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Robert Bruce in Scotland
Robert the Bruce Period
He was the hammer of the English - the legendary Scots war hero who commanded the Flower of Scotland and sent proud Edward home to think again.
Yet the great Scottish patriot, king and fighter Robert the Bruce may well have been an Englishman himself. It is rumoured that he was born in Essex, and he was wily enough to know when to pretend to be England's friend.
But of one thing there is absolutely no doubt. Robert I, King of Scots, was the architect of our country's greatest ever victory over the English at Bannockburn, driving them out and uniting all Scotland in a burning desire for independence.
Bruce took up the reins of Scotland's freedom as the other great patriot of the age, Sir William Wallace, was forced to let them go. Robert was crowned King a year after Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered by the English in 1305, and he became determined to achieve the one feat his heroic predecessor had never managed - to free Scotland of the marauding English.
Many modern Scots do not realise that Robert spent virtually as much of his time fighting his own countrymen as he did attacking the armies of Edward I and Edward II - or that the greatest achievement of Bannockburn was not that it drove out the English, but that it finally united Scotland.
Robert the Bruce - the name comes, ironically, from the Norman surname De Brus - was the eldest son of one of the richest and most famous Scottish nobles, also called Robert, who had royal Scottish blood in his veins. Because of the Bruces' Anglo-Norman links to William the Conquerer, the family were also strongly linked to the English court.
Robert was born, possibly in Essex or in Turnberry in Ayrshire, on July 11, 1274. During his early life, the young man was well educated - he learned Latin, English, Scots and Gaelic and was also trained in the arts of warfare. He was always aware he could be a contender for the Scottish throne because of his father's royal lineage.
Robert's chance to seize the throne came after the Scots king John Balliol abdicated in 1296 following a raid on Scotland by Edward I. Edward then imprisoned Balliol and decided to rule the Scots himself.
Robert then saw his opportunity of taking the Scottish crown, but knew that in order to do so, he would have to defeat the forces of powerful Scots families such as the Comyns and McDougalls who supported the continuation of the Balliol line.
The peace between the Bruces and the Comyns was kept when Robert and John "The Red" Comyn were both appointed joint guardians of Scotland after Wallace resigned the position in 1298. Two years later Bruce gave up this title and, despite his driving desire to free Scotland, suddenly decided to submit to Edward.
"Why this happened is a mystery, although there are a number of theories", explains one historian. "It could be that Robert wanted to protect his land, his titles and his influence at the time, and felt this was the best way of going about it.
"It might also be that Robert knew that he couldn't take Edward on at that moment in time, and the best solution was to join him until an opportunity presented itself. This would also have given him the chance to spot Edward's weaknesses at close hand."
In 1304, William began to secretly work with Scottish rebels, and his desire to see Scotland free was strengthened when Wallace was executed in 1305. But the following year, John Comyn tipped off Edward about the Bruce's divided loyalties, and Robert was lucky to flee London with his life.
Furious at Comyn's treachery, Robert put together a plan for vengeance. He asked Comyn to meet him at Greyfriars Church in Dumfries on February 10 1306. There was a struggle, and Comyn ended up dead - either slain by Bruce on the altar, or killed by one of Bruce's knights after Robert left.
With Comyn dead, the way was open for Robert to take the Scottish throne. He was crowned at Scone the following months, and many of the nobles rallied to him. The Bruce then also started to openly defy Edward, who saw him as a traitor and attempted to crush him.
After defeats in battle by the English at Methven near Perth in June and then by Comyn's close colleague the Lord of Argyll at Dalry near Tyndrum in August, Robert was forced into hiding. He fled to Rathlin Island off the coast of Ulster and stayed there until February 1307, when he felt the coast was clear and returned to Ayrshire.
Years of internal bickering followed, with Robert desperate to establish his kingdom. He defeated an English force at Loudoun in 1307, and also won a battle against John Comyn, Earl of Buchan and cousin of the slain John. The Bruce's supporters steadily captured Galloway, the forest of Selkirk and the eastern Borders, and between 1310 and 1314, he swon control of northern Scotland from his enemies.
During this time of internal war within Scotland, Robert had one huge piece of luck running in his favour. In 1307, Edward I had finally died, leaving the throne for his son Edward II, who was not nearly so enthusiastic about crushing the Scots as his father. As the new English king prevaricated, so the Bruce was able to capture more and more control of Scotland and build up his forces.
Professor Geoffrey Barrow, Emeritus Professor of Scottish History at the University of Edinburgh and Bruce's biographer, says Robert played a clever strategy against his Scottish enemies, picking them off one by one. "These people were strong in their own areas of the country, but they were never able to get together and fight him as a single unit. It is also clear that Bruce had a fairly sizeable force of troops."
By 1314, Robert had captured control of all of Scotland's main castles except Berwick - not yet an English town, as it is today - Bothwell and Stirling. But Edward II was finally stirring against Scotland, and a clash was inevitable. It came when the Bruce and his forces laid siege to Stirling Castle, which was under the governorship of the pro-Balliol Scot Philip Mowbray, and a massive English army was sent north to relieve it.
Both sides knew that the clash which would certainly follow was about far, far more than the capture of the castle. For Edward, it was a last ditch, all-out attempt to finally seize control of all Scotland and subjugate its troublesome people once and for all. For The Bruce, it represented the opportunity to give the English a hiding they would never forget.
Edward came north with the cream of his cavalry and infantry in a force of up to 30,000 men, and the two sides finally squared up to each other on June 24, 1314. Bruce, who had only between 5000 and 10,000 men, positioned his soldiers in a spot south of the town where he knew trees would hamper an attack by the well trained English horsemen.
As a genius at guerilla warfare, The Bruce knew how to make best use of the terrain. The English found themselves confined in a small and marshy area between the River Forth and the Bannock Burn. Their cavalrymen and infantrymen could not manoevere and Robert took advantage of their confusion and launched an attack.
The Scots forced the English back into the burn, where self defence proved almost impossible. A charge of about 2000 Scots came down from the nearby hills then sent Edward's army reeling. Many of those English who were not put to the sword perished in the Bannock Burn or died in their attempts to escape.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Edward attempted to flee to the safety of the castle along with 500 of his best knights. However, by this time Philip Mowbray had seen the way the tide had turned and refused to open the gates. The deeply dejected English king then tried to escape across country with the Scots at his heels. He finally found safety at Dunbar, where a ship was waiting to take him back to England.
Bannockburn was Scotland's greatest ever military victory against the English. Edward's army was completely smashed and he had to abandon hopes of conquering Scotland, though the English did not then recognise Robert as king of Scots and it was not until 1328 that they finally conceded the independence of Scotland.
While the Bruce's victory as Bannockburn was important in terms of disposing of the threat from England, it was even more important in neutralising the threat against Robert from the Scottish nobles who still despised him. Says Geoffrey Barrow: "The victory absolutely silenced Bruce's enemies completely. They either fled to England or came over to his side."
From then on, King Robert could finally devote his energies to the affairs of his kingdom. All, though, was not yet well. One immensely powerful figure who refused to recognise Scotland's nationhood was the Pope. Robert and his nobles saw that they had another crucially important battle to fight - this time not with the sword, but with the pen?..
Meanwhile around the world ...
- 1296 Construction of Florence Cathedral begins
- 1306 Jewish people are expelled from France by Philip IV
- 1307 Dante composes his work, "Divina Commedia"
- 1309 Orleans University is founded
- 1311 The Order of the Knights Templar is abolished
- 1290 Expulsion of the Jews from England. | <urn:uuid:4696bdaf-3854-4a77-985a-7968f9c7ab06> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scotland.org.uk/history/robert-bruce | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988008 | 1,980 | 3.1875 | 3 |
This is an archived publication. It may be useful for researchers doing further work in this area as well as those developing improved testing and design procedures and is included because of its historical value
Title: Design of Riprap Revetment
Description: This revised version of Design of Riprap Revetment, Hydraulic Engineering Circular No. 11 (HEC-11), represents major revisions to the earlier (1967) edition of HEC-11. Recent research findings and revised design procedures have been incorporated. The manual has been expanded into a comprehensive design publication. The revised manual includes discussions on recognizing erosion potential, erosion mechanisms and riprap failure modes, riprap types including rock riprap, rubble riprap, gabions, preformed blocks, grouted rock, and paved linings. Design concepts included are: design discharge, flow types, channel geometry, flow resistance, extent of protection, and toe depth. Detailed design guidelines are presented for rock riprap, and design procedures are summarized in charts and examples. Design guidance is also presented for wire-enclosed rock (gabions), precast concrete blocks, and concrete paved linings.
FHWA Publication Number: IP-89-016
NTIS Publication Number: PB89-218424
Publication Year: 1989
Document Links: An electronic version of this manual is not available. | <urn:uuid:0c35f2f6-3e7a-4658-8906-c158ebb5e5bb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/hydraulics/library_arc.cfm?pub_number=11&id=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912964 | 276 | 2.53125 | 3 |
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|Algebra, difficulty level 3. Solve simultaneous equations, find area, and use the Pythagorean theorem and percentages to find the spraying distance needed for a circular sprinkler in a rectangular yard.|
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© 1994-2012 Drexel University. All rights reserved.
The Math Forum is a research and educational enterprise of the Drexel University School of Education. | <urn:uuid:b26b6020-ea7b-4df4-87ff-8cb799ebbca3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathforum.org/library/problems/more_info/15691 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00187-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.771907 | 135 | 2.875 | 3 |
Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress
excerpted from a
People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged
from their villages onto the island's beaches and swam out to
get a closer look at the strange big boat. When Columbus and his
sailors came ashore, carrying swords, speaking oddly, the Arawaks
ran to greet them, brought them food, water, gifts. He later wrote
of this in his log:
"They... brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears
and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads
and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned....
They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features....
They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them
a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.
They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would
make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them
all and make them do whatever we want."
These Arawaks of the Bahama Islands were much like Indians
on the mainland, who were remarkable (European observers were
to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in
sharing. These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance,
dominated as it was by the religion of popes, the government of
kings, the frenzy for money that marked Western civilization and
its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus.
"As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island
which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that
they might learn and might give me information of whatever there
is in these parts."
The information that Columbus wanted most was: Where is the
The Indians, Columbus reported, "are so naive and so
free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed
them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they
never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone...."
He concluded his report by asking for a little help from their
Majesties, and in return he would bring them from his next voyage
"as much gold as they need . . . and as many slaves as they
ask." He was full of religious talk: "Thus the eternal
God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over
Because of Columbus's exaggerated report and promises, his
second expedition was given seventeen ships and more than twelve
hundred men. The aim was clear: slaves and gold. They went from
island to island in the Caribbean, taking Indians as captives.
But as word spread of the Europeans' intent they found more and
more empty villages. On Haiti, they found that the sailors left
behind at Fort Navidad had been killed in a battle with the Indians,
after they had roamed the island in gangs looking for gold, taking
women and children as slaves for sex and labor.
Now, from his base on Haiti, Columbus sent expedition after
expedition into the interior. They found no gold fields, but had
to fill up the ships returning to Spain with some kind of dividend.
In the year 1495, they went on a great slave raid, rounded up
fifteen hundred Arawak men, women, and children, put them in pens
guarded by Spaniards and dogs, then picked the five hundred best
specimens to load onto ships. Of those five hundred, two hundred
died en route. The rest arrived alive in Spain and were put up
for sale by the archdeacon of the town, who reported that, although
the slaves were "naked as the day they were born," they
showed "no more embarrassment than animals." Columbus
later wrote: "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on
sending all the slaves that can be sold."
But too many of the slaves died in captivity. And so Columbus,
desperate to pay back dividends to those who had invested, had
to make good his promise to fill the ships with gold. In the province
of Cicao on Haiti, where he and his men imagined huge gold fields
to exist, they ordered all persons fourteen years or older to
collect a certain quantity of gold every three months. When they
brought it, they were given copper tokens to hang around their
necks. Indians found without a copper token had their hands cut
off and bled to death.
The Indians had been given an impossible task. The only gold
around was bits of dust garnered from the streams. So they fled,
were hunted down with dogs, and were killed.
Trying to put together an army of resistance, the Arawaks
faced Spaniards who had armor, muskets, swords, horses. When the
Spaniards took prisoners they hanged them or burned them to death.
Among the Arawaks, mass suicides began, with cassava poison. Infants
were killed to save them from the Spaniards. In two years, through
murder, mutilation, or suicide, half of the 250,000 Indians on
Haiti were dead.
When it became clear that there was no gold left, the Indians
were taken as slave labor on huge estates, known later as encomiendas.
They were worked at a ferocious pace, and died by the thousands.
By the year 1515, there were perhaps fifty thousand Indians left.
By 1550, there were five hundred. A report of the year 1650 shows
none of the original Arawaks or their descendants left on the
The chief source-and, on many matters the only source-of in
formation about what happened on the islands after Columbus came
is Bartolome de las Casas, who, as a young priest, participated
in the conquest of Cuba. For a time he owned a plantation on which
Indian slaves worked, but he gave that up and became a vehement
critic of Spanish cruelty.
In Book Two of his History of the Indies, Las Casas (who at
first urged replacing Indians by black slaves, thinking they were
stronger and would survive, but later relented when he saw the
effects on blacks) tells about the treatment of the Indians by
the Spaniards. It is a unique account and deserves to be quoted
"Endless testimonies . . . prove the mild and pacific
temperament of the natives.... But our work was to exasperate,
ravage, kill, mangle and destroy; small wonder, then, if they
tried to kill one of us now and then.... The admiral, it is true,
was blind as those who came after him, and he was so anxious to
please the King that he committed irreparable crimes against the
Las Casas tells how the Spaniards "grew more conceited
every day" and after a while refused to walk any distance.
They "rode the backs of Indians if they were in a hurry"
or were carried on hammocks by Indians running in relays. "In
this case they also had Indians carry large leaves to shade them
from the sun and others to fan them with goose wings."
Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards "thought
nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting
slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades." Las
Casas tells how "two of these so-called Christians met two
Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots
and for fun beheaded the boys."
The Indians' attempts to defend themselves failed. And when
they ran off into the hills they were found and killed. So, Las
Casas reports. "they suffered and died in the mines and other
labors in desperate silence, knowing not a soul in the world to
whom they could tun for help." He describes their work in
"... mountains are stripped from top to bottom and bottom
to top a thousand times; they dig, split rocks, move stones, and
carry dirt on their backs to wash it in the rivers, while those
who wash gold stay in the water all the time with their backs
bent so constantly it breaks them; and when water invades the
mines, the most arduous task of all is to dry the mines by scooping
up pansful of water and throwing it up outside....
After each six or eight months' work in the mines, which was
the time required of each crew to dig enough gold for melting,
up to a third of the men died. While the men were sent many miles
away to the mines, the wives remained to work the soil, forced
into the excruciating job of digging and making thousands of hills
for cassava plants.
Thus husbands and wives were together only once every eight
or ten months and when they met they were so exhausted and depressed
on both sides . . . they ceased to procreate. As for the newly
born, they died early because their mothers, overworked and famished,
had no milk to nurse them, and for this reason, while I was in
Cuba, 7000 children died in three months. Some mothers even drowned
their babies from sheer desperation.... In this way, husbands
died in the mines, wives died at work, and children died from
lack of milk . . . and in a short time this land which was so
great, so powerful and fertile ... was depopulated.... My eyes
have seen these acts so foreign to human nature, and now I tremble
as I write...."
When he arrived on Hispaniola in 1508, Las Casas says, "there
were 60,000 people living on this island, including the Indians;
so that from 1494 to 1508, over three million people had perished
from war, slavery, and the mines. Who in future generations will
believe this? I myself writing it as a knowledgeable eyewitness
can hardly believe it...."
Thus began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European
invasion of the Indian settlements in the Americas. That beginning,
when you read Las Casas-even if his figures are exaggerations
(were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says, or less
than a million, as some historians have calculated, or 8 million
as others now believe?) is conquest, slavery, death. When we read
the history books given to children in the United States, it all
starts with heroic adventure-there is no bloodshed-and Columbus
Day is a celebration.
The treatment of heroes (Columbus) and their victims (the
Arawaks) the quiet acceptance of conquest and murder in the name
of progress-is only one aspect of a certain approach to history,
in which the past is told from the point of view of governments,
conquerors, diplomats, leaders. It is as if they, like Columbus,
deserve universal acceptance, as if they-the Founding Fathers,
Jackson, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, the leading members
of Congress, the famous Justices of the Supreme Court-represent
the nation as a whole. The pretense is that there really is such
a thing as "the United States," subject to occasional
conflicts and quarrels, but fundamentally a community of people
with common interests. It is as if there really is a "national
interest" represented in the Constitution, in territorial
expansion, in the laws passed by Congress, the decisions of the
courts, the development of capitalism, the culture of education
and the mass media.
"History is the memory of states," wrote Henry Kissinger
in his first book, A World Restored, in which he proceeded to
tell the history of nineteenth-century Europe from the viewpoint
of the leaders of Austria and England, ignoring the millions who
suffered from those states men's policies. From his standpoint,
the "peace" that Europe had before the French Revolution
was "restored" by the diplomacy of a few national leaders.
But for factory workers in England, farmers in France, colored
people in Asia and Africa, women and children everywhere except
in the upper classes, it was a world of conquest, violence, hunger,
exploitation-a world not restored but disintegrated.
When the Pilgrims came to New England they too were coming
not to vacant land but to territory inhabited by tribes of Indians.
The governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, John Winthrop, created
the excuse to take Indian land by declaring the area legally a
"vacuum." The Indians, he said, had not "subdued"
the land, and therefore had only a "natural" right to
it, but not a "civil right." A "natural right"
did not have legal standing.
The Puritans also appealed to the Bible, Psalms 2:8: "Ask
of me, and I shall give thee, the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession."
And to justify their use of force to take the land, they cited
Romans 13:2: "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth
the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
The Indian population of 10 million that lived north of Mexico
when Columbus came would ultimately be reduced to less than a
million. Huge numbers of Indians would die from diseases introduced
by the whites. A Dutch traveler in New Netherland wrote in 1656
that "the Indians . . . affirm, that before the arrival of
the Christians, and before the smallpox broke out amongst them,
they were ten times as numerous as they now are, and that their
population had been melted down by this disease, whereof nine-tenths
of them have died." When the English first settled Martha's
Vineyard in 1642, the Wampanoags there numbered perhaps three
thousand. There were no wars on that island, but by 1764, only
313 Indians were left there. Similarly, Block Island Indians numbered
perhaps 1,200 to 1,500 in 1662, and by 1774 were reduced to fifty-one.
Behind the English invasion of North America, behind their
massacre of Indians, their deception, their brutality, was that
special powerful drive born in civilizations based on private
property. It was a morally ambiguous drive; the need for space,
for land, was a real human need. But in conditions of scarcity,
in a barbarous epoch of history ruled by competition, this human
need was transformed into the murder of whole peoples.
History of the United States | <urn:uuid:eec8eab3-ce78-4e09-9462-dc82fa6b7e4c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zinn/Columbus_PeoplesHx.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403508.34/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972953 | 3,143 | 3.34375 | 3 |
What will all the instruments do?
Multinational teams of scientists and engineers will conduct ten different investigations coordinated by a Science and Technology Operations Centre. Instrument teams are led by principal investigators from Finland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. All ESA member countries are taking part, providing coinvestigators for various experiments.
Testing new techniques
EPDP and SPEDE. Designers of future solar-electric spacecraft want to know how SMART-1's ion engine performs, what side effects it has, and whether the spacecraft interacts with natural electric and magnetic phenomena in the space around it. Possible problems include deflection of the ion engine's drive direction, erosion of surfaces, short-circuits by sparks, interference with radio signals, and accumulating dust. The main onboard instruments monitoring these effects are EPDP and SPEDE.
KaTE and RSIS. Small changes in SMART-1's motion will reveal the precise drive delivered by the ion engine. Similarly to police radars used to catch speeding motorists, RSIS will employ the Doppler effect to see how the speed alters the wavelength of radio pulses. It will use the very short radio waves of KaTE. The primary purpose of KaTE is to demonstrate the next generation of radio links between the Earth and far-flung spacecraft. Microwaves of the Ka band, around 9 millimetres in wavelength, can be focused into relatively narrow beams by the small dish antennas available on spacecraft.
Laser Link is another communications experiment. ESA already has laser links with telecom satellites from an optical ground station on Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands. Aiming the beam becomes much more difficult if, like SMART-1, the spacecraft is far away and moving rapidly. The hope is that the onboard camera AMIE will see Tenerife illuminated with laser light.
OBAN. Future spacecraft will be more self-reliant in guiding themselves along predefined paths towards distant destinations. OBAN will evaluate a computer technique for on-board autonomous navigation. It will use the bearings of stars seen by SMART-1's star trackers, and the Earth, Moon and possibly asteroids seen by the AMIE camera.
AMIE, SIR and D-CIXS. Different kinds of visible and invisible light coming from the lunar surface will provide clues about its chemical composition and geological history. The ultracompact electronic camera, AMIE, will survey the terrain using visible and near-infrared light. An infrared spectrometer, SIR, will chart the Moon's minerals. An X-ray spectrometer, D-CIXS, will identify key chemical elements in the lunar surface.
XSM. The D-CIXS measurements can be confusing because of variations in solar X-ray emissions, which depend on how stormy the Sun is on that day. For this reason, SMART-1 monitors the solar X-rays with its XSM instrument. XSM will also make its own independent study of solar variability.
SPEDE. Similarly to a ship at sea, the Moon leaves a wake in the solar wind - the non-stop stream of charged particles and associated magnetic fields coming from the Sun. The SPEDE electrical experiment will observe this effect from close by.
RSIS. Using the KaTE microwave system and the AMIE camera, the RSIS radio experiment will demonstrate a new way of measuring the rotations of planets and their moons. It should be able to detect a well-known nodding of the Moon, which slightly tilts first its north pole and then its south pole, towards the Earth.
These instruments and techniques that will be tested when SMART-1 examines the Moon will later help ESA's BepiColombo spacecraft to investigate the planet Mercury. | <urn:uuid:4a9c2d7d-6977-41f1-9ebe-70ba2dcd3406> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sci.esa.int/smart-1/31415-instruments/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00153-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915759 | 773 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Who chooses data archiving, and why
Data archiving is essential for organizations that accumulate new information but still need to retain older information. The trends of corporate and agency policy, legal precedent, and government law and regulation are for longer retention, more information, and faster retrieval. Automated data archiving helps organizations to achieve these capabilities at lower costs.
How data archiving works
Organizations set their own policies for qualifying data to be moved into archives. These policy settings are used to automate the process of identifying and moving the appropriate data into the archive system. Once in the archive system, information remains online and accessible. Original content is preserved to ensure complete, reliable integrity for the life of the archived information.
Benefits of data archiving
Automating the data archiving process and using purpose-built archive systems make production systems run better, use less resources, and reduce overall storage costs. Production performance is unaffected by information growth. Backup and recovery runs faster, disaster recovery is less costly, and systems are easier to manage. Data moved into archives is stored at much lower cost. | <urn:uuid:09c1a994-7637-4cf4-a78a-adb9f73be164> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.emc.com/corporate/glossary/data-archiving.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914937 | 220 | 3.125 | 3 |
Also found in: Wikipedia.
The doctrine of selective incorporation, or simply the incorporation doctrine, makes the first ten amendments to the Constitution—known as the Bill of Rights—binding on the states. Through incorporation, state governments largely are held to the same standards as the federal government with regard to many constitutional rights, including the First Amendment freedoms of speech, religion, and assembly, and the separation of church and state; the Fourth Amendment freedoms from unwarranted arrest and unreasonable searches and seizures; the fifth amendment privilege against self-incrimination; and the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy, fair, and public trial. Some provisions of the Bill of Rights—including the requirement of indictment by a Grand Jury (Sixth Amendment) and the right to a jury trial in civil cases (Seventh Amendment)—have not been applied to the states through the incorporation doctrine.
Until the early twentieth century, the Bill of Rights was interpreted as applying only to the federal government. In the 1833 case Barron ex rel. Tiernon v. Mayor of Baltimore, 32 U.S. (7 Pet.) 243, 8 L. Ed. 672, the Supreme Court expressly limited application of the Bill of Rights to the federal government. By the mid-nineteenth century, this view was being challenged. For example, Republicans who were opposed to southern state laws that made it a crime to speak and publish against Slavery alleged that such laws violated First Amendment rights regarding Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press.
For a brief time following the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, it appeared that the Supreme Court might use the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the states. However, in the Slaughter-House Cases, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 36, 21 L. Ed. 394 (1873), the first significant Supreme Court ruling on the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court handed down an extremely limiting interpretation of that clause. The Court held that the clause created a distinction between rights associated with state citizenship and rights associated with U.S., or federal, citizenship. It concluded that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibited states from passing laws abridging the rights of U.S. citizen-ship (which, it implied, were few in number) but had no authority over laws abridging the rights of state citizenship. The effect of this ruling was to put much state legislation beyond the review of the Supreme Court.
Instead of applying the Bill of Rights as a whole to the states, as it might have done through the Privileges and Immunities Clause, the Supreme Court has gradually applied selected elements of the first ten amendments to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This process, known as selective incorporation, began in earnest in the 1920s. In Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 652, 45 S. Ct. 625, 69 L. Ed. 1138 (1925), one of the earliest examples of the use of the incorporation doctrine, the Court held that the First Amendment protection of freedom of speech applied to the states through the Due Process Clause. By the late 1940s, many civil freedoms, including freedom of the press (Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697, 51 S. Ct. 625, 75 L. Ed. 1357 ), had been incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, as had many of the rights that applied to defendants in criminal cases, including the right to representation by counsel in capital cases (Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45, 53 S. Ct. 55, 77 L. Ed. 158 ). In 1937, the Court decided that some of the privileges and immunities of the Bill of Rights were so fundamental that states were required to abide by them through the Due Process Clause (Palko v. Connecticut, 302 U.S. 319, 58 S. Ct. 149, 82 L. Ed. 288).
In 1947, the Court rejected an argument that the Fifth Amendment's right against Self-Incrimination applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment (Adamson v. People of the State of California, 332 U.S. 46, 67 S. Ct. 1672, 91 L. Ed. 2d 1903 ). However, in one of the most famous dissents in history, Justice hugo l. black argued that the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated all aspects of the Bill of Rights and applied them to the states. Justice Felix Frankfurter, who wrote a concurrence in Adamson, disagreed forcefully with Black, arguing that some rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment may overlap with the guarantees of the Bill of Rights, but are not based directly upon such rights. The Court was hesitant to apply the incorporation doctrine until 1962, when Frankfurter retired from the Court. Following his retirement, most provisions of the Bill of Rights were eventually incorporated to apply to the states.
Amar, Akhil Reed. 2002. "2000 Daniel J. Meador Lecture: Hugo Black and the Hall of Fame." Alabama Law Review 1221. | <urn:uuid:603a7326-2678-482b-9a0b-e871080ec1cc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Incorporation+Doctrine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953977 | 1,041 | 3.6875 | 4 |
The U.S. oil industry locked horns with environmental regulators last week over a new proposal to make diesel burn cleaner. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed this spring to reduce the sulfur content in diesel by 97 percent, starting in 2007, as a way of cutting back on toxic emissions. But at a hearing on the green diesel proposal, oil industry representatives said the EPA was going "too far too fast" and that the rule could cause fuel shortages and surging prices similar to those now experienced by consumers of gasoline in the Midwest.
Oil industry representatives estimated the EPA's proposal would cost U.S. refiners roughly $10 billion in upgrades and new equipment and would likely knock out 30 percent of current diesel production.
They compared the proposal to a new EPA anti-smog requirement for gasoline commonly blamed for record high prices
in the Midwest, which have soared as much as 50 cents higher than the national average of $1.64 a gallon.
The EPA said it is accepting written statements on its proposal until August 14, at which point it will close its hearing and beginning drafting an official regulation. | <urn:uuid:ce88b834-722b-46da-8732-a68e8c51ab74> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.marinelink.com/news/article/oil-industry-epa-going-too-far-too-fast-on-diesel/320007.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963657 | 224 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The notion of ambient systems captures the idea of large-scale heterogeneous systems used to sense, network, inform, actuate, or interact with the physical environment and the humans present in the environment. These systems are at the heart of the next generation information technology, which will no longer be limited to dedicated infrastructures, such as the Internet, but will be embedded in artifacts and the environment and will consist of highly distributed, networked, heterogeneous, and largely self-organizing devices.
Ambient systems research will address three specific fields:
- Environmental monitoring by measuring, analyzing environmental data over an unprecedented range of space and time scales using very-large-scale sensor networks, in order, for instance, to accurately assess the impact of global warming, recognize and predict natural hazards (i.e. avalanches, floods, dangers, earthquakes, diseases), and, last but not least, support and manage sustainable land , water, and resource use.
- Ambient intelligence embedded in smart buildings for optimal monitoring and control (e.g., intelligent thermal monitoring for energy efficiency and pollution reduction), as well as for the security and safety of the individual in the workplace and in the home (i.e., smart environments that assist their inhabitants at all times and that are able to interact with various information systems, sensors and actuators to provide customized personal safety).
- Virtual world applications, i.e., the creation of simulated environments in which individuals interact through graphical images and other synthetic means, while being cognizant of real situations (and their abstractions) in the surrounding world (e.g., traffic). Specific objectives are both environmental protection and security of the individual.
The scientific challenges in ambient systems are multifaceted, and range from sensor integration to information management. The design of such ambient systems amounts to the engineering of complex systems, which consist of very large numbers of largely autonomous components that interoperate in a self-organized manner, while enabling meaningful and efficient transmission and processing of the information in the system and ensuring reliable and secure operation.
In order to understand and develop such complex ambient systems, major challenges need to be tackled in the research and development of the five fundamental enabling technologies, namely micro/nano-electronics, sensors, MEMS/NEMS, systems and software, information and communications:
- Micro/nano-electronics: Individual sensor nodes of the considered ambient systems will have to combine functionalities as diverse as sensing, wireless communications, data processing within the tightest confines. Hybrid and heterogeneous micro/nano-electronic systems will be investigated to allow each of these tasks to be performed using the optimal technology and to combine the corresponding sub-systems using different technologies in one system.
- Sensors: Be it for buildings monitoring, health risk management or food quality control, major scientific and technological challenges have been identified to be able design innovative sensing devices and integrate them into reliable lab-on-chip micro-systems. In particular, our research will focus on the detection of gas in the air, and bacteria in the air and the water.
- MEMS/NEMS: To enable and support the aforementioned innovative ambient systems, we will seek to design and engineer NEMS/MEMS devices, with special emphasis on sensing, micro-fluidic support and mixed micro opto-mechanical devices.
- Systems and Software: In order to establish public trust into the forthcoming ubiquitous ambient wireless systems, the key aspects of security, software reliability and information and network management need to be addressed: (1) to avoid possible undesirable behaviors, security issues such as privacy protection, secure association between wireless peers and secure cooperative routing in multi-hop wireless networks need to be addressed; (2) the reliability of these systems must be guaranteed through research and development of high-quality software, fault-tolerant and highly available systems (3) to manage highly-decentralized ambient systems, several issues need to be addressed such as distributed processing and trading off local computation for communication efforts.
- Information and Communication: Information exchange is a central task in the envisioned large-scale distributed ambient networks. Nevertheless, the legacy network design philosophy, which decomposes the traffic into point-to-point connections, is not well suited for ambient systems, where components may need to interconnect into very large heterogeneous networks over unknown and time-varying communication channels, and still offer transparent high-quality support to end-user applications. This new paradigm calls for the design of novel fundamental information processing algorithms and primitives. New exciting research directions include, but are not limited to: (1) network coding; (2) distributed source compression and (3) advanced distributed sensing methods. Moreover to enable and manage a distributed and self-organized Ambient Web, several issues need to be tackled such as modeling, tracking and maintenance of self-organizing logical overlay networks on top of heterogeneous wireless and wired networks, as well as development of integrated frameworks for data management that will present a real-time overview of the monitored environment or situation, through the fusion and consolidation of information from all available sources (e.g., in emergency situations, energy management for buildings).
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Learn more about | <urn:uuid:a95b1511-073e-4648-8594-aa0e554c6ea8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nano-tera.ch/program/research/ambient.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917058 | 1,077 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Learning the letters in your name is an important skill. Generally, some of the first letters a child will learn are the letters in his own name.
One of the first letter learning activities I did with my son came from Making Learning Fun. I printed all of the Highway ABC Cards in the letters of his name. He drove his trucks around saying the letter and the path of movement for the letter… big line down, little line, etc.
Pretty soon he was interested in the letters in his name. I decided it was time to explore getting those letters in the correct order and making his name from left to right. We made this playdough name puzzle.
Every child learns in a different way. An activity that works well with one of your kids may crash and burn with another kid. My second son is a completely different character with a completely different way of learning than my oldest. I wanted to compile a resource list of practical and powerful ways for your child to work on learning the letters of her name. I asked a group of bloggers who are experienced experts in areas of early childhood, literacy and play to share some of their best posts on learning letters. Together, we have 14 ways to explore the letters in your child’s name! You can watch a video that gives a brief overview of each activity. Check out the posts for directions and additional information. If you are considering pinning the activities, please go visit the blog so the picture stays with its original source.
Nurture store shares a whole post of tips for learning to write your name. My favorite tip? Write your child’s name everywhere. When your child creates a work of art, always write his name on it… until he can start writing his own name! All of the tips in this post are easy things you can squeeze into any day.
Hands on as we Grow taught her son the letters in his name by using this string scavenger hunt. I love that she found my Follow the Line Scavenger hunt and used it for her son’s name! True collaboration.
Time for Play– This name game using rocks is great for teaching kids left to right directionality.
I love that this name game by Teach Preschool is a shared activity between two children! You can find the directions for this game that helps children work together to build their names letter by letter at Teach Preschool.
Happy Hooligans shares this easy name puzzle. She even found a way to make the letters textured.
If your child isn’t impressed with paper/pencil activities, try wooden letters plus playdough name practice from The Imagination Tree.
Switch out the Playdough and try salt tray writing from Creative with Kids.
Only have paper and pencil? You can still make a great tactile name project. Use a little glue and cut your paper into pieces to make a name mosaic. Rainbows Within Reach has some great examples worth taking a look.
Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas has a similar name mosaic. She kicked it up a notch by using lots of fun supplies in their name mosaics.
Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers shares a lists of tactile ways to practice writing the letters in a child’s name. Put down the pencil and pick up the M&M’s, Shaving Cream, Playdough, or rainbow crayons. This kindergarten teacher also shares a super important tip that all kids need to know before arriving in Kindergarten!
Mommy with Selective Memory shows you how to make these tactile name cards (not made with glitter). Not only are these fun to make, they would be great for allowing your child to practice retracing the letters of his name.
I don’t know if girls like to dig. I only have sons- and nephews! This digging up the letters of your name from Teach Preschool would be a great way to entice my boys to particpate! I’m guessing most girls would love it too!
Do you have a great idea for teaching your child the letters of his or her name? Please share it! | <urn:uuid:c5dfd919-189e-4dfd-915e-0b43b597cc1d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ready-set-read.com/2012/03/14-ways-to-explore-letters-in-your.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955141 | 854 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Dr. James S. Ulvestad,
Exoplanet Discoveries; Have We Found Other Earths?
May 9, 2013
Good morning Chairman Palazzo, and Chairman Bucshon, Ranking Members Edwards and Lipinski, and members of the Subcommittees. My name is Jim Ulvestad, and I am the Division Director for Astronomy in the NSF Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Thank you for giving NSF the opportunity to speak to you about our support of extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, research. This is one of the most exciting areas of astronomical discovery that we support today. It has been recognized by the most recent National Academy of Sciences decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics as an area that is ripe for new discoveries over the next decade, and one whose excitement we are pleased to share with our colleagues at NASA, with the scientific community, and with the American public.
For centuries, and perhaps millennia, humans have looked up into the sky and wondered if we are alone in the universe. A first step in answering that question is to determine if there are planets orbiting other stars, a goal that remained unachievable for nearly 400 years after Galileo turned his telescope to the heavens. Technological developments beginning in the 1980s finally made it possible for astronomers to actually detect planets outside our solar system, and the first discoveries of such exoplanets were made in the 1990's by NSF-funded astronomers. Exoplanet science has progressed rapidly, to the point where 20 years after the first discoveries, there are more than 700 confirmed exoplanets, and thousands more candidates have already been identified by NASA's Kepler satellite. We are entering a scientific era in which we have the capability to detect not only giant planets the size of Jupiter, but Earth-sized planets in the habitable zones of their solar systems, the locations where liquid water can exist.
NSF has supported this field since its infancy. The first definitive detection of an exoplanet was made in 1992 by an astronomer at NSF's Arecibo Observatory collaborating with a postdoctoral researcher at NSF's Very Large Array. Dr. Alex Wolszczan and Dr. Dale Frail used the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to uncover the presence of two planets orbiting a pulsar, which is a dense neutron star totally unlike our Sun. This discovery was a surprise to the astronomical community, which had expected planets around "normal" stars and not around ultra-dense stellar remnants. Surprise turned out to be a hallmark of the first 20 years of research on exoplanets. Our best understanding of how solar systems form and evolve was challenged and had to be revised in light of the new discoveries made by the scientific process.
Planets orbiting Sun-like stars were detected soon after the first pulsar planets, with the surprising outcome that planets more massive than Jupiter were found in orbits very close to their parent stars. NSF has funded these transformative efforts for more than two decades, with research grants resulting directly in the first detection of multi-planet systems, the first detection of exoplanets with masses as small as that of Saturn, and the first planets detected using the technique of gravitational lensing of the radiation from background stars.
NSF-funded research on exoplanets relies on three critical elements: investigators, tools, and technology development. First, NSF funds the core scientific research of individual investigators; NSF presently has more than 40 active awards to individual investigators and small teams pursuing exoplanet research, including highly competitive awards to young scientists in the ascending stages of their careers. Second, together with our international partners, NSF provides the tools that astronomers need to make precision measurements of planetary systems; the newly inaugurated Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) can study planets in the act of formation, while the Gemini Observatory is poised for new exoplanet discoveries with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) that will be commissioned in the next year. Third, NSF supports the technology development that will enable the detection of planets as small as the Earth. In total, NSF currently invests approximately $10 million per year in exoplanet research. Roughly half of this amount is spent on individual investigator research grants, and the other half on the development and operation of advanced-technology telescopes.
As exoplanet science enters its third decade, we are growing beyond the mere counting of planets and beginning to investigate and understand their physical characteristics. At NSF, we are funding research into the observational characterization of planetary properties, measurements and models of exoplanet atmospheres, and the theory of the formation and evolution of planetary systems. With our international partners, we are poised to take the next step with the $25 million GPI mentioned earlier. This instrument will combine advanced adaptive optics to correct for the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere, a coronagraph to block the glare of the parent star, and advanced spectral capabilities to image exoplanets and study their chemical compositions. Starting in 2014 a US-led team will begin a GPI survey of up to 600 nearby stars, which will provide family portraits of dozens, if not hundreds of other planetary systems.
Meanwhile, NASA's Kepler satellite has opened wonderful opportunities over the past four years, and we are all very grateful to NASA and the Kepler team for the advances they have enabled in exoplanet research. NSF-funded scientists have taken full advantage of the Kepler data; in recent months, Earth-sized planets have been confirmed in the habitable zone of the Kepler-62 stellar system. This exciting discovery was made using a technique developed by Dr. Eric Agol of the University of Washington, with funding he received from an NSF early-career award made in 2006. An NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of California, Mr. Erik Petigura, leading another recent study using Kepler data, has concluded that approximately 15 percent of Sun-like stars have Earth-sized planets in close-in orbits. This implies that many such stars also will be found to have Earth-sized planets in their habitable zones.
We stand at the threshold of many exciting discoveries over the next decade, as the worlds of science fiction become part of scientific reality. In 2013, the number of proposals for exoplanet research received by the NSF increased to more than 100, from a number of 20-25 proposals per year just eight years ago. NSF is able to fund only a small fraction of those proposals, but we expect them to give rise to more exciting discoveries. For example, while still in its scientific checkout phase, scientists using ALMA have found evidence for Earth-mass planets around nearby stars; as it nears its full complement of 66 antennas, ALMA will deduce the presence of many more exoplanets and study the chemical composition of the planetary nurseries. Over the next 3 to 5 years, studies like the ones done with ALMA will be complementary to the expected frequent releases of exoplanet images and spectra from Gemini as the GPI instrument comes on line. As with all of NSF's major facilities, the data acquired with these instruments will be freely available to all researchers after an initial proprietary period.
Where will we be 20 years from now? We will have dozens, probably hundreds of Earth–sized worlds detected and imaged in our region of the Galaxy. We will have an accurate knowledge of the fraction of nearby stars with planets of all sorts, and of those with Earth-sized planets. We will have images of solar systems like our own, including other Earth-like planets. We will have information about the chemical compositions of many of these planets and we will be searching the data for biosignatures, or evidence of life. These discoveries will continue to change our understanding of how planetary systems like our own form and evolve, and of humanity's place in the universe.
One of the key goals of NSF's strategic plan is to "Transform the Frontiers" of science and engineering. Since the very first discoveries of exoplanets 20 years ago, NSF-funded research has transformed the frontiers of exoplanet research, enabling us to address a fundamental question: "Are there other places out there where life could exist, and what kind of life is there?" Because the people of the United States value knowledge and discovery, we continue to understand more and more about the possibilities of life elsewhere, and can only await the fabulous new discoveries of the next 20 years.
Mr. Chairman this concludes my remarks. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Biography – Dr. James S. Ulvestad
Dr. James S. Ulvestad is the Division Director of the Division of Astronomical Sciences at the National Science Foundation, a position he has held since 2010. Previously, he was an Assistant Director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), where he was in charge of the Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array radio telescopes, and later was the head of the NRAO New Initiatives Office. Before his time at NRAO, Dr. Ulvestad served in various capacities at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he played important roles in several interagency and international programs. Among his community service activities, Dr. Ulvestad chaired the Demographics Study Group of the 2010 National Academy of Sciences decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics, was an elected member of the American Astronomical Society Council, and has been a member of NASA's Structure and Evolution of the Universe Subcommittee. Dr. Ulvestad is an author or co-author of more than 80 refereed papers in the scientific literature, as well as numerous technical reports. | <urn:uuid:839f9af5-c539-460b-8b3d-43313b425279> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsf.gov/about/congress/113/ju_exoplanet_130509.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948503 | 1,977 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Efficiently managing the nation’s inventory of circulating coins helps to ensure that the coin supply meets the public’s demand while avoiding unnecessary costs. The Federal Reserve System is composed of an independent government agency—the Board of Governors (Board)—and 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks (Reserve Banks). The Reserve Banks carry out a variety of functions for the Federal Reserve, including ensuring that coins and notes are available in quantities sufficient to meet the public’s needs by managing coins held in inventory and ordering new coins from the U.S. Mint. The 12 Reserve Banks provide coins and notes to depository institutions (e.g., commercial banks, federal savings associations, and credit unions), among other responsibilities. The Federal Reserve System’s Cash Product Office (CPO) manages the Reserve Banks’ coin inventory from a national perspective, working closely with the Reserve Banks. Since 2009, on behalf of the Reserve Banks, the Federal Reserve has taken steps to standardize its management of the circulating coin inventory from a national perspective.
The Board and Reserve Banks are self-funded entities that engage in a variety of activities that generate revenue, such as earnings from lending to financial institutions. The costs of operating the Federal Reserve System are deducted from these revenues and the remaining amount is transferred to the General Fund of the U.S. Treasury (General Fund). In 2012, the Federal Reserve System transferred $88.4 billion to the General Fund. Federal Reserve System revenues contribute to total U.S. government revenues, and therefore, if coin-inventory management can become more efficient, more of its revenue could potentially be transferred to the General Fund.
In 2012, Reserve Bank costs related to coin management were approximately $62 million. To monitor costs related to coin and note management, CPO officials said they review currency management costs—which include costs related to both coins and notes—at the national level because individual Reserve Banks may vary in their accounting for operational costs related to coins and notes. In October 2013, GAO found that from 2008 through 2012 total annual Reserve Bank currency management costs increased by 23 percent at the national level. While cost information for coins and notes is available separately, CPO does not separately monitor coin management costs. Looking specifically at coin management costs, GAO’s analysis indicates that coin management costs increased by 69 percent from 2008 through 2012. CPO officials attributed the increase in coin management costs to support costs, which increased by 80 percent during that period (approximately $19.6 million from 2008 to 2012). Support costs include utilities, facilities, and information technology as well as other local and national support services such as CPO’s services. According to CPO officials, direct costs—which include personnel and equipment—represent their primary measure of Reserve Bank coin management costs. GAO found that direct costs for coin management increased by 45 percent during this period, about $5 million across the 28 Reserve Bank offices.
Although Reserve Bank coin management costs have risen since 2008, CPO has not taken steps to systematically assess factors influencing direct and support costs related to coin management and assess whether opportunities exist to isolate elements of their coin inventory management that could lead to cost savings or greater efficiencies across the Reserve Banks. In October 2013, GAO also found that the rates of increasing coin management costs differ across Reserve Banks. Using data provided by CPO on individual Reserve Banks’ costs, from 2008 through 2012, coin management costs increased for all Reserve Banks, with the increases ranging from a low of 36 percent to a high of 116 percent. The Federal Reserve’s 2012-2015 strategic plan includes an objective to use financial resources efficiently and effectively. In addition, according to a professional association that provides guidance on internal controls, as part of the internal control process, management should ensure that operations, such as managing an inventory, are efficient and cost- effective, and this process includes monitoring costs and using this information to make operational adjustments. Without taking steps to identify and share cost-effective coin management practices across Reserve Banks, the Federal Reserve may be missing opportunities to support more efficient and effective use of Reserve Bank resources. In addition, more efficient management of the coin inventory may enhance revenues and contribute additional funds to the General Fund.
Coin management includes the CPO’s administration, coin handling, and interbank coin transfer costs. Reserve Bank costs related to coin management include, for example, support costs (e.g. utilities and information technology) and direct costs (e.g., personnel and equipment).
Federal Reserve, Strategic Framework 2012-15 (2013).
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), Internal Control—Integrated Framework (1992). COSO is a joint initiative of five professional associations dedicated to providing thought leadership through the development of frameworks and guidance on enterprise risk management, internal control, and fraud deterrence.
GAO recommended in October 2013 that the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System should direct the Cash Product Office to
Taking these actions may help the Federal Reserve identify ways to improve the cost-effectiveness of its coin management, potentially increasing the revenues that are available for the Federal Reserve System to transfer to the General Fund. Estimating the extent of potential increased revenues requires the Federal Reserve System to assess specific coin management practices at each Reserve Bank.
The information contained in this analysis is based on findings from GAO‑14‑110. GAO reviewed documentation and interviewed officials from the Board, Reserve Banks, CPO, and U.S. Mint. In addition, GAO obtained and analyzed Reserve Bank currency management cost data from 2008 through 2012. Table 12 in appendix IV lists the programs GAO identified that might have opportunities for cost savings.
We provided a draft of GAO‑14‑110 to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury for review and comment. In written comments, the Board generally agreed with the report’s recommendations. Treasury had no comments.
GAO provided a draft of this report section to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Mint for review and comment. The Board provided written comments and noted that the CPO has agreed to define a new metric that measures the productivity of Reserve Bank coin operations and will enable them to monitor coin costs and identify cost variations across Reserve Banks.The U.S. Mint did not provide comments on this issue.
For additional information about this area, contact Lorelei St. James at (202) 512-2834 or firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:17cddcd3-a062-47a2-b7bb-5486e8645a89> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gao.gov/modules/ereport/handler.php?1=1&path=/ereport/GAO-14-343SP/data_center_savings/General_government/14._Coin_Inventory_Management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00195-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944955 | 1,342 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Economists list ways to save the world
Smart solutions Leading economists have ranked how to best and most cost-effectively invest to solve many of the world's seemingly insurmountable problems, according to a Danish think-tank, calling for a shift in global priorities.
"It may not sound sexy, but solving the problems of diarrhoea, worms and malnutrition will do good for more of the world's poor than other more grandiose interventions," says Bjorn Lomborg, who heads the Copenhagen Consensus Centre.
The researchers asked prominent economists working within 10 of the world's top problem fields to propose the best investments to fix those problems.
A panel of experts, including four Nobel laureates, then went through the proposals and ranked the ones they believed would have the biggest impact and "where we can get the most mileage for our money," says Lomborg.
The Dane, who shot to fame with his book The Skeptical Environmentalist in 2001, insisted the list was necessary since policymakers and humanitarian organisations often allow irrational emotions to dictate how they spend money earmarked for fighting poverty, declining biodiversity or natural disasters.
He points out that focussing on creating nature reserves and making large swathes of forest off-limit to development was "a nice idea, but the problem is that it often doesn't happen."
Instead, the Copenhagen Consensus economists propose investing heavily in agricultural research and development to make food production more efficient, which they say would reduce world hunger and also protect biodiversity "by reducing the need for forest land to be converted into agricultural land."
Focussing on what works
Lomborg, who adamantly rejects the climate change-denier label sometimes thrown at him, also criticises the heavy focus on curbing carbon dioxide emissions in the battle against global warming.
While such efforts could make "a little difference," Lomborg says they are often not followed through.
"There are smarter ways to tackle this, for instance by investing in research and development on green energy, or looking into geo-engineering," he says.
"It's really just about focusing on what works rather than on what feels good," he says, adding that especially in light of the economic crisis, "it has become very clear that we need to spend our money in the best possible way."
The Copenhagen Consensus economists were asked how the world should best spend $75 billion over a four-year period, which Lomborg says is only 15 per cent more than the global aid spending today.
Malnutrition topped the list of 10 proposals, with the expert panel suggesting annual spending of $3.0 billion to solve the problem that affects more than 100 million children worldwide, stressing that "each dollar spent reducing chronic under-nutrition has more than a $30-pay-off".
This was because better nutrition improves cognitive functions and thereby also an individual's education and income prospects as well, they said.
The economists also proposed investing around $1.0 billion annually in early warning systems for natural disasters, which Lomborg says was a far better way to spend money than to throw most resources into the clean-up after the disaster. | <urn:uuid:98cf47cb-a707-4cef-b525-b08453acbc49> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/05/14/3502148.htm?topic=health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964507 | 641 | 2.875 | 3 |
Definitions for solar system
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word solar system
the sun with the celestial bodies that revolve around it in its gravitational field
Any collection of heavenly bodies including a star or binary star, and any lighter stars, brown dwarfs, planets, and other objects in orbit.
The Solar System; the Sun and all the objects in orbit around it.
The Sun and all the heavenly bodies that orbit around it, including the eight planets, their moons, the asteroids and comets.
The Solar System consists of the Sun and its planetary system of eight planets, their moons, and other non-stellar objects. It formed 4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with most of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of rock and metal. The four outer planets, called the gas giants, are substantially more massive than the terrestrials. The two largest, Jupiter and Saturn, are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium; the two outermost planets, Uranus and Neptune, are composed largely of substances with relatively high melting points, called ices, such as water, ammonia and methane, and are often referred to separately as "ice giants". All planets have almost circular orbits that lie within a nearly flat disc called the ecliptic plane. The Solar System also contains a number of regions populated by smaller objects. The asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is similar to the terrestrial planets as it mostly contains objects composed of rock and metal. Beyond Neptune's orbit lie the Kuiper belt and scattered disc, linked populations of trans-Neptunian objects composed mostly of ices. Within these populations are several dozen to more than ten thousand objects that may be large enough to have been rounded by their own gravity. Such objects are referred to as dwarf planets. Identified dwarf planets include the asteroid Ceres and the trans-Neptunian objects Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake. In addition to these two regions, various other small-body populations including comets, centaurs and interplanetary dust freely travel between regions. Six of the planets, at least three of the dwarf planets, and many of the smaller bodies are orbited by natural satellites, usually termed "moons" after Earth's Moon. Each of the outer planets is encircled by planetary rings of dust and other small objects.
U.S. National Library of Medicine
The group of celestial bodies, including the EARTH, orbiting around and gravitationally bound by the sun. It includes eight planets, one minor planet, and 34 natural satellites, more than 1,000 observed comets, and thousands of lesser bodies known as MINOR PLANETS (asteroids) and METEOROIDS. (From Academic American Encyclopedia, 1983)
The numerical value of solar system in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
The numerical value of solar system in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Sample Sentences & Example Usage
It's time for the human race to enter the solar system.
Nothing like this has ever been seen in the outer solar system.
We can't explain these objects' orbits from what we know about the solar system.
People believe there may be a massive planet in the very outer part of our solar system.
It’s very exciting to this that there might be an extrasolar planet in our own solar system.
Images & Illustrations of solar system
Translations for solar system
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- sistema solarCatalan, Valencian
- ηλιακό σύστημαGreek
- sistema solarSpanish
- système solaireFrench
- sistema solareItalian
- sistema solarPortuguese
- sistem solarRomanian
- со́лнечная систе́маRussian
- சூரியக் குடும்பம்Tamil
- güneş sistemiTurkish
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"solar system." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 29 Jun 2016. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/solar system>. | <urn:uuid:36b9c6a1-9784-4494-ad7a-e8aa3e348362> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/solar%20system | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00001-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.888216 | 1,042 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Powdery Mildew of Ornamentals and Shade Trees
Ornamental Disease Information Note 4
R.K. Jones, Extension Plant Pathologist
D.M. Benson, Plant Pathologist
The fungi which cause diseases known as powdery mildew attack a wide variety of ornamental plants grown in North Carolina. (see list).
due to infection by the fungi causing powdery mildew can be slight to
severe. The disease generally occurs during spring, fall and winter months
during cool weather with high relative humidity and in shady areas.
A powdery, fluffy white to light gray-colored fungus growth on succulent stems, leaves, buds and flowers is the characteristic symptom of powdery mildew. Young plants and actively growing shoots are more severely damaged than older plants, leaves or branches. Infected leaves may be dwarfed, curled or deformed. Powdery mildew can destroy the blossoms on crape myrtle. Small dead flecks in the leaves and defoliation may occur on some varieties of azalea and rhododendron that are infected with powdery mildew without the obvious development of white fungus growth.
The white mildew on the plant surface is actually
composed of the threads (mycelium) and asexually produced spores (conidia)
of the powdery mildew fungus. These spores are wind-blown to other parts
of the same plant or other plants of the same species. Powdery mildew
fungi are quite host-specific, so for example the mildew on zinnia will
not spread to dogwood or sycamore, and vice-versa. Also, they are obligate
parasites, meaning that they can only grow on living plant tissue.
Some powdery mildew fungi survive the winter as colonies of mycelium, but many switch over to sexual reproduction in the fall, producing minute brown to black specks amid the old mycelium on the dying leaf or other plant part. These survive the winter and in the spring release another type of spore to start the cycle over.
Some highly susceptible plants, such as Chinese photinia or euonymus should be replaced with a similar plant that is not susceptible to powdery mildew. On many trees, the disease causes little or no damage, therefore, control is not necessary. Plants in the landscape which may require fungicide applications to prevent powdery mildew damage include crape myrtle, phlox, rose and zinnia.
If damage from powdery mildew is severe and a susceptible plant(s) must be grown in the landscape, prune out severely diseased portions and use one of the following fungicides according to label instructions:
Note: The powdery mildew fungi can become resistant to any one of the fungicides listed above except sulfur.
with a specific problem, contact your local North
Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Office. Outside
North Carolina, look for your state extension service
Recommendations of specific chemicals are based upon information on the manufacturer's label and performance in a limited number of trials. Because environmental conditions and methods of application by growers may vary widely, performance of the chemical will not always conform to the safety and pest control standards indicated by experimental data. All recommendations for pesticide use were legal at the time of publication, but the status of registration and use patterns are subject to change by actions of state and federal regulatory agencies
Published by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914. Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. North Carolina State University at Raleigh, North Carolina A&T State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating.
Last update to information: January 1999
Last checked by author: January 1999
Web page last updated on September 2000 by A.V. Lemay | <urn:uuid:24335c48-ec33-4713-866e-c1393285c468> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://extensiongardener.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/pp/notes/Ornamental/odin004/odin004.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914965 | 819 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Nerve Conduction Study and Electromyography
Nerve conduction study/electromyography is a two-part test completed by a trained professional. Your health care provider may recommend this procedure to further understand your neuropathy.
The nerve conduction study or NCS involves the nerves in your arms and legs. A tiny pulse of electricity is sent through your arm or leg and the nerve response is captured by a computer. This test allows the heath care provider to see how fast or slow your nerves react.
Electromyography or EMG gives important information about your muscles. During this test a very small needle is inserted into a specific muscle. You may be asked to relax or contract your muscles. During this test you may hear cracks, pops or static, which is your muscle working. The muscle activity is then captured by a computer. This test allows the health care provider to identify normal and abnormal muscle function.
For more information and/or to make an appointment with the Maryland Peripheral Neuropathy Center, please call 410-328-3100. | <urn:uuid:b12cbc37-bdbc-4748-b344-1ef6d762ae04> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://umm.edu/programs/neuropathy/services/nerve-conduction-study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931703 | 216 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Lesser Ground-robin (Amalocichla incerta) - HBW 12, p. 467
French: Petite Pseudobrève
German: Kleine Pittadrossel
Spanish: Petroica Terrestre Chica
Other common names: Lesser New Guinea Thrush, Rusty Velvet-thrush, Dubious False-thrush
Taxonomy: Eupetes incertus Salvadori, 1876, Mount Arfak, New Guinea.
Relationships of genus uncertain; formerly placed with thrushes (Turdidae), and possibly does not belong with present family. Birds from Huon Peninsula usually assigned to race brevicauda, but may be closer to olivascentior. Three subspecies recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution:
- incerta (Salvadori, 1876) - Arfak Mts, in NW New Guinea.
- olivascentior E. J. O. Hartert, 1930 - C North Coastal Range (Torricelli Mts) and mountains of C New Guinea E to Mt Karimui and perhaps to Aseki area of Morobe Province.
- brevicauda (De Vis, 1894) - mountains of Huon Peninsula and SE New Guinea.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
- No videos available yet
singing Locality Ambua Lodge, Tari Valley, Hela Province, Papua New Guinea, New Guinea
Niels Poul Dreyer 20 July 1990 6 years ago 4.5
The bird was recorded calling mid-morning from the forest floor. Locality Tari, Tari Valley, Hela Province, Papua New Guinea, New Guinea
Sam Woods 20 September 2008 6 years ago 4.5 | <urn:uuid:895505c2-3c16-40c2-a608-aa7a73532636> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/lesser-ground-robin-amalocichla-incerta | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.792966 | 369 | 2.640625 | 3 |
How “The Birdman of Alcatraz” Got His Name
The real name of the “Birdman” was Robert Franklin Stroud. Seattle born Stroud ran away from home at the age of 13 and was first arrested in 1909 at the age of 19 after turning himself in for murder. He shot and killed a bartender, F. K. Von Dahmer, who had allegedly failed to pay a prostitute for whom Stroud was pimping for in Alaska. He was then sentenced to 12 years in a federal prison, though not in Alaska as it wasn’t yet a state.
Stroud was first sent to serve his sentence in a federal penitentiary on Puget Sound’s McNeil Island in Washington, in 1911. He got into even more trouble in prison where he assaulted a hospital orderly. He also stabbed a fellow inmate. (Unlike Burt Lancaster’s mild mannered portrayal of Stroud in the 1962 Birdman of Alcatraz, Stroud was known to be an extraordinarily violent, hot tempered man and by all accounts didn’t change much through his life in that respect.)
After these two incidents, an additional 6 months was added to his sentence and Stroud was shipped off to a different federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. It would be here that he earned the nickname “Birdman”.
