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What about doing a title like, "Mrs. ____, Be sure to mention that I..." and then have each child list the things s/he hopes you tell his/her parent or guardian? You could have them do this writing on bordered paper or plain paper mounted on construction paper in the shape of an ear as if they are whispering the big news.
Or use paper that looks like the front of a newspaper and have them write the headlines news their parents should know about their perfomance in major areas like science news, ss, math, reading, behavior, etc.
Or give out giant stars and have them write the area in school they really shine in with a title like "I Really Shine When..." or "I am a Stellar...."
I always have some writing available for parents to read and enjoy. Plus, you don't need to do corrections if you are pressed for time or want a true sample. That way, you could refer to the board when you are trying to tell the parents that the child does do well in spelling, identifying types of sentences, etc. when tested but may not always be careful enough to apply it in every day situations. Very effective for making a point. Just be sure to alert the children about how everyone will be seeing an example of their writing so they need to work carefully and proofread before handing it in. | <urn:uuid:8f42b07f-14be-42c1-a4fc-1ae96d76c757> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=25130 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972756 | 279 | 2.796875 | 3 |
During the American Revolution, Lord Charles Cornwallis commanded British troops in the southern states. This is especially interesting and ironic because in England, he had voted against policies such as the Stamp Act that led the colonies to declare independence. But when his nation called, Cornwallis did his duty, again and again. He captured Savannah, Charleston, and Camden, South Carolina. If he had won the southor at least its major citiesthen why were Patriot guerrilla fighters pestering his troops to death? Those Patriots never gave up, and they made his life miserable.
Cornwallis camped at Yorktown in August 1781 and waited for General Clinton to resupply him by sea. But at Yorktown, General Washington and his French allies cornered him. Forced to surrender, Cornwallis couldn't bring himself to hand over his sword to Washington in person, so he sent one of his generals instead. Some British critics accused him of "losing America" but it wasn't really his fault.
You'd think that losing the war in America would have wrecked his career. But it didn't. People still respected him in England; he came from an important family, and King George III liked him. So even after the defeat in America, the British government appointed Cornwallis to other important jobs, where he distinguished himself as a diplomat and military leader. | <urn:uuid:7b06e113-d754-4b83-98bf-f843ef51bbc2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web02/features/bio/B03.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990275 | 274 | 3.5625 | 4 |
- Have students restate learned information in another form, e.g., verbally summarize what was read, draw a semantic map of what was heard, etc. Encourage students to visualize, or create pictures in their minds, during reading and math activities.
- Encourage students to recognize patterns in content areas. In science, examine laws of nature; in math, identify patterns in word problems; in social situations, examine rules of behavior, etc. Teach students to use self-questioning to trigger patterns (e.g., how is the main idea of this paragraph familiar, how is this math problem like the other one, etc.).
- Help students create personal meaning by relating new information they learn to information they already know.
- Intersperse opportunities for students to state in their own words the significant points of a lesson, attributes of key concepts, or steps in a process.
2. Make use of students’ areas of interest and affinity. Provide opportunities for students to become “experts” in a field and to share that knowledge with the class. Challenge students to find ways to actively involve other students in an affinity-related activity. 3. Teach students to evaluate the reading difficulty of textbook passages by considering the novelty of information, the degree of focus required, and the appropriate reading rate for comprehension.
4. Have students write down questions about what they don’t understand during reading, then allow time in class to go over these questions. Give students practice summarizing and paraphrasing, in both written and oral form.
5. Teach students the meaning of elaboration, with examples and non-examples. Give students practice elaborating on topics that interest them.
6. Give students questions and sample tests through which they can assess their own progress.
7. Create a study buddy system where students check their notes for accuracy with each other before beginning an assignment or studying for a test.
8. Discuss techniques that your students can use to be more engaged in their studying. Examples of techniques are:
- Change Topics. Many students can better sustain concentration by regularly changing the subject they are studying every one to two hours, finding that changing content and/or patterns of thinking helps refresh attention.
- Develop Incentives and Rewards. Encourage students to reward themselves for completing a task. The task might be large or small, for example, staying with a difficult assignment until it is finished.
- Study Actively. Students’ concentration may wander more easily when they read an assignment straight through. Suggest instead, that students turn the heading for each section into a question, and then study the section to answer the question.
Organizing Information and Recognizing Patterns
- Encourage students to review previous course material as a part of a study session. Help students note patterns, connections, and relationships among ideas and concepts, not only to reinforce recall of important concepts, but also to highlight areas where comprehension and recall may be faulty.
- Have students practice grouping related information. Then have them practice choosing a key word, short phrase, or mnemonic retrieval cue to act as a trigger for their recall of the related details. Strong, precise nouns and verbs are probably the most useful words to use as cues. - By practicing recall using the retrieval cue, students will build a strong association between the cue and the details. Eventually, the cue will help them easily recall the associated information. Some studies of memory suggest that the retrieval cues are most effective when they are selected at the time of the initial learning.
- Give students templates to help them create action plans for future tasks such as studying for tests, getting the night’s homework done, getting help in class, completing a long-term project, etc. Each template might include spaces for: a description of the task, an estimation of time and effort required, the names of the people involved as partners or helpers, familiar elements or aspects of the task, the order of steps required, the strategies that can be used. Templates may be saved on the computer, then individualized and printed out for specific tasks.
- Encourage students to use staging, i.e., to break a long or complex task into smaller, shorter, or less complex “mini-tasks.” For example, provide students with a pre-planning template (a blank timeline, flow chart, task web, etc.) for analyzing a task then breaking it into stages. If necessary, model the staging process for students to help them develop a sense of “step-wisdom,” an understanding of the proper sequence of steps necessary to complete a task.
- Share your techniques for organizing and remembering information by rehearsing, elaborating, and using mnemonic strategies. For example, note the strategy you are using to perform a task, i.e. “Now I’m drawing a picture of what’s going on in the math problem to help me see what to do before I choose the operation”.
- To promote students’ development of strategies, provide students with a set of questions to ask themselves while learning and studying. For example, What does this remind me of? What can I associate with it? Can I picture it in my mind? What pops into my head? How can I use these associations to help me remember it?
- Provide students with strategies for guiding their study sessions, such as the KWL-Plus strategy for assessing mastery during studying (What I know, What I want to learn, What I have learned, What I need to review, What more I need to learn).
- To ensure that you are teaching strategies effectively, use a checklist or helpful mnemonic, such as MIRRORS: Model strategy and explain how to carry it out. Inform students when and how to use it Remind them to use it. Repeat the strategy for practice.o Outline why the strategy is useful. Reassess students’ performance when using the strategy. Stress the generalization of the strategy to other appropriate activities, content areas, settings (other classrooms and at home), and over time. (Provide opportunities for students to practice using a strategy under these different conditions.)
- A student who has not used strategies in the past may need his/her teacher to suggest strategies. Whenever possible, build on students’ natural tendencies. Question students to identify these tendencies, e.g., do they picture things in their heads, do they remember words, etc. For example, a student who remembers a word by rhyming it with a familiar word, may benefit from using linguistic and auditory strategies.
- Explore the many types of memory strategies that can help students learn and remember information. Encourage students to try a variety of memory strategies, such as mnemonics (e.g., Every Good Boy Does Fine) and visual imagery (i.e. pictures in the mind) to aid in their learning and studying. Allow students to practice using different strategies, finding those that are best suited to them.
- Point out explicit connections between a strategy and its value to learning and remembering. For example, “Making a list of the geometric shapes we’ve covered will help you to remember the shapes, and do a good job on the worksheet.”
- Encourage students to use self-testing strategies, such as reviewing or creating questions they think will be on a test. Have students use their questions to create a practice tests for each another, focusing on a chapter in social studies, a geometry unit, etc.
- Have students keep a record of the various ways they successfully complete different academic problems or use particular study techniques (i.e., create a menu of effective strategies).
- Stress the generalization of effective strategies to similar situations, e.g., a problem solving strategy used on a math worksheet can be used again on the math test the next day, etc.
- Connect students with mentors who will work with them to dissect the day, brainstorm alternative strategies, and provide recognition of progress. | <urn:uuid:b3dc4c53-025c-456b-899e-f923b75e332c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://deriakacamata.blogspot.com/2008/09/pengurusan-pengajaran-dan-pembelajaran.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00126-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926659 | 1,650 | 4.375 | 4 |
Health experts have long known that a lack of Vitamin A can lead to serious complications and diseases during childhood - such as measles and blindness - as well as increasing the risk of child and maternal mortality, thus undermining the health and development of poor countries. The problem facing health workers and government ministries, therefore, has been how to deliver supplemental Vitamin A to populations most at risk, and how to help those populations understand the vital role it can play in protecting health.
Guatemala pioneered the fortification of sugar with Vitamin A, and their success has influenced the country of Zambia and the launch of a new, nationwide program to ensure that Vitamin A reaches all of its people. But as this episode of LIFE shows, sugar fortification is just one part of a multi-pronged strategy that also includes experiments with the fortification of corn in local mills, administering Vitamin A supplements in mother-and-child clinics, and the cultivation of new varieties of high-yield palm trees that provide Vitamin A-rich palm oil.
With the support of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
The other titles in this series are:
1. The Road from Rio - Questions the relevance and success of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
2. Danger: Children at Work - Guatemalan agencies try to discourage child labor and fireworks production by poor families.
3. The Trade Trap - Ghanaian farmers struggle to get a foothold in the international market.
4. Kosovo: Rebuilding the Dream - Assesses the success of UN efforts in rebuilding Kosovo.
5. The Perfect Famine - Examines the causes of, and solutions to, severe famine conditions in Malawi.
6. It Takes a Village - A cyclone in Bangladesh results in the construction of an experimental community health center.
8. Cheated of Childhood - The International Labor Organization tries to rescue and rehabilitate the street children of St. Petersburg.
9. Patents and Patients - India battles HIV/AIDS using generic drugs.
10. The Doctor's Story - The US debate over abortion has severe consequences for health care in rural Nepal.
11. Sowing Seeds of Hunger - The AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa has crippled the agricultural community while forcing children to undertake the responsibilities of farming.
12. Up in Smoke - Dependence on tobacco crops and manipulation by the tobacco industry has stunted the economy of Malawi.
Grade Level: 7-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2003
Copyright Date: 2002
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-123-1
VHS ISBN: 1-59458-006-5 | <urn:uuid:e507732a-b23e-4fc4-ac1c-ec98b7bcf20a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/l3sib.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914365 | 541 | 3 | 3 |
Raw Materials. Refining. Resources.
We put wax to work!
More than refining wax for industrial applications, food packaging, and product manufacturers, IGI is the strategic partner of choice for companies who want value across the entire supply chain.
Wax is an organic, plastic-like substance that is solid at ambient temperature and becomes liquid when melted. Because wax is plastic in nature, it usually deforms under pressure without the application of heat.
The following summarizes the general features of wax:
- Solid at ambient temperature
- Thermoplastic in nature
- Liquid at 110 to 200°F
- Insoluble in water
The term "wax" is applied to a large number of chemically different materials. Technological advances in the world today have led to an increasing number of commercially available substances of various chemical compositions and properties which have acquired the name "wax". In the most general terms, waxes are "naturally" or "synthetically" derived. Waxes can be further categorized by origin as follows:
- Natural Waxes -
- Synthetic (man-made)
- Ethylenic polymers e.g. polyethylene & polyol ether-esters
- Chlorinated naphthalenes
- Hydrocarbon type, e.g. Fischer-Tropsch
Petroleum Wax Overview
Petroleum wax is ultimately derived from crude oil. Obtained from the ground, crude oil is a compositionally varied product, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons. It is the resultant product of the decomposition of tiny aquatic plants and animals that lived in the ancient seas millions of years ago. Another name for crude oil is fossil fuel. Crude oil is transported to refineries where it is refined into finished products by complex processes. One of the many products derived from refining is lubricating oil. It is from the lube oil refining process that petroleum waxes are derived.
There are three general categories of petroleum wax that are obtained from lube oil refining. They include paraffin, microcrystalline and petrolatum. Paraffin waxes are derived from the light lubricating oil distillates. Paraffin waxes contain predominantly straight-chain hydrocarbons with an average chain length of 20 to 30 carbon atoms. The general properties of paraffin waxes are described in more detail below.
Microcrystalline waxes are produced from a combination of heavy lube distillates and residual oils. They differ from paraffin waxes in that they have poorly defined crystalline structure, darker color, and generally higher viscosity and melting points. Microcrystalline waxes (sometimes also called micro wax) tend to vary much more widely than paraffin waxes with regard to physical characteristics. Microcrystalline waxes can range from being soft and tacky to being hard and brittle, depending on the compositional balance.
The last category of petroleum wax is referred to as petrolatums. Petrolatums are derived from heavy residual oils and are separated by a dilution and filtering (or centrifuging) process. Petrolatums are microcrystalline in nature and semi-solid at room temperature.
Other terms are also used to refer to petroleum wax. In general these terms refer to the amount of oil contained in the product. Slack wax refers to petroleum wax containing anywhere from 3 to 50% oil content. Scale wax refers to wax containing 1 to 3% oil. Fully refined paraffin (FRP) wax is wax that has had nearly all of the oil refined out of it. Fully refined paraffins typically have less than 0.5% oil content.
General Properties of Paraffin Wax
Paraffin Wax is a natural product derived from the molecular components of decayed vegetable and animal material. Paraffin wax consists of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with the following general properties.
- Good water barrier
- Clean-burning fuel
Paraffin waxes are characterized by a clearly defined crystal structure and have the tendency to be hard and brittle. The melt point of paraffin waxes generally falls between 120° and 160°F.
Individual test methods are determined by molecular size & structure, chemical composition and oil content. Paraffin wax consists mostly of straight chain hydrocarbons with 80 to 90% normal paraffin content and the balance consists of branched paraffins (iso-paraffins) and cycloparaffins.
Typical test methods that can be measured and controlled include melt point, congealing point, hardness, oil content, viscosity and color. However, these physical properties alone do not completely define the suitability of a wax for a particular application. The functional properties of wax should be considered as well. These include the translucency & opaqueness of the wax, solid appearance (e.g. dry, waxy, mottled, shiny), flexibility, etc. It is the combination of physical and functional properties that ultimately determine if a particular wax is right for a given application. | <urn:uuid:7ae2d83d-f100-4cf2-a38b-e972a144153f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://igiwax.com/reference/waxbasics.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929695 | 1,045 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Detection technology is a robotic vacuum-specific feature similar in function to the dirt sensors found on some traditional upright vacuum cleaners. This technology feature is a combination of electronic sensors that help robotic vacs self-navigate. Built-in signals are sent out to gather environmental and spatial data. The information is then sent back and stored in the vacuum to alter the vacuum's actions by helping it learn how to navigate your space.
Uses of electronic sensors | <urn:uuid:8da08175-5965-47c7-9f98-6675b8dc1907> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.sears.com/content/shc/sears/en_us/sears-knowledge-center/home-appliances/vacuums/what-is-detection-technology.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911722 | 91 | 3.140625 | 3 |
People forget how small Israel is. Its entire population is a little over 7 million - smaller than Lima, Peru. Its land area is about 8,000 square miles, smaller than New Jersey or Belize. By comparison, Jordan, its neighbor to the east, occupies 35,000 square miles; Egypt, its neighbor to the West, covers 386,000 square miles.
There are more than 20 Arab states with a combined population of 325 million, and more than 50 majority-Muslim states with a combined population of well over a billion. By contrast, Israel is the world's only Jewish-majority state- and 20 percent of its population is Arab, most of them Muslim.
So why is so much attention -- and firepower - focused on this tiny nation? Israel's many enemies and critics say it is because the Jewish state has deprived Palestinian Arabs of a homeland. But Jordan, situated on the three-quarters of historic Palestine lying east of the River Jordan -- from which the country took its name when it was created in the 1920s - is populated, not surprisingly, mostly by Palestinians. As for the royal family that rules there, it was exiled from its ancestral home in Mecca, after the Saudis - a warrior clan subscribing to Wahhabism, a radically fundamentalist version of Islam - conquered the lion's share of the Arabian Peninsula and named it after themselves.
Palestinians also inhabit Gaza, from which Israel withdrew every settler and soldier four years ago. And, under various peace proposals, Israel has offered to remove its citizens from more than 90 percent of the West Bank, a territory occupied in 1967 at the end of a war with Egypt (from which it took Gaza), Jordan (from which it took the West Bank) and other Arab neighbors whose explicitly stated goal was Israel's eradication.
Defenders of Israel argue that it is despised for different reasons, not least because it is an outpost of Western values in a region, the broader Middle East, engaged in a long-term project of religious and ethnic cleansing. One country after another has become inhospitable toward its minorities. As a result, Jews, Christians, Baha'i's and Zoroastrians are among the minority groups that have been eliminated, decimated or compelled to flee to more tolerant corners of the world.
There also is the fact that, economically, Israel punches way above its weight. As Dan Senor and Saul Singer describe and document in a fascinating new book, "Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle," the "greatest concentration of innovation and entrepreneurship in the world today" is found in the Jewish state: a higher percentage of GDP devoted to research and development than anywhere else in the world; more high-tech start-ups per capita than any other country; 80 times as much venture capital investment per capita as in China; more companies on NASDAQ than all of Europe combined.
What's more, Senor and Singer believe the conventional and sometimes stereotypical explanations for this success - e.g. Jews work hard, Jews are smart - are either wrong or insufficient.
An overlooked and key contributing factor, they theorize, is that virtually all Israelis serve in the military where a specific set of skills and values are pounded into them. They learn for example, "that you must complete your mission, but that the only way to do that is as a team. The battle cry is ‘After me': there is no leadership without personal example and without inspiring your team to charge together and with you. There is no leaving anyone behind. You have minimal guidance from the top and are expected to improvise..." The Israeli military encourages a kind of entrepreneurship: the assumption of both responsibility and risk at a young age, coupled with on-the-job experience making life-and-death decisions.
European troops, by contrast, rarely venture onto battlefields and, when they do, as in Afghanistan, too often are instructed to serve as peacekeepers -- where there is no peace to keep. What does that teach?
In recent years, American military men and women have been facing - and overcoming - daunting challenges. Senor and Singer suggest that upon return to civilian life they should not "deemphasize their military experience when applying for jobs," and that employers should recognize the skills and habits that young Americans are now acquiring while fighting for their country and to ensure that freedom has a future.
That is not an argument in favor of war. But war has been both declared against us and thrust upon us. Those who believe otherwise indulge a dangerous delusion. What's more, the inconvenient truth is that war, not peace, has been the norm throughout history. And reports of history's death have been exaggerated.
The "greatest generation" was forged in the crucible of a global conflict. If the global War Against the West produces a second "greatest generation," that will be a bitter defeat for Osama bin Laden, Mahmud Ahmadinejad and all those sympathetic to their medievalist and supremacist ideologies.
America is an exceptional nation. But each generation of Americans must decide whether to assume the burden required to continue that tradition.
Israel, too, is unique: Unlike the vast majority of states born in the second half of the 20th century, Senor and Singer observe, "Only Israel's founders had the temerity to try to start up a modern first-world country in the region from which their ancestors had been exiled two thousand years earlier."
The problem is that in the eyes of much of the world Israel is both a "start-up nation," and an upstart nation. It defies the "international community" by daring to defend itself, and it prospers even while under attack. To many people, such behavior is unforgiveable. | <urn:uuid:afb84615-0770-49fb-91ca-a9b0ff041bef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://townhall.com/columnists/cliffmay/2009/11/05/small_miracle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965293 | 1,171 | 2.84375 | 3 |
How to buy, store and prepare plums
Bursting with flavour, plums add a touch of summer to every dish.
Plums are red stonefruits that are part of the rose family. They are native to China, America and Europe and fall into two varieties: European (Prunus domestica) and Japanese (Prunus salicina).
Ruby royal plum: A medium-sized plum with dark, even skin and mottled red flesh.
Black diamond plum: Small in size with smooth, all-black skin and blood-red, even flesh.
Pluot: A large plum with mottled green and maroon skin with mottled-pink flesh.
Black amber plum: A medium to small plum with black, even skin and pale pink to red flesh.
Amber jewel: A mottled golden/red/green skin; medium size with golden flesh.
Blood plum: Small in size with mottled maroon/green skin with juicy, red flesh.
Angelina: A very small plum with a tapered shape; dark maroon skin and dark yellow flesh; very juicy.
Buying, storing and preparation
Look for plums that are firm and plump without wrinkled skin. Keep unripe plums at room temperature for up to one week. Once ripe, store in the fridge for up to five days. Plums are picked by hand as their skin is easily damaged.
Tips & facts
Plums are an excellent source of vitamin C and fibre.
The European plum is thought to have originated from Asia and been cultivated in ancient times. European plums are usually an oval shape, about 5-6cm long.
Japanese plums are a more rounded to pear shape, with a depression at one end and a point at the other. The Japanese plum originated in China and was introduced to Japan in the 16th century.
Notebook: — December 2007 , Page 123 | <urn:uuid:90505d09-c82b-4744-936f-f2fff46d462b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.taste.com.au/how+to/ingredients/articles/792/how+to+buy+store+and+prepare+plums | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929097 | 406 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Guinea belonged to a series of empires until France colonized it in the 1890s, and subsequently made it part of French West Africa.
Slave trade flourished with the arrival of the Europeans, and political instability prevailed as the French struggled to control their colonies within the Guinean region.
Guinea finally declared its independence from France on October 2, 1958, and since that independence Guinea has had only three autocratic presidents.
Ahmed Sekou Toure was elected first president, due in part to his leadership during the fight for freedom against France, and adopted socialistic policies - aligning the country with the Soviet Union.
Plots and conspiracies against Toure flared as his government imprisoned and exiled hundreds of opposition forces.
In 1984, Lansana Conte came to power after a military coup seized the government following the death of Toure. Guinea did not hold democratic elections until 1993 when General Conte (head of the military) was elected president of the civilian government.
Conte completely flipped the government, turning away from socialism, and had 250 political prisoners released, with an additional 200,000 citizens returning from exile.
He was reelected in 1998 and 2003.
Unrest in Sierra Leone and Liberia has spilled over into Guinea on several occasions over the past decade, threatening stability and creating humanitarian emergencies. In 2006, declining economic conditions prompted two massive strikes that sparked urban unrest in many Guinean cities.
On December 23, 2008, Lansana Conte passed away, and Moussa Dadis Camara seized control of Guinea. The following year, he ordered soldiers to attack any protest attempt against his endeavor to become president, which ultimately sparked a spree of mutilation and murder.
Camara was shot during a dispute in December 2009, and during his medical care, Vice President Sekouba Konate assumed control.
Elections were held in June and July of 2010, and Alpha Conde was declared the official winner.
Under French rule, Guinea was a major exporter of coffee, bananas, pineapples and peanuts, however recent autocratic rulers have all but destroyed that economic engine.
Guinea also has 25% of the world's known bauxite reserves, as well as diamonds and gold, but war and political unrest have curtailed those industries as well.
Guinea children Palosirkka at en.wikipedia
A beautiful Guinean woman | <urn:uuid:e8e3a031-3315-41aa-bc47-8686d4b3b9d1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/gn.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.92/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979066 | 487 | 3.359375 | 3 |
The talukas or administrative divisions included in the district are Akkalkuwa, Navapur, Nandurbar, Akrani, Taloda and Shahada.
To the south of the district is Dhule district, to the west and north is the state of Gujarat, to the north and east is the state of Madhya Pradesh. To the north of the district is the hill station of Toranmal. The hill station is 240 kilometers from Nashik, 47 kilometers from Shahada and 200 kilometers from Surat. Aurangabad is the closest airport to the hill station while the nearest railway station is located in Nandurbar .
Nandurbar District is subdivided into six taluks namely Akkalkuwa, Shahada, Akrani Mahal which is also known as Dhadgaon, Nandurbar, Taloda and Navapur. The nagarpalikas are Shahada, Navapur, Nandurbar and Taloda. The population of the district is around 13, 09, 135.
The climate of the district is dry having three seasons. The main agricultural produce are wheat, tur, groundnuts, rice, chily and jowar while annual crops include cotton and sugarcane.
Nandurbar District follows Asia/Kolkata time zone id.
History of Nandurbar:
Nandurbar derived its name from 'Gavali' king, Nandraja.
Languages spoken in Nandurbar:
Marathi is the largest spoken language. Other than Marathi, English, Hindi and Urdu are widely used by the residents of Nandurbar.
Demographics of Nandurbar:
Male population is around 6,62,764 while that of females is 6,46,371.
Industries in Nandurbar:
- 346 Registered and running Factories
- 3 Co-operative Sugar Factories
- 2 Spinning Mills
- 1400 Cooperative Societies
- 159 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies
- 392 Cooperative Milk Societies
- Main crops cultivated in the Nandurbar district are jawar, wheat, rice, toor, groundnuts, chilly. Sugarcane and cotton are the annual crops. Fruits like Mango and Banana too grow in the district.
Nandurbar District has:
- About 1354 primary schools
- Approximately 257 Secondary schools
- Around 30 colleges for higher studies including Medical and Engineering
- 6 Government ITI and 2 private ITI
- Prakasha also called as Dakshin Kashi happens to be among the oldest temples of Nandurbar region. It is situated in Shahada Tehsil.
- Shri Datta temple located at Sarangkheda. A big fair is organized annually in this temple in the commemoration of Datta Jayanti.
- Toranmal is a hill station in Maharashtra state with a natural lake called Yashwant Lake. It's an interesting sight-seeing and picnic spot.
- Unapdev is another intriguing picnic spot in Shahada tehsil.
- NarayanPur is another region famed across for the remains of ancient Shiva temple in the Nandurbar Taluka.
- Lord Mahavir's sculpture in the Gomai River located near the taluka of Shahada is another interesting masterpiece of the location.
- Satpuda hills happen to be one of the most fascinating spot of the Nandurbar.
- Fort of Akka Rani, beautiful waterfalls of Horaphali and Walheri are other great points for sightseeing.
- Toranmal Hill Resort
Checkpost - Dhadgaon,
Nandurbar - 425432,
- Jyoti Guest House, Nandurbar
Near Nandurbar Railway Station
Maharashtra - 425412
Numerous buses at regular intervals are available for the district. 10 direct trains from Mumbai to Nandurbar are available to take you too the beautiful district of Nandurbar. If by air is your option, take a flight from Mumbai to Aurangabad (nearest airport to Nandurbar). Thereon conveyance is available to reach the city via road.
Last Updated on : March 10, 2014 | <urn:uuid:1537e139-a99e-4cb1-b7ef-1bb61a63f2a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/maharashtra/districts/nandurbar.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930595 | 895 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Peak phosphorus still a threat to food security, despite new report
Researchers investigating a coming peak in world phosphorous production have urged caution on the revising up of estimates of reserves in a new report.
The long-awaited estimates of World Phosphate Reserves & Resources, recently released by the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), suggests the availability of more mega tonnes of phosphate rock in the ground than previously thought.
However, researchers at the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) at the University of Technology, Sydney, who last year published the controversial peak phosphorus estimate (between 2030 and 2040) in the journal Global Environmental Change, warned that the inflated IFDC figures should be interpreted with great caution.
"There is no dispute today regarding the essentiality and non-substitutability of phosphorus for food production, and while the report recognises the 'dire consequences' of peak phosphorus for global food production, it concludes that hundreds of years of sufficient phosphate remain and hence there is no immediate threat," said ISF Director, Professor Stuart White.
"We welcome the new report, however this should not be interpreted by policy makers as an excuse for non-action – the new figure represents an estimate of phosphate in the ground that is of markedly lower quality, more difficult to access and more costly.
"At best, this shifts the peak several decades, but even then it is unclear how reliable the new estimate of 60 billion tonnes of phosphate rock actually is.
"This new report has effectively increased the estimated reserves of phosphate rock in Morocco's control from about 6 billion tonnes to 50 billion tonnes. However the report's author acknowledges that 'there is no data to assess mining costs' in Morocco and stresses this is 'just a preliminary estimate' based on secondary data.
"Neither Moroccan mining companies nor Chinese companies (who control the second largest phosphate reserves after Morocco) provide any of their commercial data."
