and head while white feathers cover their front with the exception of horseshoe-shaped black stripe on the chest. Following the penguin’s first few molts a white stripe will develop around its cheek and throat. These birds have a bare patch above their eyes to assist with regulating their body temperature.
Habitat: When not hunting for food in the water, African penguins are found along rocky shores or brushy coastal areas.
Prey: African penguins feed on 25 species of fish, such as sardine and anchovy but also prey on squid and krill. A penguin may eat up to one pound of food or up to 14% of their weight.
Predators: African penguins face predation by gulls, feral cats and mongoose while nesting on land, while sharks and fur seals hunt African penguins in the water.
Life Span: The African penguin may live up to late 30 years in an aquarium or zoo but averages of 15-20 years are seen in the wild populations.
Mating Behaviors: There are no set breeding seasons for African penguins, however, most penguin pairs are monogamous and will remain together over several breeding years. The male will prepare a nest by digging a shallow burrow in sand or in brush using guano (penguin waste) and any materials nearby to complete the nest for the female to lay two eggs. Both the male and female share the nesting and chick duties, keeping the young safe from predators and warm temperatures. The chicks will hatch between 38 and 42 days and will leave the nest when they are between 60 to 130 days of age.
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55 Coogan Blvd., Mystic, CT 06355-1997 | [email protected]
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