He continued to be a difficult inmate to handle in Leavenworth and frequently threatening other inmates. In 1916, about half way through his original sentence, Stroud got in trouble over a minor incident, and thus, was going to be denied a visit with his younger brother who he hadn’t seen in 8 years. Needless to say, he was furious over this and in a fit of rage, he stabbed the guard responsible for reprimanding him and killed him in front of about eleven hundred inmates in the Mess hall.
Needless to say, the fact that it was his second murder and that there were so many witnesses, Stroud didn’t receive such a light sentence as the first time- this time being sentenced to death by hanging. During this time, he was put in solitary confinement. However, a series of court battles ensued, twice involving the Supreme Court, and his proposed execution was postponed all the way until 1920. At this point, a handwritten desperate plea by Stroud’s mother to President Woodrow Wilson earned Stroud a commuted sentence of life in prison; but because he was viewed as such a violent inmate, it was recommended by the warden that he continue to serve out that sentence as he had done since killing the guard, in solitary confinement. This was instituted and he was put in permanent solitary confinement.
Over the next 30 years in the Leavenworth penitentiary, he came to be known as “Birdman” as he started taking a keen interest in canaries and other birds after he found an injured bird in the recreation yard and nursed it back to health. After that, he started breeding birds and studying them in his cell, an activity the guards allowed him as it was a hobby they thought to be a productive use of his time. He also earned money by selling the birds and used it to help support his mother, as well as to purchase various supplies for himself to support his bird hobby.
He checked out every book available on the subject of birds that the prison library offered. It wasn’t long after this that Stroud became a genuine world class expert on the subject (ornithology) and redirected his energies to writing about them. Having raised hundreds of birds (mostly canaries) in his cells, studying their behavior, habitat and physiology, he managed to author two books titled Diseases of Canaries and Stroud’s Digest on the Diseases of Birds, where he even outlined cures for certain diseases that he himself had discovered. He was also in regular correspondence with some of the world’s leading ornithologists. In fact, he wrote and received so many letters that the prison had to hire a full time secretary to read and copy all of them, as it was prison policy that every piece of mail in or out had to be read and copied, to make sure there was nothing illicit about the correspondents and keep a record of them.
Needless to say, his amazing number of letters that had to be screened and the filth from all the birds in his cell resulted in the prison administration trying to shut down his business. Thanks to a bird researcher from Indiana, Della Mae Jones, his story made newspaper and magazine headlines and the President even received a 50,000+ signature petition from people all over requesting that Stroud be allowed to keep the birds. Thus, rather than be able to force him to get rid of the birds, this resulted in the prison administration begrudgingly giving him a second cell to house his birds in.
They then switched strategies and simply set about trying to get him transferred to a different prison. They were at first unsuccessful, because when he got wind of this, he married Della Mae Jones. Why? Because there was a Kansas state law prohibiting any prisoner married in Kansas from being transferred.
After several years, the prison administration was finally able to get him transferred and his birds and equipment taken away when it was discovered he was using some of his equipment to distill alcohol. They then shipped him off to Alcatraz, where he was given his famous moniker “The Birdman of Alcatraz”, even though he was never allowed to keep any birds while there.
In his 17 years in Alcatraz, still in solitary confinement, among other things, he studied law with an aim at securing his release; his argument being that being kept in solitary confinement for so long constituted cruel and unusual punishment. He also wrote two more manuscripts, an autobiography titled “Bobbie” and one called “Looking Outward: A History of the U.S. Prison System from Colonial Times to the Formation of the Bureau of Prisons“.
In 1959, the famous Birdman of Alcatraz, who never actually had any birds there, was finally released from solitary confinement for the first time since 1916 due to his poor health. He was ultimately transferred to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri where he died at the age of 73, having spent the last 54 years of his life in prison, of which 42 were in solitary confinement.
|Share the Knowledge!| | <urn:uuid:e6c3d51e-9895-45e6-ba5c-3f788d77ee69> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/11/how-the-birdman-of-alcatraz-got-his-name/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00042-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990945 | 1,333 | 3 | 3 |
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare, pushed for Accountable Care Organizations to form in 2012 and provide quality value-based affordable health care as an alternative to today’s fee-for-service system. Analysis by the Oliver Wyman consulting firm suggests that more than half of Americans now have access to an ACO.
The idea behind ACOs is that they will drive down health care costs by pushing high quality and less expensive treatment. This stands in contrast to today’s payment structure that often leads doctors to recommend costly procedures that are not always necessary nor necessarily better. Insurance companies then pay for more expensive procedures at a more frequent rate. ACOs are expected to only recommend treatment that is necessary. Providers in an ACO are rewarded if they keep their patients out of more expensive hospitals.
Forbes reports that ACOs began to provide medical care services to seniors through contracts with the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly last year. Private health insurance companies such as Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth Group, and Blue Cross plan to link with ACOs to extend care to more patients.
Around 40 million Americans are in organizations with ACO arrangements. This is an increase from around 30 million last fall. A report by Oliver Wyman shows that ACOs are most numerous in the Southwest, the Midwest, the Northeast, and Florida. Access is lowest in a path of states stretching across the country from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho down to Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Fifty-two percent of the population now lives in areas served by ACOs, up from 45 percent in August.
[Image via ShutterStock] | <urn:uuid:7cb53f13-c726-4425-a9f9-7ceda70f11b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inquisitr.com/530781/accountable-care-organizations-now-accessible-to-over-half-of-americans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00127-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958672 | 344 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum
Teacher professional development and classroom resources across the curriculum
America’s History in the Making uses primary and secondary sources as an important part of its approach to teaching and learning history.
The term “primary source” is used to mean any item—such as a document, painting, map, song, or piece of clothing—that was created in the period that is under study. For example, a letter written by George Washington could be a primary source for the era of the Revolution.
Identifying primary sources can be complicated, however. For example, a painting created in 1852 that portrays a scene of the Revolution is a primary source for 1852 but not for the time it portrays. The painter in 1852 may be romanticizing the past or trying to make some kind of other assertion (positive or negative) about the past based on his or her own current situation. Looking for and understanding these biases can deepen the understanding of the historical era in which an artifact was created.
Primary sources can help enrich the understanding of a period, but they can require a bit of time and effort to fully understand their context. One common stumbling block to using primary sources is “presentism”—viewing a historical source from our own frame of reference. For example, it’s hard for today’s students to look at a corset and understand that an upper-class, white woman living in Boston in the nineteenth century would no more consider going out of the house without it than a woman today would go out on the street without wearing a shirt. Helping students understand artifacts in their own context—instead of a twenty-first century context—can be challenging, but also very rewarding.
The analysis of artifacts involves a process similar to reading historical documents, with attention to the details of how things are represented. The way a figure is posed in a portrait (wearing a particular style of clothing, pictured with specific household objects, etc.) may reveal cultural values shared by the painter and the subject. The use of rhythm and repetition in a song may indicate what information or beliefs are being emphasized, particularly if the original singers and audience for the song came from a culture that privileged the oral transmission of information.
Secondary source materials are useful vehicles for providing thought-provoking questions about history, and new insights into why history happened in one way or another. These sources include charts, articles, or other items created by information provided in primary source artifacts.
A map might be primary or secondary source. A map created in 1558 is a primary source for that time; a map created today, showing who occupied what land in 1558 is a secondary source. America’s History in the Making uses maps in both ways to compare and contrast how history has been told over time. | <urn:uuid:41fd2b1a-66ae-47d2-9a5a-309e3d818b40> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://learner.org/courses/amerhistory/resource_archive/primary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953559 | 579 | 3.765625 | 4 |
F+ RNA coliphages (FRNA) are used to source-track fecal contamination and as surrogates for enteric pathogen persistence in the environment. However, the environmental persistence of FRNA is not clearly understood and necessitates the evaluation of the survival of prototype and environmental isolates of FRNA representing all four genogroups in surface waters from the central coast of California. Water temperature played a significant role in persistence–all prototype and environmental strains survived significantly longer at 10°C compared to 25°C. Similarly, the availability of host bacterium was found to be critical in FRNA survival. In the absence of E. coli Famp, all prototypes of FRNA disappeared rapidly with a D-value (days for one log reduction) of <1.2 d from water samples incubated at 25°C; the longest surviving prototype was SP. However, in the presence of the host, the order of persistence at 25°C was QB>MS2>SP>GA and at 10°C it was QB = MS2>GA>SP. Significant differences in survival were observed between prototypes and environmental isolates of FRNA. While most environmental isolates disappeared rapidly at 25°C and in the absence of the host, members of genogroups GIII and GI persisted longer with the host compared to members of GII and GIV. Consequentially, FRNA based source tracking methods can be used to detect phages from recent fecal contamination along with those that persist longer in the environment as a result of cooler temperatures and increased host presence.
Citation: Ravva SV, Sarreal CZ (2016) Persistence of F-Specific RNA Coliphages in Surface Waters from a Produce Production Region along the Central Coast of California. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146623. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146623
Editor: Jose Luis Balcazar, Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), SPAIN
Received: September 28, 2015; Accepted: December 18, 2015; Published: January 19, 2016
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Funding: The work was funded by the U.S. Department of Agricuture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service CRIS project 2030-42000-046.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Fecal contamination of ground and surface waters can cause significant environmental and health hazards. Tracking the sources of contamination is critical in designing pollution prevention and pathogen control measures. Several chemicals and biomarkers were used to track contamination resulting from human or animal sources [1–3]. Of these indicators, F+ RNA coliphages (FRNA) were often used as source identifiers to track fecal contamination in ground and surface waters [4, 5], produce , estuarine oysters , and as surrogates for enteric viral pathogens [7–9]. Using FRNA, contamination can be sourced to either animals or humans based on the association of four different genogroups with specific hosts. Genogroups I and IV (GI and GIV) are generally associated with animals, while genogroups II and III (GII and GIII) are associated with humans [10, 11]. Thus, human fecal pollution of river and ground waters was predicted based on a high abundance of phages from GII [5, 12, 13]. In a recent study, however, species of GIII predominated in both river and creek waters suspected of human activities nearby . Likewise, contamination of surface waters from nearby farms was linked with the high prevalence of members of GI and GIV . In addition to being source identifiers, some FRNA have shown preferential distribution across geographic distances. Members of GII were found to be prevalent in mainland Japan, whereas phages of GIII were isolated from the southern part of Japan and Southeast Asia (Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia) [16, 17].
Although beneficial as fecal indicators, differences in survival characteristics amongst FRNA species make it difficult to discern their proportions in environmental samples. Based on the limited data, members of GI and GII were known to persist longer in the environment [18, 19] and resist disinfection treatments compared to GIII and GIV . In a separate study, phage isolates of GI have shown the highest resistance to environmental stresses and inactivation processes, followed by GII, GIII and GIV . In contrast, the persistence of FRNA of different genogroups varied under different conditions, but temperature and pH were suggested to be major factors responsible for their persistence in river water . At 4°C, phages of GI and GII were detectable even after 110 days, while GIII and GIV were reduced to detection limits after 3 weeks and 10 days, respectively. All of them disappeared rapidly at 20°C . In a separate study, temperature correlated significantly with the decay rate of MS2, a prototype of GI, in ground water . FRNA are known also to persist longer in biofilms compared to wastewater . In addition, environmental FRNA differed in persistence compared to prototypes . Thus, the differences in survival, as influenced by the environmental conditions, seem to alter the prevalence and proportion of FRNA.
In a recent study, we attempted to model source tracking shiga-toxigenic Escherchia coli and E. coli O157:H7 using generic E. coli, coliform bacteria, F-specific DNA coliphages and FRNA . Owing to their scarcity, shiga-toxigenic E. coli could not be correlated with the prevalence of FRNA in river and creek water. In addition, higher prevalence of MS2-like phages (GI) was expected to signify the presence of cattle upstream from sampling sites. Instead, QB-like phages (GIII) were detected to indicate possible human fecal pollution. Since these observations were contrary to previous reports [18, 20], studies were conducted comparing environmental FRNA persistence to prototypes in surface water samples from the produce production region of the central coast of California. Since the availability of a bacterial host is critical for phage survival, persistence tests compared the survival of phages in water samples with or without added host bacteria. In addition, we noticed seasonality in the prevalence of FRNA in surface waters ; therefore, persistence measurements also included temperature effects. Survival of prototypes was monitored in waters at two different temperatures representing average summer and winter temperatures for the region. Our results demonstrate the suitability of FRNA to source-track fecal contamination in surface waters.
Materials and Methods
Water samples were from Gabilan Creek near Salinas, California. Special permits are not required for water collection from this publicly accessible place.
Water was collected from Gabilan Creek at Old Stage Road (GPS co-ordinates: 36.78028084N and -121.5848696W) near the city of Salinas. Surface water from the creek was collected using a bottle attached to a telescopic pole and transported on ice to the laboratory. Water samples were refrigerated for <18 h prior to use in phage persistence studies. The water samples were analyzed for total FRNA and for chemical composition (Table 1).
Cultures of FRNA
Both prototype and environmental strains of FRNA were evaluated for survival in surface waters. Prototype strains MS2, GA, QB and SP representing genogroups GI, GII, GIII and GIV, respectively, were gifts from Prof. M. Sobsey of the University of North Carolina. Phages previously isolated from surface waters from a produce production region of California (Table 2) representing all four genogroups were included to compare persistence of phages native to these waters to prototypes. Phages were grown in tryptic soy broth (TSB) supplemented with ampicillin/streptomycin (15 μg/mL) and log-phase growth of E. coli Famp (E. coli HS(pFamp)R, ATCC 700891, American Type Culture Collection, Manassas, VA) as described in US EPA method 1601 . Bacterial host cells were initially grown overnight in TSB with ampicillin/streptomycin at 37°C and used as inoculum to prepare fresh batch of log-phase growth. Each FRNA inoculated in 25 mL of log-phase host cell growth was incubated overnight at 37°C to promote phage growth and centrifuged at 10,000 x g for 10 min to remove host cells. The supernatant containing the phage was filtered through 0.2 μm filter and stored at 10°C. The phage preparations were used within 24 h for persistence studies. Concentration of these stocks was 8.7 ± 0.6 log PFU/mL.
Persistence of prototype strains in surface water
Triplicate 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks containing 50 mL surface water samples were inoculated with 500 μL portions of prototype FRNA and E. coli Famp host cells. Initial concentrations for FRNA and host cells in each treatment were targeted to be between 6 to 7 log PFU or CFU/mL, respectively. The water was brought to room temperature prior to inoculations and the flasks were kept stationary and in the dark during incubation. Populations of FRNA were monitored for 30 days at two different temperatures and in the presence or absence of the bacterial host. Controls without added FRNA or bacterial host were monitored also to determine the persistence of background populations of FRNA. Survival of each prototype FRNA was monitored at 10°C and 25°C to represent summer and winter temperatures in the Salinas valley region. Average monthly mean temperatures during the past ten years from November to February (winter) was 11.2 ± 0.9°C, March to June (spring) was 14.4 ± 0.6°C and between June to September (summer) was 23.5 ± 2.5°C. The historical data was obtained from the weather station located near KSNS Salinas Municipal Airport, Salinas, CA (http://www.weatherunderground.com/history).
FRNA were enumerated from ten-fold serial dilutions of 100 μL sub-samples of treated and untreated waters at various intervals during the incubation. Double agar layer (DAL) method was used to enumerate FRNA from dilutions prepared in sterile 0.01M phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.2). Briefly, 100 μL of each of serial dilution of waters and log-phase (4 h growth) E. coli Famp host cells were added to 5 mL of 0.7% tryptic soy agar (TSA) with ampicillin/streptomycin at 45°C, mixed thoroughly and added on to the top of 1.5% TSA plates with ampicillin/streptomycin. The soft agar was allowed to set and the inverted plates were incubated for 18 h at 37°C for plaque formation. The plaques were counted and D-values (days for one log reduction) were calculated based on the log PFU decline from day zero to the last day on which measurable phage growth was observed. D-values were calculated for each replicate separately, and the significant differences in persistence of prototypes of FRNA at two different temperatures and in the presence or absence of E. coli host were determined using three way analysis of variance (SigmaPlot 13, Systat Software, Inc., San Jose, CA).
Persistence of environmental strains in surface water
Survival of native FRNA (Table 2) strains, previously isolated from waters from the same geographical region, was monitored in freshly collected surface water incubated at 25°C. The influence of added E. coli Famp host was also compared during the stationary incubations for 30 d in the dark. The treatments were in triplicate and populations of environmental FRNA were monitored at various intervals from 100 μL serial dilutions in 0.01M phosphate-buffered saline as described above. Data on D-values of environmental and prototype FRNA in the presence or absence of E. coli Famp host was analyzed to determine the differences in persistence of FRNA using two-way analysis of variance (SigmaPlot 13).
Since freshly collected waters were used for determining the persistence of each prototype strain of FRNA, waters were analyzed to find out if differences in chemical/physical composition alter phage survival. The chemical composition was similar in waters collected on all occasions, except for an elevated level of suspended solids along with increased turbidity for water collected on May 26, 2015 (Table 1). Waters were alkaline. Survival of each prototype phage was monitored using water collected on separate days and all environmental strains were assayed using water collected on one day. FRNA were not detected in these waters prior to inoculations.
Persistence of prototype strains of FRNA
The survival of prototype strains of FRNA was monitored in freshly collected surface water to determine the differences in persistence at temperatures representing the summer and winter conditions in the central coast of California. An initial concentration of 6.4 ± 0.2 PFU/mL was measured from waters treated with MS2, GA or QB. The concentration of SP was somewhat higher at 7.5 ± 0.3 PFU/mL. These high concentrations for FRNA were chosen to obtain several experimental points to aid in calculating D-values. The treatments supplemented with the host received 6.4 ± 0.2 CFU/mL of log phase growth of E. coli Famp.
An increase in phage growth of 0.4 to 0.7 log PFU/mL was observed within one day of incubation at 10°C in treatments of MS2, GA and SP supplemented with the host (Fig 1). A substantially higher increase in growth of 1.5 log PFU/mL on day one was observed with QB plus host at 25°C. Host cells disappeared rapidly with D-values of 5.9 d and 4.0 d at 10°C and 25°C, respectively, from FRNA-free waters.
FRNA populations of four different genogroups were monitored at two temperatures and in the presence (filled blue circles) or absence of (open red triangles) the host E. coli Famp. Data on survival of prototypes in surface water samples is shown in S1 File.
In general, phages disappeared linearly with time and survived longer at 10°C compared to 25°C (Fig 1). In the absence of the host, they all disappeared in less than 10 d from waters at 25°C. MS2 disappeared more rapidly in <3 d. With the host, both GA and QB survived longer at 10°C and nearly 3 log PFU/mL remained after 30 days. QB survived longer with the host at both temperatures.
D-values were calculated based on phage levels on day zero and the initial growth spurts on day one were ignored. Three-way analysis of variance revealed significant differences (P < 0.001) in persistence between prototype strains, in the presence or absence of the host and at different temperatures of incubation (Table 3). In general, FRNA persisted significantly longer in the presence of E. coli Famp compared to no host and at 10°C compared to 25°C. In the presence of the host, the order of persistence at 25°C was QB>MS2>SP>GA; without the host, prototype strains disappeared rapidly. SP survived significantly longer in the absence of host compared to other prototypes. However, the survival spectrum changed at 10°C and MS2 persisted longer both in the presence or absence of the host and the order of persistence without the host was MS2>GA>SP>QB, whereas the order of persistence with the host was MS2 = QB >GA>SP.
Persistence of environmental strains
The survival of environmental strains of FRNA isolated from surface waters at different locations and time periods (Table 2) was compared with that of prototype strains incubated at 25°C. Similar to prototypes, an initial surge in growth was observed in the presence of the host with environmental strains of GII and GIII. Absence of the host generally resulted in rapid disappearance of all phages in <10 d (Fig 2) and the environmental strain GI-1 behaved similar to MS2 by rapidly disappearing in <3 d. With the host, environmental strains of GII and GIII survived similarly or longer than their respective prototypes; these were detected even after 14 d.
The survival of phages was monitored at 25°C and in the presence (filled symbols) or absence (open symbols) of the host E. coli Famp. Phage persistence for prototype strains are shown in black. Regression equations are shown in S1 Table. Data on survival of environmental strains in surface water samples is shown in S2 File.
Significant differences (P< 0.001) in D-values were observed between environmental and prototype strains in the presence or absence of the host. Environmental strains of GI, GII and GIV persisted longer compared to prototypes in treatments amended with the host (Table 4). However, environmental strains GIII-1 and GIII-2 disappeared somewhat faster compared to QB. With the exception of GII-1, absence of the host resulted in rapid disappearance of all environmental strains from surface water samples. In the presence of the host, however, significant differences in persistence of strains were found and the order of persistence was GIII-1 = GIII-2 = GI-1>GII-1 = GII-2>GIV-1.
Source tracking of foodborne pathogens is critical for development of pathogen control measures at the source. Water is an obvious source of transport of pathogens from animal raising operations, if they are close to waterways. Indeed, numerous E. coli O157:H7 and other shiga-toxigenic E. coli were isolated from surface waters from the produce production region of the central coast of California [26–28]. Since the levels of these pathogens are transient, they are often undetectable during labor-intensive and expensive trace-back studies in the environment. Detection of FRNA as fecal source indicators holds promise, since the contamination of waters can presumably be sourced to animals or humans. However, the differences in persistence of environmental phages make it difficult to distinguish the proportion of FRNA that can be sourced to animals or humans. In addition, seasonal and environmental factors play a significant role in the environmental persistence of FRNA.
Persistence at 25°C
Summers in Salinas valley don’t appear conducive for the growth of FRNA in surface waters. Both prototype and environmental strains disappeared rapidly with D-values <1.6 d and their infectivity was lost in <10 d. Such rapid inactivation was also observed with prototypes in ground, river and sea waters tested at similar temperatures [11, 21, 22, 29, 30]. To aid the comparison of these published results, D-values were calculated from the reported decay rates. However, others have reported decay rates that give a D-value of >15 d (calculated) for MS2 in lake, mineral and sea waters; and the persistence for prototypes and environmental strains were in the order of GI>GII>GIII>GIV [18–20].The current study differs in that the longest surviving phage is an environmental strain GII-1 (GA-like) with a D-value of 1.6 d and the longest surviving prototype is SP of GIV with a D-value of 1.2 (Table 4). We speculate that the absence of host bacterium resulted in rapid disappearance of phages. Since the inactivation of all phages was rapid, the infectivity assays can detect only recent fecal contamination during the summers in California. Such rapid inactivation, as the waters warm up during the spring, could be a reason for the sparse detection of FRNA after April . Similarly, higher water temperatures were linked with rapid inactivation of FRNA [19, 31], resulting in their infrequent detection from surface waters .
Persistence at 10°C
Cooler temperatures were responsible for high prevalence of FRNA in waters during the months of January to March in Salinas valley and in Massachusetts bay . Thus, prototypes were evaluated for survival at 10°C and were observed to survive significantly longer compared to 25°C (Table 3). In the absence of the host, significant differences in survival between prototypes were observed at 10°C. MS2 and GA were more persistent compared to SP and QB. The order of persistence is comparable to results obtained by others at higher temperatures [18–20]. However, in a separate study at 15°C in river water, no such differences in persistence between genogroups were found . Thus, fluctuations in temperatures influence the persistence and distribution of coliphages in surface waters. Consequently, elevated levels of phages might not always be from recent fecal inputs but could be more indicative of their environmental persistence.
Persistence in the presence of host bacterium
‘Bacteriophages (phages) are the most abundant replicating entities on the planet and thrive wherever their bacterial hosts exist’ . Indeed, E. coli strains sensitive to infection by FRNA were commonly found in human and animal feces , and a significant correlation was observed between the prevalence of FRNA and E. coli in tropical surface waters . Accordingly, this study compared the survival of prototype and environmental strains of FRNA in the presence of the host E. coli Famp.
FRNA survived significantly longer (P<0.001) in the presence of the host and the persistence spectrum of the phage types differed as compared to no host. Prototypes QB followed by MS2 persisted longer compared to the other prototypes incubated at either 10°C or 25°C (Table 3). Similarly, QB-like (GIII-1 and GIII-2) and MS2-like (GI-1) phages persisted with the host compared to other environmental phages. To the best of our knowledge, there are no other reports that evaluated the significance of the presence of the host on FRNA survival in the environment, although both phage and host are released together in the feces of animals and humans. Determining host prevalence along with FRNA may aid in improved prediction of fecal sources, since the presence of E. coli was positively correlated with FRNA while its absence resulted in the rapid disappearance of coliphages from surface waters.
Host presence also caused growth of FRNA. This is predictable as the waters treated with the host received 6.4 log CFU/mL of E. coli Famp. This resulted in replication of phages for 1 to 3 d (Figs 1 and 2). Further phage growth was likely hampered as the host populations decreased with D-values of 4 to 6 d. It was reported that QB failed to replicate when host cells were fewer than 4 log CFU/mL . However, using QB as a model, it was also reported that replication ceases below 25°C . In contrast, this study observed growth with 3 out of 4 prototypes in the presence of the host within a day of incubation at 10°C. Availability of host bacterium significantly influences the survival, growth and prevalence of FRNA in surface waters.
Persistence of environmental strains
Significant differences in survival were observed between prototype and environmental strains of FRNA. A majority of the environmental strains persisted longer than the prototypes when the host was present and strain differences in survival were observed between genogroups. Similar strain differences in persistence were also reported for other environmental isolates [19, 24]. While a majority of the environmental strains disappeared rapidly in the absence of added host, members of GIII and GI followed by GII persisted longer with the host. This is consistent with our earlier, preferential isolation of members of GIII followed by GII and GI from surface waters from the same geographical region . Therefore, survival of environmental and prototype strains of FRNA varies within and between genogroups and is influenced by prevalence of hosts native to the environment.
Persistence and water chemistry
Differences in the chemical constituents of waters did not influence the persistence of prototype strains. The absence of effect is evident as the differences in D-values, at 25°C without the host, between MS2, GA and QB were not significantly different from each other and so as the differences between MS2, GA and SP (Table 3). This might have been predictable as salt concentrations of up to 42 g/L in artificial sea water failed to alter the survival of FRNA compared to mineral water . In addition, it was reported that suspended solids have a protective effect on the survival of viruses , while removal of solids results in rapid inactivation . However, in the present study, relatively high amount of solids had no effect, as QB was inactivated at 25°C as rapidly as the other phages incubated in waters with less solids (Tables 1 and 3). Furthermore, FRNA were reported to persist longer as pH decreases from 8.4 to 5.5 , and the higher pH (8.1) of surface waters in this study might have aided the rapid disappearance of all FRNA.
Significant differences exist in the persistence of environmental and prototype strains of FRNA. Persistence fluctuated with seasonal temperatures and the availability of bacterial host. Therefore, source tracking attempts would likely detect phages from recent fecal inputs compared to those that persist under fluctuating environmental conditions. Future studies that expand to different geographic locations and include infectivity assays with natural hosts may aid in determining an accurate assessment of prevalence of FRNA in surface waters. Since other fecal indicators (E. coli, enterococi, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron and others) fluctuate similarly as FRNA , multiple indicators may be chosen for improved source tracking of fecal inputs to develop strategies to limit the hazards of fecal contamination of ground and surface water.
S1 File. Survival of prototype strains of FRNA in surface water samples.
Excel 2007 file.
S2 File. Survival of environmental strains of FRNA in surface water samples.
Excel 2007 file.
S3 File. Statistical analysis of D-values for prototype and environmental strains of FRNA.
SigmaPlot 13 notebook.
We thank Anita Liang and Diana Carychao for their assistance with water collections from Salinas valley, and Amarnath Ravva and Michael Cooley for their critical review.
Conceived and designed the experiments: SR. Performed the experiments: SR CS. Analyzed the data: SR CS. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SR CS. Wrote the paper: SR CS.
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Understanding Organisations: Identifying and managing internal and external
Stakeholder is a person who has something to gain or lose through the
outcomes of a planning process, programme or project (Dialogue by Design 2008).
Stakeholder Engagement is the process of effectively eliciting
stakeholders views on their relationship with the
organisation/programme/project (Friedman and Miles 2006).
Stakeholder Analysis is a technique used to identify and assess the
influence and importance of key people, groups of people, or organisations that
may significantly impact the success of your activity or project (Friedman and
Stakeholder Management is essentially stakeholder relationship
management as it is the relationship and not the actual stakeholder groups that
are managed (Friedman and Miles 2006).
As public participation becomes increasingly embedded in national and
international public health policy, it becomes ever more crucial for
decision-makers to understand who is affected by the decisions and actions they
take, and who has the power to influence their outcome: the stakeholders. The
stakeholder concept has achieved widespread popularity among academics,
policy-makers, the media and corporate managers. Within the field of strategic
management the stakeholder concept has become firmly embedded. References to
stakeholders are commonplace and the requirement to engage stakeholders in
public sector organisational strategy and project design is a key priority in
current government policy both within the NHS and local government sectors. Many
of these organisations recognise that stakeholder engagement is not about giving
the public a list of options to choose from its about drawing them in
right from the start, so that their views, needs and ideas shape those options
and the services that flow from them.
A technique to help identify which individuals or organisations to include in
your programme / project is known as a stakeholder analysis. The following
stages have been identified to support the stakeholder analysis process:
- Identify and map internal and external stakeholders
- Assess the nature of each stakeholders influence and importance
- Construct a matrix to identify stakeholder influence and importance
- Monitor and manage stakeholder relationships.
Identify and map internal and external stakeholders (and partnerships)
The start of any stakeholder engagement process is stakeholder mapping.
Stakeholder mapping identifies the target groups and pulls together as much
information as possible about them. Stakeholders are by definition people
who have a stake in a situation. Stakeholders can be described in
organisation terms as, those who are maybe internal (e.g. employees and
management) and those external (e.g. customers, competitors, suppliers
However, within the field of public health the development of strategies,
programmes and projects may well be undertaken on a cross-boundary,
interdisciplinary way. For example, a local health and well-being strategy
may be developed by:
- Internal stakeholders who participate in the co-ordination, funding,
resourcing and publication of the strategy from a local health and
well-being partnership, the local Primary Care Trust and the local
- External stakeholders who are engaged in contributing their views and
experiences in addressing the issues that are important to them as patients,
service users, carers and members of the local community.
The following questions are designed to reveal the stakes as well as help to
identify the right people to involve in any particular situation.
- Who is or will be affected, positively or negatively, by what you are
doing or proposing to do?
- Who holds official positions relevant to what you are doing?
- Who runs organisations with relevant interests?
- Who has been involved in any similar situations in the past
- Whose names come up regularly when you are discussing this subject?
The following list of internal and external stakeholders is based on a Public
Health Department within a Primary Care Trust:
If you work in a commissioning organisation rather than in an organisation
that provides services, the organisations that provide services will be an
important group of your stakeholders (such as patients and service users)
whereas competitors will be of less significance than they are for provider
Assess the nature of each stakeholders influence and importance
It is important to understand that individuals and groups behave differently
in different situations. The impact stakeholders can have on organisational
policy, strategy, and project is dependent on their relationship to either the
organisation itself or the issues of concern, or both. Once a list of possible
stakeholders has been created it is necessary to estimate their influence
Influence and importance is always in relation to the objectives you are
seeking to achieve.
- simply refers to how powerful a stakeholder is in terms of influencing
direction of the project and outcomes.
- simply refers to those stakeholders whose problems, needs and interests
are priority for an organisation. If these important stakeholders are not
assessed effectively then the project cannot be deemed a success.
Here are some examples of types of direct influence:
- legal hierarchy (command control of budgets)
- authority of leadership (charismatic, political)
- control of strategic resources (suppliers of services or other inputs)
- possession of specialist knowledge
- negotiation position (strength in relation to other stakeholders).
Indirect influence may also be achieved through:
- social, economic or political in status
- varying degrees of organisation and consensus in groups
- ability to influence the control of strategic resources significant to the
- informal influence through links with other groups
- other stakeholders in assessing their importance to the project issues.
The tables below identify both the sources and indicators of influence
that internal and external stakeholders may hold.
Stakeholder Sources of Influence
Different stakeholders may have commonality of purpose at a very general
level (e.g. providing quality of services or improving the quality of
life for the community) but at more detailed levels they may wish to impose
different purposes and priorities on an organisation.
The level of importance, given by an organisation to the
stakeholders needs and interests is also key to the success of strategy and
project development. For example these sources of importance can affect both
internal and external stakeholders:
Stakeholder Sources of Importance
Construct a matrix to identify stakeholder influence and importance
One basic tool of stakeholder analysis is the influence/importance matrix.
This technique can be used in relation to a particular strategic development
(such as the launch or withdrawal of a service).
Stakeholders should first be plotted in relation to how they would line up
the level and nature (for or against) of their importance and the
extent of their influence. A second map can also be plotted showing how
you would need stakeholders to line up if the development were going to have
a good chance of success.
By comparing the two maps and looking for the mismatches, priorities for
managing stakeholders can be established, as well as priorities for maintaining
stakeholders in their current positioning.
Each quadrant can be analysed in the following way. In a clockwise rotation:
Quadrant one: Key stakeholders placed here have high influence and
high importance need to be fully engaged on the strategy/project. The style of
participation for stakeholders needs to be appropriate for gaining and
maintaining their ownership.
Quadrant two: Stakeholders placed here can be highly important but
having low influence or direct power, however need to be kept informed through
appropriate education and communication.
Quadrant three: Stakeholders here have low influence and low
importance and care should be taken to avoid the dangers of unfavourable
lobbying and therefore should be closely monitored and kept on board.
Quadrant four: Stakeholders placed here can hold potentially high
influence but low importance should be kept satisfied with appropriate approval
and perhaps bought in as patrons or supporters.
However, it is important to recognise, that the map is not static, Changing
events can mean that stakeholders can move around the map with consequent
changes to the list of the most influential stakeholders.
Monitor and manage stakeholder relationships
Stakeholder management is essentially stakeholder relationship management as
it is the relationship and not the actual stakeholder groups that are managed.
The Clarkson Centre for Business Ethics (in Friedman and Miles 2006:151)
developed the following list of principles that summarise the key features of
Principles of Stakeholder Management
Managers should acknowledge and actively monitor the concerns of all
Managers should listen to and openly communicate with stakeholders
Managers should adopt processes and modes of behavior that are
Managers should recognize the interdependence of efforts and rewards
Managers should work cooperatively with other entities, both public
Managers should avoid altogether activities that might jeopardize
Managers should acknowledge the potential conflicts between (a) their
Friedman and Miles (2006) have developed a model that can be used to identify
the style of stakeholder management required based upon Arnsteins ladder of
participation, although their model comprises twelve distinct
levels (see attached PDF). This model can be used to identify the style of
stakeholder management. The lower levels, (manipulation, therapy, informing)
relate to situations in which the organisation is merely informing stakeholders
about decisions that have already taken place, although these levels represent
bad practice if done in isolation. At middle levels, (explaining, placation,
consultation, negotia tion) stakeholders have the opportunity to voice their
concerns prior to a decision being made, but with no assurance that their
concerns will impact on the end result. The highest levels, (involvement,
collaboration, partnership, delegated power, stakeholder control) are
characterised by active or responsive attempts at empowering stakeholders in
corporate decision-making. It is likely that different stakeholder groups and
the same stakeholder groups at different times will be treated at different
levels and these can be affected by stakeholder characteristics, different
stages in an organisations life cycle, different strategies pursued by
stakeholders and the different focus and stage of the programme.
For an example of a Case Study of stakeholder engagement please see
the Interactive Learning Module on Learning from Stakeholders which
provides a completed stakeholder matrix for the development of a Later Years
- Dialogue by Design (2008) A Handbook of Public & Stakeholder
- Friedman, L. and Miles, S. (2006) Stakeholders Theory and Practice
Oxford University Press
- Hunter, D.J. (2007) Managing for Health Routledge Health Management
- Johnson, G. and Sholes, K. (2001) Exploring Public Sector Strategy
- Martin, V. and Henderson, E. (2001) Managing in Health and Social Care
- Pickstock, A. (2007) Towards World-class Commissioning Engaging
Stakeholders Liverpool Primary Care Trust
- NHS Integrated Service Improvement Programme: www.isip.nhs.uk
© S Markwell 2010 | <urn:uuid:c3bf8e53-5cf0-4afa-a38b-17940d4ccfd5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/organisation-management/5b-understanding-ofs/managing-internal-external-stakeholders | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918761 | 2,305 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Image source: freedigitalphotos.net
1. get out of hand (v.)
To get out of control.
- My uncle’s drinking problem got out of hand, and eventually he became an alcoholic.
2. experience something first-hand (v.)
To experience something yourself.
- I didn’t realize how hard it was to be a parent until I experienced it first-hand.
3. change hands (v.)
For an object to be passed or sold from one owner to another.
- This house has changed hands several times since it was built.
4. have (got) your hands full (v.)
To be completely busy or occupied with something.
- Barry and Martha have six children and four dogs – they’ve certainly got their hands full!
5. try your hand at (v.)
Try doing something for the first time.
- I’ve never taken a cooking class, but I’d like to try my hand at it.
6. at hand (adj.)
Available (used for objects, not people).
- I like to have a dictionary at hand when I’m reading a book in English.
7. give a hand / lend a hand (v.)
To help somebody with something – especially something that requires physical effort.
- I can’t carry all these books by myself. Could you give me a hand?
- When the politician finished his speech, the audience gave him a hand.
8. wash your hands of (v.)
To stop being responsible for or involved in something.
- The manager washed his hands of the whole situation and told us to solve the problem ourselves.
9. hands are tied
Not have the ability to help or take action.
- I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do. My hands are tied.
10. know like the back of your hand (v.)
To know a place very well.
- She lived in New York for 20 years – she knows the city like the back of her hand.
11. hands down (adv.)
Obviously, unquestionably, without a doubt.
- Sarah was hands-down the best skater at the competition.
12. a hand-me-down (n. or adj.)
A piece of clothing that belonged to an older brother/sister and is passed to a younger brother/sister.
- My mother never bought me new clothes – she just gave me hand-me-downs from my sister.
13. second hand (adj.)
Something you know from another person or source, not directly.
- I wasn’t at the party – I only heard about it second hand.
14. in good hands (adj.)
In the care of somebody good or knowledgeable.
- Don’t worry, your car is in good hands – William’s an excellent mechanic.
15. have a hand in (v.)
Have a role in.
- Janet’s cousin, who is a vice-president at the company, had a hand in getting her the job.
16. take matters into own hands
To take action on a problem yourself because other people have failed to do so.
- The city hadn’t done anything about the trash in the park, so citizens took matters into their own hands and organized a day to clean it up.
17. tip your hand
To reveal a secret, especially about your own plans or opinions.
- The director tipped his hand on plans for his next movie.
18. on the one hand… on the other hand
This expression is used to compare two aspects of a situation.
- On the one hand, my job pays well, but on the other hand, it’s very stressful. | <urn:uuid:78c04b88-1c8f-4fa5-b587-5b71141b3098> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.espressoenglish.net/18-idiomatic-expressions-with-hand/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946558 | 804 | 2.9375 | 3 |
Opening Finder Windows from the Terminal
Finder, the OS X file system browser, is ultimately just a nice looking GUI application, and it can be interacted with fluidly from the command line. This means you can jump to directories and open literally any Mac Finder window directly from the terminal by using a simple command string based upon the ‘open’ command. The general syntax to use for this is as follows:
For example, if you want to open the folder which contains the aforementioned Finder application (which would then allow you to open it with a double-click), you can use the following command syntax:
Opening the Root directory in Finder is simple too:
Opening the User Home Directory can be achieved as follows:
What if you’re buried deep in the file system within the Terminal, and need to open that deep path in the Finder? Immediately accessing the present working directory in a new Finder window is quickly achieved by typing the following command string in the Terminal:
The “.” (period) has long been a UNIX reference to the present working directory (PWD, sometimes called Current Working Directory or CWD), and it changes according to where the terminal is located. For instance, if you have just launched Terminal which defaults to the users home folder, typing that in the command line will immediately open your home directory, but you can be anywhere and it works the same. Using ‘open’ from the command line to jump to the Current Folder (PWD) in the Finder was discussed here specifically.
You can also specify directories to open from the terminal into the Finder, like so:
This opens your utilities app folder. Try it with just about anything.
This can make for a great way to leap to deeply embedded system directories thanks to tab-completion:
open /System/Library/Application\ Support/iTunes/Defaults/Preferences/
Note that Open can also be used to launch applications and perform other tasks. This provides the ‘open’ command the ability to relaunch applications that are system specific, like any other app. Staying on the “Finder” topic, the Finder application can be launched like another app if it has crashed or is quit for some reason. To do that, simply enter the following command string into the terminal:
Again, this can used for any other application throughout OS X, just be sure to point it at the app.
If it’s not working to launch the app in question, sometimes you may need to point the open string at the applications binary contained within the .app package instead, like so:
The precise location of the application binary may vary per individual application, when in doubt look within the “name.app/Contents/” directories to find it.
The next logical question may be how to do this in reverse; that is, how to open a new Terminal.app window set to the present directory as viewed in Finder. It turns out such a feature exists in OS X Services, though a user must enable the “New Terminal at Folder” service to gain such functionality, which is then accessible with a Right-Click on any directory within Finder. | <urn:uuid:a99483d6-0f36-41ff-ae31-d32b3658efca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://osxdaily.com/2009/12/15/open-finder-from-the-terminal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919647 | 658 | 2.578125 | 3 |
- Unit Reference Materials
- Alcott, William Andrus. The Young Woman's Guide to Excellence, 10th edition. Boston: Waite,
Pierce and Company, 1846.
- Eisler, Benita. The Lowell Offering: Writings by New England Mill Women (1840–1845). W. W.
Norton & Company 1997.
- Finney, Charles. "What A Revival of Religion Is" New York Evangelist, December 6, 1834.
- Nash, Gary B., Julie Roy Jeffrey, John R. Howe, Peter J. Frederick, Allen F. Davis, and Allan
M. Winkler. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, 6th ed. New York: Pearson
Education Inc., 2004. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc.
- Painter, Nell Irvin. Sojourner Truth, A Life, A Symbol. New York: W. W. Norton, 1996; Norton
- Schwartz, Marie Jenkins. "Family Life in the Slave Quarters: Survival Strategies," OAH Magazine
of History, vol. 14 no. 4, Summer 2001.
- Stanton, Elizabeth Cady and others. The History of Woman Suffrage, Volume 1. New York: Fowler
and Wells, 1881.
- Wood, Peter, Jacqueline Jones, Thomas Borstelmann, Elaine Tyler May, and Vicki Ruiz. Created
Equal: A Social and Political History of the United States. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2003.
Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc.
- Further Reading
- Halttunen, Karen. Confidence Men and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in
America, 1830-1870. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1982.
- Patterson Orlando. Slavery and Social Death: A Comparative Study. Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1985.
- Stevenson, Brenda. "Distress and Discord in Virginia Slave Families, 1830–1860," chapter 7
in In Joy and In Sorrow: Women, Family, and Marriage in the Victorian South. Edited by Carol
Bleser. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1991.
- Godey's Lady's Book Online, University of Rochester History Department,
- Making of America, Cornell University Library and University of Michigan Library,
http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/ and http://www.hti.umich.edu/.
- National Center for History in the Schools Teaching Units
Please note: These lessons may not be resold or redistributed.
- The Antebellum Women's Movement, 1820-1860 (PDF)
- Slavery in the 19th Century (PDF)
- Avenging Angel? John Brown, the Harpers Ferry Raid and the "Irrepressible" Conflict (PDF)
- Magazine of History Articles
- Family Life in the Slave Quarters: Survival Strategies by Marie Jenkins Schwartz
- Organization of American Historians: Talking History Radio Program
The Best of Talking History: Program #5: Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural
On March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. It was short, and to the point— mere 703 words. In it, he uttered one of his most memorable phrases, when he called on Americans to proceed from the Civil War "with malice toward none, with charity for all." Ronald White, author of Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural, discusses the speech and its impact with Talking History's Fred Nielsen.
Airdate: August 29, 2005. (This show originally aired the week of March 28, 2005.)
Listen now: MP3 Format
Running time: 29 minutes
And for our commentary Andrew Cayton offers us his thoughts on the ambivalence he sees in American attitudes toward war. Cayton is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University of Ohio and the author, along with Fred Anderson, of The Dominion of War: Empire and Liberty in North America: 1500-2000, published by Viking Press.
In this show Talking History's Jim Madison discusses Nicole Etcheson's re-examination of the ideological origins of the Civil War in the Kansas Territory. Etcheson is author of "Bleeding Kansas: Contested Liberty in the Civil War."
Airdate: September 20, 2004.
Listen Now: MP3 Format
Running time: 29 minutes
And for our commentary we are joined by historian Michael Holt, who gives us another perspective on the events leading up to the Civil War.
© Annenberg Foundation 2016. All rights reserved. Legal Policy | <urn:uuid:b1137dc8-279f-49b0-b931-0d23837fba1d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.learner.org/courses/amerhistory/units/8/addtlResources/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.805602 | 977 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The first of 33 Chilean miners who have inspired the world with their calm bravery and perseverance might be just be hours away from being plucked from the depths of the Earth.
"We are hoping to initiate the rescue beginning at zero hours on
Wednesday," or 11 p.m. ET Tuesday, Laurence Golborne, Chile's mining minister, said. They've been trapped there since August 5. It wasn't learned until August 22 that the 33 were safely holed up in a small refuge deep in the mine.
The anticipated rescue will involve the delicate maneuvering of equipment with an emphasis on protecting the miners' health.
If all goes as planned, a rescue capsule called Phoenix 1 will be lowered about 2,040 feet (622 meters) down a 28-inch wide shaft at 11 p.m. ET.
One rescuer and one paramedic will be lowered down into the mine first to prepare the men for transport to the surface.
At 5 p.m. ET, about six hours before the rescue starts, the miners will be switched to a diet of liquids, vitamins and minerals ahead of their trip to the surface. Each trip is expected to take about 15 minutes.
The change in diet is one way that officials are trying to mitigate some
of the challenges associated with the rescue. These include concern about the miners feeling lonely, dizzy or panicked while being lifted through the narrow shaft.
If all goes according to plan, the rescued miners will undergo about two hours of health checks at a field hospital at the mine site. They will then be flown by helicopter to a hospital in the town of Copiapo.
CNN and CNN.com will carry live feeds from the rescue site when they begin. | <urn:uuid:8f42a4d6-f853-4038-abc0-b98a8d49ed2a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/11/liberation-for-chilean-miners-possibly-just-a-day-away/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956127 | 357 | 2.59375 | 3 |
The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: January 27, 2009
Nanotechnology to double the lifetime of concrete
(Nanowerk News) Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key, according to a new paper ("VERDiCT: Viscosity Enhancers Reducing Diffusion in Concrete Technology"), is a nano-sized additive that slows down penetration of chloride and sulfate ions from road salt, sea water and soils into the concrete. A reduction in ion transport translates to reductions in both maintenance costs and the catastrophic failure of concrete structures. The new technology could save billions of dollars and many lives.
Concrete has been around since the Romans, and it is time for a makeover. The nation’s infrastructure uses concrete for millions of miles of roadways and 600,000 bridges, many of which are in disrepair. In 2007, 25 percent of U.S. bridges were rated as structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, according to the Federal Highway Administration. Damaged infrastructure also directly affects large numbers of Americans’ own budgets. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that Americans spend $54 billion each year to repair damages caused by poor road conditions.
The barely visible blue-green area at the top of this X-ray image of concrete with the NIST nanoadditive shows that very few chloride ions (in green) penetrate into the concrete. (Image: NIST)
Infiltrating chloride and sulfate ions cause internal structural damage over time that leads to cracks and weakens the concrete.
Past attempts to improve the lifetime of concrete have focused on producing denser, less porous concretes, but unfortunately these formulations have a greater tendency to crack.
NIST engineers took a different approach, setting out to double the material’s lifetime with a project called viscosity enhancers reducing diffusion in concrete technology (VERDICT). Rather than change the size and density of the pores in concrete, they reasoned, it would be better to change the viscosity of the solution in the concrete at the microscale to reduce the speed at which chlorides and sulfates enter the concrete. “Swimming through a pool of honey takes longer than making it through a pool of water,” engineer Dale Bentz says.
They were inspired by additives the food processing industry uses to thicken food and even tested out a popular additive called xanthum gum that thickens salad dressings and sauces and gives ice cream its texture.
Studying a variety of additives, engineers determined that the size of the additive’s molecule was critical to serving as a diffusion barrier. Larger molecules such as cellulose ether and xanthum gum increased viscosity, but did not cut diffusion rates. Smaller molecules—less than 100 nanometers—slowed ion diffusion. Bentz explains, “When additive molecules are large but present in a low concentration, it is easy for the chloride ions to go around them, but when you have a higher concentration of smaller molecules increasing the solution viscosity, it is more effective in impeding diffusion of the ions.”
The NIST researchers have demonstrated that the nanotechnology additives can be blended directly into the concrete with current chemical admixtures, but that even better performance is achieved when the additives are mixed into the concrete by saturating absorbant, lightweight sand. Research continues on other materials as engineers seek to improve this finding by reducing the concentration and cost of the additive necessary to double the concrete's service life. | <urn:uuid:cec33740-7389-4625-9183-bde25c6bf0ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=9054.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00038-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940142 | 746 | 3.03125 | 3 |
This invention relates to solid-state voltage-variable capacitors and more particularly to a hybrid solid-state nonlinear voltage-variable capacitor.
Solid-state nonlinear voltage-variable capacitors both of the metal-insulator-semiconductor and PN-junction types are disclosed in the prior art. For example, metal-insulator-semiconductor voltage-variable capacitors or surface varactors as they are commonly referred to are often used in applications which require a large capacitance change. PN-junction voltage-variable capacitors on the other hand are used in amplifiers, harmonic generators and other devices wherein they are not required to generally exhibit large capacitance changes.
An illustrative application of a surface varactor would be as a tuner in an AM radio receiver. The large capacitance change generally required in radio receivers necessitates a correspondingly large voltage change. The voltage necessary to drive these surface varactors over such a capacitance range can often cause inversion of the semiconductor surface at the semiconductor-insulator interface. This inversion generally inhibits further capacitance change with increased voltage.
Means to prevent inversion at the semiconductor-insulator interface have been previously proposed in a copending application, Ser. No. 697,228, filed Jan. 11, 1968, U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,052 by MacIver et al., and assigned to the present assignee. Therein, it is proposed that a moderate resistance insulating layer of a high-permittivity dielectric be used. A sputtered layer of Ta2 O5 having a thickness of about 500 to 1,500 angstroms provides such an insulating layer. The moderate resistance of the Ta2 O5 layer allows a small current to flow preventing inversion. The sputtered layer of Ta2 O5 is not readily adaptable to high-volume manufacture however, and pinholes therein can cause undesirable results such as excessive leakage current. Moreover, the required layer of Ta2 O5 does not minimize power loss since it is of moderate resistance and therefore slightly conductive. Furthermore, the requirement of using a moderate resistance insulator substantially inhibits the selecting of an insulating material for its loss characteristics and semiconductor compatibility.
PN-junction voltage-variable capacitors or junction varactors as they are commonly referred to, generally have a capacitance maximum divided by a capacitance minimum ratio of much less than 20. Because junction varactors are not generally subject to inversion their minimum capacitance is generally much less than the minimum capacitance of a comparable surface varactor. However, their initial or 0 voltage capacitance is low. semiconductor compatibility.
A desirable varactor for certain applications such as tuners in AM radio receivers should have a high 0 voltage capacitance, be impervious to surface inversion, and have a low minimum capacitance. Accordingly, if one could combine a junction and surface varactor to provide a hybrid varactor having the above recited characteristic one would have provided a useful device.
Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to provide a hybrid varactor which has a high 0 voltage capacitance, a low minimum capacitance and is impervious to inversion.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved solid-state voltage-variable capacitor.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a voltage-variable capacitor which is principally of the metal-insulator-semiconductor type wherein inversion is prevented yet the insulator may be selected for its loss characteristics and semiconductor compatibility.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a voltage-variable capacitor which is principally of the metal-insulator-semiconductor type wherein the insulated material is easily manufactured.
An important aspect of this invention is the contiguous association of a PN-junction capacitor and its corresponding space-charge depletion region with a semiconductor-insulator interface of a metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor. Minority carriers which tend to accumulate at the semiconductor-insulator interface under reverse bias are prevented from inverting this surface by the influence of the PN-junction. The PN-junction under reverse bias sweeps the minority carriers away from the semiconductor-insulator interface.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in connection with the following description of preferred examples thereof and from the drawing in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a hybrid voltage-variable capacitor made in accordance with the invention; and
FIG. 2 shows a series of curves illustrating the change in capacitance with applied voltage of a device made in accordance with the subject invention compared to prior art devices.
Turning now to the figures, attention is initially directed to FIG. 1 which shows schematically a variable voltage source in electrical communication with a solid-state hybrid varactor or solid-state hybrid voltage-variable capacitor. The capacitor includes a gold-plated copper electrode 12 eutectically bonded to one major surface of a low resistivity, about 0.001 ohm-cm., N-type silicon wafer 14. Wafer 14 which functions as a semiconductor substrate or epitaxial layer support is about 7 mils thick. An epitaxial layer of high-resistivity silicon, about 10 ohm-cm., is bonded to the other opposed major surface of wafer 14.
The epitaxial layer which is about 0.001 cm. thick includes an N-type region 18 and a P-type region 20 both of which extend to a major surface 22 of the layer which is spaced from wafer 14. Region 18 completely surrounds region 20 within the epitaxial layer. A silicon oxide insulator coating 24 which is about 500 angstroms thick is contiguous to and overlies N-type region 18 and a small peripheral portion of P-type region 20 on surface 22. Thus, a semiconductor-insulator interface 26 and a PN-junction 28 exists contiguously at surface 22.
An aluminum counterelectrode 30 has a major portion 32 overlying region 18 being spaced therefrom by silicon oxide insulator coating 24. Counterelectrode 30 also has a minor portion 34 engaging the central portion of region 20 that is not covered by coating 24 which is substantially all of the surface area of region 20, making electrical contact thereto. The area of counterelectrode 30 or major portion 32 that overlies coating 24 is about 0.0035 cm.2. The area of counterelectrode 30 or minor portion 34 that engages P-type region 20 is about 0.00016 cm.2 which is substantially the surface area of P-type region 20. Thus, the metal-insulator interface has a surface area of about 22 times the P-type-metal region interface surface area.
In order to make capacitor 10 a 0.001 ohm-cm. N-type silicon wafer about 7 mils thick was lapped, polished, and cleaned. An epitaxial layer about 0.001 cm. thick, of 10 ohm-cm. N-type silicon was then epitaxially deposited on a major surface of wafer 12 in one of the normal and accepted manners.
The techniques used to form region 18 and region 20 within the layer were conventional and well known. They included forming a silicon oxide coating about 500 angstroms thick upon major surface 22 of the layer. A window was then etched in the silicon oxide coating using well-known photoetch techniques to expose a preselected area of surface 22. Aluminum counterelectrode 30 was then deposited onto coating 24 and alloyed at about 600° C. to the exposed preselected area of surface 22. In alloying counterelectrode 30 to surface 22 P-type impurities diffused therein forming P-type region 20 and PN-junction 28 within the epitaxial layer. Electrode 12 was eutectically bonded to wafer 14 at about 400° C. in the normal and accepted manner.
The operation of capacitor 10 can best be understood by reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 2 shows a graph in which reverse bias voltage over a range from 0 to -24 volts is plotted as the abscissa with capacitance in picofarads plotted as the ordinate. The curve formed by a series of dashes represents the change in capacitance with voltage of a junction varactor especially designed for a variation in capacitance with an applied voltage. The curve formed through the points designated A, B and C show the change in capacitance of a surface varactor having a 500 angstrom silicon oxide insulator coating made in accordance with the prior art. The curve formed through the points designated A, B and D shows the change in capacitance of a hybrid varactor having a 500 angstrom silicon oxide insulator coating made substantially in accordance with the foregoing described method.
As can be seen from the curves depicted in FIG. 2, the junction varactor provides generally a continuing change in capacitance with applied voltage. However, the initial capacitance of the junction varactor is relatively low, herein less than 100 picofarads at 0 volts. The surface varactor made in accordance with the prior art has initially a relatively high capacitance, about 250 picofarads at 0 volts. Its capacitance then changes relatively rapidly with increased negative voltage until a capacitance of about 100 picofarads is reached. At that point which represents approximately -12 volts of reverse bias little capacitance change is noted with further increased bias voltage. On the other hand, the hybrid varactor made substantially in accordance with the foregoing described methods has a continually decreasing capacitance over a voltage range of about 0 volts to about -24 volts of negative bias. Moreover, the hybrid varactor has a relatively high 0 voltage capacitance of about 250 picofarads and a relatively low capacitance at -24 volts of about 12 picofarads.
Although the mechanism of inversion at the insulator-semiconductor interface may not be completely understood, certain aspects of it are generally explainable. Under reverse bias, counterelectrode 30 negative with respect to electrode 12, electrons are driven away from semiconductor-insulator interface 26 leaving immobile ionized donors at surface 22. This creates a depletion region within the epitaxial layer whose depth therein is a function of the applied bias voltage. This depletion region and its depth gives rise, as is well understood in the art, to a capacitance which is essentially in series with the inherent or 0 voltage capacitance of capacitor 10. Positive holes drift toward interface 26 under the influence of the electric field associated with the reverse bias voltage. When the density of holes exceeds the density of the ionized donors at surface 22 it is then inverted. Further capacitance change with increased reverse bias is greatly inhibited because the positive holes essentially equalize any additional negative charge placed on the adjacent counterelectrode 30.
What I have disclosed then is a hybrid varactor which is principally of the surface varactor type wherein inversion at the semiconductor-insulator interface is substantially prevented. I use a junction varactor which includes a PN-junction herein designated junction 28 which is contiguous to semiconductor-insulator interface 26. Positive holes entering the space-charge region associated with PN-junction 28 are swept out of N-type region 18 including surface 22 into P-type region 20. This prevents the positive holes from accumulating at surface 22 in sufficient numbers to invert that surface.
An important aspect of this invention is the synergistic association of PN-junction 28 and semiconductor-insulator interface 26. PN-junction 28 essentially provides a parallel capacitance path to the capacitance associated with interface 26. Accordingly, one might expect an effective capacitance which is much greater than one obtains from a conventionally constructed surface varactor. However, I have found that with a proper ratio of the surface area of counterelectrode 30 overlying insulator 24 to the surface area of P-type region 18 that the resultant capacitance is not appreciably increased. What has been found, specifically, is that the capacitance associated with the reverse bias PN-junction 28 is essentially negligible from about 0 to about -12 volts of reverse bias. On the other hand, as the bias voltage is increased, the capacitance approaches the capacitance one might expect of a junction capacitor at the same voltage. However, this capacitance is still generally due to the depletion space-charge associated with semiconductor-insulator interface 26.
Another important aspect of this invention is that the effect of pinholes which often appear in relatively thin insulator coatings, less than several thousand angstroms, is minimized. During the formation of P-type region 18 by the alloying of counterelectrode 30, small PN-junctions would be formed under any pinholes existing in the insulator. These junctions so formed would tend to aid PN-junction 28 in inhibiting surface inversion.
It should be understood that although the disclosed preferred embodiment used about a 500 angstrom layer of silicon oxide as its insulator this invention is not to be so limited. As is well known, dielectric thickness is related to the desired capacitance requirements.
It is also to be understood that other insulating materials having favorable mechanical, thermal and electrical characteristics which are compatible with semiconductors may be used. For example, alumina which has a high bulk resistivity of at least about 1011 ohm-cm., a dielectric constant of about 12 and a coefficient of expansion similar to silicon may be used in varying thicknesses. Moreover, composite layers having a thin layer, about 100 to 200 angstroms, of silicon oxide or alumina contiguous the semiconductor surface and overlying relatively thick layers, several thousand angstroms, of either Nb2 O5, Ta2 O5 and TiO2 could be used. This would allow one to further optimize the insulator's dielectric constant, its resistivity, and its semiconductor compatibility. For example, Ta2 O5 has a dielectric constant of about 26 yet its resistivity is only about 108. Silicon dioxide has a resistivity of about 1012 and a dielectric constant of about 3.