Professor White further cautioned that estimating the lifetime of reserves based only on what is in the ground can be seriously inaccurate and misleading. "There is a large discrepancy between the mega tonnes in the ground and mega tonnes that will actually be available and accessible to farmers to put on fields to grow crops," he said.
"From a food security perspective, it is no use saying there are millions of tonnes in the ground when they might be too costly and difficult to extract, and most of the world's farmers might not be able to afford them."
White's colleague and co-founder of the Global Phosphorus Research Initiative (GPRI), Dr Dana Cordell, explained, "The new figures do not change the underlying problem: we are shifting to an irreversible situation where the world's remaining reserves will contain less phosphorus, more contaminants, be more difficult to access or in environmental and culturally sensitive areas, require more energy and costs to extract and process, and will generate more waste."
"Meanwhile, we still have a chronic situation where one sixth of humanity is starving, many of them poor farmers with phosphorus-deficient soils who are unable to access fertilizer markets. Not to mention a global epidemic of eutrophication and 'dead zones' due to phosphorus pollution. I think this is enough of a reason to reconsider the way we currently manage phosphorus to produce food," she said.
The peak phosphorus analysis that White and his team have applied to phosphate rock takes into account the imminent economic and energy-related bottlenecks that apply to extracting non-renewable resources.
"Peak phosphorus is often highly misunderstood as the 'year we will run out of phosphorus'," White said. "The peak actually refers to the point in time when production will no longer be able to keep up with demand due to economic and energy constraints. Whilst the exact timeline is uncertain, this will happen much sooner than the time when all the reserves have been depleted."
White and Cordell warn that phosphate importing regions such as the European Union, Australia and sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford to rely so heavily on a critical resource for food production that will likely be subject to increasingly geopolitical tensions and volatile prices. "Eighty-five percent of the world's remaining reserves are controlled by just five countries. In 2008 we saw the price of phosphate rock spike 800% - this could happen again," White said.
Cordell said, "No governments have a plan for securing sufficient access to phosphorus for producing food in the long-term. Whatever the exact year, it is clear we need to start taking action now. This means investing in renewable phosphorus fertilisers (by recovering and reusing phosphorus from our excreta, manure and food waste) and increasing the efficiency of phosphorus use from mining to fertilizer application to food processing."
The Global Phosphorus Research Initiative was set up in 2008 by Cordell and White at the Institute for Sustainable Futures and their colleagues at Sweden's Linköping University to facilitate research and policy debate on phosphorus scarcity and sustainable solutions.
Wageningen University in The Netherlands, The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) in Sweden and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada and have also joined the GPRI recognising the urgent need for more research into the issue.
The GPRI has released a formal statement in response to the IFDC report, which is available for download.
Issued by: Terry Clinton, UTS Media Office,
Ph (02) 9514 1623 or 0419 293 261
Norwegian Television did a documentary on peak oil and peak phosphorus a few months ago. I asked the producer to include english subtitles for the international audience - which he did and posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzxowdYh22U (However this is only for the peak phosphorus component, not oil unfortunately).-BA
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This is a community site and the discussion is moderated. The rules in brief: no personal abuse and no climate denial. Complete Guidelines. | <urn:uuid:123a1159-f643-4c7a-bb82-2fb7672951fa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.resilience.org/stories/2010-09-28/peak-phosphorus-still-threat-food-security-despite-new-report | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946822 | 1,242 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Published on May 27th, 2012 | by Michael Ricciardi0
Slow but Micro Powerful: Living Snail Turned into Fuel Cell
May 27th, 2012 by Michael Ricciardi
I’m sure that if gastropods (snails and their ilk; word mean “stomach-foot”) could speak, they’d have a few words of protest over this exploitation of their enzymes… but one snail at least has been ‘harvested’ — for its energy output — without being harmed, say the experimenters.
Recently, researchers (Halámková et al) reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society*, that they had successfully implanted a bio-engineered, biocatalytic electrode device into a snail — effectively turning it into a (bio) fuel cell (not to be confused with a biofuel).
In a clever bit of bio-mimicry, two different electrodes coated with two different enzymes (normally found in the snail’s hemolymph, its blood equivalent) were introduced into the corpus of the snails. One of the enzymes breaks down glucose (the fuel), shedding electrons in the process, the other electrode collects the electrons, and passes them along to positive ions in the hemolymph.
This is a key metabolic ‘engine’ for the snail’s physiology and requires a constant flow of electrons to make it work. The snail-based fuel cell was able to produce a few microwatts of power (solar cell calculators also run on microwatts) and achieve a voltage of .53 Volts (the current strength between the electrodes).
In recent years, many medical researchers and bio-engineers have grown interested in harvesting this living micropower in order to continuously power other bioelectronic devices implanted into (or attached to) living bodies (human or non).
There have been a few previous attempts to “harvest” energy from living organisms (and let us not forget the childhood invention of a six-year-old Nikola Tesla: a 16 – June bug-powered engine), but, according to these researchers, this implantation-and-extraction feat from a small, living invertebrate “is even more difficult and has not been achieved to date.”
Quoting more from the paper abstract:
‘The “electrified” snail, being a biotechnological living “device”, was able to regenerate glucose consumed by biocatalytic electrodes, upon appropriate feeding and relaxing, and then produce a new “portion” of electrical energy. The snail with the implanted biofuel cell will be able to operate in a natural environment, producing sustainable electrical micropower for activating various bioelectronic devices.’
The research was a collaboration between researchers at the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Science and Department of Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York , and the Avram and Stella Goldstein-Goren Department of Biotechnology Engineering and Ilse Katz Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
The research team members: Lenka Halámková, Jan Halámek, Vera Bocharova, Alon Szczupak§, Lital Alfonta§, and Evgeny Katz.
So, if one can put aside their melodramatic vision of lines of snails all wired together and sluggishly (couldn’t resist) pumping ions (to recharge our cell phones, or similar), this curious achievement may just open a tiny (and slow) avenue of ‘bio-sympathy’ and/or ‘bio-techno-cooperation’ (I assume we provide the sugar) between human and gastropod.
Not a perfect symbiosis with Nature, but close.
Then there’s the snail slime issue.
Top Photo: American Chemical Society
Keep up to date with all the most interesting green news on the planet by subscribing to our (free) Planetsave newsletter. | <urn:uuid:b713101e-3159-4319-b5a1-58ce4972b4ff> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://planetsave.com/2012/05/27/slow-but-micro-powerful-living-snail-turned-into-fuel-cell/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00044-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927697 | 864 | 2.59375 | 3 |
This close-up view of a stone found in San Diego was taken by a testing twin -- the "life test unit" -- of the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory. The image covers a patch of rock surface about 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) wide, with the shadow of the camera falling across part of the photographed area.
As a demonstration of how MAHLI's adjustable focus may be used on Mars, this image can be compared with PIA13583, taken from farther enough away to see this entire rock and three others. The inscribed rectangle on Fig. 1 indicates the portion of the rock covered in the close-up view.
MAHLI is mounted at the end of the robotic arm on the Mars Science Laboratory mission's Curiosity rover. By placing the camera at different distances from a target, researchers can obtain images showing broader context as well as finer detail.
This image was taken outside, under natural sunlight. The shadowing was intentional to assess the effect of sunlight and shadow on the acquisition and processing of MAHLI images. The rock is gray rhyolite. Though collected in California, it originated in a volcanic eruption in Mexico.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, supplied MAHLI for the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
Browse Image | Medium Image | Full Res Image | <urn:uuid:8b7a90e7-684b-49be-873b-e08c3dd52c9c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/?ImageID=3400&NewsInfo=59C884BFF2B8E0EFC9D701B94F94BA55AC4A8F9603007CDECA4F50F8AADED797C08AD4D4F6DAC756C34095E6DEFE81779B89C2488A0457 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00169-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897789 | 309 | 3.390625 | 3 |
8. Euphorbia prostrata Ait., Hort. Kew, ed. 1, 2: 139. 1789. Boiss. in DC., Prodr. 15(2): 47. 1862; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. Ind. 5: 266. 1887. in adnot.; Stewart, Ann. Cat. Vasc. Pl. W. Pak. & Kashm. 452. 1972.
A prostrate annual herb with the stems flattened and puberulous or pubescent above, terete and glabrous beneath, extending to 30 cm, though usually not exceeding 20 cm in length. Petioles 0.5-1 mm long. Leaf-blades obovate-surborbicular, 3-8 x 1-5 mm, obtuse or rounded at the apex, obliquely rounded at the base, minutely serrulate in the upper half, otherwise ± entire, palminerved, reticulate, green. Stipules triangular, laciniate, the upper paired, narrow, 0.5 mm long, the lower fused, broader, 1 mm long. Cyathia solitary in the leaf-axils on microphyllous lateral shoots, long-pedunculate. Glands transversely ovate, purplish with minute pinkish appendages. Fruits sharply trigonous, keels carinate, 1.2 x 1.5 mm, smooth, glabrous on the sides, pilose with white multicellular hairs on the keels, pale green or stramineous, the keels often purplish. Seeds ovoid-quadrangular, sharply transversely furrowed and ridged, 0.8 x 0.5 mm, pale grey.
Fl. & Fr. Per.: More or less continuously throughout the year.
Holotype: Cult. Kew, 1758, Miller s.n., from seed collected in the West Indies (BM).
Distribution: Native to tropical and subtropical America, introduced into many parts of the Old World. On sandy loam and calcareous substrata, in lawns, gardens and by roadsides; 1700'/518 m. - 5900'/1800 m. | <urn:uuid:63a5b5b3-555a-4240-9787-84ae93a27fcb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=242321502 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.730641 | 465 | 2.578125 | 3 |
The study shows 60 percent of women who have had their uterus removed still go see their doctor for an “annual” that includes a pap.
Now why is this unnecessary? Well, a pap smear is a sampling of cells scraped from the cervix to look for changes in those cells that could turn cancerous.
Since the cervix is the bottom part of the uterus, you don’t have one when your uterus is removed by hysterectomy — so there really is nothing to take a sample from.
(One point, if you’ve had cancer of the cervix or uterus, and that’s your reason for the hysterectomy, it may be appropriate to scrape some cells at the back of the vagina where the cervix used to be — but once again, that’s not the case for the majority of women who have a hysterectomy.)
How about other women?
The general rule of thumb, which you can discuss with your doctor, is the following:
– No pap smear before age 21
– A pap smear every three years between the ages of 20-29 if the first pap(s) are normal.
– After age 30 and up to age 65, a pap every five years if you’ve had an HPV test (which looks for the virus that is the cause of most cases of cervical cancer.)
Your doctor may recommend another schedule of tests, but these are some generally accepted guidelines that you can ask about.
Another thought — just because you don’t need to be in the stirrups for a pap doesn’t mean you can avoid your doctor all together. You still need BP checks, cholesterol screens, breast exams, health advice, etc etc. on a regular basis. You simply may not need that pap. | <urn:uuid:63f60b06-4c82-4107-bed6-522513b64a15> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://denver.cbslocal.com/2013/01/03/do-you-really-need-that-pap/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952516 | 380 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Hubris (Pronunciation: /ˈhjuːbrɪs/; Ancient Greek: ὕβρις), alternately spelled hybris, is a word of Ancient Greek origin that means extreme pride or arrogance. The word often indicates one's loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one's capabilities, especially when one exhibits it in a powerful position.
In Greek mythology, hubris referred to actions that shamed and humiliated the victim for the pleasure or gratification of the abuse. It also had a strong sexual connotation. One of the most well-known meanings of the word referred to someone whose actions challenged the might of the Gods and Goddesses or their laws. This often resulted in the character's downfall, especially in Greek tragedies.
Though it was not specifically defined, hubris was legal term that referred to the criminal act of being hubris. This was a crime in ancient Athens and the greatest one of ancient Greek society. The category of acts constituting hubris for the ancient Greeks apparently broadened from the original specific reference to mutilation of a corpse, or a humiliation of a defeated foe, or irreverent "outrageous treatment" in general. It often resulted in fatal retribution or Nemesis. Atë is the term that refers to the action committed by the protagonist because of their great pride or when attempting to achieve arete. | <urn:uuid:32a2d9f7-14c8-4e38-80d9-19720ca315a7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mythology.wikia.com/wiki/Hubris | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957858 | 282 | 3.65625 | 4 |
Hrvatksi (different text)
rancesco Patrizi (in Italian) and
Frane Petrić (in Croatian) signed his name as Francesco Patricio. The
data on his life can be found in his
autobiographical letter to Baccio
Valori, written in Ferrara on January 12, 1587.(1)
He is also known as Patritius, Patritio, Patricius, Patrici, Patrizzi, Patricijus, Franciscus de Petris, and even Petrišević which is a total corruption of his name. He was born on the island of Cres (Cherso) on April 25, 1529 during the rule of the Venetian Empire.
philosopher and polihistor
born in Cherso
Patrizi was the son of the town judge Francesco and Maria Lupetina who
was Matthias Flacius' cousin.(2).
Francesco's father had been accused of subversive activities against the
Venetian authorities and of supporting the Protestants for which he was
sentenced to banishment and died in exile. Francesco, the son, used his
inheritance to finance his studies, although - as son of a banned
heretic - he had to litigate over it for most of his life.
After studying in his native city with Petruccio da Bologna, he quit school and left the island of Cres in 1538 as a crew-member on his uncle's ship. It is then that the tumultuos period of his life began. He went on many voyages (he served in the Venetian navy under the command of Andrea Doria and went in combat near Novigrad) and changed many jobs (book and cotton trade, publishing - he published G. C. Delminio's and B. Cotrugli's works). He went to trade school in Venice, and studied grammar under a priest, Andrea Fiorentino, who worked as a proofreader for the Giunti publishing company. As Flacius' protégé he went to Ingolstadt where he studied Greek. Petrić remained there until the war that Charles V led against the Protestants. He went on to study medicine in Padua in 1547, but soon left it for studies in philosophy and mathematics.
Patrizi studied the Classical philosophical and literary texts, especially Plato's and Aristotle's philosophy, the rich tradition of Peripateticism, the speculative profuseness and diversity of the most ancient traditions of thinking and syncretistic religions, the mystical, Chaldaic, Arab and Hebrew traditions, Hermetic writings (Patrizi claimed that there was more philosophy in a single Hermetic treatise than in entire body of works by Aristotle) and neo-Platonic philosophy (important for Francesco's concepts of light, the One, first principles, the first efficient cause). Petric' studied the works of the most interesting Neo-Platonic thinkers, such as M. Ficino, particularly his Theologia Platonica and his doctrine of the renewal of "prisca theologia / sapientia"(3), a philosophical project of renewal of Christianity, also important in Patrizi's philosophy, and Pico della Mirandola who was known as "princeps concordiae" and whose concept of philosophy of truth undoubtedly influenced the formation and development of Patrizi's model of thought.
After his father's death in 1551, Patrizi sold his books on medicine. He then went to Ancona and on short trips to Venice (where he became a member of the Accademia della Fama), Bologna, Verona, Vicenza, Mantova, Modena and Ferrara. In 1553 he published a collection of essays: Citta' felice, Dialogo dell'Honore, Il Bargnani, Discorso sulla diversita' dei furori poetici and Lettere sopra un sonetto di Petrarca. Two years later, perhaps following the example of Nicolo' Machiavelli (1469-1527), he addressed a completely different problem in his Milizia Romana di Polibio, di Tito Livio e di Dionigi di Alicarnasso.
While the work of Patrizi embraces literature, art, criticism, history, science, military science, and philosophy, he was also a poet, albeit an unsuccessful one. He tried to be innovative and in 1558 published Eridano, written in heroic verses of thirteen syllables. In 1560 appeared his ten dialogues, On History, followed in 1562 by an additional ten dialogues, On Rhetoric.
In 1571 he was in Cyprus when the island fell to the assault of the Turks. He worked there as the supervisor of the estates of Count Contarini-Zaffo and the Cyprus archbishop F. Mocenigo. Petrić also worked on melioration projects. He traveled to Spain and sold a collection of seventy-five Greek philosophical, theological, scientific and musical codexes he had brought from Cyprus to the Spanish king Philip II for his Escorial library (twenty-seven survived, the rest were destroyed in a fire in 1671).
In 1578 he was called to the University of Ferrara where he taught Plato's philosophy. He took up hydraulic works and presented a study for separating the waters of the Rhine from those of the Po. During the same time he enriched the study of music theory; Zenatti recognized him in his work Francesco Patrizi, Horace, Ariosto, and Torquato Tasso where, in respect to Greek music, he said that Patrizi wrote "better than Galileo, Gaffuri, or Valgurio".
During his stay in Padua, Patrizi became a member of the Dalmatian Students Club, and its senator for two terms.(4). He was also a member of the "Congregation of St. Jerome" as well as a member of many academies, Accademia della Crusca among others. In 1581, he published Discussini peripatetiche, then in 1585 An Opinion in Defense of Ludovico Ariosto, and the following year he returned to poetry, publishing Della Poetica - La Deca historiale and Della Poetica - La Deca disputata.
He explored all of the paths of knowledge, eager to examine the ones less well known. He sought to reform philosophy and mathematics, poetry and history, botany, physics, and the art of war. He made important contributions to the study of natural phenomena and he was credited with having made his observations with a penetrating originality. He is considered an innovator in the study of light, in the ebb and flow of water, in the theory of the movement of the earth, and in the research of the reproductive systems of plants.
His most significant philosophical work, Nova de Universis Philosophia (1591) was written to combat Aristotelianism and scholasticism and to affirm Platonism in all its fullness. When it was published, Nova was hailed as the work of a genius but was condemned by the Church. This work, with its grandiose architecture, tormented and idiosyncratic, is divided into four parts: Panaugia (Of Light), Panarchia (Of the Beginning of Matter), Pampsychia (Of the Soul), and Pancosmia (Of the World).
In 1592, he was invited to Rome by Cardinal Aldobrandini (who later became Pope Clement VIII) to assume the chair of philosophy at La Sapienza. Two years later he published another of his mportant works, the Military Parallels (1594).
Francesco died in Rome on February 7 (or 6?), 1597 and was buried in the church of Sant'Onofrio in the same tomb as Torquato Tasso.
1553. In Utopisti e Riformatori sociali del cinquecento. Bologna. N. Zanichelli. 1941.
4to (195 x 145 mm), pp [viii] 227 [5, including blank leaf F3], with woodcut printer's device on title, woodcut device of an obelisk on colophon, and several woodcut diagrams in text; small portion of blank margin of title repaired, at one time resewn and recased in old vellum (possibly its original binding but impossible to determine). £5000
This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran | <urn:uuid:c2f2cbe0-6777-46ac-ba54-4d0bef9a81c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.istrianet.org/istria/illustri/patrizi/bio-eng.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00074-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962385 | 1,810 | 2.71875 | 3 |
This user-friendly, readable revision is presented as simply as possible to ensure that students will gain a solid understanding of statistical procedures. The goal of this book is to demystify statistics. The student is presented with rules of evidence and the logic behind those rules. The book is divided into three major units: Descriptive Statistics, Inferential Statistics, and Advanced Topics in Inferential Statistics.
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Rent Basic Statistical Analysis 6th edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Richard C. Sprinthall. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our tutors now. | <urn:uuid:af95982b-c8b4-431b-be97-c4bb3fd0e240> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/basic-statistical-analysis-6th-edition-9780205296415-0205296416?ii=7&trackid=d6bef2a5&omre_ir=1&omre_sp= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00148-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936912 | 161 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Green building guidelines and rating systems usually offer a general education on green building, its value, and the goals and measures used to design and build a green home. Benefits to the builder, homeowner, and community of green building are often listed, both environmental and economic.
A rating system synthesizes the complexity of the green building guidelines into an easy to understand measuring system. Typically, rating systems organize green building measures into sections (site, foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, interior finishes, exterior finishes, roofing, etc.) containing options from methods suggested in the guidelines. These sections provide a menu or spreadsheet of measures that need to be installed or implemented in order to earn points toward a particular rating.
The building measures all have a point value and are assigned to the various point rating levels based on their impact, costs, availability, and other relevant concerns. For example, a one-point value measure is typically basic, inexpensive, requires little engineering, is easily available, and has a lower environmental impact. As the point values increase on a certain measure, the degree of cost and implementation difficulty of the measure increases along with the environmental, economic, and health benefits. | <urn:uuid:7d203b1c-bd92-4271-bc3b-a133e5388a7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ci.santa-rosa.ca.us/environmental_stewardship/srbig/Standards/Pages/default.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951228 | 235 | 3.625 | 4 |
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” (Isaiah 55:1)
The chapter begins with an imperative; and urgent call. The first word, Ho or Hoy in the Hebrew is an alert. It is followed by three commands to come; a pressing invitation. The repetition expresses earnestness or gravity. It is a call to those who thirst; not everyone. The expressed reason for the invitation is that people are not where they need to be or have want they need. Their needs are not being met or satisfied—God is calling because He is aware of the need.
The invitation is personal. God seeks us out as individuals. Recall that in the Garden after Adam and Eve had sinned, God sought them out. He sought Moses in the burning bush. He called Samuel and Gideon. He called His disciples.
Clearly, It is God the Host who is calling. The call is to those who seek water but have not been successful in finding it. God’s call is also to the poor—those who have no money. Water is essential to physical life and to spiritual life in the Word. The call is to a feast—more than just water. The table is laden with wine and milk. Wine brings delight and milk brings nourishment.
God’s invitation is to those who have no money. He makes the feast available to all regardless of position or wealth. The invitation is to buy. Those who have no money are invited to buy, but without money and without a price. The feast is free!
Obviously it has been paid for by someone—Christ. That transaction has already taken place. It is a free gift of God to those who thirst for a relationship with God. The message is that satisfying the longing of the spirit is free of charge. We cannot earn it. It cannot be paid for with money. The feast of the abundant life has been bought with a price; the death of Jesus. Here, the Lord has already purchased and prepared the feast.
The imagery here is of physical thirst and hunger, conditions that must be dealt with daily. The message is that we experience spiritual thirst and hunger that must be dealt with daily. The nourishment being offered is for the soul.
He is no fool that gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.—Jim Elliot
Draw closer to God. Experience the presence of the Holy Spirit every month as you read Charisma magazine. Sign up now to get Charisma for as low as $1 per issue.
Dare to go deeper in your faith. Our "Life in the Spirit" devotional takes you on a journey to explore who the Holy Spirit is, how to interact with Him, and how He works in your life. Are you ready to go deeper? | <urn:uuid:a14e3954-9d27-4660-a24d-09357228baa1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.charismamag.com/life/men/16396-jesus-paid-for-our-spiritual-feast | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00017-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977692 | 599 | 2.9375 | 3 |
"If we are to reach peace in the world we shall have to begin with children," said Mahatma Gandhi.
Today, a vast majority of games and sports that are played have the overruling factor of competition. A desire to win is the main objective. Winning, of course, has the feeling of being great, glowing with the achievement of having won. But losing, on the other hand, gives the loser a feeling of inadequacy and failure. The number of players who can win, compared to the number of losers, is small. The contrast with this is the way of playing where everyone can win.
A few years ago the Gandhi Foundation in London published an Educational Pack: Let's Cooperate, an introduction to cooperative games. The pack consists of two books and a video film Let's Co-operate. The author of this invaluable pack is Ms. Mildred Masheder.
This provides a wealth of information about cooperative games as well as activities for peaceful conflict resolution. The Gandhi Foundation was attracted to these two elements: cooperative and peaceful conflict resolution.
Why co-operative games? Well, all players find it mutually beneficial to help one another. The pleasure comes from working together, rather than being the only winner. Seeing the world in turmoil, the Foundation believed that citizens of tomorrow should work cooperating with others in a nonviolent and peaceful way.
When attending one of the Gandhi summer Schools in the U. K. the author first explained the ideas behind the method; then showed the video-film, but most important, put us all, children and adults to play themselves. It was a real hit and both kids and adults enjoyed it greatly.
The two books contain about 400 games that rely on collaborative efforts of the players to achieve a joint aim. Besides that, the author has avoided being exclusively western in choosing games. There are games from other parts of the world, making the effort really international, such as a Takraw a game played in Thailand, Dithwai from Lestho in South Africa, Shash na Pani from Afghanistan, Guli danda Known in many Asian countries, Dalpauay from Philippines.
The games are lessons of sharing and give and take. | <urn:uuid:3b25f4bc-0063-4cbc-aeed-16d6c9aa38a9> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mkgandhi.org/short/ev52.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00129-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965653 | 450 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Five Interesting Facts About Pierre-Auguste Renoir
November 13, 2013 | windsor
One of the most prolific painters of his time, Pierre-Auguste Renoir made his mark in the art world during his life and beyond. This famous impressionist painter also experimented with other styles that contributed to the uniqueness of his work. Read on to find out more about this extraordinary artist.
He painted a portrait in 35 minutes.
Renoir went to visit the German composer Richard Wagner at his home in 1882 after many attempts to meet the musician he greatly admired. 35 minutes later, Wagner had his likeness recreated by a master who was inspired and motivated by the greatness he had encountered.
He was well-traveled.
Renoir spent much of his time traveling around the world to view work by artists from all cultures. He ventured all over Europe and northern Africa, spending time looking at pieces from Velasquez and Raphael, among others.
He influenced the modern film industry.
Two of Renoir’s children went on to become well-known in the film industry. His son Jean Renoir became an award-winning director and while his other son, Pierre, became an sought after actor.
He saw his own work at the Louvre.
A truly honorable experience for any living artist, Renoir was able to see one of his works on display at the prestigious Louvre museum in Paris, France. In 1919, he visited the museum to see it hung amongst the other master of Impressionism.
His painting sold for $7 in 2012.
Unexpectedly, a Renoir painting entitled Paysage Bords de Seine was bought by an American woman in a box of other items at a flea market for $7. When it was discovered to be an original Renoir, it was valued at almost $100,000. It was also found to be stolen and the new owner was forced to return it without compensation.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir: Biography [Biography]
10 Things You Didn’t Know About French Painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir [Huffington Post]
Ten Facts About Pierre-Auguste Renoir [Surf Net Kids] | <urn:uuid:4de34c76-dd59-42b7-8bd3-93cf317d5808> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thegramercyblog.com/2013/11/13/five-interesting-facts-about-pierre-auguste-renoir/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978924 | 455 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Archaeology & History Books
Archaeology Links and Resources
The Great Flood: 10,000 BC in Idaho-Montana
The Southwest Environment
Key factors are rainfall,
temperature, number of frost free days, farmland availability, water sources, floodwater.
Plant categories: wild and domesticated. Domesticated plants appear in the SW by 1500 B.C.
Domesticated are genetically altered and dependent, to some extent, on human propagation.
Cultivated are the same genetically as wild, tough planted and cared for by humans. Agave.
Sonoran advantage- lush desert with wild food plants year around; spring wild barley,
agave, cholla buds -- summer saguaro fruits -- fall and winter mesquite, acorns, prickly
pear. Cultigens are agave. Farming of corn, various beans, squash, gourds, supported by
large-scale irrigation on flood plains. Fauna of rabbits and fish, small game.
Mogollon Region: Forests rich in plants but not in human foods, diverse wild
resources are cacti, mesquite, piņon, mesquite, acorns, but not abundant. Farming of
small patches of arable land by rainfall and floodwater farming. Mimbres used floodplain
irrigation. Weather often not ideal, wet and cool or warm and dry. Population smaller than
Pueblo or Hohokam areas.
Pueblo Region: Less diverse wild resources, arable land varies by area with growing
season problems in some areas. Farming was by floodwater, rainfall and irrigation in some
Paleo Indian Culture --
11,500 - 8,000 BP poorly dated tentative epoch. Monte Verde, Chile, 13,400 BP row houses
with numerous remains, Catalina Islands, 13,000 BP skeleton, Meadowcroft, PA, 14,000 -
17,000? BP, Tlapacoya Island, MX, 24,000 BP hearth.