It should further be understood that although wafer 14 was described having a resistivity of about 0.001 ohm-cm. and a thickness of about 7 mils no critical limitations were thereby implied. However, a resistivity of less than 0.001 ohm-cm. could hinder the deposition of the epitaxial layer, and a resistivity of a higher than 0.015 ohm-cm. could introduce too high a series resistance. The thickness of wafer 14 should be however about 5 to 10 mils. If wafer 14 is less than 5 mils it could be difficult to handle during processing. On the other hand, a wafer thickness of greater than 10 mils could provide too high a series resistance in the capacitor and should be avoided. Likewise, although the epitaxial layer was described as having a resistivity of about 10 ohm-cm. and a thickness of about 0.003 cm. no limitations are to be implied. The thickness of the layer should be greater than the largest expected depth of the depletion region, yet not too thick to introduce unwanted losses. A useful thickness range has been found to be about 0.004 cm. to about 0.00005 cm. The resistivity of the layer should be at least about 10 ohm-cm. to expect reasonable capacitance variations with voltage, and less than 50 ohm-cm. to minimize dissipation-type losses.
It should also be understood that although the semiconductor wafer and epitaxial layer has been set forth in the preferred embodiment as being N-type silicon, other semiconductive materials and the opposite type conductivity may be used. For example, the herein disclosed concepts may easily be applied to germanium. However, silicon is preferred. Moreover, a P-type wafer and epitaxial layer may also be used. However, for certain applications, an N-type wafer and epitaxial layer are preferred.
As was previously pointed out, an important aspect of this invention is the ratio of the surface area of the counterelectrode overlying the insulator coating to the surface area of the P-type region, or essentially the area enclosed by the PN-junction. Although the herein described preferred embodiment utilizes an area ratio of about 22:1, the invention is not to be so limited. The surface area enclosed by the PN-junction should be small enough such that the capacitance effect of the PN-junction is minimized at low bias voltage and large enough to prevent inversion at high voltage. It has been found that with an area ratio of less than about 10:1 the capacitance effect of the PN-junction is not minimal at low voltage. On the other hand, an area ratio of more than about 100:1 can produce unsatisfactory results. For example, current across the PN-junction may be insufficient to prevent inversion at the metal-insulator interface. This current can be limited by spreading resistance or resistance parallel to the metal-insulator interface if insufficient diode area is not provided. Moreover, the resistance in that part of the counterelectrode engaging the diode can materially reduce this current. For most device applications the surface area of the diode should be at least about 10-5 cm.2 in order to insure that a low-resistance contact can be made thereto.
It should, moreover, be understood that although one region of the diode as herein described was formed by alloying an electrode thereto, other means may be used. For example, this region can be formed using the normal and accepted vapor diffusion oxide masking techniques. This would include forming silicon oxide on surface 22, etching a window therein to expose a preselected area of this surface and diffusing conductivity-type determining impurities therein forming region 20. The counterelectrode would then be ohmically bonded to region 20.
Although the present invention has been described with respect to specific details of certain embodiments thereof, it is not intended that such details be limitations upon the scope of the invention except so far as set forth in the following recitation. | <urn:uuid:bcbe9c1b-0d5a-4fc3-bd32-d4837ad6d29a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3648340.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926245 | 3,807 | 2.765625 | 3 |
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This is an activity about the relation between day length and temperature. In one team, learners will create and analyze a graph of hours of sunlight versus month of the year for a number of latitudes. In another team, learners will graph temperature versus month for the same latitudes. The teams then compare data and draw conclusions from their analyses.
This resource is located on page 41 of the PDF document. | <urn:uuid:5ee62a0f-e113-4c17-aeed-830e8da0eda7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nasawavelength.org/resource/nw-000-000-002-675/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00182-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92244 | 87 | 3.765625 | 4 |
Despite his name, Peeter Cornet was an organist. Cornet lived from c. 1575-1633, as did a lot of other people, and many of them, like Maestro Cornet, were organists, including Sweelinck, Frescobaldi, and Gibbons, and some were even organists in Brussels where Cornet worked, like the Englishmen John Bull and Peter Philips, who was in fact the godfather of Cornet’s third daughter.
We’ve noted only a few of the many famous musicians of that time. It has to be expected that more than 400 years later some names will have got lost in the shuffle, especially when they were organists whose work is largely improvised and often not written down. As for Cornet, even when his music did get written down, it didn’t circulate widely. None was ever published, and it is found in only four sources without a single piece duplicated. But it is interesting music, with Italian, Spanish and Flemish influences, that illustrates the importance of Brussels in the 17th century as an international musical hub.
Recreating the 17th-century sound
Each disc in this set focuses on a specific, painstakingly reconstructed 17th-century organ, the first one located in the north of France, the second in Antwerp. The reconstructed organs illustrate not only the uncompromised quarter comma meantone temperament that we have come to know, (if not love, to be honest!), for keyboard music of the period but also the compass and voicing of these instruments.
There is a seven hertz difference between the pitches of the two instruments being played. The one on which the Aria del Granduca was played is tuned at A-412, and the Te Deum is performed on an instrument tuned at A-405. It is interesting to think about the idea of reconstructing organs; electricity in the 16th and 17th centuries was not what it is now! How different might an organ sound if it is powered by frail humans rather than more modern AC or DC?
Arnaud Van de Cauter
Thanks to the organist Arnaud Van de Cauter for introducing us to the nearly unknown composer, Peeter Cornet! | <urn:uuid:77996a43-9111-4697-bb2f-1d18274a7342> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://indianapublicmedia.org/harmonia/part/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983032 | 465 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Most recent volume
The aim of this book is put together a detailed description of the scientific methods used for dating archeological and palaoanthropological objects and sites, complemented by examples of their application to longstanding and topical questions.
The authors present a very even quality of coverage of the different methods focused on archaeological and palaeonanthropological methods, well illustrated intended to help the audience
As soon a new and exciting archaeological or palaeoanthropological discovery is announced, one of the first questions asked by scientists and the general public is: When did it occur? When did the Neanderthals died out? How old is the Hobbit? When did humans first use fire, and when did our ancestors being to use stone tools. How far back in time can we trace our human roots, and when did people turn their hand to rock painting and other artistic pursuits? To answer these and other questions about the prehistory of humanity, scientists use various methods of dating to pinpoint the timing of critical archaeological events and objects. Despite several dating ‘revolutions’ in the archaeological sciences, the fundamentals of dating techniques remain shrouded in mystery for may archaeologists and palaeoantrhopologists. This book lifts the veil on the science of timekeeping in archaeology and palaeanthropology, using topical examples from a variety of archaeological settings to illustrate the range of possible application of modern dating techniques. By offering a clear account of how different dating methods work and what they can (and cannot) do to help illuminate our shared human past, archaeologists and palaoanthropologists will be armed wit the information needed to scientifically address the question: How old is it? | <urn:uuid:b4777702-6285-4651-ac1a-cdabb344f4b5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.elsevier.com/books/book-series/developments-in-quaternary-science | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935664 | 334 | 3.5625 | 4 |
The Religion of the Samurai, by Kaiten Nukariya, , at sacred-texts.com
1. Scripture is no More than Waste Paper.--Zen is based on the highest spiritual plane attained by Shakya Muni himself. It can only be realized by one who has
[1. Zen is not based on any particular sutra, either of Mahayana or of Hinayana. There are twofold Tripitakas (or the three collections of the Buddhist scriptures)-namely, the Mahayana-tripitaka and the Hinayana-tripitaka. The former are the basis of the Mahayana, or the higher and reformed Buddhism, full of profound metaphysical reasonings; while the latter form that of the Hinayana, or the lower and early Buddhism, which is simple and ethical teaching. These twofold Tripitakas are as follows:
The Sutra Pitaka.-The Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, Samdhi-nirmocana-sutra, Avatamsaka-sutra, Prajñaparamita-sutra, Amitayus-sutra, Mahaparinirvana-sutra, etc.
The Vinaya Pitaka.--Brahmajala-sutra, Bodhisattva-caryanirdeça, etc.
The Abhidharma Pitaka.--Mahaprajñaparamita-sutra, Mahayana-craddhotpada-çastra, Madhyamaka-çastra, Yogacarya bhumi-çastra, etc.
The Sutra Pitaka.--Dirghagama, Ekottaragama, Madhyamagama, Samyuktagama, etc.
The Vinaya Pitaka.--Dharmagupta-vinaya, Mahasamghika-vinaya, Sarvastivada-vinaya, etc.
The Abhidharma Pitaka.--Dharma-skandha-pada, Samgiti-paryaya-pada, Jñanaprasthana-çastra, Abhidharma-kosa-çastra, etc,
The term 'Tripitaka,' however, was not known at the time of Shakya Muni, and almost all of the northern Buddhist records agree in stating that the Tripitaka was rehearsed and settled in the same year in which the Muni died. Mahavansa also says: "The book called Abhidharma-pitaka was compiled, which was preached to god, and was arranged in due order by 500 Budhu priests." But we believe that Shakya Muni's teaching was known to the early Buddhists, not as Tripitaka, but as Vinaya and Dharma, and even at the time of King Açoka (who ascended the throne about 269 B.C.) it was not called Tripitaka, but Dharma, as we have it in his Edicts. Mahayanists unanimously assert the compilation of the Tripitaka in the first council of Rajagrha, but they differ in opinion as to the question who rehearsed the Abhidharma; notwithstanding, they agree as for the other respects, as you see in the following:
The Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by Upali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Ananda--according to Nagarjuna (Mahaprajñaparamita-çastra).
The Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by Upali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Kaçyapa according to Hüen Tsang (Ta-tan-si-yü-ki).
The Sutra Pitaka, compiled by Ananda; the Vinaya Pitaka, compiled by Upali; the Abhidharma Pitaka, compiled by Purna--according to Paramartha ('A Commentary on the History of the Hinayana Schools').
The above-mentioned discrepancy clearly betrays the uncertainty of their assertions, and gives us reason to discredit the compilation of Abhidharma Pitaka at the first council. Besides, judging from the Dharma-gupta-vinaya and other records, which states that Purna took no part in the first council, and that he had different opinions as to the application of the rules of discipline from that of Kaçyapa, there should be some errors in Paramartha's assertion.
Of these three collections of the Sacred Writings, the first two, or Sutra and Vinaya, of Mahayana, as well as of Himayana, are believed to be the direct teachings of Shakya Muni himself, because all the instructions are put in the mouth of the Master or sanctioned by him. The Mahayanists, however, compare the Hinayana doctrine with a resting-place on the road for a traveller, while the Mahayana doctrine with his destination. All the denominations of Buddhism, with a single exception of Zen, are based on the authority of some particular sacred writings. The Ten Dai Sect, for instance, is based on Saddharma-pundarika-sutra; the Jo Do Sect on Larger Sukhavati-vyuha, Smaller Sukhavati-vyuha, and Amitayus-dhyana-sutra; the Ke Gon Sect on Avatamsaka-sutra; the Hosso Sect on Samdhi-nirmocana-sutra.]
attained the same plane. To describe it in full by means of words is beyond the power even of Gotama himself. It is for this reason that the author of Lankavatara-sutra insists that Shakya Muni spoke no word through his long career of forty-nine years as a religious teacher, and that of Mahaprajñaparamita-sutra also express the same opinion. The Scripture is no more nor less than the finger pointing to the moon of Buddhahood. When we recognize the moon and enjoy its benign beauty, the finger is of no use. As the finger has no brightness whatever, so the Scripture has no holiness whatever. The Scripture is religious currency representing spiritual wealth. It does not matter whether money be gold, or sea-shells, or cows. It is a mere substitute. What it stands for is of paramount importance. Away with your stone-knife! Do not watch the stake against which a running hare once struck its head and died. Do not wait for another hare. Another may not come for ever. Do not cut the side of the boat out of which you dropped your sword to mark where it sunk. The boat is ever moving on. The Canon is the window through which we observe the grand scenery of spiritual nature. To hold communion directly with it we must get out of the window. It is a mere stray fly that is always buzzing within it, struggling to get out. Those who spend most of their lives in the study of the Scriptures, arguing and explaining with hair-splitting reasonings, and attain no higher plane in spirituality, are religious flies good for nothing but their buzzing about the nonsensical technicalities. It is on this account that Rin-zai declared: 'The twelve divisions of the Buddhist Canon are nothing better than waste paper.'
2. No Need of the Scriptural Authority for Zen.--Some Occidental scholars erroneously identify Buddhism with the primitive faith of Hinayanism, and are inclined to call Mahayanism, a later developed faith, a degenerated one. If the primitive faith be called the genuine, as
[1. Mahaprajñaparamita-sutra, vol. 425.
these scholars think, and the later developed faith be the degenerated one, then the child should be called the genuine man and the grown-up people be the degenerated ones; similarly, the primitive society must be the genuine and the modern civilization be the degenerated one. So also the earliest writings of the Old Testament should be genuine and the four Gospels be degenerated. Beyond all doubt Zen belongs to Mahayanism, yet this does not imply that it depends on the scriptural authority of that school, because it does not trouble itself about the Canon whether it be Hinayana or Mahayana, or whether it was directly spoken by Shakya Muni or written by some later Buddhists. Zen is completely free from the fetters of old dogmas, dead creeds, and conventions of stereotyped past, that check the development of a religious faith and prevent the discovery of a new truth. Zen needs no Inquisition. It never compelled nor will compel the compromise of a Galileo or a Descartes. No excommunication of a Spinoza or the burning of a Bruno is possible for Zen.
On a certain occasion Yoh Shan (Yaku-san) did not preach the doctrine for a long while, and was requested to give a sermon by his assistant teacher, saying: "Would your reverence preach the Dharma to your pupils, who long thirst after your merciful instruction?" "Then ring the bell," replied Yoh Shan. The bell rang, and all the monks assembled in the Hall eager to bear the sermon. Yoh Shan went up to the pulpit and descended immediately without saying a word. "You, reverend sir," asked the assistant, "promised to deliver a sermon a little while ago. Why do you not preach?" "Sutras are taught by the Sutra teachers," said the master; "Çastras are taught by the Çastra teachers. No wonder that I say nothing." This little episode will show you that Zen is no fixed doctrine embodied in a Sutra or a
[1. Zen-rin-rui-shu and E-gen.]
Çastra, but a conviction or realization within us. To quote another example, an officer offered to Tüng Shan (To-zan) plenty of alms, and requested him to recite the sacred Canon. Tüng Shan, rising from his chair, made a bow respectfully to the officer, who did the same to the teacher. Then Tüng Shan went round the chair, taking the officer with him, and making a bow again to the officer, asked: "Do you see what I mean?" "No, sir," replied the other. "I have been reciting the sacred Canon, why do you not see?" Thus Zen does not regard Scriptures in black and white as its Canon, for it takes to-days and tomorrows of this actual life as its inspired pages.
3. The Usual Explanation of the Canon.--An eminent Chinese Buddhist scholar, well known as Ten Dai Dai Shi (A.D. 538-597), arranged the whole preachings of Shakya Muni in a chronological order in accordance with his own religious theory, and observed that there were the Five Periods in the career of the Buddha as a religious teacher. He tried to explain away all the discrepancies and contradictions, with which the Sacred Books are encumbered, by arranging the Sutras in a line of development. His elucidation was so minute and clear, and his metaphysical reasonings so acute and captivating, that his opinion was universally accepted as an historical truth, not merely by the Chinese, but also by the Japanese Mahayanists. We shall briefly state here the so-called Five Periods.
Shakya Muni attained to Buddhaship in his thirtieth year, and sat motionless for seven days under the Bodhi tree, absorbed in deep meditation, enjoying the first bliss of his Enlightenment. In the second week he preached his Dharma to the innumerable multitude of Bodhisattvas,
[1. Zen-rin-rui-sha and To-zan-roku.
2 Bodhisattva is an imaginary personage, or ideal saint, superior to Arhat, or the highest saint of Hinayanism. The term 'Bodhisattva' was first applied to the Buddha before his Enlightenment, and afterwards was adopted by Mahayanists to mean the adherent of Mahayanism in contradistinction with the Çravaka or hearers of Hinayanism.]
celestial beings, and deities in the nine assemblies held at seven different places. This is the origin of a famous Mahayana book entitled Buddhavatamsaka-mahavaipulya-sutra. In this book the Buddha set forth his profound Law just as it was discovered by his highly Enlightened mind, without considering the mental states of his hearers. Consequently the ordinary hearers (or the Buddha's immediate disciples) could not understand the doctrine, and sat stupefied as if they were 'deaf and dumb,' while the great Bodhisattvas fully understood and realized the doctrine. This is called the first period, which lasted only two or three weeks.
Thereupon Shakya Muni, having discovered that ordinary bearers were too ignorant to believe in the Mahayana doctrine and appreciate the greatness of Buddhahood, thought it necessary to modify his teaching so as to adjust it to the capacity of ordinary people. So he went to Varanasi (or Benares) and preached his modified doctrine--that is, Hinayanism. The instruction given at that time has been handed down to us as the four Agamas, or the four Nikayas. This is called the second period, which lasted about twelve years. It was at the beginning of this period that the Buddha converted the five ascetics, who became his disciples. Most of the Çravakas
[1. Bodhiruci says to the effect that the preachings in the first five assemblies were made in the first week, and the rest were delivered in the second week. Nagarjuna says that the Buddha spoke no word for fifty-seven days after his Enlightenment. It is said in Saddharma-pundarika-sutra that after three weeks the Buddha preached at Varanasi, and it says nothing respecting Avatamsaka-sutra. Though there are divers opinions about the Buddha's first sermon and its date, all traditions agree in this that he spent some time in meditation, and then delivered the first sermon to the five ascetics at Varanasi.
2. (1) Anguttara, (2) Majjhima, (3) Digha, (4) Samyutta.
3. Kondañña, Vappa, Baddiya, Mahanana, Assaji.]
or the adherents of Hinayanism were converted during this period. They trained their hearts in accordance with the modified Law, learned the four noble truths, and worked out their own salvation.
The Buddha then having found his disciples firmly adhering to Hinayanism without knowing that it was a modified and imperfect doctrine, he had to lead them up to a higher and perfect doctrine that he might lead them up to Buddhahood. With this object in view Shakya Muni preached Vimalakirtti-nirdeça-sutra, Lankavatara-sutra, and other sutras, in which he compared Hinayanism with Mahayanism, and described the latter in glowing terms as a deep and perfect Law, whilst he set forth the former at naught as a superficial and imperfect one. Thus he showed his disciples the inferiority of Hinayanism, and caused them to desire for Mahayanism. This is said to be the third period, which lasted some eight years.
The disciples of the Buddha now understood that Mahayanism was far superior to Hinayanism, but they thought the higher doctrine was only for Bodhisattvas and beyond their understanding. Therefore they still adhered to the modified doctrine, though they did no longer decry Mahayanism, which they had no mind to
[1. The first is the sacred truth of suffering; the second the truth of the origin of suffering--that is, lust and desire; the third the sacred truth of the extinction of suffering; the fourth the sacred truth of the path that leads to the extinction of suffering. There are eight noble paths that lead to the extinction of suffering--that is, Right faith, Right resolve, Right speech, Right action, Right living, Right effort, Right thought, and Right meditation.
2 This is one of the most noted Mahayana books, and is said to be the best specimen of the sutras belonging to this period. It is in this sutra that most of Shakya's eminent disciples, known as the adherents of Hinayanism, are astonished with the profound wisdom, the eloquent speech, and the supernatural power of Vimalakirtti, a Bodhisattva, and confess the inferiority of their faith. The author frequently introduces episodes in order to condemn Hinayanism, making use of miracles of his own invention.]
practise. Upon this Shakya Muni preached Prajñaparamita-sutras in the sixteen assemblies held at four different places, and taught them Mahayanism in detail in order to cause them to believe it and practise it. Thus they became aware that there was no definite demarcation between Mahayanism and Hinayanism, and that they might become Mahayanists. This is the fourth period, which lasted about twenty-two years.
Now, the Buddha, aged seventy-two, thought it was high time to preach his long-cherished doctrine that all sentient beings can attain to Supreme Enlightenment; so he preached Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, in which he prophesied when and where his disciples should become Buddhas. It was his greatest object to cause all sentient beings to be Enlightened and enable them to enjoy the bliss of Nirvana. It was for this that he had endured great pain and hardships through his previous existences. It was for this that he had left his heavenly abode to appear on earth. It was for this that he had preached from time to time through his long career of forty-seven years. Having thus realized his great aim, Shakya Muni had now to prepare for his final departure, and preached Mahaparinirvana-sutra in order to show that all the animated and inanimate things were endowed with the same nature as his. After this last instruction he passed to eternity. This is called the fifth period, which lasted some eight years.
These five periods above mentioned can scarcely be called historical in the proper sense of the term, yet they are ingeniously invented by Ten Dai Dai Shi to set the Buddhist Scriptures in the order of doctrinal development, and place Saddharma-pundarika in the highest rank among the Mahayana books. His argument, however dogmatic and anti-historical in no small degree, would be
[1. Nagarjuna's doctrine depends mainly on these sutras.]
not a little valuable for our reader, who wants to know the general phase of the Buddhist Canon, consisting of thousands of fascicles.
4. Sutras used by Zen Masters.--Ten Dai failed to explain away the discrepancies and contradictions of which the Canon is full, and often contradicted himself by the ignoring of historical facts. To say nothing of the strong
[1. Let us state our own opinion on the subject in question. The foundation of Hinayanism consists in the four Nikayas, or four Agamas, the most important books of that school. Besides the four Agamas, there exist in the Chinese Tripitaka numerous books translated by various authors, some of which are extracts from Agamas, and some the lives of the Buddha, while others are entirely different sutras, apparently of later date. Judging from these sources, it seems to us that most of Shakya Muni's original teachings are embodied into the four Agamas. But it is still a matter of uncertainty that whether they are stated in Agamas now extant just as they were, for the Buddha's preachings were rehearsed immediately after the Buddha's death in the first council held at Rajagrha, yet not consigned to writing. They were handed down by memory about one hundred years. Then the monks at Vaisali committed the so-called Ten Indulgences, infringing the rules of the Order, and maintained that Shakya Muni had not condemned them in his preachings. As there were, however, no written sutras to disprove their assertion, the elders, such as Yaça, Revata, and others, who opposed the Indulgences, had to convoke the second council of 700 monks, in which they succeeded in getting the Indulgences condemned, and rehearsed the Buddha's instruction for the second time. Even in this council of Vaisali we cannot find the fact that the Master's preachings were reduced to writing. The decisions of the 700 elders were not accepted by the party of opposition, who held a separate council, and settled their own rules and doctrine. Thus the same doctrine of the Teacher be.-an to be differently stated and believed.
This being the first open schism, one disruption after another took place among the Buddhistic Order. There were many different schools of the Buddhists at the time when King Açoka ascended the throne (about 269 B.C.), and the patronage of the King drew a great number of pagan ascetics into the Order, who, though they dressed themselves in the yellow robes, yet still preserved their religious views in their original colour. This naturally led the Church into continual disturbances and moral corruption. In the eighteenth year of Açoka's reign the King summoned the council of 1,000 monks at Pataliputra (Patna), and settled the orthodox doctrine in order to keep the Dharma pure from heretical beliefs. We believe that about this time some of the Buddha's preachings were reduced to writing, for the missionaries despatched by the King in the year following the council seem to have set out with written sutras. In addition to this, some of the names of the passages of the Dharma are given in the Bharbra edict of the King, which was addressed to the monks in Magadha. We do not suppose, however, that all the sutras were written at once in these days, but that they were copied down from memory one after another at different times, because some of the sutras were put down in Ceylon 160 years after the Council of Patna.
In the introductory book of Ekottaragama (Anguttara Nikaya), now extant in the Chinese Tripitaka, we notice the following points: (1) It is written in a style quite different from that of the original Agama, but similar to that of the supplementary books of the Mahayana sutras; (2) it states Ananda's compilation of the Tripitaka after the death of the Master; (3) it refers to the past Buddhas, the future Buddha Maitreya, and innumerable Bodhisattvas; (4) it praises the profound doctrine of Mahayanism. From this we infer that the Agama was put in the present form after the rise of the Mahayana School, and handed down through the hand of Mahasanghika scholars, who were much in sympathy with Mahayanism.
Again, the first book of Dirghagama, (Digha Nikaya), that describes the line of Buddhas who appeared before Shakya Muni, adopts the whole legend of Gotama's life as a common mode of all Buddhas appearing on earth; while the second book narrates the death of Gotama and the distribution of his relies, and refers to Pataliputra, the new capital of Açoka. This shows us that the present Agama is not of an earlier date than the third century B.C. Samyuktagama (Samyutta Nikaya) also gives a detailed account of Açoka's conversion, and of his father Bindusara. From these evidences we may safely infer that the Hinayana sutras were put in the present shape at different times between the third century B.C. and the first century A.D.
With regard to the Mahayana sutras we have little doubt about their being the writings of the later Buddhist reformers, even if they are put in the mouth of Shakya Muni. They are entirely different from the sutras of Hinayanism, and cannot be taken as the preachings of one and the same person. The reader should notice the following points:
(1) Four councils were held for the rehearsal of the Tripitaka namely, the first at Rajagrha, in the year of Shakya Muni's death; the second at Vaisali, some 100 years after the Buddha; the third at the time of King Açoka, about 235 years after the Master; the fourth at the time of King Kanishka, the first century A.D. But all these councils were held to compile the Hinayana sutras, and nothing is known of the rehearsal of the Mahayana books. Some are of opinion that the first council was held within the Sattapanni cave, near Rajagrha, where the Hinayana Tripitaka was rehearsed by 500 monks, while outside the cave there assembled a greater number of monks, who were not admitted into the cave, and rehearsed the Mahayana Tripitaka. This opinion, however, is based on no reliable source.
(2) The Indian orthodox Buddhists of old declared that the Mahayana sutras were the fabrication of heretics or of the Evil One, and not the teachings of the Buddha. In reply to this, the Mahayanists had to prove that the Mahayana sutras were compiled by the direct disciples of the Master; but even Nagarjuna could not vindicate the compilation of the doubtful books, and said (in Mahaprajñaparamita-çastra) that they were compiled by Ananda and Manjuçri, with myriads of Bodhisattvas at the outside of the Iron Mountain Range, which encloses the earth. Asanga also proved (in Mahayanalankara-sutra-çastra) with little success that Mahayanism was the Buddha's direct teachings. Some may quote Bodhisattva-garbhastha-sutra in favour of the Mahayana; but it is of no avail, as the sutra itself is the work of a later date.
(3) Although almost all of the Mahayana sutras, excepting Avatamsaka-sutra, treat of Hinayanism as the imperfect doctrine taught in the first part of the Master's career, yet not merely the whole life of Gotama, but also events which occurred after his death are narrated in the Hinayana sutras. This shows that the Mahayana sutras were composed after the establishment of early Buddhism.
(4) The narratives given in the Hinayana sutras in reference to Shakya Muni seem to be based on historical facts, but those in the Mahayana books are full of wonders and extravagant miracles far from facts.
(5) The Hinayana sutras retain the traces of their having been classified and compiled as we see in Ekottaragama, while Mahayana books appear to have been composed one after another by different authors at different times, because each of them strives to excel others, declaring itself to be the sutra of the highest doctrine, as we see in Saddharma-pundarika, Samdhinirmocana, Suvarnaprabhasottamaraja, etc.
(6) The dialogues in the Hinayana sutras are in general those between the Buddha and his disciples, while in the Mahayana books imaginary beings called Bodhisattvas take the place of disciples. Moreover, in some books no monks are mentioned.
(7) Most of the Mahayana sutras declare that they themselves possess those mystic powers that protect the reader or the owner from such evils as epidemic, famine, war, etc.; but the Hinayana sutras are pure from such beliefs.
(8) The Mahayana sutras extol not only the merits of the reading, but the copying of the sutras. This unfailingly shows the fact that they were not handed down by memory, as the Hinayana sutras, but written by their respective authors.
(9) The Hinayana sutras were written with a plain style in Pali, while the Mahayana books, with brilliant phraseology, in Sanskrit.
(10) The Buddha in the Hinayana sutras is little more than a human being, while Buddha or Tathagata in the Mahayana is a superhuman being or Great Deity.
(11) The moral precepts of the Hinayana were laid down by the Master every time when his disciples acted indecently, while those of the Mahayana books were spoken all at once by Tathagata.
(12) Some Mahayana sutras appear to be the exaggeration or modification of what was stated in the Hinayana books, as we see in Mahaparinirvana-sutra.
(13) If we take both the Hinayana and the Mahayana as spoken by one and the same person, we cannot understand why there are so many contradictory statements, as we see in the following:
(a) Historical Contradictions.--For instance, Hinayana sutras are held to be the first sermon of the Buddha by the author of Saddharma-pundarika, while Avatamsaka declares itself to be the first sermon. Nagarjuna holds that Prajña sutras are the first.
(b) Contradictions as to the Person of the Master.--For instance, Agamas say the Buddha's body was marked with thirty-two peculiarities, while the Mahayana books enumerate ninety-seven peculiarities, or even innumerable marks.
(c) Doctrinal Contradictions.--For instance, the Hinayana sutras put forth the pessimistic, nihilistic view of life, while the Mahayana books, as a rule, express the optimistic, idealistic view.
(14) The Hinayana sutras say nothing of the Mahayana books, while the latter always compare their doctrine with that of the former, and speak of it in contempt. It is clear that the name 'Hinayana' was coined by the Mahayanists, as there is no sutra which calls itself 'Hinayana.' It is therefore evident that when the Hinayana books took the present shape there appeared no Mahayana sutras.
(15) The authors of the Mahayana sutras should have expected the opposition of the Hinayanists, because they say not seldom that there might be some who would. not believe in and oppose Mahayanism as not being the Buddha's teaching, but that of the Evil One. They say also that one who would venture to say the Mahayana books are fictitious should fall into Hell. For example, the author of Mahaparinirvana-sutra says: "Wicked Bhiksus would say all Vaipulya Mahayana sutras are not spoken by the Buddha, but by the Evil One."
(16) There are evidences showing that the Mahayana doctrine was developed out of the Hinayana one.
(a) The Mahayanists' grand conception of Tathagata is the natural development of that of those progressive Hinayanists who belonged to the Mahasamghika School, which was formed some one hundred years after the Master. These Hinayanists maintained that the Buddha had infinite power, endless life, and limitlessly great body. The author of Mahaparinirvana-sutra also says that Buddha is immortal, his Dharma-kaya is infinite and eternal. The authors of Mahayana-mulagata-hrdayabhumi-dhyana-sutra and of Suvarnaprabha-sottamaraja-sutra enumerate the Three Bodies of Buddha, while the writer of Lankavatara-sutra describes the Four Bodies, and that of Avatamsaka-sutra the Ten Bodies of Tathagata.
(b) According to the Hinayana sutras, there are only four stages of saintship, but the Mahasamghika School increases the number and gives ten steps. Some Mahayana sutras also enumerate the ten stages of Bodhisattva, while others give forty-one or fifty two stages.
(c) The Himayana sutras name six past Buddhas and one future Buddha Maitreya, while the Mahayana sutras name thirty-five, fifty-three, or three thousand Buddhas.
(d) The Hinayana sutras give the names of six Vijñanas, while the Mahayana books seven, eight, or nine Vijñanas.
(17) For a few centuries after the Buddha we hear only of Hinayanism, but not of Mahayanism, there being no Mahayana teacher.
(18) In some Mahayana sutras (Mahavairocanabhisambodhi-sutra, for example) Tathagata Vairocana takes the place of Gotama, and nothing is said of the latter.
(19) The contents of the Mahayana sutras often prove that they were, composed, or rewritten, or some additions were made, long after the Buddha. For instance, Mahamaya-sutra says that Açvaghosa would refute heretical doctrines 600 years after the Master, and Nagarjuna would advocate the Dharma 700 years after Gotama, while Lankavatara-sutra prophesies that Nagarjuna would appear in South India.
(20) The author of San-ron-gen-gi tells us Mahadeva, a leader of the Mahasamghika School, used Mahayana sutras, together with the orthodox Tripitaka 116 after the Buddha. It is, however, doubtful that they existed at so early a date.
(21) Mahaprajñaparamita-çastra, ascribed to Nagarjuna, refers to many Mahayana books, which include Saddharma-pundarika, Vimalakirtti-nirdeça, Sukhavati-vyuha, Mahaprajñaparamita, Pratyutpanna-buddhasammukhavasthita-samadhi, etc. He quotes in his Daçabhumivibhasa çastra, Mahaparinirvana, Daçabhumi, etc.
(22) Sthiramati, whose date is said to be earlier than Nagarjuna and later than Açvaghosa, tries to prove that Mahayanism was directly taught by the Master in his Mahayanavataraka-çastra. And Mahayanottaratantra-çastra, which is ascribed by some scholars to him, refers to Avatamsaka, Vajracchedikka-prajñaparamita, Saddharmapundarika, Crimala-devi-simhananda, etc.
(23) Chi-leu-cia-chin, who came to China in A.D. 147 or A.D. 164, translated some part of Mahayana books known as Maharatnakuta-sutra and Mahavaipulya-mahasannipata-sutra.
(24) An-shi-kao, who came to China in A.D. 148, translated such Mahayana books as Sukhavati-vyaha, Candra-dipa-samadhi, etc.
(25) Matanga, who came to China in A.D. 67, is said by his biographer to have been informed of both Mahayanism and Hinayanism to have given interpretations to a noted Mahayana book, entitled Suvarnaprabhasa.
(26) Sandhinirmocana-sutra is supposed to be a work of Asanga not without reason, because Asanga's doctrine is identical with that of the sutra, and the sutra itself is contained in the latter part of Yogaçaryabhumi-çastra. The author divides the whole preachings of the Master into the three periods that he might place the Idealistic doctrine in the highest rank of the Mahayana schools.
(27) We have every reason to believe that Mahayana sutras began to appear (perhaps Prajña sutras being the first) early in the first century A.D., that most of the important books appeared before Nagarjuna, and that some of Mantra sutras were composed so late as the time of Vajrabodhi, who came to China in A.D. 719.]
opposition raised by the Japanese scholars, such an assumption can be met with an assumption of entirely opposite nature, and the difficulties can never be overcome. For Zen masters, therefore, these assumptions and reasonings are mere quibbles unworthy of their attention.
[1. The foremost of them was Chuki Tominaga (1744), of whose life little is known. He is said to have been a nameless merchant at Osaka. His Shutsu-jo-ko-go is the first great work of higher criticism on the Buddhist Scriptures.]
To believe blindly in the Scriptures is one thing, and to be pious is another. How often the childish views of Creation and of God in the Scriptures concealed the light of scientific truths; how often the blind believers of them fettered the progress of civilization; how often religious men prevented us from the realizing of a new truth, simply because it is against the ancient folk-lore in the Bible. Nothing is more absurd than the constant dread in which religious men, declaring to worship God in truth and in spirit, are kept at the scientific discovery of new facts incompatible with the folk-lore. Nothing is more irreligious than to persecute the seekers of truth in order to keep up absurdities and superstitions of bygone ages. Nothing is more inhuman than the commission of 'devout cruelty' under the mask of love of God and man. Is it not the misfortune, not only of Christianity, but of whole mankind, to have the Bible encumbered with legendary histories, stories of miracles, and a crude cosmology, which from time to time come in conflict with science?
The Buddhist Scriptures are also overloaded with Indian superstitions and a crude cosmology, which pass under the name of Buddhism. Accordingly, Buddhist scholars have confused not seldom the doctrine of the Buddha with these absurdities, and thought it impious to abandon them. Kaiseki, for instance, was at a loss to distinguish Buddhism from the Indian astronomy, which is utterly untenable in the face of the fact. He taxed his reason to the utmost to demonstrate the Indian theory and at the same time to refute the Copernican theory. One day he called on Yeki-do a contemporary Zen master, and explained the construction of the Three Worlds as described in the Scriptures, Baying that Buddhism would come to naught if the theory of the Three Worlds be overthrown by the Copernican. Then Yeki-do exclaimed: "Buddhism aims to destroy the Three Worlds and to establish Buddha's Holy Kingdom throughout
[1. A learned Japanese Buddhist scholar, who died in 1882.
2. A famous Zen master, the abbot of the So-ji-ji Monastery, who died in 1879.]
the universe. Why do you waste your energy in the construction of the Three Worlds?' In this way Zen does not trouble itself about unessentials of the Scriptures, on which it never depends for its authority. Do-gen, the founder of the Japanese So To Sect, severely condemns (in his Sho-bo-gen-zo) the notions of the impurity of women inculcated in the Scriptures. He openly attacks those Chinese monks who swore that they would not see any woman, and ridicules those who laid down rules prohibiting women from getting access to monasteries. A Zen master was asked by a Samurai whether there was hell in sooth as taught in the Scriptures. "I must ask you," replied he, "before I give you an answer. For what purpose is your question? What business have you, a Samurai, with a thing of that sort? Why do you bother yourself about such an idle question? Surely you neglect your duty and are engaged in such a fruitless research. Does this not amount to your stealing the annual salary from your lord?" The Samurai, offended not a little with these rebukes, stared at the master, ready to draw his sword at another insult. Then the teacher said smilingly: "Now you are in Hell. Don't you see?"
Does, then, Zen use no scripture? To this question we answer both affirmatively and negatively: negatively, because Zen regards all sutras as a sort of pictured food which has no power of appeasing spiritual hunger; affirmatively, because it freely makes use of them irrespective of Mahayana or Hinayana. Zen would not make a bonfire of the Scriptures as Caliph Omar did of the Alexandrian library. A Zen master, having seen a Confucianist burning his books on the thought that they were rather a hindrance to his spiritual growth, observed: "You had better burn your books in mind and heart, but not the books in black and white."
As even deadly poison proves to be medicine in the band of a good doctor, so a heterodox doctrine antagonistic to Buddhism is used by the Zen teachers as a finger pointing to the principle of Zen. But they as a rule resorted to Lankavatara-sutra, Vajracchedika-prajña-paramita-sutra, Vimalakirtti-nirdeça-sutra Mahavaipulya-purnabuddha-sutra Mababuddhosnisa-tathagata-guhyahetu-saksatkrta-prasannatha-sarvabhodhisattvacarya-surangama-sutra, Mahapari-nirvana-sutra, Saddharma-pundarika-sutra, Avatamsaka-sutra, and so forth.
5. A Sutra Equal in Size to the Whole World.-The holy writ that Zen masters admire is not one of parchment nor of palm-leaves, nor in black and white, but one written in heart and mind. On one occasion a King of Eastern India invited the venerable Prajñatara, the teacher of Bodhidharma, and his disciples to dinner at his own palace.
[1. This book is the nearest approach to the doctrine of Zen, and is said to have been pointed out by Bodhidharma as the best book for the use of his followers. See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 175, 1761 177.
2. The author of the sutra insists on the unreality of all things. The book was first used by the Fifth Patriarch, as we have seen in the first chapter. See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
3. The sutra agrees with Zen in many respects, especially in its maintaining that the highest truth can only be realized in mind, and cannot be expressed by word of mouth. See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149.
4. The sutra was translated into Chinese by Buddhatrata in the seventh century. The author treats at length of Samadhi, and sets forth a doctrine similar to Zen, so that the text was used by many Chinese Zenists. See Nanjo's Catalogue, Nos. 427 and 1629.
5. The sutra was translated into Chinese by Paramiti and Mikaçakya, of the Tang dynasty (618-907). The author conceives. Reality as Mind or Spirit. The book belongs to the Mantra class, although it is much used by Zenists. See Nanjo's Catalogue, No. 446.
6. The author of the book sets forth his own conception of Nirvana and of Buddha, and maintains that all beings are endowed with Buddha-nature. He also gives in detail an incredible account about Gotama's death.]
Finding all the monks reciting the sacred sutras with the single exception of the master, the Ring questioned Prajñatara: "Why do you not, reverend sir, recite the Scriptures as others do?" "My poor self, your majesty," replied he, "does not go out to the objects of sense in my expiration nor is it confined within body and mind in my inspiration. Thus I constantly recite hundreds, thousands, and millions of sacred sutras." In like manner the Emperor Wu, of the Liang dynasty, once requested Chwen Hih (Fu Dai-shi) to give a lecture on the Scriptures. Chwen went upon the platform, struck the desk with a block of wood, and came down. Pao Chi (Ho-shi), a Buddhist tutor to the Emperor, asked the perplexed monarch: "Does your Lordship understand him?" "No," answered His Majesty. "The lecture of the Great Teacher is over." As it is clear to you from these examples, Zen holds that the faith must be based not on the dead Scriptures, but on living facts, that one must turn over not the gilt pages of the holy writ, but read between the lines in the holy pages of daily life, that Buddha must be prayed not by word of mouth, but by actual deed and work, and that one must split open, as the author of Avatamsaka-sutra allegorically tells us, the smallest grain of dirt to find therein a sutra equal in size to the whole world. "The so-called sutra," says Do-gen, "covers the whole universe. It transcends time and space. It is written with the characters of heaven, of man, of beasts, of Asuras,[l] of hundreds of grass, and of thousands of trees. There are characters, some long, some short, some round, some square, some blue, some red, some yellow, and some white-in short, all the phenomena in the universe are the characters with which the sutra is written." Shakya Muni read that sutra through the bright star illuminating the broad expanse of the morning skies, when he sat in
[1. The name of a demon.]
meditation under the Bodhi Tree. Ling Yun (Rei-un) read it through the lovely flowers of a peach-tree in spring after some twenty years of his research for Light, and said:
"A score of years I looked for Light:
There came and went many a spring and fall.
E'er since the peach blossoms came in my sight,
I never doubt anything at all."
Hian Yen (Kyo-gen) read it through the noise of bamboo, at which he threw pebbles. Su Shih (So-shoku) read it through a waterfall, one evening, and said:
"The brook speaks forth the Tathagata's words divine,
The hills reveal His glorious forms that shine."
6. Great Men and Nature.--All great men, whether they be poets or scientists or religious men or philosophers, are not mere readers of books, but the perusers of Nature. Men of erudition are often lexicons in flesh and blood, but men of genius read between the lines in the pages of life. Kant, a man of no great erudition, could accomplish in the theory of knowledge what Copernicus did in astronomy. Newton found the law of gravitation not in a written page, but in a falling apple. Unlettered Jesus realized truth beyond the comprehension of many learned doctors. Charles Darwin, whose theory changed the whole current of the world's thought, was not a great reader of books, but a careful observer of facts. Shakespeare, the greatest of poets, was the greatest reader of Nature and life. He could hear the music even of heavenly bodies, and said:
"There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest,
But in his motion like an angel sings."
Chwang Tsz (So-shi), the greatest of Chinese philosophers, says: Thou knowest the music of men, but not the music
[1. Chwang Tsz, vol. i., p. 10.]
of the earth. Thou knowest the music of the earth, but not the music of the heaven." Goethe, perceiving a profound meaning in Nature, says: "Flowers are the beautiful hieroglyphics of Nature with which she indicates how much she loves us." Son-toku (Ninomiya), a great economist, who, overcoming all difficulties and hardships by which he was beset from his childhood, educated himself, says: "The earth and the heaven utter no word, but they ceaselessly repeat the holy book unwritten."
7. The Absolute and Reality are but an Abstraction.--A grain of sand you, trample upon has a deeper significance than a series of lectures by your verbal philosopher whom you respect. It contains within itself the whole history of the earth; it tells you what it has seen since the dawn of time; while your philosopher simply plays on abstract terms and empty words. What does his Absolute, or One, or Substance mean? What does his Reality or Truth imply? Do they denote or connote anything? Mere name! mere abstraction! One school of philosophy after another has been established on logical subtleties; thousands of books have been written on these grand names and fair mirages, which vanish the moment that your hand of experience reaches after them.
"Duke Hwan," says Chwang Tsz,"seated above in his hall, was"(once) reading a book, and a wheelwright, Phien, was making a wheel below it. Laying aside his hammer and chisel, Phien went up the steps and said: 'I venture to ask your Grace what words you are reading?' The duke said: 'The words of sages.' 'Are these sages alive?' Phien continued. 'They are dead,' was the reply. 'Then, said the other, 'what you, my Ruler, are reading is only the dregs and sediments of those old men.' The duke said:
[1. One of the greatest self-made men in Japan, who lived 1787-1856.
2. Chwang Tsz, vol. ii., p. 24.]
'How should you, a wheelwright, have anything to say about the book which I am reading? If you can explain yourself, very well; if you cannot, you shall die.' The wheelwright said: 'Your servant will look at the thing from the point of view of his own art. In making a wheel, if I proceed gently, that is pleasant enough, but the workmanship is not strong; if I proceed violently, that is toilsome and the joinings do not fit. If the movements of my band are neither (too) gentle nor (too) violent, the idea in my mind is realized. But I cannot tell (how to do this) by word of mouth; there is a knack in it. I cannot teach the knack to my son, nor can my son learn it from me. Thus it is that I am in my seventieth year, and am (still) making wheels in my old age. But these ancients, and what it was not possible for them to convey, are dead and gone. So then what you, my Ruler, are reading is but their dregs and sediments."' Zen has no business with the dregs and sediments of sages of yore.
8. The Sermon of the Inanimate.--The Scripture of Zen is written with facts simple and familiar, so simple and familiar with everyday life that they escape observation on that very account. The sun rises in the east. The moon sets in the west. High is the mountain. Deep is the sea. spring comes with flowers; summer with the cool breeze; autumn with the bright moon; winter with the fakes of snow. These things, perhaps too simple and too familiar for ordinary observers to pay attention to, have had profound significance for Zen. Li Ngao (Ri-ko) one day asked Yoh Shan (Yaku-san): "What is the way to truth?" Yoh Shan, pointing to the sky and then to the pitcher beside him, said: "You see?" "No, sir," replied Li Ngao. "The cloud is in the sky," said Yoh Shan, "and the water in the pitcher." Hüen Sha (Gen-sha) one day went upon the platform and was ready to deliver a sermon when he heard a swallow singing. "Listen," said he, "that small bird preaches the essential doctrine and proclaims the eternal truth." Then he went back to his room, giving no sermon.
The letters of the alphabet, a, b, c, etc., have no meaning whatever. They are but artificial signs, but when spelt they can express any great idea that great thinkers may form. Trees, grass, mountains, rivers, stars, moons, suns. These are the alphabets with which the Zen Scripture is written. Even a, b, c, etc., when spelt, can express any great idea. Why not, then, these trees, grass, etc., the alphabets of Nature when they compose the Volume of the Universe? Even the meanest clod of earth proclaims the sacred law.
Hwui Chung (E-chu) is said first to have given an expression to the Sermon of the Inanimate. "Do the inanimate preach the Doctrine?" asked a monk of Hwui Chung on one occasion. "Yes, they preach eloquently and incessantly. There is no pause in their orations," was the reply. "Why, then, do I not hear them?" asked the other again. "Even if you do not, there are many others who can hear them." "Who can hear them?" "All the sages hear and understand them," said Hwui Chung. Thus the Sermon of the Inanimate had been a favourite topic of discussion 900 years before Shakespeare who expressed the similar idea, saying:
"And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything."
"How wonderful is the Sermon of the Inanimate," says Tüng Shan (To-zan). "You cannot hear it through your ears, but you can hear it through your eyes." You should hear it through your mind's eyes, through your heart's eyes, through your inmost soul's eyes, not through your
[1. Den-to-roku and E-gen.
2 A direct disciple of the Sixth Patriarch.]
intellect, not through your perception, not through your knowledge, not through your logic, not through your metaphysics. To understand it you have to divine, not to define; you have to observe, not to calculate; you have to sympathize, not to analyze; you have to see through, not to criticize; you have not to explain, but to feel; you have not to abstract, but to grasp; you have to see all in each, but not to know all in all; you have to get directly at the soul of things, penetrating their hard crust of matter by your rays of the innermost consciousness. "The falling leaves as well as the blooming flowers reveal to us the holy law of Buddha," says a Japanese Zenist.
Ye who seek for purity and peace, go to Nature. She will give you more than ye ask. Ye who long for strength and perseverance, go to Nature. She will train and strengthen you. Ye who aspire after an ideal, go to Nature. She will help you in its realization. Ye who yearn after Enlightenment, go to Nature. She will never fail to grant your request. | <urn:uuid:42d577e4-2732-4d25-888e-6a182ad95925> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sacred-texts.com/bud/rosa/rosa05.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00031-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961541 | 11,830 | 2.78125 | 3 |
- Year Published: 1901
- Language: English
- Country of Origin: United States of America
- Source: Kingston, W.H.G. (1901). In the Wilds of Florida. London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, Ltd.
- Flesch–Kincaid Level: 8.0
- Word Count: 5,433
Kingston, W. (1901). Chapter 13. In the Wilds of Florida (Lit2Go Edition). Retrieved July 01, 2016, from
Kingston, W.H.G.. "Chapter 13." In the Wilds of Florida. Lit2Go Edition. 1901. Web. <>. July 01, 2016.
W.H.G. Kingston, "Chapter 13," In the Wilds of Florida, Lit2Go Edition, (1901), accessed July 01, 2016,.
An unusual silence appeared to reign in the woods surrounding the fort; even the birds, whose notes were wont to be heard, were silent. The sun had already risen above the tops of the trees, and shone down with intense force into the confined space which enclosed us. Not a breath of air stirred the leaves. It seemed as if all nature had gone to sleep. The sentries paced up and down on the platforms, watching on either side, for it was impossible to say on which the Indians would make their threatened attack. I asked Rochford if he did not think, after all, that they had changed their minds, and would not venture near.
“I am very sure that they have not,” he answered. “They know that you are but ill supplied with provisions and ammunition; besides which, they have vowed that they will drive all the Palefaces into the sea, and their late success in destroying a large detachment has encouraged them to continue their efforts to liberate their country. I acknowledge that they are vain, for they are ignorant of the vast resources we possess, and fancy that the power of the whites is represented by the few hundreds of troops which they have seen. It would have been more merciful if the United States Government had sent an overwhelming force, which would have rendered resistance impossible. But even had ten times as many troops as are at present in Florida been employed, they could have proceeded but slowly in a country covered in all directions with impenetrable thickets and swamps; and unless good roads are cut, the war will not be brought to a close for many a year to come. Meantime, both white men and natives will suffer cruelly. The great object should be to show the Indians that the whites must conquer at last, and that is what I have endeavoured to do; but the Redskins declare that the country is their own, that they have right on their side, and that the Palefaces will be the first to get tired.”
While we were speaking, one of the men on guard shouted, “Here they come!”
On springing on to the platform, we could see a large body of men, some on foot, others on horseback; besides which, we could make out many more emerging from a wood to the north-west. They halted, apparently surprised at our numbers, as they saw the heads of our men appearing above the stockade; for, with the exception of the sentries, all had hurried over to the side towards which they were approaching. The enemy were deceived in another way, by supposing that we should only fire down upon them over the stockade, whereas the lower portion under the platform was well loopholed. After holding a short consultation, during which not a sound reached our ears, they again advanced, led on by their chiefs, uttering the most fearful yells and shrieks. I had often heard of the Indian war-whoop, but I little knew, until now, the extraordinary power of which the human voice is capable when excited by rage and the desire to inspire terror into the hearts of enemies. I confess that I should have been not a little alarmed had I not known what effect our bullets would soon produce on the advancing foe.
“Shout as ye like, ye yelpin’ savages,” cried Tim, who was standing near me; “it won’t make one of us wink an eye, an’ we’ll soon send ye to the rightabout when you get within range of our rifles.”
A few of the chiefs now dashed forward, flourishing their spears, but quickly retreated behind the warriors on foot, who advanced rapidly towards the fort. Captain Norton, as they approached, ordered us all to jump down from the platform and take our posts at the loopholes, whence we could pour a deadly fire on the ranks of the Indians, while we ourselves would be under cover. No sooner was the order given to fire than we began blazing away. The enemy, little expecting the reception they met with, had fancied they could get close up to the foot of the stockade, and climb over without opposition.
Our men had been ordered not to throw a shot away. They fully carried out their instructions. At the very first discharge fully a dozen Indians were either killed or wounded. Staggered by this warm reception they halted, when again their chiefs cried out to them to advance, which they did after discharging a shower of bullets and arrows. The former came pinging against the thick posts which formed the stockade; the latter flew over our heads and fell into the fort, without, however, injuring any one. Half of the garrison only had fired; the remainder at once took their places, while the first party reloaded. We were thus able to keep up a successive fusillade, which evidently greatly astonished our foes. Still they continued to assail us with their missiles, both from fire-arms and bows; and with remarkable courage they again rushed on to the assault. We let them approach until they were close up to the stockade, when we once more opened so withering a fire that few made the attempt to climb up, and those who did quickly dropped down, either with cloven heads or hands well-nigh chopped off. The whole force, apparently seeing that they had no chance of getting into the fort, hurriedly retreated, dragging away, as they did so, the bodies of the slain.
Our men cheered, under the belief that we had won the victory; but the Indians, though they had abandoned the assault for the moment, did not consider themselves defeated, and halting as soon as they had got beyond the range of our rifles, once more faced about. From their costumes and wild appearance Captain Norton declared that they were not Seminoles, but probably some of the allies who had, it was said, lately joined the rebels from the north. Such, certainly, were the chiefs on horseback; who now, having again arranged their men, and encouraged them to renewed exertions, dashed on towards us at full speed, waving their lances and shrieking at the top of their voices.
“Let them play that trick as long as they like,” cried the captain. “Wait until some of them get near enough, then bring down their horses. It will require a good shot to kill the riders; but if their steeds fall, we can easily capture them, and they would be of the greatest use to us. However, do not throw a shot away, and wait patiently until they come near. Perhaps they think our ammunition is exhausted; and if they find we don’t fire, they may come close up to the stockade.”
The captain’s orders were strictly obeyed. The warriors continued wheeling round and round, now advancing, now retreating, but still keeping at a respectful distance from the fort. At length they got so near, it seemed to me that we might have knocked over the whole of them. Captain Norton, however, did not allow us to fire. This, as may be expected, made them still bolder, and at length they came sweeping on at full speed, shaking their spears and shouting defiance, till they got within fifty yards of us.
“Now give it them, lads!” exclaimed Captain Norton.
As we had but a limited supply of ammunition, only such men as were looked upon as the best shots had been told off to fire. Among these was Tim, near whom I was standing. He was the first to draw trigger, and so sure was his aim that he shot the horse of one of the chiefs through the head. Down came the animal on its rider, over whom it rolled, crushing his leg, and preventing him from rising. The rest of the chiefs, however, throwing themselves over the sides of their horses, so as to be completely concealed, galloped off like the wind, and as far as I could see, not a man or horse was hit.
“Now, lads, let’s get hold of that fellow before he gets on his feet,” cried Tim; and, jumping over the stockade, followed by three other men, he ran towards the prostrate chief, who in vain, flourishing his spear, called on his companions to rescue him. Finding that none of them returned, he made a desperate lunge with his spear at Tim, who, however, leaping on one side, warded it off with the butt of his rifle, and dealt the Indian a blow on the head which rendered him incapable of further resistance. The Irishman and his companions then seized the nearly-stunned warrior by the shoulders, and dragged him to the gate of the fort. It being opened for their reception, all in another minute were safe within, and the gate again closed.
Our captive soon recovered his senses, and looked about like a wild beast when it finds itself in a cage, seeking for some means of escape. His countenance fell when he saw the strong palisades and the number of armed men by whom he was surrounded. He, however, showed no other signs of fear, and appeared to resign himself to his fate, expecting, apparently, that he would at once be put to death. Captain Norton, who spoke the language of the Seminoles with perfect ease, inquired why he and his companions had attacked the fort.
“Because the desire of the red men is to drive their enemies the Palefaces out of the country, and regain their rightful heritage,” answered the chief.
“But you and your people have signed a treaty agreeing to leave the country in possession of the United States Government, and you have broken that treaty by remaining and attacking the whites.”
“The treaty was signed by traitors, and could not be binding on the rest of the people,” answered the Indian. “We have once more dug up the war-hatchet, and have resolved to regain our own. I have spoken. You have me in your power; my life is in your hands; do as you list.”
“Do you wish to live or die?” asked Captain Norton, detecting less confidence in the Indian’s tone than his words, of which I give a very meagre translation, appeared to exhibit.
“Black Hawk has no desire to die. He has many in his lodges who would mourn his loss,” was the answer.
“Your life is in your own hands, then,” answered Captain Norton. “If you will promise to render us faithful service, you shall live, and obtain an ample reward, with which you can return to your own and gladden the hearts of your squaw and children.”
The Indian’s countenance brightened, and Captain Norton at once saw that in spite of his boastful bearing he would be easily tempted to act any part required.
“Our desire is to make the red men our friends, and we have no wish to induce you to betray your people: but we require information, and if you have the power of giving it, and will enable us to attain our object, we shall be content,” said the captain.
“What is it the white chief desires to know?” asked Black Hawk.
“One of the daughters of the Palefaces was carried off some weeks ago by your people. Is she residing anywhere in this neighbourhood; and if so, will Black Hawk undertake to restore her to those to whom she desires to return?” said Captain Norton.
The Indian, for some time, made no reply to this question. He was apparently considering how he should act. Should he be unable to assist us, or refuse to do so, he would lose his reward, and perhaps be put to death. At last he answered:—
“Black Hawk wishes to serve those who have saved his life. He cannot do so if his own people suspect that he has allied himself to their foes. The daughter of the Paleface chief is alive, and living in the lodges of our great chief Oceola, where she was brought some time back. It is said that he desires to wed the damsel, but that she has refused to become his bride, and that he is unable to compel her.”
“So far what you tell us is satisfactory,” observed Captain Norton. “Can you conduct a party to the lodges of your chief, so that the damsel, should she desire it, may return to her home?”
“The undertaking would be difficult and dangerous,” observed the Indian. “Still, if the white chief wills it, Black Hawk will go; but it would be certain destruction to all those who might form the party, should Oceola discover the attempt made to carry off his intended bride.”
Rochford had been an attentive listener to this conversation, of which I give only a few particulars as they were interpreted to me. He had been sufficiently long with the Indians to understand the greater part of the conversation.
“If Miss Kearney be held captive in the lodges of the Seminole chief, I will undertake to bear any message to her which her uncle or brother desires to send, and endeavour, should she be willing to accompany me, to escort her to her family,” he said. “I have the means of communicating with the Indians in all parts of the country; and in spite of dangers and difficulties, I am sanguine of success.”
“But should the Indians find out that you have communicated with us, they will look upon you as an enemy to their cause, and will probably detain you, if they do not take your life,” observed my father. “Anxious as I am to recover my niece, I think it right to point out to you the danger you incur.”
“I have considered all the difficulties, Captain Kearney, and I count them as nothing compared to the object to be attained,” answered Rochford. “I would set out this very day, but I think it is of importance to know whether our late assailants have taken their departure; for should I fall into their hands, they might detain me until Black Hawk was delivered up to them; or, should they think him killed, they might take my life in revenge for his in spite of Oceola’s safe-conduct. Besides, I am very sure that you require a larger supply of provisions than you now possess; and as none of your party can with prudence venture far from the fort, I propose spending a day in hunting. I have a sufficient reason for this, as I have greater hopes of being able to conduct Miss Kearney to this fort than I have to reach her father’s house; and if you are compelled to abandon the fort for want of provisions, my plan would be defeated.”
Both Captain Norton and my father agreed to Rochford’s proposals, but it was a question whether the Indians could be trusted. They might prove faithful, but it was more likely that they would play him some treacherous trick. He, however, was not to be turned from his purpose. On hearing of his intended hunting expedition, Tim volunteered to accompany him; and I, after a considerable amount of persuasion, induced my father to let me go also. Rochford, having thought over the matter, consented to accept our assistance, believing that he could be answerable for our safety. It was impossible that so large a body of Indians could move through the country without leaving a well-defined trail, and we should thus be able to ascertain the direction they had taken, and to keep out of their way. Both Tim and I, having so long lived in the wilds, were well able also to take care of ourselves; and we promised not to go farther from the fort than was necessary to reach the ground where game was to be found.
Rochford promised to leave his dog behind him, as not only might its trail be discovered, but, though the animal was useful in many respects, it was not required for deer-shooting. A small party like ours was much more likely to escape observation than a large one, so that we hoped to get back to the fort without difficulty.
Taking with us an ample supply of ammunition, and some cooked food to prevent the necessity of lighting a fire, we set out a short time before daybreak, so that, should any of the Indians by chance be approaching the fort, our departure might not be discovered. Rochford led, followed by Tim and me in Indian file, we all three keeping our eyes around us, and our ears open for any sounds which might show the presence of an enemy. We had reached the thicker part of the forest by the time the bright streaks in the east announced the rising of the sun. We soon discovered a track made by the deer on their passage to a neighbouring pool. Rochford stationed Tim and me behind some thick bushes where we could lie concealed and have a good chance of shooting a couple of the animals on their passage to or from the water; while he carefully explored the country farther to the north, to ascertain whether the Indians, as he supposed was the case, had really gone in that direction. It was truly hunting under difficulties. Should any Indians be near, the sound of our shots would reach them, and it would be no easy matter to conceal ourselves from their keen eyes, which would discover the trail we could not avoid making. However, we had not waited long, when a fine stag, followed by two does, came walking leisurely along, little suspecting the fate awaiting them. Tim fired, and knocked over the stag, while I killed one of the does. The other was bounding off, when Tim brought her down with his second barrel.
Delighted at our success, we rushed out, eager to secure our prey, forgetting altogether the possibility that enemies might be in the neighbourhood. We were busily employed in clearing out the inside of the deer, so that we might the more easily carry them, when I heard a sound among the trees a little distance off. Both Tim and I, having reloaded our rifles, retreated behind the bushes from which we had emerged, and knelt down, ready to defend ourselves against any enemy who might appear. Our minds were soon relieved, however, as we saw Rochford step out from the brushwood. He looked somewhat astonished at seeing the three deer on the ground, and greeted us heartily, as we presented ourselves, on our success. He was satisfied, he told us, that we might continue our hunting, as he had discovered the Indian trail leading due north, and had no doubt that the party had been summoned by Oceola to proceed in that direction. Having packed up the venison so that we might carry it, we secured it to the boughs of a tree, and continued our search for more deer. We were fortunate enough to kill three or four others in the course of the morning.
As it was necessary to convey the venison to the fort without delay, we set off, each loaded with as much as he could carry, intending to return with a horse and a couple of men for the remainder. Our arrival was hailed with infinite satisfaction by our friends, and Lejoillie and another man volunteered at once to accompany us. Spotted Wolf, seeing us about to set off, begged that he might also go. As he had come into our camp voluntarily, it was difficult to refuse him without showing that we suspected his honesty. On perceiving that Captain Norton hesitated, he declared that he was as willing to remain as to go; but he thought that he might be of service in assisting to obtain game, and that he had another reason for offering to join the party. Notwithstanding the suspicions which had been entertained of him, somewhat to my surprise Captain Norton consented.
“We shall have to repent it, depend upon that,” said Carlos. “I should like to go too, for the sake of keeping my eye on him; but Uncle Michael says he won’t allow me. He has the right to permit you to run any risk, but he has to answer for my safety to my father. Still, I advise you to watch him narrowly; and do not scruple to shoot the fellow should he show any inclination to play you a treacherous trick.”
I replied that I could not undertake to shoot the man, but should watch him as far as I had the power.
After Rochford, Tim, and I had taken some food and rested, we set out with our fresh companions. We were again successful. In the evening we agreed to camp out, hoping to kill the next morning as much deer as we and the horse could carry together. Lejoillie was in high spirits, his volubility contrasting with Rochford’s taciturnity. We camped in the centre of a wood, so that the flames of our fire might be concealed; and we took good care to examine the neighbourhood, to ascertain that no one was concealed there. We had, of course, an abundance of venison for supper. Having finished our meal, we lay down to rest, Lejoillie volunteering to keep the first watch. I was to have the second, and Rochford and Tim the third and fourth; for we did not invite the Indian and the other men to keep guard. We lay down as close to the fire as we could, that the smoke might assist in keeping off the mosquitoes and other stinging insects. Spotted Wolf, observing that he was indifferent as to their bites, rolled himself up in a blanket which had been given him at the fort, and lay down a short distance off, at the foot of the nearest tree. I remember, as I closed my eyes, seeing Lejoillie walking up and down, his rifle in his hand, now approaching the horse, which was tethered close at hand, at a spot where the grass was abundant, now taking a look at the Indian, who appeared to be sound asleep. It seemed to me not a minute after my eyes had been shut that I heard Lejoillie’s voice rousing me to keep my watch. The fire was lower than I expected to find it. I asked him why he had not kept it up.
“Better not to have more blaze than we can help,” he answered. “It is just possible, too, that I may have dozed for a moment while I sat down against a tree. However, no harm is done; and I will now finish my nap.” Saying this, he threw himself on the ground in the place I had just left vacant.
“I suspect that our friends, as you also, will thank me for putting some more sticks on the fire,” I observed. “The smoke will help to drive off the mosquitoes, which have been biting abominably; and I heard them buzzing round my ears the moment you called me.”
I found by my watch that Lejoillie had allowed nearly an hour to pass since he ought to have aroused me, and that I should in consequence have but a short time to stand sentry. Taking up my rifle, I determined to be more wakeful than he had been. I stepped towards where Spotted Wolf was lying. He appeared to me to be sleeping soundly, with his head covered up in his blanket, and his feet thrust into a heap of leaves. The horse was farther off than it had been before, and I supposed that Lejoillie had shifted its tether so as to allow it to obtain more grass. I continued pacing up and down, now and then stopping to throw a few more sticks on the fire. The stars shone bright overhead, but there was no moon, and the lean-tos threw a dark shadow over the ground around, so that, except when the flames burst up, I could distinguish nothing clearly at any distance from the camp. The usual sounds which were wont to reach our ears during darkness in the forest were alone heard: the screeching of some night-bird, the croaking of frogs, the burr and buzz of insects innumerable, and occasionally a rustling among the dry palmetto leaves, which I knew was probably produced by a rattlesnake. I was thankful when I saw that it was time to call up Rochford. While I was arousing him, I thought I heard the sound of a horse moving rapidly over the ground.
“Hark!” I exclaimed, “can that be our horse which has got loose?” We both looked in the direction where we had last seen the animal, but it was nowhere visible.
“It has got loose somehow or other. We must try to catch it,” cried Rochford.
Before I followed him, I sprang forward to where I supposed the Indian was sleeping. I lifted the blanket,—a heap of leaves alone was beneath it. He was gone. There could be no doubt that he had carried off the horse. We might as well try to overtake a fleet deer as to attempt to catch him on foot. I shouted to Rochford, fearing that he might be led too far from the camp to be able to regain it.
“Spotted Wolf has escaped, and has gone off with the horse!” I cried out.
My voice aroused our sleeping companions, who sprang to their feet. Fortunately Rochford had heard me, and came back. We at once held a consultation as to what was to be done. It was the general opinion that Spotted Wolf would rejoin our late assailants, and probably bring them down upon us. We therefore agreed to load ourselves with the venison, and set off at once for the fort. Lejoillie was very much ashamed of himself, as it was evident that the Indian had made his preparations for escaping while he had been dozing. The stars served to guide us, and although we frequently stumbled over logs of wood and branches, we managed to get some distance before daylight. We then pushed on as fast as our weary legs and heavy loads would allow us.
Our friends were very much surprised at seeing us arrive without the horse.
“I thought so!” exclaimed Carlos, when we told of the Indian’s flight. “I knew that fellow was trying to play us a trick from the first; and he would have done so before now, had we not kept a watchful eye on him.”
We brought venison enough to last a couple of days, or even longer on short commons, provided we could manage to dry it in the sun or smoke it.
Rochford told me that he had resolved to set out immediately, and make his way to the lodges of Oceola. Captain Norton, on hearing of his determination, though anxious to recover my cousin, saw clearly the danger our friend would run, especially since the spy had made his escape, and coming into the hut where we were standing, spoke earnestly to him on the subject.
“Spotted Wolf will tell the Redskins that you have been with us,” he said. “They, of course, considering that we are their enemies, will treat you very differently to what they might previously have done.”
“I am fully prepared for every danger I may have to encounter,” answered Rochford, as he took the captain’s hand; “but I have resolved, at the risk of my life, to restore Juanita to her family, if she be willing to intrust herself to my care. I have become acquainted with Oceola, and know him to be as generous as he is brave, although he may not have been able to restrain his followers from committing the cruel and sanguinary deeds of which they have been guilty. We shall meet again, I trust, ere long; and if not, those here will know that I have fallen in a righteous cause.”
Captain Norton, on receiving this reply, no longer endeavoured to dissuade Rochford from his enterprise. “I believe that your plan, from its boldness, is more likely to succeed than any I can devise,” he answered. “Go; and may success crown your efforts!”
Rochford’s dog, which stood by, looked up into its master’s face, as if asking leave to accompany him.
“Yes, my faithful Rob,” he said, patting the animal’s head, “I will not leave you behind this time. You have already saved my life, and will, I know, keep a careful watch over my solitary camp at night.”
Having bade us all farewell, and wrung his cousin’s hand for the last time, Rochford, followed by Rob, hastened from the fort, and was soon lost to sight among the trees.
We remained for the next two days, in the hope of receiving information from the commandant of Fort King; but neither of the two trusty scouts who had been despatched thither returned. At last our provisions had come so nearly to an end that Captain Norton considered, unless we could obtain a fresh supply, it would be necessary to proceed there at once. Had Spotted Wolf not deserted us, we might have sent out a hunting party in the neighbourhood; but as it was thought that he would to a certainty give information to our enemies, and that they would in all probability return and cut off any small party outside the fort, arrangements were made for recommencing the march. Our chief difficulty in a forced march, such as we intended to make, was to convey the wounded man, the sole survivor of the massacred party we had discovered. A strong litter had been prepared, and several men had volunteered to carry him. He had, however, made no progress towards recovery, and the evening before we were to start he was evidently worse.
Tim, who had assisted my father in doctoring him, entered the little room appropriated to the officers. “I am afraid, sir, that Mike Dillon is going to slip through our fingers after all,” he said. “He has asked to see you and the captain, but I fear, by the time you get to him, he’ll have little power to say anything.”
On receiving this summons, we hastened to the hut, where, on a rough pallet, lay the wounded trooper. His eyes turned towards us as we entered.
“The Indians have done for me, gentlemen; and I want to thank you for the care you have taken of a poor fellow,” he gasped out. “If any of you get back, and ever visit Philadelphia, I would ask you as a favour to visit my poor mother, Widow Dillon, and tell her how I came to my end. Give her my love, and say I died in the hope that she would forgive me for the trouble I had caused her.” His words grew fainter as he spoke.
Captain Norton promised that he would carry out his request; and in a few minutes after the young soldier breathed his last.
We buried him that night, just outside the fort, not far from where its former defenders lay. We none of us could tell how soon we might share his fate. Captain Norton, well aware of the dangers to which we should be exposed, charged the scouts to keep a vigilant look-out, so as to avoid being led into an ambush, or surprised in any other way.
Next morning, no messenger having arrived from Fort King, or from any other direction, we commenced our march. | <urn:uuid:4e8e4d85-dc1d-4d6d-ab76-d641c74f4738> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/119/in-the-wilds-of-florida/2058/chapter-13/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989331 | 6,805 | 2.703125 | 3 |
If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
Religion and Values3
Food Fashion & Fun12
20 Interesting Facts about China13
China differs from other cultures by its wide range of topics such as government, religion, ethics, etc The People's Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo) is located in the Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam. With a total area of 9,596,960 sq. Km, borders with: Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macao, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam.
World's fourth-largest country (after Russia, Canada, and US) with the Mount Everest on the border with Nepal. Three river valleys, the Haung, the Chang, and the Xia split China into three parts. Most of the rest of China is covered with mountains or is very dry and hilly. On the northwest border of China there is a huge, cold desert called the Gobi. A lot of the features of China have kept itself isolated so they have grown all by itself without much outside activity. The clime is extremely diverse, tropical in south to subarctic in north. The country suffers frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern and eastern coasts), damaging floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and droughts.
The Republic of China is governed by a communist state whose president is Jiang Zemin. The capital Beijing... | <urn:uuid:26adf413-56f1-4bba-9068-e470484fb7f1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.writework.com/essay/cultural-analysis-people-s-republic-china | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915735 | 387 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The Balducci levitation is a levitation illusion that was first described by Ed Balducci in 1974. It is an impromptu magic trick, which has been popularized by many magicians, such as David Roth, Paul Harris and David Blaine.
The performer stands at an angle facing away from the spectators. The performer appears to levitate a few inches above the ground. The effect generally does not last for more than five seconds. The performer's feet return to the ground, and the effect is complete.
In and outs
Other methods of levitation allow for greater heights, longer durations, and better viewing angles for performance; however, most of these methods can only be performed on a stage because they require special equipment or setups (such as wires). The Balducci levitation requires no preparation of any kind, and so it can be performed impromptu - anytime, anywhere. Although variations have been made to improve the illusion of genuine levitation, they are generally harder to perform, and some require gimmicks or setups that make them less practical than the Balducci levitation.
Like many magic effects, this illusion relies mostly on subtle misdirection and acting on the part of the performer.
These psychological subtleties increase the probability that spectators will believe the illusion:
- The spectators are informed ahead of time that the performer intends to levitate.
- The performer pretends to put a good deal of care in choosing a place to perform the levitation.
- The performer acts as if performing the levitation is difficult and physically straining.
- The performer emphasizes the fact that there are no gimmicks (wires, etc.) used, and encourages that the area and the performers clothing be examined.
These physical subtleties make the levitation seem more amazing:
- The spectators are misdirected from the performer's method because they are concentrating on the movement of the feet and the space that appears between the feet and the ground.
- When "landing," the performer will make a point of hitting the ground hard with the feet, and bending the knees to convince the spectators that the performer's feet were higher in the air than they actually were.
The effects of these subtleties can be seen in David Blaine's television performances of this illusion. For example, one spectator is asked how high Blaine levitated. She gestures a height that is obviously a few inches higher than the illusion is capable of producing, demonstrating that subtleties can often cause a spectator's interpretation of an effect to be better than the effect itself.
The reverse Balducci illusion is similar to the Balducci illusion, but the magician faces towards the audience at a 90-degree angle rather than facing away.
Ed Balducci published the first known description of the illusion in July 1974 in The Pallbearer's Review, (Volume 9, Number 9, pp 755) under the name "Impromptu Levitation." Balducci ended his description by saying, Originator unknown. It was shown to me many years ago by one of the Harmonicats, a cousin of mine, Erwin Levine, known as the Baron.
Despite Balducci's disclaimer, the illusion has since been known as the "Balducci Levitation."
- Antigravity boots by Peter Marvey
- Elevator levitation by Peter Loughran
- King levitation by Corey King
- Criss Angel's Levitation by Criss Angel
- Sooperman by Paul Harris
- Zero Gravity by Mike Bent
Appearances in popular media
- The "Reverse Balducci" was performed by Wade's crew members in the film You Got Served
- The "Reverse Balducci" is mentioned in issue 25 of Y - The Last Man
- Hotel Babylon S3E7 features a character (Dan Black) loosely based on David Blaine, who performs the illusion in the lift; later one of the main characters (Anna) shows the other hotel staff (but not the viewer!) how the illusion is performed.
| This page incorporated content from Balducci Levitation,
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Which of the following statements accurately describes the culture media necessary for growing Clostridium tetani? A.) A chemically defined medium is one made up of extracts such as those from yeasts, meat, or plants whose exact chemical composition may vary slightly. B.) A complex medium is one whose exact chemical composition is known. C.) Reducing media are complex media containing chemicals, such as thioglycolate, that combine with oxygen, creating an anaerobic environment. D.) Nutrient agar contains ingredients that combine with oxygen and remove it, creating an anaerobic environment. | <urn:uuid:d6f6b79f-244b-49c7-b434-68b590167ea1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/following-statements-accurately-describes-culture-media-necessary-growing-clostridium-teta-q3772211 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00108-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928658 | 119 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Friday, December 02, 2011
Reading Shakespeare helps doctors understand patients' mental state
Doctors should brush up on their Shakespeare to help improve their understanding of how the mind can affect the body, according to an unusual study. Dr Kenneth Heaton said many doctors don't realise how many physical symptoms can be caused solely by psychological problems. But the Bard's works help illustrate this link because he had such an 'exceptional awareness of bodily sensations'.
The former gastroenterologist and expert on 16th-century literaturelooked for descriptions of sensory ailments in all 42 of Shakespeare's major works. He found dozens of examples when characters experienced psychosomatic symptoms - which was far more than in the writings of his contemporaries. For instance Hamlet is shown suffering from fatigue as a result of grief, crying out: 'How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable seem to me all the uses of this world!' Meanwhile, coldness is shown to be a symptom of shock, as when Juliet in Romeo and Juliet reveals: 'I have a faint cold fear that thrills through my veins.'
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We promote healthy living conditions through clean air, safe food, and reduced exposure to environmental health and safety hazards.
Air Pollution Control
This program is responsible for promoting the physical health and welfare of the public by protecting and enhancing the quality of the ambient air in Nashville (Davidson County), Tennessee.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
Food Protection Services
The Metro Public Health Department's Food Division provides protection from the threat of foodborne illnesses by conducting inspections among Davidson County's food service establishments (restaurants, snack bars, and school cafeterias) and retail food stores (groceries). During the year over 13,000 inspections are conducted by the Health Department’s Food Protection staff.
Visit the Restaurant Scores page for more information.
Pest Management Services
The Health Department's Pest Management Services Division conducts on-site monitoring and control of insects such as mosquitoes, ticks, rats, mice and other animals that are capable of transmitting the spread of disease. In addition, information regarding management of bed bugs are provided.
Public Facilities Inspection
This program conducts environmental health and safety inspections of public swimming pools, hotels and motels, day cares, schools, correctional facilities and tattoo parlors located in Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. The program responds to complaints on these establishments to ensure the continued health and safety of the public.
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The best food inspection score is 100 points. Any score of 69 and below is considered a failing score. Any establishment with a critical violation must be re-inspected within ten days. An establishment's food permit can be revoked if it has three consecutive scores below 70 points with the same critical violations on each of the three inspections.
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Services provided range from soils interpretation, design of on-site subsurface sewage disposal systems, technical consulting, land use and development, noise pollution, monitoring of percolation tests, groundwater protection, and the promotion of public sanitary sewers.
The Vehicle Inspection Program is responsible for the light duty automobile and truck emission testing program in Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. The program became mandatory January 1, 1985, and is a centralized testing program. | <urn:uuid:3a39d05a-88d0-48eb-ad1e-ade7298f94a8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nashville.gov/Health-Department/Environmental-Health.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921898 | 536 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Amino acids and protein structure
Today we're going to introduce some of the fundamentals of protein structure. This may seem far-removed from gene cloning, but it is the path to understanding the genes that we are cloning.
For this lecture, much of the material that will be presented is "off-site" and you will need to have the right type of browser plug-in to take full advantage of the site. Fortunately it is all free, though it may be more difficult to use if you are on a vintage computer or have the wrong flavor of browser.
We've already had some opportunity to use Chime when we were looking at DNA structure, back in the first lecture, but Chime really becomes useful when we turn to study proteins. Here's an example of a site using Chime. See if it will work for you.
Of course I'm sure you remember the fundamentals of protein structure from your introductory biology course. We have such a thing as primary structure, which is simply the order in which you find the amino acids in a polypeptide sequence. When we talk about the primary structure of a protein, or as we sometimes say, the primary sequence, we are not talking about anything having to do with the shape of the protein in space. For that, we have other names.
We use the name secondary structure to refer to assembly of alpha helices and beta sheets, and these are regular shapes that depend on hydrogen bonding between elements of the peptide backbone. A protein may form a tertiary structure by bringing together amino acids from widely spaced segments of the primary sequence, and the types of interactions that are important in forming tertiary structure are hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions or "salt bridges", and disulfide linkages. Multiple polypeptide chains can be brought together to form a quaternary structure, as in the example of hemoglobin which has four polypeptide chains (alpha2beta2). So, does it matter if we use the word polypeptide or the word protein? It does. In increasing order of length, we would say amino acid, dipeptide, tripeptide, ..., polypeptide. Sometimes we use the word oligopeptide to talk about a short polypeptide, but the word does not imply a specific length. A polypeptide is a single polymer of amino acids. A protein on the other hand, may be an assemblage of one or more polypeptides.
The peptide backbone
So - let's review then.
Amino acids differ in their side chains, which we refer to as R groups, and the R groups are attached to the alpha carbon of the backbone. Here's a really stripped down structure of an amino acid that doesn't show any of the hydrogen atoms. The amino group on the far left would usually be NH3 with a positive charge. The carbon marked with the letter alpha would have a hydrogen atom and an R group bound to it, and the carboxyl carbon would be typically a dissociated carboxylic acid (COO-).
What do we mean by a peptide backbone? It is the regular structure that forms when we link these amino acids together through making an amide bond (which we call a peptide bond)
One important concept is that the carboxyl carbon is planar, due to the partial double-bond character of the amide group. That is, the three atoms bonded with the nitrogen are squashed into the same plane as the nitrogen, rather than forming a tetrahedonal structure as in the case of the ammonia molecule. The planar regions in this picture below are shaded.
These details are explained in a site from Tulane University.
The Phi and Psi angles are also represented in a Chime-based module that is available.
|Let us discuss the structures of each amino acid R group, paying particular
attention to the degree of hydrophobicity, the capacity for hydrogen bonding, and
the capacity to carry a charge.
The twenty amino acids: A Chime-based site
On the matter of charge, this site may explain some of the acid dissociations
Aliphatic amino acids
First let's look at amino acids with aliphatic side groups (R groups), starting with the simplest of all: Glycine only has a hydrogen as a side chain. Alanine is the next largest, with a methyl group. Valine has a three-carbon side chain, while leucine and isoleucine have four-carbon side chains. Proline has a three-carbon side chain that reconnects with the amino nitrogen (making it an imino).
In the renderings shown below, the common peptide backbone is shaded in pink. Pay particular attention to the unshaded atoms.
Aromatic amino acids
Sulfur-containing amino acids
Polar, uncharged amino acids
Polar, charged amino acids
Look closely at the pKa's of the R groups. Aspartic and glutamic are carboxylic acidic side chains, tending to be dissociated (negatively charged) at neutral pH. Histidine has a pKa of 6, and lysine and arginine are basic with pKa's of about 10.5 and 12.5 respectively. These would be protonated (positively charged) at neutral pH.
Meet the amino acids: A chime-based site showing electrostatic and lipophilic surfaces
Here's a question for you
|Now that you've learned a bit about amino acid sice chains, and the
peptide backbone, what would be the net charge on an amino acid such as glycine,
at a pH of 7?
Well, you have a dissociated carboxylic acid (with a pKa of about 2) and a protonated amine (with a pKa of about 9). The net charge is zero, but of course that is because it has one negative and one positive charge. We call that a zwitterion.
Suppose I asked the same question about an amino acid like glutamic acid (pKa (R) = 4.25)?
Or suppose we were trying to figure the net charge on lysine (pKa (R) = 10.53)?
Now a more complicated question. Is there an easy way to figure the net charge of the following protein at pH 7.0?
The N and C termini are going to be of equal and opposite charge, and you also have positive charges from each lysine (K) and arginine (R). If the pH is below the pKa of histidine (H), you would also add positive charges for those as well. You will find negative charges on each aspartic (D) and glutamic (E) side chain. So, the net charge is +1(N term) + +1(K) + -1(E) + -1 (E) + -1 (C term)= -1
Here's a slightly different question. What would be the net charge of ILIKECALSTATE at pH 3.0? Would it be different, considering that the R groups of the glutamic acids (E) would be protonated?
Protein structure primer
There are several types of protein structural elements that we are going to study:
The key to understanding these structures is to look at the hydrogen bonding pattern. In an alpha helix, for example, H bonds are forming between a donor (amide nitrogen) at one residue (n) and acceptor (amide oxygen) three residues away (n+3). The helix is typically right-handed, with 3.6 residues per turn.
We will spend a considerable amount of time working with these links in lecture:
Test your knowledge
|Take the amino
Take the protein structure quiz
Department of Biology
California State University Northridge
Northridge CA 91330-8303
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Classical Chinese gardens and fountains are more than collections of beautiful plants, trees and water. They are representations of nature, providing insight into the philosophical and spiritual mind of past Chinese artisans and high-ranking citizens.
The principles of classical Chinese gardening can be useful and insightful to garden lovers living anywhere in the world. Chinese design objectives can inspire American home gardeners to try something new such as a garden fountain and encourage the expression of culture and philosophy through gardening.
In the 2,000 years since the imperial family first set aside natural areas for hunting, traditional gardens in China have developed into an art form equal in rank to painting, calligraphy and poetry. Several of the finest gardens, built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1912), have survived the ravages of time and politics.
Suzhou, about 50 miles west of Shanghai, is known as “the city of gardens.” For generations, rich officials, merchants, landowners, scholars, garden designers and garden crafters settled in Suzhou to enhance its fame. The principles of classical Chinese gardens were | <urn:uuid:113013bc-1167-4b93-a49e-4174fd376182> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://momsparkmedia.info/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951518 | 225 | 3.078125 | 3 |
TOKYO Nov 5, 2006 (AP), Japanese scientists reported a bottlenose dolphin, has an extra set of fins that could be the remains of hind limbs. The dolphin was captured alive in western Japan on Oct. 28, by Fishermen. "I believe the fins may be remains from the time when dolphins' ancient ancestors lived on land," said Seiji Osumi, of Tokyo's Institute of Cetacean Research. The hind fins are much smaller than the front fins and are about the size of human hands, protruding near the tail. The dolphin measured approx 9 feet in length.
Dolphin May Have 'Remains' of Legs, Evidence Ocean Mammals Lived on Land A Dolphin with Hind Limbs, Science Blogs Answers In Genesis Response to Dolphin Hind Limb Discovery Hind Limb Buds on Pantropical Spotted Dolphin
I just read AIG's article, "Dolphin found with 'remains of legs' Should creationists surrender?" by Ken Ham and David Menton
November 5, 2006
In that article I noticed this paragraph in particular:
"While cetaceans (dolphins, porpoises, and whales) lack hind limbs, they have pelvic bones that differ in males and females and appear to support the reproductive organs. Whether they also have rudimentary femurs and other leg bones is less certain. For evidence of whale 'legs,' many evolutionists cite a paper published by Struthers in 1881 which purports to describe a rudimentary 'femur' in the adult Greenland Right-Whale (Balaena mysticetus)."
My response to the above paragraph is that
1) Your readers ought to be informed of AIG's changing views concerning whether or not ANY evidence of hind-limbs on cetaceans (ancient or modern), has ever been found. AIG tried to deny the evidence of modern day cetaceans found with remnants of hind limbs, and simply ignored the embryonic evidence found in ALL cetacean embryoes of hind-limb buds. Sarfati told me in an email that he would not even LOOK at the scientific articles I had collected concerning such evidence.
At first AIG even mocked the idea that the bones found near the genitalia of whales were indeed "pelvic" bones. Now it seems AIG is shifting its opinions. You admit above that they are "pelvic" bones. Bravo. But now you assert that the existence of "femurs" is "uncertain."
2) But the existence of "femoral" bones is not "uncertain" at all according to the world's leading cetacean scholars.
"The existence of a pair of small pelvic bones is known to exist in nearly all of the Cetacea...[and] in the Fin Whale, the Blue Whale, and the Humpback, the femur too is present near the pelvis. [Even in the Sperm Whale the femur is sometimes present (in the form of a small round-shaped bone near the pelvis).-E.T.B., there are photos at my website edwardtbabinski.us/whales] And in the Right Whale not only the femur but also the tibia exists. [An exhibit concerning Strutthers's dissections is on display at a museum. See photo of that exhibit at my website. - E.T.B.]." [Ogawa, R., and Kamiya, T. A. (1957) "Case of the Cachalot [Sperm Whale] With Protruded Rudimentary Hind Limbs." Scientific Reports of the Whales Research Insititute, No. 12, p. 197-208.]
Also note my earlier submission to AIG on this topic:
SUBMITTED TO "FEEDBACK" AT "ANSWERS IN GENESIS" 3/6/2006
In John Woodmorappe's article, "Walking whales, nested hierarchies, and chimeras: do they exist?" he added in a footnote, "...National Geographic mentions the fact that...the usually tiny ‘hindlimbs’ found in modern whales serve as anchors for the muscles of the genitalia. There is thus no compelling reason for considering the reduced hindlimbs, which occur in true cetaceans, as evolutionary leftovers of a terrestrial ancestry."
No compelling reason? How does he arrive at that conclusion? The fact that such hindlimbs serve as "anchors for the muscles of genitalia" is yet another reason to agree that we are speaking about a vestigial pelvis in the whale, because the pelvis in land mammals also provides "anchors for the muscles of the genitalia."
Secondly, the the embryos of ALL cetacean species (i.e., whales & dolphins) not only develop FRONT-limb buds that grow into their front limbs (limbs with finger bones and finger muscles like in land mammals, but the muscles have become skinny less flexible tendons); but all cetacean embryos ALSO develop HIND-limb buds that appear (then get reabsorbed in the embryonic stage)!
The question for creationists is why do hind-limb buds develop in all cetacean embryos if the idea of "hindlimbs" on a cetacean is something creationists continue to try and deny?
Modern cetaceans not only have pelvic bones, but some species also have femurs, while still others have a remnant pelvis, femur and TIBIA as well! Some such remnants on rare occasions even buldge or protrude from the cetacean's body! For photos just google: Cetacean Evolution Babinski
One species, the Right Whale, features remnants of femurs, tibias AND the synovial capsules around the joints connecting them to one another, exactly as expected if we are indeed talking about remnants of hind-limbs.
"One cannot help being convinced, as the dissection goes on, that these rudiments [in the Right Whale] really are femur and tibia. The synovial capsule representing the knee-joint was too evident to be overlooked. An acetabular cartilage, synovial cavity, and head of femur, together represent the hip-joint. Attached to this femur is an apparatus of constant and strong ligaments, permitting and restraining movements in certain directions; and muscles are present, some passing to the femur from distant parts, some proceeding immediately from the pelvic bone to the femur, by which movements of the thigh-bone are performed; and these ligaments and muscles present abundant instances of exact and interesting adaptation. But the movements of the femur are extremely limited, and in two of these whales the hip-joint as firmly anchylosed, in one of them on one side, in the other on both sides, without trace of disease, showing that these movements may be dispensed with. The function point of view fails to account for the presence of a femur in addition to processes from the pelvic bone. Altogether, these hind legs in this whale present for contemplation a most interesting instance of those significant parts in an animal -- rudimentary structures." [Struthers, John, M.D., Professor of Anatomy in the University of Aberdeen. (1881) "On the Bones, Articulations, and Muscles of The Rudimentary Hind-Limb of the Greenland Right-Whale (Balaena mysticetus)." Journal of Anatomy and Physiology (London), Vol. 15, p. 141-321.] Google: Cetacean Evolution Babinski
OTHER vestiges that point to the mammalian land ancestry of modern day cetacea (whales & dolphins) include:
1) Forelimbs that feature bones and finger-muscles as in land mammals but although the bones and muscles remain present the muscles are much reduced, largely non-contractile and act more in the fashion of ligaments.
2) Cetaceans have hearts with ventricles and auricles just like land mammals.
3) Cetaceans are warm-blooded like land mammals.
4) Cetaceans have lungs like land mammals.
5) Cetceans nurse their young like land mammals.
6) Cetaceans have eyelids that move as in land mammals.
Fin? Fin? Creation Ministries International
(formerly Answers in Genesis)
keep trumpeting that word as if the dolphin were a mere fish.
See for instance, "A dolphin with legs—NOT" by Carl Wieland
8 November 2006
They ignore that the dolphin is a mammal, hence its front appendage is a forelimb, not a "fin," but merely functions as a "fin." And its forelimb is composed of bones homologous to the arms and hands of its quadrupedal ancestors.
The absence today of hind limbs in dolphins and other living cetacean species serves as proof that even vestigial hind limbs are no longer needed for either guidance or copulation. Yet the fossil record shows that hind-limb rudiments were the RULE long ago when the first dolphin and cetaceans lived. And hind-limb buds can STILL be seen sprouting from the embryo in the same places as they do in other mammals, but in the case of the cetacea such buds are reabsorbed and do not develop into hind limbs, though sometimes the buds do become rudimentary hind limbs that have been found occasionally on modern day dolphins and other cetaceans, and those hind limb vestiges have been x-rayed and/or dissected and proven to contain vestigial bone and cartilage resembling femurs, and sometimes also contain vestigial femurs and tibias and synovial capsules between them, and sometimes they even contain femurs, tibias and some hand and fingerbones.
See the evidence at edwardtbabinski.us
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Following is an introduction (including a thesis), body paragraph, and outlines for several more paragraphs. You will bring something similar to class.
20 January 2000
In presenting criteria that a tragedy should meet, Aristotle always speaks in terms of contingencies, nuances, and connections. Put another way, his formula for tragedy requires un-formulaic characters and events. The main character should evoke both "pity" and "fear" in equal measure, his downfall initiated by a "mistake" (1030-31). Describing characters who should be "lifelike," "consistent" (even if "consistently inconsistent") and appropriate, Aristotle delineates what today we might call "psychological realism" (1031-32). In other words, he calls for characters with complex but believable motives; when he advocates "good" characters, he means not that they must always do the right thing but rather that they should "reveal in speech or action what their moral choices are" (1031). By consistently resisting an overly predictable narrative, Sophocles' Oedipus the King meets Aristotle's tragic requirements.
To begin with the ending, Oedipus does not fall into the "deus ex machina" trap which Aristotle criticizes. The "dénouement of the plot," Aristotle explains, "should arise from the plot itself and not be brought about 'from the machine'" (1032). A clever use of dramatic irony helps reinforce the connection between the conclusion and the plot of Oedipus. For example, well before Oedipus knows what he has done, his words display a willful personality inclined to act rashly. Promising to find out who killed Laius, Oedipus proclaims, "Whoever killed the king may decide to kill me too, / with the same violent hand -- by avenging Laius / I defend myself" (158-60). Unaware that he is Laius' killer, Oedipus subtly reminds the audience that he will consider killing himself and "with the same violent hand" will destroy his eyes. Providing this hint of the ending very early on, the play prepares the audience for the dénouement by strengthening the bonds between Oedipus the King's plot and its outcome.
The numerous references to sight and blindness serve a similar purpose: they anticipate the conclusion without predicting it.
-- first example: conversation between Tiresias and Oedipus (421-25). Oedipus tells Tiresias, "You've lost your power, / stone-blind, stone deaf -- senses, eyes blind as stone!" and Tireseias responds, "I pity you, flinging at me the very insults / each man here will fling at you so soon" (422-25).
-- second example: Oedipus ultimately blinds himself at play's end.
If the connections between these events seem too obvious, the complexity of Oedipus' hubris keeps the audience in suspense despite the foreshadowing. Since hubris describes both "overweening pride" and "self-confidence," it is Oedipus' largest "mistake" and his greatest asset. At each turn of the play, one can see both the strengths that earned him the title of King and the weaknesses that will topple him from power.
-- first example: the fact that he solved the riddle of the Sphinx (44-45) and that his people turn to him in times of crisis: "his plans will work in a crisis, his first of all" says the priest (56). These facts show his self-confidence to be a great help, a steadying presence in times of danger.
-- second example: Hubris also prevents him from listening to Creon, so include Chorus' advice -- "Believe it, be sensible / give way, my king, / beg you!" (725-26). | <urn:uuid:9a890953-12bf-4846-8a7e-90b9ba8f94ad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/engl.s00/sample_essay.oedipus.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944689 | 817 | 3.328125 | 3 |
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Heavier Baby Girls at Higher Risk for Diabetes, Heart Woes as Adults
Study found that as teens, they have larger waist size, higher blood levels of insulin, fat
THURSDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight female babies are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in adulthood, a new study suggests.
Researchers looked at more than 1,000 17-year-olds in Australia who had been followed since birth. The goal was to examine whether birth weight and body fat distribution in early childhood was associated with future health risk factors such as obesity, insulin resistance and high blood pressure.
The study found that teen girls with larger waist circumference, higher levels of insulin and triglycerides (a type of fat found in the blood), and lower levels of "good" HDL cholesterol were heavier from birth than other girls.
Birth weight and body fat distribution in early childhood seemed to have no impact on these risk factors in males, the authors noted.
The study will be published in the June issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
"What happens to a baby in the womb affects future heart disease and diabetes risk when the child grows up," lead author Dr. Rae-Chi Huang of the University of Western Australia in Perth, said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.
"We found that female babies are particularly prone to this increased risk, and females who are at high risk of obesity and diabetes-related conditions at age 17 are showing increased obesity as early as 12 months of age," Huang said.
Huang said the findings are important because there are increasing rates of obesity and gestational diabetes among pregnant women in Western nations. This means a rise in the number of overweight female babies.
"Our results can be applied to public health messages targeting both maternal health and measures in early infancy regarding the prevention of childhood obesity and its consequences," Huang said.
Although the study showed an association between early obesity and increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
The Nemours Foundation has more about children and weight.
Source: SOURCE: The Endocrine Society, news release, March 29, 2012
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:1111eab8-c457-40cc-9190-04321083f6ef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.summitmedicalgroup.com/healthday/article/663214/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960496 | 474 | 2.53125 | 3 |
TEs Must Say the Explanation of an Illusion is Itself an Illusion as the Price of Admission to the “Cool Kids” Club
|October 23, 2013||Posted by Barry Arrington under Intelligent Design|
Editors: This was originally posted under a different title in May 2012. We were inspired to repost it by Dr. Sewell’s post here.
Bishop Ussher famously calculated that the universe was created on October 23, 4004 BC. I do not hold this or any other young earth creationist (YEC) position. The evidence that the universe is several billion years old seems fairly compelling to me. In particular, certain celestial objects (stars, galaxies, supernovas, etc.) are billions of light years away. From this fact I deduce that the light we see from these objects has been traveling billions of years to get to us, which leads to the conclusion that the objects emitted the light billions of years ago, which in turn means the objects are billions of years old. This chain of inferences obviously leaves no room for an age of the universe measured in only thousands of years.
YEC proponents have the same evidence as the rest of us, and they admit the universe appears to be billions of years old. Nevertheless, they persist in their YEC beliefs. How can they do this? There is an enormous body of literature on the subject that cannot be summarized adequately in the confines of a blog post, but the short answer is YECs have erected a series of plausible (to them) explanations for the apparent age of the universe. For example, some YECs hold that just as God created Adam with apparent age (i.e, he started out as an adult; he was never an infant, a toddler, or a teenager), God also created the universe with apparent age. This means that the light we see from those distant objects was not emitted billions of years ago. Instead, God created that light “in route.” Other YECs assert that the speed of light need not have been constant, and if light traveled in the past many times faster than it does now, our deductions about the age of the universe based on an assumption that the speed of light has always been the same would be wrong.
I do not reject YEC reasoning such as this as a logical impossibility. By this I mean that while God cannot do logically impossible things (e.g., he cannot make a “square circle” or cause 2+2 to equal 73), he can perform miracles. He can turn water into wine; he can make five loaves of bread and two fish feed thousands of people. Indeed, the very act of creating the universe — no matter when he did it — was a miracle. Therefore, I conclude that God, being God, could have created the universe on October 23, 4004 BC and made it look billions of years old just as the YECs say, even if that is not what I personally believe.
The YEC position cannot, therefore, be refuted as a logical impossibility. Nor can it be refuted by appealing to the evidence. “Wait just a cotton picking minute Barry!” you might say. “In the first paragraph you told us you believe the ‘evidence’ leads to the conclusion that the universe is billions of years old.” And so I did. Here is where we must distinguish between the evidence, which is the same for everyone, and an interpretive framework for that evidence, which can vary. By “interpretive framework” I mean the set of unprovable assumptions each of us brings to bear when we analyze the evidence. For example, the vast majority of scientists assume that the speed of light has been constant since the beginning of the universe. As we have seen, some YEC scientists believe that light has slowed down significantly since the creation event. Obviously, conclusions about the age of the universe from the “light evidence” will vary enormously depending upon which group is correct.
Very interestingly, despite the fact that most people believe that it is a scientifically proven “fact” that the speed of light has always been the same as it is now, it most certainly is not. The current speed of light is an observable scientific fact. We cannot, however, know with certainty what the speed of light was before observations of the speed of light were made. This assertion is not in the least controversial. Mainstream scientists admit that their assumptions about the fixed nature of the speed of light in the remote past are just that, assumptions. In philosophical terms, mainstream scientists subscribe to “uniformitarianism,” the assumption that physical processes operated in the past in the same way they are observed to operate now. YEC scientists by and large reject uniformitarianism. Which group is correct is beside my point. The point is that uniformitarianism is an assumption of most scientists. It has not been, and indeed as a matter of strict logic cannot be, demonstrated by science. In other words, the uniformitarian assumption is part of the interpretive framework mainstream scientists bring to bear on the evidence. The uniformitarian assumption is not part of the evidence itself.
This brings me to the point of this post. I don’t usually argue with YEC’s, because no matter how long and hard you argue with them, you will never convince them based on appeals to logic and evidence. There is, almost literally, nothing you can say that might change their mind, so arguing with them is usually pointless. Yes, the YEC proponent has the same evidence that you do, but he interprets that evidence within a different interpretive framework. You might think his interpretive framework is flawed, but you cannot say, as a matter of strict logic, that his interpretive framework must be necessarily flawed. In other words, you must admit that as a matter of strict logic it is possible, for instance, for light to be slower now than it was in the past. And given the premise of some YECs that light is in fact slower now than it was in the past, their conclusions might then follow.
Why do YECs reject uniformitarianism? Because they are devoted to a particular interpretation of the Biblical creation account. They believe the Bible says the universe was created in six days a few thousand years ago, and if they are going to believe the Bible is true they must therefore believe the universe was created in six days a few thousand years ago. It does no good to appeal to logic or evidence. As I have demonstrated above, a young universe is not a logical impossibility and no matter what evidence you adduce that, to you, indicates the universe is very old, the YEC will have an answer (e.g., “light has slowed down”).
I was thinking about this yesterday when we were discussing the theistic evolutionists (TEs) over at BioLogos. TEs are like YECs in this respect — they cling to a scientific view that runs counter to the obvious evidence because of their prior commitments.
Let me explain what I mean. Just as it is “obvious” that the universe appears to be several billion years old, it is “obvious” that living things appear to have been designed for a purpose. That statement is not based on my religious beliefs; even the atheists believe that living things appear to have been designed for a purpose. Arch-atheist Richard Dawkins famously said that “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose.” Surely our friends at BioLogos will go as far as atheist Dawkins and admit that living things “appear” to have been designed for a purpose.
Now notice the similarity between TEs and YECs: Everyone concedes that the universe appears to be billions of years old; everyone concedes that living things appear to have been designed for a purpose. YECs say the first appearance is an illusion. TEs say the second appearance is an illusion.
We have already seen how YECs come to the conclusion that the apparent age of the universe is an illusion. How do TEs come to the conclusion that the appearance of design in living things is an illusion? The same way Richard Dawkins does, by appealing to the marvelous creative powers of Darwinian processes that, he says, are able to mimic design through strictly natural means. Darwinists say, as they must, that the appearance of design that they admit exists is not real but an illusion. Indeed, the whole purpose of the Darwinian theory of origins is to account for the appearance of design without having to resort to a designer.
YECs reject the “obvious” conclusion about the age of the universe because of their prior commitments. Why do TEs reject the “obvious” conclusion about the design of living things? Further, why do TEs reject that obvious conclusion in the very teeth of the Biblical injunction to regard the appearance of design as proof of God’s existence (Romans 1).
The answer has to do with what I call the “cool kids” impulse that all humans have to one extent or another. When I was in school all of the “cool kids” sat at a particular table at lunch, and everyone wanted to be in that group. I was not a cool kid, and I figured out pretty early that, for better or ill, the streak of stubborn individualism that runs to my very core would probably prevent me from ever being a cool kid. I refused to conform and in order to be a cool kid you have to conform to the other cool kids. Don’t get me wrong. I very much wanted to be a cool kid. Everyone wants to be a cool kid, and believe me, my life would have been so much easier if I had been a cool kid. This is sociology 101. But I was unwilling (perhaps even unable) to pay the price of admission to the cool kids club – i.e., conformity.
The cool kids impulse does not go away when we are adults, and in the academic community all of the cool kids sit at the Darwinian table. TEs want to be cool kids; they want to be respectable and accepted in the academic community. Sadly for them, the price the academic cool kids club extracts for admission is denial of the obvious appearance of design in living things and acceptance of the patent absurdity that the accretion of random errors sorted by a fitness function can account for the stupendously complex nano-machines we call cells.
This is not, however, the end of the story for TEs. They know that to deny design in the universe is to deny the designer of the universe, which is to deny God, and what is the point of being a TE if you reject the “T” part? In order to maintain their membership in the cool kids club TEs slam the front door in God’s face when they deny the reality underlying the apparent design of living things that even atheists admit. But they are perfectly willing to let God in the backdoor just so long as he stays out of sight and doesn’t get them kicked out of the club.
As I discussed yesterday, I am thinking of TEs like Stephen Barr. Dr. Barr is perfectly happy to accept the Darwinian account of evolution. Darwinism says that mechanical necessity (i.e., natural selection) plus random chance (mutation, drift, etc.) are sufficient to account for the apparent design of living things. It is, in StephenB’s words, a “design-free random process.” In his “Miracle of Evolution,” Dr. Barr slams the front door shut on God when he accepts the Darwinian account. Then he cracks the backdoor open ever so slightly to let God slip in when he asserts that what we perceive as a “design-free random process” is really, at a deeper level of existence, directed by God in a way that is empirically undetectable at this level of existence.
Barr is saying that in order to maintain his membership in the cool kids club he must affirm that evolution is purely random and design free. How is his position different from the atheist position espoused by Richard Dawkins? At the level of existence in which we examine empirical data, Barr’s position is identical to Dawkins’ position. But, says Barr, when he uses the word “random,” he really means “apparently random but really directed.” Apparently, Barr believes that, in Einstein’s famous phrase, God really does play dice with the universe. But according to Barr, God, has loaded the dice so that they rolled “life,” however improbable that might have been (like a thousand 7′s in a row with real dice), and God’s dice loading is so clever that the “fix” can never be detected empirically.
In this way Barr maintains membership in the academic cool kids club by espousing a Darwinian account of origins that is indistinguishable from the account of origins that atheists like Dawkins and Dennnett espouse. Yet he keeps the “T” in his “TE” by saying that at a wholly different level of existence God fixed the game so that “random” is not really random but “directed.” He wants to have it both ways.
Here again, the TE position is exactly the same as the YEC position. As we have already seen, you cannot push a YEC off his position by appealing to logic or evidence. Nor can you push Dr. Barr off his position by appealing to logic and evidence. We cannot rule Barr’s position out on strictly logical grounds. God, being God, can certainly fix the dice in an empirically undetectable way if that is how he wants to accomplish his purposes. Nor, by definition, can one rule Barr’s position out empirically short of finding the proverbial “made by YHWH” inscription on a cell.
Finally, there is a certain irony in Barr’s position. The atheist says living things appear to be designed but the appearance of design is an illusion explained by random Darwinian processes. The TE says that living things appear to be designed but the appearance of design is an illusion explained by random Darwinian processes, BUT the randomness of Darwinian process is itself an illusion, because those processes are really directed by God to produce living things. Thus, according to the TEs, the explanation of one illusion (the randomness of underlying Darwinism), which is an explanation of another illusion (the apparent design of living things) is, you guessed it, design. Another way of putting it is the TE says design is an illusion explained by random process which are in turn an illusion explained by design. As the comedian says, “That’s funny. I don’t care who you are.” | <urn:uuid:3bfb5fa2-fd0d-4b34-a978-43d4dd865f6c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/how-tes-are-like-yecs-or-the-explanation-of-the-illusion-is-itself-an-illusion/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970826 | 3,102 | 3.328125 | 3 |
It is useful for interaction in the field of literature. Here you can find essays, poems, and articles, and many more. This site even provides the composition on your topic, you just have to submit your topic.
February 22, 2011 -- Submitted by Diane Owens, a reader from Orion, IL, who is affiliated with the site.
This creative writing program/community assists and motivates young writers in a safe, encouraging environment. Developed by a published author, the site reinforces the 6+1 Trait Writing Model and is designed for 4th-6th graders. The site includes tips and techniques to excite and engage readers, writing activities, story prompts and online resources. Kids can publish their writing to the site and comment on others’ posted work. They can also create stories together.
February 15, 2011 -- Submitted by K Hunt, a teacher from Vancouver, Canada, who is affiliated with the site.
Poetry For Teachers offers several original, fresh, offbeat poems with content touching on race, class, gender, and philosophical issues. These are challenging poems emphasizing the art of learning to read poetry, and mostly suit secondary and college students.
The site offers a specific tack, featuring poems written largely to demonstrate poetic devices and application of poetic concepts. Some poems are designed to be decoded in that they point readers to specific meaning objectives. Mariners and Billy’s Drums exemplify the former and latter approaches.
July 31, 2010 -- From Debbie Langley, a reader from South Africa, who is affiliated with the site.
Find creative writing prompts, topics,tips,tools,ideas,examples and outlines in an easy to use step-by-step format. Writers resources, journaling prompts and essay help for aspiring creative writers.
April 2, 2010 -- From Steven, a reader, from US, who is affiliated with the site.
A creative writing web site for kids. Kids can post their own stories and book reviews, and submit comments on other kids writing, as well as aubmit suggestions to help create a collaborative story. Created and designed by a 10 year old kid.
October 17, 2009 -- From Yolee, a teacher from Virginia, who is affiliated with the site.
Bugnmymug is a great poetry website for children, parents and educators. It is a poetry playhouse where children can read rhyming and silly poetry. There is audio included on the site with various character voices for children to read along to or simply listen to and be greatly amused.
Bugnmymug was created by a parent and and an educator to encourage children to read and inspire them to write. The vision of the website is for parents and educators to use the material at no cost to educate children in a creative way.
Poetry is a another avenue for kids to begin the thinking and writing process. Included on the website are two resources for parents and educators to generate ideas for reading and writing their own poetry.
Be Encouraged, Be inspired and Write On! | <urn:uuid:51a4e64e-aaee-4a6a-82f9-d3355219dd53> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.surfnetkids.com/reader/reviews/how_to_write_poetry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962284 | 624 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Smelly feet may often seem to be more of an inconvenience than an actual symptom. But it is a problem that should be viewed from a medical perspective. Smelly feet is not a problem for every person. In fact some people can wear closed shoes, with no socks for several hours on a hot day and not experience any bad foot odor. While others may use a closed shoe for just a short period without apparently perspiring on the feet and the odor is horrific. So why do some people suffer with smelly feet and others don’t?
About Bad Foot Odor
Bad foot odor is due to a combination of factors – some of which can be easily modified while others are part and parcel of your physical makeup. It does not mean that you will have to live with smelly feet all your life. But it does mean that you will have to be conscientious about a number of everyday factors in order to treat and prevent the problem. The four most important factors that contribute to smelly feet includes:
- Sweating of the feet
- Bacteria, fungi and other microbes on the skin of the feet
- Personal hygiene
- Footwear including socks
The medical term for smelly feet is bromodosis. It is a condition, more of a symptom rather than a disease. By understanding the normal physiology of the skin of the feet and factors that contribute to body odor in general and foot odor specifically, you can identify ways in which to combat this problem. There is no quick fix cure for smelly feet. A number of lifestyle tips and everyday home remedies can be helpful but where necessary, smelly feet may require medical treatment for the underlying cause.
What Causes Smelly Feet?
Every person has a natural body odor which may fluctuate for a number of reasons. The feet is no different. It also has an odor. But an offensive odor is a problem for many people. It can prove to be embarrassing, contribute to low self esteem and even affect interpersonal relationships. The feet are more prone to offensive odors due to a number of factors that may not exist to the same degree elsewhere on the body. The social, occupational and cultural practices of wearing certain footwear is one of the primary factors responsible for smelly feet.
Sweating is a normal part of the body’s mechanism to regulate its temperature. Naturally areas that are covered and enclosed will perspire more than those parts of the body that are uncovered and exposed to air. Sweat is composed of a number of substances some of which may have an offensive odor naturally or be broken down further by microbes which then release and offensive odor. The warmth and darkness of the covered feet provide an ideal environment for microbes such as bacteria and fungi to thrive.
With regular and proper personal hygiene the environment on the skin of the feet is disrupted. This has both advantages and disadvantages for smelly feet. Firstly, proper hygiene eliminates some of the microbes that are responsible for breaking down sweat and producing offensive odors. Secondly, excessive hygiene by people who are concerned about foot odor can disrupt the environment on the skin to the point where other problems, like fungal infections, may arise. This may further worsen the condition.
Ventilate Sweaty Feet
The primary function of sweat is to provide a cooling effect when the temperature of an area, or the entire body, rises too high. With the feet being covered by socks and shoes, the heat buildup within footwear can stimulate sweating. Therefore most people will experience foot sweating. Some people sweat excessively (hyperhidrosis) on certain parts of the body, with the feet being one of the problem areas.
Wearing shoes that allows for ventilation hastens the evaporation of sweat. Open shoes are therefore ideal for people with sweaty feet. Socks can also help the situation by absorbing sweat but can also be a problem in that it retains the moisture. Try to ventilate the feet as often as possible. Go barefoot and use open shoes as often as possible.
Treat Foot Infections
Most infections of the feet are superficial, meaning that it is primarily restricted to the skin on the feet. A fungal infection of the feet (tinea pedis), commonly referred to as athlete’s foot, can be one of the contributors to smelly feet. It is not just the feet – a toe fungus may affect the nails. Fungal infections need to be treated with antifungals and the necessary measures taken to avoid it from recurring. Other foots infections, like a bacterial infection, should also be treated promptly with the right medication. Bacterial foot infections can be much more serious than athlete’s foot.
The Right Shoes And Socks
If socks and shoes cannot be avoided then it is important to wear the right shoes and socks to minimize the factors that contribute to smelly feet. This means shoes that allow for ventilation of the feet, do not promote bacterial growth and fungal infections and will not retain moisture. Socks should be made of light airy material if you like to wear socks around the house without shoes. But with shoes, thicker socks made of natural fibers are preferable to absorb the moisture. Opt for shoes made of natural materials like leather or canvas and stay away from synthetic materials. Sandals and other open shoes are ideal for everyday wear if you are not required to wear closed shoes.
Wash And Disinfect The Feet
Hygiene is important but with smelly feet you may have to take further measures than just soap and water. Wash your feet at least 2 to 3 times a day and try to use an antibacterial soap that will minimize the bacteria on the feet. Make sure that you thoroughly dry your feet after washing to avoid fungal infections. Keep the nails short to limit areas for fungal growth.
It may also be helpful to use an antiseptic solution on the feet daily. Antiseptics that are suitable for skin use can be applied on the feet to prevent bacterial growth during the course of the day. But do not overdo the washing and disinfectants. You may damage the skin on your feet and change the microenvironment in a way that can increase the chances of infections.
Apply Sprays And Powders
There are a number of foot sprays and foot powders on the market. These have several different functions including keeping the feet dry and preventing bacteria and fungi that grow on your skin. In addition, these sprays and powders are often scented to counteract the foul odor from the feet. Foot sprays and powders should be selected carefully. It is important to speak to your doctor or pharmacist. These products should be used as directed. Do not apply excessive amounts or more frequently than the instructions indicate on the packaging. As with foot hygiene, overdoing it can worsen the situation.
See A Foot Doctor
When all other remedies and lifestyle tips fail, it is advisable to see a medical professional. Your family doctor can help you with your problem but ideally you should see a foot doctor who specializes in the health of the feet. Foot doctors are podiatrists who train specifically in assisting patients with feet-related problems. It is important to follow the doctor’s advice closely. Smelly feet is not a problem that can be treated overnight. Even when it resolves, bad foot odor can return and you need to continue taking preventative measures to ensure that it does not start up again in the future. | <urn:uuid:39bd1958-35dd-4f8b-ad6f-300c779b987d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthhype.com/smelly-feet-tips-and-remedies-to-relieve-bad-foot-odor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953175 | 1,510 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Text by Candace Kanes
Images from Maine Historical Society, Aroostook County Historical and Art Museum, Caribou Public Library, East Grand School, Fryeburg Academy Archives, Fryeburg Public Library, L.C. Bates Museum/Good Will Hinckley Home and Pejepscot Historical Society
Maine officially became part of Massachusetts in 1677 and therefore was subject to the laws of that colony, which had required since 1647 that public schools be established.
Despite the law, most youth did not have access to public schools.
By the mid to late eighteenth century, schools were more common in Maine. Some educated both boys and girls; some were limited to one sex or the other.
When Maine became a separate state in 1820, legislators soon passed a school code that required towns to raise money to educate people ages 4 to 21.
The state's first enforced compulsory education law was passed in 1887 and since that time, fall has meant "back to school" for most young people in the state. | <urn:uuid:deee1fb5-8520-47e8-9d68-182de596df1d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/159/page/418/display | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00000-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97905 | 213 | 3.296875 | 3 |
- freely available
Nutrients 2013, 5(11), 4642-4652; doi:10.3390/nu5114642
Abstract: Diets eliminating animal products have rarely been associated with hypothyroidism but may protect against autoimmune disease. Thus, we investigated whether risk of hypothyroidism was associated with vegetarian compared to omnivorous dietary patterns. The Adventist Health Study-2 was conducted among church members in North America who provided data in a self-administered questionnaire. Hypothyroidism was queried at baseline in 2002 and at follow-up to 2008. Diet was examined as a determinant of prevalent (n = 4237 of 65,981 [6.4%]) and incident cases (1184 of 41,212 [2.9%]) in multivariate logistic regression models, controlled for demographics and salt use. In the prevalence study, in addition to demographic characterstics, overweight and obesity increased the odds (OR 1.32, 95% CI: 1.22–1.42 and 1.78, 95% CI: 1.64–1.93, respectively). Vegan versus omnivorous diets tended to be associated with reduced risk (OR 0.89, 95% CI: 0.78–1.01, not statistically significant) while a lacto-ovo diet was associated with increased risk (OR 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01–1.18). In the incidence study, female gender, white ethnicity, higher education and BMI were predictors of hypothyroidism. Following a vegan diet tended to be protective (OR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.59–1.03, not statistically significant). In conclusion, a vegan diet tended to be associated with lower, not higher, risk of hypothyroid disease.
There is a growing awareness that a plant-based diet decreases morbidity and mortality associated with a range of chronic disease. However, there are concerns that vegetarian diets may be low in calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, and zinc . Another critical nutrient is iodine which is found mainly in iodized salt, breads and dairy sources in the U.S. Since 2000 the U.S. population generally has demonstrated adequate iodine nutriture . Vegetarians may consume less iodine than their omnivorous counterparts [3,4]. The American Dietetic Association recommends that those consuming vegetarian diets be cognizant of the need of iodine supplementation .