Highly mobile, little time depth to sites, little revisitation, low population density,
high quality rock tools, manuported rocks, possible broad social networks. Technology of
fluted points, atlatls, rare ground stone in Ventana Cave, Arizona. Lehner Ranch in So. AZ
an important site, extinct mamals and Clovis points. Clovis sites in North America from
Alaska to Panama. Folsom points have a larger flute, are shorter and not as widely
distributed (SW only). Folsom 11,300 - 9,000 (8,000) BP, Clovis 11,500 - 9,000 BP
Archaic Period -- 8,000 -
1,800 BP. Altitherm was 7,000 - 4,500 BP. More regionalism of cultures with diverse
projectile point traditions, side-notched, corner-notched, and barbed points, evidence
varying hunting strategies. Broad spectrum adaptation to small game and plant resources,
esp.rabbits and seeds. Technology includes digging sticks, serrated stone, ground stones,
manos and metates, storage baskets. Yields fruit 3k - 9k cal/hr, nuts 1k - 2k cal/hr,
seeds 200 - 600 cal/hr. Tome and space scheduling requires intense knowledge of landscape.
Residential and logistical mobility.
Early domestication of plants
evidence in SW:
Tornillo 3225 BP, Mogollon Desert in SW NM
Bat Cave 3441 BP, West NM
Three Fir Shelter 3040 BP, Colorado Plateau
Milagro 2780 BP, Sonoran Desert near Tucson associated with pithouses.
Early domesticates spread quickly. Late Archaic (1500 - 200 BC) had corn, gourds and
squash, associated with pithouses. Earliest sedentary farmers are in the Sonoran Desert.
Slow change to sedentism is attributed to cultural evolution and genetic evolution.
Sedentism = living year around in one place.
Basketmaker II -- 200 BC -
500 AD, major changes. Pithouses associated with residential seasonal mobility, multi-year
use. Multi-year middens, more burials.
Basketmaker III -- 500 -
700 AD. Beans and pottery, bow and arrow, smaller points indicate new adaptations. Pottery
= less mobility. Beans (lysine) = complete protein. Pottery used to cook beans = maximized
caloric return. More storage pits and cists. Pithouses more substantial and great kivas
Comparing Basketmaker III sites:
-Shabik'aschee had a communal economy: 70 small, standardized pit houses with small
antechambers suitable for two persons, 47 cists, few storage pits in houses, large great
kiva, storage and caching visible to community, burials outside pithouses.
-SU site had a household based economy: 35 large, variably sized, larger antechambered pit
houses, one large pithouse, storage inside homes and less visible, diverse burials.
Pottery is ceramic, a
chemical compound incorporating metal and non-metals. Earthenware is low temperature fired
and porous. Stoneware is high fired and non-porous. Porcelain is vitrified (glass) and
translucent. In the Upper Paleolithic in the Old World ceramic figurines occur around
13,000 BP Jomon pottery (in Japan) occurs between 10,000 and 5500 BC. Hohokam around 200
AD. Components are basic materials, clay, temper to stop cracking, increase thermal shock
resistance, increase porosity. Temper is useful to archaeologists in identifying
provenience of ware.
Forming of pots is a culturally identifiable process. Mogollon and Pueblo pots are coiled
and scraped. Hohokam and Sinagua coiled and formed on a anvil using a paddle. SW pots are
made without molds and without throwing. Decoration included polish, slip, paint,
applique, or corrugated. Firing was done in the open or in lined pits, using wasters as
Pueblo I -- 700 - 900 AD.
Year round occupation in pueblos with above ground rooms, some pit houses, pit structures
have some ritual features. Typical site a double row of rooms fronted by pit structures,
winter use of pits. Structures are warm and cold adapted. Living rooms have storage rooms
attached. Household based economies and less sharing. Field houses indicate claim to land
areas. Plant remains support continuous, year round occupation. Painted pottery, both
black and white, and red. Duckfoot, a hamlet, relative dating based on bonding and
abutting of construction. McPhee village has 21 room blocks and a remote kiva. 800 AD 2
great kivas 22.5 m in diameter. 840 - 900 AD oversized pit structures - 5 m - central in
room blocks with elaborate sipapus and footdrums. Late 800's abandonment with pit
structures burned, burying bodies in the floor.
Pueblo II -- 900 - 1100
AD. Dominated by Chaco Canyon. First large scale stone ruins in the US. 850 Pueblo Bonito
Phase, 900 irrigation agriculture, 1150 Great Kiva phase.
Chaco Era 850 - 1150. Chaco sequence begins around 850 at confluence of drainages
with good access to water and agriculture sites. 1000 - 1100 major population growth,
Chaco considered a major regional center by 1050. 1075 - 1115 major construction peak.
1088-1092 Beams brought from 50 miles distance. 1100's experience environmental changes.
1130 - 1180 was a period of reduced rainfall. Around 1140 to 1150 Chaco became
depopulated. Aztec Ruin takes place of Chaco. Chaco population estimated at 1500 - 5000.
Given room with hearth is a habitation = six people, therefore 1500 - 2000 people. Given a
room suite = six people 1500 - 2000, with Bonito at only 150 residents.
Lots of non-habitation architecture, with a chain of storage rooms at Pueblo Bonito, and
rooms deep within structure. Road related rooms at Pueblo Alto.
Architecture: Room average is 44 tons of sandstone, 50 million pieces in Chetro
Ketl. To construct all the great houses 200,000 trees were used. Bonito had 4-5 stories
and 600 or more rooms. Over engineering meant easy upkeep, inference of cultural
importance. Estimate of a stage of construction was 30 people x 2 - 4 months a year for 10
years. Great houses built in stages. Chaco kivas can be above ground and surrounded by
rectangular walls. Cribbed roofs. Great kivas are 15 - 20 meters in diameter. Casa
Rinconada 63 feet.
Pueblo Alto is one story 85 rooms with a big plaza. 1020 - 1060 construction, maintained
until 1100. Only 5 household suites, these are heavily worn. Big room suites are not
heavily worn and have a kiva. Trash midden is 2400 m3 with 150,000 pots, evidencing
Status is evidenced at Chaco. A few burials are very rich, elaborate and early in
the sequence. Little evidence of private wealth and residential evidence is of equality.
Chaco health is better than at small sites. Acquired status likelier than stratification
of the society.
The Chaco System: Chaco
regional system of about 100 sites in an area of 100,000 km2. Outliers have some Chacoan
characteristics: multistory structures (great houses) great kivas, raised, enclosed kivas.
Roads estimate is 2400 km.+ symbolic link roads point to Chaco. Imports to Chaco are
pottery, 50% in 1000's and 95% in 1120. Shell, turquoise and deer imported. Processed
Chacoan outlier/great houses identified: Dating from A.D. 900 - 1115
Architecture: unprecedented and unequaled massive size and planning, period
specific horizontally aligned, carefully coursed masonry patterns, walls stronger than at
other Anasazi structures, overengineering, advanced architectural planning, large scale
and grand design is unique;. Buildings are taller, walls are thicker, stone pattern more
intricate, rooms larger than typical Anasazi constructs. Many storage rooms in the Chaco
Canyon great houses. Outliers have multi-story structures. Great kivas or raised enclosed
kivas, kivas in great houses above ground and enclosed in surrounding rectangular walls.
Cribbed roofs laid on bench
Roads are carefully engineered and flanked by berms of adobe, stone or earth, often
connecting the great houses.
Pottery: Cylinder vessels found exclusively at Chaco great houses, black on white
Turquoise trade in evidence, processed turquoise items.
Organization. Chaco Canyon
is seen as a center for the regional system. The number of storage rooms may have been for
redistribution purposes. The sites with outlier great houses are seen as part of the
regional system. These populations utilized the canyon sites for gatherings. The center
may also have served as a trade center. Roads often connected the sites. The region was
tied together around Chaco Canyon. With Chaco Canyon acting as a ritual center and trade
center. The low number of residents in Chaco Canyon would indicate that the visitors to
the canyon came from the outliers.
Archaeologists see evidence for a direct relationship with Chaco Canyon culture through
the over-engineered architecture; the core and veneer walls; great round kivas surrounded
by a square wall; like design and technology in pottery styles; multi-story structures; an
inordinate number of non-habitation rooms; and often these outliers were connected by the
Chacoan Great Houses identified by: --core and veneer masonry, overengineered walls; round
kivas w/square outside walls built above ground; lot of extra non-habitation rooms,
multistory, plazas part of pueblo layout, often a great kiva incorporated, roads to/from
Chaco --large quantities of pottery from the Chuska Mountains to the west; turquoise found
at outliers same as found in Chaco, traceable roads connecting outliers and Chaco.
Pueblo III -- 1100 - 1300
Mesa Verde (4-Corners, San Juan) Region. History: 1888 Richard Wetherill finds Cliff
Palace, 200 rooms, 8 kivas and 8 levels, turkey pens. Mesa Verde had largest aggregation
in SW after 1150.
1889-1900 1000 visitors, instant fame, Wetherills began trading antiquities.
1893 Nordenskiold "The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde," excavated in Mug House and
Spruce Tree House.
1906 Antiquities Act, Mesa Verde National Park. 1908 Fewkes restorations of Sun, Fire
Mesa Verde Sequence: Mesa top habitation on Chapin and Wetherill Mesas. 36 sites
with 200 - 400 people AD 1000 - 1200. Tower construction. Mummy Lake Reservoir held
500,000 gallons. 1200 AD shift to canyon occupation with greater aggregations. Fewkes
Canyon had 33 sites with 530 rooms, 600 - 800 people, Sun Temple, Cliff Palace and Spruce
Tree House built. Sun Temple has bi-walled construction.
Montezuma Valley: 10,000 - 30,000 people doing Mesa Top dryland farming. 1000 -
1150 population dispersed. 1200 population aggregated into 8+ towns, some with history and
some new. Important communities established by 1000 with community stability and mobile
people. Pre-1150 household occupations 15 - 25 years, post 1150 - 1250 25 - 50 years.
Evidence of conflict onset around 1200, upon aggregation into towns. Standardized ceramic
complex in the region with no imports. Isolation from the remainder of the SW. No imports
in evidence by 1300. Sand Canyon Pueblo: 1250 - 1280, canyon rim site, east side
residential and west side with kivas, unit pueblos, low encircling wall, use of boundary
Mesa Verde Region Abandonment Process. 10,000 - 30,000 people leave the region.
People moved to the Rio Grande and Little Colorado River areas. By 1200 more concentration
into central Mesa Verde region with abandonment of small sites as people aggregated in
towns. At Sand Canyon orderly abandonment evidenced. Units of movement parallel unit
construction. Trash filled units indicate process over several years. Some units burned
with contents, kivas burned.
Abandonment causes. Migration is a normal event for SW populations. Great Drought
from 1276 - 1299. 1275 tree ring dates, complete abandonment by 1300. Not the first
drought event in the SW. Carrying capacity of the land. People were in circumscribed
areas. No evidence of invading outsiders. Evidence of intra-regional conflict with some
people getting killed at some sites. Attraction of the riverine sites. Irrigation terraces
on the Little Colorado, reliable irrigation on the Rio Grande.
Kayenta Region: Black
Mesa, Canyon de Chelly, Long Valley, Tsegi Canyon. No Chaco outliers during Pueblo II.
Black Mesa empty by 1150. Tsegi Phase: 1250 Kiet Seel founded, 1267 Betatakin founded.
1272 - 1276 population influx with new sites. 1280 population maximum. 1285 decline, 1300
deserted. Room cluster construction w/o kivas. Clusters of storage, living, granary and
courtyard. Betatakin has 135 rooms, 2 kivas, homogeneous architecture built in 3 organized
phases with pre-cut beams. Kiet Seel has 155 rooms and 6 kivas with more variable
construction and accretion of buildings. New organization evidenced with fewer kivas not
linked to household units. Long House Valley had five clusters of sites with the focal
site at the water source, 2 - 12 satellites. intervisibility of major sites may have been
Pueblo IV: post 1300
Pan SW processes and styles. Hohokam and pueblo distinction is blurred. Larger sites and
clusters of sites with open regions between clusters. Plazas incorporated into pueblos
with fewer kivas. Pueblo III had six rooms per kiva, Pueblo IV has 50 : 1 ratio and end of
unit pueblos. Cotton is grown as a commodity. Conflict is evidenced.
West pueblos are matrilineal descent groups with ritual societies that cross-cut descent
groups, absence of architectural boundaries. Katsina iconography (Fourmile Style) appears.
Southwest regional iconography on pottery, rock art and kiva murals; flowers, butterflies,
serpents, parrots, masks.
Homol'ovi pueblos: Little Colorado River near Winslow. 1276 river entrenched freeing 5,000
HA of terraces. In migration, no katsinas, cotton growing, little local pottery:
Homol'ovi III linear constructions, 40 rooms, 2 rectangular kivas, sandstone/adobe,
Tusayan pottery. Homol'ovi IV terrace-like and masonry construction, 150 - 200 small
rooms, White Mountain and Cibola pottery.
1300 AD river rises again and Homol'ovi III and Homol'ovi IV abandoned. Aggregation and
mixing in the new Homol'ovi I and Homol'ovi II pueblos, with much larger, plaza-oriented
sites, katsina iconography, lots of cotton, Jeddito Yellow Pottery, Fourmile Style,
shrines, field houses and territoriality marking. 1400 abandonment and move to Hopi
Comparison and contrast:
Pueblo III (1100 - 1300) versus Pueblo IV (post 1300)
Architecture: PIII - self-contained unit pueblos with one kiva to every 6 rooms,
great kivas, more dispersed on the landscape. PIV - no more unit pueblos, ratio of 50
rooms to a kiva, rooms in rows, larger planned construction events, plaza oriented sites,
defensible building planning, much larger pueblos (5 - 10 times larger) and (discrete
spatial clusters) open regions between concentrations of pueblos. Advent of the marking of
land and territoriality.
Interpretation: Conflicts and resource competition by larger populations resulted in
aggregation of the population in defensible, larger communities. Plaza architecture is
defensive. Discrete spatial clusters of pueblos are interpreted as evidence of distinct
polities and hostility.
Agriculture: PIII - Subsistence agriculture of corn, beans and squash. PIV -
Introduction of cotton. Interpretation: Trade and exchange have gained in importance. PIII
agriculture was almost exclusively food production. During PIV cotton becomes ubiquitous,
new commodity production becomes new economic activity, producing possible wealth.
Pottery, Art and Iconography. PIII - Regional styles in pottery, standardized
ceramic complex with little importations, no katsinas. PIV - pan-SW processes and styles,
Hohokam and Anasazi distinction is blurred. Advent of Katsinas, Four Mile horizon style
with themes of fertility (flowers, butterflies, masks, serpents), terraces. Change in
decorative patterns on painted ceramics. Interpretation: Time of change and/or turmoil,
possible conflicts. Promotion of a sense of community. Social changes.
PIII had clustering of regional pottery styles and minor exchange. PIV had pan-SW styles
(Salado Polychrome) and high levels of trade, regional interaction among groups increased
significantly. PIII architecture was unidirectional pueblos, small and lots of them. PIV
used plazas, compounds, surrounding walls, larger clustered sites, implication is village
aggregation to defensible locations infers conflict.
There are several
lines of evidence for conflict in the post-1300 northern Southwest. A variety of
characteristics connect the prehistoric and present indigenous populations: contiguous
architecture, kivas, maize, bean and squash agriculture and ritual beliefs and practices
focused on katsinas. To date most studies have placed greater emphasis on the similarities
of historic Pueblo culture and the late prehistoric. Abandonment of traditional
territories and transformation of the social landscape contradicts the paradigm of
substantial cultural continuity. Focus on the differences will allow a better
understanding of the cultural changes. In order to understand modifications in village
architecture the social context of the period must be examined more closely. The social
context of the thirteenth to fifteenth century was characterized as much by conflict as by
cooperation. Changing settlement size (communities five to ten times larger than late
thirteenth century towns), the change from great kivas to plaza-oriented architecture and
changes in decorative patterns on painted ceramics evidence social changes in the
fourteenth century. Aggregation in the late thirteenth century is seen as due to defense
and safety in numbers, with the threat of conflict continuing in the fourteenth century.
Plaza architecture is interpreted as defensive. Discrete spatial clusters of pueblos are
interpreted as evidence of distinct polities and hostility. A major indicator of conflict
was the aggregation of small, unidirectionally designed pueblos into large, walled
clusters with much greater distances separating the groups. The use of walled plazas
itself as a defensive tactic was attested to by various Spanish explorers. Placing the
clusters further apart reduced the competition for arable land.
Distinguishing features include
coiled and scraped pottery. Round, then square, pithouses with ramp entry. Ceremonial
structures lack sipapus.
--Early Pithouse: 200 - 550 AD. High ground, lots of wild foods. Pottery: brown, then red
slip, then painted.
--Late Pithouse: 550 - 1000 AD. Large sites near flood plains, more farming. Pottery:
white slip, eventually B/W.
--Classic: 1000 - 1130/50 AD. pueblos and irrigation. Pottery: elaborate B/W, naturalistic
and abstract designs. Classic Period was one of intensive farming of corn, beans and
squash, water control features, bordered fields with ditches and terracess, low tech and
Mimbres area in 1100 AD had lots of riparian species and mesquite, and by 1150 mostly
bushy plants. Trees had been cut. Villages of 50 - 200 rooms and field houses. Continuous
occupation for hundreds of years. Clusters of rooms gradually expanded as population
grows. Environmental degradation corresponds to growth. Organization: no apparent plan to
villages, no hierarchy evidence, homogeneous architecture, rules of painting pottery. By
1150 the villages had been abandoned. Movement is an important aspect of desert
adaptation. Residential stability results in local environment degradation.
Postclassic: 1150 - 1250. Reorganization in Rio Grande drainages. Continuity
evidence is remodeling and additions, ceramics - classic Mimbres pots in use, radiocarbon
dating is flat. Also new social relationships in evidence: new pots, new ceramic ware
types, up to 8 vs. one. New technology added to plainware evidences some immigrations.
Comparison and contrast of the
Mimbres Classic and Postclassic occupations.
Pottery -- Classic; 1000-1150, elaborate black on white, naturalistic and abstract
pattern, homogeneous style with apparent rules of painting. Iconographic conventions
include many rabbits, sheep, copulation, unusual animals, humans, masks, mesoamerican
themes and plumed serpents. -- Postclassic; 1150 -1250, Classic Mimbres pots in use in
Postclassic. Mimbres iconography discontinued. New technology added to plainware. A
diverse variety of pottery types associated with different areas of the Southwest at
Postclassic hamlets. Classic Mimbres iconography is continued after 1150. Reserve-Tularosa
technological style imported.
Interpretation of the evidence: Ideology of conformity during the Classic. New technology
indicates influx of some new people. Regional interaction increased post 1150 with greater
social interaction and movement of people.
Settlement patterns -- Classic; pueblos, villages of 50 to 200 rooms and field
houses. Hundreds of years of continuous occupation. Autonomous clusters of rooms with no
apparent plan to villages and an amorphous plaza. Homogeneous architecture. Environmental
degradation evidenced by deforestation, firewood evidence. Concentrated population in the
Mimbres Valley with field houses. AD 1000 lots of riparian species and mesquite, 1150 AD
mostly bushy plants. -- Postclassic; villages abandoned or heavily depopulated. Change
from villages to small hamlets, remodeling and additions to Classic period field houses
with transformation of jacal into masonry. Radiocarbon dating supports continuous
occupation. Mimbres style architecture continues. Interpretation of the evidence: --
Classic; clustering of rooms indicates gradual expansion of population. no evidence of
hierarchy, residential stability, residential stability was a non-sustainable subsistence
pattern. -- Postclassic; remodeling of field houses indicates continuity, Flat radiocarbon
date indicate continuity.
Agricultural practices -- Classic; irrigation systems were in use, water control
features, bordered fields with ditched and terraces, low tech and labor intensive, intense
farming of corn and beans. -- Postclassic; All hearths had cultigens, change from large
scale irrigation systems to dispersed. Interpretation of the evidence: There was a
degradation of the environment from long and continuous use. Cultigen evidence indicates
same manner of subsistence, with change in areas farmed. General interpretation: Mimbres
classical abandonment was actually a reorganization. Community and regional relations were
redefined at a broader and less restrictive level.
Mimbres Classic period was marked by aggregated villages with several hundred inhabitants.
Postclassic saw population disbursement to small hamlets.
A breakdown in social structure, and land degradation could be reasons for abandonment of
Classic villages. Classic period pottery has distinct and ubiquitous iconography.
Iconography does not appear in Postclassic contexts. Therefore, social
control/organization does not appear to exist, or weakens considerably, after 1150. There
is a high ubiquity of cultigens in Mimbres Classic period hearths. There are cultigens
found in 100% of all Post-classic hearths studied
Therefore, it would seem that Postclassic Mimbres are still cultivating at least as much
as the Classic Mimbres.
Discussion: Ways in which the focus, or scale of observation, affect our understanding of
prehistoric `abandonments' with reference to the Mimbres and Mesa Verde `abandonments.'
Focusing only on a small area may give the impression that a region has been abandoned.
The Mimbres valley may have been abandoned, but the Mimbres region evidences continuity of
occupation. In this case a regional view is adequate to assess what really occurred. In
the case of the Mesa Verde abandonment a much wider view is needed. The Mesa Verde
populations did abandon the region and moved to the Rio Grande Valley, a movement of
greater distance than the Mimbres. The Mesa Verde movement can be called an abandonment,
the Mimbres is best viewed as a regional reorganization. A camera viewfinder is an
excellent analogy because a number of push and pull factors may lead a population away
from an area that they had historically occupied. In the camera example, a narrow focus of
the camera would indicate that the area was abandoned and the inhabitants disappeared,
when in fact they had just moved out of the view of the camera. In the case of the
Mimbres, the population did not abandon the region, signaling the end of the Mimbres
culture. Rather they disbursed to smaller hamlets to the east. If we do not expand our
scale of observation it would be easy to assume that they had disappeared. The scale of
observation needs to be larger for the Mesa Verde region. Its inhabitants moved all the
way to the Rio Grande Valley 200 miles distant.
Map of Arizona
Map of the reservations and Four Corners | <urn:uuid:eca6ab44-8c2c-4f84-bde1-9816720c2be1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thenaturalamerican.com/southwest_archaeology.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00039-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895651 | 6,172 | 3.6875 | 4 |
The normal resting adult heart beats regularly at an average rate of 60-100 times per minute. How fast the heart beats (heart rate) is governed by the speed of electrical signals originating from the pacemaker of the heart, the SA node. The electrical signals from the SA node travel across the atria and cause these two upper heart chambers to contract, delivering blood into the lower heart chambers, the ventricles. These electrical signals then pass through the AV node to reach the ventricles. Electrical signals reaching the ventricles cause these chambers to contract, pumping blood to the rest of the body, generating the pulse. This regular flow of electricity from SA node to AV node causing a regular contraction of the heart muscle is known as a "sinus" beat. During rest, the speed of electrical signals originating from the SA node is slow, thus the heart beats slowly. During exercise or excitement, the speed of signals from the SA node increases, and heartbeat quickens.
Tachycardia occurring because of rapid firing by the SA node is called sinus tachycardia. Sinus tachycardia is usually a rapid contraction of a normal heart responding to a condition or disease state. Sinus tachycardias can cause palpitations. Causes of sinus tachycardia include pain, fever, excessive thyroid hormone, exertion, excitement, low blood oxygen level (hypoxia), caffeine, and drugs such as cocaine and amphetamines. Under these circumstances, sinus tachycardia represent "appropriate" responses of the heart to stress and stimulation, and do not reflect underlying diseases of the heart muscle, heart valves and electrical conduction system. In some other patients, however, sinus tachycardia may be a symptom of heart failure or significant heart valve disease.
This answer should not be considered medical advice...This answer should not be considered medical advice and should not take the place of a doctor’s visit. Please see the bottom of the page for more information or visit our Terms and Conditions.
Archived: March 20, 2014
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Read the Original Article: Palpitations | <urn:uuid:295cd245-c9e5-4566-8e22-8e835cdeeb92> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://answers.webmd.com/answers/1173370/what-is-the-normal-heartbeat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876063 | 445 | 3.453125 | 3 |
The evolution of the top 4 maritime empires of the 19th and 20th centuries by land extension. I chose the maritime empires because of their more abrupt and obtuse evolution as the visual emphasis would be on their declines. The first idea to represent the independence of a territory was a mitosis like split. Each shape area is proportional do land area. I created the dataset myself from wikipedia. When an independence process is dispersed over time, the date of the first event that created that process was chosen for the split (e.g. declaration of independence, revolution). Dominions of an empire, were considered part of that empire and thus not independent.
For this visualization I used toxi’s verlet springs in Processing in order to implement soft bodies. Along with that came the idea of fluid and timeless boundaries, and thus some sort of soft bodies dissolution.
Those are some screenshots displaying the springs in the system. In white we have the springs that form each shape’s skeleton. The collisions were implemented using the red springs — center to center connections that repel the bodies when a certain minimum distance is met. | <urn:uuid:59e135e9-01a4-4bcb-bd96-b5e17475d436> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://pmcruz.com/visual-experiments/visualizing-empires | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940391 | 229 | 3.078125 | 3 |
What is an ox? An ox is a steer (a castrated male belonging to a domestic cattle family) that is at least four years old, has been trained to pull equipment, and when it can no longer work, may be used for meat. Any breed of cattle can be trained to be oxen, although horned and larger breeds are generally preferred. Milking Shorthorns were one of the most sought-after breeds in New England during the last century, because of their medium size and the ease in training them. Devons, an old English breed considered to be outstanding work animals, are also popular. To a lesser extent, Holsteins and several other more modern European beef breeds are used as oxen as well.
Cutting wood on Mt. Tom, Billings Farm, circa 1898.Oxen have a long and important tradition in New England perhaps more so than in other regions of the country. They were a significant source of power on Vermont farms prior to the Industrial Revolution and remained so into the 20th century. In many other states, horses replaced oxen well before 1900, but oxen continued to dominate the Vermont landscape.
Historically, Billings Farm used numerous ox teams to carry out the work of the farm prior to the tractor era. Census records reveal a fluctuating number of oxen working in the fields and forest ranging from eight in 1870 to 14 in 1890.
George & Marsh, steers in training
Since 1993, Billings Farm has trained several teams of oxen, including three teams of Jerseys, born here on the farm. Currently, we're training a pair of young steers born in late spring of 2012. Although Jerseys are not typically used as oxen because of their smaller stature, they are intelligent and learn quickly. This team will be featured in demonstrations and programs which will discuss the importance of oxen on the Billings Farm, as well as on many early farms in the region.
Oxen played a significant role in the agricultural heritage of our state, the region, and the country. Billings Farm continues to keep and work an ox team as well as draft horses as a reflection of that heritage.
For a personal account of a teamster working with ox teams at Colonial Williamsburg: Smart as an Ox: The Colonial Williamsburg Official History Site. | <urn:uuid:1fc468e2-29a5-49e5-a898-38a5dc26f256> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.billingsfarm.org/billings_farm/oxen.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972655 | 473 | 3.21875 | 3 |
Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study
ESRD-A Public Health Problem
ESRD is an important medical and public health problem in the United States that
disproportionately affects racial and minority populations. According to the United
States Renal Data System (USRDS), at the end of 1997 over 300,000 patients were
receiving treatment for ESRD and nearly 80,000 new patients started ESRD treatment
during the same year.
The number of ESRD patients is steadily increasing. From 1988 to 1997, the absolute
number of ESRD patients more than doubled and the incidence rate doubled. Two important
factors associated with this dramatic rise are the increasing prevalence of diabetes
and the continuing high rates of uncontrolled high blood pressure observed in the
United States. Despite the prominence of diabetes and hypertension in increasing
the risk of developing chronic renal disease, the factors responsible for accelerating
decline in renal function once chronic renal disease has been established are considerably
less well defined.
Although there has been substantial interest during the past two decades to better
understand the risk factors for progression of chronic renal disease (i.e., accelerated
decline in renal function), only a small number of epidemiological studies examining
this issue have been conducted. All of the studies have had important shortcomings,
including retrospective study design, small sample size, short-term follow-up, use
of select populations such as clinical trial participants, lack of ethnic and racial
diversity of the study populations, exclusion or low rates of female participants,
use of crude measures of renal function, limited assessment of potential risk factors,
and inclusion of only select causes of renal disease, among others. Therefore, it
is not surprising that the demographic, clinical, and laboratory factors examined
in these studies explain only a small percentage of the variability in renal function
decline between patients. This suggests that a significant number of important patient-,
genetic-, environmental-, and health-care-utilization-related risk factors for rapid
loss of renal function in persons with established chronic renal disease remain
The survival of ESRD patients is significantly poorer when compared to patients
with other major illnesses such as prostate and colon cancer. In 1996 the adjusted
death rate (adjusted for age, race, sex, and primary cause of ESRD) for all incident
ESRD patients was 19.8 per 100 patient years at risk for patients in the first year
of ESRD therapy. The death rate for ESRD patients with renal disease due to diabetes
is even higher.