Vegetarians include vegans who do not consume animal meat or dairy products, lacto-ovo vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy products and pesco-vegetarians who consume fish in addition to eggs and dairy. Lacto-ovo vegetarians in the U.K. appear to have adequate iodine intake . Vegans may be at risk of inadequate iodine intake as animal products tend to be rich in iodine [4,6]. Study of British, and recently, U.S. vegetarians indicated that vegans are at risk of iodine deficiency [7,8]. Urinary iodine concentrations in Boston-area vegans were about one-half those observed in less strict vegetarians . Transient neonatal hypothyroidism has been attributed to a maternal vegan diet .
The most common cause of acquired hypothyroidism is autoimmune thyroiditis . In almost all cases, anti-thyroid antibodies are identified. The incidence is increased in women, with increasing age and is less common in Blacks. While hypothyroidism may cause obesity, obesity may result in raised thyrotropin-stimulating hormone levels, partly due to a proinflammatory milieu and other endocrine derangements . Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) than nonvegetarians [12,13] and in some studies, lower levels of inflammatory markers . Experimental data indicate that vegetarian diets may be useful in treatment of autoimmune disease as rheumatoid arthritis .
The purpose of this study was to see if vegetarian diets including vegan, lacto-ovo, pesco or semi-vegetarian were associated with prevalence and incidence of hypothyroidism compared to omnivore diets. The study was conducted in a church-going Adventist population exhibiting a wide range of dietary patterns from vegan to non-vegetarian.
The Adventist Health Study-2 (AHS-2) is a longitudinal study initiated to investigate the role of foods and their relationship to disease, particularly cancer. Participants were members of the Seventh-day Adventist church recruited through their respective churches in the U.S. and Canada. About 97,000 individuals joined between 2002 and 2006 . Participants were eligible if they were proficient in English and were aged ≥30 years. All instruments and procedures were approved by the Loma Linda University Institutional Review Board in June 2001; approval was renewed annually thereafter.
Once enrolled, each participant received a previously validated questionnaire with the informed consent materials . The questionnaire was divided into sections on demographics, medical history, dietary patterns, physical activity and other lifestyle habits and self-reported height and weight. Questionnaires were returned by pre-paid envelopes and edited for missing data and stray marks. If the research staff felt data entries required confirmation, or demographic data were missing, a phone call was made to verify these entries.
Race and ethnicity were categorized as Black/African American, West Indian/Caribbean, African, other Black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic White. In the current study all Blacks were collapsed into one category and non-Blacks in a second category. Respondents reported their level of education as grade school, some high school, high school diploma, some college, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctoral degree. These data were collapsed into three categories: high school diploma or less, some college and college graduation or higher. Respondents reported personal and household income by checking one of eight income categories, ranging from <$10,000 to >$200,000. Responses were grouped into four categories: ≤$10,000, $11,000–20,000, $21,000–30,000 and >$30,000. BMI was calculated at baseline from respondents’ self-reported height and weight as kg/m2. These self-reports were validated .
2.2. Dietary Assessments
The food frequency questionnaire administered at baseline included over 200 items queried over the past year. Categorizing vegetarian status was done by defining vegans as subjects that reported consuming no animal products (red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products < 1 time/month), lacto-ovo vegetarians as those who consumed dairy products and/or eggs ≥ 1 time/month but no fish or meat (red meat, poultry and fish < 1 time/month), pesco vegetarians as those who consumed fish ≥ 1 time/month and dairy products and/or eggs but no red meat or poultry (red meat and poultry < 1 time/month), semi-vegetarians as those who consumed dairy products and/or eggs and (red meat and poultry ≥ 1 time/month and <1 time/week) and omnivores as those who consumed animal products (red meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products > 1 time/week). The frequency of adding salt to food was queried as once a week or less, 2 to 6 times per week, and once per day or more. Iodine intake was not specified in the questionnaire.
To validate nutrient intakes, a calibration study was conducted among participants randomly selected from the AHS-2 cohort . In this study validity coefficients were moderate to high for macronutrients, fatty acids, vitamin, mineral and fiber.
2.3. Outcome Assessments
In the medical history section of the questionnaire, respondents were asked if they had hypothyroidism diagnosed by a physician and if affirmative, to indicate when they were first diagnosed. Those who had been treated for hypothyroidism within the last 12 months were included as prevalent cases.
For assessment of incident disease, participants completed bi-annual Hospitalization History Questionnaires (HHQs) initially administered two years after the baseline questionnaire. In HHQ 3 administered in 2008, subjects were asked for the first time whether they had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism with the options of 2002–2004, 2005–2006 or 2007–2008.
2.4. Telephone Validation of Cases
A random sample of 103 cases reporting hypothyroidism in the prevalence study was generated. Up to three telephone calls were attempted to verify the diagnosis by asking the respondent to indicate whether they were treated for hypothyroidism at the baseline questionnaire. All 46 individuals that could be reached confirmed the diagnosis. Of the remaining, 33 did not reply to messages or subsequent calls, 16 had telephones that were disconnected or wrong numbers, and 8 hung up before answering the question.
2.5. Statistical Methods
Descriptive characteristics were compared between prevalent and incident cases and the rest of the population without hypothyroidism using chi-square or the two-sample t-test, as appropriate. Logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with the outcome (prevalence of hypothyroidism). The logistic regression model included gender, ethnicity, age (as continuous variable), BMI categorized as <25, 25–29.9 and ≥30 kg/m2, income, education, frequency of salt use and diet.
The denominator for incident cases was the population without prevalent disease who responded to HHQ 3 (n = 40,910). For incidence of hypothyroidism, we computed a complementary log-log model for interval-censoring in order to investigate the relationship between time-to-event and aforementioned risk factors . The model also included the period of diagnosis as a covariate in the model. Results were presented as odds ratio (for the logistic model) and 95% confidence intervals. All analyses were done in SAS version 9.3 .
Of about 97,000 respondents, complete data for all variables at baseline was available for 65,981. As shown in Table 1, several sociodemographic characteristics differed between subjects who were diagnosed with hypothyroidism at baseline (prevalence data) or reported new onset of hypothyroidism during follow-up. Subjects with hypothyroidism (prevalence and incidence data) were older, more likely to be female, less likely to be Black and more likely to use salt. In the prevalence data, these subjects had a higher BMI and lower income and education compared to subjects without hypothyroidism. Overall, diet differed between subjects with and without hypothyroidism in both datasets.
|Variable||Prevalent Hypothyroidism *||Incident Hypothyroidism *|
|N (percentage)||61,744 (93.6)||4237 (6.4)||40,028 (97.8)||882 (2.2)|
|Age, mean (years)||56.3||62.6||56.6||58.8|
|BMI, mean (kg/m2)||27.2||28.2||26.8||26.9|
|Salt use (percentage)|
* All variables differed between groups for prevalence (p-values < 0.0001). For incidence, p-values were <0.0001 for age, gender, race and salt use. For BMI, p = 0.76; for income, p = 0.0002; for education, p = 0.15 and for diet, p = 0.0015.
Table 2 shows that in multivariate logistic regression analysis, prevalent cases of hypothyroidism were associated with a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, while a vegan diet tended to be protective.
|Odds Ratio||95% Confidence Interval|
Table 3 shows that new cases of hypothyroidism tended to be reduced in vegan compared to omnivore subjects.
|Odds Ratio||95% Confidence Interval|
|Period of diagnosis|
Our main finding was that following a vegan diet tended to be associated with protection against hypothyroidism in the incidence and prevalence studies, though statistical significance was not attained. While vegan diets are associated with lower body weight, which may protect against hypothyroidism, the lower risk among vegans existed even after controlling for BMI and potential demographic confounders. Following a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet was associated with increased prevalent hypothyroidism but not incident hypothyroidism.
In regard to the tendency toward a lower risk of hypothyroidism associated with the vegan diet, the prevalence and incidence data were congruent, though not statistically significant. Several explanations may be given for our findings. As the diagnosis was not verified by objective measures of thyroid function, bias may exist. Vegans may be less likely to visit their physician for physical examinations than other dietary groups and thus disease may be underdiagnosed. We are unaware of published data to confirm this notion. Unmeasured confounding may be present, though we controlled for known confounders of the relation between diet and thyroid disease, including the lower BMI of vegans and a range of demographic variables. A postulated biological explanation is that animal products may induce an inflammatory milieu. Red meat consumption is associated with higher levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) and in the population studied herein we earlier found that following a vegetarian diet was associated with lower CRP levels . However, this is solely a postulate, and little is known about autoimmune effects of vegetarian diets. Very sparse data is available on effects of vegetarian diets on rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases .
We do not have a ready explanation for the findings related to the lacto-ovo dietary group, though several components of the vegetarian diet have been associated with increased risk of thyroid disease including soy products, cruciferous vegetables and low iodine intakes [2,3,4]. However, if these foods were causative of impaired thyroid function, one may expect the vegan group to carry as high risk as the lacto-ovo vegetarian group. Very early experiments in animals indicated concerns about goitrogenic effects of unheated soy . There is also epidemiological evidence in infants to bolster this concept . Among vegetarians with subclinical hypothyroidism, soy phytoestrogens may impair thyroid status . On the other hand, most human clinical data do not show a significant causative effect of soy on hypothyroidism [27,28]. Goitergenic foods include cruciferous vegetables which suppress thyroid function, however, little evidence exists that these effects are clinically significant in the U.S. population.
Prevalent cases constituted ~6% of the population, which is somewhat higher than national estimates, probably due to the older age of the church going sample in this study. In comparison, NHANES III showed a prevalence of hypothyroidism of 4.6% . Incident cases were calculated to be 0.36% per year, if incidence was equally distributed over the entire follow-up period of 6 years—however, this was not the case as shown in Table 3.
We found the expected associations between demographic characteristics and hypothyroidism in the current study. Studies universally demonstrate a higher incidence and prevalence of thyroid disease in women and non-Blacks . Income was not associated with prevalent or incident disease. Yet, we found a relation between longer education and prevalent and incident cases. We are unaware of previous publications that found this relationship. This may imply under-diagnosis in the groups with less education.
The relation between obesity and hypothyroidism appears to have several explanations. Persons with obesity are prone to develop autoimmune hypothyroidism, and even mild thyroid failure contributes to the progressive increase in body weight, which ultimately results in overt obesity . Furthermore, obese patients exhibit elevated thyrotropin-stimulating hormone levels, which may be the consequence, rather than the cause of obesity .
Strengths and Limitations
The strengths of our study include the sizable cohort, following a range of diets and the availability of both cross-sectional and prospective data. While the dietary questionnaires were validated, iodine intake was not measured, so we used added salt as a proxy measure. However, the questionnaire did not specify whether it was iodized. We do not have data indicating whether vegans were more or less likely to use iodized salt than other dietary groups. Increased salt use was associated with increased hypothyroidism, both in the prevalence and incidence studies—this finding is not explained. We did not record the family history of thyroid disease which plays a part in pathogenesis of autoimmune thyroid disease.
The data are self-reported, and health risk behaviors and disease states may be under or over reported. However, under-reporting of events is unlikely to differ between self-administered questionnaires and blood samples . Self-reported questionnaires suggest high sensitivity for hypothyroidism . Individuals may report thyroid problems because of other medical symptoms, like weight loss. However, only participants who reported treatment in the last 12 months were considered to have the disease, to reduce over-reporting.
With the exception of the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet findings in the prevalence study, vegetarian diets were not associated with increased risk of hypothyroidism. Vegan diets which may be expected to lack iodine due to complete exclusion of animal products tended to be protective.
GEF and ST designed the study; ST, EN, KO and GEF conducted research; KO analyzed data; ST and EN wrote the manuscript. All authors have primary responsibility for the final content and read and approved the final manuscript. The work was supported in part by NIH/NCI grant 5U01CA152939.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). | <urn:uuid:7b1a212a-6f02-48df-9ec6-5cc5c15ecace> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/5/11/4642/htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00129-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.888616 | 5,953 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Experimental Drug Could Help Cancer Patients with Radiation-induced Esophagitis, UPCI Researchers Find
MIAMI BEACH, Oct. 5, 2011 – A drug under development at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine could protect against esophagitis induced by radiation treatment, a new study suggests. Results of the study will be presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Miami Beach.
The study, led by Joel Greenberger, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Pitt, suggests the drug, JP4-039, could offer patients protection from radiation-induced esophagitis, an inflammation of the esophagus that causes intense pain during eating and swallowing. This condition often weakens cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy because they eat significantly less as treatment progresses.
“In past studies, we’ve proven that JP4-039 offers human cells significant radioprotection,” Dr. Greenberger said. “This approach also was successful in animal models, and we hope to translate our work into a clinical trial in the near future.”
Patients with cancers of the lung are most likely to suffer from radiation-induced esophagitis. If their pain can be reduced or even eradicated, they could stand a better chance of completing their cancer treatments successfully.
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. | <urn:uuid:dc3ad928-364e-42e0-9349-25a49de8b641> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.upmc.com/media/NewsReleases/2011/Pages/drug-could-help-cancer-patients-with-esophagitis.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953484 | 305 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Exercise Extreme Caution when Working on your Vehicle
The engine compartment of any motor vehicle is a potentially hazardous area. If you are not fully familiar with proper repair procedures, do not attempt the adjustments described on the following pages.
This caution also applies to the entire vehicle.
Fire and Explosion Hazards
Many vehicle fluids are highly flammable, e.g. fuel, engine oil and transmission oil. Fuel vapours can deflagrate. A highly explosive detonating gas can be formed when charging lead-acid batteries.
Fluid Health Hazards
Refill fluids, e.g. engine oil, brake fluid or coolant, are harmful to health (toxic, irritant or caustic).
Exhaust Gas Inhalation
Engine exhaust is dangerous if inhaled.
Engine exhaust fumes have many components which you can smell. They also contain carbon monoxide (CO), which is a colorless and odorless gas.
Carbon monoxide can cause unconsciousness and even death if inhaled.
Hot Engine Parts, Exhaust System and Fluids
The engine and adjacent components, the exhaust system and coolant become very hot when the engine is running.
The coolant reservoir is pressurised. Hot coolant can spray out suddenly if the coolant reservoir is opened without due care.
Moving Engine Parts
Hands, fingers, items of clothing (ties, sleeves, etc.), necklaces or long hair can be drawn in by moving parts, e.g. the engine-compartment blower, drive belt, etc., when working in the engine compartment.
The engine-compartment blower is mounted in the engine compartment.
After the engine is switched off, the engine compartment temperature is monitored for approx. 30 minutes.
During this period, and depending on temperature, the engine-compartment blower may continue to run or start to run.
Carry out work in these areas only with the engine off and exercise extreme caution.
The radiators and radiator fans are in the front of the vehicle.
The radiator fans in the front end of the vehicle may be operating or unexpectedly start operating when the engine is switched on.
Electric Shock from Ignition System
When the ignition is on, all cables and wires of the ignition system carry a high voltage. | <urn:uuid:8356334b-6d52-4587-a941-f8c161d668e3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.porscheownersmanuals.com/2011-boxster-owners-manual/1/194/Cautions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00137-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908071 | 476 | 2.75 | 3 |
Constitution of the United States, Part II: Articles of the Constitution
The text of the articles of the Constitution, along with expert commentary
- Grades: 6–8, 9–12
[Note: This is the second of three articles on the Constitution of the United States. It provides the text of the Articles of the Constitution, with commentary. The entry Constitution of the United States covers the genesis of the Constitution and its framework.]
The text of the Constitution appears below, retaining the original spelling and capitalization. Comments by Harold W. Chase on its provisions are preceded and followed by double asterisks.
The Constitution of the United States
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
**Comment: These stated objectives make clear the framers' commitment to the proposition that government should serve to enhance the value and dignity of the individual, as opposed to the proposition to which authoritarian governments have traditionally adhered, that the individual's highest duty is to serve the state.**
Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath of Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time: and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
**Comment: Sections 1 to 7 of Article I define the composition of the Congress, the qualifications of its members, and the manner in which it will conduct its business.
No absolute limit was placed on the number of members of the House, but in 1913, Congress limited the membership to 435. The clause requiring that senators be chosen by their respective state legislatures was superseded by the 17th Amendment (1913), which requires the popular election of senators.
The Senate is entrusted with the power of trying all impeachments; specific directions are given as to how the trial shall be conducted and as to the impact of its judgment. The House alone has the power to impeach, however.
Significantly, there have been few impeachments, giving some credence to Thomas Jefferson's view that "experience has already shown that the impeachment the Constitution has provided is not even a scarecrow. It is a cumbersome, archaic process. ..." Both presidential impeachments (Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998-99) were highly partisan efforts, and both ended in acquittal.
Although each house is to be the judge of the elections and qualifications of its members, the Supreme Court has held, in a case involving the seating of Adam Clayton Powell in 1969, that "the Constitution leaves the House without authority to exclude any person, duly elected by his constituents, who meets all the requirements for membership expressly prescribed" in the Constitution.
The privileges and immunities of members of Congress detailed in Section 6 have come under close judicial scrutiny in recent years. The Supreme Court has supported a broad view of congressional immunity, particularly with respect to the speech or debate clause:
The speech, or debate, clause was designed to assure a coequal branch of the government wide freedom of speech, debate and deliberation without intimidation or threats from the executive branch. It thus protects members against prosecutions that directly impinge upon or threaten the legislative process.
This government is acknowledged by all to be one of enumerated powers. The principle, that it can exercise only the power granted to it, would seem too apparent to have required to be enforced by all those arguments, which its enlightened friends, while it was depending before the people, found it necessary to urge. That principle is now universally admitted. | <urn:uuid:e869dbbf-fff7-48c3-a4ad-5164fc0099f0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/constitution-united-states-part-ii-articles-constitution | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959841 | 2,407 | 3.5625 | 4 |
In Depth: Meninges and Nerves
Circulating within the meninges is a liquid substance known as the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This fluid cushions the brain and spinal cord to protect them from shocks that could lead to damage. CSF also acts as a transport system that delivers nutrients to different parts of the central nervous system, and also removes waste products.
There are three layers to the meninges:
- Dura mater: The outermost membrane, this is the thickest of the three layers and has both an outer and inner layer. It is one of the few structures of the skull capable of feeling pain. The brain itself cannot.
- Arachnoid mater: Connected to the dura mater on the side closest to the CNS, this middle layer includes a network of fibers and collagen that are part of the suspension system that helps protect the brain and spinal cord from sudden impact. They also form a gap between the arachnoid and the pia maters called the subarachnoid space. This is where the cerebrospinal fluid is found.
- Pia mater: The innermost layer, the pia mater hugs the spinal cord and brain like a coat. It has blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the spinal cord.
To check for problems of the CNS such as meningitis, a procedure called a lumbar puncture is performed. This involves withdrawing samples of CSF from the spine for cell analysis.
The nerves of the peripheral nervous system connect the brain to the rest of the body, allowing communication and response to stimuli.
These nerves are named after the areas they service. The sciatic and femoral nerves, named for the hip and femur, respectively, are among those that serve the lower body. The ulnar nerve (related to the arm’s ulna bone) is one that serves part of the arm and hand. | <urn:uuid:28e02cc7-c940-497d-9a21-cbcccd55e622> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthline.com/human-body-maps/spine-meninges | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94685 | 396 | 4.125 | 4 |
More sophisticated locker room fixtures are allowing facility operators to realize unprecedented water savings.
Picture a gallon jug of water being poured down a drain. Now consider that a gallon is the standard amount of water used to flush a urinal. "It amazes me; the fact that it's even allowed astounds me," says Bryna Dunn, vice president and director of environmental planning and research at Moseley Architects, which has offices in Virginia and the Carolinas. "That standard came out of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, so apparently we were using even more than a gallon before that."
The national nonprofit Alliance for Water Efficiency estimates that a health club or recreation center employee will flush approximately three times during an eight-hour shift, and that patrons will flush approximately twice per visit. Do a quick head count of males around any health club or recreation facility and the urinal flushes (and gallons) add up fast. Thankfully, manufacturers now recognize the demand for water-efficient fixtures, including toilets, faucets, showers and, yes, urinals. The next obstacle is what the Alliance for Water Efficiency described in a 2008 report as "the greatest impediment to achieving water savings" in health club and rec center applications: "the common disconnect between the person that pays the water bills, the owner and manager, and the various contractors that maintain the facility and equipment."
Fixture efficiency is just one facet of an advanced locker room water conservation strategy. "One of the things we often try to do is capture stormwater and use it in our facilities for nonpotable uses such as flushing," says Dunn. "If we can eliminate the use of drinking water in toilets and urinals, we've already cut our water consumption tremendously." She notes that the reuse of stormwater does require the additional costs of a cistern, a separate filtration system and a dual-piping system. And some local codes require that recycled stormwater be treated with food-grade dye - so it is not easily confused with drinking water - before it is introduced to the facility.
Many toilets still in use in athletic, fitness and recreation settings are flushometer-valve and pressure-assist toilets featuring 3.5 gallons-per-flush or greater, although 1.6 GPF (known as low-flow toilets) and 1.28 GPF (known as high-efficiency toilets) options are now available and have proven to be effective in removing waste. According to the Alliance, replacing an existing commercial flushometer-style toilet costs approximately $250 to $400 per 3.5 GPF unit. (The organization warns against using 3.5 GPF flush-valves in lower-flow toilets - even though they may seem to fit - or else the water savings will be lost.) Also, the group recommends posting flushing instructions above dual-flush models (those which offer a higher GPF rate for solid waste and a lower GPF for liquid waste).
As for urinals, which typically are used far more frequently than toilets in male locker rooms, significant savings can be achieved by replacing the standard 1 GPF units with ½ GPF, pint-per-flush or even waterless units, in which a trap cartridge works with a liquid sealant that rises to the top of the urine and prevents odor emissions. While waterless has become popular in stadiums and arenas - where natural breaks in game action result in usage spikes that can create water-pressure problems - Dunn suggests that pint-per-flush units may be the most environmentally friendly of the options in locker room settings, "especially if you're flushing with stormwater," she says. "With waterless, you do have these little plastic cartridges and some biodegradable oil that need to be replaced periodically."
Existing faucets provide an easy and affordable option for the immediate reduction of locker room water consumption. Many faucets approach the maximum allowable rate of 2.5-gallons-per-minute, which many experts believe to be overkill if the goal is simply a good hand-washing. "You really can get a decent hand-wash at one or even one-half a gallon per minute, especially if you have foaming hand soaps, because they take a lot less water to remove than gel or cream soaps," says Dunn. "If you can find a way to drop two gallons per minute from your consumption tally, that's pretty impressive." The Alliance suggests that such a reduction can be made possible simply by retrofitting faucet aerators, a process that typically costs less than $1 per faucet.
As with faucets, the maximum allowable flow rate for showers is 2.5 GPM, although the Alliance believes that most health club and recreation center showers actually approach 4 or 5 GPM rates.
With shower flow rates, there is a safety consideration. According to the Alliance's report, "As showerhead flow rates have decreased, the incidence of accidental scalding has increased," a result of "the loss of thermal buffering in water volume when supply water changes suddenly." While thermostatic mixing valves mitigate that problem, they are largely only available for showerheads with 2.5 GPM flow rates.
"I don't see people adjusting their showers quite as often," says Dunn. "You could probably go down to 2 or 1.8 GPM, but much lower than that I'm not convinced you'll be able to get a really good shower." | <urn:uuid:bcf9d010-347b-4663-b33a-a02e65aa8e4d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.athleticbusiness.com/sophisticated-locker-room-fixtures-lead-to-unprecedented-water-savings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949631 | 1,116 | 2.53125 | 3 |
February 28, 2013
Unspeakable Suffering – The Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, a study published by ICAN partner organization Reaching Critical Will (RCW) of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, provides an up-to-date and disturbing look at the evidence of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons.
With analysis from multiple angles, the report concludes that, in the event of a nuclear explosion, first responders at the national and international level would be unable to intervene to provide critical assistance to victims. The study goes beyond the immediate consequences and provides an in-depth look at the long-term environmental, health, development and economic impacts of a nuclear detonation, making a significant contribution to the weight of the humanitarian imperative for a treaty banning these weapons.
“Few people deny that using nuclear weapons would have a catastrophic impact on populations and the environment, and even the nuclear-armed states seem to agree that the world would be better off without them. It is obvious that we cannot protect ourselves from a nuclear attack; the only way is to prevent such an attack from ever taking place,” says Beatrice Fihn, the editor of the study.
The study is released online but will also be distributed at the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons organized by the Royal Norwegian Government on 4-5 March 2013 in Oslo. This event constitutes an important step forward for the recognition that the unspeakable suffering that these weapons cause must be addressed by governments in a forum where civil society and, most importantly, first responders can raise their concerns over the inherent harm that nuclear weapons entail.
“By focusing on the humanitarian impact and consequences of nuclear weapons, it becomes clear that these weapons are simply inhumane, unacceptable and appalling weapons of terror. Just like chemical and biological weapons, no state should be proud to possess them or aspire to acquire them. Maintaining nuclear weapons is not a symbol of power or strength, but instead a constant reminder of the immense suffering that they have caused and continuously threaten to cause again,” concludes Beatrice Fihn. | <urn:uuid:7172ded1-157f-4031-9ccb-ed9d0ef9c85d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.icanw.org/campaign-news/global/unspeakable-suffering-a-comprehensive-report-on-devastating-impact-of-nuclear-weapons/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937749 | 427 | 2.625 | 3 |
Sink or Float: Preschool Density & Buoyancy Activity
- To introduce the concepts of sinking or floating
- To observe and note details in an experiment
- To classify objects into categories - sink or float
There are objects in our environment that sink in water whereas others float. Increase interest in this concept by helping the children to observe in this preschool science sink or float experiment to see which way each object goes. It's best to do this activity with a small group of children so everyone gets a turn to tests the objects.
Ask the children if they know what it means to float. Relate this concept to swimming or bathing in a bathtub. Talk about why some objects float and some do not. When an item goes to the bottom of the water, we say it sinks. Talk about the term experiment. Help the children to understand that when we try things out to see if our ideas are correct, this is called an experiment. Tell the children that they will be doing an experiment to see which items float in the water and which ones sink.
The Experiment: Simple Science with Water
Provide objects such as a cork, crayon, cotton ball, feather, small plastic toy boat, metal toy car, plastic Easter egg, paper, plastic straw, outdoor twigs, small bars of soap, a small balloon (blown up), and crumpled ball of aluminum foil, just to name a few. Talk about what the objects are made of.
Set up a large bowl filled with water. One-by-one, have the children pick an item and predict whether it will sink or float. Place the object on top of the water and observe what happens.
The teacher can chart the findings. Stress the fact that it's not the size of the object to determine whether it will sink or float, the importance is what the object is made of.
Give each child a sheet of paper with a bowl of water outlined on the sheet. Ask the group to draw pictures of the objects that were place into the water. Place the pictures of objects that float at the top of the water line and objects that sink down at the bottom of the bowl. Let the children color their picture with crayons. These can be mounted onto a bulletin board under the title of "Our Sink or Float Experiment."
Challenge the children to count how many objects in this preschool sink or float experiment that did indeed float or how many sank to the bottom of the bowl. Chart these as sets. Discuss why this happens. Continue to experiment with this concept, keeping a list of "floaters" and "sinkers" as you can bring out this experiment another time in the classroom with new objects to try.
Any fun activity is to try to sink a floating toy boat. Invite the children to watch the toy boat float on the water surface and then add other objects that will weigh the boat and make it sink.
Suggested Books on Sinking and Floating
What Floats? What Sinks? A Look at Density by Jennifer Boothroyd [Lerner Classroom, 2010]
The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs: A Book About Floating and Sinking by Joanna Cole [Scholastic, 1997]
- http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/forces/sinkorfloat/grownups.weml (photo also taken from this site)
- The World of Nature by Wendy Pfeffer [First Teacher Press, 1990]
- Book photo credit by Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_22?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=what+floats+what+sinks&sprefix=what+floats+what+sinks&tag=brihub02-20 | <urn:uuid:9083ff2c-25f9-4fd1-a2da-010508c43ba1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://m.brighthubeducation.com/preschool-crafts-activities/105674-sink-or-float-experiment-for-buoyancy-and-density/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00040-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92447 | 800 | 4.09375 | 4 |
The Grand Story of Time Told in the Beauty of Today: The Geology of Western and Central New York
The geology of Western and Central New York tells an incredible story, the words of which, are laid out in the rolling hills, picturesque valleys, and the seemingly banal roadside cuts throughout this region. The stunningly beautiful cascading waterfalls of Watkins Glen and Ithaca along with the equally dramatic rock city formations of Cattauraugus and Chautauqua Counties round out this tale with a worthy exclamation point.
The nascent bedrock of this region was laid down over 380 million years ago (mya) on what was then an equatorial continent rotated about 45o clockwise from its current orientation (see Figure 1). The fossil remains and geological features also indicate that this area was submersed under a vast shallow ocean (see Figure 2 below).
A continental collision with Baltica (proto Europe) starting 410 million years ago (mya) pushed up the Acadian Mountains that once stood mightily along North America’s east coast. Forces of nature then slowly eroded these huge mountains and the fine particulates flowed deep out onto the Catskill Delta that then covered much of the Southern Tier of New York State, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky (Figure 3).
Over vast periods of time those particulates settled to the bottom of the ocean creating layer upon layer of sediment that eventually lithified: the clay sediments became the shale, the silt became siltstone, and the sand became sandstone (see Figure 4).
Standing in this region 380 mya would have necessitated a boat. There were no rolling hills of green – just rolling waves of salty water.
It was likely quite hot (average temp 80° F) with no appreciable winter and certainly no snow. At the bottom of the ocean lived brachiopods, crinoids, coral, placoderm fish, eurypterids, and trilobites. No mammals yet, not even dinosaurs.
As the mountain sediment inflow slowly filled our sea and worldwide oceanic water levels trended downward, this area slowly approached the shoreline of that shrinking ocean. Today’s sandstone remains are evidence of beachfront long ago. The Acadians continued to shed contents but, larger material was laid down. The top surface of the current mountain top rock city formations of Cattauraugus and Chautauqua Counties were once the bottom of a shallow sea (see Image 1). The pebbles (see Image 2) in those mighty rock city quartz conglomerate rocks were flushed into this shallow sea by torrential floods.
It’s hard to imagine their former lowland status today when standing upon these high points gazing down below at the rolling hills and whittled valleys.
Over yet another immensely vast period of time, the earth remained tectonically active and another continental collision, this time with Africa, pushed up the Allegheny Mountains between 360 and 245 mya. Pangaea, the last super-continent, existed 330 to 220 mya and the dinosaurs reigned supreme on land. About 190 mya the Atlantic Ocean opened and began it’s ongoing expanse. Concurrently our continent was propelled north-by-north-west by plate tectonics, slowly bringing it closer to its current northern hemisphere location. During this gradual transition, a mighty asteroid struck near the Yucatan Peninsula (65 mya) causing a cataclysmic global disaster that is believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs (except for those that evolved into our current birds). Small rodent like mammals did survive and thereafter thrived – ultimately giving rise to us and our fellow mammals.
Until about 1.8 mya the geology of this region remained relatively stable. Things again got exciting as the most recent ice-age commenced. Huge and powerful glaciers slowly carved their way through our landscape gouging out deep valleys and Finger Lake crevasses (see Image 3). They slowly plowed through those long accumulated and lithified deposits creating new lower grounds and thus substantial opportunities for erosion. The surviving rock city formations constitute the few locations in NY that were not scoured by those powerful glaciers. Regardless, the near misses that exposed the under layers of more delicate sedimentary rock beds (e.g., shale), led to the erosion of this base material and thus the characteristic breakage and shifting of those conglomerate structures that make them city like today.
The deep Finger Lake gouges left by the glaciers also left hanging-falls that slowly eroded to form the incredible formations at Watkins Glen, NY (see Image 4), Buttermilk Falls, and Taughannock Falls (in Ithaca, NY).
About that same time, the high peaks of the Adirondacks were just beginning to rise from the north country plains being uplifted by a magma hotspot. The Adirondacks are actually composed of bedrock much older than the bedrock exposed in Central and Western New York.
All of these remnant features are unique and incredibly beautiful landmarks that speak volumes about the vast amounts of time and power that played out in this story. Whenever you pass a roadside cut, think back to when each layer was once the floor of a warm ocean. Make time to get to Rock City in Olean, Panama Rocks in Panama, NY or Thunder Rocks in Allegany State Park. Think about how the top of those rocks, the relative top of the world in Western New York now, were once the bottom of this world. Then picture mountainous walls of snow and ice halting just in time to spare your ground. Finally, imagine their sculpting retreat. What a beautiful and powerful story our wondrous land tells.
Allman, W., & Ross, R. (2008). Ithaca is Gorges: A Guide to the Geology of the Ithaca Area. 4th Ed. Ithaca: Museum of the Earth.
Ansley, J. (2000). The Teacher Friendly Guide to the Geology of the Northeastern U.S. Ithaca: Paleontological Research Institute.
Van Diver, B. (1985). Roadside Geology of New York. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company.
Whiteley, T., Kloc, G., & Brett, C. (2002). Trilobites of New York: An Illustrated Guide. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Figures 1-4: John Wiley and Sons – used with permission. http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/levin/0471697435/chap_tut/chaps/chapter11-03.html
Images 1, 2, & 4: Photographs by Gerald Guild
Image 3: NASA Image: http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/Sect6_2.html | <urn:uuid:ec35db57-b076-4644-9223-beeb15075355> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://geraldguild.com/blog/2011/05/08/geology-western-central-new-york/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923986 | 1,424 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Name at birth: Sandra Day
Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman ever to sit on the United States Supreme Court. O'Connor earned undergraduate and law degrees from Stanford University and eventually settled in Arizona. She served the state as an assistant attorney general, state senator, and finally as a superior court judge. Governor Bruce Babbitt raised her to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1979, and in 1981 President Ronald Reagan nominated her for the U.S. Supreme Court. She was confirmed by the Senate 99-0 and sworn in on 25 September 1981, becoming the first female justice in the court's history. Over time she earned a reputation on the bench as a moderate conservative and a key figure in court decisions related to the issue of abortion. On 1 July 2005 she announced her retirement, saying she would not return for the October session; she was succeeded by Samuel Alito in 2006.
She married John J. O’Connor III on 20 December 1952 in El Paso, Texas. They had met when both were law students at Stanford University. They had three children: Scott (born 1957), Jay (b. 1960), and Brian (b. 1962). John O’Connor developed Alzheimer’s Disease late in life and was placed in a nursing home in 2007… On 19 July 2005, President George W. Bush nominated John G. Roberts, Jr. to replace O’Connor on the court, but before Roberts could be confirmed, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died; Roberts was nominated to the post of Chief Justice and President Bush nominated his confidante Harriet Miers to replace O’Connor. After resistance from the Senate, Miers withdrew her name and Judge Samuel Alito was then nominated and confirmed… O’Connor replaced Justice Potter Stewart, who retired on 3 July 1981 after 23 years on the court.. Other Reagan appointees to the Supreme Court included Antonin Scalia (1986) and Anthony Kennedy (1988)… The Supreme Court’s second female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, was appointed by Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on 10 August 1993.
Copyright © 1998-2016 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:0c8292be-cd35-4d89-84b9-b4d6fafb70f3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/biography/var/sandradayoconnor.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978888 | 445 | 3.09375 | 3 |
A health and safety briefing provided by the IET.
There is a risk based approach to planned plant inspection, Risk Based Inspection (RBI).
While the details change from one industry to the next, the role of inspection is to examine, to take measurements or readings or to make judgements.
Specific issues to be examined are the result of many influences and reasons. For example:
- What the equipment designer considered appropriate
- What history has demonstrated is needed
- What the legislation requires
- What is required to ensure continued reliable operation – for production and for safety
- What is required to ensure availability of systems that do not normally operate – either back-up systems for production or safety systems
- What is required to prevent the occurrence of the predicted and unpredicted failure modes
- Insurer and/or supply chain requirements
- To identify opportunities for improvement and entrepreneurial innovation | <urn:uuid:71fce1bd-47d8-4bfc-a619-12bc09cbbad6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theiet.org/factfiles/health/hsb27-page.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941905 | 181 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Aug 12, 2013 at 11:15 am
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Some Minnesota trees are suffering from drought.
Eight of the last 11 summer and fall seasons have been very dry in northern Minnesota.
According to the state Department of Natural Resources, pines and other conifers in that area are dying in slightly larger numbers than usual.
DNR forest health specialist Jana Albers says people may notice trees changing colors.
But she says the good news is that this year's spring and early summer weather has been good for tree growth.
She says the growing season has lengthened in northern Minnesota but rain totals haven't kept up.
She says there are also more intense bouts of rain, instead of days of soaking rains.
Temp: 67°F (19°C)
Wind: 5 E | <urn:uuid:375871f3-b4c1-4408-a4fe-a450e59d2a12> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://knsiradio.com/news/local/trees-suffering-drought/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00129-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958157 | 174 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The Unified Command announced Monday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction of a temporary rock dike to aid in the repairs of the Marseilles dam.
The Marseilles Dam was damaged during an incident April 18 when seven barges broke loose from a tow during historic flooding on the Illinois River. Four of the seven barges were removed through salvage operations in April. Work is underway now to safely remove the remaining three barges, beginning with lightering of the barge containing iron ore.
The Army Corps of Engineers built a temporary rock dike just below the dam to reduce river flows and facilitate repairs to the dam. The dike was constructed using approximately 42,000 tons of rock and stretches more than 300 feet. The dike may also assist the Corps in maintaining the navigational pool upstream of the Marseilles Lock and Dam.
In addition to the dike, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and the barge industry, implemented a temporary drawdown of the pool to further reduce river flows at the dam.
Press Release, May 15, 2013 | <urn:uuid:77ec2c4b-e7b6-493f-ac8a-7bf46fdab61c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dredgingtoday.com/2013/05/15/army-corps-completes-rock-dike-at-marseilles-dam-usa/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00085-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962225 | 231 | 2.625 | 3 |
What is better than drawing?
Bringing in your favorite stuffed animals from home to draw, of course!
Allowing students to choose their subject matter from things that are important to them
will spark interest and excitement.
Allowing students to share their stuffed animals with others to draw is a great way
to foster interactions and positive connections in the class.
Don't forget to have extras on hand in case some kids forget!
Send an email to parents or a note home to help the kids remember. | <urn:uuid:5319798a-c218-4b2a-bb10-0931e89f2e49> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://vividlayers.blogspot.com/2012_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393093.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955224 | 104 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 (also known as the Messerschmitt Me 109) was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser. The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was used by the Luftwaffe, but first saw operation during the Spanish Civil War.
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was originally designed as an interceptor, though later models were developed for bomber escort, fighter bomber, day-, night- all-weather fighter, bomber destroyer, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft.
The Bf 109 was the most produced warplane during World War II, with 30,573 examples built during the war, and the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 units produced up to April 1945.
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring German fighter aces of World War II, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, chiefly on the Eastern Front. | <urn:uuid:e1b120ad-6793-45d2-ae5f-dc7924852829> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redbubble.com/people/artprints/works/7120803-messerschmitt-me109-blueprint?p=poster&ref=shop_grid&size=small | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977327 | 220 | 2.625 | 3 |
At a Glance - The Basic Properties
Basic Property 1
If c is a real number, then
Think of this as taking the limit of the constant function f(x) = c. No matter what we plug in for x, we get c as the output. If we made a table
every number in the f(x) column would be c. As x gets closer to a, f(x) gets closer to (or stays equal to) c.
As long as a is a real number, it doesn't even matter what a is; c is all that matters.
Basic Property 2
Using actual numbers, what is ?
We're looking at the limit as x approaches 3 of the function f(x) = x. If we make a table, we find
As x gets closer to 3, f(x) gets closer to 3 since x and f(x) are the same thing, So we can conclude that = 3.
There's plenty more properties to come. Stay tuned. | <urn:uuid:0020b272-5e04-4eb0-872f-6a9f1422b8ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.shmoop.com/functions-graphs-limits/limit-basics-help.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.87947 | 211 | 3.078125 | 3 |
What is biomass energy? It’s not fossil fuel energy, so if you’re a good student of alternative fuel sources you should know about this low-tech energy option.
I say low-tech because as long as people have been lighting fires they’ve been using biomass energy. But please don’t confuse biomass energy with the term biomass, which means the total weight of all organisms in a given area.
Biomass or biomass energy, for our purposes, means organic matter used as fuel. Organic matter equals plants, animals, waste products, or anything that is carbon based and can burn. In the UK they acquire biomass from 5 different types of energy:
“Virgin wood, from forestry, arboricultural activities or from wood processing
Energy crops: high yield crops grown specifically for energy applications
Agricultural residues: residues from agriculture harvesting or processing
Food waste, from food and drink manufacture, preparation and processing, and post-consumer waste
Industrial waste and co-products from manufacturing and industrial processes.”
Biomass is a carbon based fuel source just like fossil fuels, but fossil fuels utilize carbon that was sequestered from the atmosphere millions of years ago. Time is one of the major problems with fossil fuel energy because burning them releases old carbon back into the atmosphere leading to increased atmospheric carbon levels.
Biomass proponents argue that growing plant based biofuels takes carbon out of the atmosphere and returns it to the atmosphere only when it’s burned. If the burning aligns with replanting and growth then this maintains a closed carbon cycle. Whether the biomass is energy dense enough to offset the carbon cost of manufacturing and growing is another question.
Many countries incinerate waste as at least part of their biomass energy solution, which frees up landfill space, but this is usually a very small percentage. For example, “Scotland creates 3 million tons per year of MSW (Municipal Solid Waste), 90% of which goes to landfill, 5% to recycling and reuse, and 5% to incineration (DETR, SEPA). Incineration is therefore a small part of waste management for Scotland when dealing with MSW.”
The UK and Ireland are two countries currently developing new biomass plants. RES (Renewable Energy Systems) based in the UK is working on several biomass plants including one at Alexandra Dock which should generate enough energy to power 250,000 British homes. | <urn:uuid:82beb737-494d-4a5c-9499-2f76033ded8d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.celsias.com/article/biomass-energy-what-it/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936205 | 502 | 3.546875 | 4 |
In her new book "Unnatural Selection," Science writer Mara Hvistendahl examines how the trend toward choosing boys over girls through sex-selective abortions has spread through the developing world, particularly in Asia. Coining the term "Generation XY," Hvistendahl provides the grim results of sex selection: while the natural sex ratio at birth is 105 boys born for every 100 girls, in India the figure has risen to 112 boys and in China, 121. The Chinese city of Lianyungang actually recorded 163 boys per 100 girls in 2007.
The shortage of women is already giving rise to deep societal problems. New markets have been created for women in Asia, including wedding agencies that arrange marriages between South Korean men and women often from poorer nearby countries like Vietnam, that now account for 11% of all marriages in South Korea. There is also a growing practice of child marriage in China, where wealthier families buy young girls to secure wives for their sons early. And with so many surplus men (e.g., up to a fifth of men will be single in northwestern India by 2020), she suggests that the excess testosterone could lead to raised levels of crime and violence.
But what distinguishes Hvistendahl's book from other similar reports is that, as the Guardian notes in a profile today, she "lays the blame squarely on western governments and businesses that have exported technology and pro-abortion practices without considering the consequences," unlike other accounts, that solely basing sex selection on cultural practices.
Amniocentesis and ultrasound scans have had largely positive applications in the west, where they have been used to detect fetal abnormalities. But exported to Asia and eastern Europe they have been intricately linked to an explosion of sex selection and a mushrooming of female abortions. | <urn:uuid:cc1e2f24-8403-40eb-9850-a447d6f273db> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ozziesaffa.blogspot.com/2011/06/western-governments-are-blamed-for.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963757 | 362 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research
versión On-line ISSN 1414-431X
TORRES, M.C.M.R. et al. Hepatitis C virus infection in a Brazilian population with sickle-cell anemia. Braz J Med Biol Res [online]. 2003, vol.36, n.3, pp.323-329. ISSN 1414-431X. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0100-879X2003000300006.
Patients with sickle-cell anemia submitted to frequent blood transfusions are at risk of contamination with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Determination of HCV RNA and genotype characterization are parameters that are relevant for the treatment of the viral infection. The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency of HCV infection and the positivity for HCV RNA and to identify the HCV genotype in patients with sickle-cell anemia with a history of blood transfusion who had been treated at the Hospital of the HEMOPE Foundation. Sera from 291 patients were tested for anti-HCV antibodies by ELISA 3.0 and RIBA 3.0 Chiron and for the presence of HCV RNA by RT-PCR. HCV genotyping was performed in 19 serum samples. Forty-one of 291 patients (14.1%) were anti-HCV positive by ELISA and RIBA. Both univariate and multivariate analysis showed a greater risk of anti-HCV positivity in those who had started a transfusion regime before 1992 and received more than 10 units of blood. Thirty-four of the anti-HCV-positive patients (34/41, 82.9%) were also HCV RNA positive. Univariate analysis, used to compare HCV RNA-negative and -positive patients, did not indicate a higher risk of HCV RNA positivity for any of the variables evaluated. The genotypes identified were 1b (63%), 1a (21%) and 3a (16%). A high prevalence of HCV infection was observed in our patients with sickle-cell anemia (14.1%) compared to the population in general (3%). In the literature, the frequency of HCV infection in sickle-cell anemia ranges from 2 to 30%. The serological screening for anti-HCV at blood banks after 1992 has contributed to a better control of the dissemination of HCV infection. Because of the predominance of genotype 1, these patients belong to a group requiring special treatment, with a probable indication of new therapeutic options against HCV.
Palabras clave : Hepatitis C; Anti-HCV antibodies; HCV RNA; HCV genotype; Sickle-cell anemia. | <urn:uuid:af8b177a-a00c-4c33-b689-62d9ab4c4bee> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0100-879X2003000300006&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903088 | 575 | 2.53125 | 3 |
res'piratory distress' syn"drome
1. Also called hyaline membrane disease. an acute lung disease of the newborn, occurring primarily in premature babies and babies born to ill mothers, characterized by rapid breathing, flaring of the nostrils, inelastic lungs, edema of the extremities, and in some cases the formation of a hyaline membrane on the lungs caused by a lack of surfactant in the immature lung tissue.
2. Also called adult respiratory distress syndrome. a disorder, caused by an acute illness or injury that affects the lungs either directly or indirectly, resulting in stiffening of the lung tissue, pulmonary edema, and extreme shortness of breath. Abbr.: RDS
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. | <urn:uuid:7b152ad4-d2c3-4d17-99ab-f1486fdbb1aa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dictionary.infoplease.com/respiratory-distress-syndrome | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902735 | 170 | 2.65625 | 3 |
July 3, 2012
According to some environmentalists and scientists, climate change was knocking down Washington’s door—and its power lines—this past weekend.
About 4.3 million people throughout the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic lost power over the weekend in the wake of a series of unusually severe and long-lasting thunderstorms—known as a “super derecho”—that hit the region on Friday night in part because of the region’s record-high temperatures.
“I think climate change is contributing to the severity of these storms because it’s adding energy to the climate system,” said Dan Lashof, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s climate and clean air program. “We are clearly seeing a trend toward more extreme precipitation events, more severe storms of this kind.”
The relentless heat wave hitting much of the country, the violent thunderstorms that heat wave in part caused on Friday, and the droughts and raging wildfires in Colorado and elsewhere have thrust to the forefront a cyclical debate about cause and effect: Is a warming Earth, caused by human activity, causing these extreme-weather events?
Climate and weather scientists are cautious about drawing a direct line from A to B, but most agree that a warmer planet will cause a higher frequency of extreme-weather events—even if you can’t scientifically prove that one single extreme-weather event is caused by climate change. It’s a subtle distinction and one that’s lost in Washington politics, where the debate boils down to black and white.
“It’s a treacherous issue,” said Kerry Emanuel, a climate-change scientist and an atmospheric science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “When considering extreme weather and climate, you have to be mindful. It’s easy to step on a political or scientific mine and have it go off in your face.”
Greg Carbin, warning-coordination meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center, said he didn’t “want to be specific about any one event.” But, referring to the wildfires, heatwaves, and thunderstorms, he added: “The science seems to suggest that in a warmer world, we will see more of these events.”
Politicians, meanwhile, jump into the minefields of climate change and extreme weather. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who chaired the House Select Committee on Global Warming in the last Congress, blasted Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for his recent equivocation on climate-change science.
“Hundreds of millions of American citizens have been afflicted by extreme weather events in the last two years, from wildfires to heatwaves to floods,” Markey said in a statement on Monday. “Mitt Romney is attempting to become the president for all of America’s citizens, yet he has no interest in protecting them from these events that have been supercharged by climate change.”
A spokesman for Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member James Inhofe, R-Okla., who does not think anthropogenic climate change is occurring, blasted Markey for his comments.
“It was only a matter of time before someone came out and wanted, for political gain, to link global warming to recent events,” said Inhofe spokesman Matt Dempsey. “These scare tactics have always backfired, and they will this time.”
MIT's Emanuel says that the most undeniable evidence that climate change is occurring—and that human activity is a big factor—is the unequivocal rise in global temperature in recent years. But that’s not what grabs people’s attention.
"Climate change will affect human beings principally through its effect on weather extremes. We are more affected by increasing incidence of floods, droughts, and heatwaves than we are by small changes in the average temperature," Emanuel said. "It's an important topic, but you have to be very careful when looking for signatures of it."
Washington should brace for more extremes—the temperature is forecast to near the century mark almost every day this week.
July 3, 2012 | <urn:uuid:5f13a76e-c085-43ed-a18f-8204a24258a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2012/07/science-politics-collide-over-extreme-weather-climate-change/56593/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00124-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943076 | 869 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Water. Less than optimum water quality, such as a lowering of the pH level, or high Nitrate or Phosphate readings can lead to an outbreak.
Behaviour. Fish will evidence lethargy, and may from time to time, try to "scratch" of the organisms, by rubbing against an object of some kind in the Aquarium. Distress is visibly obvious.
Fins. Fins often become clamped or folded. White spots (after which the disease is popularly named) usually appear often at first on the pectoral fins. As infection progresses, very large numbers of these spots of size 0.5-2.0 mm will spread.
Body. White spots appear on the body, & will, if untreated, spread so that almost snow like appearance will spread over its entirety. Some hemorrhaging may appear in later stages of the disease.
Eyes. In medium to advanced stages of an outbreak, the eyes typically become clouded, and when very heavy blindness can ensue.
Gills. Gill examination will show large numbers of the organisms.
Skin (smear). Should show ciliates once an infection has become established. Secondary infection with fungal is commonplace once major invasion of the skin has taken place, adding to the problem.
Transmission is direct, with no intermediate hosts. Cryptocaryon is an obligate parasite, which means that it must infect a host fish in order to complete development.
The life cycle of Cryptocaryon can be conveniently divided into four basic stages. Susceptible marine fish become infected with the active free-swimming stage, called the tomite.
The free swimming tomite has less than 12 hours to find and invade a host fish, otherwise it will exhaust its energy reserves and die.
If an invasion is successful, the tomite penetrates below the skin and transforms into the parasitic stage which is known as a trophont. The trophont actively feeds on the fish's tissues, twisting and rotating as it does so. It grows rapidly, doubling in size approximately every 24 hours. By 48 hours, the parasitic trophont is just visible to the naked eye, appearing as a small white spot on the fish. By the third or fourth day of infection, the trophont has attained 3 to 5 millimeters in length and about this time it exits from the fish and drops down to the substrate.
Within a few hours the trophont has firmly attached to the substrate, forming a thick walled cyst. The cyst, known as a tomont, is the reproductive stage which will eventually give rise to between 100 and 300 infective tomites, therby completing the life cycle.
Of course, not all tomites are successful in locating locating and infecting a host, even under ideal conditions only about 5 - 10% succeed. Nevertheless, within a closed environment, Cryptocaryon can increase in numbers by approximately tenfold every six to eight days. This enormous reproductive potential explains the sometimes rapid build-up of infection levels in any closed system.
There is no reason why mortalities should take place, as to reach lethal levels this parasite usually takes some 7-12 days. Observant hobbyists should take remedial action, at an early stage and if this is done, and the results CAREFULLY monitored than a successful eradication of the problem is possible. Care must be taken, to ensure that no latent parasitic tomonts are still present, so that the problem does not recur.
In those Aquaria, where fish only are present, Copper based remedies, are very effective, although those chelated forms of Copper of which there are several have not in the writers experience given good results. The claim that you can use heavy doses of such Coppers, without harming the fish may be true; regrettably the same argument applies to the parasite. With the true Copper treatments that are effective it is vital to use a reliable Copper test kit, & in the first few days of treatment this must be done several times daily, as the Copper in a new tank to be treated, "binds' to the glass the rocks, & just about anything else, so that the therapeutic level drops below the recommended amount, & under this the parasite is able to complete its life cycle. Treatment should be continued for at least 7 days after all signs are absent, to ensure that no latent tomonts are waiting the chance to reinfect.
In Reef Aquaria, however no Copper treatments can be used, as they all will have fatal effects on almost all Invertebrate life. This leaves the Hobbyist with the alternative of catching his/her fish, & treating in a separate Aquarium. This is time consuming & can often ruin the appearance of a tank that has been carefully nurtured over a long period of time.
Fortunately Fish-Vet has today a product called No-Ich, which allows successful treatment of this parasite, and is harmless to all invertebrates. No test kits are needed & it biodegrades after a week, when treatment is ceased.
Another technique which can be used to help accelerate the eradication of the problem, is by giving the fish baths in either fresh water, or at a salinity of less than 10 ppt. The parasite cannot tolerate the change in osmotic pressure, though I am not sure if it will affect the tomite stage as much as it will the free swimming trophont. This technique has been used very successfully in Aquaculture with those species of fish that are highly euryhaline (= able to tolerate wide variations of salinity). Our Aquarium fish for the most part will tolerate baths of up to a half an hour, but one must ensure that the pH & temperature are similar to the aquarium water. Also do not do any other task while the bath is taking place, as some fish will react worse than others. If major distress is observed, the fish must be returned immediately to the aquarium. I have used this method to reduce the level of infection, and it has proved beneficial, though never absolute. Its greatest advantage is when the fish shows evidence of a high level of infestation, & one wishes to bring it down somewhat before starting more conventional treatment. For more details on the use of this method see the ref. below by Colorni 1987.
There is some evidence that there are 2-3 different strains of Cryptocaryon irritans, nobody to my knowledge has yet made a definitive analysis of such, but the empirical evidence would seem to indicate this. One observation made by many observers, is that the treatment that in one case is quickly and totally successful, in another either is not, or takes much longer to have an effect. One pragmatic point that the writer has used with success is those persistent cases, that either do not appear to react to conventional treatments, or do so much more slowly, is that it seems that the parasite is in some way linked in its life cycle to the photoperiod. In order to disrupt its usual timing of division, reproduction etc, I have found it helpful on occasion to leave the lights on , for some 2 days, & then do the opposite while at the same time covering the tank with a dark blanket or such. This "manipulation" of the light seems to have a deleterious effect on the parasite, which coupled with the medication used often results in its elimination. I do not advise this however in the more usual straight forward cases.
A special observation: The writer has observed with some of his co-workers on many occasions, that Crytocaryon irritans often breaks out under the following conditions. The Hobbyist will have a tank with several specimens all of which are free of any signs of the parasite. A new fish will be introduced & the following day, "white spots" will be observed in a great many cases, NOT on the new introduction, but on one of established inhabitants. This happened so often so years ago, that we made some experiments on apparently "disease free fish" (specifically Powder Blue Tangs and Yellow tangs).
When we took skin scrapings from these fish that had been healthy for more than a year we found evidence of trophonts under the skin. Evidently these had not found it necessary to reproduce & leave the fish, as no sign of disease had occurred over a long period of time
With this evidence we explained the phenomena just mentioned as follows:-
A parasite by definition has a vested interest in co-existing with its host. As long as no unusual disturbance takes place, it will continue its idyllic existence, in harmony with its host. However when a new specimen is introduced to the Aquarium, often the established inhabitants become quite excited, feeling that the newcomer will in some way, take their "space", eat their food, or even team up with their favorite fish/companion. This causes some form of chemical message to course its way through the fishes system, in much the same way, as adrenalin causes us, to become excited if we become frightened. This chemical message, in some way alerts the parasite, which in effect says to itself, "Oh boy!, maybe I should get out from here, & look for a new host". The consequences are seen the next day, when it bores out from the host, leaving the telltale white spots.
To counteract this reaction, as much as possible, it is advised when introducing new fish to an established Aquarium, to do the following.
1) Introduce all specimens with the lighting as subdued as possible in the room, & with no lights on in the tank, continue this at least until the following day.
2) Change if possible one or two rocks, so that the existing fish are concentrating their attention on the change in the habitat they are used to, and not on the newcomer(s).
Of course it is also sensible if the Hobbyist has the facility to quarantine the new specimen, as they also can and do, introduce the parasite to the tank . This should be done if one has a separate quarantine tank, for at least a week, and preferably for 10 days.
Burgess, P.J. and Matthews, R.A. (1994). A standardized method for the in vivo maintenance of Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora) using the grey mullet ( Chelon labrosus) as an experimental host. Journal of Parasitology, 80, 288-292.
Burgess, P.J. and Matthews, R.A. (1994 ). Cryptocaryon irritans: (Ciliophora): photoperiod and transmission in marine fish. Journal of the Marine Biological Association, 74, 535-542.
Burgess, P.J. (1995). Marine Whitespot Disease. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, 18 (1), 168-196.
Burgess, P.J. and Matthews, R.A. (1995). Fish host range of seven isolates of Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora). Journal of Fish Biology, 46, 727-729.
Burgess, P.J. and Matthews, R.A. (1995). Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora): acquired protective immunity in the thick-lipped mullet, Chelon labrosus. Fish and Shellfish Immunology, 5, 459-468.
Cheung, P.J., Nigrelli, R.F. and Ruggieri, G.D. (1979). Studies on cryptocaryoniasis in marine fish: effect of temperature and salinity on the reproductive cycle of Cryptocaryon irritans Brown, 1951. Journal of Fish Diseases, 2, 93-97.
Cheung, P.F., Nigrelli, R.F. and Ruggieri, G.D. (1981). Scanning electron microscopy on Cryptocaryon irritans Brown 1951, a parasitic ciliate in marine fishes. Journal of Aquariculture, 2, 7~72.
Colorni, A. (1987). Biology of Cryptocaryon irritans and strategies for its control. Aquaculture, 67, 236-237.
Colorni, A. and Diamant, D. (1993). Ultrastructural features of Cryptocaryon irritans, a ciliate parasite of marine fish. European Journal of Protistology 29, 425-434.
Diamant, A., Issar, G., Colorni, A. and Paperna, I. (1991). A pathogenic Cryptocaryon-like ciliate from the Mediterranean Sea. Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists, 11, 122-124.
Herwig, N. (1978). Treatment of Cryptocaryon - saltwater Ich. Tropical Fish Hobbyist, 26, 55-62.
Matthews, R.A. and Burgess, P.J. (1995). Cryptocaryon irritans (Ciliophora): primary infection in thick-lipped mullet. Journal of Fish Diseases, 18, 329-335.
Nigrelli, R.F. and Ruggieri, G.D. (1966). Enzootics in the New York aquarium caused by Cryptocaryon irritans Brown, 1951 (= Ichthyophthirius marinus Sikama, 1961), a histophagous ciliate in the skin, eyes and gills of marine fishes. Zoologica, 51, 97-102.
Violetta, G. (1980). A review of two epizootic marine protozoans: Oodinium ocellatum and Cryptocaryon irritans. Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, 3, 52-53,70-72.
Wilkie, D.W. and Gordin, H. (1969). Outbreak of cryptocaryoniasis in marine aquaria at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. California Fish and Game, 55, 227-236.Yoshinga, T. and Dickerson. (1994). Laboratory propagation of Cryptocaryon irritans on a saltwater-adapted Poecilia hybrid, the black molly. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health 6, 197-201.
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questions or comments about this web site. | <urn:uuid:72d95cdd-14c5-4241-9e77-360235eb5c5a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fishvet.com/Cryptocaryon.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936509 | 2,967 | 3.578125 | 4 |
A number of characteristics of high-quality health care for children can be combined into the concept of the medical home. As defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, children's medical care should be accessible, family-centered, continuous, comprehensive, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. The survey included several questions that sought to measure whether a child's health care met this standard:
- Whether the child has at least one personal doctor or nurse who knows him or her well and a usual source of sick care
- Whether the child has no problems gaining referrals to specialty care and access to therapies or other services or equipment
- Whether the family is very satisfied with the level of communication among their child's doctors and other programs
- Whether the family usually or always gets sufficient help coordinating care when needed and receives effective care coordination
- Whether the child's doctors usually or always spend enough time with the family, listen carefully to their concerns, are sensitive to their values and customs, provide any information they need, and make the family feel like a partner in their child's care
- Whether an interpreter is usually or always available when needed.
A child was defined as having a medical home if his or her care is reported to meet all of these criteria. Note that the questions and requirements that make up the definition of a medical home have changed since the 2003 survey, so the findings presented here cannot be compared with the previous version.
Overall, the care of 57.5 percent of children met this standard. This proportion varied substantially by the race and ethnicity of the child: 68.0 percent of White children received care from a medical home, compared to 44.2 percent of Black children, 63.0 percent of multiracial children, 38.5 percent of Hispanic children, and 48.6 percent of children of other races.
A medical home is particularly important for children with special health care needs (CSHCN), who are more likely to require specialized care and services, follow-up, and Care Coordination. Of CSHCN, 49.8 percent were reported to have a medical home, compared to 59.4 percent of children without special health care needs. | <urn:uuid:2ead29a5-bb64-4af8-b675-6dcecd67013a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mchb.hrsa.gov/nsch/07main/national/1child/2healthcare/pages/08mh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96622 | 438 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Bio-fouling and soiling are expensive for society. From bacterial adhesion on medical implants that cause complicated infections to barnacle adhesion on tankers that increase the friction to water leading to higher fuel consumption. Adhesion of soil on a painted house downgrades the optical impression and accordingly the value of the property.
Hence a development of coatings providing true anti bio-fouling and/or anti dirt pick-up properties will decrease costs for society in the long run and provide a market opportunity for the coating company.
Any surface, whether natural or synthetic, is coated initially with local environmental constituents such as water, electrolytes and subsequent organic substances. The presence of this conditioning film can provide the impetus for microbial growth and further colonization. Microbial adherence and biofilm production proceed in two steps: first, a reversible physical attachment to the surface, followed by a second irreversible chemical step, involving the multiplication of cells and the synthesis of an extracellular polymeric film.
As for the soiling of surfaces, dirt particles are literally everywhere, spread around by wind and rain, or, in the case of the finest particles by Brownian movement. However, the type and amount of dirt particles that come into contact with the exterior coating at the weathering location vary a lot and this naturally has a determining effect on the dirtiness of the coating. Hence coatings in cities or industrial areas (having a higher concentration of suspended dust in the air) become dirtier after shorter time than coatings in a rural environment with a lower overall dust concentration.
To address the problem of soiling and fouling, there are several approaches that can provide guidelines for future development yielding tomorrow’s competitive solutions with improved bio-fouling and soiling performance:
• Paint surface hardening
• Prolonged effect of existing biocides
• Novel biocides
• Self-cleaning coating via superhydrophobic mechanism
• Paint erosion
• Weak dirt adhesion
• Minimize nitrogen content in coating
• Reduce oxygen level in water
• Block enzyme activity which enhances micro-organisms glue production
• Introduce enzymes degrading bio-foulers glue
• Avoid surface recognition
• Use secondary metabolites
• Manipulate the microorganisms communication
• Add a cationic polymer at the surface
This paper elaborates and discusses experimental approaches of the top three methods and presents results on how to improve dirt pick-up and bio-fouling performance.
As mentioned above the value of a property can decrease if the painted surface looks dirty. The consumer owning the property might need to repaint more often which yields costs for material and labor or is time consuming (if the consumer paints himself). It is thus an interest from paint companies to make paints which are more durable against dirt pick-up. The aim of this project was to understand which factors are important for dirt pick-up; or – in other words - increase dirt pick-up resistance. For this purpose we have developed methods in the laboratory to evaluate dirt pick-up and tested several parameters which were expected to influence the soiling. Lab results were compared with exterior testing.
The dirt pick-up test was based on our industrial experience, spraying the test panels with an aqueous solution of a model-dirt mixed according to Scheme 1. The dry components were mixed in a mortar and then the pitch was added and stirred in manually. 1 g of the dirt was mixed with 1 g butyl glycol and these 2 g were filled in a spray bottle and filled up with 998 g de-ionized water. The dirt solution was filled into a pressurized aerosol bottle and sprayed on the samples, set up in a 45° angle, as shown in Figure 1. The samples were sprayed with the dirt solution for 3 times with one minute between each spraying. The distance between the spray bottle and the samples was 30-40 cm. The maximal possible pressure (≈ 3 bar) of the bottle was used to perform each spraying. After the contamination the samples were left for 1 day for drying followed by rinsing with de-ionized water. To evaluate the dirt pick-up of the surfaces, the L- value (a brightness index) was measured before and after the contamination as well as after rinsing.
Several types of paints were evaluated with this setup with various binder chemistries painted on metal panels. The painted panels were tested fresh and weathered in a weatherometer (corresponding to 6 months of ageing in southern Sweden). ΔL values for 22 samples are shown in Figure 2.
Formulation 10 and formulation 15 missed on purpose a cross-linker and were therefore expected to be very tacky with an expected high dirt pickup. 10w and 15w have probably been washed away during weathering. The “normal” formulations 20-65 can roughly be divided into two groups:
(A) high dirt pick-up 55, 55w and 65
(B) moderate dirt pick-up 20, 20w, 25, 25w, 35, 35w, 40, 40w, 45, 45w, 65 w.
To measure the tackiness of the coatings after drying, the adhesion of a hydrophobic silica particle to the surface was measured with AFM colloidal adhesion technique. The probe used was a silanized, hydrophobic silica particle. We measured the force needed for the probe to detach from the coating surface. Thus, it is a measure of the adhesion force and thus the tackiness of the surface.
AFM measurements show that formulations 10 and 15 are very tacky. We categorized the results into high adhesion (> 6 mN/m) and low adhesion (< 6 mN/m). That way, we can divided the samples 20-65 into two groups:
(A) high hydrophobic adhesion 40, 40w, 50w, 55, 55w, 65
(B) low hydrophobic adhesion 20, 20w, 25, 25w, 30, 30w, 35, 35w, 45, 45w, 50, 65w
For most of the paints the ranking between high dirt pickup and hydrophobic adhesion is fairly good. Only formulation 40 does not follow the rule. A simplistic explanation could be that that the dirt pickup seen by eye is mainly linked to carbon black giving the black appearance changing the lightness value L before and after contamination. Carbon black is hydrophobic in nature and that would then agree with the adhesion strength of a hydrophobic colloidal probe.
Based on these data and the exterior testing results (data not shown) we decided to evaluate the possibility of reducing dirt pick-up by reducing the tackiness of the paint film. The idea was that by adding nanoparticles (in this case silica nanoparticles) they would to some extent move to the air-coating interface and induce a harder and less tacky coating surface.
Anti-soiling effect due to harder surface induced by nanoparticles
To evaluate the possibility of decreasing dirt pickup of coatings with the help of surface hardening nanoparticles, alkyd binders, acrylic binders and mixtures thereof we enriched with hydrophilic (Bindzil 40/220, average diameter 12 nm) or amphiphilic (CC40, epoxy silane modified, average diameter 10 nm) silica nanoparticles. The addition of the nanoparticles had a strong influence on the microstructure of the coatings, as shown in Figure 4.
Furthermore intendation tests using a microintender show that coating films containing silica particles are harder than films without particles. Another feature is that keeping the intender at a fixed load results in a bigger creep in the latex coating compared to the coating containing silica nanoparticles. The impact of 25 wt% nanoparticles on the surface properties of a latex coating is shown in Table 1.
The above data gave the impetus of the idea that addition of silica nanoparticles in a commercial paint might reduce dirt pickup of the paint. Paints for dirt pick-up evaluations were formulated with 3 wt%, 6 wt%, and 12.5 wt% silica nanoparticles according to Table 2.
We investigated commercial paints based on alkyd binders, acrylic binders and mixtures thereof. We made two types of modification of the commercial paints:
(A) addition of 10 nm silica particles (40/220)
(B) addition of silane-modified 10 nm silica particles (CC40).
The latter type of modification makes the particles more amphiphilic in character compared to the hydrophilic particles.
The previously described laboratory dirt pick-up test was modified to include a heating step at 50 °C for 1 h after each contamination cycle. In this way inclusion of dirt into the paint due to binder movement is included in the result. A representative chart for the impact of silica amount is shown in Figure 5 for an alkyd coating. Generally the dirt pickup is reduced with higher amounts of silica present in the formulation. Note that all formulations are painted the same day as they are produced. This is important to be aware of since hydrophilic silica would flocculate the paint upon storage.
Figure 6 shows a summary of the results after three contamination cycles for different binder systems without silica particles and with 12.5 wt% CC40 or 40/220. For almost all paints the dirt pickup is lower for silica-modified paints compared to the commercial paints. This indicates that the change in microstructure and harder surface reduce the dirt pickup.
To further investigate the correlation between silica particles and dirt pick-up we placed 9 replicas of each paint and silica-modified paints outdoors for 9 months in Bogesund, Sweden, as shown in Figure 7.
The painted wood panels have been distributed at random over the rack. The rack is placed 45° facing south to increase paint degradation by sun light. The results of this weathering experiment are shown in Figure 8. From these data it is clear that the silica nanoparticles formulated into the paints help to reduce dirt pickup in three of the four tested paints. This finding can provide the possibility for reduced dirt pickup by reformulation of the commercial paints available today.
Another important issue for coatings is so called bio-fouling – fungi and other micro- and macro- organisms grow on or into the coating – degrading and uglifying the surface, as shown in Figure 9.
Classical solutions to avoid growth of fouling species on land under water cannot longer be used due to legal restrictions. For example tributyl tin (TBT) was banned in 2003 for marine applications. TBT is poisonous to several marine species but very effective for antifouling purposes. In Europe, there are several new regulations coming up and one of the toughest is the biocide directive BPD. The consequence of the biocide directive is that the most efficient substances against mold and algae are being phased out. The substances that are allowed are efficient but leak out to quickly from today’s coatings leaving it susceptible for biological growth including mold growth. Several strategies to avoid or minimize fouling can be thought of. Here we will limit ourselves to the biocide approaches.
As can be seen in Figure 9 biocides are very effective to suppress growth of organisms - no fouling is found in the left image using the novel biocide in a marine paint. On the other hand not using a biocide leads to the colonization of among other things barnacles. It must be kept in mind that fouling and barnacles can severely increase the cost and environmental impact for shipping in terms of increased fuel consumption.
One major drawback with new molecules is a costly procedure for testing that must be conducted before application in Europe. Hence it might be of interest to use existing molecules in smarter ways. At YKI, the Institute for Surface Chemistry a large research effort is performed in order to control the release rate of actives in various industrial areas. One example of a carrier/host of actives such as biocides is the use of mesoporous particles. The particles have a well-defined pore size that can be precisely controlled in the region 2-15 nm. Figure 10 shows transmission electron microscope (TEM) images of mesoporous particles produced in a spray reactor at YKI. These particles can be loaded with actives that are released over longer periods of time.
To evaluate the possibility to use those particles for sustained release of biocides in coatings, we loaded encapsulated mesoporous particles with the commercially available biocide OIT. Exterior acrylic emulsion paints were prepared from these particles and compared to standard formulations including OIT and a reference formulation without the biocide. The paints were applied on filter paper and subjected to two weathering cycles in a weatherometer. The coated filter paper samples were placed in Petri dishes containing agar and tested against growth of three different molds (Aspergillus Niger, Cladosporium sphaerosphermum and Penicillium funiculosum). Figures 11-13 show the results of these experiments, showing a newly painted sample and to the left a sample subjected to two weathering cycles.
As expected the paint with no biocide cannot withstand mold growth even on a freshly painted surface. The state-of-the-art formulation loses quickly its performance - probably due to too fast leakage of the biocide from the paint. The paint with the biocide encapsulated in coated mesoporous particles show perfect performance after two weathering cycles. The result indicates that a slower release rate of the biocide into the coating can enhance the durability of paint against mold growth.
In a series of experiments we could correlate dirt pick-up with surface hardness and tackiness. A silica particle-induced toughening of the paint surface showed decreased dirt pick-up in three out of four commercial coatings and is thus seen as a promising approach.
To meet new and/or upcoming legal restrictions on available biocides to fight bio-fouling, we have successfully shown that meso-porous silica particles can improve the long term performance of alternative biocide formulations.
About the authors
Jens Voepel is project manager for polymeric materials and polymer synthesis at YKI, the Institute for Surface Chemistry in Stockholm, Sweden. Jens holds has a PhD in Polymer Technology from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm (June 2011) and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Materials Science from The University of Applied Science in Rheinbach, Germany. Jens joined YKI in March 2011 and is gaining experience with project related to coatings, controlled delivery and pigments. He can be contacted at Jens.Voepel@yki.se.
Anders Larsson is responsible for Business Development of Advance Materials and Area Manager Coatings at YKI, the Institute for Surface Chemistry in Stockholm, Sweden. Anders has a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Gothenburg University (GU) in Gothenburg (1999). After doing his postdoctoral studies at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces (Germany) he joined YKI during year 2000. He has led several projects related to coatings such as film formation studies, development of cleaner surfaces, controlled delivery of biocides and much more. He can be contacted at Anders.Larsson@yki.se. | <urn:uuid:812f423c-db54-4d25-9b2b-04964558b224> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.coatingsworld.com/issues/2012-04/view_features/making-cleaner-surfaces/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941419 | 3,186 | 3.046875 | 3 |
December 22, 2012, was a good day for some; this is because the world is still standing and did not come to an end the day before as some doomsday prophecies have theorized. However, while Dec 21 may have passed without incident, this does not mean mankind is out of the woods yet. Letting our guards down may be a little bit premature as astronomers have detected an asteroid heading right for Earth.
The asteroid is estimated to be about 140 meters and was discovered by scientists from the University of Hawaii. While the asteroid will just barely miss our planet by about 890,000 kilometers, the fact that a behemoth rock is able to come that close is reasonable cause for alarm.
The reason we should worry is because that very same asteroid could change course and be headed back at Earth’s direction in the year 2040. This is due to a phenomenon known as the Yarkovsky effect. The effect occurs when an asteroid absorbs energy from the sun, which can alter the original direction of the object’s trajectory.
The asteroid in question is relatively the same mass as the one that slammed into an uninhabited area of Siberia in 1908, which caused an impact comparable to that of 1,000 atomic bombs going off at once.
Most astronomers agree that being hit by an asteroid is not a matter of “if” but “when.” For this reason, The B612 Foundation, a California based organization, is in the process of obtaining a half billion dollar fund for an infrared space telescope that is capable of detecting large celestial rocks that may pose a threat to Earth.
The telescope they hope to produce is called the Sentinel and will orbit the planet and take pictures of the sky and relay it back home. Detection is the key because we cannot stop what we don’t see. It is estimated that the Sentinel will be able to capture the locations of about 10,000 new asteroids every month. | <urn:uuid:8830fdbe-9ee1-4ef8-add4-54d1f420e1af> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.naturalbuy.com/doomsday-paranoia-prompts-the-search-for-threats-outside-of-earth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968997 | 397 | 3.5625 | 4 |
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If you are in the hospital recovering from surgery, healing from an injury, or being treated for a disabling medical condition, physical rehabilitation may be an important part of your treatment. Physical medicine and rehabilitation, or simply rehab, is a branch of medicine called physiatry.
You may need this type of treatment for any condition that affects your nerves, muscles, bones, or brain and is causing you temporary or permanent disability. Medical healthcare providers who plan your treatment are called physiatrists. They work along with a team of other medical professionals, such as physical therapists.
Many conditions that cause pain or limit your ability to move normally may be helped by physical therapy. This type of rehab may be needed at the hospital before you go home or to an extended care facility. Here are some conditions that may be helped by physical medicine rehab in the hospital:
Stroke. Stroke is a block or burst of the blood supply to the brain. The most important part of stroke recovery is early rehab that often starts right away in the hospital. Rehab can help you relearn how to manage daily activities, recover lost function, and prevent further damage.
Spine injury. Neck and back injuries need early treatment for the best results. Physical therapy and rehab for these injuries begin as soon as possible at the hospital. They help limit more damage and shorten recovery time.
Pain. If you have severe pain in the hospital after an injury or an operation or because of a nerve or muscle condition, physical therapy may help ease your pain. It can also help you to better manage it.
Joint conditions. Joint conditions can cause pain, stiffness, and limited movement. They may be treated with physical therapy in the hospital. Therapy can ease pain and improve range of movement. It can also teach you how to use your joints without causing more damage. Examples of these conditions include ankylosing spondylitis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
Other conditions. You might need physical rehab for cancer, heart disease, lung problems, an infected wound, an amputation, or a severe burn. You will also need physical rehab after joint replacement surgery.
At the hospital, your physiatrist may talk with you, examine you, order special tests, and look at your medical records. Then he or she will come up with a rehab treatment plan to fit your needs. A physical therapist (PT) may help you carry out your plan. A PT is trained in how to restore physical mobility and function after an injury or surgery. Other medical specialists, such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers, and psychologists may also be involved.
Here are some of the ways these specialists can assist you:
Help you exercise and strengthen your muscles
Help you stretch your muscles to increase flexibility
Give you range of motion exercises to maintain or increase movement
Give you exercises and activities to improve your coordination and balance
Teach you how to be safe when you leave the hospital
Teach you how to be independent when you leave the hospital
Improve healing by using massage, heat, cold, electric currents, or sound waves
Physical rehabilitation therapy is a crucial part of recovery from many conditions you may face in the hospital. In many cases, physical therapy and rehab in the hospital is the beginning of a process that will continue after you leave the hospital. Continued therapy may be done at an extended care facility. It may also be done at an outpatient physical therapy department or at home.
You can improve your chances of recovery by learning as much as you can about your condition and working closely with all the members of your rehab team.
Copyright © 2016 Baylor Scott & White Health. All Rights Reserved. |
3500 Gaston Ave., Dallas, TX 75246-2017 | 1.800.4BAYLOR | <urn:uuid:49046411-4bf0-4371-a20b-5728b6f83574> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://healthsource.baylorhealth.com/134,111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947035 | 814 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Griffiths, Paul E and Stotz, Karola
Genes in the postgenomic era.
We outline three very different concepts of the gene - 'instrumental', 'nominal', and 'postgenomic'. The instrumental gene has a critical role in the construction and interpretation of experiments in which the relationship between genotype and phenotype is explored via hybridization between organisms or directly between nucleic acid molecules. It also plays an important theoretical role in the foundations of disciplines such as quantitative genetics and population genetics. The nominal gene is a critical practical tool, allowing stable communication between bioscientists in a wide range of fields grounded in well-defined sequences of nucleotides, but this concept does not embody major theoretical insights into genome structure or function. The post-genomic gene embodies the continuing project of understanding how genome structure supports genome function, but with a deflationary picture of the gene as a structural unit. This final concept of the gene poses a significant challenge to conventional assumptions about the relationship between genome structure and function, and between genotype and phenotype.
|Griffiths, Paul E|
||To be published in "Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics", mini symposium 'What is a gene', ca Nov 2006
||Conceptual change; epigenetics, gene definition; gene concepts; history of genetics; instrumental gene; nominal gene; postgenomics;
||Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics
||26 Feb 2006
||07 Oct 2010 15:13
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Actions (login required) | <urn:uuid:4fae3660-918c-454b-9ab2-0642de49225a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/2641/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.819632 | 334 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A spill at France's Tricastin site has led to uranium entering local rivers. Locals were initially advised not to use river water or to eat fish, but radiation protection authorities now say effects should be negligible.
|Tricastin from afar (Image: IRSN)
The incident occurred at about 11pm on 7 July at a decontamination facility operated by Areva subsidiary Socatri. The company specialises in maintaining and dismantling nuclear equipment while cleaning and recovering uranium contamination.
About 30 cubic metres of stored decontamination solution containing 12 grams of uranium per litre escaped. The fluid overflowed from one tank into another one designed for this purpose but the secondary tank was not watertight and the fluid leaked out of the plant and into the ground.
Socatri workers reacted by notifying the Nuclear Safety Authority (Autorité De Sûreté Nucléaire, ASN) and drilling a borehole in the immediate facility of the spill to begin to assess potential environmental impacts.
Knowing that the solution would travel through storm drains and reach the Gaffière and Lauzon rivers before the Rhône, a precautionary measure taken immediately by the ASN was to advise authorities in the Drôme and Vaucluse regions to restrict fishing and the use of river water by the public. The ASN said it did this without waiting for the outcome of tests, adding that eating fish from the rivers would anyway have very limited effects on health.
Staff from the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, IRSN) were dispatched to the site to take environmental measurements. Seven surface tests and nine groundwater tests showed contamination levels to be receding rapidly, although Socatri's initial test showed radiation in groundwater to be 1000 times higher than the World Health Organization's (WHO's) 15 micrograms of uranium per litre guideline for water intended for human consumption. IRSN said it "believes the radiological consequences for people should be neglibile."
An Areva announcement late on 9 July said surface water samples taken off site and in the Gaffière and Lauzon rivers showed a "significant decrease in uranium levels at all sampling points." The majority of samples showed uranium levels were below the WHO guideline for drinking water, the company said, with the highest sample reaching 31.2 micrograms per litre. "Water samples from the aquifer show no abnormality," Areva concluded.
ASN has defined a monitoring plan and will visit the site on 10 July, while IRSN is to put ongoing water test results on its website. Areva said it had proposed to ASN that the incident be rated at Level 1 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, an 'anomaly'.
Tricastin is a very large nuclear site, home to four power reactors, the Comhurex uranium conversion facility, the Eurodif enrichment plant and the Pierrelatte weapons facility, operated by the Atomic Energy Commission, (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique, CEA). | <urn:uuid:4f46401f-84d0-42c3-90a6-f784a1dfc4b8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Uranium_solution_spill_at_Tricastin_0907081.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00053-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934636 | 639 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Posted by Jenna Green on April 1, 2013 at 1:25 PM
HELP FOR TODAY, HOPE FOR TOMORROW
DID YOU KNOW?
- Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in the United States
- One in every 12 adults (17.6 million people) suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence
- More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking
- 100,000 persons die each year from alcohol-related causes: drinking and driving crashes, other accidents,falls, fires, alcohol-related homicides and suicides
- More than 7 million children live in a household where at least one parent is dependent on or has abused alcohol
- Alcohol is a primary factor in the four leading causes of death for young persons ages 10-21
- Young people who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21
- Alcohol-related problems cost America $224 billion ($746 per person) in lost productivity, absenteeism, healthcare costs, crime and family-related problems
- The typical American will see 100,000 beer commercials before he or she turns 18
For NCADD Referrel and Resource Guide, please click here.
For more informaion on NCADD, please click here. | <urn:uuid:9dc8e08a-4660-408a-8bbf-fd2cd65662f2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jennagreenfoundation.org/apps/blog/show/25274712 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00025-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913856 | 268 | 2.71875 | 3 |
There are many animals around the world whose lives or homes are threatened. Read about an endangered species from Africa with this info-sheet
Get in tune with nature, and read a bit about an endangered species of animal, the Black-footed Ferret. Your child can color an illustration as he reads.
Are you aware of how many endangered species there are in the world? Use this trivia sheet to test your knowledge of some beautiful but endangered animals.
Meet the red wolf, an endangered species of animal that was once very common, but in the past 50 year nearly became extinct! | <urn:uuid:83b76b6a-f9d1-4281-ad53-bdd6b45d0a61> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.education.com/collection/daisyeducation/endangeredspecies/?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00115-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94301 | 118 | 2.90625 | 3 |
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- The G-20 and International Economic Cooperation: Background and Implications for Congress
- This report discusses the background of the G-20 (an international forum for discussing and coordinating economic policies) and some of the issues that it has addressed. It includes historic background on the work of the G-20, information about how the group operates, overviews of G-20 summits, major issues that the group is likely to address and the likely effectiveness of the G-20 in the near future.
- The Financial Crisis: Impact on and Response by the European Union
- According to the most recent National Threat Assessment, the global financial crisis and its geopolitical implications pose the primary near-term security concern of the United States. Over the short run, both the EU and the United States are attempting to resolve the financial crisis while stimulating domestic demand to stem the economic downturn. These efforts have born little progress so far as the economic recession and the financial crisis have become reinforcing events, causing EU governments to forge policy responses to both crises. This report discusses this situation in detail and also discusses individual efforts by both the U.S. and EU to combat the effects of the crisis. | <urn:uuid:0f6d0f64-f7b5-4bf5-8150-47a48fb002b0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/CRSR/browse/?sort=default&q=%22economic+policy%22&fq=str_location_country%3AItaly&t=dc_subject&fq=untl_decade%3A2000-2009&display=brief | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943724 | 244 | 2.5625 | 3 |
McLean v. Arkansas Documentation Project
In 1981, a remarkable court case in Arkansas pitted creationists against pastors, priests, teachers, and scientists. "McLean et al. vs. Arkansas" sought relief from Arkansas' Act 590, which mandated that evolutionary biology instruction be balanced with "creation science". Unlike the 1925 Scopes trial in Tennessee, the Arkansas court heard testimony from a large number of witnesses on both sides of the case. Judge Overton ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, and Act 590 was deemed unconstitutional. Overton's clearly written decision has been widely reprinted, and is available on the Web at several locations (see below).
However, the actual trial transcript with its documentation of the stances of the various witnesses and arguments of the attorneys is not generally available.
There are several reasons why this trial's transcript should be preserved for posterity and distributed widely. Although Arkansas did not appeal the decision, leaving the issue open at the national level, the trial and eloquent decision have influenced further cases dealing with young-earth creationist legal challenges. Indeed, just a few years later a similar measure in Louisiana was also ruled unconstitutional pre-trial (Aguillard vs. Treen), and Louisiana's final appeal before the Supreme Court failed in 1987 (follow this link to the copy of the SCOTUS decision in this case on the TalkOrigins Archive). But the Louisiana case never actually involved the testimony of expert witnesses. This leaves the testimony given in Arkansas as a unique record of the stances taken by both anti-evolutionists and their opponents.
Unfortunately this unique record is in danger. The trial was covered by two court reporters, one for each side's section of the trial. Court reporters use a shorthand recording machine to make a record of the proceedings. The use of the shorthand recording, though, may vary between court reporters. Thus, each court reporter must transcribe the recording in order to produce a transcript that can be read by others. While the plaintiff's side of the trial has been transcribed, the defense side has not. Further, time is not kind to court records. While one might expect complete record-keeping within the justice system, the sad truth is that errors happen. The plaintiff's part of the trial is already missing the testimony of Francisco Ayala. The defense part, with its interesting testimony from antievolutionists under oath, has not yet been transcribed. It is also stored out-of-state, which increases the odds that portions will have been misplaced.
The McLean v. Arkansas Documentation Project seeks to preserve and propagate this unique resource. We aim to recover as much of the trial transcript as possible at this time, and to produce an online text containing the transcript for study and reference. We also will attempt to collect and make available ancillary documents related to the trial. | <urn:uuid:bc10963d-52db-4cf7-90ba-2abffce6bbde> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.antievolution.org/cs/mclean_documentation_project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955268 | 574 | 2.59375 | 3 |
A coast province in northwestern Asia Minor on the Propontis and the Euxine. Its narrowest compass included the districts on both sides of the Sangarius, its one large river, but in prosperous times its boundaries reached from the Rhyndacus on the west to and beyond the Parthenius on the east. The Mysian Olympus rose in grandeur to a height of 6,400 ft. in the southwest, and in general the face of Nature was wrinkled with rugged mountains and seamed with fertile valleys sloping toward the Black Sea.
Hittites may have occupied Bithynia in the remote past, for Priam of Troy found some of his stoutest enemies among the Amazons on the upper Sangarius in Phrygia, and these may have been Hittite, and may easily have settled along the river to its mouth. The earliest discernible Bithynians, however, were Thracian immigrants from the European side of the Reliespont. The country was overcome by Croesus, and passed with Lydia under Persian control, 546 BC. After Alexander the Great, Bithynia became independent, and Nicomedes I, Prusias I and II, and Nicomedes II and III, ruled from 278 to 74 BC. The last king, weary of the incessant strife among the peoples of Asia Minor, especially as provoked by the aggressive Mithridates, bequeathed his country to Rome. Nicomedia and Prusa, or Brousa, were founded by kings whose names they bear; the other chief cities, Nicea and Chalcedon, had been built by Greek enterprise earlier. There were highways leading from Nicomedia and Nicea to Dorylaeum and to Angora (see Ramsay , Historical Geography of Asia Minor, and The Church in the Roman Empire before A. D. 170). Under Rome the Black Sea littoral as far as Amisus was more or less closely joined with Bithynia in administration.
Paul and Silas essayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not (Acts 16:7). Other evangelists, however, must have labored there early and with marked success. Bithynia is one of the provinces addressed in 1 Peter 1:1.
Internal difficulties and disorders led to the sending of Pliny, the lawyer and literary man, as governor, 111 to 113 AD. He found Christians under his jurisdiction in such numbers that the heathen temples were almost deserted, and the trade in sacrificial animals languished. A memorable correspondence followed between the Roman governor and the emperor Trajan, in which the moral character of the Christians was completely vindicated, and the repressive measures required of officials were interpreted with leniency (see E. G. Hardy, Pliny's Correspondence with Trajan, and Christianity and the Roman Government). Under this Roman policy Christianity was confirmed in strength and in public position. Subsequently the first Ecumenical Council of the church was held in Nicea, and two later councils convened in Chalcedon, a suburb of what is now Constantinople. The emperor Diocletian had fixed his residence and the seat of government for the eastern Roman Empire in Nicomedia.
Bithynia was for a thousand years part of the Byzantine Empire, and shared the fortunes and misfortunes of that state. On the advent of the Turks its territory was quickly overrun, and Orchan, sultan in 1326, selected Brousa as his capital, since which time this has been one .of the chief Ottoman cities.
G. E. White
These files are public domain. | <urn:uuid:ac4b1f12-5d03-45f5-a95d-4a2f5b1831f1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/bithynia.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00007-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975743 | 757 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Lectures: 2 session / week, 1.5 hours / session
After decades of efforts to promote development, why is there so much poverty in the world? What are some of the root causes of inequality world-wide and why do poverty, economic transformations and development policies often have different consequences for women and men? This course explores these issues while also examining the history of development itself, its underlying assumptions, and its range of supporters and critics. It considers the various meanings given to development by women and men, primarily as residents of particular regions, but also as aid workers, policy makers and government officials. In considering how development projects and policies are experienced in daily life in urban and rural areas in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Melanesia, this course asks what are the underlying political, economic, social, and gender dynamics that make "development" an ongoing problem world-wide.
Attendance at class and participation is essential and constitutes 20% of course grade.
Course materials must be read for the assigned day in class.
Written assignments included: | <urn:uuid:676c9aa2-462c-4c8b-b8ce-3016a8ca3c99> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/anthropology/21a-338j-gender-power-and-international-development-fall-2003/syllabus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00134-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949809 | 216 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Those who put ballot initiative procedures into state constitutions thought that they were a counterpoint to political parties. When politicians ignored the wishes of the people, the people by using ballot initiatives could enact their views into law.
But politicians are a resourceful group, and they are figured out how to use ballot initiatives to advance their political party's fortunes. They have discovered the "wedge" ballot proposal.
Here is how it works. A political party needs to energize its political base for an election so its core voters will show up at the polls. If they show up they will vote for the party's candidates. To whip up excitement among these loyal but undependable voters the party puts a carefully selected initiative on the ballot. The initiative is on a hot button issue that the party's core voters care very deeply about. The core voters will show up just to vote on the initiative and stay long enough in the voting booth to also vote for the party's candidates for office.
Republicans used initiatives on gay marriage in the 2004 President race to turn out conservative voters. Some pundits claimed that the Ohio initiative on gay marriage gave President Bush the extra 60,000 votes he needed to claim the Electoral College votes of Ohio, the pivotal state in the election. In this year's congressional elections, the gay marriage initiative is on another six state ballots. Republicans are also using initiatives on tax and spending limits to turn out their base conservative constituency in several other states.
The Democrats, although late to the tactic, have responded with ballot initiatives of their own. In the 2004 senatorial race in Colorado, the Democrats took back a seat held by the Republicans with the help of a ballot initiative promoting renewable energy sources. In six states this year, Democrats have successfully placed initiatives on the ballot that raise the minimum wage. In Missouri this year, a Democrat for the Senate is hoping for help from a ballot initiative permitting private funding of embryonic stem-cell research.
Academic research has found that ballot initiatives are effective in midterm elections. The authors of the studies have found that ballot initiatives can increase voter turnout by as much as eight percentage points. The studies of presidential campaign are mixed, however; some find no effect on voter turnout in some states while others find a small effect.
With political parties sponsoring initiatives, the most dramatic change will be in states, such as Ohio, that require petition signatures from at least one-half of the state counties to get an initiative on the ballot. Political parties have organizations ready to go in each county while citizen groups must struggle to create them. State, such as Ohio, will see a dramatic increase in ballot initiatives once political parties get involved.
But, as I noted above, politicians are a resourceful group, and they are already developing counter measures. The most obvious counter-measure is to match ballot initiative with ballot initiative. Both parties struggle to get offsetting ballot initiatives on the same ballot.
The more subtle counter-measure is to moot an opponent's ballot initiative with legislation. In Michigan and Arkansas, for example, Republicans in the state legislature passed minimum wage increases to keep the Democrats' initiative on minimum wages off the ballot. Around elections, then, we can expect to see state legislatures flip-flop on legislation. A state legislature controlled by one party that has blocked legislation promoted by the other will pass, on the eve of the election, the other party's bills.
This counter-measure, of course, will further encourage a minority party to have several ballot initiatives in advance of any election.
[Editor's Note: Here in Ohio, we are currently witnessing an interesting twist on the use of legislation in an effort to moot a ballot initiative: Republicans in the state's General Assembly are proposing tax-reduction legislation to moot the Tax Expenditure Limitation initiative, promoted by their own gubernatorial candidate (current Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell), but now widely viewed as a political liability. It remains to be seen whether this legislative effort will succeed in removing the initiative from Ohio's ballot in November.]
Whether all these is good or bad is hard to say. One thing is for certain, however, political parties will remain very vigorous proponents of ballot initiatives in all future elections. | <urn:uuid:963657c7-c6d3-4b92-8f7c-b03f5b6ca6cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/comments/2006/060523.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957954 | 851 | 2.984375 | 3 |
27 Nov 2012:
Pine Beetle Attacks Cause
Temperature Rise in Canadian Forests
The decimation of trees by mountain pine beetles in British Columbia has caused air temperatures in affected areas to climb by an average of 1 degree Celsius
during the summer months, according to a new
study. In an analysis of satellite and forest data collected between 1999 and 2010, scientists from the University of Toronto and University of California, Berkeley calculated that areas hit hardest by widespread pine beetle infestations
have experienced even sharper temperature increases of several degrees Celsius, as regions are increasingly deprived of the natural cooling effect of trees. Since the evaporation of water through leaves prevents some of the sun’s radiation from heating the ground surface, the widespread loss of trees causes the temperature increases, said Holly Maness, a researcher at UC Berkeley and co-author of the study, published in the journal Nature Geoscience
. And because warming temperatures and milder winters have helped pine beetles to flourish, these infestations are creating a feedback effect that is making the forests even more vulnerable. According to scientists, mountain beetles have affected 66,000 square miles in British Columbia, or 20 percent of the province’s total area. | <urn:uuid:9f9ad573-befe-4f60-a758-7ce37aaed45f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://e360.yale.edu/mobile/digest.msp?id=3704 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938827 | 246 | 3.5 | 4 |
Biotechnology uses biological processes to solve problems in such areas as health and medicine, agriculture and manufacturing.
When used as a description in investing, a biotechnology company (biotech), is generally distinguished from a pharmaceutical company in that its business is more weighted toward research and development based on biology (the "bio" part of biotechnology), rather than chemistry or pharmacology.
A biotech is often seen as a more risky investment because the investor's focus will be on the pipeline that the company is developing, rather than products that are already approved and on the market. These "pipeline" items or compounds may not ultimately come to profitable fruition in the marketplace. Typically, it can take several years of research, bio-engineering, and testing before a product's efficacy (or lack thereof) is known.
In agriculture, biotechnology refers to crops and products related to the growing of crops that have been genetically modified in the laboratory with the goal of producing crops that have superior characteristics such as being more nutritious or disease- and/or drought-resistant.
Some argue in favor of this practice, pointing to the notion that farmers have been genetically modifying crops for centuries; others consider the use of this science dangerous. The general concern in that regard is for the unknown long-term ramifications and consequences of modifying biology. | <urn:uuid:f434314b-a81d-4d1a-a4d2-e7f7bc6331a8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wiki.fool.com/Biotechnology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959398 | 266 | 3.046875 | 3 |
This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.
Whether it calls the program “responsible resource development” or strives to become an “energy superpower,” Canada is digging up vast swathes of the earth and selling them as quickly as possible at the expense of the environment and aboriginal rights.
In many of the treaty territories and unsurrendered First Nations across Canada, the constitutionally protected rights of indigenous people — including the right to hunt, fish, trap, and be consulted with and accommodated when new development is planned — are being increasingly overstepped by rapid industrial growth.
After a frenzy of environmental deregulation, undertaken by the fraudulently elected Harper Government at the request of oil lobbyists, indigenous rights remain as a last line of legal defense for the environment in Canada.
“This is not an Indian problem anymore. If you breathe air and drink water, it’s about you,” said Crystal Lameman, a member of the Beaver Lake Cree. Her band is suing for an injunction in their traditional territories, which, if granted, could prohibit a third of planned oil sands development from moving forward without their consent. Theirs is one of the largest lawsuits of what the Canadian Press calls 2014’s “aboriginal legal onslaught” against the tar sands.
This wave of litigation responds to Canada’s new regulatory climate, in which many major energy projects no longer require environmental assessments, millions of waterways are now unprotected, and those looking to participate in public hearings on energy projects need to endure a prohibitive and time-consuming application process to (maybe) be heard. Most recently, oversight of Alberta’s oil industry was handed over to an industry-funded corporation, and habitat protection requirements for the humpback whale were loosened, likely to permit the construction of the Enbridge Northern Gateway.
To justify this stream-lined regulatory regime, Stephen Harper said in 2012 that: “We cannot allow valid concerns about environmental protection to be used as an excuse to trap worthwhile projects in reviews-without-end.” Instead, the government and industry now face lawsuits without end.
“As we’ve seen with bills C-38 and C-45, the problem with environmental assessment tools is that they can essentially be legislated out of existence,” said Robert Janes, a lawyer representing a number of First Nations. “They are created by the legislature or parliament and they can be abolished or limited by the legislature or parliament.” In contrast, Janes said, “what treaty and aboriginal rights have is constitutional protection. So the government can’t wish them away.”
Accordingly, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, with support from Neil Young, has filed four lawsuits that challenge specific Shell projects and allege that entire land use policies were developed without proper consultation. The Mikisew Cree and Frog Lake First Nation are suing the government over massive changes to the country’s environmental assessment and water protection laws. The Lubicon Cree, a non-treaty nation lacking a reserve and basic amenities like running water, allege that billions of dollars in minerals, oil, and gas have been removed from their territories without consent.
They are suing the government to nullify thousands of current oil and gas extraction permits and pay $700 million in compensation, while also seeking an injunction against a fracking company called Penn West.
In B.C., Tsleil-Waututh Nationhas just launched a lawsuit against the government over the immense Kinder-Morgan export pipeline, while in Ontario the Chippewa of the Thames First Nation is suing the government over inadequate consultation regarding Enbridge Line 9.
Outside of the courts, indigenous activists are pledging to keep blockading unwanted fracking projects in New Brunswick, to physically obstruct construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, and to blockade major gas and tar sands pipelines through British Columbia. Each of these lawsuits and actions reinforces the others, threatening the fuel supply, extraction sites, and distribution network of the tar sands and amounting to many billions of dollars of risk.
Government officials know about this risk and how their economic policies trample indigenous rights. Leaked reports from the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, obtained by Martin Lukacs and the Guardian, warn government insiders that the assertion of indigenous rights and new legal precedents set by successful indigenous lawsuits pose “significant risks” to the federal government’s policy agenda and may result in “economic development projects [being] delayed.” One of the documents quoted in Lukacs’ report suggests that “there is a tension between the rights-based agenda of Aboriginal groups and the non-rights based policy approaches” of the federal government.
In pursuing “non-rights based policy,” the government is betting that it can violate its own constitution — so long as it can crush blockades, outspend First Nations in the courts, and authorize projects faster than First Nations can sue. It’s a calculated gamble launched from shaky legal ground, sustained by the ignorance of investors, enforced by the RCMP, aided by the poverty of First Nations, and bankrolled by the infinite wallet of the Canadian taxpayer. In 2013 alone, the government spent $106 million defending itself from aboriginal litigation, while the province of New Brunswick spent $9.5 million policing the Elsipogtog blockade.
Crystal Lameman and Neil Young, photo via Jamie Henn
Anatomy of a Tar Sands Trial: The Beaver Lake Cree Nation
A look at the Beaver Lake Cree’s litigation, one of the many active aboriginal tar sands lawsuits, reveals the enormity of the government’s policy bluff.
With a population of about 900, this First Nation is moving forward with a lawsuit that draws a third of planned tar sands extraction into question. Like BLCN’s traditional territories, an area approximately the size of Switzerland, this legal action is gargantuan — or “so large as to be unmanageable” to use the words of Canada’s lawyers.
The defendants, Canada and Alberta, are accused of authorizing over 20,000 permits that collectively threaten the Beaver Lake Cree’s treaty rights. BLCN charges that the governments have failed to adequately monitor the cumulative effects of development, failed to consult with them in good faith, and failed to take measures to protect the abundance, diversity, and habitat of wildlife.
“When industry and development is destroying our right to hunt, trap, and fish, that’s in direct violation of Canadian law. So we have grounds to challenge,” said Crystal Lameman, a member of the band who fundraises for their litigation.
At the center of the trial is Treaty 6, an 1876 agreement between the Crown and the Beaver Lake Cree. It outlines the territories relinquished by the Cree, but ensures that “the said Indians shall have right to pursue their avocations of hunting and fishing throughout the tract surrendered,” except in “such tracts as may from time to time be required or taken up for settlement, mining, and other purposes.”
“That language allows for development. It anticipates development, it anticipates that there will be settlement. But, at the same time, it can be read in the context of a promise that in the treaty negotiations, a way of life would be protected,” the BLCN’s lawyer Robert Janes said. Accordingly, “there is some limit to the ‘taking-up’ process that means it is not just an open-ended process of extinguishing the rights by slices. What the courts have said is that at some point you cross a line where there’s a danger that there will be no meaningful right to hunt, and at that point there’s a limit to the Crown’s conduct.”
“A right to hunt or a right to fish or a right to carry out a cultural activity is absolutely meaningless without a proper habitat in which there are animals, fish, and land. So what the courts have recognized is that what comes with those rights is some kind of protection for habitat,” Janes clarified.
“My hope is that this litigation will set precedent on the protection of our ecosystem, our water systems, our air, our land — everything. The ecosystem, in its entirety,” said Crystal Lameman. “We have to leave something for our children. It doesn’t matter what color they are — all of our children, the world’s children. And right now, the way this industry is moving about, we’re leaving nothing for our kids but oil they’re going to drink and money they’re going to eat.”
Lameman also hopes that BLCN’s lawsuit will rebalance the relationship between her nation and the Crown, resulting in “true and honest consultation — not before the pen is going to the paper, but consultation from the get-go — defined by us, the citizen members.”
When I asked what kinds of efforts industry has made to consult with the Beaver Lake Cree, Lameman clarified that “consultation for me is not a company coming into my community for half an hour, setting up a fancy table, raffling off an iPad, and saying ‘OK, consultation, check.’ That’s their idea of consultation. That’s really what happens.”
The BLCN’s traditional territories already host about 35,000 oil and natural gas wells, a Canadian Forces base, and thousands of kilometers of pipelines, access roads, and seismic lines. These territories are 38,927km and cover large parts of the two largest oil sands deposits. While the Beaver Lake Cree say the ecosystem is rapidly declining, the government has plans to triple bitumen extraction in these territories to 1.64 million barrels per day.
“I want it to be stated clearly that I’m not against development. I’m not against this industry,” Crystal Lameman said. “What we are asking for is to show us there’s such a thing as sustainable development, show us that our treaty rights are not being infringed upon, and show us that you are abiding by your obligation to consult.” Lameman believes that if the Crown was confident that they could win this case, “we would be in court already.”
“A lot of the old people, they talk about how the fish don’t taste good anymore—they taste different,” Lameman said. “Hunters have been seeing deer with green meat,” and “there’s been evidence of moose with puss bubbles under their skin.” She noted that ducks are increasingly scarce, “we don’t have very many frogs anymore,” blueberries are “becoming harder and harder to find” and “in about two, three weeks, the Saskatoons are dry. It wasn’t like that when I was a kid.”
Most significantly, caribou herds in the Beaver Lake Cree territories are disappearing fast. “This is an animal that we used to subsist on — thousands and thousands of caribou. As of 2011, we had between 175 and 275 caribou,” said Lameman.
A report by the Cooperative Bank of Manchester, who provided BLCN with funds to launch their case, concluded that “oil and gas exploration and development” and associated roads, pipelines, and seismic lines have resulted in “physical loss of habitat, avoidance of areas by caribou, and increased caribou mortality.”
Avoided caribou habitat now covers “51 percent of the Cold Lake herd range” and “66 percent of the East Side Athabasca herd range,” with roads acting as “semi-permeable barriers” to caribou and above-ground pipelines “completely impassible.” Saving local caribou herds, the report argues, means issuing “a moratorium on all new industrial developments.”
Instead of a moratorium, Canada and Alberta have developed widely-criticized plans to save the region’s caribou. A federal caribou recovery strategy mandated that 65 percent of threatened caribou habitat must be left undisturbed, though this threshold has already been exceeded and the government keeps handing out industrial permits. Meanwhile, Alberta is considering building gigantic, outdoor caribou pens, and has been poisoning thousands wolves with strychnine and gunning them down from helicopters to stop them from preying on caribou.
A series of reports by Carol Linnitt of DeSmog Blog explores these policies in detail, driving Linnitt to conclude that “according to this strategy, caribou and wolf alike fall prey to another kind of predator: multinational corporations.”
The BLCN’s traditional territories have also been impacted by several oil spills that nobody knows how to stop, with heavy oil and tainted water are oozing up from fissures deep in the earth. This includes the infamous Cold Lake spill which is ongoing after eleven months with no end in sight. “In the south-west portion of the lake we have ancestors buried,” Lameman said, noting that this burial site is a part of her nation’s litigation.
Friends of Lameman’s who were employed to clean-up this spill told her they saw deer and moose drinking from the polluted lake, and dead ducks and frogs littering the scene.
“We’ll be pulling together evidence to show just how the land has been disturbed, what land is no longer available for harvesting, how certain kinds of physical disturbances affect wildlife patterns, how certain kinds of physical activities limit hunting,” said lawyer Robert Janes, noting that the case will argue that the indigenous “right to hunt carries with it a substantial cultural component.”
“A lot of these things are personal accounts,” Lameman said. “These systems we have placed upon us, they don’t recognize oral history. But that’s our history. We don’t write our history down in books, so that makes it less valuable to this system.”
Caribou herds in Beaver Lake Cree territories are disappearing fast. Photo via Flickr
With this in mind, the BLCN’s legal team is unearthing evidence that will verify, through a court-approved European optic, the oral history of development as told by the Beaver Lake Cree. This amounts to a herculean research project that their lawyer estimates could involve upwards of 250,000 documents — a collection of satellite images and old aerial photographs, ecological and anthropological studies, testimonies from elders, and “getting the government to choke up the information out of individual sources.”
Robert Janes explained that “every farm has a land title deed and has a history, every project has authorizations, every road has a history. And those documents exist inside the government, it’s just that the government never actually tries to establish how those come together.”
“The really hard part is actually establishing the baseline picture of what the environment was like before the disturbances, and that is a very challenging process,” Janes said. “But there is data out there and we do know that at some point in time the land was in fact undeveloped.”
Beaver oil sands lease, via Raven Trust
Time, money, and the burden of history
While the law moves at a snail’s pace, industrial development is ceaseless and rapid. While the government’s coffers are unlimited, indigenous communities face endemic poverty. While First Nations’ rights are now the strongest environmental protections in Canada, the weight of history obstructs aboriginals from easily having these rights recognized in the courts.
Up until 1951, aboriginals in Canada were not permitted to hire lawyers. As a result, while other areas of law have had more time to develop, many basic concepts in aboriginal litigation are not yet clearly defined. First Nations across the country charge that the government or industry have failed to consult with and accommodate them, but the law has only begun to define consultation in the last decade and “the courts have barely started to scratch the surface” of what accommodation means, Robert Janes said.
As a result, Janes said, “it is not uncommon for the Crown to raise very difficult legal issues at very early stages of the process.” Complex preliminary issues “can consume the First Nations’ ability to litigate and can introduce so much delay that often there’s nothing left to fight over.”
“Aboriginal litigation raises some of the most important and complex and difficult and therefore expensive issues to resolve. But at the same time the people who raise these issues are in fact some of the most impoverished people in Canada, in many cases because of the very issues they’re trying to raise,” Janes summarized.
Yet, under the growing weight of aboriginal litigation, procedural roadblocks for indigenous plaintiffs are beginning to unravel. As an example, the BLCN’s lawsuit overcame a major legal obstruction faced by indigenous communities impacted by large industries. Theirs is the first case to look at the impacts of development as a whole on their treaty rights, rather than the impact of one particular project.
“When we filed the litigation in May of 2008, we claimed over 17,000 treaty right infringements and violations. [Canada] wanted us to go to court 17,000 times,” Crystal Lameman said, laughing. Instead, the courts ruled that the Beaver Lake Cree “are entitled to access to justice uncircumscribed by limits imposed by the scope of Canada’s alleged misconduct,” and struck down Canada’s appeals.
“This has very significant implications for other First Nations,” said Robert Janes. In many First Nations “it’s not that just one project looked at in isolation is bad, it’s that their lands have been affected by hundreds, in many cases thousands of impacts. It’s the totality of those impacts, which are supposed to be regulated by the government, which has really changed their life and has interfered with their aboriginal rights, their aboriginal title.”
This precedent was hard won. It took almost four years for the Beaver Lake Cree to be granted a trial and now, almost six years since the case was first filed, BLCN is still a few years away from a court date. As the case has grown to include thousands of new permits, Janes explained, it reflects the reality that “the world doesn’t stop while the case goes on.”
While in court, Janes said, “the practical reality is that Beaver Lake has to continue to fight on other fronts as a part of trying to avoid excessive development.” He offered the example of “an oil sands project that is in progress right now, where Beaver Lake is trying to participate in the regulatory process to have the regulator limit or delay or ultimately not approve the project.” Development might be slowed, too, by the investor uncertainty created by a lack of customers for, and endless litigation against, Canada’s tar sands infrastructure.
Robert Janes noted that another of his clients, Grassy Narrows, has successfully deterred development while fighting their legal battle “for 12, 13 years.” They have done this by being “very involved in the regulatory process, they have had blockades, they have also had a very effective grassroots boycott campaign that a number of organizations have helped them with. When you look around at successful cases, aboriginal people have to fight these cases on a number of fronts—political, legal, regulatory, and it’s a bit of a hearts and minds campaign as well.”
Winning hearts and minds, the BLCN lawsuit has drawn support from lawyers and donors from around the world, as well as charitable organizations, and the Cooperative Bank of Manchester. They’ve also crowd-sourced donations online, gathering more funds than they asked for.
Susan Smitten, the executive director of a charitable organization called RAVEN Trust that fundraises for BLCN, said several lawyers and law-firms have worked on the case at half of their normal rate or “put in hundreds of thousands of dollars pro-bono.” A prominent UK lawyer, Michael Mansfield, wanted to represent the Beaver Lake Cree for free, but was not permitted to do so by the Alberta courts—instead he sent lawyers from his firm to work behind the scenes. “Lots of people have put in time in lieu of money,” Smitten summarized.
Smitten noted that in addition to RAVEN’s fundraising, “people in Beaver Lake Cree community are digging as deep as they can. Their resources are so limited, and they have other issues as well, but they all believe in this strongly.” Overall, she said, “the band is putting in hundreds of thousands of dollars themselves… at a recent open band meeting they raised about $4,000 just from the people in the room.”
And still, Smitten told me, as legal challenges like the BLCN’s are increasingly seen as one of the most tangible ways to challenge unchecked tar sands growth, more and more donors seem to be reaching out to help.
“People are starting to really awaken, in the sense of a global awareness, to how indigenous led strategies based on their treaty rights are really forming one of the key ways that tar sands expansion can be at least limited,” said Susan Smitten. “In everything I read these days, everyone is tuning into the fact that this rate of expansion is unviable. It’s untenable because within less than a decade they want to double the current production.”
“All the voices seem to be saying ‘don’t we need to freeze this for a minute? Do we even need this and if we do isn’t there a better way? And shouldn’t we be consulting with First Nations and making sure their rights aren’t completely trampled in the process?’” Smitten said. “As more and more people tune into that and become aware, there are more and more voices saying ‘how can we help?’ and there’s more and more people reaching out to us.” | <urn:uuid:29ea4969-8120-4739-aef4-dc64ce52da60> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://news.vice.com/article/indigenous-lawsuits-could-paralyze-canadas-tar-sands | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00060-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958513 | 4,717 | 2.640625 | 3 |
This is an old and outdated copy of Unintended Consequences. Please see our most recent version.
This document collects reported cases where the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA have been invoked not against pirates, but against consumers, scientists, and legitimate competitors. It will be updated from time to time as additional cases come to light. The previous version, from April of 2006, is also available.
Since they were enacted in 1998, the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), codified in section 1201 of the Copyright Act, have not been used as Congress envisioned. Congress meant to stop copyright infringers from defeating anti-piracy protections added to copyrighted works and to ban the "black box" devices intended for that purpose.1
In practice, the anti-circumvention provisions have been used to stifle a wide array of legitimate activities, rather than to stop copyright infringement. As a result, the DMCA has developed into a serious threat to several important public policy priorities:
- The DMCA Chills Free Expression and Scientific Research.
Experience with section 1201 demonstrates that it is being used to stifle free speech and scientific research. The lawsuit against 2600 magazine, threats against Princeton Professor Edward Felten’s team of researchers, and prosecution of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov have chilled the legitimate activities of journalists, publishers, scientists, students, programmers, and members of the public.
- The DMCA Jeopardizes Fair Use.
By banning all acts of circumvention, and all technologies and tools that can be used for circumvention, the DMCA grants to copyright owners the power to unilaterally eliminate the public’s fair use rights. Already, the movie industry’s use of encryption on DVDs has curtailed consumers’ ability to make legitimate, personal-use copies of movies they have purchased.
- The DMCA Impedes Competition and Innovation.
Rather than focusing on pirates, some have wielded the DMCA to hinder legitimate competitors. For example, the DMCA has been used to block aftermarket competition in laser printer toner cartridges, garage door openers, and computer maintenance services. Similarly, Apple invoked the DMCA to chill RealNetworks’ efforts to sell music downloads to iPod owners.
- The DMCA Interferes with Computer Intrusion Laws.
Further, the DMCA has been misused as a general-purpose prohibition on computer network access, a task for which it was not designed and to which it is ill-suited. As a result, a disgruntled employer has used the DMCA against a former contractor for simply connecting to the company’s computer system through a VPN.
DMCA Legislative Background
Congress enacted the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions in response to two pressures. First, Congress was responding to the perceived need to implement obligations imposed on the U.S. by the 1996 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. Section 1201, however, went further than the WIPO treaty required.2 The details of section 1201, then, were a response not just to U.S. treaty obligations, but also to the concerns of copyright owners that their works would be widely pirated in the networked digital world.3
Section 1201 contains two distinct prohibitions: a ban on acts of circumvention, and a ban on the distribution of tools and technologies used for circumvention.
The "act" prohibition, set out in section 1201(a)(1), prohibits the act of circumventing a technological measure used by copyright owners to control access to their works ("access controls"). So, for example, this provision makes it unlawful to defeat the encryption system used on DVD movies. This ban on acts of circumvention applies even where the purpose for decrypting the movie would otherwise be legitimate. As a result, the motion picture industry maintains that it is unlawful to make a digital copy ("rip") of a DVD you own for playback on your iPod.
The "tools" prohibitions, set out in sections 1201(a)(2) and 1201(b), outlaw the manufacture, sale, distribution, or trafficking of tools and technologies that make circumvention possible. These provisions ban both technologies that defeat access controls, and also technologies that defeat use restrictions imposed by copyright owners, such as copy controls. These provisions prohibit the distribution of "DVD back-up" software, for example.
Section 1201 includes a number of exceptions for certain limited classes of activities, including security testing, reverse engineering of software, encryption research, and law enforcement. These exceptions have been extensively criticized as being too narrow to be of real use to the constituencies who they were intended to assist.4
A violation of any of the "act" or "tools" prohibitions is subject to significant civil and, in some circumstances, criminal penalties.
Chilling Free Expression and Scientific Research
Section 1201 has been used by a number of copyright owners to stifle free speech and legitimate scientific research.
The lawsuit against 2600 magazine, threats against Professor Edward Felten’s team of researchers, and prosecution of the Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov are among the most widely known examples of the DMCA being used to chill speech and research. Bowing to DMCA liability fears, online service providers and bulletin board operators have censored discussions of copy-protection systems, programmers have removed computer security programs from their websites, and students, scientists and security experts have stopped publishing details of their research.
These developments will ultimately result in weakened security for all computer users (including, ironically, for copyright owners counting on technical measures to protect their works), as security researchers shy away from research that might run afoul of section 1201.
DMCA Delays Disclosure of Sony-BMG "Rootkit" Vulnerability
J. Alex Halderman, a graduate student at Princeton University, discovered the existence of several security vulnerabilities in the CD copy-protection software on dozens of Sony-BMG titles. He delayed publishing his discovery for several weeks while consulting with lawyers in order to avoid DMCA pitfalls. This left millions of music fans at risk longer than necessary.5 The security flaws inherent in Sony-BMG’s "rootkit" copy-protection software were subsequently publicized by another researcher who was apparently unaware of the legal risks created by the DMCA.
Security researchers had sought a DMCA exemption in 2003 in order to facilitate research on dangerous DRM systems like the Sony-BMG rootkit, but their request was denied by the U.S. Copyright Office.6 In 2006, the Copyright Office granted an exemption to the DMCA for researchers examining the security threat posed by copy protection software on compact discs.7 This exemption, however, does nothing to protect researchers studying other DRM systems.
Cyber-Security Czar Notes Chill on Research
Speaking at MIT in October 2002, White House Cyber Security Chief Richard Clarke called for DMCA reform, noting his concern that the DMCA had been used to chill legitimate computer security research. The Boston Globe quoted Clarke as saying, "I think a lot of people didn't realize that it would have this potential chilling effect on vulnerability research."8
Professor Felten’s Research Team Threatened
In September 2000, a multi-industry group known as the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) issued a public challenge encouraging skilled technologists to try to defeat certain watermarking technologies intended to protect digital music. Princeton computer science professor Edward Felten and a team of researchers at Princeton, Rice, and Xerox took up the challenge and succeeded in removing the watermarks.