High Cardiovascular Mortality Rates
Strikingly, cardiovascular disease mortality rates among all ESRD patients are approximately
10 to 20 times those in the general population. Cardiac arrest of unknown cause,
acute myocardial infarction, and all other cardiac causes account for nearly one-half
of the deaths in hemodialysis patients older than age 20. In contrast to the many
studies of cardiovascular disease in ESRD patients, most notably in those undergoing
hemodialysis, there is a noticeable lack of epidemiological studies documenting
the occurrence of and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in persons with chronic
renal insufficiency in the United States.
However, several small retrospective and prospective studies conducted in Europe
suggest that the incidence rate of cardiovascular disease is at least three times
more frequent among patients with chronic renal insufficiency resulting primarily
from non-diabetic renal disease compared to the general population. In contrast,
a recent report from the Framingham Heart Study found that among women, mild chronic
renal insufficiency was not associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular
events or all-cause mortality in men and in women, whereas in men there was an increase
in all-cause mortality but not cardiovascular events.
The impact of chronic renal disease on morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients
is especially striking. For example, in insulin-dependent diabetic patients with
overt nephropathy, the excess mortality may be up to one hundred times that of an
otherwise matched normal population. Much of this mortality burden is due to an
excess of cardiovascular deaths, which is over several hundred times higher in young
insulin-dependent diabetic patients on renal replacement therapy compared with a
normal population. Likewise, the impact of cardiovascular disease among non-insulin
dependent diabetics with nephropathy is substantial.
The reasons for the increased risk for cardiovascular disease among diabetic and
non-diabetic patients with nephropathy are unclear. Although traditional risk factors
such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, tobacco use, and physical inactivity
are considered important risk factors for cardiovascular disease in patients with
chronic renal insufficiency, the relative importance of each of these risk factors
compared to nontraditional risk factors (i.e., chronic inflammation, infection,
oxidative stress, elevated homocysteine levels, fibrinogen, etc.) is not known.
In recent years, a substantial number of studies have led to a greater understanding
of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and to significant improvements in the treatment
and quality of life of ESRD patients. However, knowledge of the disease factors
that precede ESRD-reduced renal function and chronic renal insufficiency is far
less advanced. In addition, very little is known about the incidence and risk factors
for cardiovascular disease, which is 10 to 20 times higher in people with ESRD.
One type of study that has played an important role in defining risk factors for
a wide-range of diseases is the prospective cohort study. To determine the risk
factors for rapid decline in kidney function and development of cardiovascular disease,
the NIDDK established the Chronic Renal Insufficiency Cohort (CRIC) Study in 2001.
The CRIC Study
The CRIC study is a longitudinal cohort study of 3,000 persons, ages 21 to 74, with
mild to moderate chronic renal insufficiency. The cohort will be racially and ethnically
diverse (40% white/Caucasian, 40% African American, and 20% other), and approximately
half will have a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Participants in this seven-year
prospective, multiethnic, multiracial study reflect the racial, ethnic, and gender
composition of the U. S. ESRD patient population.
Data and specimens obtained in this study will serve as a national resource for
investigating chronic renal disease and cardiovascular disease. Establishing this
cohort of patients and following them prospectively will also provide an opportunity
to examine genetic, environmental, behavioral, and nutritional factors in this population.
The study will also assess health care issues and quality of life outcomes.
The study hypotheses are as follows:
- A set of nontraditional risk factors is associated with both progression of chronic
renal insufficiency and development of end-stage renal disease.
- A set of nontraditional risk factors is associated with cardiovascular disease and
measures of cardiovascular disease progression in the setting of chronic renal insufficiency.
During the study, patients will continue to receive general health care from their
own clinicians. However, at the same time, CRIC investigators will monitor the health
of each patient and perform standard blood, urine, and other tests measuring kidney,
heart, and blood vessel health. Participants will be followed up for approximately
5 years with annual in-clinic visits and interim telephone contact. A sub-cohort
of 1,000 participants will have their kidney function measured with radio-labeled
iothalamate. Another sub-cohort of a similar size will also undergo electron beam
tomography to assess coronary calcification. All study participants will have an
echocardiogram at year 1 and year 4 of follow-up. Establishing this cohort of patients
and following them prospectively will also provide an opportunity to examine genetic,
environmental, behavioral, and nutritional factors in this population. The study
will also assess health care issues and quality of life outcomes.
The study began in April 2003 at seven clinical centers: University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia; University of Maryland-Johns Hopkins, Baltimore; University of Illinois
at Chicago Clinical Centers; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Kaiser Permanente
of Northern California/ University of California, San Francisco; Tulane University,
New Orleans; and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. The data- coordinating
center is at the University of Pennsylvania.
The CRIC Study design was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrologists
(Feldman H et al. J Am Soc Nephrol 2003,14 (Suppl 2): S148-153). Program
Officers: Thomas Hostetter, M.D. and John Kusek, Ph.D., 301-594-7717
Last Updated: 4/29/2004 | <urn:uuid:8c2ec5ac-35b0-4cc8-b3aa-1a3db32cf38c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://archives.niddk.nih.gov/patient/cric/cric.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91185 | 1,875 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Written by Ian Peter
Download audio version here
Let's look at the global spread of networks beyond the USA.
Fidonet, the first large network to connect personal computers, was established in 1983. By 1990 there were 2500 hosts all over the world, although mainly in western countries. A lot of these were for computer hobbyists, but meanwhile we were beginning to see some specific types of network appear.
Community networks were beginning to spring up everywhere. By 1991 Japan had the Watarese Area Network., and Australia had the Ipswich Global Links Network from 1994. These local government based networks were often seen as a catalyst for economic development - lots of areas around the world wanted to be the next Silicon Valley.
FreeNets were another model, with the most prominent being in Ottawa Canada and Cleveland Ohio. The Freenet model gave free access, and the service was paid for by people such as government bodies who wanted to get information out to the general public. FreeNets played a large role in community building, but the financial model was problematic and the cost of upgrades beyond the under-budgeted operators. FreeNets were important pioneers in many areas and the first introduction to networking for many people.
Inevitably experiments began linking regional areas. Some prominent early experiments were Bega and Norlink (Australia) Hometown and New Brunswick(Canada), and Wellington (New Zealand). These developments often combined with the growing telecottage movement, which provided community facilities where people could learn to use computers.
In addition to these more geographically centered activities, global communities of interest (later to become known as virtual communities) were starting to evolve.
One such network, and a major player in the early growth of the Internet, was the Association for Progressive Communications (or APC). Formed by the joining of PeaceNet and Econet in San Francisco with GreenNet in the UK in 1987, by 1989 the fledgling association had seven foundation countries providing major hubs. These connected to other countries with less established facilities, and through association with similar bodies such as Interdoc, and Poptel in the UK, many contacts and connections were coming on board.
The driving minds of the early network were Mark Graham from PeaceNet and Mitra Ardron from GreenNet. They saw that, by creating low cost host computers for social movements in various countries, they could spread the network quickly to a lot of non profit and activist groups who might otherwise not be able to afford to communicate. With the technical help of Scott Weikart and Steve Fram from Community Data Processing, they set out to create some simple messaging and conferencing software, and to make UNIX available on the IBM personal computer so that low cost hosts could be set up.
Meanwhile the Cold War was breaking down, and APC played an interesting part in that as well. By 1992 the US Government changed legislation to allow the export of computer chips and software to the USSR.(before that they were considered to be illegal exports) Very quickly Glasnet sprung up in the USSR, with satellite networks in many eastern European countries.
The Russian coups became a fascinating global event, with eyewitness accounts. "The tanks are coming, the tanks are coming" on the Internet from independent reporters on the scene. The Internet became part of the Russian people's struggle. Glasnet, the San Francisco/Moscow Teleport, and other facilities played an as yet undocumented role in the events which were to follow and change the face of global politics.
By the end of 1992, largely due to the pioneering efforts of people like Carlos Afonso in South America and Mike Jensen and Karen Banks in Africa, close to 100 countries were connected to activist networks - just a few more countries than the more mainstream academic and research networks which formed another strong development arm of the Internet. Major UNIX hubs fed information to smaller systems using Fidonet technologies in smaller countries. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) played a major role in South American countries, and APC members assisted the development of networks suitable for smaller countries and regions, such as Pactok in the Asia Pacific region.
As governments started to realize that access to the growing net had social advantages, and that the socially disadvantaged should have special initiatives to encourage access, a number of government and charity sponsored initiatives began. HandsNet in the USA looked to address poverty issues. SeniorNet, naturally enough, encouraged access for senior citizens. In Australia, the Community Information Network, the brainchild of Hr Peter Baldwin, looked to provide access for people on low incomes. Most of these experiments became subsumed as the net grew, but they provided important roles in understanding the implications of access to or lack of access to the net.
Thus, even as early as 1994, there were significant forums arguing the case for universal access, and for access to the powerful information and communication features of the Internet to be regarded as a basic human right. In an age where a powerful communications media existed, the argument went, lack of access was denial of a fundamental human right - the right to communicate. These early initiatives provided the foundation for the digital divide initiatives which began in the late 1990s in an attempt to address the global imbalance in Internet usage.
Permission to re-use this material for non-commercial purposes is granted provided that
www.nethistory.info is appropriately
credited as the source.
Please feel free to link to this page!
Buy Ian Peter's History of the Internet Audio CD here | <urn:uuid:8fbf6948-7b79-49cf-8c5c-39a53f2b7790> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/global.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969967 | 1,115 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Even at the nanoscale, hybrids show promise—as evidenced by new efforts to pair inorganic nanoparticles with conductive polymers to convert sunlight into electricity or build better biosensors. To make the most of these molecular matchups, however, scientists need to understand the small-scale details of charge transfer—and how to control it.
Scientists working at the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN) at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory together with their colleagues at Syracuse University recently demonstrated this kind of precision control in a hybrid composed of light-absorbing quantum dots and a conjugated polymer—two types of semiconducting materials that have been widely studied for photovoltaic and other optoelectronic applications and biosensors. They've published a paper describing the details of the hybrid nanocomposite self-assembly enabling control of the charge transfer rate in ACS Nano.
"Photovoltaic solar cells that incorporate organic and inorganic semiconducting materials could be inexpensive to manufacture," said Brookhaven physical chemist Mircea Cotlet, who led the research team. "But we need to design them in such a way that they are easy to assemble and efficient at absorbing light and separating charges to produce electric current."
On the other hand, scientists are also interested in using such hybrid composites to produce light emitting diodes and biosensors, where the production of such separated charges reduces the amount of light generated via the quantum dots' photoluminescence, and is therefore detrimental. "We need to understand the details of how these materials operate under various conditions so we can optimize the properties for the desired application," Cotlet said.
For the current study, the scientists took advantage of electrostatic attraction to get negatively charged quantum dots and a positively charged polymer to self-assemble to form hybrids, and then tested the strength of one kind of charge transfer under a variety of conditions. By illuminating the quantum dots with a particular wavelength of light, they could measure how positive charges known as "holes" were extracted in a controlled way by the nearby polymer at the expense of the photoluminescence emitted by the quantum dot.
The key variable they were interested in studying was how the hole transfer rate was affected by the thickness of an optically inert shell surrounding the core of each quantum dot. To test this, the scientists at Syracuse chemically synthesized a series quantum dots with varying shell thickness, from very thin (1 nm) to thick (4 nm), and capped them with the conjugated polymers.
"We were really excited to design and synthesize the quantum dots needed for this study," said Syracuse University chemist Mathew Maye, whose team regularly uses the CFN facility for its research. "There are still many unknowns in nanoscale energy transfer, and thanks to this study, we now are closer to optimizing all the fine details."
The results clearly show that photoluminescence and charge transfer are competing processes: As the shell thickness increased, the rate of charge transfer decreased and photoluminescence increased. Conversely, thicker shells resulted in more intense photoluminescence and a lower hole transfer rate.
This implies that the shell acts as a "tunneling barrier" slowing down the flow of holes from the dot to the polymer, Cotlet said.
"If you want to design such hybrid materials for photovoltaic solar cell applications, you may want to use dots with a very thin shell or no shell at all to produce as many charges as you can," he said. "But because such hole transfer quenches, or kills, the photoluminescence of the dot, a thicker shell may be a better option for applications like light emitting diodes or biosensors."
The scientists found the same inverse relationship between shell thickness and charge transfer rate no matter whether the hybrid materials were in solution or thin films, but hole transfer rates were better overall in the thin film condition than in solution. "This is good news since thin films are the most likely configuration for photovoltaic devices," Cotlet said.
Additional experiments looking at single hybrid particles also found fluctuations in the rate of charge transfer that were dependent on the dot's shell thickness.
"These kinds of fluctuations can affect the amount of current that comes out of a device, so we'd want to find ways to stabilize this in a device." Cotlet said. "Only by looking at single particles, as we've done here for the first time, can you track this kind of fluctuating behavior," he said.
Overall, the findings show that the nanoparticle synthesis and self-assembly methods used to engineer quantum dots with various shell thicknesses can give scientists the control they need over optoelectronic properties. "Whether we want to maximize hole transfer rate for photovoltaic applications, or alternatively, photoluminescence for biosensors, we now have a way to do that," Cotlet said.
Source: Brookhaven National Laboratory | <urn:uuid:5d0f0ad0-e97d-4699-9a53-8b85a983f5cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rdmag.com/news/2012/06/taking-hybrids-spin-generate-electricity-sunlight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953068 | 1,029 | 3.5 | 4 |
Public policy is defined by Webster's as the "The basic policy or set of policies forming the foundation of public laws, especially such policy not yet formally enunciated. The United States Government has many policies in the area of the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created in 1970 to help identify environmental problems in our nation, and to set policy on how to deal with those problems. Yet, with so much money spent by the government to deal with problems with the environment, it must be noted that problems still exist, even within the bureaucracy that was meant to help in the first place.
During the presidential campaign of the last election, an issue arose concerning the "energy crisis that was driving gasoline and oil prices up throughout our country. Vice President Al Gore supported President Clinton's ideology of waiting for the proper legislative initiatives to pass through Congress, and when the situation merited, provide some limited releases of oil from the national oil reserve. Candidate George W. Bush, on the other had, favored drilling in the government protected lands of Alaska to find future oil reserves so that America would no longer be so dependent on foreign oil. The problem with Bush's plan, according to Gore, was that this could be devastating to the environment of the scarcely populated Alaskan wilderness. Regardless of the political, legal or moral implications of such drilling, there are problems dealing with multiple types of rationality in this issue.
In his book "Reason in Society, Paul Diesing describes six major types of rationality. These include technical, economic, social, legal, political and ecological rational. It is easy to comprehend that this environmental issue involves each one of these types of rationality.
First of all, the technical rationality is demonstrated through the question of whether | <urn:uuid:ac029123-2883-4a85-bb7d-05faa4c3d396> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/78826.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00084-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969103 | 352 | 2.96875 | 3 |
In the Garden:
These compost bins were constructed from shipping palettes by a Maricopa County Master Gardener. Doors with handles slide up and out for easy access.
Composting: Sustainable Gardening Extraordinaire
If you've been around a gathering of gardeners, it's likely that conversation turned to the glories of "gardener's gold," known less flamboyantly as compost. The best thing you can do to create a healthy, sustainable soil over time is to add compost to garden beds before each planting season.
Here in the southwest we recommend layering 4 to 6 inches on top of the bed and then turning it under to a depth of at least 12 inches. That may seem like a lot of compost, but our native soils typically contain less than one-half of one percent organic matter, so it's essential to add it to garden beds to grow annual vegetables and flowers.
Compost increases the water- and fertilizer-holding capacity of sandy soils and improves drainage in clay soils. It adds nutrients and increases the activity of soil microbes. Gardeners new to the desert sometimes lament the lack of earthworms that they were used to seeing when they dug into the soil in other regions. Well, if you add compost to your beds, they will come. Compost makes the soil more workable and adds a pleasant, earthy smell.
Making compost is a way of taking sustainable gardening practices a step further than simply improving the soil. Composting provides a valuable use for tons of organic matter that would otherwise end up in the landfill. In the southwest, about 40 percent of refuse in the landfill is organic matter that could be composted: grass clippings, woody trimmings from trees and shrubs, dried leaves, green trimmings of spent annuals, coffee grounds, fruit and vegetable scraps from the kitchen, shredded paper, and more.
Make Your Own Bin
Another sustainable aspect of composting is reusing items to form the compost bins, saving yet another load to the landfill. Of course, compost doesn't require a container in which to decompose, but fixed boundaries can keep the pile in a tidier heap. Bins also can be attractive and a fun outlet for creativity. In schoolyards I've seen many gloriously colorful bins handpainted by the kids.
Many cities reuse old garbage cans by cutting off the bottoms and/or punching holes in the sides. These are given to residents for free or a few dollars to use as bins. (Check with your city waste department to see what's offered.) If someone in your neighborhood is knocking down a brick or block wall, don't let the materials go to waste. They make excellent 3-sided bins. Reuse chicken wire or hardware cloth as circular bins.
There must be thousands of wooden shipping palettes discarded every day. Ask at a local store if you can carry a few away. A compost pile should be at least 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet (1 cubic yard) to have enough mass to insulate and retain heat, and shipping palettes are the perfect size. Four palettes make one bin; 10 palettes make the classic 3-bin configuration that allows you to have a place for fresh material, one in the process of decomposing, and a finished product, all side by side.
Finally, composting is good exercise, helping to sustain not only the garden over the long haul, but the gardener as well!
Care to share your gardening thoughts, insights, triumphs, or disappointments with your fellow gardening enthusiasts? Join the lively discussions on our FaceBook page and receive free daily tips! | <urn:uuid:1703cc17-cd1c-4705-9548-f9129ce64472> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://garden.org/regional/report/arch/inmygarden/1797 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00188-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944474 | 748 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Two of our favorite sky objects are back. A fingernail crescent moon will scratch the sky at dusk and the space station begins another series of swing-bys at dawn.
Watch for the moon in the southwest during evening twilight. If you’re game for a challenge, use binoculars to find dim Mars about 7 degrees directly below the moon. Think of Curiosity up there poking around the rocks of Gale Crater in Yellowknife Bay. Can you believe it’s been there for 161 days already?
Last week the rover used its motorized, wire-bristle brush for the first time to dust off a rock in preparation for close-up inspection by the hand-lens imager and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS). The APXS analyzes the elements that compose the rock by bombarding it with alpha particles (helium atoms) and X-rays and measuring what scatters back. Each element gives off its own distinctive energy fingerprint.
Morning sky watchers again have the pleasure of tracking the International Space Station (ISS), now beginning a fresh series of passes before sunrise. Winter mornings make watching the space station easy compared to summer. With the sun rising so late, you can look for the station when you step out to pick up the paper or walk the dog. No getting up at 4 or 5 a.m. like you did during the summer months with its early sunrises and even earlier twilights.
The times below are for the Duluth, Minn. region. Check out times for your town at Spaceweather’s Satellite Flybys page or log in to Heavens-Above, where you can print out cool maps of the space station’s path in the sky. Look for the ISS to first appear in the west and travel east; a typical pass takes about 5 minutes. It looks like a brilliant, steady yellow star on the move.
* Tomorrow Jan. 14 beginning at 6:55 a.m. High pass across the northern sky. Brilliant at magnitude -3.2
* Tues. Jan. 15 at 6:07 a.m. when it suddenly leaves Earth’s shadow in the western sky in Leo and travels across the top of the sky headed east. Brightest pass of the week at mag. -3.4
* Weds. Jan. 16 at 6:51 a.m. Nice pass across the northern sky
* Thurs. Jan. 17 at 6:03 a.m. Appears suddenly out of Earth’s shadow halfway up in the northwestern sky moving east.
* Fri. Jan. 18 at 6:48 a.m. Full pass across the northern sky
* Sat. Jan. 19 at 6 a.m. First appears out of Earth’s shadow near the North Star moving east.
The sun’s been looking pretty hot this past week. Lots of flares, including a few rated as moderately powerful M-class storms, have been popping off in the large sunspot group 1654. I see today that the Kp index, an indicator of magnetic activity around the Earth, is starting to climb again – just a little. The space weather forecast doesn’t predict any auroras minor or major in the next three days, but that could change if 1654 continues firing off flares as it rotates to face the Earth more directly. | <urn:uuid:7601a75e-96e1-403b-9ad9-95df79f55466> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/01/13/thin-crescent-moons-and-space-station-swings-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-things/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912715 | 701 | 2.8125 | 3 |
By 2015, the Internet will be fifty times “larger” than it was in 2006.
In the US, the yearly IP traffic by 2015 could reach 1,000 exabytes, or an astonishing one zettabyte.
The Internet, according to a January 2008 report by the Discovery Institute, has now officially entered its “third stage” of development.
Stage one of the Internet began as a research project idea in the early 1960’s by the US Department of Defenses “Advanced Research Projects Agency” or ARPA. This led to the network predecessor of the Internet called the ARPANET.
The idea was to connect scientists and researchers to computers over a common network using a shared transmission protocol. The scientist could be anywhere in the country. In 1969, this became a reality and using remotely located computers, they were able to exchange informational data and messages.
During the mid 1990’s, we began what is called the “second stage” of the Internet.
All through this time, we saw newer and faster computer modems along with some remarkable advances in fiber-optic communications.
These two advances in the network supplied the “physical” and “logical” connectivity needed to bring the Internet out to public.
During the mid-1990’s, this second stage of the Internet started its popularity with the public. We became fascinated with e-mail, graphical user interface browsers and http (hyper-text-transport protocol). The public got online and rushed to the Internet and the World Wide Web to discover what was out there.
Here in 2008, we are seeing the Internet’s third phase also being driven by a combination of advances in network physical connectivity, computing hardware and software advances.
Many of today’s modems now average around five megabits per second. This is 100 times faster than the 56-kilobit modem I used in the mid 1990’s.
Today television programs are even being broadcast worldwide over the Internet; it is commonly known as IPTV.
The popularity of uploading video to be viewed by others over the Internet is just the start.
Real-time video-streaming has exploded onto the Internet. It is a sign of what is to come in the future.
Get ready for some big numbers.Just in case you forgot, one petabyte (1PB) equals 1,024 terabytes (1024TB).
By mid-2007, YouTube was streaming around 50 petabytes per month, or 600 petabytes per year. This amounted to approximately 7 percent of all US Internet traffic.
I found it amazing what YouTube generates when you consider that all original broadcast and cable TV and radio content totals around 75 PB per year.
YouTube streams that much data in a little over one month.
When the video is “High Definition” or HD, the amount of bandwidth, speed and storage requirements increase dramatically.
Say YouTube goes Hi-Definition. This would create 12 exabytes per year, which would almost equal what the entire US Internet created in 2007.
One exabyte is equal to 1,024 petabytes or 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 quintillion bytes of information.
Then there is video conferencing.Today we transmit close to 30 exabytes of telephone traffic data worldwide each year.
Slowly but surely, a large portion of telephone network will shift to “video conversations” because of the increasing amount of video conferencing in offices, from our homes, and even on our cell phones.
By mid-2007, Microsoft’s “MSN Video Messenger” was already generating 4PB’s of data per month, or as much as the entire Internet did in 1997. A move to videophones would mean 300 exabytesat leastor 30 times the size of the existing US Internet.
Cisco’s new HD “telepresence” system requires a symmetrical (very fast broadband) 15 Mbps connection. A one-hour telepresence video conference call would generate approximately 13.5 GB of data.
Imagine just 75 of these “telepresence calls” would generate as much traffic as the entire Internet did in 1990.
HD movie downloads and movie video-streams could generate 100 exabytes per year, or around 10 times today’s U.S. Internet.
The average HD movie contains about 10 GB (billion) bytes worth of data.
In the coming years, we will see high-definition always-on and in real-time “virtual windows” that will be two-way visual ‘gateways’ or portals to anyone or anywhere on the planet.
The amount of new digital video content creation being stored and streamed over the Internet in real-time is exploding.
Lately, I have noticed that people are setting up their own personal video broadcasting portals on the Internet.
These people are creating their own live and in real-time 24/7 “television broadcasts” using a combination of webcams, audio and chat texting.
Some of the amateur video-streaming website homes include Justin.tv, ustream.tv, stickam.com and others.
These amateur broadcasters have dedicated fans stopping by to visit and chat from all across the world.
The Internet will (some say has) become the ultimate “networks of networks,” as we are witnessing our workplace, personal and main-stream communications media being migrated to this medium.
To learn more about the discovery report, visit http://www.discovery.org/a/4428. | <urn:uuid:d763872b-8332-4936-bcba-5f6c193943e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.herald-journal.com/archives/2008/columns/mo030308.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00194-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933762 | 1,176 | 3.109375 | 3 |
(CBS) — Would you believe that video games could actually help people who suffer from mental health issues?
Some new games are specifically targeted to do just that, and they have some psychologists calling it a revolution in treatment.
When Cheri Plevek heard that playing games could help her fight her lifelong battle against depression and anxiety, she had to give it a try.
“You have quests that you do and you earn points by doing something as simple as getting up out of your chair and getting moving, to calling a friend, hugging yourself,” Plevek says.
According to the National Institutes of Health, nearly 15 million Americans suffer from major depressive disorder, and 40 million from an anxiety disorder.
That’s why psychologists are now looking at these video games as a new way to reach those who need help.
“A lot of them look exactly the same as games that someone could play just for fun. So they may have cartoon characters, they could have missions, but embedded in that game are treatment mechanisms,” psychology professor Tracy Dennis says.
She designed one such game, “Personal Zen,” which is an app for your smartphone.
Her published research findings show that after playing the game for 20 minutes, the brain starts processing negative information differently.
“We can train an anxious person to pay less attention to threat, to pay more attention to positive things in the game, and then that eventually transfers to how they look at and pay attention in the real world,” Dennis says.
The federal government is funding a study to measure the effectiveness of a different game – “Superbetter” – saying, “Gaming technologies may offer promising new ways to supplement traditional medical care.”
“I think people resist less if it feels like a game, if it feels like fun. And we can train people even while they’re having fun,” Cleveland clinic clinical psychologist Scott Bea says.
But he is concerned that some people may underestimate the seriousness of their treatment and play a game, rather than seek professional help.
“The game itself might not be tailored enough to their specific condition, so again, we may be missing the target if we don’t have some guidance on what the real target is,” Bea says.
Cheri plays the game in addition to her regular therapy.
“It’s a joy, a joy to play,” she says.
Both psychologists agree more research on these games is needed before doctors start prescribing them as treatment. | <urn:uuid:c5ce2426-bfd8-4300-bb82-d9d919943582> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/08/04/some-video-games-could-be-part-of-mental-health-treatment-researchers-say/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969296 | 532 | 2.78125 | 3 |
ROCK HILL, S.C. - “The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson,” a newly published coloring and activity book written by a Winthrop University education professor and two graduate students, is an engaging way for elementary children to learn about the nation’s third president.
This is the second activity book by Professor Mark Dewalt, who came up with a similar book for Abraham Lincoln on the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birthday. Dewalt, art teacher Merrissa Ritch and graduate students Ginny Ramirez-Del Toro and Jennifer Darcy wrote and designed the 56-page book for first- through fourth-grade students.
The book provides historical and factual information about Jefferson, the United States and its liberation from England, Jefferson’s estate Monticello, geography and the University of Virginia, as well as plants, animals and inventions from Jefferson’s time period. It also includes vocabulary activities associated with Jefferson’s knowledge of seven languages, specifically Spanish, French and Latin. It is designed to be used a supplement to social studies, reading, mathematics and language curriculums.
The book contains illustrations from Jefferson’s life, crossword puzzles, word scramble, math word problems and Spanish cognates activity to help students of all reading levels comprehend the text. It also includes a draft of the Declaration of Independence that highlights the importance of a rough and final draft for writing skills and emphasizes the importance of a college education. An answer key is in the back for students to check their work, said Dewalt.
Ritch, a Lexington, S.C., native, holds an M.A.T. in art from Winthrop and now teaches art in the Fort Mill schools. Ramirez-Del Toro of Durham, N.C., will complete her master’s degree in education, concentrating on reading, in May. Darcy hails from Toccoa, Ga., and will graduate in May with a master’s plus 30 hours in school counseling.
The authors and artist of “The Life and Times of Thomas Jefferson,” will hold a book signing at The Bookworm from 4:30-6:30 p.m. on April 6.
Other books about American heroes are underway including the first African-American baseball player, Jackie Robinson, and the American Red Cross founder, Clara Barton.
For more information about the Jefferson book or to order the books in bulk, contact Dewalt at 803/323-2151.
[Back to Previous Page] | <urn:uuid:8f3abdcc-417c-4397-a5ea-ecfddaf80844> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.winthrop.edu/news-events/article.aspx?id=10425 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936867 | 521 | 2.578125 | 3 |
State of Emergency: What Does It Mean?
The season’s first major snow storm is well on its way and as a result, Governor Terry McAuliffe has declared a state of emergency.
A state of emergency means that state agencies are at the ready to assist local governments, and provide a quick response wherever and whenever they are needed in the state.
State agencies include the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, the Department of Transportation and the Virginia National Guard, just to name a few. It also means electric, phone and cable utility companies are standing by to assist with any and all outages.
VDOT crews will be out in full force for snow removal as the storm arrives. Roads with the highest traffic volumes will be cleared first.
The Virginia National Guard has been authorized to bring up to 300 personnel on state active duty to support emergency response operations.
The Virginia State Police will extend shifts and have additional troopers on patrol.
Governor McAuliffe was quick to urge Virginians to “take proper preparations. Prepare to limit unnecessary travel during the storm, have emergency supplies on hand and be ready in the of power outages.
While there is a long list of do’s and don’ts to prepare for this or any storm, some do’s include:
-Be prepared to take care of yourself and your family for at least 72 hours.
-Have a three-day supply of food on hand, including a gallon of water per person per day.
-Have a battery powered and/or hand-crank radio and extra batteries.
-Always run generators outside in well-ventilated areas. Never inside.
- Have emergency supplies in your vehicle. If you are stranded you will need water, food, blankets, a flashlight and extra batteries.
More information can be found at ReadyVirginia.gov | <urn:uuid:a5422ea8-05f0-48a6-9ce2-e8ca590b4b39> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wvtf.org/post/state-emergency-what-does-it-mean | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948073 | 376 | 2.84375 | 3 |
fredag 4. februar 2011
Today's theme in English class is megacities. First of all, what is a megacity? To become a megacity, there has to be more than 10 million inhabitants. In our English book, that we use in class, there is a text about megacities including a quote by Kofi Annan who where the UN secretary-general. Kofi Annan speaks about the problem about people moving from the country and into the cities. The rural population is decreasing while the urban population is increasing. Cities are having challenges accommodating new inhabitants.
Beneath the quote there are three statics. The first one is illustrating the percentage of the growth of the urban population . As we can read from these diagrams, in 1800 there was a growth of 2% which have increased to 47% percent in 2000. The diagram is also foreseeing the percent in 2015 and 2030. In 2015 it's foreseen that the percent of urban population growth in the world has increased to 52% while it's 60 percent in 2030. That's a huge increase.
In the next diagram we're shown the statics of the rural and urban population percent in different regions in the world. We can see the population statics in 1995 and 2015, a twenty year difference. As we can read from this diagram, the region with the widest rural population is Asia with 2249 million people in 1995 and it's foreseen that this will increase to 2380 in 2015. In 1995 they had an urban population corresponding 1180 million people and 1970 by 2015. As we can see, both the urban and rural population is foreseen to increase. After Asia with the largest rural population there is Africa, and then Europe. In Europe the urban population were 518 million people in 1995 and foreseen to increase to 532 million in 2015, while the rural population which were 209 million will decrease to 188 million people. After Europe there is South America and on top, with the lowest rural population, and urban population matching Africa's there is North America. In 1995 the rural population were only containing of 67 million people and the urban had 231 million people(Africa: 247mill.) In 2015 it's foreseen for the rural population to have decreased to 59 million and the urban to have increased to 301 million people.
What we can see from this diagram is that the rural population in the developing countries is increasing as well as the urban is, while in Europe and America the urban population is increasing and the rural decreases.
This is of course a global challenge because the developing countries has the biggest population increase and then will get, as Kofi Annan said, problems hosting their new habitants, both immigrants and natives.
The third static is showing a rank of the world's biggest megacities. The three biggest cities is Tokyo with 33.4 million people, New York with 24.1 million and Mexico City with 21.7 million people. | <urn:uuid:66a7c143-b4c7-410d-a7c7-2cead59420ca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dailytimekiller.blogspot.com/2011/02/megacities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391634.7/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00046-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964079 | 601 | 3.53125 | 4 |
(Among communists, or in communist countries) the pursuance of factional interests in opposition to official Communist Party policy.
- The most prominent threats were listed as ‘infiltration and sabotage by hostile overseas forces’, ‘disturbance by nationalist splittism forces’ and ‘religious extremists and terrorists’.
- Mixing this article together with a reference to Lenin's article ‘Left Wing Communism’ Straw accused Trotsky of ‘factionalism,’ ‘splittism,’ ‘ultra-leftism,’ and ‘wider infantile disorders.’
- ‘Their intention is to advocate splittism under the pretext of a different interpretation,’ Zhu told reporters.
- Example sentences
- Gone are the high-decibel, constant fulminations of communist generals against the ‘splittists.’
- On the list were ‘underground gangs’, Xinjiang separatists, ‘splittists’ - including Tibetans - ‘unstable social elements’ and the Falun Gong spiritual movement; all these are now defined as terrorist groups.
- After only five days at the helm, Hu set out a tough policy for dealing with the ‘splittists.’
For editors and proofreaders
Definition of splittism in:
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed. | <urn:uuid:40a728e6-49b8-46fc-929f-2eb6e3f3e3d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/splittism | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906694 | 315 | 2.703125 | 3 |
key, or lid, yet golden treasure inside is hid." The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
I am happy many of you can find solace in having eggs every day for breakfast. I know I can. They are a highlight of my day! They come in all varieties and with many accouterments. On the go? Have them hard-boiled or as convenient muffins! Sick of plain? Have them with other meats and veggies in omelets, frittatas, or even as Sausage and Egg Muffins!
But Aren't Eggs Bad For You?
Eggs have been maligned by the media and FDA for years for their high cholesterol and saturated fat, which supposedly make them contributory to heart disease. We already confronted the saturated fat myth in a previous post. Remember, it isn't the cholesterol that is the big deal, its the LDL particle size that seems more relevant to heart disease. Carbohydrates are what actually lead to high triglicerides, which certainly do correlate with increased risk of heart disease. This study reviews the literature and finds no correlation between eggs and higher cholesterol or higher incidence of heart disease, as does this study and this one, aptly titled "Regular egg consumption does not increase the risk of stroke and cardiovascular diseases." Another study shows that even amongst the elderly, three eggs a day did not increase their risk of heart disease. Have we put the myth to rest?
The Incredible Edible Egg
Eggs are nutritional powerhouses. They contain fat and protein along with all the constituent vitamins in a convenient serving size. Eggs are rich in choline, a B vitamin. Choline has a slew of healthy properties, namely: cell membrane structure and function, especially in the brain; being a vital component in cellular processes (methylation); serving as a key component of a neurotransmitter (acetylcholine); reducing inflammation; and protecting against cardiovascular disease (say what?!). The B vitamins in eggs are responsible for converting a dangerous molecule (homocysteine) that can damage blood vessels into more benign substances. Eggs also contain proteins that inhibit blood clots, which can lead to stroke and heart attack. Eggs may even improve your cholesterol: an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study found that children eating eggs actually increased their LDL particle size! Eggs are also beneficial for weight loss. One study found that those eating eggs instead of bagels with the same caloric load lost almost twice as much weight and greatly reduced their waist circumferences. Almost more importantly, no differences were seen between triglicerides, total cholesterol, or HDL and LDL counts, which provides more evidence against the cholesterol myth. Another study also found that egg breakfasts provided more satiety and reduced snacking than bagel breakfasts, which would give credence to eggs as a component of weight loss plans. Finally, eggs are good for your eyesight: they contain more eye-protecting carotenoids than supplements or green veggies, which protect against cataracts and macular degeneration. Whew, what a list!
The Dark Side of the Egg
Now that we have poked holes in the cholesterol and saturated fat arguments, let's move on to other claims. Scared of Salmonella poisoning? Wash your hands and cook your eggs thoroughly. Also, don't eat factory farmed eggs. Numerous studies cited by this article from The Humane Society of the United States have found that Salmonella is significantly higher among high density, caged hens responsible for conventional eggs than uncaged hens. Wow, what a surprise! After reading that article on inhumane treatment, want to get even more angry? Read up on the opposition to Proposition 2 in California, which passed (thankfully) in 2008 to set standards for animal confinement. Now you know why I buy 100% grass-fed beef and farmer's market eggs...
No, not spiders this time but a very real threat indeed, giving rise to why we probably shouldn't eat eggs as our primary protein for every meal. Give this brief post from The Whole Health Source a read (the author of which is a doctor of neurobiology). Here are some important points:
Eggs are an exceptionally nutritious food, as are all foods destined to nourish a growing animal. However, one concern lies in eggs' high concentration of arachidonic acid (AA), a long-chain omega-6 fat that is the precursor to many eicosanoids. Omega-6 derived eicosanoids are essential molecules that are involved in healing, development and defense. Some of them are inflammatory mediators that can contribute to disease when present in excess. Eggs are one of the main sources of AA in the modern diet.Barry Sears, Zone diet founder, also has a beef with AA (heh). He wants zoners to limit arachidonic acid sources like eggs, red meat, and organ meats since they elevate "bad" eicosanoids. While a balance of "good" and "bad" eicosanoids is necessary for hormonal balance, overbalanced "bad" eicosanoids lead to chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and arthritis. Note: don't you kinda feel like you are being talked down to when you see the terms "good" and "bad"? I know I do. But then, I am not a biochemist... Anyway, here is his take from an interview with Smart Publications author David Brown:
I guess I am still on the "good" and "bad" level if all of this seems a little over my head on the biochemical level. I need to do more research to fully understand his caution against eggs. Even the Paleo Diet cautions against egg quantity advising only six a week. Cordain's concerns parrot the cholesterol and saturated fat argument, but also add an interesting claim that high heat cooking increases cholesterol oxidation, leading to the production of dangerous cholesterol (small, dense LDL particles?). The articles on heart-healthy eggs didn't encounter this aspect. Surprisingly, I did find that undercooking methods like the poaching Cordain recommends actually leave intact an anti-nutrient called avidin, which makes his recommendation surprising given that anti-nutrients are the rationale for most paleo diet restrictions. Despite Cordain's caution, Robb Wolf who has brought paleo to the CrossFitting masses doesn't see a reason to limit eggs, but like Cordain suggests omega-3 enriched eggs for their better fatty acid profile. Bottom line: I think the "good" outweigh the "bad" in this case, although I won't be eating eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Live Earth Farm pasture-raised chicken egg
Which Eggs Are Best?
One valid concern with purchasing eggs is that it is difficult to determine which aren't factory farmed. The best bet: buy them from the farmer's market. A small, scale independent farmer's chickens get a healthy variety of food from the land they live on, which leads to healthier eggs. Mark's Daily Apple does a good job of cutting to the chase with the different terms on the egg cartons. Basically, "free range" and "all natural" are meaningless terms that don't mean healthier or humanely raised chickens and even "cage free" can just mean overcrowded hen houses. "Organic" is better with restrictions on food, flock size, and indoor living. "Omega-3 enriched eggs" are usually organic and cage-free with a diet that includes supplementation to increase their omega-3 ratio. We'll tackle the omega-3 topic in another post, but suffice to say, they are freakin' healthy fats. Pasture-raised eggs are ideal, but Mark suggests you look into your egg producers to make sure the chickens are actually living their lives on the land. This study compared pasture-raised to factory-farmed conventional eggs and found pasture-raised may contain:
• 1/3 less cholesterol
• 1/4 less saturated fat
• 2/3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
Omega-3 enriched eggs or pasture-raised eggs are also the answer to reduce harmful arachidonic acid. According to this study, omega-3 enriched eggs have 39% reduction in arachidonic acid compared to "barn-laid" eggs.
Practically speaking, they just taste better. Omega eggs and pasture-raised eggs have tall, orange yolks that stand up to casual mixing (see the picture above). Don't settle for runny, yellow eggs! And their taste? Well, they taste like eggs! Their eggy flavor is unsurpassed and noticeably absent from conventional eggs. I can tell the difference when a restaurant serves me sub-par eggs.
Here are some links to help you find pasture-raised eggs:
After all this, perhaps you too can find the humor in the Center for Science in the Public Interest running around like a chicken with--well, you know--trying to get the FDA to ban companies from making claims about the heart-healthy nature of omega eggs. Hmmmm, I wonder if factory farms are funding this sentiment? It is also nice to see the American Heart Association is still feeding us the cholesterol and saturated fat misinformation by the carton-ful. Their stance: sure, you can have eggs, but since one egg accounts for 71% of your daily cholesterol allowance for a normal adult, you can only have one and good luck eating within the cholesterol limit if you have any other meat or dairy that day. But sure, according to them "an egg can fit within heart-healthy guidelines," emphasis mine. I think they should actually take a look at the current cholesterol research and re-evaluate their stance.
The Bottom Line: despite this fear-mongering, the data points to eggs as a healthy part of your diet, not as a harbinger of coronary heart disease. So go ahead and eat your eggs and try to find local, organic, pasture-raised sources for your precious eggsesses.
Here is a great recipe for egg muffins. I was inspired by this recipe I found at Norcal Strength and Conditioning. I just simplified it and tightened it up Zone-wise to fit my needs. Give them a try! They're delicious!
Sausage and Egg Muffins
Crunchy crisp sausage suspended inside a light, airy egg muffin. Convenience to die for!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: about 20 minutes depending upon muffin cup size
eggs (see Calculations for quantity)
sausage (I use Aidells chicken apple sausage) (see Calculations for quantity)
1T coconut oil
Zone Blocks: figure out how many blocks you want to eat or just be reasonable with portions. I have found that large muffin cups can hold 1/2 a sausage (1 block of Protein) and 1.5 eggs (1.5 blocks of Protein and Fat) without overflowing, so 2.5 blocks total of Protein and 1.5 of Fat, plus the coconut oil rounds out the Fat blocks. Each would be half a meal for my 5 block husband, but not a bad portion for a child or me, if I am having one for a snack or light meal. You can play around with the egg and sausage portion to get what you need. If I make the same recipe using regular-sized muffin cups, it takes 2 muffins to get that 2.5 block portion. Egg is very sticky, though, and like cement when it dries, so please use silicone cups or line your muffin tin--even if it's nonstick!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut squares of parchment paper to stuff inside large muffin tin cups or use silicone muffin cups if you have them and whatever size muffin tin fits your calculations. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add coconut oil. Chop up the sausage (I know, chopping is a pain--at least cut the disks in half). Once the coconut oil has melted, add the sausage and brown it on all sides. I am not sure if it is true of every sausage, but for the Aidells: the more brownage, the better. I have blackened them and they are delicious--but I bet the carbon isn't all that healthy. Anyway, in the meantime, crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk them. Once the sausage is done, divide it up into portions and place in the muffin cups. If you desire, add the remaining coconut oil from the pan to the eggs, but whisk constantly to avoid curdling. Some of this oil will moisten the muffin cup bottoms, but I figure a little more healthy fat isn't a bad thing. Scoop the egg mixture into the muffin cups using a measuring cup for more accuracy. Just keep distributing evenly until your bowl is empty. Now, if you filled your cups really high, you might want to take out some insurance and place a sheet pan beneath them to catch any overflow. Egg is a nasty thing to spill. Believe me. Place your muffins in the middle of your oven and let 'em bake. How long depends on the size of your muffins and oven peculiarities. Large muffins take longer, up to 25 minutes, while regular-sized muffins can take half that time. Look for puffed-up muffins, light golden brown tops, and a fully-set middle (no wiggle). Once done, allow them to cool (they'll deflate and look wrinkly, but taste is what matters!) and then store wrapped in paper towel in an airtight bag in the refrigerator for about a week. Easy!
Have this all protein and fat muffin with some carb to balance it out. Usually a piece of fruit is great for an on-the-go breakfast! | <urn:uuid:0aa60845-ed05-4900-876c-cef72d2958d5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://feastingonfitness.blogspot.com/2010/01/box-without-hinges.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00151-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955349 | 2,870 | 2.828125 | 3 |
FABRICATING SASQUATCH FOOTPRINTS
By Don Baird
Readers of this journal need no introduction to the Sasquatch (Bigfoot), an elusive large, bipedal primate that is said to haunt the woods of the northwestern United States, neighboring Canada and elsewhere. Most of the evidence that has been advanced to prove the existence of such a creature-sighting reports, still and motion pictures, hair and fecal samples--is either insufficiently documented, dubious, irrelevant, or spurious.
The legitimate investigators of the phenomenon concede the inadequacy of such testimonials, but they point to what they consider hard evidence in the form of giant footprints, observed in situ and preserved by plaster-casting. Some such footprints, which have been most carefully documented by Dr. Grover S. Krantz in 1983, display what all competent observers agree to be genuine dermatoglyphic "fingerprint" patterns and sweat pores of the type found in higher primates.
Proponents further assert that it would be impossible to fake such footprints. This assertion, I submit, is mistaken. To make an impressively convincing Sasquatch track by enlarging a human footprint is not a difficult trick, nor is it a new trick. I learned the enlargement technique in 1939 from its inventor, staff artist Ottmar F. von Fuehrer, of the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, who published it that same year in Museum News (Fuehrer 1939). Paleontological applications of the method were later published by me (Baird 1951, 1974).
The technique was also mentioned on page 393 of the Handbook of Paleontological Techniques (Kummel and Raup 1965); thus, it is hardly a trade secret, at least among paleontologists. The present paper is intended for anthropologists and cryptozoologists who may not be aware of it.
Let it be clearly understood that, in presenting this information, I cast no aspersion on any person, nor do I presume to judge (without first-hand examination) the genuineness or otherwise of footprints that have been attributed to the Sasquatch. I merely wish to describe how such footprints can be fabricated by anyone who has such an inclination.
The following materials are what are needed:
1. A pair of human
feet to serve as models.
The latex-molding compound required is a thick (about 72% solid) suspension of prevulcanized latex particles in water, having about the consistency of cold cream. In small quantities (1 quart to 1 gallon), it has been sold by jobbers at different times and places under a variety of names, including "Von Fuehrer Compound," "Perma-mold Latex Molding Compound,'' and "E & R Latex Mold Rubber." In seeking a local supplier, one should describe the product and specify that one wants "sweet latex" that is only slightly alkaline. Note that this is a very different product from the so-called "sculptors' latex," a watery compound that pours like restaurant maple syrup and reeks of ammonia. I cannot recommend the latter product for any purpose, except, perhaps, for pouring down bee-nests in the garden.
Molding compound is applied to the model in thin layers with a brush or with fingers, taking special care in the first application to work the compound well into the surface and eliminate air bubbles. Each coat needs several hours to dry, though this may be speeded-up by applying mild heat (as from a light bulb) or a breeze (as from an electric fan). A thickness of two to three millimeters will require four to six coats. Obviously, this will not do for duplicating the soles of a human subject (other than a medical cadaver or a hospital patient in traction), so the first impression of the feet should be taken in a tray of plaster of Paris. Heat generated by the plaster as it sets may cause some discomfort, and the subject may need to be reassured that plaster is very different from cement. The feet can be withdrawn after 20 minutes or so, and the plaster should be allowed to dry thoroughly. Molding compound can then be applied to the impressions as described above, producing rubber casts of the soles.
Now comes the trick. A latex mold or cast, when treated with kerosene or some similar light oil, will swell and expand by 40% to 50% of its original linear dimensions while retaining its surface detail. As the oil-treated rubber loses its tensile strength and elasticity, only a single plaster casting can be made from it; the rubber will disintegrate as it is pulled off. When the plaster is quite dry, a second and larger rubber cast can be made as before, and, if further enlargement is desired, this cast can be oil-treated like the first. The process can be repeated indefinitely.
In the late 1930's, von Fuehrer used to impress the audiences at his Carnegie Museum lectures by holding up the wing of a dragonfly, then an enlarged rubber replica of it, then another, and another, each half again the size of the last, each showing plainly the venation and other surface features of the original. Finally, to delighted applause, he would reach down into his bag and haul out a rubber dragonfly wing nearly two meters long!
In making that series
of enlarged replicas, the oil had been applied uniformly to the rubber
so that no distortion of shape resulted. However, as von Fuehrer discovered,
it is possible to induce distortion deliberately by applying varying amounts
of oil to different parts of the cast. In the case of a footprint, one
could differentially increase the width or the length, widen the splay
of the toes, or lengthen some toes relative to the others. Through all
this manipulation, the dermatoglyphic pattern of the toes and sole will
be faithfully reproduced in enlargement, along with sweat-pores, wrinkles,
and other surface features.
Once the desired size and shape have been achieved, one can then make a pair of soles, left and right, with which to imprint track ways in the field. To make footprints with rigid plaster casts would be crude and unsubtle; it would be better to cast the soles in flexible rubber. For this purpose, one could use the same latex as a casting medium, building it up in successive coats with layers of cheesecloth incorporated as a filler and stiffener. It would be simpler and more satisfactory to cast the soles in silicone rubber, which can be poured to the desired thickness (about 1 cm) in one operation.
To duplicate the long (1.2 m) stride and the deep impressions of a Sasquatch track way, it is not necessary to fasten the rubber soles to one's feet and go leaping through the wilderness while wearing several hundred pounds of handicapping weights--as advocates of the Sasquatch claim a faker would have to do. Instead, one may simply lay the soles on the ground in the appropriate sequence and tamp them down, in turn, with a mallet and stake. By differential pounding in different areas of the sole, one can make the footprints deeper in the heel area, or the toe area, or in between.
Also, while performing these shenanigans, one will want to bag one's own feet with padding so as not to leave Small foot tracks alongside those of the Bigfoot.
1974 Latex Vormen in de Palaeontologie. Museologia, No. 2-V: 41--43. Fuehrer, Ottmar F. yon
1939 Liquid Rubber as an Enlarging Medium. Museum News, Vol. 16(14): 8.
Krantz, Grover S. 1983 Anatomy and Dermatoglyphics of Three Sasquatch Footprints. Cryptozoology, Vol. 2: 53-81
Kurureel, Bernhard, and David Raup - 1965 Handbook of Paleontological Techniques. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman.
Paper is © Don
Baird, -Museum of Natural History Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
Portions of this website are reprinted and sometimes edited to fit the standards of this website under the Fair Use Doctrine of International Copyright Law | <urn:uuid:a6f73660-6a34-4584-91dd-8c4c7c2182e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bigfootencounters.com/biology/baird.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00097-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936364 | 1,719 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Rhizophora mangle or American Mangrove is a deciduous tree native to tidal shores, marshes and estuaries of America and Tropical America. It occurs as dense forests on many of these coasts and is an important tree for it soil holding capacity. As the tree grows, it forms arching aerial roots that help make thick tangles that stabilize soil. Leaves are leathery, dark green, opposite and petioled. The leaves are obovate to elliptic to 6 inches (15 cm) long. In nature, the trees will reach 40 ft (12.19 m) in height with a thick canopy. The gray-brown bark is an important source of tannins. Most mangroves live in brackish water, but they can also live in fresh water. This mangrove will even grow in an aquarium if planted there. Their size is easily controlled by container size. Our specimen is only 12 ft (3.65 m) tall at over 25 years old. Actually they are relatively easy to grow. Trees are hardy in USDA zones 11.
Blooming: Terminal flowers are about 1 inch (2.5 cm) across, green, villous and not particularly showy. Flowers give way to viviparous seeds called propagules that germinate on the plant to form large dagger-like seedlings that will stab into the mud to establish a new plant when they drop. Propagules form leaves and have fully mature organs before dropping from the parent tree.
Culture: Rhizophora mangle needs full sun to partial shade, with a moist to wet soil mix. We started ours in a soil mix consisting of equal parts of clay loam and sand. Once the propagules were placed in a container and grew their first new leaves, they were placed in large tanks of fresh water. As the plants, grew more water was added until prop roots started forming when the plants were about 2 ft (60 cm) tall. At this point, we stared fertilizing the plants once a month with a water soluble fertilizer. They grow very fast. Currently, we let the water evaporate and add new water on a monthly basis. Since the plants are native to Tropical America we do not let the temperature fall too low in winter.
Propagation: Rhizophora mangle is easily propagated by planting new propagules after they form seed after flowering.
Rhizophora mangle was featured as Plant of the Week December 4-10, 2009.
Guide to Past Plants-of-the-Week:
Cal's Plant of the Week was provided as a service by the University of Oklahoma Department of Microbiology & Plant Biology and specifically the late Cal Lemke, who used to be OU's botany greenhouse grower and an avid gardener at home as well. If the above links don't work, then try the overview site. You may also like to look at the thumbnail index. ©1998-2012 All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:9ee32c54-a370-4743-a0f9-d96e44f20918> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week526.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957502 | 610 | 3.953125 | 4 |
Using ESL stories for teaching English is a very good way of helping students learn language more deeply and naturally. Here are ideas on TEFL storytelling in the classroom...
There are so many reasons for using stories in the classroom. Just as salespeople and politicians attract people to their products and ideas using stories - if they are wise - so too, can English teachers attract students, particularly young learners, by using stories.
It's not just a matter of using ESL stories to attract students; better and deeper learning takes place using this very natural method. Adults might be attracted to true stories, or interesting incidents in people's lives. When teaching English to kids, both interesting true stories and fiction work well. Poems and rhymes also work well, but I plan to write about these separately.
Below are some activities and approaches to using esl stories in the classroom. These activities are mostly aimed at teachers who are teaching English to kids, but some are suitable for adult classes as well.
A very simple technique which focuses on accuracy of language. The class create esl stories word by word. You can begin by saying: "One Monday morning I was" or whatever beginning you like. Then go round the class in a circle [not randomly]. The first student must repeat "One Monday morning I was" and then add a single word that makes sense and fits in grammatically. The second student repeats all the first student has said, adding one more word. The third student repeats all and adds a word, and so on, until a story develops around the class.
This technique can be fun, requires no preparation and focuses on the accurate use of language. It can make a good warmer. With a small class it's possible to go round the class twice. The teacher can choose whether the story is to be told in present tense [if they are beginners] or used to practice the simple past tense, or with no restrictions on the language used.
Write 4 or 5 questions on the board. For a very low level class these might be: "What's his/her name?" "Where is he/she?" "What's he/she doing?" "What does he/she say?" Run through a few possible answers orally with the class. Then give a piece of paper to every student. Tell them you want them to write an answer to the first question only. Encourage them to be creative.
They then fold back their paper, so the answer they've written is folded away from the page and not visible when the paper is flat on the desk. All students then pass their paper to the student on the left. They all then write the answer to the second question, fold the paper again, then pass to the next student on the left, and so on, until all the questions have been answered. The students can then unfold the papers, correct where possible, and then read aloud the slightly crazy stories to the class.
Another way of using esl stories which requires minimal preparation, yet is a very powerful learning tool, is to have the students retell stories. The best stories to begin with are interesting anecdotes from your life, or interesting or unusual news stories. Once this esl activity is familiar, the students can then contribute with their own stories. This activity works well as a warmer and as practice or review of the simple past tense. I go into more detail and give examples of retelling stories in the following articles: ESL short storiesand short stories for ESL
Choose a short story that can be told in several sentences. Write a title on the board as an introduction. Then write the appropriate verb [in the present tense] for each sentence of the story. Do not write out the story. Adding pictures helps, as long as the pictures can be drawn in a few seconds. Then tell the story, sentence by sentence, pointing to the verbs and eliciting the correct past tense from the students.