When the team tried to present their results at an academic conference, however, SDMI representatives threatened the researchers with liability under the DMCA. The threat letter was also delivered to the researchers’ employers and the conference organizers. After extensive discussions with counsel, the researchers grudgingly withdrew their paper from the conference. The threat was ultimately withdrawn and a portion of the research was published at a subsequent conference, but only after the researchers filed a lawsuit.
After enduring this experience, at least one of the researchers involved has decided to forgo further research efforts in this field.9
SunnComm Threatens Grad Student
In October 2003, Princeton graduate student J. Alex Halderman was threatened with a DMCA lawsuit after publishing a report documenting weaknesses in a CD copy-protection technology developed by SunnComm. Halderman revealed that merely holding down the shift key on a Windows PC would render SunnComm’s copy protection technology ineffective. Furious company executives then threatened legal action.
The company quickly retreated from its threats in the face of public outcry and negative press attention. Although Halderman was spared, the controversy again reminded security researchers of their vulnerability to DMCA threats for simply publishing the results of their research.10
Hewlett Packard Threatens SNOsoft
Hewlett-Packard resorted to DMCA threats when researchers published a security flaw in HP’s Tru64 UNIX operating system. The researchers, a loosely-organized collective known as Secure Network Operations ("SNOsoft"), received the DMCA threat after releasing software in July 2002 that demonstrated vulnerabilities that HP had been aware of for some time, but had not bothered to fix.
After widespread press attention, HP ultimately withdrew the DMCA threat. Security researchers got the message, however—publish vulnerability research at your own risk.11
Blackboard Threatens Security Researchers
In April 2003, educational software company Blackboard Inc. used a DMCA threat to stop the presentation of research on security vulnerabilities in its products at the InterzOne II conference in Atlanta. Students Billy Hoffman and Virgil Griffith were scheduled to present their research on security flaws in the Blackboard ID card system used by university campus security systems but were blocked shortly before the talk by a cease-and-desist letter invoking the DMCA.
Blackboard obtained a temporary restraining order against the students and the conference organizers at a secret "ex parte" hearing the day before the conference began, giving the students and conference organizer no opportunity to appear in court or challenge the order before the scheduled presentation. Despite the rhetoric in its initial cease and desist letter, Blackboard’s lawsuit did not mention the DMCA. The invocation in the original cease-and-desist letter, however, underscores the way the statute has been used to chill security research.12
Xbox Hack Book Dropped by Publisher
In 2003, U.S. publisher John Wiley & Sons dropped plans to publish a book by security researcher Andrew "Bunnie" Huang, citing DMCA liability concerns. Wiley had commissioned Huang to write a book that described the security flaws in the Microsoft Xbox game console, flaws Huang had discovered as part of his doctoral research at M.I.T.
Following Microsoft’s legal action against a vendor of Xbox "mod chips" in early 2003, and the music industry’s 2001 DMCA threats against Professor Felten’s research team, Wiley dropped the book for fear that the book might be treated as a "circumvention device" under the DMCA. Huang’s initial attempt to self-publish was thwarted after his online shopping cart provider also withdrew, citing DMCA concerns.
After several months of negotiations, Huang eventually self-published the book in mid-2003. After extensive legal consultations, Huang was able to get the book published by No Starch Press.13
Censorware Research Obstructed
Seth Finkelstein conducts research on "censorware" software (i.e., programs that block websites that contain objectionable material), documenting flaws in such software. Finkelstein’s research, for example, revealed that censorware vendor N2H2 blocked a variety of legitimate websites, evidence that assisted the ACLU in challenging a law requiring the use web filtering software by federally-funded public libraries.14
N2H2 claimed that the DMCA should block researchers like Finkelstein from examining its software. Finkelstein was ultimately forced to seek a DMCA exemption from the Librarian of Congress, who granted the exemption in both the 2000 and 2003 triennial rulemakings. The exemption, however, was not renewed in 2006, leaving future researchers without protection from DMCA threats.
Benjamin Edelman has also conducted extensive research into flaws in various censorware products. Edelman’s research also led to evidence used by the ACLU in its constitutional challenge to the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which mandates the use of censorware by public libraries.15
In the course of his work for the ACLU, Edelman discovered that the DMCA might interfere with his efforts to learn what websites are blocked by censorware products. Because he sought to create and distribute software tools to enable others to analyze the list if it changed, Edelman could not rely on the limited DMCA regulatory exception in place at the time. Unwilling to risk civil and criminal penalties under Section 1201, Edelman was forced to sue to seek clarification of his legal rights. Unfortunately, the court found that Edelman would have to undertake the research and hazard legal reprisals in order to have standing to challenge the DMCA. The case was therefore dismissed without addressing the DMCA’s chill on research.16
Dmitry Sklyarov Arrested
In July 2001, Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was jailed for several weeks and detained for five months in the United States after speaking at the DEFCON conference in Las Vegas.
Prosecutors, prompted by software goliath Adobe Systems Inc., alleged that Sklyarov had worked on a software program known as the Advanced e-Book Processor, which was distributed over the Internet by his Russian employer, ElcomSoft. The software allowed owners of Adobe electronic books ("e-books") to convert them from Adobe’s e-Book format into PDF files, thereby removing restrictions embedded into the files by e-book publishers.
Sklyarov was never accused of infringing any copyright, nor of assisting anyone else to infringe copyrights. His alleged crime was working on a software tool with many legitimate uses, simply because other people might use the tool to copy an e-book without the publisher’s permission.
Federal prosecutors ultimately permitted Sklyarov to return home, but brought criminal charges against ElcomSoft. In December 2002, a jury acquitted Elcomsoft of all charges, completing an 18-month ordeal for the wrongly-accused Russian software company.17
Scientists and Programmers Withhold Research
Following the Felten and Sklyarov incidents, a number of prominent computer security experts curtailed their legitimate research activities for fear of potential DMCA liability.
For example, when Dutch cryptographer and security systems analyst Niels Ferguson discovered a major security flaw in Intel’s HDCP video encryption system, he declined to publish his results on his website on the grounds that he travels frequently to the U.S. and is fearful of "prosecution and/or liability under the U.S. DMCA law."18
Following the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov, Fred Cohen, a professor of digital forensics and respected security consultant, removed his "Forensix" evidence-gathering software from his website, citing fear of potential DMCA liability. Another respected network security protection expert, Dug Song, also removed information from his website for the same reason. Mr. Song is the author of several security papers, including a paper describing a common vulnerability in many firewalls.19
In mid-2001 an anonymous programmer discovered a vulnerability in Microsoft’s proprietary e-book DRM system, but refused to publish the results, citing DMCA liability concerns.20
Foreign Scientists Avoid U.S.
Foreign scientists have expressed concerns about traveling to the U.S. following the arrest of Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov. Some foreign scientists have advocated boycotting conferences held in the United States, and some conference organizers have decided to hold events in non-U.S. locations. In 2001, Russia went so far as to issue a travel advisory to Russian programmers traveling to the United States.21
Highly respected British Linux programmer Alan Cox resigned from the USENIX committee of the Advanced Computing Systems Association, the committee that organizes many of the U.S. computing conferences, because of concerns about traveling to the United States. He also urged USENIX to move its annual conference offshore. 22
The International Information Hiding Workshop Conference, the conference at which Professor Felten’s team intended to present its original SDMI watermarking paper, chose to break with tradition and held its next conference outside of the U.S. following the DMCA threat to Professor Felten and his team.23
IEEE Wrestles with DMCA
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which publishes 30 per cent of all computer science journals worldwide, has also grappled with the uncertainties created by the DMCA. Apparently concerned about possible DMCA liability, the IEEE in November 2001 instituted a policy requiring all authors to indemnify IEEE for any liabilities incurred should a submission result in legal action.
After an outcry from IEEE members, the organization ultimately revised its submission policies, removing mention of the DMCA. According to Bill Hagen, manager of IEEE Intellectual Property Rights, "The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has become a very sensitive subject among our authors. It’s intended to protect digital content, but its application in some specific cases appears to have alienated large segments of the research community."24
2600 Magazine Censored
The Universal City Studios v. Reimerdes case illustrates the chilling effect that section 1201 has had on the freedom of the press.
In that case, eight major motion picture companies brought DMCA claims against 2600 Magazine seeking to block it from publishing DeCSS, a software program that defeats the CSS encryption used on DVD movies. 2600 had made the program available on its web site in the course of its ongoing coverage of the controversy surrounding the DMCA. The magazine was not involved in the development of software, nor was it accused of having used the software for any copyright infringement.
Notwithstanding the First Amendment’s guarantee of a free press, the district court permanently barred 2600 from publishing, or even linking to, the DeCSS software code. In November 2001, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court decision.25
In essence, the movie studios effectively obtained a "stop the presses" order banning the publication of truthful information by a news publication concerning a matter of public concern—an unprecedented curtailment of well-established First Amendment principles.26
CNET Reporter Feels Chill
CNET News reporter Declan McCullagh confronted the chilling effect of the DMCA firsthand. In the course of his reporting, he found four documents on the public website of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The website disclosed that the documents contained information about airport security procedures, the relationship between federal and local police, and a "liability information sheet." A note on the site stated that this "information is restricted to airport management and local law enforcement." The documents were distributed in encrypted form and a password was required to open and read them.
McCullagh obtained the passwords from an anonymous source, but did not open the documents, citing concerns that using a password without authorization might violate the DMCA.27 This is particularly ironic, as any foreign journalist beyond the reach of the DMCA would be free to use the password.
"Journalists traditionally haven't worried about copyright law all that much," said McCullagh, "But nowadays intellectual property rights have gone too far, and arguably interfere with the news gathering process."28
Microsoft Threatens Slashdot
In spring 2000, Microsoft invoked the DMCA against the Internet publication forum Slashdot, demanding that forum moderators delete materials relating to Microsoft’s proprietary implementation of an open security standard known as Kerberos.
In the Slashdot forum, several individuals alleged that Microsoft had changed the open, non-proprietary Kerberos specification in order to prevent non-Microsoft servers from interacting with Windows 2000. Many speculated that this move was intended to force users to purchase Microsoft server software. Although Microsoft responded to this criticism by publishing its Kerberos specification, it conditioned access to the specification on agreement to a "click-wrap" license agreement that expressly forbade disclosure of the specification without Microsoft’s prior consent.
Slashdot posters responded by republishing the Microsoft specification. Microsoft then invoked the DMCA, demanding that Slashdot remove the republished specifications.
In the words of Georgetown law professor Julie Cohen, "If Microsoft's interpretation of the DMCA's ban on circumvention technologies is right, then it doesn't seem to matter much whether posting unauthorized copies of the Microsoft Kerberos specification would be a fair use. A publisher can prohibit fair-use commentary simply by implementing access and disclosure restrictions that bind the entire public. Anyone who discloses the information, or even tells others how to get it, is a felon."29
GameSpy Menaces Security Researcher with DMCA
Luigi Auriemma, an independent Italian security researcher, attracted the attention of GameSpy’s lawyers after publishing details on his website regarding security vulnerabilities in GameSpy’s online services, including a voice chat program, Roger Wilco, and online game finder, GameSpy 3D. Before publishing the information, Auriemma had informed GameSpy and public security mailing lists of the weaknesses. GameSpy, however, had failed to address the vulnerabilities.
In November 2003, GameSpy’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to Auriemma, threatening civil and criminal penalties under the DMCA. According to GameSpy, Auriemma was publishing key generators and other piracy tools, rather than simply vulnerability research. Whatever the merits of GameSpy’s claims, the invocation of the DMCA was likely improper in light of the fact that Auriemma resides in Italy and thus is beyond the reach of the DMCA.30
AVSforum.com Censors TiVo Discussion
The specter of DMCA litigation has chilled speech on smaller web bulletin boards, as well. In June 2001, for example, the administrator of AVSforum.com, a popular forum where TiVo digital video recorder owners discuss TiVo features, censored all discussion about a software program that allegedly permitted TiVo users to move video from their TiVos to their personal computers. In the words of the forum administrator, "My fear with this is more or less I have no clue what is a protected system on the TiVo box under copyright (or what-have-you) and what is not. Thus my fear for the site."31
Mac Forum Censors iTunes Music Store Discussion
Macintosh enthusiast website Macosxhints censored publication of information about methods for evading the copy protection on songs purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store in May 2003, citing DMCA liability concerns. Songs purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store are downloaded in Apple’s proprietary AAC file format, wrapped in digital copy protection. As the webmaster for the site noted, even though information on bypassing the copy protection was readily available on the Internet at the time, republishing user hints on work-arounds risked attracting a DMCA lawsuit and harsh penalties.32
Fair Use Under Siege
"Fair use" is a crucial element in American copyright law—the principle that the public is entitled, without having to ask permission, to use copyrighted works in ways that do not unduly interfere with the copyright owner’s market for a work. Fair uses include personal, noncommercial uses, such as using a VCR to record a television program for later viewing. Fair use also includes activities undertaken for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship or research.
We are entering an era where books, music and movies will increasingly be "copy-protected" and otherwise restricted by technological means. Whether scholars, researchers, commentators and the public will continue to be able to make legitimate fair uses of these works will depend upon the availability of tools to bypass these digital locks.
The DMCA, however, prohibits the creation or distribution of these tools, even if they are crucial to fair use. So, as copyright owners use technology to press into the 21st century, the public will see fair uses whittled away by digital locks allegedly intended to "prevent piracy." Perhaps more importantly, future fair uses will not be developed for restricted media, because courts will never have the opportunity to rule on them. Fair users will be found liable for "picking the lock" and thereby violating the DMCA, whatever the merits of their fair use defense.
Copyright owners argue that these tools, in the hands of copyright infringers, can result in "Internet piracy." But banning the tools that enable fair use will punish the innocent along with infringers. Photocopiers, VCRs, and CD-R burners can also be misused, but no one would suggest that the public give them up simply because they might be used by others to break the law.
Although the Copyright Office is empowered to grant limited DMCA exemptions in a triennial rule-making, it has repeatedly refused to grant exemptions for consumer fair uses.33
Copy-protected CDs & DRM in Online Music
"Copy-protected" CDs and digital rights management (DRM) for online music illustrate the collision between fair use and the DMCA in the music world. As of early 2006, for instance, Sony-BMG had released more than 15 million copy-protected CDs in the U.S. market. Although the momentum toward universal CD copy-protection faltered after the Sony-BMG "rootkit" scandal in late-2005, no major label has publicly renounced the use of copy-protection on CDs.
Such CD copy-protection technologies interfere with the fair use expectations of music fans by inhibiting the transfer of music from CD to iPods or other MP3 players—despite the fact that making an MP3 copy of a CD for personal use qualifies as a fair use. Other fair uses impaired by copy-protection technologies include making "mix CDs" or making copies of a CD for the office or car. Unfortunately, companies that distribute tools to "repair" these dysfunctional CDs, restoring to consumers their fair use privileges, run the risk of lawsuits under the DMCA’s ban on circumvention tools and technologies.34
With the increasing popularity of online music, DRM has become an increasingly well-known frustration to fair use expectations for digital music, just as copy-protected CDs frustrated fair use expectations for physical CDs. Bypassing DRM to shift a song from one MP3 player to another, or to create a backup of the digital file, can expose a music fan to DMCA liability, even if all of the uses would otherwise qualify as non-infringing fair uses. Although more online music vendors are abandoning DRM—because, among other things, DRM has had no effect on piracy and, in the words of one digital content manager, eliminating DRM would solve "obvious interoperability issues"35 —DRM is nevertheless another glaring example of the DMCA putting fair use under siege.36
Fair Use Tools Banned: DVD Software
Fair use of DVDs has suffered thanks to DMCA lawsuits brought against DVD copying tools. There are many legitimate reasons to copy DVDs. Once the video is on the PC, for example, lots of fair uses become possible—for example, video creators can remix movie clips into original YouTube videos, travelers can load the movie into their laptops, and DVD owners can skip the otherwise "unskippable" commercials that preface certain films. Without the tools necessary to copy DVDs, however, these fair uses become impossible.
In the Universal v. Reimerdes case, discussed above, the court held that the DMCA bans DeCSS software. In another case, federal courts ordered 321 Studios’ DVD X Copy product taken off the shelves for violating the DMCA. Major movie studios also used the DMCA to sue Tritton Technologies, the manufacturer of DVD CopyWare, and three website distributors of similar software.37
Movie fans, film scholars, movie critics, and public interest groups have all repeatedly asked the Copyright Office to grant DMCA exemptions to allow the decryption of DVDs in order to enable noninfringing uses. For example, exemptions were sought to allow movie critics to post movie clips, DVD owners to skip "unskippable" previews and commercials, and legitimate purchasers to bypass "region coding" restrictions on their DVD players. Every DVD-related request was denied in both the 2000 and 2003 triennial rulemakings.38 In 2006, a very narrow exemption was granted to allow media studies and film professors to create compilations of motion pictures for educational use in the classroom. The narrowness of this exemption was repeatedly emphasized by the Copyright Office: "If it had not been possible to define a class of works by reference to the users or the uses made of those works, it might have been difficult for the Register to recommend an exemption for this class of works."39 This narrowness suggests future exemptions may only be granted if constraints can be placed on both the type of use and class of user—two heavy shackles on fair use.
Even if other narrow exemptions are granted in the future, it is worth noting that the Copyright Office is powerless to grant an exemption to the DMCA’s "tools" ban. As a result, fair users are likely to be left with fewer tools at their disposal, even if they succeed in obtaining a DMCA exemption—few companies will want to enter a market making tools that could subject them to lawsuit.
Advanced e-Book Processor and e-Books
The future of fair use for books was at issue in the criminal prosecution of Dmitry Sklyarov and Elcomsoft. As discussed above, Elcomsoft produced and distributed a tool called the Advanced e-Book Processor, which translates e-books from Adobe’s e book format to PDF. This translation process removed various restrictions (against copying, printing, text-to-speech processing, etc.) that publishers can impose on e-books.40
The Advanced e-Book Processor allowed those who have legitimately purchased e books to make fair uses of their e books, uses otherwise made impossible by the restrictions of the Adobe e book format. For instance, the program allowed people to engage in the following fair uses:
- read the e-book on a laptop or computer other than the one on which it was first downloaded;
- continue to access the e-book in the future, if the particular technological device for which it was purchased becomes obsolete;
- print an e book on paper;
- read an e book on an alternative operating system such as Linux (Adobe's format works only on Macs and Windows PCs);
- have a computer read an e book out loud using text-to-speech software, which is particularly important for visually-impaired individuals.
Time-shifting and Streaming Media
As more people receive audio and video content from "streaming" Internet media sources, they will want tools to preserve their settled fair use expectations, including the ability to "time-shift" programming for later listening or viewing. As a result of the DMCA, however, the digital equivalents of VCRs and cassette decks for streaming media may never arrive.
Start-up software company Streambox developed exactly such a product, known simply as the Streambox VCR, designed to time-shift streaming media. When RealNetworks discovered that the Streambox VCR could time-shift streaming RealAudio webcasts, it invoked the DMCA and obtained an injunction against the Streambox VCR product.41
The DMCA has also been invoked to threaten the developer of an open source, noncommercial software application known as Streamripper that records MP3 audio streams for later listening.42
Agfa Monotype and Fonts
In January 2002, typeface vendor Agfa Monotype Corporation threatened a college student with DMCA liability for creating "embed," a free, open source, noncommercial software program designed to manipulate TrueType fonts.
According to the student: "I wrote embed in 1997, after discovering that all of my fonts disallowed embedding in documents. Since my fonts are free, this was silly—but I didn't want to take the time to... change the flag, and then reset all of the extended font properties with a separate program. What a bore! Instead, I wrote this program to convert all of my fonts at once. The program is very simple; it just requires setting a few bits to zero. Indeed, I noticed that other fonts that were licensed for unlimited distribution also disallowed embedding.... So, I put this program on the web in hopes that it would help other font developers as well."
Agfa Monotype nevertheless threatened the student author with DMCA liability for distributing the program. According to Agfa, the fact that embed can be used to allow distribution of protected fonts makes it contraband under Section 1201, notwithstanding the fact that the tool has many legitimate uses in the hands of hobbyist font developers.43
Agfa Monotype brought similar DMCA challenges against Adobe Systems for its Acrobat 5.0’s FreeText Tool and Forms Tool, which allowed so-called "editable embedding." Agfa claimed that with Acrobat 5.0, the recipient of an electronic document could make use of embedded fonts to change the contents of a form field or free text annotation, thus "circumventing" the embedding bits of some of Agfa’s TrueType Fonts.
Fortunately, in 2005, a federal court found that Adobe had not violated either Section 1201(a) or Section 1201(b) of the DMCA. The court noted that embedding bits do not effectively control access to a protected work and, moreover, that Acrobat 5.0 was not designed primarily to circumvent TrueType fonts.44 Hopefully, this court ruling will discourage Agfa from making abusive DMCA threats in the future.
In November 2006, movie studios wielded the DMCA to rein in Load-’N-Go, a small company that loaded DVDs purchased by a customer onto the customer’s iPod. Load-’N-Go would take DVDs purchased by the customer, load the DVDs onto the customer’s iPod, and then return both the iPod and the original DVDs.
The movie studios claimed this service violates the DMCA because creating a duplicate copy of the movie—even for personal, fair uses—circumvents the DVD’s CSS encryption. Under this theory, any individual attempting to space-shift movies from DVD to iPod or to any other digital media player is violating the DMCA. Conveniently for movie studios, this legal posture enables them to sell consumers the same movies multiple times, for multiple devices.
After some back-and-forth in the courts, the case settled in February 2007.45
In October 2008, RealNetworks was forced to stop sales of its RealDVD software, designed to allow users to copy a DVD and store it on their hard drive. This format-shifting by RealDVD would empower consumers with numerous fair uses, such as allowing them to create backups, organize a movie collection digitally, and watch a DVD at any time without being tied to a physical disc. These legitimate expectations of fair use were quickly stifled by a movie studio lawsuit, commenced the same day that RealDVD launched, alleging violations of the DMCA.
RealDVD makes an exact copy of everything on a DVD—including the DVD’s CSS copy-protection system—and transfers it to the hard drive of a PC. A license from the DVD Copy Control Association authorizes RealNetworks to perform the necessary DVD decryption for this process. To ensure the resulting DVD copy cannot be shared or stolen, RealDVD encrypts the saved DVDs again and tethers the copy to a limited number of PCs.
Despite these layers of protection for copyrighted content and despite the numerous fair uses for which RealDVD was designed, a temporary restraining order was granted to halt the sale of RealDVD until a further hearing in late 2008.46
A threat to innovation and competition
The DMCA has frequently been used to deter legitimate innovation and competition, rather than to stop piracy.
For example, the DMCA has been used to block aftermarket competition in laser printer toner cartridges, garage door openers, and computer maintenance services. Apple Computer invoked the DMCA to chill Real Networks’ efforts to sell music downloads to iPod owners. Videogame hobbyists have been sued for trying to improve or extend the capabilities of their favorite game titles. Sony has threatened hobbyists for creating software that enables Sony’s Aibo robot dog to dance, and has sued to block software that allows gamers to play their PlayStation games on PCs.
In each of these cases, it was legitimate competitors and innovators who suffered, not pirates.47
DMCA Used First to Lock Cell Phones to Carriers; Then, to Hammer Phone Resellers
American cellular phone subscribers have long suffered with phones that are artificially "locked" to a particular carrier’s network. This creates a variety of burdens for consumers, including high roaming rates when traveling (by preventing the use of prepaid SIM chips from local carriers) and barriers to switching carriers. In addition, these restrictions make locked phones harder to recycle and reuse. "Locking" phones seems particularly unjustifiable in light of the "minimum term" and "early termination fee" clauses that guarantee carriers will recoup the costs of the phones they are so fond of "giving away" to lure subscribers.
Responding to consumer demand, phone "unlocking" services have become widespread. Unfortunately, carriers responded by threatening legal action under the DMCA and, in at least one case, filing suit. Instead of being used against copyright infringers, the DMCA was used to prop up the anticompetitive business models of cellular carriers.48
At the 2006 triennial DMCA rulemaking, the Copyright Office granted an exemption for cell phone unlocking. Despite this exemption, however, DMCA lawsuits persist. Tracfone, the nation's largest independent prepaid-wireless provider, aggressively uses the DMCA to sue phone resellers who purchase and unlock Tracfone handsets. Courts have ruled in favor of Tracfone, allowing the company to continue using the DMCA as a hammer against secondary markets, instead of as a deterrent against copyright infringers.49
Apple Threatens Real over Harmony
In July 2004, RealNetworks announced its "Harmony" technology, which was designed to allow music sold by Real’s digital download store to play on Apple iPods. Until Harmony, the only DRM-restricted music format playable on the iPod was Apple’s own "Fairplay" format. Although the iPod plays a variety of DRM-free formats, Real wanted to ensure interoperability without having to give up DRM restrictions, and thus developed Harmony to "re-wrap" its songs using the Fairplay format.50
Within days, Apple responded by accusing Real of adopting the "tactics and ethics of a hacker" and threatening legal action under the DMCA. Over the following months, the two competitors engaged in a game of technological cat-and-mouse, with Apple disabling Harmony in updates of its iTunes software and Real revising its technology to re-enable compatibility. In the words of Real’s filings before the SEC: "Although we believe our Harmony technology is legal, there is no assurance that a court would agree with our position."51
Tecmo Sues to Block Game Enhancements
Enthusiastic fans of the videogames Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive 3, and Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball managed to modify their games to create new "skins" to change the appearance of characters who appear in the game (including making some characters appear nude). The modifications were add-on enhancements for the games themselves—only those who already had the games could make use of the skins. These hobbyist tinkerers traded their modding tips and swapped skins on a website called ninjahacker.net.
Tecmo Inc., which distributes the games, was not amused and brought DMCA claims against the website operators and tinkerers who frequented it. The suit was ultimately dismissed after the website was taken down and settlements negotiated with the site’s operators.52
Nikon’s Encrypted RAW Format Blocks Adobe
In April 2005, the creator of Adobe’s Photoshop revealed that camera-maker Nikon had begun encrypting certain portions of the RAW image files generated by its professional-grade digital cameras. As a result, these files would not be compatible with Photoshop or other similar software unless the developers first took licenses from Nikon. In other words, by encrypting the image files on its cameras, Nikon was obtaining market leverage in the image editing software market.
Adobe cited the prospect of a DMCA claim as one reason why it was unwilling to reverse engineer the format to facilitate interoperability. Nikon and Adobe ultimately negotiated an agreement, an option that may not be practical for smaller software developers in the future.53
HP’s Region-Coded, Expiring Printer Cartridges
Hewlett-Packard, one of the world’s leading printer manufacturers, has embedded software in its printers and accompanying toner cartridges to enforce "region coding" restrictions that prevent cartridges purchased in one region from operating with printers purchased in another. This "feature" presumably is intended to support regional market segmentation and price discrimination.
The software embedded in HP printer cartridges also apparently causes them to "expire" after a set amount of time, forcing consumers to purchase new ink, even if the cartridge has not run dry. This "feature" of HP ink cartridges has lead to at least one consumer class action against the company.
HP has not yet invoked the DMCA to protect these anti-consumer tactics, but both HP’s lawyers and its competitors are doubtless well aware of ways in which the DMCA can be used to buttress these tactics.54
StorageTek Attempts to Block Independent Service Vendors
StorageTek sells data storage hardware to large enterprise clients. It also sells maintenance services for its products. Custom Hardware is an independent business that repairs StorageTek hardware. In an effort to eliminate this competitor in the maintenance services market, StorageTek sued under the DMCA, arguing that Custom Hardware had circumvented certain passwords designed to block independent service providers from using maintenance software included in the StorageTek hardware systems. In other words, StorageTek was using the DMCA to ensure that its customers had only one place to turn for repair services.
A district court granted a preliminary injunction against Custom Hardware. More than a year later, a court of appeals vacated the injunction, holding that where there is no nexus with copyright infringement, there can be no DMCA claim. Although this was a victory for competition, it illustrates the ways in which the DMCA continues to be used to impede competition, rather than prevent piracy.55
Lexmark Sues Over Toner Cartridges
Lexmark, the second-largest laser printer maker in the U.S., has long tried to eliminate the secondary market in refilled laser toner cartridges. In January 2003, Lexmark employed the DMCA as a new weapon in its arsenal.
Lexmark had added authentication routines between its printers and cartridges explicitly to hinder aftermarket toner vendors. Static Control Components (SCC) reverse-engineered these measures and sold "Smartek" chips that enabled refilled cartridges to work in Lexmark printers. Lexmark then used the DMCA to obtain an injunction banning SCC from selling its chips to cartridge remanufacturers.
SCC ultimately succeeded in getting the injunction overturned on appeal, but only after 19 months of expensive litigation while its product was held off the market. The litigation sent a chilling message to those in the secondary market for Lexmark cartridges.56
Chamberlain Sues Universal Garage Door Opener Manufacturer
Garage door opener manufacturer Chamberlain Group invoked the DMCA against competitor Skylink Technologies after several major U.S. retailers dropped Chamberlain’s remote openers in favor of the less expensive Skylink universal "clickers." Chamberlain claimed that Skylink had violated the DMCA because its clicker bypassed an "authentication regime" between the Chamberlain remote opener and the mounted garage door receiver unit. On Chamberlain’s logic, consumers would be locked into a sole source not only for replacement garage door clickers, but virtually any remote control device.
Skylink ultimately defeated Chamberlain both at the district court and court of appeals, but only after many months of expensive litigation. In the words of the court of appeals, Chamberlain use of the DMCA was nothing less than an "attempt to leverage its sales into aftermarket monopolies."57
Sony Sues Connectix and Bleem
Sony has used DMCA to sue competitors who created emulation software that permits gamers to play PlayStation console games on PCs. In 1999, Sony sued Connectix, the maker of the Virtual Game Station, a PlayStation emulator for Macintosh computers. Sony also sued Bleem, the leading vendor of PlayStation emulator software for Windows PCs.
In both cases, Sony claimed that competitors had violated the DMCA by engaging in unlawful circumvention, even though the development of interoperable software has been recognized by the courts as a fair use under copyright law. Because courts have suggested that the DMCA trumps fair use, however, the DMCA has become a new legal weapon with which to threaten those who rely on reverse engineering to create competing products.
Neither Connectix nor Bleem were able to bear the high costs of litigation against Sony and pulled their products off the market. No similar emulation products have been introduced, effectively forcing gamers to use Sony console hardware if they want to play the PlayStation games they have purchased.58
Sony Threatens Aibo Hobbyist
Sony has also invoked the DMCA against a hobbyist who developed custom "dance moves" for his Aibo robotic "pet" dog. Developing these new routines for the Sony Aibo required reverse engineering the encryption surrounding the software that manipulates the robot. The hobbyist revealed neither the decrypted Sony software nor the code he used to defeat the encryption, but he freely distributed his new custom programs. Sony claimed that the act of circumventing the encryption surrounding the software in the Aibo violated the DMCA and demanded that the hobbyist remove his programs from his website.
Responding to public outcry, Sony ultimately permitted the hobbyist to repost some of his programs (on the understanding that Sony retained the right to commercially exploit the hobbyist’s work). The incident illustrated Sony’s willingness to invoke the DMCA in situations with no relationship to "piracy."59
Sony Attacks PlayStation "Mod Chips"
Sony has sued a number of manufacturers and distributors of "mod chips" for alleged circumvention under the DMCA. In doing so, Sony has been able to enforce a system of "region coding" that raises significant anticompetitive issues.
"Mod chips" are after-market accessories that modify Sony PlayStation game consoles to permit games legitimately purchased in one part of the world to be played on a games console from another geographical region. Sony complains that mod chips can also be used to play pirated copies of games. As noted above, it is hard to see why an independent vendor of a product with legitimate uses should have to solve Sony’s piracy problems before entering the market.
Sony sued Gamemasters, distributor of the Game Enhancer peripheral device, which allowed owners of a U.S. PlayStation console to play games purchased in Japan and other countries. Although there was no infringement of Sony’s copyright, the court granted an injunction under the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, effectively leaving gamers at the mercy of Sony’s region coding system.
Interestingly, courts in Australia, recognizing the anticompetitive and anticonsumer potential of Sony’s region coding system, came to a different conclusion under that country’s analog to the DMCA. In Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment, the High Court of Australia held in 2005 that the regional access coding on Sony PlayStation computer games as implemented by the PlayStation console did not qualify for legal protection, as it did not prevent or inhibit copyright infringement.
Sony, like all vendors, is free to attempt to segregate geographic markets. If it does so, however, it should have to bear its own costs for the effort, rather than relying on the DMCA, which Congress plainly did not enact to trump the usual legal regimes governing parallel importation.60
Blizzard Sues bnetd.org
Vivendi-Universal's Blizzard Entertainment video game division brought a DMCA lawsuit against a group of volunteer game enthusiasts who created software that allowed owners of Blizzard games to play their games over the Internet. The software, called "bnetd," allowed gamers to set up their own alternative to Blizzard's own Battle.net service.
Blizzard has a policy of locking in its customers who want to play their games over the Internet—it’s the Battle.net servers or nothing. Although access to Blizzard’s Battle.net servers is free, the hobbyists decided to create bnetd to overcome difficulties that they had experienced in attempting to use Battle.net. The bnetd software was freely distributed, open source, and noncommercial.
Blizzard filed suit in St. Louis to bar distribution of bnetd, alleging that the software was a "circumvention device" prohibited by the DMCA. According to Blizzard, the bnetd software could be used to permit networked play of pirated Blizzard games. The developers never used the software for that purpose, nor was that the purpose for which the software was designed.
It is hard to see why a competitor should have to solve Blizzard’s piracy problem before it can offer innovative products for legitimate owners of Blizzard games. Nevertheless, Blizzard prevailed on its DMCA claim, and the bnetd developers ceased distributing the software.61
Apple Harasses Inventive Retailer
When Other World Computing (OWC), a small retailer specializing in Apple Macintosh computers, developed a software patch in 2002 that allowed all Mac owners to use Apple’s iDVD software, they thought they were doing Macintosh fans a favor. For their trouble, they got a DMCA threat from Apple.
Apple’s iDVD authoring software was designed to work on newer Macs that shipped with internal DVD recorders manufactured by Apple. OWC discovered that a minor software modification would allow iDVD to work with external DVD recorders, giving owners of older Macs an upgrade path. Apple claimed that this constituted a violation of the DMCA and requested that OWC stop this practice immediately. OWC obliged.
Rather than prevent copyright infringement, the DMCA empowered Apple to force consumers to buy new Mac computers instead of simply upgrading their older machines with an external DVD recorder.62
Macrovision Sues Sima for Digitizing Analog Signals
In April 2006, hardware manufacturer Sima Products was forced to stop selling various video enhancing products that digitized analog signals from DVD players and VCRs. Wielding the DMCA, Macrovision argued that Sima’s analog-to-digital video enhancements circumvented Macrovision’s analog copy protection (ACP).
Macrovision’s ACP functions by inserting noise into the vertical blanking intervals found in analog video signals. This noise is not displayed on a television set, but it does degrade the recording made by most analog VCRs. Sima’s products simply convert the analog signal into a digital signal, which eliminates additional noise in the blanking intervals, and then converts the signal back to analog. This video enhancement allows consumers to harness digital techniques to make up for a weakness in VCR analog technology, a weakness which could come from age or distortion as well as from techniques like Macrovision’s.
ACP does not prevent digital copies. Moreover, when a digital copy is made, Macrovision’s ACP does not survive. Accordingly, Sima’s products are not "circumventing" anything by performing its analog-to-digital conversion.
Macrovision, nevertheless, was able to convince the court that Sima had violated the DMCA. This unfortunate result indicates that the DMCA can be manipulated to push obsolete analog copy protection systems onto new technology innovators.63 Although Sima appealed the ruling, it subsequently settled with Macrovision before the appeal was heard.
Blizzard Attempts to Block World of Warcraft Glider
Blizzard, makers the popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW), sued MDY Industries, the developer of a program which enables WoW characters to continue playing even when the user is away from her computer. These "bot" programs help reduce the time that a user must otherwise spend to progress in the game. MDY’s product, known as "Glider," proved to be very popular with WoW players, selling about 120,000 units.64
In July 2008, the court rejected several aspects of Blizzard’s DMCA claim (leaving other aspects for exploration at trial, scheduled for January 2009). The court ruled that MDY’s "bot" does not violate the DMCA despite the fact WoW has software known as "Warden" designed to scan and deny access to game servers if such bots are detected on a user’s computer. The court reasoned that a user has full access to WoW game client software when the user buys it, and therefore the Glider software does not circumvent any access control.65
Although the court rejected Blizzard’s DMCA claim, it upheld the copyright and contract claims against MDY.66 Other aspect of Blizzard’s DMCA claim will be tested at trial in January 2009.
Car Product Design Company Attempts to Suppress Competition with EULA
In March 2008, car product design company XPEL Technologies filed suit against American Filter Film Distributors, a rival who provides services for car paint and window film protection. Among a slew of other claims, XPEL alleged that American Filter violated the DMCA by using "Capture" software to copy product images from the XPEL website and distribute the image and product to other auto dealers. XPEL argued the DMCA was violated because (1) the XPEL website is protected by an end-user license agreement (EULA), (2) American Filter clicked that they agreed to the EULA, and (3) the EULA is a technological measure which effectively controls access to the copyrighted design works on XPEL’s website. This is the first case where a "click-thru" EULA has been put forward as an access control protected by the DMCA.
In August 2008, the most recent proceedings for this case, American Filter’s motion to dismiss the DMCA claim was denied. It will be worth watching this case to see whether XPEL’s attempts to transform its EULA into an "access control" will succeed.67
DMCA Shoulders Aside Computer Intrusion Statutes.
The DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions have also threatened to displace "computer intrusion" and "anti-hacking" laws, something that Congress plainly never intended.
State and federal statutes already protect computer network owners from unauthorized intrusions. These include the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Wiretap Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), and a variety of state computer intrusion statutes. These statutes, however, generally require that a plaintiff prove that the intrusion caused some harm. The DMCA, in contrast, contains no financial damage threshold, tempting some to use it in place of the statutes that were designed to address computer intrusion.
Fortunately, the courts appear to be taking steps to reign in this particular misuse of the DMCA, ruling that the use of authentic usernames and passwords to access computers cannot constitute circumvention, even if done without the authorization of the computer owner.68 Until more judicial precedents are on the books, however, the improper use of the DMCA as an all-purpose computer intrusion prohibition will continue to muddy the waters for lawyers and professionals.
Disgruntled Company Sues Former Contractor For Unauthorized Network Access
In April 2003, an automated stock trading company sued a former contract programmer under the DMCA, claiming that his access to the company’s computer system over a password-protected virtual private network (VPN) connection was an act of circumvention.
Pearl Investments had employed the programmer to create a software module for its software system. In order to complete the work remotely, the programmer used a VPN to connect to the company’s computers. Although the contractor created a very successful software module for the company, the relationship turned frosty after the company ran into financial difficulties and terminated the contractor’s contract.
The company sued the contractor when it discovered the contractor’s VPN connection to the its system, claiming electronic trespass, as well as violations of computer intrusion statutes, the CFAA, and the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions. Pearl claimed that it had taken away the authorization it had previously given to the contractor to access its system through the password-protected VPN and that the VPN connection was therefore unauthorized. The Court rejected the company’s electronic trespass and CFAA claims due to lack of evidence of any actual damage done. Even though the second server was not being used by the programmer at the time, and its hard drive had been accidentally wiped, the court agreed with Pearl that the existence of the VPN was a prohibited circumvention of a technological protection measure that controlled access to a system which contained copyrighted software.69
Ticketmaster Sues RMG for Bypassing CAPTCHA
In April 2007, Ticketmaster sued RMG Technologies under the DMCA for circumventing the Ticketmaster website CAPTCHA ("Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart"), the image with distorted letters and numbers that a customer must type before purchasing a ticket. The website run by RMG Technologies provided tickets to events that were likely to sell out quickly on Ticketmaster. RMG allegedly used software to quickly make bulk purchases of tickets from Ticketmaster, circumventing the limit of four tickets per customer, in order to re-sell the tickets for profit.
Ticketmaster brought suit under the DMCA, the CFAA, the Copyright Act, breach of contract, and under California’s criminal code governing computer crimes. On a motion for preliminary injunction, the court found that Ticketmaster was likely to succeed on its DMCA, Copyright Act, and breach of contract claims; however, Ticketmaster would not have been able to prevail on the CFAA claim. (The court found it did not need to address the claim under California’s criminal code.)
This ruling illustrates how the DMCA has shouldered aside computer intrusion statutes like the CFAA. Because the CFAA requires that Ticketmaster prove it suffered $5,000 in damages during one year, whereas the DMCA contains no financial damage threshold, Ticketmaster was able to succeed under the DMCA while failing under the CFAA.70
The DMCA was not intended for this purpose. The DMCA was designed to protect copyrighted works, not ticket vendors. Although the defense made both these arguments,71 the court nevertheless ruled in favor of Ticketmaster on the DMCA claim.72
Cable Provider Blocks Cable Digital Filters
In addition to computer intrusion statues, the DMCA may also be starting to shoulder aside penal statues in other industry areas.
In August 2008, cable provider CoxCom Inc. successfully forced Jon and Amy Chaffee, and their one employee, to stop selling cable digital filters at computer trade shows. These low-frequency digital filters blocked pay per view charges from being sent to cable companies, thus giving users free pay per view. Not surprisingly, the court granted summary judgment against the Chaffees for violation of the Cable Communications Policy Act, a statute specifically enacted to address theft of cable services to protect the economic viability of cable operators and cable programmers. However, the court also ruled that the Chaffees violated the DMCA.
The DMCA argument is that the Chaffees’ low-frequency filters circumvent CoxCom’s pay-per-view billing mechanism, allegedly a "technological measure" that controls access to copyrighted works. If a billing mechanism has become a "technological measure" within the meaning of the DMCA—it is troubling to think what else may qualify.73
Years of experience with the "anti-circumvention" provisions of the DMCA demonstrate that the statute reaches too far, chilling a wide variety of legitimate activities in ways Congress did not intend. As an increasing number of copyright works are wrapped in technological protection measures, it is likely that the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions will be applied in further unforeseen contexts, hindering the legitimate activities of innovators, researchers, the press, and the public at large.
- 1. For examples of Congress’ stated purpose in enacting the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provisions, see 144 Cong. Rec. H7093, H7094-5 (Aug. 4, 1998); Senate Judiciary Comm., S. Rep. 105-190 (1998) at 29; Judiciary Comm., H. Rep. 105-551 Pt 1 (1998) at 18; House Commerce Comm., H. Rep. 105-551 Pt 2 (1998) at 38.
- 2. See WIPO Copyright Treaties Implementation Act and Online Copyright Liability Limitation Act: Hearing on H.R. 2281 and H.R. 2280 before the House Subcomm. on Courts and Intellectual Prop., 105th Cong., 1st sess. (Sept. 16, 1997) at 62 (testimony of Asst. Sec. of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Bruce A. Lehman admitting that section 1201 went beyond the requirements of the WIPO Copyright Treaty).
- 3. For a full description of the events leading up to the enactment of the DMCA, see Jessica Litman, Digital Copyright 89-150 (2000).
- 4. See Pamela Samuelson, Intellectual Property and the Digital Economy: Why the Anti-Circumvention Regulations Need to be Revised, 14 Berkeley Technology L.J. 519, 537-57 (1999)
- 5. Comment of Edward Felten and J. Alex Halderman, RM 2005-11 — Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, Dec. 1, 2005, pages 6-7.
- 6. Recommendation of the Register of Copyrights in RM 2002-4, Oct. 27, 2003, pages 87-89.
- 7. Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, 71 Fed. Reg. 68,472, 68,477 (Nov. 27, 2006).
- 8. Jonathan Band, "Congress Unknowingly Undermines Cyber-Security," S.J. Mercury News, Dec. 16, 2002; Hiawatha Bray, "Cyber Chief Speaks on Data Network Security," Boston Globe, October 17, 2002.
- 9. Pamela Samuelson, "Anticircumvention Rules: Threat to Science," 293 Science 2028, Sept. 14, 2001; Letter from Matthew Oppenheim, SDMI General Counsel, to Prof. Edward Felten, April 9, 2001; Felten v. RIAA: EFF Case Archive.
- 10. John Borland, "Student faces suit over key to CD locks," CNET News, Oct. 9, 2003; Declan McCullagh, "SunnComm won't sue grad student," CNET News, Oct. 10, 2003.
- 11. Declan McCullagh, "Security Warning Draws DMCA Threat," CNET News, July 30, 2002.
- 12. John Borland, "Court Blocks Security Conference Talk," CNET News, April 14, 2003.
- 13. David Becker, "Testing Microsoft and the DMCA," CNET News, April 15, 2003; Seth Schiesel, "Behind a Hacker’s Book, a Primer on Copyright Law," N.Y. Times, July 10, 2003.
- 14. Mainstream Loudoun v. Board of Trustees, 24 F.Supp.2d 552 (E.D. Va. 1998).
- 15. Jennifer 8 Lee, "Cracking the Code of Online Censorship", N. Y. Times, July 19, 2001; Transcript of Hearing in Copyright Office Rulemaking Proceeding RM 2002-04, April 11, 2003, pages 11, 31; Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, 71 Fed. Reg. 68,472, 68,477 (Nov. 27, 2006) (listing "Other Exemptions Considered, But Not Recommended").
- 16. ACLU, "In Legal First, ACLU Sues Over New Copyright Law".
- 17. Lawrence Lessig, "Jail Time in the Digital Age," N.Y. Times, July 30, 2001, page A7; Lisa Bowman, "Elcomsoft Verdict: Not Guilty," CNET News, Dec. 17, 2002.
- 18. Niels Ferguson, "Censorship in Action: Why I Don’t Publish My HDCP Results," Aug. 15, 2001; Niels Ferguson, Declaration in Felten & Ors v R.I.A.A. case, Aug. 13, 2001; Lisa M. Bowman, "Researchers Weigh Publication, Prosecution," CNET News, Aug. 15, 2001.
- 19. Robert Lemos, "Security Workers: Copyright Law Stifles," CNET News, Sept. 6, 2001.
- 20. Wade Roush, "Breaking Microsoft's e-Book Code," Technology Review, November 2001, page 24.
- 21. Jennifer 8 Lee, "Travel Advisory for Russian Programmers," N.Y. Times, Sept. 10, 2001, page C4.
- 22. Alan Cox, declaration in Felten v. RIAA, Aug. 13, 2001.
- 23. Will Knight, "Computer Scientists Boycott US over Digital Copyright Law," New Scientist, July 23, 2001.
- 24. IEEE press release, "IEEE to Revise New Copyright Form to Address Author Concerns," April 22, 2002; Will Knight, "Controversial Copyright Clause Abandoned," New Scientist, April 15, 2002.
- 25. Universal City Studios v. Reimerdes, 111 F. Supp. 2d. 294 (S.D.N.Y. 2000), aff’d sub nom. Universal City Studios v. Corley, 273 F.3d 429 (2d Cir. 2001).
- 26. Carl S. Kaplan, "Questioning Continues in Copyright Suit," N.Y. Times, May 4, 2001; Simson Garfinkel, "The Net Effect: The DVD Rebellion," Technology Review, July/Aug. 2001, page 25; Xenia P. Kobylarz, "DVD Case Clash—Free Speech Advocates Say Copyright Owners Want to Lock Up Ideas; Encryption Code is Key," S.F. Daily J., May 1, 2001.
- 27. Subsequent cases have found that using a password in similar circumstances does not violate the DMCA’s circumvention ban. See I.M.S. Inquiry Mgt. Systems v. Berkshire Info. Systems, 307 F.Supp.2d 521 (S.D.N.Y. 2004).
- 28. Declan McCullagh, "Will This Land Me in Jail?", CNET News, Dec. 23, 2002.
- 29. Julie Cohen, "Call it the Digital Millennium Censorship Act — Unfair Use," The New Republic, May 23, 2000.
- 30. Robert Lemos, "GameSpy Warns Security Researcher," ZDNet News, Nov. 13, 2003.
- 31. Lisa M. Bowman, "TiVo Forum Hushes Hacking Discussion," CNET News, June 11, 2001.
- 32. Regarding hints on evading iTunes Store copy protection, May 7, 2003.
- 33. EFF, DMCA Triennial Rulemaking: Failing the Digital Consumer, Dec. 1, 2005.
- 34. Rep. Rick Boucher, "Time to Rewrite the DMCA," CNET News, Jan. 29, 2002; Dan Gillmor, "Entertainment Industry's Copyright Fight Puts Consumers in Cross Hairs," S. J. Merc. News, Feb. 12, 2002; Jon Healey & Jeff Leeds, "Record Labels Grapple with CD Protection", L.A. Times, Nov. 29, 2002, C1; John Borland, "Copy-blocked CD Tops U.S. Charts," CNET News, June 17, 2004.
- 35. Tim Anderson, "How Apple is Changing DRM," The Guardian, May 15, 2008, Technology News, page 1.
- 36. EFF, The Customer Is Always Wrong: A User’s Guide to DRM in Online Music. For information on online music vendors abandoning DRM, see Tim Anderson, "How Apple is Changing DRM," The Guardian, May 15, 2008, Technology News, page 1.
- 37. Matthew Mirapaul, "They’ll Always Have Paris (and the Web)," N.Y. Times, March 16, 2002, page E2; Lisa Bowman, "Hollywood Targets DVD- Copying Upstart," CNET News, Dec. 20, 2002; Paramount Pictures Corp. v. Tritton Technologies Inc., No. CV 03-7316 (S.D.N.Y. filed Sept.17, 2003); 321 Studios v. MGM, 307 F.Supp.2d 1085 (N.D. Cal. 2004).
- 38. Recommendation of the Register of Copyrights in RM 2002-4, Oct. 27, 2003, pages 109-26.
- 39. Exemption to Prohibition on Circumvention of Copyright Protection Systems for Access Control Technologies, 71 Fed. Reg. 68,472, 68,474 (Nov. 27, 2006).
- 40. EFF, Frequently Asked Questions re U.S. v. Sklyarov.
- 41. RealNetworks, Inc. v. Streambox, Inc., No. C99-2070P, 2000 WL 127311 (W.D. Wash. Jan. 18, 2000).
- 42. Cease and desist letter from Kenneth Plevan on behalf of Live365.com to John Clegg, developer of Streamripper, April 26, 2001.
- 43. Tom Murphy, "embed: DMCA Threats"; cease and desist letter from Agfa to Murphy.
- 44. See Agfa Monotype Corp. v. Adobe Sys., 404 F. Supp. 2d 1030 (N.D. Ill. 2005).
- 45. Eric Bangeman, "MPAA Sues Over DVD-to-iPod Service," Ars Technica, Nov. 17, 2006; Fred von Lohmann, "Movie Studios Sue to Stop Loading of DVDs onto iPods," EFF Deep Links blog, Nov. 16 2006.
- 46. Ajay Kamalakaran, "U.S. Judge Halts Sales of RealNetworks DVD Software," Reuters, Oct. 9, 2008; Greg Sandoval, "Judge Keeps RealDVD Restraining Order In Place," CNET News, Oct. 7, 2008; Press Release, RealNetworks, "RealNetworks Introduces RealDVD: The Best Way to Watch DVDs" (Sept. 8, 2008). The court filings for this case are available at EFF, "RealNetworks v. DVD-CCA (RealDVD case)".
- 47. Others have also recognized the anti-competitive effects of the DMCA. See Timothy B. Lee, "Circumventing Competition: The Perverse Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act," CATO Policy Analysis No. 564 (Mar. 21, 2006).
- 48. Jennifer Granick, "Free the Cell Phone!," WIRED News, Sept. 30, 2005; Reply Comments of the Wireless Alliance, Copyright Office, Docket No. RM-2005-11.
- 49. David Kravets, "Ruling Allows Cell Phone Unlocking, but Telco Sues Anyway," Wired, Aug. 8, 2007. For cases brought by Tracfone against phone resellers see, e.g. TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. Dixon, 475 F. Supp. 2d 1236 (M.D. Fla. 2007) (ruling in favor of TracFone); TracFone Wireless, Inc. v. GSM Group, Inc. 555 F.Supp.2d 1331 (S.D. Fla. 2008) (ruling in favor of TracFone by denying defendant motion to dismiss).
- 50. Real has since abandoned DRM for its music download service. See Brian Heater & Chloe Albanesius, "Update: Rhapsody DRM-Free Music Targets iTunes," PC Magazine, June 30, 2008.
- 51. Matt Hines, "'Stunned' Apple rails against Real's iPod move," CNET News, July 29, 2004; "Real Reveals Real Apple Legal Threat," MacWorld UK, Aug. 10, 2005; RealNetworks 10-Q filing (May 2005).
- 52. Kevin Poulsen, "Hackers Sued for Tinkering with Xbox Games," SecurityFocus, Feb. 9, 2005.
- 53. Michael R. Tompkins, "Nikon Encrypts RAW File Data," Imaging Resource, Apr. 20, 2005; Declan McCullagh, "Nikon’s Photo Encryption Reported Broken," CNET News, Apr. 21, 2005.
- 54. David Pringle & Steve Stecklow, "Electronics With Borders: Some Work Only in the U.S.," Wall St. J., Jan. 17, 2005, at B1; Reuters, "HP Sued Over Printer Cartridge Expiration," MSNBC, Feb. 22, 2005.
- 55. Fred von Lohmann, "DMCA Used to Stymie Competition ... Again," EFF Deep Links blog, Nov. 4, 2005; Storage Technology v. Custom Hardware Engineering, 421 F.3d 1307 (Fed. Cir. 2005).
- 56. Declan McCullagh, "Lexmark Invokes DMCA in Toner Suit," CNET News, Jan. 8, 2003; Lexmark v. Static Control Components, 387 F.3d 522 (6th Cir. 2004).
- 57. Steve Seidenberg, "Suits Test Limits of Digital Copyright Act," Nat’l L. J., Feb. 7, 2003; Chamberlain Group v. Skylink Technologies, 381 F.3d 1178 (Fed.Cir.2004).
- 58. Pamela Samuelson, "Intellectual Property and the Digital Economy: Why the Anti-Circumvention Regulations Need to be Revised," 14 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 519, 556 (1999); Testimony of Jonathan Hangartner on behalf of Bleem, Library of Congress, Hearing on DMCA, Stanford University, May 19, 2000, pp. 221-28.
- 59. David Labrador, "Teaching Robot Dogs New Tricks," Scientific American, Feb. 12, 2002.
- 60. "Sony PlayStation ruling sets far-reaching precedent," New Scientist, Feb. 22, 2002; Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. v. Gamemasters, 87 F.Supp.2d 976 (N.D. Cal. 1999); Stevens v Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment, HCA 58 (Oct. 6, 2005).
- 61. Davidson & Assoc. v. Jung, 422 F.3d 630 (8th Cir. 2005); Howard Wen, "Battle.net Goes To War," Salon, April 18, 2002; Davidson & Assoc. v. Internet Gateway EFF case archive.
- 62. Declan McCullagh "Apple: Burn DVDs—and We’ll Burn You," CNET News, Aug. 28, 2002.
- 63. See Macrovision v. Sima Prod. Corp., No. 2006-1441, 2006 WL 1063284 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 20, 2006), reh’g denied, 2006 WL 1472152 (S.D.N.Y May 26, 2006), appeal dismissed 219 Fed. Appx. 997 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 15, 2007); Nate Anderson, "Digitizing Video Signals Might Violate the DMCA," Ars Technica, Aug. 16 2006; Fred von Lohmann, "Another DMCA Misuse: Macrovision v. Sima," EFF Deep Links blog, Aug. 15 2006.
- 64. Dan Goodin, "Blizzard Awarded $6m in WoW Bot Case," Register Hardware, Oct. 1, 2008.
- 65. MDY Industries v. Blizzard, No. CV-06-2555-PHX-DGC, 2008 WL 2757357 (D. Ariz., July 14, 2008).
- 66. See Corynne McSherry, "You Bought It, But You Don’t Own It," EFF Deep Links blog, July 15, 2008.
- 67. XPEL Technologies Corp. v. American Filter Film Distributors, No. SA08-CA0175-XR, 2008 WL 3540345 (W.D. Tex. Aug. 11, 2008); Rebecca Tushnet, "Design, Dastar, (registration) dates and the DMCA," Rebecca Tushnet’s 43(B)log, Aug. 17 2008.
- 68. See Egilman v. Keller & Heckman LLP, 401 F.Supp.2d 105 (D.D.C. 2005); I.M.S. Inquiry Mgt. Systems v. Berkshire Info. Systems, 307 F.Supp.2d 521 (S.D.N.Y. 2004).
- 69. Pearl Investments LLC v. Standard I/O, Inc., 257 F. Supp. 2d 326 (D.Me., Apr. 23, 2003).
- 70. Ticketmaster L.L.C. v. RMG Techs., Inc., 507 F. Supp. 2d 1096, 1113 (C.D. Cal. 2007) (". . . because [Ticketmaster] has not quantified its harm as required by the statute or even attempted to show what portion of the harm is attributable to [RMG], the Court cannot find that [Ticketmaster] has affirmatively shown that its harm caused by [RMG] exceeds the $ 5,000 minimum. Thus, the CFAA claim does not provide a basis for a preliminary injunction.").
- 71. Id. at 1112 ("Defendant's only unique arguments as to the DMCA claim are that CAPTCHA is not a system or a program, but is simply an image, and that CAPTCHA is designed to regulate ticket sales, not to regulate access to a copyrighted work.").
- 72. See id.; Randall Stross, "Hannah Montana Tickets on Sale! Oops, They’re Gone," N.Y. Times, Dec. 16, 2007.
- 73. CoxCom, Inc. v. Chaffee, 536 F.3d 101 (1st Cir. 2008) (affirming CoxCom, Inc. v. Chaffee, No. CA05-107S, 2007 WL 1577708 (D.R.I. May 41, 2007)). | <urn:uuid:6164d28f-f754-4bd6-90bb-ac1dde39cc85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.eff.org/ar/wp/unintended-consequences-ten-years-under-the-dmca | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927005 | 16,450 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Capercaillie are one of the UK's most endangered birds.
Conservation bodies are to work together in a bid to raise the numbers of capercaillie to a target of 5,000 individual birds.
The Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) said the species had recovered from falling to 1,000 from 20,000 over a period of 25 years.
The organisation will host a conference on Friday looking at how to increase numbers further.
Loss of native pinewoods has played a part in the bird's decline.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has capercaillie on its red list - species that are globally threatened, or have experienced a rapid decline in numbers.
Species on the red list include bittern, common scoter, white-tailed eagle, corncrake and red-necked phalarope.
The society is among the organisations attending the conference at Boat of Garten Community Centre.
Other bodies invited include Scottish Natural Heritage, Forestry Commission Scotland and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.
CNPA said the event would explore the current health and status of the bird, which is the biggest grouse in the world, as well as management issues and future work.
There will also be discussions on the species' vulnerability to predators, the disturbance to habitat as a result of opening up areas to the public and strategies to increase protection.
Colin McClean, CNPA's land management officer, said: "This a timely opportunity to examine the current status of capercaillie following the work funded through the Caper LIFE programme and plan the next phase of the recovery of this iconic species."
In 2006, a new tartan named after the capercaillie was spun by Scottish weavers in an effort to help save the endangered bird.
The Capercaillie Tartan was launched by the then Miss Scotland Nicola McLean and incorporated the colours of the woodland grouse. | <urn:uuid:23f2bb7b-1d3f-4db7-ab0d-e9be57ce4137> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/7750138.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00179-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939965 | 414 | 3.28125 | 3 |
The Tropical Rainforest has virtually no season change. There are THOUSANDS of species of trees in the rainforests.