The students then retell the story. This can be done by asking individual students to retell separate parts. The students can also retell the story to each other in pairs. When the students are familiar with this method of using esl stories, have some of them prepare a short story for homework. They can retell it to the other students the following class.
This is an effective listening and writing practice, and not really a technique for creating ESL stories, but it can be adapted when teaching English to kids, to help give them templates which can help when they do begin creating stories.
Draw a simple control panel of a CD or cassette player on the board: 3 squares with stop, play, go back, written on them are enough. Tell the students that you will read a story - which you have already prepared - at natural speed. The students must tell you to stop, go back and play. They are also allowed to ask "How do you spell ___?
Then tell the story, and the children write. They will need to ask you to stop and go back many times. The story should be quite short; perhaps five or six sentences - or less for younger children. By doing this several times they will begin to understand how to structure a story. The last word can be left out for the students to choose themselves. After they have some experience, they can complete the final sentence.
A traditional method that works well for ESL stories as well, is for the teacher to read a story aloud from a book. Children enjoy listening to stories being read. With young children parts of the story could be acted out. For example, verbs within the story could be acted. Or they could just listen for enjoyment.
As a follow up the students can be given cards with sentences written on, taken from the story, which they have to put in order. Some cards can have sentences with the endings missing. The students can then create their own endings. Another way to follow up is by preparing an outline of the story [which can be photocopied] with gaps in it, which the students will fill.
A list of characters, places, other creatures and situations can be created by you, or by the children. Then the students choose their favorite characters, places, brief action scenes, and any other things you have decided to create, and copy them into the gaps in the story template you have given them. As always with esl stories, it can be fun for the students to read aloud their creations to the class.
The above ideas for TEFL storytelling give the students support when they haven't yet developed the ability to create their own stories. Encouraging reading for pleasure will also help future creative writing, as will using a class reader. Eventually the students should develop the ability to write their own stories more freely.
Many students enjoy creating their own story book, or story poster, illustrated by themselves. These can be put on the wall in the school for other students and parents to see.
Here are some related articles: | <urn:uuid:0dbbf52b-002c-4430-b520-c7d2b01714e2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tesolzone.com/esl-stories.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965052 | 1,416 | 3.6875 | 4 |
Two thousand years of history have left behind a significant legacy in Germany: silent yet eloquent witnesses to magnificent cultural achievements and natural phenomena. Many of Germany's most impressive architectural monuments, historical towns, significant industrial sites and distinctive natural landscapes – 40 in total – have been deemed to be of international historical importance by UNESCO. This is a legacy that is meant for you as well: because every visit to a UNESCO World Heritage site is a journey back in time to a shared cultural history.
Add your favourites here. Save, sort, share and print your selection and plan your entire trip to Germany.
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Dve uporabni bližnjici za povečavo v brskalniku:
Dodatna pomoč vam je na voljo pri ponudniku brskalnika. Do nje dostopate s klikom na ikono: | <urn:uuid:1094055b-533f-4c37-9c7b-ad3da4b78dba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.germany.travel/sk/towns-cities-culture/unesco-world-heritage/unesco-world-heritage.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.767641 | 193 | 2.609375 | 3 |
How many burrowing owls does it take to shape a $100,000 public art project? At Berkeley's Cesar Chavez Park, just two. That's how many of the migratory birds vacationed at the park last winter, down from four the year before and as many as fifteen a decade ago. Burrowing owls' numbers are in decline throughout the country, causing them to be listed as a species of special concern in most of the Western United States. So when a public art project was inadvertently commissioned for the very spot the owls set up shop every October through March, the project came to be as much about protecting the owls as serving the public.
The incredible thing is that everyone involved — including local conservationists; a bevy of public agencies; the Open Circle Foundation, who provided the funding; and the artists themselves — is in full support of the compromise.
"We've come to a general agreement that what we're doing now on the site is going to be protective and supportive and not invasive, and when the owls are not present, it will provide a pleasant public amenity," said David Snippen, the former chair of Berkeley's Civic Arts Commission, who was instrumental in achieving approval for the installation. "It works both ways. Year-round, it'll work."
This past spring, Snippen spent nearly six weeks passing the project through ten separate regional, state, and federal agencies, including the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the US Army Corps of Engineers, before construction could begin.
The winning design, comprised of a series of textured and sandstone-colored concrete walls that mimic the geology of the East Bay hills behind them, serves as both art and barrier. In combination with steel cables and a series of four gates, the two-and-a-half-foot walls — which will be back-filled with dirt to resemble natural berms that slope down to meet the existing grade — will prevent dogs from entering the owls' habitat during the winter months. In recent years, off-leash dogs have posed the greatest threat to the owls' well-being during their stay in Berkeley, frightening them by traipsing through their territory and in some cases actually hunting them. During summer, when the owls are absent, the four gates will be open to humans and dogs alike.
Husband-and-wife team Jeff Reed and Jennifer Madden of Albany-based Reed Madden Designs submitted the proposal and were selected from among 32 applicants. They've been working upward of fifty hours a week since mid-June on the concrete walls, which should be complete by the time the owls arrive in October. However, construction of the public viewing portion of the installation, including two seating areas, will have to wait until after the owls leave again in April.
Reed shares Snippen's excitement about the installation's tactful balancing of priorities. "The reason we really liked this project initially was because the funder's message is to bring together nature, community, and the arts," he said. "I think that's what we've started to outline." The team's design is intended to be artfully unobtrusive yet useful from the dog and human side, and more or less invisible from the owl side. "That will be sign of success for us, if we're able to create something that really looks like it belongs," said Reed.
Combined, the 700 linear feet of walls will enclose a strip of land approximately two acres in area between the coast and one of the park's main concrete walkways. The owls seem to favor the eastern-facing shoreline because it's sheltered from the wind and features some of their favorite habitat — rocky outcroppings amidst numerous ground-squirrel tunnels that make for ideal burrows.
For the past three winters, the habitat has been protected by unsightly orange fencing. Della Dash, a volunteer with the Golden Gate Audubon Society, helped put it up. "I could see that the birds were just so vulnerable, with dogs and people walking by and riding bikes," she said. Dash also initiated a docent training program for Cesar Chavez Park's owls. Not only do docents, 22 of whom were trained last year, keep close tabs on the birds, but they also interact with members of the public as they pass by the area on their morning jogs, family bike rides, and dog walks.
Once it was discovered that owls shared the space for which the art project was commissioned, Dash was granted a spot on the selection committee — and a rare authority to speak directly for the owls. "We decided this was a fabulous opportunity for us to collaborate," explained Dash. "They basically said, 'Well, tell us what the owls need, and we will work the art installation around that.' The committee unanimously selected the best and most unobtrusive project for that area."
"Of course, we would've preferred that they move it to another site," she continued, "but they said that wasn't a possibility." | <urn:uuid:6a83b7bd-7177-4026-90b1-8efca85cca79> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://m.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/an-art-project-for-the-birds/Content?oid=2018130 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977915 | 1,049 | 2.625 | 3 |
"Positive Balance Sheet" from Century of Drug Control
VIENNA, 26 February 2009: Centennial celebrations were held in Shanghai today to mark the 100th anniversary of the International Opium Commission which met in Shanghai, China, in February 1909. The Opium Commission meeting was the first international conference to control drugs, and led to the conclusion of the first international convention on drug control, the Hague International Opium Convention of 1912. Addressing the commemoration - attended by representatives of the thirteen nations that took part in the original meeting - the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, said that "from a historical perspective, the first century of drug control shows a positive balance sheet".
Demand for drugs has stabilized. A century ago, around 25 million people were using opium in the world - 1.5% of the world's population at that time. China faced an opium epidemic. According to official statistics, almost one quarter of Chinese men consumed opium in 1906, and around 5% of the total Chinese population was addicted. Today, around the world, the total number of problem drug users is around 25 million - less than 0.5% of humanity. The number of people who use illicit drugs at least once a year has been contained to 5% of the adult population - a much lower prevalence than for alcohol and tobacco. Deaths due to drugs are limited to 200,000 a year: one tenth of those killed by alcohol; and twenty times less than those killed by tobacco. "This achievement has been a century in the making: let's not unravel it by loosening controls on drug use", said Mr. Costa.
A century ago, the supply of drugs was out of control. In 1906, more than 40,000 tons of opium was produced, mostly in China and India (compared to less than 8,000 tons in Afghanistan last year). "Some national (or imperial) economies were as dependent on opium (for the revenue that it generated) as the addicts themselves", said Mr. Costa. Thanks to international drug control, opium cultivation has been slashed by almost three-quarters: the problem is now concentrated in one country, Afghanistan, which produces 92% of the world's deadliest drug. Coca leaves, which used to be grown in several countries, are now only grown in three Andean countries: Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. "Compared to a century ago, drug demand and supply have been brought under control", said the head of UNODC. "Adherence to the international drug control regime (based on three United Nations treaties) is universal, and the principle of shared responsibility is unanimously accepted".
However, Mr. Costa cautioned that "while the world drug problem has been contained, it has not been solved". He emphasized the need for more development assistance to countries where illicit crops are grown, and to those caught in the cross-fire of drug trafficking. He called for a change in policy - "against crime, not in favour of drugs" - to deal with the massive criminal black market in drugs that is "an unintended consequence of drug control". He also appealed to states to provide more information to ensure that policy is evidence-based.
Looking ahead to the future of drug control, Mr. Costa said that "reducing demand for drugs is priority number one, starting with 'A' for abstinence, and including prevention, treatment, and measures to reduce the harm that drugs cause to individuals and to society".
The United Nations´ drug tsar stressed that health and human rights should be at the centre of drug control. "Addicts should be sent to treatment, not to jail or into the gutters. Drug criminals should be brought to justice, not put to death. Although drugs kill, governments should not kill because of drugs", he said.
The effectiveness of drug control will be the focus of the upcoming session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that will meet in Vienna from 11 to 20 March, including a two-day high-level segment to assess progress made over the past ten years under the so-called United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) process.
For more information on a century of international drug control refer to the UNODC website here
* *** *
For information, please contact:
Mr. Walter Kemp
Spokesman and Speechwriter
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Tel. : (+43-1) 26060 5629
Mobile: (+43-699) 1459-5629 | <urn:uuid:08fb6118-9d85-493f-898f-62f85ba86247> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/2009/February/2009-02.26.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954436 | 919 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Published: New York, 1903
“There are two superpowers in the world today … There’s the United States and there’s Moody’s Bond Rating Service. The United States can destroy you by dropping bombs, and Moody’s can destroy you by downgrading your bonds. And believe me, it’s not clear sometimes who’s more powerful” – Thomas Friedman on PBS’ NewsHour, 1996
John Moody (1868-1958) was a pioneer in bringing financial information and analysis to the investment world. In 1900 he published his first edition of Moody’s Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities (shown below) which provided investors with background and basic statistics on US company stocks and bonds. The success of this compact yet comprehensive volume led to subsequent annual editions; by 1903, “Moody’s Manual,” with its title slightly changed, had become an indispensable tool for bankers and investors seeking to invest their dollars wisely.
Moody’s manuals continued to grow in size and scope (and popularity) as the stock and bond markets expanded, eventually adding analyses, company histories, and financial statements to each company entry and encompassing all industries in US and international markets. The organization and naming of manuals has also evolved to reflect the changing economic and business climates. As the railroad industry became less dominant and more industries and companies were born, Moody’s Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities (as it was known in 1909) was divided into multiple separate tomes covering all manner of investments, such as a Transportation Manual, Industrial Manual, Bank & Finance Manual, Municipal and Government Manual, Public Utilities Manual, and others.
John Moody’s publishing company came to be known as Moody’s Investors Service and, in addition to publishing the manuals, developed a credit rating system whereby the bonds of companies and municipalities are assigned a letter grade based on the entity’s stability and likelihood of repaying its bond investors. Today, Moody’s ratings (and those of other ratings issuers who followed Moody’s lead) are a major determinant of how easily, and at what price, companies and municipalities can raise money on Wall Street.
In the early 2000s, Moody’s sold its manual-publishing business to Mergent, Inc, which subsequently re-branded the publications as “Mergent Manuals.” MIT’s collection of Moody’s/Mergent Manuals – dating all the way back to 1900 – is essentially an encyclopedic history of business in the 20th and 21st centuries, covering over 50,000 companies from over 100 countries. The print editions remain available in MIT’s Dewey Library, but electronic access to most Manuals since 1909 is now available to the MIT community online via Mergent WebReports. | <urn:uuid:b0f7811a-a55e-4baa-97fb-5a7913860246> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://libraries.mit.edu/150books/2011/02/18/1903/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391766.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940305 | 591 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Some years ago, I watched Maggie Jane, my four-year-old niece, play with a few of her toys. She was seated on the living room floor, surrounded by talking adults who occasionally directed questions to Maggie about things like her preschool and her swimming lessons. Maggie respectfully answered their questions, but she was clearly engrossed in playing with her Barbie dolls and the plastic giraffes from a zoo play set. She had paired them—one doll with one giraffe—and made up stories as she went along about what the dolls and giraffes were doing together. One pair marched around her like they were on parade, another apparently talked about an amusement park Maggie often visited, a third pair seemed to be sharing a meal. Maggie had created a world of Barbie and giraffe playmates that gamboled about in harmony and bliss.
None of the adults in the room understood why Maggie had arranged her playthings as she did. I’m sure that the manufacturers of the dolls and giraffe figures would have been quite puzzled by Maggie’s play. Most adults, like the toy companies themselves, have definite ideas about how children should play with toys but, when it comes right down to it, the kids who do the actual playing couldn’t care less about the “right” way to play. They have their own ideas.
At the museum, we are delighted when donors offer us the playthings from their pasts. But we’re even more delighted when they describe for us how they actually played with these toys. Usually, we find, children play with toys in ways very different from what we might imagine.
Take, for instance, the playthings that belonged to Phoebe Ann. We received a donation of a twenty-six-inch doll, two smaller dolls, doll clothes that appear to be the work of a girl learning her stitches, fabric scraps likely intended to become doll clothes, and a wooden trunk in which all the clothing and fabrics were stored untouched since Phoebe’s death in 1931. Phoebe was born in 1842 and probably played with her dolls in the 1840s and 1850s. The larger doll itself and the clothes made for it show the work of a practiced seamstress. But the smaller dolls and clothes show stitching done by a seamstress-in-training.
We know from social historians that many young girls in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries got dolls as gifts just so they could make clothing for them and perfect the sewing skills they’d later need as wives and mothers. It’s easy to imagine that Phoebe made the smaller dolls and the clothing stored with them. But did an older, more-skilled Phoebe stitch the larger doll and its clothes? We don’t know for sure, but the variety of fabrics with a few clumsy stitches, other clothes with more skilled stitching, as well as completed, expertly stitched clothing, fit the historical pattern of a girl like Phoebe mastering her sewing skills by playing with dolls.
Growing up in the 1930s, Ann played with her dolls in quite a different way. Ann donated her favorite doll, Susan, to the museum along with a charming little booklet called “My Family.” The pages of the book contain hand-written biographies of the twelve dolls Ann played with when she was young. The descriptions of her dolls are filled with imagination. Her writing reveals a good sense of discipline and organization: each entry includes the doll’s birth date, height, weight, disposition, wardrobe, what foods she likes, and the trips she had taken with Ann. Ann’s booklet shows how children use their playthings to reflect the adult world in manageable chunks.
For instance, of her doll Susan, Ann writes: “Susan is healthy and has never been ill. She eats everything and sleeps soundly. She has a sweet disposition and likes to be quiet. She is a favorite.” Might these attributes be the very ones young Ann was encouraged to demonstrate? No wonder Susan was a favorite.
Ann’s other dolls were not always so perfect. Of her Patsykin, Ann noted: “Patsykin is kind of fussy about eating. She does not like cereal, vegetables, or eggs much, but she is learning to like them because she has always been made to eat them.” In the story about her Raggedy Ann doll, young Ann noted that this doll also “fussed a good deal about eating vegetables but ate everything else.” Ann’s booklet suggests that the young girl had definite opinions about vegetables and expressed her opinion in a way acceptable to both her and her parents.
Jane grew up in the last decades of the nineteenth century. An only child living in a house filled with adults, Jane created her own play companions of the paper dolls she drew and colored herself. Jane made paper dolls to reflect two families that lived on her street. The families had mothers, fathers, and several children who played together. Jane’s fantasy family life was unlike her own. Looking back on her paper doll families, Jane wrote:
When I was very young, Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Carew loomed large in my life. They lived next door to each other and had very interesting families.
You see, Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Carew lived side by side in the figured squares on the Brussels carpet that graced my grandmother’s parlor. Mrs. Weston and Mrs. Carew were paper dolls who inhabited a large section of the small girl’s world. Each lady was a beautiful head fasted on a long slip of paper with a neat wad of beeswax just beneath her chin. Her wardrobe was lavish, and each beautiful gown was pressed onto the beeswax button. Voila! My lady was ready for the ball. The Weston and Carew children had beautiful clothes too-and what fun those two families had working together, playing together, and going to the seashore, where they stayed at a cottage and took their meals at the hotel.
Kids, past and present, play with dolls for their own, sometimes mysterious, ends as well as the ones envisioned by doll makers or the adults who buy the dolls. This play can be both useful and fun all at once. In fact, that’s what makes it play. | <urn:uuid:8e20eed7-46ef-4d0f-9e2d-c410a8ed8231> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.museumofplay.org/blog/play-stuff/2009/07/playsthethingreally/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984397 | 1,318 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Meghan Lyons MS
Visit the vitamin aisle in any drug or grocery store, and there is most likely an entire space filled with CoQ10 products. Google “CoQ10” and nearly 7 million results appear. Read about nutrients for heart health and CoQ10 is sure to be featured. Without a doubt, people are talking about CoQ10 in a number of different spaces. Have you joined the conversation?
At Nature Made, we are always engaged with the conversations people are having about CoQ10, and have taken particular notice to one that is causing quite a bit of confusion: the ubiquinone vs. ubiquinol debate. Recently, some people have been describing ubiquinone—the form of CoQ10 that has been available for years—as inferior now that a new form, ubiquinol, has emerged. We’ve seen a lot of conflicting and misleading information on this debate and hope to shed a little light on the real story.
A Quick Review of CoQ10
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a fat-soluble nutrient produced naturally by our bodies. Found in every cell in the body, CoQ10 is concentrated in organs that require the most energy — such as the heart, liver, muscles and kidneys. CoQ10 is concentrated in these organs because it is essential to the process of producing cellular energy.
Ubiquinone vs. Ubiquinol
In the body, CoQ10 exists either in its oxidized form, ubiquinone, or in its reduced form, ubiquinol. When oxidized CoQ10 (ubiquinone) is used by the body, it transforms and becomes ubiquinol. In the same way, reduced CoQ10 (ubiquinol) becomes ubiquinone when it carries out its role in the body.
To better understand how this works, let’s take a look at CoQ10 and cellular energy production. CoQ10 is found inside the powerhouses of the cell called the mitochondria, the site where energy production occurs. It acts as an electron acceptor or donor in the chain of reactions that lead to energy production. When oxidized CoQ10 (ubiquinone) accepts an electron from another molecule in the chain, it becomes reduced (ubiquinol) and when reduced CoQ10 (ubiquinol) donates an electron, it becomes oxidized (ubiquinone). Maintaining this state of equilibrium is how the body benefits from CoQ10.
Regardless of what form of CoQ10 you take as a supplement, the body is able to convert the consumed form to the other form as needed. In other words, if you take a reduced CoQ10 supplement (ubiquinol), the body can convert the reduced CoQ10 (ubiquinol) to the oxidized CoQ10 (ubiquinone) and vice versa. This conversion takes place to maintain a state of equilibrium between reduced CoQ10 (ubiquinol) and oxidized CoQ10 (ubiquinone).
The Bottom Line
Unquestionably, both forms—ubiquinone and ubiquinol—are effective and essential to important pathways in the body, and in states of need, either form can be reduced or oxidized to form the other.
Next time you purchase CoQ10 keep the following points in mind:
• Both CoQ10 forms—ubiquinone and ubiquinol—are important, effective and do great things for your body
• The body is extremely intelligent and is capable of turning one form of CoQ10 into the other as needed
• Feel great that you are choosing such a important supplement for your health
Heart Healthy Foods
It's great to know that Fish Oil and CoQ10 supplements help in supporting a healthy heart, but what about the kinds of foods that are great heart boosters? Here's a quick run-down of what to nosh on in order to keep your heart up to par.
see all recommended resources | <urn:uuid:8950bd3f-5023-484c-b086-add252cdf73a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.naturemade.com/resource-center/articles-and-videos/heart-health/understanding-coq10-ubiquinone-vs-ubiquinol | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00172-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937854 | 835 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Bringing it All Together: Community, Shifts, Roles, and Tools
One of things I try to avoid when looking at technology in the classroom is the one-shot, one project approach. I've seen some great projects no doubt. At the same time, these isolated uses of technologies do little to promote sustained transformation of the environment and at worst even create frustration amongst the students and teachers.
Technology becomes transformative when it is immersed into a participatory learning environment as part of the daily interactions of a networked community that taps into the interests and passions of learners. Within this community, the focus is on open learning that is highly social in order to harness collective and collaborative intelligence.
How Does One Get There?
No question, it starts with community. You cannot make this type of shift without establishing an environment rooted in trust, reliance, and interdependence. This is not easy! There are students might (initially) resist a community of practice classroom environment because of years of isolation and faulty approaches to cooperative learning.
2. Shift in Power
The idea that the teacher is the center of the classroom needs to be shifted to a distributed notion of power - a flattened hierarchy. This loss of control is difficult. It is is messy. In fact, students themselves might resist it. However, the path to engagement is when we move away from the one tool, one path, one choice, one outcome philosophy towards choice, voice, empowerment, and natural learning in a network construct. What we instead have is an environment built upon inquiry while still valuing the contribution to a well-rounded, knowledgable individual.
3. Distributed Expertise
In a transformational classroom, the expertise and strengths that each person brings to the community is amplified, embraced, and utilized for the betterment of the entire community. As we embrace what each person brings, we also work to bring these together into a collective experience.This is where Alan November's notion of a digital farm and the roles students can play as contributors comes into play. These roles, ones I see more as blended rather than just digital, build community and distributed expertise.
Along with November's list (in maroon), here are others I have included in the classroom with success:
- Tutorial Design
- Collaboration Coordinators
- Societal Contributors
- Curriculum Reviewers
- Backchannel Directors
- Contributors (brings new ideas and fills in gaps within our collective)
- Editors (edits and reviews content in our collective)
- Imagineer (creative designing and producing)
- Knowledge Broker
- mLearner (builds and discovers ways to use mobile learning devices)
- Recruiter (recruits guests and experts both locally and globally into the classroom
- Social Director (leverages social networking)
4. Social Media and Connective Technologies
Work with students to build the tools that will most effectively create this learning community. The suite of Google tools provides a great starting point for foundational tool: social bookmarking (gBookmarks), blogging (Blogger), collective reading and sharing (Reader), collaborative docs (Docs), wikis (Sites), video and audio suite (YouTube), mobile learning, collaborative management tools (gmail, gCal), and a social network (Google+). Moodle provides an area for access to collective resources (great to avoid storage issues) and links to other tools as they build out.
These form the foundation of the environment and other social media tools are brought in based upon needs and wants. For example, Paper.li or Scoop.it might become part of the curation efforts. Evernote might become part of the research process. However, these grow out from the community INSTEAD of being used as a one-time project or being pushed without a direct need (tool for tool sake).
It is much easier up front just to grab a tool and bring it into the classroom for enhancement. It is a great starting point as it can lead to transformation. However, the target is transforming the classroom which is much more difficult but much more rewarding.
What else are we missing to bring this all together? | <urn:uuid:a4273826-4e25-400d-8521-0b0be48f9aad> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/LeaderTalk/2011/08/bringing_it_all_together_commu.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940971 | 853 | 3.03125 | 3 |
Find over 200 print-friendly fact sheets about heart disease and related health topics.
Splenectomy is surgery to remove the
spleen. The spleen gets rid of old and damaged red blood
cells. Red blood cells may be damaged by a health condition, such as
thalassemia or sickle cell disease. When the blood cells pass through the spleen, they are often
destroyed. This can leave the body with too few red blood cells.
Some people have their spleen removed to keep from losing too many red blood cells. Other people may need to have it removed if the spleen is injured in a car accident or by another trauma.
The spleen helps the body fight certain types of bacteria. If your spleen is removed, your body will be less able to fight serious infections. So your doctor will suggest that you have:
July 1, 2011
E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Joseph O'Donnell, MD - Hematology, Oncology
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. | <urn:uuid:28b46cab-da38-46b0-bcc5-32ac5c2b44ba> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.cardiosmart.org/healthwise/ue45/33/ue4533 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909469 | 251 | 3.71875 | 4 |
Caprifoliaceac (Honeysuckle Family)
General - : erect to ascending shrub, 1-3 m tall (usually less than 1.5 m); stems somewhat downy; young twigs 4-sided,greenish.
Leaves - opposite, somewhat elliptic to broadly lance-shaped, 5-10 cm long, often broadest towards tip; hairy, dotted with glands below.
Flowers - In opposite pairs in leaf axils, cupped by 1-2 cm long, green to purplish bracts; yellow, tubular, 10-13 cm long, with gland-tipped hairs; appearing in June to July.
Fruit - shiny, purple-black berries, about 8 mm across, in pairs cuped by pairs of deep purplish maroon bracts; unpleasant taste; ripening from July to September.
Moist or wet soil in forests, clearings, riverbanks, swamps and thickets; widespread across NW Ontario's boreal forest, north and west to north-central Alberta and the northern part of Alaska's panhandle.
Distinguishable from non-flowering specimens of other Lonicera by its squared stem and sharply pointed leaves.
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| What's Happening | Contacts | Site Map | | <urn:uuid:4b0e8419-4193-46c0-bf02-c8af56a3a767> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.borealforest.org/shrubs/shrub26.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00194-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904707 | 316 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Definition of amending
p. pr. & vb. n. - of Amend
The word "amending" uses 8 letters: A D E G I M N N.
No direct anagrams for amending found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after amending (in bold), or to adegimnn in any order:
b - bedamning d - demanding maddening e - demeaning p - dampening r - remanding
Words within amending
not shown as it has more than seven letters.
List all words starting with amending, words containing amending or words ending with amending
All words formed from amending by changing one letter
Other words with the same letter pairs: am me en nd di in ng
Browse words starting with amending by next letter
Previous word in list: amenders
Next word in list: amendment
Some random words: pores | <urn:uuid:c21e4c0c-afda-4662-bc3c-79bb911e2e98> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.morewords.com/word/amending/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.806353 | 199 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Gestation myths are typical of the Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache tribes of the southwestern United States. The earth is though of as a primal womb; the underground mountain suggests pregnancy; the twelve-step ladders correcspond to the birth canal.
In the beginning nothing was here where the world now stands; there was no ground, not earth--nohting but Darkness, Water, and Cyclone. There were no people living. Only the Hactcin existed. It was a lonely place. There were no fishes, no living things.
All the Hactcin were here from the beginning. They had the material out of which everything was created. They made the world first, the earth, the underworld, and then they made the sky. They made Earth in the form of a living woman and called her Mother. They made the sky in the form of a man and called him Father. He faces downward, and the woman faces up. He is our father and the woman is our mother.
In the beginning there were all kinds of Hactcin living in the underworld, in the place from which the emergence started. The mountains had a Hactcin, the different kinds of fruit each had one, everything had a Hactcin.
It was then that the Jicarilla Apache dwelt under the earth. Where they were there was no light, nothing but darkness. Everything was perfectly spiritual and holy, just like a Hactcin...
Then those four, White Hactcin, Black Hactcin, Holy Boy, and Red Boy, brought sand. It was sand of four colors. They brought pollen from all kinds of trees. . . They leveled off a place so they could work with the sand. They smoothed down the place with eagle feathers.
They had earth of four colors there too: black, blue, yellow, and glittering.
First they laid the sand down evenly. Then they made four little mounds of earth with the dirt. In each one they put some seeds and fruits. . . The mounds of earth were in a row extending from east to west. The first one was the one of black earth, next the one of blue earth, then the one of yellow earth, and last the one of glittering earth.
Before the mountain started to grow, the Holy Ones took a black clay bowl and filled it with water. They did this because water was needed to make the mountain grow. How could it grow that tall without water? When they did this there was still no single tall mountain there. But they put the clay bowl of wter there and then added all the things. . . and the mountain began to grow. . .
Then the two Hactcin and Holy Boy and Red Boy started to sing. They sang and sang and after a while all the fruit began to grow in these piles of earth. . .
Every time the mountain grew there was a noise . . . All the four mounds of earth, as they grew, merged and became one mountain. . .
All those who were present helped. They all worked to make the mountain grow. It was getting larger. The people wanted to travel on it. The mountain had much fruit on it now. There were cottonwood and aspen trees on it and streams of water flowed from it too. It was very rich in everything. Yucca fruit and all other fruits were growing on it by this time, all kinds of berries and cherries. . .
Now all the people came together. . .and sang, and the mountain began to grow again. It grew just a little higher. It grew four times and then it wouldn't rise any more.
The four Holy Ones went up the mountian. . . They saw that the top of the mountain was still a little way from the sky and from the hole through which they could see the other earth. So they all held a council to decide what they would do next.
They sent up Fly and Spider. The spider put his web all around, and the fly and the spider went up on it. That is why in February or March, when the first warm weather starts the flies appear, they come on the sunbeams, which stand for the spider's web. You will see the sun's ray come through the window and the fly will come in on it, right into the house.
Those two went up where the sun was. They took four rays of each sun, each of a different color, and pulled on them as if they were ropes. They pulled them down to the mountaintop. They ropsed came down, black, blue, yellow and glittering, one on each corner of the opening. From these rays of the sun the four Holy Ones made a ladder. Out of the same material they made twelve steps and placed them across. . .
Ancestral Man was the first of the people to ascend. Ancestral Woman followed and was the first woman to emerge. Both walked up with age sticks in their hands. They were dressed as White-Shell woman and Child-of-the-Water dress for the girl's puberty ceremony now. The other people followed. The men were to the east, the women to the west, and the children to the north and south.
After the people the animals came.
The people emerged from a hole in a mountain. At that time this was the only mountain on the earth, besides Flint Mountain to the east. The other mountains grew up later. . . Some say that the emergence of mountains lies north of Durango, Colorado. Others say it is near Alamosa, Colorado. It was called Big Mountain.
Sky is our father, and Earth is our mother. They are husband and wife, and they watch over us and take care of us. The earth gives us our food; all the fruits and plants come from the earth. Sky gives us the rain, and when we need water we pray to him. The earth is our mother. We came from her. When we came up on this earth, it was just like a child being born from it's mother. The place of emergence is the womb of the earth.
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Back to Main Page | <urn:uuid:81d2d23c-c7ec-438b-b13b-7ae76f320dea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.angelfire.com/ca/Indian/TheEmergence.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987212 | 1,280 | 3.15625 | 3 |
What is Radioisotope Power and why does NASA use it?
Power to Explore
Power is the one thing a spacecraft cannot do without. Without the technology to reliably power space missions, our knowledge of the solar system would be only a fraction of what it is today. It might sound surprising, but there are currently only two practical options for providing a long-term source of electrical power for exploring space: the light of the sun or heat from a nuclear source such as a radioisotope.
Solar power is an excellent way to generate electricity for most Earth-orbiting spacecraft, and for certain missions to the moon and places beyond that offer sufficient sunlight and natural heat. However, many potential NASA missions given a high priority by the scientific community would visit some of the harshest, darkest, coldest locations in the solar system, and these missions could be impossible or extremely limited without the use of nuclear power.
Radioisotope power systems - abbreviated RPS - are a type of nuclear energy technology that uses heat to produce electric power for operating spacecraft systems and science instruments. That heat is produced by the natural radioactive decay of plutonium-238.
Choosing between solar and nuclear power for a space mission has everything to do with where a spacecraft needs to operate and what the mission must accomplish when it gets there. Radioisotope power is used only when it will enable or significantly enhance the ability of a mission to meet its science goals.
Critical technology for exploration
RPS offer several important benefits. They are compact, rugged and provide reliable power in harsh environments where solar arrays are not practical. For example, Saturn is about ten times farther from the sun than Earth, and the available sunlight there is only one hundredth, or one percent, of what we receive at Earth. At Pluto, the available sunlight is only six hundredths of a percent of the amount available at Earth. The ability to utilize radioisotope power is important for missions to these and other incredibly distant destinations, as the size of solar arrays required at such distances is impractically large with current technology.
RPS offer the key advantage of operating continuously over long-duration space missions, largely independent of changes in sunlight, temperature, charged particle radiation, or surface conditions like thick clouds or dust.
In addition, some of the excess heat produced by some radioisotope power systems can be used to enable spacecraft instruments and on-board systems to continue to operate effectively in extremely cold environments.
A 50-year legacy
Radioisotope Power Systems are not a new part of the U.S. space program. They have made historic contributions to the United States' exploration of space for more than 50 years. NASA is directed by its original 1958 charter and by ongoing guidance from the White House and Congress to explore space for the peaceful benefit of all humankind. And RPS have enabled NASA's exploration of the solar system since the Apollo era of the late 1960s.
The missions that carry out this exploration are prioritized by a vigorous strategic planning process that incorporates the best ideas from internal and external scientific experts. These experts have consistently identified RPS as a fundamentally important technology.
An Evolving technology
In 2011 the National Academy of Sciences completed a major study of the priorities for the next decade of U.S. exploration of the solar system, and several of the highest-ranked missions may require the use of an RPS.
As part of an ongoing partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE), NASA is conducting a mission-driven RPS program - a technology development effort that is strategically investing in nuclear power technologies that would maintain NASA's current space science capabilities and enable future space exploration missions.
NASA works in partnership with DOE to maintain the capability to produce the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (or MMRTG) and to develop higher-efficiency energy conversion technologies, such as more efficient thermoelectric converters as well as Stirling converter technology.
In the future, radioisotope power systems could continue to support missions to some of the most extreme environments in the solar system, probing the secrets of Jupiter's ocean moon Europa, floating in the liquid lakes of Saturn's moon Titan or touring the rings and moons of the ice giant planet Uranus. With this vital technological capability, the possibilities for exploration and discovery are limited only by our imaginations.
NASA missions enabled by radioisotope power
+Solar- or battery-powered missions enabled by radioisotope heater units (RHUs)
More information about radioisotope power systems is available from the Department of Energy.
Fact sheet: Radioisotope Power Systems Overview (PDF, 792 KB) | <urn:uuid:80841b42-2b30-40ef-8088-f7eefc88f596> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/rps/overview.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914179 | 959 | 4.1875 | 4 |
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Leverkusen, July 2015 – The latest edition of Bayer's science magazine research showcases current topics in medical and agricultural research. In the title story "Unleashing the immune response to cancer" scientists from Bayer HealthCare explain their approach to mobilizing the human immune system to enable it to identify and eliminate tumors. The researchers are working with partners from Israel and Heidelberg, Germany to develop novel immunotherapies that are believed to be a promising route to beating cancer.
The special topic "Decoding molecular patterns" shows researchers at Bayer in their guise as molecular detectives. "Metabolomics" is the analysis of the chemical fingerprint of metabolic processes in the body with the aim of identifying new targets for medicinal substances and testing innovative methods to diagnose diseases. It's a field in which there is a lively exchange between pharmaceutical scientists and plant experts at Bayer, because similar processes take place in plants, insects and micro-organisms and this work is enabling new mechanisms of action and the effects of crop protection products to be understood.
Another article in the magazine looks at citrus plantations, the target of a bacterial disease that is threatening harvests worldwide. Experts at Bayer are working on ways of controlling the pathogen that causes the disease and the vector that transmits it.
The new edition of research also contains an article on complex infectious diseases, which continue to be one of the major challenges in animal health. Stimulation of the innate immune system prompts a rapid and effective response to disease-causing pathogens. Bayer's researchers are investigating the potential of this form of immunostimulation as a way of controlling infectious diseases in farm animals more effectively.
Bayer's science magazine features stories researched using journalistic criteria and selected to illustrate how research can improve the lives of humans, animals and plants – fully in keeping with the company's mission statement "Bayer: Science For A Better Life". The texts are designed to appeal to the reader, with explanatory illustrations, attractive photo galleries showing life in the laboratory and out in the field, and interviews with renowned international scientists. They make the approaches and technologies being used today even more accessible.
research, the Bayer scientific magazine, can be ordered free of charge by phone (+49 214/30-57546), fax (+49 214/30-57547) or e-mail (email@example.com).
The online edition of research: Bringing science to life
Bayer's science magazine research is also available online. Go to www.research.bayer.com and immerse yourself in the world of research at Bayer – on your PC, tablet or smartphone. Fascinating animated sequences, videos and numerous photo galleries make science accessible and comprehensible.
Bayer: Science For A Better Life
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health care, agriculture and high-tech polymer materials. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer’s products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed 118,900 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 3.6 billion. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Find more information at www.bayer.com.
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. | <urn:uuid:d7e4a069-389b-4014-a95e-a2b8f881f5b1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.news.bayer.de/baynews/baynews.nsf/ID/6168B7555E518749C1257E83004B7516 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908741 | 930 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Crosswords Printables > By Skill Crossword Puzzles > Easy Crossword Puzzles > Name that Building Puzzle
Name that Building Puzzle
We hope you enjoy your crossword puzzle that you have selected! Remember to check our more of our Quick Crossword Puzzles and share them with your friends. If you are a parent or teacher, print as many as you'd like and use them for extra learning practice and fun activities!
Play this by skill easy puzzle. Do you know all about buildings? If you can name all of the different words for buildings then you can solve this puzzle. From houses to skyscrapers the world is highly populated with buildings. When you go into the city you will see a lot of them everywhere. Try this by skill easy crossword and enjoy the day!
This crossword consists of a few words Across(A) and a few words Down(D). Review the clues for each word and fill in the corresponding boxes with the letters that spell out the word!
Download or Print PDF!
|See More Easy Crossword Puzzles| | <urn:uuid:dc4aefd2-19eb-4dd9-b9f7-6cfa79e4d861> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.crosswordpuzzles.net/name-that-building-puzzle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393332.57/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934676 | 214 | 2.640625 | 3 |
MILLING MACHINE OPERATIONS - OD1644 - LESSON 1/TASK 1
Holding Workpieces Between Centers. The indexing fixture is used to
support workpieces which are centered on both ends. When the piece has been
previously reamed or bored, it may be pressed upon a mandrel and then
mounted between the centers, as with a lathe.
There are two types of mandrels that may be used for mounting
workpieces between centers.
The solid mandrel is satisfactory for many
operations, while the mandrel having a tapered shank is preferred when
fitting the workpiece into the indexing head of the spindle.
A jack screw is used to prevent springing of long slender workpieces
held between centers, or workpieces that extend some distance from the
Workpieces mounted between centers are fixed to the index head
spindle by means of a lathe dog.
The bent tail of the dog should be
fastened between the setscrews provided in the driving center clamp in such
a manner as to avoid backlash and prevent springing the mandrel.
milling certain types of workpieces a milling machine dog may be used to
The tail of the dog is held in a flexible ball joint which
eliminates springing or shaking of the workpiece and/or the dog.
flexible ball joint allows the tail of the dog to move in a radius along the
axis of the workpiece, making it particularly useful in the rapid milling of
Holding Workpieces in a Chuck.
Before screwing the chuck to the
index head spindle, it should be cleaned and all burrs removed from the
spindle or the chuck.
Burrs may be removed with a smooth cut, three-
cornered file or scraper. Cleaning should be accomplished with a piece of
spring-steel wire bent and formed to fit the angle of the threads, or by the
use of compressed air. The chuck should not be tightened on the spindle so
tightly that a wrench or bar is required to remove it.
workpieces, held in the universal chuck, may be checked for trueness by
using a test indicator mounted on a base which rests on the milling machine.
The indicator point should contact the circumference of small diameter
workpieces, or the circumference and exposed face of large diameter pieces.
While checking for trueness, the workpiece should be revolved by rotating
the index head spindle. | <urn:uuid:a7b83d0b-243a-4aa9-85ab-3b0838401494> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://armyordnance.tpub.com/od16448/od164480024.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00165-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914663 | 527 | 2.78125 | 3 |
What Happens Without Affirmative Action: The Story Of UCLA
The Supreme Court is expected to rule this week on a case that may shake up race-conscious admissions in higher education. The justices could change the shape of affirmative action or even strike it down altogether.
California is one of eight states that have already scrapped affirmative action. That means state schools can no longer consider the race of its applicants. At the University of California, Los Angeles, the change has been messy, ambiguous — and sometimes a little ugly.
After the state passed the ban in 1996, the percentages of black and Latino students at UCLA quickly began to fall. Things came to a head in 2006. That year, in a freshman class of nearly 5,000 students, just 96 were African-American.
Corey Matthews — one of the "Infamous 96," as those students came to be known — said it shaped his experience at the huge school. Even in lecture halls filled with hundreds of students, he says, he was often the only African-American student.
UCLA realized there was a problem, so it decided to start something called "holistic review," taking into consideration a wide range of factors in its admissions decisions — from GPA, to family income, to whether an applicant was the first in the family to go to college. Race was not one of the factors, but indeed, the percentages of black and Latino students began to rebound.
Then things got complicated again.
Last year, a UCLA professor released a study claiming the school was letting some black and Latino students in at higher rates than white or Asian students who should have ranked just the same under the new holistic review.
In other words, the study said, UCLA was breaking California law and instituting affirmative action.
In response, student groups led rallies to protest the study and the Daily Bruin. They said a reference in an op-ed to an "undue percentage" of minority students was offensive and minimized those students' hard work.
"The reaction was not pretty," James Barragan, the paper's editor in chief, tells NPR's Rachel Martin.
"I got a long email calling me an embarrassment to my race because I wasn't supporting the cause," he says.
Barragan, whose parents are Mexican, says he agrees that the goal should be to get more racial diversity on campus — but only if it is done fairly.
"We feared at the paper, once we saw the study, that this diversity was coming at a cost of other students who were also qualified to be there and maybe weren't getting the same opportunity," he said.
UCLA says it stands by its admissions policy and points to a review by faculty that refutes the study's findings. A school spokesperson told NPR that UCLA's holistic review is not only legal, but also a fairer and more equitable way to evaluate applicants in an increasingly diverse state.
If the Supreme Court finds affirmative action unconstitutional this week, a lot of schools could wind up facing the same dilemma UCLA has dealt with for nearly two decades.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
So, gay marriage is one big case in front of the Supreme Court right now. Another case before the court involves race-conscious admissions at the university level. Affirmative action, what form it should take and whether it should even exist. Eight states have already scrapped affirmative action altogether, including California, and that has affected admissions policies at state schools there.
This morning, we're going to spend some time at the University of California, Los Angeles. The change at UCLA has been messy, ambiguous and sometimes a little ugly. California banned affirmative action in 1996, and that, of course, meant UCLA and other California state schools could not consider the race of its applicants. After that happened the percentages of black and Latino students at UCLA started to fall - fast. 2006 was a turning point. That year, only 96 out of nearly 5,000 freshmen were African-American.
COREY MATTHEWS: Hi, I'm Corey Matthews, part of the Infamous 96, freshman class, 2006.
MARTIN: Corey Matthews told us there were protests on campus and a lot of news coverage, and all of it changed how people talked to him.
MATTHEWS: You know, in conversation: Oh, you're one of the 96 the Infamous 96. What's that like? Or: Do you all know each other and do you all live like in the same area? There was this mystery around who we were and what we were doing on campus.
MARTIN: And Matthews says it is a big campus.
MATTHEWS: Tons of student organizations, tons of sports, thousands and thousands of people, huge lecture hall - 250, 300 students, group projects, discussion sections, and still and all of those, you are most likely the only African-American student.
MARTIN: UCLA realized there was a problem pretty quickly, so it decided to start something called Holistic Review, which essentially meant taking into consideration a wide range of factors all at once; from GPA to family income, to whether you were the first in your family to go to college. Race was not one of the factors. But the goal was to make UCLA a more diverse campus. And it worked. Black and Latino student's percentages began to go back up.
But then last year things got complicated again, when one of UCLA's own professors put out a study.
So what was the reaction on campus to the study?
JAMES BARRAGAN: Well, the reaction was not pretty.
MARTIN: That's James Barragan, who just graduated from UCLA, and he was the editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper, the Daily Bruin. Barragan says the study claimed that UCLA was letting some black and Latino students in at higher rates than white or Asian students who should have ranked just the same. In other words, the study claimed UCLA was breaking the law - admitting solely based on race - essentially reverting back to affirmative action
The Daily Bruin published a news story on the study, but it also ran an opinion piece suggesting that the school reevaluate its admissions policy. That sparked a lot of anger on campus. Here's Barragan again.
BARRAGAN: I think we thought we were prepared but it was kind of hell when it all broke loose.
(SOUNDBITE OF CHANTING PROTESTERS)
PROTESTERS: I'm fired up. We should be here. I'm fired up. We should be here.
BARRAGAN: Some student groups held a rally outside of the Daily Bruin. People were saying that the paper was a rag.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: All day people kept coming up to me asking if I had read the Daily Bruin, if I had seen the article. The words minority constitute an undue percentage of the freshman class just kept floating around in my head.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Unintelligible).
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: Undue percentage, it felt like a slap in the face.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: It was. It was.
BARRAGAN: And they actually asked me to come speak. And I got up there and spoke and people were yelling at me. I got a long email the next day calling me an embarrassment to my race because I wasn't supporting the cause.
MARTIN: We should say you have Latino background? Is that right?
BARRAGAN: I do have Latino background, yes. So just things like that and I got a lot of interruptions while I was speaking - just yelling shame, shame.
MARTIN: That must've been hard.
BARRAGAN: Yeah, especially because it was a lot of students that I had known previously in the years before, and it was the same folks that, you know, were patting me on the back the previous year for exposing the truth out there. And then one year later, calling me a shame and calling the newspaper that I was running a shame.
MARTIN: Did you expect any of this backlash?
BARRAGAN: Yeah. Yeah, we knew it was coming. You know, obviously everybody wants more African-American students and Latino students, so that we can have a more diverse campus, including myself. The issue was that feared that the paper - once we saw the study - that this diversity was coming at a cost of other students who were also qualified to be there and may be weren't getting the same opportunity.
MARTIN: For its part, UCLA and a number of professors there dispute the legitimacy of last year's study. A school spokesperson told us that UCLA's admissions policy is legal, fair and equitable.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on affirmative action this week. If they strike it down, a lot of schools around the country could wind up facing the same dilemma UCLA has dealt with for nearly two decades.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | <urn:uuid:84a51e7d-d778-447d-90cd-9f605853530a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wvasfm.org/post/what-happens-without-affirmative-action-story-ucla | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977194 | 1,888 | 2.71875 | 3 |
126.96.36.199 Co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation on air pollution
A variety of analytical methods have been applied to identify co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation and air pollution. Some assessments are entirely bottom-up and static, and focus on a single sector or sub-sector. Others include multi-sector or economy-wide general-equilibrium effects, taking a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches. In addition, there are numerous methodological distinctions between studies. There are, for example, different baseline emission projections, air quality modelling techniques, health impact assessments, valuation methods, etc. These methodological differences, together with the scarcity of data, are a major source of uncertainties when estimating co-benefits. While the recent literature provides new insights into individual co-benefits (for example in the areas of health, agriculture, ecosystems, cost savings, etc.), it is still a challenge to derive a complete picture of total co-benefits. | <urn:uuid:dd579910-8448-471e-8cee-1d7388e6ecaf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg3/en/ch11s11-8-1-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.895612 | 198 | 2.625 | 3 |
Dec. 7, 2010
Are Depressed People Too Clean?
In an effort to pinpoint potential triggers leading to inflammatory responses that eventually contribute to depression, researchers are taking a close look at the immune systems of people living in today’s cleaner, modern society.
Rates of depression have steadily grown, and researchers think it may be because of the loss of healthy bacteria.
In a review article published in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, Emory neuroscientist Charles Raison, MD, and colleagues identified data that suggests there is mounting evidence that disruptions in ancient relationships with microorganisms in soil, food and the gut may contribute to the increasing rates of depression.
According to the authors, the modern world has become so clean, we are deprived of the bacteria our immune systems came to rely on over long ages to keep inflammation at bay.
“We have known for a long time that people with depression, even those who are not sick, have higher levels of inflammation,” explains Raison.
“Since ancient times benign microorganisms, sometimes referred to as ‘old friends,’ have taught the immune system how to tolerate other harmless microorganisms, and in the process, reduce inflammatory responses that have been linked to the development of most modern illnesses, from cancer to depression.”
Experiments are currently being conducted to test the efficacy of treatments that use properties of these “old friends” to improve emotional tolerance. “If the exposure to administration of the ‘old friends’ improves depression,” the authors conclude, “the important question of whether we should encourage measured re-exposure to benign environmental microorganisms will not be far behind.”
Raison is associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. Co-authors include Christopher A. Lowry, PhD, Department of Integrative Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado, and Graham A. W. Rook, BA, MB, BChir, MD, FSB, Department of Infection, Windeyer Institute for Medical Sciences, University College London.
The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Georgia Department of Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Grand Challenge Explorations initiative, and the GALTRAIN Marie Curie Early Stages Training Network, funded by the European Union.
Arch Gen Psychiatry. "Inflammation, Sanitation, and Consternation: Loss of Contact With Coevolved, Tolerogenic Microorganisms and the Pathophysiology and Treatment of Major Depression," 2010;67(12):1211-1224 | <urn:uuid:0a123c4a-87cd-469e-9c4c-4047b38112c7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://shared.web.emory.edu/emory/news/releases/2010/12/are-depressed-people-too-clean.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00065-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930012 | 563 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Common phrases like the apple of my eye, don't look back, let there be light, and the powers that be share a common origin—the Bible.
Case Western Reserve University's Florence Harkness Professor of Religion Timothy Beal writes about what he calls the Bible's "greatest cultural hits" in his new book, Biblical Literacy: the Essential Bible Stories Everyone Needs to Know (HarperOne, 2009).
Biblical Literacy provides readers with approximately 100 of the top Bible stories in a guide to understanding the Bible and its influence on social and popular culture.
The author reminds his readers that the Bible is not a book in the sense that one author wrote the entire content from cover to cover, but it is a collection of stories from oral histories translated to written text that run the gamut from murders, incest, war, selling of sisters into slavery, miracles and a look into human nature over time.
Beal leads off each of these "hits" with a brief explanation and poses several questions for the reader to think about, and then follows with the story in the New Revised Standard Version. He also references cultural connections from lyrics in popular music to political speeches and art.
Beal's inspiration for the book came from 15 years of teaching biblical studies in secular colleges where students come from diverse backgrounds with and without religion. While teaching, he makes the link between the bible and current events and popular culture.
For many students, Beal says the rediscovery of the Bible after years away from Sunday Schools or religious classes can be "exciting and surprising" especially since Sunday school did not provide the social and cultural context of the stories they receive in his classes.
"People find that once they get into Bible stories, more is there than they realized, and it's fun to read," adds Beal.
The Bible is not a unified book or single story with one viewpoint. It is what he calls "poly-vocal," with many different voices provoking many different interpretations.
He points to the creation stories as one example. Throughout the Old Testament, Beal says there are several different creation stories, and they don't agree with one another.
Nonetheless, those creation stories have given rise to debates over evolution and environmental philosophies. These stances range from humankind's dominion over the earth and the right to use the earth's resources to the maximum (Genesis 1) to a second story where humans and all living creatures were molded from the clay of the earth and humans are stewards and keepers of their environment (Genesis 2).
Bible stories are so interwoven into our culture, says Beal, "It's important to know the stories." Beal wants to empower his readers to read for themselves and enjoy the process.
Case Western Reserve University is committed to the free exchange of ideas, reasoned debate and intellectual dialogue. Speakers and scholars with a diversity of opinions and perspectives are invited to the campus to provide the community with important points of view, some of which may be deemed controversial. The views and opinions of those invited to speak on the campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community. | <urn:uuid:89e1350a-d28c-4302-9fca-d40fd942abed> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.case.edu/case-news/2009/11/09/biblestories | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00157-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959073 | 646 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Asbestos Removal Occurs on MU Campus
COLUMBIA - It's the end of the semester for University of Missouri students, but this week some are seeing something new on campus.
Crews have begun to remove asbestos in the University's Physics Building and a white tent has been constructed in the halls of the building. Asbestos was found under floor tiles, said Christian Basi, Associate Director of MU News Bureau. Basi said finding and removing asbestos is common in the older buildings on campus.
Some people who are frequently in the building became concerned for their health after reading the posted signs. Others were happy the material is being removed. "This campus was built more than 200 years ago," said Matthew Reel, a MU graduate student. "Obviously there's going to be a lot of things we know now that we didn't know back then."
The word "asbestos" invokes fear in a lot of people's minds, and due to the material's toxic nature. Asbestos has been linked to deadly diseases such as lung cancer and mesothelioma.
It's not always necessary to become alarmed. Asbestos was a popular building material prior to the 1980 and is found in many homes and buildings. Even cars made before 2004 may contain asbestos in their parts.
The material is in many places without people knowing it but is not dangerous until the particles are airborne. While many people want to remove the asbestos from contaminated areas, it could be the wrong approach. Removing the asbestos could cause the particles to become airborne.
Select a station to view its upcoming schedule: | <urn:uuid:099f19a6-bf38-43ee-9b8a-39ac35859692> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.komu.com/news/asbestos-removal-occurs-on-mu-campus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978011 | 324 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Abraham Lincoln, the farmhand and flatboatman, began the study of grammar at twenty-two and of law still later. Elihu Burritt, “The Learned Blacksmith,” who lectured in both England and America, taught himself languages and sciences while working eleven hours a day at the forge.
We enjoy the acquaintance of a woman physician of considerable prominence who did not enter medical college until she was more than fifty years of age. Henry George was a printer who studied economics after he was twenty-seven years old. Frederick Douglass was a slave until he was twenty-one, yet secured a liberal education, so that he became a noted speaker and writer. The following from “Up from Slavery," by the late Booker T. Washington, shows what can be done by even a poor black boy, without money or influence, to win an education:
[Footnote 3: Doubleday, Page & Company, Garden City, New York.]
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON’S STORY
I determined when quite a small child that, if I accomplished nothing else in life, I would in some way get enough education to enable me to read common books and newspapers. Soon after we got settled in some manner in our new cabin in West Virginia, I induced my mother to get hold of a book for me. How or where she got it I do not know, but in some way she procured an old copy of ‘Webster’s Blue-back Spelling-book,’ which contained the alphabet, followed by such meaningless words as ‘ab,’ ‘ba,’ ‘ca,’ and ‘da.’ I began at once to devour this book, and I think that it was the first one I ever had in my hands. I had learned from somebody that the way to begin to read was to learn the alphabet, so I tried in all the ways I could think of to learn it—all, of course, without a teacher, for I could find no one to teach me. At that time there was not a single member of my race anywhere near us who could read, and I was too timid to approach any of the white people. In some way, within a few weeks, I mastered the greater portion of the alphabet. In all my efforts to learn to read my mother shared fully my ambition and sympathized with me and aided me in every way that she could. Though she was totally ignorant so far as mere book knowledge was concerned, she had high ambitions for her children, and a large fund of good hard common sense, which seemed to enable her to meet and master every situation. If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother. | <urn:uuid:5e520957-ee76-4ef6-95c9-987d4bb85224> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/12649/37.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987064 | 572 | 2.90625 | 3 |
When Italian designer Arturo Vittori and Swiss architect Andreas Vogler first visited Ethiopia in 2012, they were shocked to see women and children forced to walk miles for water.
Only 34 percent of Ethiopians have access to a reliable water supply. Some travel up to six hours a day to fetch some or, worse, resorts to using stagnant ponds contaminated by human waste, resulting in the spread of disease.