There is an even larger amount of species of animals, the vast majority of which have not been discovered yet. The soil
is very poor, and the vegetation contains most of the nutrients. Most of the species live in the canopy of the Rainforest.
Average Annual Rainfall: 157.5 in
Average temperatures of Day- 93° F
Average temperatures of Night- 68° F
Most plants in the rainforest are trees, and there are also several types of mosses and shrubs that grow on the ground.
Because only a small amount of sunlight reaches the floor, these plants are generally very small.
The animals in the rainforest are so diverse, that scientists speculate that they only know of .1% of all of the
animals. Among these are hundreds of species of parrots, snakes, millions of other birds, the monkey, tigers, Sumatran
Rhinos, and millions of other species.
The amount of tropical rainforest that is deforested every year is equal to the size of Britain. That's 1,000,000
acres a week, or 100 acres a minute.
In 1950, 30% of the earth was tropical rainforest. In 1975, 12% was left. In 2002, tropical rainforests covered only
6% the earth.
More than 40% of the earth's orginal forests have disappeared. Asia has lost 42% of their forests, Africa has lost
52%, and Latin America has lost 37%.
We are losing rainforests at a rate of 7% a year.
The rainforests have the highest level of biodiversity.
Up to 100 species of trees can live in an area of 1125 sq. ft.
The United States Cancer Institute has named more than 2,000 plants in the tropical rainforest that can potentially fight
Over 40% of the drugs prescribed the the United States work because of plants in the rainforest. | <urn:uuid:80b63c87-e371-4996-9dd5-b5287e4010a0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://rrms-biomes.tripod.com/id4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948007 | 424 | 3.625 | 4 |
Causal beliefs lead to toolmaking, which require handedness for motor control.
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
242 - 242.
Available under License : See the attached licence file.
Toolmaking requires motor skills that in turn require handedness, so that there is no competition between the two sides of the brain. Thus, handedness is not necessarily linked to vocalization but to the origin of causal beliefs required for making complex tools. Language may have evolved from these processes.
|Title:||Causal beliefs lead to toolmaking, which require handedness for motor control|
|Open access status:||An open access version is available from UCL Discovery|
|Additional information:||© 2003 Cambridge University Press|
|UCL classification:||UCL > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Biosciences (Division of)
Archive Staff Only | <urn:uuid:b79000db-7e50-473f-a488-484b35e3ef4a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/23404/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.731132 | 210 | 2.625 | 3 |
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THE REVIVAL OF CULTURAL EXPLANATION
Economists agree about many things--contrary to popular opinion--but the majority agree about culture only in the sense that they no longer give it much thought. The hope that a strong relationship would be found between economic and cultural change mostly faded during the 1960s and 1970s. Those who still believe that culture is formative, whether they are "real people" or the culturally inclined minority of economists, take culture as primary and the economy as secondary, seldom considering that it could be culture which is secondary. On the other hand, the majority of economists, who are trained to expect substitution among variables, find the notion of culture as fixed for all time an arbitrary idea. They see no reason to believe that culture is primordial and impervious to economic inducements. After reviewing numerous propositions about the influence of values on Indian economic development, Dasgupta remarked that "no theorems follow from such intangible associations."1
Thus, no major schools of thought in recent years locate the explanation of economic development in culture, with a couple of exceptions. The first of these consists of some institutional economists, exemplified perhaps by Anne Mayhew's presidential address to the Annual Meeting of the Association for Evolutionary Economics in 1986. It was called "Culture: Core Concept under Attack" and opened, "I begin with the proposition that the concepts of culture and instrumental valuation are the concepts from which all the rest of institutional economics flow."2 Mayhew argued that analysis must start from the position that we are bound by our cultural patterns. All that need be said for the moment about positions of this type is that they have not been generally or even widely adopted within economics.
The second exception consists of economists in the tradition of Max Weber, who are interested in the nexus between East Asian beliefs, business practices, and economic growth. An example from this school is the historical work of Michio Morishima. Although he is a leading technical economist, his explanation of the Japanese Miracle is Weberian.3 Yet even he eventually temporizes and relies on the reciprocity between culture and economics, saying on the one hand that ideologies given by Japan's history "constrained" (directed?) economic activity but on the other that ideology can be altered by the economy. This throws us back on a historical analysis to trace the actual direction of influence.
Most economists adopt the position I have called elsewhere "cultural nullity."4 Strictly speaking, this can take more than one form and is often adopted unconsciously. One version is vague about whether cultures really exist but assumes that, even if they do, they are so marginal to economic concerns that they may be safely ignored. Another version accepts that cultures do exist but hypothesizes that they are creatures of the economy, able to adjust so painlessly to changing incentives that in this case, too, they may be ignored. The latter position fails, however, to grapple with one of the main difficulties encountered in completely dismissing culture: the fact that markets are not self-enforcing and depend on customary rules for creating trust.
As Mark Casson has observed, the professional culture of economists prevents most of them from seeing that culture matters at all.5 The topic has been left to other disciplines, together with journalists, travelers, expatriates, and business commentators, all of whom are prone to note that "in reality," as it were, there are important local or traditional peculiarities of dress, diet, and social habits, plus influential beliefs and values. A type of nonmarket fundamentalism prevails among sociologists and anthropologists, which can be illustrated by an exchange between the philosopher Roger Scruton and the sociologist Brigitte Berger.6 Speaking of Russia and Eastern Europe, Scruton urged that law should be established before any attempt to introduce the market economy. Berger interjected that for law to be accepted, culture must first be transformed. The sociologist Claudio Veliz lent support to her approach by asserting that the free market is itself a cultural artifact: witness its failure to take hold in Latin America despite prolonged experimentation in the nineteenth century. This is essentially a substantivist opinion.
Those economists who are still aware of the dispute in the 1960s between formalism and substantivism assume that it was decided in favor of formalism, whereas noneconomists believe the opposite.7 Formalism implies that economic theory has universal scope. A careful economist has made the point that introducing cultural difference is a form of relativism which disrupts the universal character of analysis.8 The burden of substantivism is that each culture maximizes its own values and therefore cannot be analyzed by the modes of economics. These are portrayed as spuriously universal and crassly Western in their individualism and market orientation. A more reasonable position might be that, since economics is the analysis of an abstract category of behavior--choice--its techniques are culturally neutral and universal by definition. If some economists neglect to allow for the legal, religious, and social impediments to full-blown market behavior outside Western society, that is a weakness on their part, not on the part of the science.
In the substantivist canon a specific type of economy is embedded in each and every culture. The extreme holders of this view stigmatize any attempt to extend market economics beyond the West as disrupting other cultures for profit (they scarcely admit the role of profit in encouraging the taking of socially desirable risk). All cultures embody the inalienable rights of those born into them and deserve protection for that reason. Trying to integrate other cultures with the international economy (globalization) is wrong, and any hint that each culture may not be distinct is "racist," a term which is too often used as mere abuse. This syndrome amounts to cultural relativism in holding that every culture is unique, and desirably unique.
One of the most eloquent voices raised against this position is that of a retired anthropologist, Roger Sandall, who claims that when he was a university teacher he would have been unable to publish what he has since written, so far was it contrary to the culturally relativist mood of the times.9 Sandall documents how ludicrous was the indiscriminate praise for non-Western cultures, pointing instead to the horrors of corruption and even massacre that occurred in them, the absence of much contribution to world economic or scientific advance, and the ecological destruction readily wrought by primitive agriculture long before European colonists hove onto the scene.10 Lest Sandall's publication seem the work of an isolated contrarian, a wider shift in opinion is indicated by the fact that indigenous African writers have started to discard the view that the ills of their continent can be sheeted home to colonialism. Some of them may now be found criticizing what they represent as internal defects of apathy, fatalism, convivial excess, conflict avoidance, reliance on superstitious explanations, and lack of a notion of personal merit. This litany would have been unthinkable during the last third of the twentieth century and would probably still be unacceptable had it originated with non-African writers. The new self-critical approach is epitomised by Daniel Etounga-Manguelle, who recommends learning from other civilizations the way East Asia did and not hankering after an "African way."11
Cultural relativism takes little account of its own economic implications--the costs that ensue (and fall most heavily on the poor) from insisting on cultural separateness and hence segregated markets. Cultural relativism is thus congruent with what is discussed below as "cultural fixity." No attempt is made to face up to the reality that cultures are artifacts, created and recreated, and that most of them have borrowed from hither and yon. No anxiety is expressed that protecting cultures as they stand favors the current holders of power and suppresses other people's freedom to choose. We can submit this to the test of revealed preference, which means asking what people do rather than what they say. Revealed preference suggests that people from all around the world are happy to adopt elements from alien cultures, especially so-called global or Western culture. Many even strive to migrate to the West, where they can share not only its material success but also other features such as independent law and a free press.
Surprisingly, many historians, who might be expected to emphasize cultural change, likewise write as though cultures are fixed and dominate other aspects of life, including economic life. One reason for this may be that historians tend to be period specialists and seldom write about the long reaches of time during which change becomes most evident. Like other people, historians also witness cultural diversity at the present day, and this may reinforce their supposition that economies are adapted to a particular repertoire of cultural preferences, abilities, and taboos rather than the other way round.
Where academics from fields other than economics are involved, claims that "culture matters" are insistent. Such assertions are not infrequently coupled with attacks on neoclassical economics. These rarely mean what they say, since few commentators distinguish between neoclassical and other branches of economics, just as they fail to distinguish between market liberalism and conservatism. This suggests that "neoclassical" is code for an antipathy toward market competition, aversion to the economist's professional supposition that all actions have costs, and hostility toward businesses and governments supposed to be implicated in maintaining capitalism. Economists have largely responded with a disdainful silence.12 Faced with all the prejudices of economists and noneconomists, it is tempting to call down a plague on both their houses. But that would be to evade the issue of culture.
Sometimes culture really does seem so routine and invariant with respect to price as to warrant a closer look by economists--though we should be careful: Alfred Marshall thought it was easy to overlook creeping changes and strikingly observed that "short-lived man has little better means of ascertaining whether custom is quietly changing, than the fly, born to-day and dead to-morrow, has of watching the growth of the plant on which it rests."13 Yet at other times behavior touching on the most intimate human concerns can change almost overnight. What accounts for the periods of stability, and what brings about the transitions?
The instincts of a leading development economist, Peter Bauer, were probably correct ones. During his career he seems largely to have avoided cultural relativism but near its close he moved toward acknowledging the importance of culture by criticizing his fellow economists for virtually failing to consider the subject at all. I take From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays to be representative of his mature views.14 At various points he alludes to culture and moral ideas as deep influences on human affairs. He does so in asides which indicate that however much others may wish to ignore it, he takes the point to be obvious: indeed, he ends one essay with a quotation from George Orwell to the effect that restating the obvious has become our first duty.
Perhaps what Bauer recognized as culture's obviousness explains why he developed no explicit model of cultural change. Nevertheless, though his observations were studiedly casual, they demonstrate a refusal to be diverted from seeing the world whole. If his observations contradict other economists or are politically incorrect, bad cess to his critics, or so he implies: it is simply a fact that ethnic groups differ in their economic performance and that the original idea of material progress was the West's, and the West's alone. The decline of traditional religious belief has eroded a coherent worldview, and into the vacuum created by the consequent diminution of personal responsibility has poured collective guilt. He protests that guilt has malign consequences for policy, spawning aid programs that sap the will and are ready sources of corruption.
Bauer's sentiments were surely right on two counts. On the one hand, it was well to avoid the cultural relativists, because theirs had become an intolerant dogma, convinced a priori that market economics cannot have universal application and destructive of efforts to discern general propositions: every culture is unique. On the other hand, Bauer felt that to follow the bulk of the economics profession in ignoring or even denying the existence of cultural features capable of resisting price incentives--or, alternatively, straining to explain away every apparent anomaly in neoclassical vein--would have been doctrinaire. Defining culture away in the face of the descriptive evidence, he thought, adds nothing to understanding and prima facie subtracts from it. But in practice Bauer does not seem to have traveled far down the middle road that his views indicate, in search of the precise impact that culture may have. We should ourselves take the matter further. As Marc Bloch said, it is by criticizing their work that we keep faith with our intellectual forebears.
Only during the 1990s did cracks appear in the relativist facade. We may mention three of them. The first was the result of tensions over practices engaged in by some Muslim immigrants to Europe, such as the wearing of headscarves, halal modes of killing animals for meat, and female genital mutilation.15 These practices placed liberals and feminists in a dilemma. They had either to defend them as the cultural rights of immigrants or swing round to condemning them as violations of the rule of the secular state, the autonomy of women, and so forth. The problem was felt most acutely in France, where immigration was large and the secular state particularly cherished. The outcome was a hardening of secularist opinion in line with the long-standing position of French intellectuals.
A second blow to relativism was struck within the non-Western world itself. This was the appearance of spokesmen for so-called Asian Values, who turned relativism back on the West by finding Western culture wanting. What they urged, especially about 1994, was that the economic miracle of East Asia had been built on neo-Confucian cultural values, notably thrift, hard work, education, and concern for the community rather than the individual.16 The corollary of Asia's value-based economic success was to be the crumbling of Western competitiveness as Westerners abandoned puritanical values in favor of self-indulgence and reliance on the welfare state.17
What was not brought out in the Asian Values debate was the historically selective, not to say anachronistic, nature of the argument. The dynamics of the situation were missed. Thrift, hard work, and so forth had characterized the Western world during and long after industrialization. They constituted the Protestant Ethic. Its values had begun to melt in the warmth of high incomes in the West and through the accompanying decline of churchgoing in Europe, though not in the United States. But by sleight of hand, Asian countries were expected to remain immune from a similar value shift, a rosy expectation that was actually being undermined by Asia's prosperity just when the Asian Values School was most loudly touting its wares.
The sheer speed of economic growth in East Asia accordingly meant that its version of cultural relativism was soon seen to be inadequate. Ironically, Singapore, some of whose top people had been most vociferous and gloating about Western decline, was the first to lament the spread of "affluenza" that threatened the work ethic among its own newly prosperous young people. In a double irony, affluenza outlasted the Asian Crisis of 1997, yet the shock of the crisis did curb excessive enthusiasm for Asian Values. At the time of the Enron and other American business scandals, there was a brief revival of gloating, which only discloses the antagonism toward the West behind what had been passed off as serious analysis. The revival does not seem to have lasted.
A third blow to relativism was that the study of development economics had been languishing. Economic growth had taken place successfully in many less-developed countries, and this expelled some of the motivational steam from the field. Furthermore the mechanistic nostrums offered by development economists had seldom succeeded in curing poverty on a wide scale. There was an embarrassing gap between the market-related successes of East Asia and the failure of the interventionist policies recommended to unfortunate regions like sub-Saharan Africa. This began to turn certain economists back toward thinking that culture might after all provide deeper clues to growth than the engineering variables of technology, investment, and so forth. Whether culture was a sufficient explanation remained to be seen; acknowledging that it may have been at least a necessary component of the explanation was the intellectual volte-face of the 1990s.
A bold, symbolic announcement that cultural relativism really could be dispensed with came first in the field of international relations, with the publication by the political scientist Samuel Huntington of an article entitled, "The Clash of Civilizations" (Foreign Affairs 1993). Foreign policy, at any rate American foreign policy, had by then ceased to pay attention to culture or religion.18 The story is told that when Hillary Clinton was to visit Pakistan, her advisors were informed that the president's wife would be in purdah. "How far away is that?" one of them asked, getting the sardonic answer, "about four centuries." Besides being no way to make friends or influence people, this anecdote points up the cultural isolation in which some of the American elite lived, at a time when one-third of the members of Congress did not, it is said, hold a valid passport.
One might not expect religion to have been discounted in this way, given that the United States is more wedded to moralistic religion than other developed regions, like Europe or Japan. Yet social scientists in the United States, and indeed the West generally, embraced secularization theory and ignored religion as a form of fading, irrelevant superstition. Predominantly atheistic or agnostic television executives in the United States "mirror-imaged" and behaved as though audiences shared their own attitudes. They failed to acknowledge the significance that religion has for a majority of their own compatriots, let alone for many foreigners. They were like Stalin asking contemptuously how many divisions the pope has. There can be little doubt that this pervasive inattention to the role of religion helped to disarm decision makers when it came to understanding, to cite the most obvious example, the Islamic world.
Religious values are intrinsic to culture: they are far more important than matters of dress and deportment. The gap between the cultural relativist view that culture does not merely matter but is fundamental and the dominance of secularization theory is therefore paradoxical. We might have anticipated that religion would be seen as part of culture, with great influence attributed to it. Instead, during the second half of the twentieth century, conventional thought about the social world became compartmentalized: religion was regarded as of negligible and declining significance, whereas cultures as a whole, or at any rate certain ill-defined aspects of them, were taken as determining economic differences around the world. In the political rather than the economic sphere, nation-state politics and the interaction of states on the world stage were assumed to be what mattered, and both cultural and religious issues were sidelined.
Huntington therefore upset standard "realist" political analysis when he predicted that future conflicts would be between groups of states united by their supposedly indelible cultures rather than groups united only by opportunistic political alliances. He described political groupings of that type as shallower and less stable than civilizations. The idea seemed to presage ethnic or racial war, but his typology of civilizations was really based on religious adherence (or in the case of the Sinitic world on the moralistic philosophy of Confucianism). Huntington's thesis was bitterly resisted, not least because he toppled the nation-state from the throne of international politics, threatening a whole generation of political scientists who had invested their careers in the study of the state.
As a result of the dispute stirred up by Huntington, it was beginning to dawn on policymakers even before 11 September 2001 that the goals of some Islamic regimes might not be readily aligned with those of American democracy. When in 1996 Huntington elaborated his ideas, in a book called The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, dissent continued, but by then a debate in his terms had become, though hardly acceptable in all quarters, at least somewhat routine.19 Events, however, conspired, if not to validate his interpretation, at least to lend it support. The prominence of this very public and only partly academic debate helped to prepare economists as well as political scientists and foreign affairs personnel for a swing back toward cultural explanations.
A seal of respectability was bestowed on the reversal by the MIT economist Peter Temin, in his presidential address to the Economic History Association, published in 1997 under the teasing title, "Is It Kosher to Talk about Culture?"20 Temin's answer to his own question was in the affirmative. He argued that while so-called Anglo-Saxon culture was important for the start and spread of industrialism, it is not the wave of the future. That, he thought, is Japan's collective culture, which will have the economic edge in coming years despite its current difficulties. Temin was aware that many analysts traced the dynamism of America's knowledge-based industries to the diversity and individualism of American culture. He chose to think, nevertheless, that problems in producing software would come to resemble those of manufacturing production and would be solved better after the Japanese fashion, not by implicit contracts with individualistic employees but by stock options that aligned their interests with those of the company. The degree to which Temin's discussion is really about institutions, and therefore about political or power-based choices, rather than about culture in the sense of inherited and slower-moving patterns, is moot. That distinction will need to be discussed.
A much larger audience was reached by David Landes in a 1998 book called The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, a scholarly work that, like Huntington's, entered the public arena.21 Landes went so far as to say that the postwar economic success of only one in each of two pairs of countries, South Korea and Turkey, Indonesia and Nigeria, could have been predicted from their respective cultures. He is extensively cited as claiming that culture "makes all the difference." The number of academics who began to reiterate this suggests that they were already nursing similar views but had been engaging in preference falsification and only in the late 1990s felt emboldened to come out of the closet. It became reputable, one might say fashionable, for leading American social scientists to urge culture's role. The 180-degree turn was confirmed by a work jointly edited in 2000 by Lawrence Harrison and Samuel Huntington, based on a Harvard symposium and unashamedly entitled Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress.22
A few younger economists and economic historians had already begun to take culture seriously. I will list five whose analytical contributions have been outstanding. Gregory Clark contributed an article on culture to a symposium in Historical Methods as early as 1988.23 Clark's interest in the Western world's rise in per capita output led him to consider conventional economic variables only to eliminate them as explanations, obliging him to conclude, "albeit reluctantly" (p. 161), that culture must have been playing a part. He pointed out, as Frederick Amasa Walker had done, that economists believe that anything, meaning nothing, can be explained by postulating different preferences or values among different populations. They assume instead uniform preferences. Yet Clark's findings included the discovery that people do not necessarily work harder where material conditions are poor, implying that cultural norms reverse the usual expectations of the economic calculus. At least, they reverse them in the workers' home territories--the low-productivity norms did not travel with them when workers migrated to areas of higher productivity.
Clark admitted that if people really did work harder in some societies than in others, regardless of material incentives, economists were going to find it hard to accommodate what he called "'such a startling fact" (p. 163). Startling to economists, that is--whether the fact was really startling is another matter: men have always been willing to respond to nonmaterial incentives, witness the way they sacrifice themselves for their religious beliefs or in war. Recall that Clark was writing in 1988, and, as might have been expected at that date, his work was not much taken up. He supposed that other economists thought the anomaly would not so much be explained as (some day, somehow) explained away.
Nevertheless, at much the same time others were coming to the conclusion that "culture matters," but they did not use this label and did not seek a wide public audience for their work. One was Avner Greif, whose work dealt chiefly with the differential effect of institutions, though he extended it to differences in the actual beliefs of collectivist and individualist societies around the medieval Mediterranean.24 Greif brought a game-theoretic approach to the topic. Another writer was Timur Kuran, a specialist on Islamic economics.25 Kuran considered the explanations proposed for the poverty of Muslim countries over many centuries, including the illegitimate use of Islam to prop up the worldviews of power holders, religious obstacles to innovation, and communalist norms that reduced the incentives to create capitalist institutions. None of these sufficed, he said, toaccount for the failure of out-groups to bring about major reform, since they would have had so much to gain by this. His solution was a cultural one: the role of stylized public discourse in keeping individuals from questioning, or even noticing, chronic social inefficiencies.
A fourth contributor to the new discussion of cultural influences on economic life was Ekkehart Schlicht, author of On Custom in the Economy (1998).26 Custom is very like, if not exactly like, what is usually meant by culture. This is the most profound work I have read on the subject and the one most deeply concerned with methodological issues. Schlicht shows that market processes depend on and are affected by custom, and that while custom probably adapts to economic change in the covert way noted by Marshall, psychological rigidities always act as some restriction on the scope of economic activities. Despite the prolonged failure of the economics profession to take these matters fully into account, it is not difficult to suppose that a mixture of individual conditioning and network incentives and restraints, describable altogether as culture, might resist economic forces such as changing price incentives in the short- or even the medium run.
A final example is a thorough, cautious, empirical book by Andrew Godley on Jewish entrepreneurship in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century London and New York.27 In both cities Jewish immigrants from Russia came to dominate the segment of the textile industry halfway between mass production and bespoke production. Godley saw that the experience of two such closely matched groups offered a controlled experiment capable of revealing how far the larger culture of each city affected the level of entrepreneurship. To carry out the experiment, he undertook laborious data collection on the occupational structures of London and found that entrepreneurship was weaker there than in New York. His explanation was that the craft culture of London was stronger than New York's and impeded the full emergence of individual entrepreneurs.
The work of scholars like Clark, Greif, Kuran, Schlicht, and Godley indicates the stage recently attained in the investigation of culture. It inclines one to take culture as a determinant of economic life seriously, despite the objections that have been mentioned and despite the somewhat off-putting rhetoric of the better-known revivalists. These five scholars have not solved every problem. They do not work to a single definition, though it is evident what each is trying to explain; they wander a little between discussing values and institutions, though again it is clear which category each of them has under review at any given moment; and they do not fully elucidate the mechanics of cultural change. But they and some others who started to enter the fray in the early years of the twenty-first century have begun to cast light on what is an undeniably murky area.
There are several possibilities for interpreting the relationship between culture and economy. Among these are that culture is primary, the interpretation that I have termed "cultural fixity"; another is that it does not exist or does not matter ("cultural nullity"). These may be found in the literature, though it may be necessary to hunt around to find any view stated clearly and frankly. The "nullity" position was, however, openly adopted by the economist and demographer Julian Simon, always a bold reasoner. He asserted the following strong proposition: "in the context of long-run analysis, culture and values do not have independent lives . . . [but] serve as intermediate variables between economic conditions and fertility, serving only to transmit the effect of income onto fertility behavior."28 The causality runs only one way. Simon went further and stated that the lag before values respond to fresh economic circumstances is about twenty-five or thirty years.
The catch in this is the implicit admission that culture does exist after all, if only for a generation at a time. Simon is so determined to conceive culture as an epiphenomenon of the economy that he does not recognize the anomaly, but it is impossible to get away from the fact that he is acknowledging the persistence for two or three decades of values different from those appropriate to economic conditions. On the basis of his assertion, culture and the economy are probably always out of step. Just when values catch up with the economic situation, circumstances alter again. Values--say, the desired size of a family--are once more left wallowing in their wake. This is a game of tag in which no one is ever caught.
Accordingly, culture is a creature of the economy but a creature of the economic life of a former generation rather than of the present one. It does have independent meaning, but this is always detached from prevailing economic conditions. Simon lets in by the back door what he is eager to push out at the front. Stated abstractly, at the start of each period of analysis relative prices are already distorted, and it may take a generation to amend the distortion, requiring values to be readjusted, perhaps through cognitive dissonance. No one can seriously believe that values are instantaneously bid away or that they have no effect on economic behavior, any more than, say, do other historical legacies or the initial endowment of natural resources. The economy does not start as a featureless tabula rasa. It has a prior topography.
A case against cultural explanation has been made in terms of income inequality. The argument is that poor young men engage in competitive risk taking or lethal violence because they have little to lose. This is held to be superior to traditional explanations of lethal violence as the product of unexplained cultural differences.29 But surely it would pay people whose human capital constitutes almost all their resources to husband it? Moreover, a universalist explanation merely in terms of income distribution cannot account for regional, temporal, and group variations in levels of risk taking and lethal violence. For instance, young male farm workers in nineteenth-century England played very high-risk sports. Nevertheless, their backswording and shin-kicking did finally die out, and in any event a proportion of such people, equally poor, shunned such sports and became Primitive Methodists or, later on, members of the far-from-martial Salvation Army.30 Low incomes cannot be held to explain both great risk taking and extremely cautious lifestyles. By the nineteenth century, violent crime was lower than it had been in earlier times, and despite worsening rural poverty it was still decreasing. A generalized interpretation cannot account for these variations. And the fact that pertinent cultural differences may not yet have been identified does not warrant emptying out the analysis by denying in advance that they can have mattered.
Let me give another example where the existence of a long-standing culture is taken by anthropologically minded Western scholars as sufficient to account for the observed behavior: the business behavior of the Chinese and the special structure of their firms. A considerable literature describes the "Chinese characteristics" of Overseas Chinese businesses, meaning such features as an extreme dispersal of family members and assets among industries and countries, reliance on personal contacts rather than open markets, and a deliberate opacity with respect to deals and accounts. Mainstream economists will retort that these are adjustments to risk, as in terms of function they are. Others will disagree, citing the extreme nature of the behavior and its tendency to persist even in developed countries where the ambient risk level is much lower than in Southeast Asia.
In reality, Chinese business behavior is not a timeless phenomenon. Functioning courts and customary law were quite widespread in Qing times. Business actually retreated from using them because of the uncertainties and depredations of the state toward the end of the Qing dynasty, again under the Republic, and once more under wartime Japanese occupation.31 Shareholder power was sidelined, and corporations became personal fiefdoms. At each stage, entrepreneurs intensified their use of practices considered inherently "Chinese" in attempts to evade untrustworthy and intrusive governments, despite the obvious disadvantage of relinquishing the ability to raise capital from the market. Businessmen who fled China in 1949 carried the element of secrecy with them. They brought it back to the emergent private sector under Deng Xiaoping in the 1970s. Hence, there is no need to depend on ageless culture as an explanation of Chinese business methods. The phenomenon can be adequately explained in historical and economic terms.
The foregoing examples show how perilous is the tightrope that we have to walk and how it continues to sway dizzily from side to side. Culture does not explain everything, nor does economics. Cultural practices may be explicable in economic terms, yet they also persist as a residue that is not explained by current forces. Ways of behaving are capable of being transmitted from one age cohort to another, learned early, and replicated in inappropriate circumstances. To that extent, culture resembles neurosis. To suppose otherwise is to think that selection environments are always severe enough to "correct" behavior and bring it instantly into line with fresh circumstances.
What about demonstrations that culture makes a difference in fact? Every society has its superstitions: my son lived on a street in Melbourne that had no number 13, and in Illinois I found the buyers of my house exceedingly reluctant to accept the thirteenth of the month as the date for closing the transaction. A skeptic might argue that this is nugatory and few resources are expended as a result of superstitions, which often differ (and cancel out) among societies. Beliefs about, say, black cats or magpies hold them lucky or unlucky according to country or locality. Proverbs often contradict one another, perhaps because they are hangovers from random connections asserted in different places when there was no large and unified market in which ideas could be tested.
There are, however, reports in the demographic literature of traditional behavior in Asia that surely does have economic significance. The most striking cases relate to son preference and markedly skewed sex ratios in China, India, and elsewhere.32 Other cases involve the timing of conceptions to accord with zodiacal criteria.33 As to further effects, I need refer only to Charles Horioka's survey of the high personal savings rate of the Japanese, in which he canvasses many purported explanations, including "tradition," which is akin to conventional notions of culture. The most rigorous test that Horioka reports is a 1986 study which found the savings rate among ethnic Japanese in the United States to be five percentage points higher than for other ethnic groups. Since the institutional setting was the same for all groups, he suggests that culture is one explanation.34 Another study, this time of savings behavior in Japanese prefectures defined as traditional or nontraditional according to their consumption of traditional foods, also suggested that "tradition is one explanation (albeit a secondary one) of Japan's high household saving rate" (p. 272). Leaving aside the question of the rather small size of the effect, these studies seem to confirm a minimalist position that culture does exert an influence on economic behavior.
We also know that culture can change--think of the adaptation of many (though not all) immigrants to the mores of new societies. Let us assume that individuals internalize the culture surrounding them in their home countries when they are young and ask under what circumstances they may change. Immigrants may find that a new host culture is alien to their upbringing but simply cannot avoid adjusting their behavior to it. Adopting its unfamiliar habits will produce cognitive dissonance that can best be quelled by adjusting their personal values to suit. Whole societies may change as a result of the totality of such responses. On the other hand, some minorities may hold out and preserve old norms within societies that they perceive as alien. Why most people adapt while other groups and individuals cling to their original ways, uncomfortable though these may be in the new situation, is not so obvious and presumably requires fine-grained analysis of their circumstances or psychology.
Young people find it easier to change than old ones, who have had longer to internalize some prior set of values. On the other hand, there may be an early imprinting period, and young people subject to propaganda may find themselves trapped by allegiance to norms inculcated early in their lives. German prisoners of war who had been teenagers when Hitler came to power were hard for the Allies to decondition; older men could be returned more easily to their former beliefs.35 This complicates the issue by introducing the possibility that cultural values may be subject to age-cohort effects and be contingent on events at the time when imprinting actually took place. Generalizations about group mores may therefore be risky, unless they are qualified to allow for variations induced by the group's composition and history. National stereotyping is particularly called into doubt, because nations are far from uniform.
All told, we may consider an evolutionary mechanism. When there is no strong incentive to change, or rather no strong disincentive against sticking with established habits, change is likely to be slow. Older immigrant women confined to the house may change little, whereas their children may alter with astonishing speed at school, though switching back at home to manners their parents find acceptable. Truly ancient cultural features may survive as relics when there is no special reason to dispense with them: dialects, for example, illustrate the persistence of sluggishly changing forms when markets for modes of speech remain isolated. On the other hand, the young and upwardly mobile make plastic adaptations to their speech. Even very young immigrant children may act as translators for their parents in the doctor's surgery and, with embarrassment, while their mothers try to haggle in the supermarket. Another example of the paradox of change and stasis is the suggestion that traditional Chinese culture did not persist through the innate conservatism of the Chinese peasant, whatever "innate conservatism" may mean, but was a sign that over long periods there was little change in incentives.36 There is no doubt that when circumstances permit the Chinese people can change their behavior astonishingly fast. The sensational shift from Maoism to Dengism during the late 1970s is hard to overlook.
More often, cultural change hides from view. Marshall's caution about the problems we have in detecting slow, creeping development should always be borne in mind. Participants may delude themselves that it is not happening, having no more sense of change than the fly on the wall. Forms of behavior present at the same time may in truth be out of phase. Practices are likely to persist if there is no reason to change them, but the outward appearance of survivals may be masking real changes. Old names outlive the functions for which they were invented; labeling errors, translation errors, and poor recording can all disguise change. One reason why the economics profession neglected cultural change for so long was the difficulty of observing it.
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Questions and comments to: email@example.com
Princeton University Press | <urn:uuid:b85363fa-758b-444f-a8ba-0db400ca5a41> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8158.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00028-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96931 | 8,142 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Body Mass Index or BMI is a straight-forward calculation taking into account purely the height and weight of a person; BMI does not take into account the overall health status or stature of the person, and in terms of a pregnant mother, it does not take into account previous pregnancies/labours, if any. Before the implementation of the BMI calculation, maternity staff were more interested in a woman’s weight gain in pregnancy rather than the woman’s size in general.
Women are being denied the option to have a homebirth based on this calculation. The NICE guidelines recommend that a woman with a BMI>35 should be in an obstetric-led unit for labour and delivery, while women with a BMI between 30 and 34 should be assessed on an individual basis for determination of where they should be ‘allowed’ to labour. However, the choice is ultimately up to the mother-to-be where she wants to give birth to her baby.
Mothers-to-be with a high BMI (BMI> 30 for the purposes of this information) may be at a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy, but there has been no solid evidence that the size of a woman has a bearing on the outcome of the birth. In fact, a study published in 2011 summarises that women with high BMI are having their labours managed differently and choices restricted, so that there are higher intervention and caesarean section rates without a real need for these medicalised procedures – a self fulfilling prophesy.
A study published in September 2013 suggested that otherwise low-risk obese women, who have previously given birth, may have fewer complications than previously thought. The study concluded “Otherwise healthy multiparous obese women may have lower intrapartum risks than previously appreciated. BMI should be considered in conjunction with parity when assessing the potential risks associated with birth in non-obstetric unit settings.”
Women with raised BMI giving birth to a second or subsequent baby were found to be at LOWER risk of obstetric complications than first time mums with normal BMI. See here for the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists response to the study.
Midwives or consultants may express concerns about shoulder dystocia due to the woman growing a large baby but as with any other ‘big baby’, the best positions to adopt for birthing are those which allow the woman to move freely and instinctively to allow the baby to move into the best position for birth.
Indeed, a birthing pool may be one of the best options for a woman with a high BMI but as with any labour, active birthing positions can be useful, including lunges or the use of a birthing ball, but the fact remains that frequent position changes are beneficial regardless of the mother-to-be’s size. If you have a very high BMI, your midwives may express concern regarding helping you to move position, particularly in a pool and especially in the event of an emergency. You may want to consider having someone who is able to assist with this or perhaps think about additional birth partners who could help out too. | <urn:uuid:33321325-a8a4-41bc-b3cb-da4d7b393c2c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://homebirthersandhopefuls.com/can-i-still-have-a-homebirth/high-bmi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954084 | 644 | 3.078125 | 3 |
This letter is an example of a Teacher Letter To Parents and includes all of the elements of a perfect Teacher Letter To Parents for you to use. This sample Teacher Letter To Parents can be used as a template for your needs.
My name is Oprah Winfrey, Fox Hill Elementary School Teacher and I would like to welcome your child to the Third Grade. I am now in my 12th year of teaching at Fox Hill and my 16th year of teaching third grade. I am originally from upstate New York where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology and my Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.
I am looking forward to getting to know both you and your children this year. Grade three students achieve much during the school year not only in terms of academic growth, but also improved social skills, and greater self-confidence. Over the years I have found that good communication between parent, teacher, and student is crucial for your child’s success. That is why I’m writing you today.
Here is brief synopsis about my classroom guidelines:
1) Attendance: Your child is expected to attend daily class. Excused absences will only be granted upon parent consent. Only 3 excused absences are allowed per month. Daily attendance in class is required for your child’s development as a student and participant in classroom activities.
2) Homework Policy: Third Grade homework begins to get more important for student development. On most nights, homework will average between 30-60 minutes. Occasionally I will grant students free time at the end of the day to complete his or her homework. Generally speaking, there will be math homework every night, spelling homework two to three nights a week, and reading, writing, or science homework about once every week or so. For special school projects, your child may have more than one hour of homework. Please let me know if you find that your child is regularly spending more than one hour on his or her homework. There are tutors available to help students with homework and I can help with that process.
Homework is important not only to reinforce lessons learned in class, but also to teach responsibility to students. A child who comes to class with completed homework, comes prepared. Incomplete homework assignments will be notated in a “Pink Slip” sent home to parents to be signed.
3) Pink Slips: Disciplinary warnings sent to parents to be signed. Warnings can involve anything from missing homework to excessive talking during class. The collection of three Pink Slips will result in after-school detention. Third Grade is the first year detention is enacted, as it is the first year that homework assignments and class conduct become a weightier priority.
I am available to take calls or to meet with parents everyday, during second period, between 9:40 and 10:20 AM, while students are in Gym class. For those of you who use e-mail, I normally check my e-mail every evening and this has proven to be the an efficient way to get in touch with me. My email address is: email@example.com. I try to respond to emails within 24-48 hours.
If you have any special questions or concerns, feel free to drop by anytime. I look forward to meeting you and your child at the School Fair on August 29, 2010. | <urn:uuid:98cb8cdb-a61f-4e13-aacd-2e93257007a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://exampleofletter.com/teacher-letter-to-parents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966203 | 688 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Phil Gregory is a professor emeritus in physics and astronomy at the University of British Columbia. He is pioneering the development of advanced Bayesian statistical tools to detect and characterize the small signals induced by planets orbiting neighboring stars. Astronomers have already discovered over 300 extra-solar planets with the majority of these gas giants like Jupiter. The current quest is for Earth like planets within the habitable zone of the host star.
Q: How do you use Mathematica in your work?
A: My latest algorithm uses almost every state of the art numerical tool available including, parallel tempering Markov chain Monte Carlo, simulated annealing and the genetic algorithm. Mathematica provides an excellent environment for efficiently creating and visualizing the performance of these tools. Together, they have allowed me to discover 3 additional planets in a re-analysis of the data for just 4 stars.
Q: Has gridMathematicabeen important to your work?
A: Recently, I was able to port my code to gridMathematica and gain a factor of 7 in speed running on an inexpensive 8 core PC. I was surprised how easy it was to make the change to parallel computing. We suspect that most stars that currently exhibit a single planet have multiple planets. With gridMathematica, I am now in a position to search for multiple planets simultaneously. This will allow us to obtain a clearer picture of the planetary environments of neighboring stars.
Q: What do you appreciate most about Mathematica?
A: I originally made the move to Mathematica in response to my teaching responsibilties. I soon noticed that my ability to code and debug research programs in Mathematica was about 20 times faster than my experience with FORTRAN. As a consequence, the scope and complexity of the problems I can now comfortably explore has greatly increased. The fact that it is a superb all-in-one mathematics, computing, visualizing, documenting and teaching environment is a delight and a great time saver.
- Utilize one single computing environment for research and teaching needs.
- Greatly increase calculation power with minimal changes to existing programs.
- Expands the horizon of what is possible. | <urn:uuid:f3df9b43-8a5c-4796-a256-9d56d052e251> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wolfram.com/mathematica/customer-stories/using-gridMathematica-to-search-for-extra-solar-planets.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936452 | 445 | 2.65625 | 3 |
I've finally begun to understand the complexity behind creating an interpreter and a compiler. I've built several versions of TinyBasic, 1964 (Dartmouth) Basic, and my own expansions on those languages before getting to this point. The most recent project is one I call Open Source Basic... because I could think of no other features of the language that would interest people. To be able to open up the source of the language and understand how some complex things are done (how scanning, parsing, interpreting, and compiling are done)
Open Source Basic is first interpreted into a stack based language. That stack based language is then interpreted and executed immediately or turned into a CLR executable.
My questions all boil down to this:
- What are the basic features/constructs of a Basic-based language? I have these basic constructs already: Assignments, Expressions, Variables, some functions (Random, ToUpper, ToLower), Looping (for and do-while/until), If (block and single-line) Else decisions, console based input (Input) and output (Print), and sub-routines (with no parameters, yet).
- When I'm 'done' adding the basic constructs onto my language - how should I branch out? Into what domain(s)? In other words, what direction(s) should my open source basic language take once I've got all the generic constructs working?
Thank you for your time, | <urn:uuid:cd3777ff-2e9a-4d88-9dda-1bb63ec75aa3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/83534/basic-features-for-a-basic-language-dsl-suggestions/83546 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00018-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940825 | 298 | 2.875 | 3 |
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection http://content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/
Brought to you by the University of Washington's Digital Collections Department, this database contains "over 2,300 original photographs as well as over 1,500 pages from the Annual Reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to the Secretary of the Interior from 1851 to 1908.
American Memory Project: Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian Photographic Images
Library of Congress site containing over 2000 photogravure plates and narratives. In this collection, Curtis "portrayed the traditional customs and lifeways of eighty Indian tribes. The twenty volumes, each with an accompanying portfolio, are organized by tribes and culture areas encompassing the Great Plains, Great Basin, Plateau Region, Southwest, California, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska." Browse by geographic location or by American Indian Tribe.
California Indian Library Collections Project http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/cilc/bibs/toc.html
Located at the Ethnic Studies Library at UC Berkeley, this marvelous resource provides tribal bibliographies of northern and central California Indians.
Indigenous Peoples' Literature http://www.indigenouspeople.net/ipl_final.html
This site contains a listing of tribes, great chiefs/leaders, as well as indigenous peoples' literature from North America as well as Mexico, Latin America, Central America, and South America.
Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe http://www.muwekma.org/
Official website of the Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe, the original inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay region.
National Museum of the Native American Indian
This museum contains "one of the most extensive collections of Native American arts and artifacts in the world—approximately 266,000 catalog records (825,000 items) representing over 12,000 years of history and more than 1,200 indigenous cultures throughout the Americas. Ranging from ancient Paleo-Indian points to contemporary fine arts, the collections include works of aesthetic, religious, and historical significance as well as articles produced for everyday use. In addition to the object collections, the museum’s holdings also include the Photographic Archive (approximately 324,000 images from the 1860s to the present)."
Native Languages of the Americas http://www.native-languages.org/languages.htm
This site is dedicated to preserving and promoting American Indian tribal languages, particularly through the use of Internet technology.
NativeWeb, an international, nonprofit, educational organization has created a gateway site about indigenous cultures around the world. See the "Nations Index" link for information about specific tribes.
Copyright (C) 2010 Napa Valley College By: Napa Valley College Library
Last updated: May, 2010 Questions & Comments: Nancy McEnery | <urn:uuid:efdbf8ee-b5b7-4f72-be38-22f122185566> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.napavalley.edu/Library/Pages/NativeAmericanWebResources.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875169 | 580 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Language Arts Classroom Competition
WordMasters: Grade 6 Blue Division Jan-Feb '08
All of the words listed here will appear in the second WordMasters Challenge, which will be held at your school between February 1 and February 22. (Your teacher will tell you exactly when.) The WordMasters Challenge is an analogy-solving contest. The contest will challenge you to use the words from your list in logical pairs that will look like this:
STORMY SEA : CHURNING :: ANGRY PERSON : ___________________
(a. simmering / b. percolating / c. seething / d. floundering / e. salvaging)
To do this well, you will have to understand the exact meanings of all of your words, and you will have to reason carefully about the relationships shown in the pairs.
Here is how you should get ready for the Challenge: After you have learned the meanings of these words, think about possible relationships among them. Which words have similar meanings? Which words have nearly opposite meanings? (Of course, some words have more than one meaning.) Think of some categories under which several words might be grouped.
Be sure you understand the part of speech of a word-whether it's a noun, a verb, or an adjective. (Some words, such as "barb" and "churn" and "simmer" and "salvage" on this list, can be either a noun or a verb depending on how they are used.) Pay attention to the prefixes and suffixes of words, because they are often clues to meaning and part of speech. And try to familiarize yourself with other forms of these words-not just "torpid" but also "torpor," not just "tenacious" but also "tenacity," not just "fervent" but also "fervor," not just "helm" but also "helmsman," not just "voluble" but also "volubility," not just "barb" but also "barbed," etc.
Keep this list. Some of these words will also appear in the third WordMasters Challenge, scheduled for later this year. | <urn:uuid:b7999eb6-1325-4bd4-a8ea-301c8d11f926> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordmasters/wordmasters-grade-6-blue-division-jan-feb-08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966215 | 453 | 3.59375 | 4 |
We pray neither you nor anyone you love will have to deal with a Staph infection, but if ever you do you’ll want to be knowledgeable about treatments and things you can do to quicken healing that will last.
What is STAPH?
The term staphylococcus (plural – staphylococci) comes from the Greek words “staphyle” and “kokkos,” meaning bunch of grapes and berry or grain, respectively. Strange name for an otherwise unfruitful bunch, but when examined under a microscope that’s just what they look like. Grapes.
Staphylococci are bacteria that can be found harmlessly in the nose and on the skin in close to 1/3 of the population, especially but not only in nurses, doctors and others working in hospitals. Most often, the strain of staph that infects and causes illness in humans is Staphylococcus aureus. When there’s injury on the skin, such as an abrasion or cut, the bacteria finds a gateway into body. If the immune system is at all weak, for example from illness, surgery or taking certain medications, the bacteria may take hold and become an infection. As many of you know staph can be mild or so severe it becomes life-threatening.
While infected, a person remains contagious by direct contact. Staph can also be airborne. If a person with a current infection sneezes or coughs then the bacteria may enter into the air and be transmitted to another host.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are actually several strains of the microbe that are resistant to powerful antibiotics including methicillin, penicillin, amoxicillin and oxacillin. If you’ve been diagnosed or suspect you have Staph, ask your doctor to test you specifically for this strain. It dramatically affects your treatment options.
A minor infection is commonly treated with internal and/or external antibiotics, the latter usually an ointment to be directly applied to the affected area. When the infection gets serious, however, especially in the case of MRSA, doctors turn to intravenous antibiotics. These drugs are harsh on the body’s systems disrupting digestion, immune strength and more, depending on the patient’s susceptibilities. The curative effects of the drugs alone are often temporary.
There are many claims concerning herbal, nutritional and other methods to beat staph and heal your body. Most suggest that, with a serious infection, the patient add these to their antibiotic treatments. There is no formula that will work for every body. Some of the common suggestions include:
- Eat 2 cloves of garlic raw or in food daily (not crushed). Allicin is a powerful constituent of garlic, naturally antifungal, antibacterial. A 2004 study found that the extracted allicin was effective in inhibiting and even killing 30 strains of staphylococcus, which had been resistant to the potent antibiotic mupirocin. If you’re looking to take a garlic supplement experts recommend a “powder extract” that contains at least 180mg Allicin Powder. Pay attention to labels!
- Take Goldenseal.* Goldenseal has been in the limelight as a cold and flu fighter, as well as a strong combatant against Staph. Praised for its immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial properties, this enemy of disease is perhaps one of our greatest health advocates. A study in 2011 examined the effects of goldenseal against S. aureus to determine which parts of the plant showed the most inhibitory action against bacterial defenses. The team landed on the “aerial” parts, namely the leaves of the plant, as most effective in overtaking Staph. Make sure to get organic goldenseal leaves and make a tea out of it. You can also buy goldenseal extract.
- Drink Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) and Eat Honey. It may sound overly simplistic, but perhaps people tout the two as effective agents against Staph because ACV alkalizes the body and also assists in flushing out toxins. Honey is antimicrobial and helps to fight infection. Braggs ACV (organic) recommends a cocktail containing a couple tablespoons of ACV with the same amount or more of honey (to taste) mixed in a tall glass of water for a cleansing morning and afternoon refreshment. It’s nice. You may might actually…like it.
*Note that goldenseal is generally recommended for no more than two weeks uninterrupted. To buy quality goldenseal check out Mountain Rose Herbs referenced in the sources below. Be sure to check with your doctor and communicate your intentions before adding garlic, goldenseal or any other treatment to your healing strategy.
In addition to these you can find a plethora of tips and advice including drinking lots of water (lukewarm, not cold), eliminating processed foods and high sugar products and getting plenty of sleep.
But rather than just leave you with a cosmic soup of options, allow me to introduce you to a couple who’s been through it and now make it their business to set others on a straight course for restoration.
Experts and Further Reading
Michelle and Les Moore call themselves “Ex-Pharmaceutical Scientists” and current Health Experts. After her own 4-year stint taking health depleting drugs to treat a staph infection, Michelle began researching alternative therapies. Her husband came alongside her.
While they honor their doctors, the couple now spends their time and resources educating people about the pitfalls of the conventional approach. Chief among them is what they call “one-size-fits-all” standard protocol treatments. Doctors may be limited by cost-cutting insurance companies who force them to prescribe generically. Yet, from person to person the infection brings diverse complications while each body has differing needs. The person’s medical history, age, health status and more all affect their response to drugs, and the necessary path to recovery.
To boot, since many medical doctors don’t have knowledge of alternative natural medicine, Les and Michelle say it may be in your hands to do the research and seek out critical information about options. To make it simpler for you they have books and free resources available to educate you about:
- Potent natural remedies to kill the infection
- How to counter the harmful effects of antibiotics
- How to strengthen your immune defenses to prevent recurrence
They also want you to know how to speak to your doctor; which questions to ask; and when to get a second opinion. If you or someone you love has a Staph infection we highly recommend you get educated through the Staph-infection resources the Moores have created, and take it from there.
A portion of Les and Michelle’s proceeds go to the Institute for Responsible Technology (IRT), the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), and Joel Osteen Ministries.
For more information and free resources about healing from Staph using natural therapies visit http://www.staph-infection-resources.com/;
or to purchase “Michelle Moore’s MRSA Secrets Revealed Program” either for immediate download or to have it shipped in print, check out http://www.staph-infection-resources.com/lp/ga/mrsa-home/#getprogram.
“Staph Infection.” Article by Melissa Conrad Stopper, MD, Peer-Reviewed by William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR. www.Medicine.net
Cutler, RR; P Wilson (2004). “Antibacterial activity of a new, stable, aqueous extract of allicin against methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus” (PDF). British Journal of Biomedical Science 61 (2): 71–4. PMID 15250668.
Ettefagh KA, Burns JT, Junio HA, Kaatz GW, Cech NB. “Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis L.) extracts synergistically enhance the antibacterial activity of berberine via efflux pump inhibition.” (2011) PMID: 21157683
Junio HA, Sy-Cordero AA, Ettefagh KA, Burns JT, Micko KT, Graf TN, Richter SJ, Cannon RE, Oberlies NH, Cech NB. “Synergy-directed fractionation of botanical medicines: a case study with goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis).” (2011) PMID: 21661731 | <urn:uuid:654c2730-2b83-4b79-9430-e53eb5e04b28> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bewellbuzz.com/body-buzz/natural-remedies-for-staph-infection/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916999 | 1,817 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Sign in using App Passwords
An App password is a 16-digit passcode that gives an app or device permission to access your Google Account. If you use 2-Step-Verification and are seeing a “password incorrect” error when trying to access your Google Account, an App password may solve the problem. Most of the time, you’ll only have to enter an App password once per app or device, so don’t worry about memorizing it.
Note: If you have iOS 8.3 on your iPhone or OSX 10.10.3 on your Mac, you will no longer have to use App passwords to use 2-Step Verification.Why you may need an App password
When you sign up for 2-Step Verification, we normally send you verification codes. However, these codes do not work with some apps and devices, like Gmail on your iPhone or iPad, Thunderbird, and Outlook. Instead, you’ll need to authorize the app or device the first time you use it to sign in to your Google Account by generating and entering an App password.
- Visit your App passwords page. You may be asked to sign in to your Google Account.
- At the bottom, click Select app and choose the app you’re using.
- Click Select device and choose the device you’re using.
- Select Generate.
- Follow the instructions to enter the App password (the 16 character code in the yellow bar) on your device.
- Select Done.
Once you are finished, you won’t see that App password code again. However, you will see a list of apps and devices you’ve created App passwords for.
Note: You may not be able to create an App password for less secure apps. Learn more about allowing less secure apps.
Every App password is only used once. But don't worry, you can always generate a new App password whenever you need one, even for a device or application you've authorized before.
If you’re still having trouble accessing your Google Account, visit the problems signing in with 2-Step verification page for help with a specific device.
Ashley is an Accounts expert and the author of this help page. Leave her feedback below about how to improve it. | <urn:uuid:2355cc1c-47b4-4b13-8cd9-e16985759a3b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00176-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895579 | 476 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe
On-line version ISSN 2224-7912
This research focuses on the manner in which parents experience the emigration of their children. Migration of people, both within a country and across borders, is a global phenomenon. South Africa has diverse historical and contemporary migration patterns, and there are various factors underlying emigration; these may be of an economic, social or personal nature. A general theory regarding the causes of migration distinguishes between push and pull factors. Pull factors include personal safety in society, a better standard of living as well as various job opportunities. Push factors in South Africa, among others, include dissatisfaction of the standard of public and commercial services, perceptions of moral decline in society, an unemployment-rate of 25.6% (Statistics SA 2013) and dissatisfaction with affirmative action issues. One of the main push factors in South Africa is the high level of crime. The desire to travel and a sense of adventure also play a part in people 's decision to emigrate. The country 's database and statistics on emigration flows are inadequate; and the impact of emigration on the mental health of the families who have been left behind, especially parents, remains a neglected topic in South Africa. According to media reports, South Africa is suffering from the effects of a "brain-drain", and the country is also exposed to free trade agreements and globalising tendencies. Each person leaving the country leaves behind a family. The effects on those who have to remain in South Africa, particularly the parents, have yet to be sufficiently researched. Part of the parents 'psycho-social support system suddenly falls away when their children emigrate. Some parents lose all their children as a result of emigration. The communication and interaction with their children on different continents become complex. A contributing factor to poor communication is parents ' inability to utilize technology as a means of staying in contact with their children. These parents are usually middle-aged and some of them even older, and are dependent on other people for their daily care. They have to adapt to the new circumstances in this relatively advanced phase in their lives. In previous generations, this used to be a phase in which people slowed down, retired and settled down to enjoy their grandchildren. After their children 's emigration, they are no longer able to see their grandchildren growing up; in a significant way, they are being excluded from their children 's daily life. Some of the parents relied on their children to take care of them in later years and suddenly they have to try and find alternative support systems. A Christian existential paradigm was used, which, in searching to find meaning in life and to make responsible choices, views a person as a whole entity. The framework of the Theory of Health Promotion (Department of Nursing 2010) forms the philosophical and theoretical basis, as the phenomenon of emigration impacts on families as a system; seeing that the abovementioned theory follows a holistic perspective, it should adequately address families ' sense of loss. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual study of the experiences of parents whose children had emigrated, was done by using community radio as the medium of interaction. The community radio was used to invite parents whose children had emigrated to participate in this research. The radio medium is a powerful, cost-effective medium with which to reach thousands of people at the same time. It is also ideal for psycho-educational purposes because of the convenience to listen to it in your house, car or while doing something else. The aim was to facilitate the mental health of those parents who had been left behind. Indepth interviews were conducted with 16 parents after broadcasting an invitation to participate in the study by means of a community radio station. The population was Afrikaans-speaking people with a Christian tradition. The average period of their children 's emigration was nine years. All the parents 'children had emigrated longer than one year ago. The following was found: parents whose children emigrate experience a feeling of disillusionment, expressed in the words "we raise them to leave us!" The loss is ambiguous, with a main feeling of helplessness; their affective response painfully fluctuates. The experience is unique and personal and parents apply effective and less effective coping mechanisms in order to deal with the ambiguous loss.
Keywords : psycho-education; parents; children; emigration; radio medium; ambiguous loss; affective response; defense mechanisms. | <urn:uuid:f0ccb59f-c893-4575-9eb7-a4cb8d727133> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S0041-47512014000400018&lng=en&nrm=iso | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971522 | 904 | 3.5 | 4 |
Resources for Teachers and Educators
What are zines?
"...zines are noncommerical, nonprofessional, small-circulation magazines which their creators produce, publish and distribute themselves." - Stephen Duncombe, Notes from the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture
Why teach with zines?
"Zines...challenge the easily digestible mainstream media. They can open students' eyes to other outlets for information, showing alternate sources and forcing students to see how the accessible information that is often just taken for fact also has origins and agendas." - Amy Wan, "Not Just for Kids Anymore: Using Zines in the Classroom."
Zines and other alternative and underground publications can be used as teaching tools for learners from kindegarten to college. There are zines on just about any topic you can think of, from feminism to sports to politics to cooking. When choosing zines for use in your classroom, think carefully about your student's reading level and the subject matter of the zine. Let students explore zines and their history, and you can teach just about anything, including: English Language Arts, Media Literacy, Art,Social Science and History and even Math and Science!
What is the value of protest?
How can those outside the mainstream get their voices heard?
How do systems of power oppress voices of dissent?
The following lesson plans were developed for three different levels of ability, but each lesson plan could be used in any classroom with the appropriate modifcations. Select the lesson plan that best fits your students, or download all three and create your own unit to suit your needs. Each lesson plan was originally developed by Melissa L. Jones, MS Ed, MS LIS, based on her expertise as a public school educator.
Lesson A - What is a zine? What is the value of protest?
Content Areas: English Language Arts, Information Literacy
Level: Intermediate, Grades 7-9
Lesson B - Why zines? How can those outside the mainstream get their voices heard?
Content Areas: Media Literacy, Information Literacy
Level: Secondary, Grades 10-12
Lesson C - How do systems of power repress voices of dissent?
Content Areas: English, History, Political Science, Information Literacy
Level: 12th Grade or Early College
Got an idea for a lesson or project idea? Comments or suggestions? Email your thoughts to email@example.com.
Block, Francesca Lia and Hillary Carlip. Zine Scene: the Do it Yourself Guide to Zines. Lost Angeles, CA: Girl Press, 1998.
Duncombe, Stephen. Notes from the Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture. Verso, 1997.
Watson, Esther Pearl and Mark Todd. Whatcha Mean What's a Zine? Graphia, 2006.
Bott, Chiristie. "Zines - The Ultimate Creative Writing Project," English Journal, 92, no. 2 (2002): 27-33.
Congdon, Kristin G. and Doug Blandy. "Using Zines to Teach about Postmodernism and the Communication of Ideas." Art Education. (May 2003).
Daly, Brenda O. "Taking whiteness personally: Learning to teach testimonial reading and writing in the college literature classroom." Pedagogy. vol 5 no. 2 (Spring 2005): p 213-246.
Guzzetti, Barbara J. "Zines for social justice: Adolescent girls writing on their own." Reading Research Quarterly. 39, no. 4 (2004): 408-36.
Sellie, Alycia and Kate Vo Thi-Beard. "Using Zines to Encourage Multiple Literacies," Wisconsin English Journal. v. 47, n. 2. (Fall 2005): 27-33.
Wan, Amy J. "Not Just for Kids Anymore: Using Zines in the Classroom." Radical Teacher. April 30th, 1999.
Freedman, Jenna. DIY Publications and Media Literacy: Zines in the Classroom. Symposium on Media Literacy in Education Conference. Bowling Green, OH. June 2005.
Holdaway, Matt. "A Student's Guide on Zines and Tips on How to Make One."
Williamson, Judith. "Engaging Resistant Writers Through Zines in the Classroom." The Zine and E-Zine Resource Guide. 1994.
Wright, Fred. "The History and Characteristics of Zines." The Zine and E-Zine Resource Guide. 1997. | <urn:uuid:acfa7899-f59c-4c6f-a4cd-714be55241e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://zines.barnard.edu/about-barnard-zines/exhibits/forteachers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00081-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.885545 | 950 | 4.15625 | 4 |
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