Worldwide, a whopping 768 million people two and a half times the U.S. population don't have access to safe drinking water. So just imagine if we could just pull water out of thin air?
That's what Vittori and Vogler asked once they saw the magnitude of problem and vowed to take action. Their firm, Architecture and Vision, has since come up with WarkaWater, a majestic palm-like structure that may look like something you'd see in a modern art museum but it's been designed to harvest water from the air.
WarkaWater, which is named after an Ethiopian fig tree, is composed of a 30-foot bamboo frame containing a fog-harvesting nylon net that can be easily lowered for repairs and to allow communities to measure the water level.
Collecting water through condensation is hardly a new technique, but the creators of WarkaWater say their tree-inspired design is more effective, maximizing surface and optimizing every angle to produce up to 26 gallons of drinkable water a day enough for a family of seven.
Many Failed Attempts By Aid Groups
Western organizations have been working to provide clean water access in Africa for decades, so WarkaWater joins a very long list of earlier attempts. So far, high-tech solutions, like the once-promising Playpump (a hybrid merry-go-round water pump), have failed, mostly due to high costs and maintenance issues.
This is where WarkaWater could stand apart as a lower-tech solution that is easy to repair and far more affordable than digging wells in the rocky Ethiopian plateau.
Each water tower costs $550 a Playpump is $14,000 and its creators say the price will drop significantly if they start mass-producing it. The structure takes three days and six people to install and doesn't call for any special machinery or scaffolding.
"Once locals have the necessary know-how, they will be able to teach other villages and communities to build the WarkaWater towers," says Vittori, who is already working on WarkaWater 2.0, an upgraded version that may include solar panels and LED bulbs to provide light after dark.
The firm is in the process of raising funds to begin installing towers in Ethiopia next year. And WarkaWater could also prove useful in other areas, like deserts, which have the critical feature for collecting condensation: a dramatic change in temperature between nightfall and daybreak.
This elegant invention may not solve all of the world's water woes, but it could improve accessibility one drop at a time. | <urn:uuid:a7e19b9d-71d7-4825-a863-cc5bf512ce49> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gpb.org/news/2014/05/27/a-simple-elegant-invention-that-draws-water-from-air | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960059 | 619 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Camo WorldCamouflage is also known as "cryptic coloration" and "concealing coloration." Camouflage allows a person, animal or object to be almost indistinguishable from its surrounding environment.
Many animals make use of camouflage: the arctic fox has a brown coat in the summertime but a white coat in winter, for example. The color of the fox's coat helps it blend into its surroundings.
But most camouflage relies less on color and more on disguising the overall shape. Military camouflage works by breaking up the outline of the human body to allow soldiers to conceal themselves in jungles, forest, and deserts.
Camouflage became an essential part of modern military tactics after the development of weapons with improved accuracy and rate of fire during the 19th century. Until the 20th century, armies tended to use bright colours and bold, impressive designs, despite the demonstrated value of camouflage. These were intended to daunt the enemy, foster unit cohesion, allow easier identification of units in the fog of war, and attract recruits. The main intent of camouflage is to disrupt a soldier's outline as seen by the human eye by merging in with the surroundings, making them a harder target to spot or hit. Different countries have undergone different evolution stages towards the development of military camouflage.
Main Product Categories: | <urn:uuid:edaa41fc-cd92-40d2-8416-ecd783d8b9a2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.camoworld.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939434 | 268 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Definitions for osteochondroma
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word osteochondroma
benign tumor containing both bone and cartilage; usually occurs near the end of a long bone
A benign tumor consisting of bone or cartilage
Osteochondroma is a type of benign tumor that consists of cartilage and bone. It is a benign cartilage-capped outgrowth, connected to bone by a stalk. It is the most frequently observed neoplasm of the skeleton. They generally occur at the end of the growth plates of long bones, often at joints. They most commonly form at the shoulder or the knee but have been known to occur in the long bones of the forearm. Osteochondroma is a benign tumor that contains both bone and cartilage and usually occurs near the end of a long bone. This tumor, one of the most common benign bone tumors, takes the form of a cartilage-capped bony spur or outgrowth on the surface of the bone. It is sometimes referred to as osteocartilaginous exostosis. When an exophytic bone lesion contains a cartilaginous cap greater than one centimeter in height, or if there is associated pain, there is thought to be a higher risk for the lesion representing a chondrosarcoma.
U.S. National Library of Medicine
A cartilage-capped benign tumor that often appears as a stalk on the surface of bone. It is probably a developmental malformation rather than a true neoplasm and is usually found in the metaphysis of the distal femur, proximal tibia, or proximal humerus. Osteochondroma is the most common of benign bone tumors.
The numerical value of osteochondroma in Chaldean Numerology is: 1
The numerical value of osteochondroma in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
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Translations for osteochondroma
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"osteochondroma." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 30 Jun 2016. <http://www.definitions.net/definition/osteochondroma>. | <urn:uuid:7164b282-541d-43cc-b8d3-0425c5d8cee5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.definitions.net/definition/osteochondroma | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00167-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.814959 | 535 | 3.109375 | 3 |
death code n.
A routine whose job is to set everything in the computer -- registers, memory, flags, everything -- to zero, including that portion of memory where it is running; its last act is to stomp on its own "store zero" instruction. Death code isn't very useful, but writing it is an interesting hacking challenge on architectures where the instruction set makes it possible, such as the PDP-8 (it has also been done on the DG Nova).
Perhaps the ultimate death code is on the TI 990 series, where all registers are actually in RAM, and the instruction "store immediate 0" has the opcode "0". The PC will immediately wrap around core as many times as it can until a user hits HALT. Any empty memory location is death code. Worse, the manufacturer recommended use of this instruction in startup code (which would be in ROM and therefore survive). | <urn:uuid:bb95cf91-7f5b-4ca4-9ae8-c7851a96773d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.kill-9.it/jargon/html/entry/death-code.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961047 | 183 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Graphical method, or Geometric method, allows solving simple linear programming problems intuitively and visually. This method is limited to two or three problems decision variables since it is not possible to graphically illustrate more than 3D.
Although in reality only rarely problems arise with two or three decision variables, nonetheless it is very useful this solving methodology. To graphically show possible situations such as the existence of a single optimal solution, alternatives optimal solutions, the nonexistence of solution and unboundedness, it is a visual aid to interpret and understand the simplex method algorithm (much more sophisticated and abstract) and concepts surrounding it.
The process phases of problems solving by Graphical method are:
An example of the Graphical method is provided to more easily development and application understanding.
Copyright ©2006-2016. All rights reserved.
Daniel Izquierdo Granja
Juan José Ruiz Ruiz
English translation by:
Luciano Miguel Tobaria
French translation by:
Ester Rute Ruiz | <urn:uuid:58b8fb6c-0b37-4d60-9958-26dca4aa1124> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.phpsimplex.com/en/graphical_method_theory.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.873057 | 206 | 3.09375 | 3 |
MATUCAR INDIANS. The name Matucar, along with such recognizable variants as Matoca, Matocar, and Matuicar, has been found in the baptismal, marriage, and burial registers of San Antonio de Valero Mission of San Antonio. Four register entries for the years 1730–33 are involved, all connected with the same individual, an adult male Matucar. No clues to the aboriginal location or to the language of the Matucar have been found in other documents. J. R. Swanton listed the Matucars among groups he thought might have spoken the Coahuilteco language, but this must be regarded as unconfirmed speculation. Although the names are similar, the Matucars of Valero Mission do not seem to be in any way related to the Matucapams recorded in 1757 as a remnant Indian group of central Tamaulipas.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Handbook of Texas Online, Thomas N. Campbell, "Matucar Indians," accessed June 28, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bmm40.
Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:3a43fee1-8005-44b4-b2bb-a480a7b17e72> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/bmm40 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00078-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915301 | 425 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Slate workers, Monson, ca. 1922
Contributed by Monson Historical Society
Slate workers in Monson often were immigrants from Sweden and Finland and were a hardy group of men in this often dangerous occupation of quarry work.
There were many companies and mines in Monson from 1870 to the present day. The buildings were used to mill the slate into roofing tiles, electrical boards, headstones, ice box liners, etc.
Horses were used to move the slate into the mills from the hoister house and also to carry away the rubble.
- Title: Slate workers, Monson, ca. 1922
- Creation Date: circa 1922
- Subject Date: circa 1922
- Local Name: Monson-Maine
- Town: Monson
- County: Piscataquis
- State: ME
- Media: black and white photograph
- Dimensions (cm): 20.32 x 24.76
- Object Type: Image
For more information about this item, contact:
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LC Subject Headings
Quarries and quarrying--Maine--Monson
Monson Maine Slate Company (Me.)--Employees
Portland-Monson Slate Company
Monson Maine Slate Company (Me.)--Equipment and supplies
Stone industry and trade
Please post your comment below to share with others. If you'd like to privately share a comment or correction with MMN staff, please use this form. | <urn:uuid:7c25ccd7-8d2d-4019-b3e5-4683148b19bc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/10751 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00160-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916492 | 304 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Growing up, the extent of our St. Patrick’s Day tradition was green oatmeal. We might go to an Irish neighbor’s house for a party. I remember lots of music and lots of green jello, but not much about St. Patrick.
This week I read up on St. Patrick to have something to tell my kids. I started with Thomas Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization, and I was stunned by how we have lost this awesome story.
I write a lot about finding your purpose, but I would be hard-pressed to find a better example of discovering one’s purpose and living from it than Patrick. You may know the basic story. Young Patrick grew up in Britain, but was captured and sold into slavery in Ireland. He spent six cold, hungry years tending sheep and pigs in the mountains. In desperation, he cried out to God, and God met him there, pouring His love and mercy into Patrick’s heart. One day Patrick had a vision of a ship that would rescue him, so he walked 200 miles to the coast and somehow convinced the captain to take a runaway slave.
Patrick returned home, but God continued to call him, and sent him a vision of the people of Ireland calling him to come back and minister to his captors. Despite the fact that he was now years behind in his education, he set out for a monastary where he was trained for the priesthood, and eventually given the opportunity to go back to Ireland.
Here’s the amazing part of the story. As Cahill describes it, Patrick is the first Christian missionary to venture outside the Greco-Roman world. The first in hundreds of years to take the Great Commission seriously and to go to what was then the literal edge of the earth. And he does what is almost unthinkable, he brings a whole people to God without trying to make them Romans.
The Irish were a creative, exuberant, and belligerant people. They lived in constant fear of pleasing cruel, capricious gods, and of being ruined by the spirits that filled the world around them (think leprachauns, banshees, etc.). They lived life deeply connected to nature but the world was a violent, uncertain place. Patrick did not call them into a life inside cold Roman cathedrals or the taxation and political struggles of the church of the day. Instead, his task was to teach the Irish that the one true God was good and loved them, that He was in charge of all creation, and that He alone was the source of stability and safety they they longed for in a dangerous world.
Patrick succeeded wildly. He was bold and fearless in the face of Ireland warlords and kings. He was unshakable in his faith in the goodness of God. Patrick lived in and among the people, shepherding them as he had shepherded sheep years before. He showed them how every event of their lives – from milking cows to planting crops – could be done to God’s glory and in His presence. Patrick did not separate the Irish from nature, nor did he cajole them to change their creative, exuberant nature. He taught them to see God in all his creation, and he encouraged their natural bravery, creativity, and generosity and directed it to heavenly puporses.
How have we lost this incredible story? I think we owe Patrick a little more than green beer and shamrocks. And yet Patrick is certainly no stiff, formal “saint” as we might picture it, who would be happy with pompous or empty ceremony. I think he would want his day to be a celebration of life – real life. I think he would welcome feasting and fun, music, being out in nature, the simple joys of family and friends, and deep thankfulness. Most of all, I think he would want St. Patrick’s Day to be a celebration of confidence in the great Creator, who holds all of life in His hand, and who loves His children and wants them to trust in His goodness.
So enjoy your St. Patrick’s day! Celebrate someone who I think got it right.
For a great version of the St. Patrick story, try this British film | <urn:uuid:6d9e220d-d9ff-414f-9865-f316b012a033> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://aaronbasko.com/st-patrick-got-it-right/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395621.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00079-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98356 | 882 | 2.5625 | 3 |
A new report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) shows that greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 could be between eight and 13 billion tonnes above what is necessary to keep global warming limited at two degrees Celsius.
The annual report was prepared by UNEP and the European Climate Foundation, reports Reuters. It studied a range of estimates, which allowed it to assess if current pledges for emissions cuts will be able to limit the worst effects of climate change.
UNEP found that the gap between pledges to cut emissions by countries and what is needed to avoid devastating global warming affects has widened in the last year.
Last year’s estimate was six to 11 billion tonnes. The difference is likely because of higher-than-expected economic growth and other new data.
The World Bank also issued a warning this week that the world will likely warm between three and four degrees by the end of the century. This change means a higher likelihood of extreme weather, which will become the “new normal” and affect every region in the world.
ABC News notes that the new report was issued just days before a major climate conference, showing that the concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide is up by 20 percent from 2000.
The report adds that emissions levels, which are driven by burning fossil fuels, need to go down by 14 percent before 2020 in order to keep the global temperature rise below two degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
The reduction in fossil fuel burning cannot happen unless countries don’t come up with more ambitious plans to cut their emissions than what they have already promised. If there is no swift action taken, then emissions will likely hit 58 gigatons in 2020.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner stated that the reduction is doable with the help of more renewable energy, energy efficiency, protecting forests, and higher vehicle emissions standards. Steiner added:
“Yet the sobering fact remains that a transition to a low-carbon inclusive Green Economy is happening far too slowly and the opportunity for meeting the 44 Gt target is narrowing annually.”
The report by UNEP has also helped confirm scientific observations that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is growing instead of shrinking. The Kyoto Protocol is the only international agreement to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from industrial countries. It expires this year. | <urn:uuid:6e726ce9-49bc-4553-8284-10bc421f608d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inquisitr.com/410957/unep-report-warns-swift-action-needed-against-climate-change/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00091-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953295 | 477 | 3.953125 | 4 |
In Honor of Hurricane Season: The Hog Island Story
As you have probably already heard, today is the official start of hurricane season. In its honor, we're recalling the, um West Indian Monster of 1893 and one of its victims, Hog Island (yes, it's in Queens, but it makes a point, and Brooklyn was pretty trashed by the storm too). The 1893 storm, which was a Category 2, came ashore in Jamaica Bay, near where JFK airport sits today. Some saloons, casinos and resort hotels on a sandy spit of land called Hog Island were completely washed away. A few miles west of the hurricane's eye, almost every building on Coney Island was destroyed. There was extensive flooding in Brooklyn, with water reported as being "waist high" far inland, and wind damage to many of the city's new skyscrapers.
Here's a little description of the storm that was in a sobering article on "The Big One" that ran in the New York Press a couple of years ago:
On the night of August 23, 1893, a terrifying Category 2 hurricane did strike New York City. It hit land in the marsh that is JFK Airport today and began the erosion of the low-lying resort...All six front-page columns of the August 25, 1893, New York Times were dedicated to the “unexampled fury” of the “West Indian monster.” The storm sunk dozens of boats and killed scores of sailors. Everything below Canal Street was under water. In Central Park, hundreds of trees were uprooted...The brand-new Metropolitan Life building on Madison Avenue was severely damaged when a heavy-iron fence was torn away by the wind, plunging 10 stories and crashing through a stained-glass dome before landing on a mosaic "including quantities of costly Mexican onyx."Hog Island was seriously eroded by the West Indian Monster. Then, in 1896, a storm cut a new channel through it. Later in the year, it had been reduced to "small patches of sand covered with a few feet of water when the tide receded at daylight." By 1898, no more Hog Island.
A 30-foot storm surge swept across southern Brooklyn and Queens, destroying virtually every man-made structure in its path. In Brooklyn, at Wyckoff and Myrtle Avenues, "the water in the street was up to a man's waist," and residents used ladders to get in and out of their houses. Most of the boats moored at the Williamsburg Yacht Club were "sunk, driven ashore or demolished." The East River rose "until it swept over the sea wall in the Astoria district and submerged the Boulevard." At Coney Island, 30-foot waves swept 200 yards inland, destroying nearly every man-made structure in its path and wrecking the elevated railroad.
As for the current day, you can always read one of the annual New York City is screwed stories and think about the implications of a storm with 130 mile and hour winds, a 30-foot storm surge, $100 billion in damage and 3 million of us evacuated.
You can check out the Wikipedia article about the hurricane and Hog Island here. Also, there are numerous articles in the Brooklyn Public Library's Brooklyn Eagle Archive. That's part of a story from Sept. 10, 1896 below. | <urn:uuid:96085614-edeb-4798-a00c-1318d58b9dde> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://gowanuslounge.blogspot.com/2007/06/in-honor-of-hurricane-season-hog-island.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00082-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972826 | 681 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Perform Requirements Verification and Validation
It's important to make the effort to understand how all parties on a program are defining the terms verification and validation. We defined verification as a process for assuring that the design solution satisfies the requirements. We defined validation as a process for confirming that the real requirements are implemented in the delivered system. The quality of the requirements can be improved and costs and risks can be controlled by performing verification and validation planning early in the development process. Be alert for words that flag unverifiable requirements. Use of a verification-planning checklist facilitates asking the right questions. Verification and validation (V&V) techniques include walkthroughs, performance testing, simulation, database analysis, algorithm analysis, functional testing, stress testing, and interface testing. A structured approach to testing can reduce costs. Requirements testing helps ensure that the requirements have been interpreted correctly, are reasonable, and are recorded properly. Proactive steps can avoid pitfalls in performing verification and validation. | <urn:uuid:3389e63f-389d-4162-8fd2-8be8ce3cc767> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ralphyoung.net/verification.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917871 | 197 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Beef Ranchers ‘Can Significantly Reduce Climate Impacts’
The report (pdf) said that U.S. crop and grazing land could sequester about 15 percent of global warming emissions from the nation’s agriculture each year.
To encourage soil’s natural tendency to capture carbon dioxide, ranchers can add irrigation, enabling pastures to sequester an additional 0.1 Mg of carbon per hectare per year. Growing improved grass species can add 3 Mg of carbon per hectare per year.
The report also recommended that ranchers prevent overgrazing, increase pasture crop productivity with a mix of crops, and add adequate amounts of nutrients from manure, legume crops or fertilizers.
“There is a range of affordable ways beef producers, especially those who raise beef on pasture, can significantly reduce their impact by cutting emissions and capturing more carbon in soil,” UCS senior scientist and report author Doug Gurian-Sherman said.
Pasture beef cattle emit the three major heat-trapping gases – methane, nitrous oxide and CO2 – but the amount of CO2 is a small percentage of total U.S. global warming emissions, the report said.
Per ton, methane and nitrous oxide are much more damaging to the climate than CO2, the report said. Methane has 23 times the warming effect of CO2, and nitrous oxide is nearly 300 times worse.
The 35 million head of cattle the U.S. beef industry raises annually release more than 103 million metric tons of the CO2 equivalent of methane into the atmosphere. Crop and pasture sources of nitrogen — such as manure and fertilizer — generate 57 million metric tons of the CO2 equivalent of nitrous oxide.
The report found that improving cattle’s diet can reduce methane production of pasture-raised cattle by 15 to 30 percent. Gurian-Sherman examined dozens of peer-reviewed studies and found that cattle fed a mixture of high-quality grasses and legumes such as alfalfa produced less global warming emissions than animals fed on grasses alone.
“The Department of Agriculture has a role to play here, too,” Gurian-Sherman said. “It should sponsor more research to improve pasture crop quality and productivity, and provide incentives to help farmers adopt climate-friendly pasture practices.”
He said that beef contributes a much greater proportion of climate change emissions worldwide than it does in the United States, so adopting these approaches internationally would have a significant impact.
Picture credit: Ella Mullins
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- Oberlin, Ohio, Ratepayers to Receive $2.2M in Rebates for Sale of RECs | <urn:uuid:776d4f4f-a35d-4b76-a318-9121e851cdb0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.environmentalleader.com/2011/02/03/beef-ranchers-can-significantly-reduce-climate-impacts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91264 | 662 | 3.703125 | 4 |
List of Symptoms
This section gives a detailed framework to assist with understanding the range and the pattern of symptoms being described by residents, workers and visitors.
People are affected by infrasound and low frequency noise (ILFN) and vibration from a wide variety of sources in both residential and occupational settings. Sources of ILFN reported to the Waubra Foundation include wind turbines, coal seam gas field compressors, coal mining activities, gas fired power stations. Some acousticians also report being affected whilst conducting attended measurements.
Residents can get started with a more simple summary
If you’re new to the topic or looking for a less technical List of Symptoms, please get started with the Information for Residents section.
What is the pattern of symptoms?
For those affected, there is a clear and consistent correlation between exposure to the environmental noise and the development of characteristic symptoms. Not everyone is affected, although over time, more and more people report developing sleep disturbance or other symptoms.
The onset of symptoms is variable, even within families where individuals have identical exposures. Many farming or rural families have one or more members ‘off farm’ for long periods of time, especially during the day, for education or employment activities, meaning there will generally be very different exposures during the day.
Individual differences in susceptibility also play a role. A small subgroup of people with a history of migraine, inner ear pathology or motion sickness describe being affected from the first few days of exposure, with nausea and vertigo in the case of wind turbine noise, but the vast majority of affected residents are not affected in this way.
For most residents, the changes appear incremental over months or years. Many people describe not realising how they are being affected until either the source of the noise ceases for a period of time (rare) or they go away and start to notice the symptoms dissipate or vanish completely. Often people describe this happening repetitively, before they are sure their symptoms are related to the environmental noise.
For those rural residents who never get away, they often attribute it to ‘getting older’, ‘menopause’ or some other factor, until they start talking with neighbours and others with similar experiences, and realise that there may be other reasons for their symptoms.
Turbine hosts get symptoms too
David Mortimer, a wind turbine host from South Australia, has publicly described on a number of occasions how he just thought he was ‘getting older’, until he heard another resident from Cape Bridgewater speaking about his own symptoms, which were identical to those David had experienced for some years.
David describes being affected by the turbines much earlier than his wife. Once David made that connection between the symptoms and exposure to operating wind turbines, David and his wife then tried periods of time away from their home and kept track of what their symptoms and sleep patterns were like. They found their symptoms correlated directly with exposure to operating wind turbines.
The symptoms disappear when the Mortimers are nowhere near industrial wind turbines, but David and his wife have now become so sensitised that they can detect the unwelcome pulsating sensations particularly at night, out to 17 km from the nearest operating wind turbine.
This distressing perception of inaudible sound energy out to distances well beyond 10km has also been reported by residents who are sensitised both in Australia and internationally in the UK, France and the USA, particularly in areas with quiet background noise.
What is the most common symptom?
Recurrent sleep disturbance or waking up tired is the most commonly reported problem.
What are the acute symptoms?
Vestibular dysfunction/disorders or “wind turbine syndrome” symptoms
- Sleep disturbance
- Headache, including migraines
- Ear pressure (often described as painful)
- Balance problems / dizziness
- Visual blurring
- Problems with concentration and memory
- Panic episodes
- Tachycardia (fast heart rate)
Acute Sympathetic Nervous System ‘fight flight’ Symptoms & Problems
- Tachycardia (fast heart rate)
- Arrythmias, which residents might describe as palpitations
- Hypertension (high blood pressure) which has been reported by some residents to be considered unstable by their treating doctor or cardiologist, and to vary in response to exposure to operating wind turbines.
Related rare but serious conditions
The following three conditions are rare, but important to mention because they are potentially life threatening, and have been identified in Australia, Canada and Germany to correlate with wind turbine operation.
- Tako Tsubo heart attack — these are not the classic heart attack, involving acute blockage of a major artery to the heart muscle, rather they are caused by adrenaline surges which cause constriction of the little blood vessels called capillaries directly supplying the heart muscle
- Acute hypertensive crisis (Australia, Ontario) - sudden onset of dangerously high blood pressure, often accompanied by severe headache, nausea, sensation of their heart ‘leaping out of their chest’. The usual cause for these symptoms and this diagnosis caused by adrenaline surges would be an underlying adrenal tumour, called a phaeochromocytoma. However in the residents reporting this problem, that diagnosis of an adrenal tumour was specifically excluded by subsequent medical investigations
- Crescendo angina — i.e. worsening severe cardiac ischemic chest pain which was previously successfully relieved with anginine spray, when not exposed to operating wind turbines. The best clinical description of this came from a couple in Germany highly sensitised to ILFN after 18 years of exposure, who were stuck in a vehicle on an autobahn near large industrial wind turbines. The same phenomena has been reported in Australia by a resident subsequently advised verbally by his cardiologist never to go back home to Waterloo
Other characteristic symptoms (some have a chronic exposure component but manifest with acute symptoms)
- Episodes of sensation of body vibration (specifically lips, chest cavity and abdomen)
- Episodes of intense anger (reported in workers as well as residents, also noted to a much lesser extent with short exposure to infrasound and low frequency noise (ILFN) in Professor Leventhall’s experimental research in an office occupational setting in 1997)
- Bleeding from ear drum following intense and painful sensation of ear pressure, in the absence of trauma or previous symptoms
- Deteriorating hearing (confirmed sometimes with audiological assessment)
- Menstrual irregularities in women marked by heavy bleeding and noticeable hormonal cycle changes
- Significantly decreased ability to “multi task” impacting noticeably on resident’s ability to perform usual tasks
- Noticeable difficulties with mental arithmetic, when previously able to calculate easily
- Hyperacusis – extreme sensitivity to “normal” sounds which in some circumstances has persisted for over 6 years after removal from the exposure to ILFN
- Disorders of thyroid metabolism which stabilize when away from ILFN
- Disorders of diabetes control, which stabilize when away from ILFN
- Disorders of blood pressure control, which stabilise when not exposed to ILFN
- Migraines and severe headaches described by sufferers as “like a vice around the head”
- Episodes of perceiving that their heart beat is trying to “get in sync” with the blade pass of the turbines, which some people describe as being like an arrythmia but others do not. It is universally described as unpleasant
Sleep disturbance & its consequences
Sleep disturbance itself has been attributed by residents to the following, which they report does NOT happen when they are not exposed to operating wind turbines, and correlates with wind direction and weather conditions on the nights when they are affected in this way:
- Audible noise of the turbines (especially if their home is not well insulated, or the windows are open, and they live close to the turbines)
- Waking at night in the characteristic ‘panicked’ state (many residents living far from turbines report this symptom despite not being able to see or hear the turbines when they awake)
- Violent and disturbing dreams in adults and children, which can happen repeatedly over the same night. In the case of children, they can be extremely distressed and difficult to console
- Increased need to urinate, sometimes as often as every 10 minutes for a period of up to one hour (sometimes this affects numerous people in the house at once)
- Bedwetting in children reported by parents to have been previously dry at night for some years
Known clinical consequences of repetitive sleep disturbance/deprivation
The adverse health consequences of insufficient sleep have been well known to clinical medicine for decades, and are increasingly being reflected in the peer reviewed published literature. They include the following:
- Cardiovascular disorders (including hypertension) ischemic heart disease, angina
- Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, and increased suicide risk
- Impaired immunity, leading to increased acute and chronic infections, and in the longer term malignancies (cancers)
- Fatigue-related work impairment and accidents. This is a serious issue for rural communities and farms, where workplace injury is already a significant problem
- Fatigue driving heavy vehicles and school buses (a safety concern for the entire rural community)
- Fatigue in workers such as health care workers (Australia), air traffic controllers (USA), well known to lead to impaired judgment which will detrimentally impact on the safety of the wider community, in addition to personal health problems for those individuals
Chronic stress (Psychological & Physiological) & its consequences
Illnesses either caused or exacerbated by chronic stress have been well documented in published peer reviewed research literature for many years, and are being reported by these residents. Some overlap with those listed above for sleep disturbance, which is itself a source of stress. They include the following:
- Cardiovascular disorders (including hypertension), ischemic heart disease, angina, and transient ischemic attacks (precursors of strokes)
- Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety, often severe (suicidal ideation)
- Impaired immunity, (elevated cortisol being one component) leading to increased acute and chronic infections, delayed healing, and in the longer term to malignancies (cancers)
- Disrupted human fertility and hormonal cycles
- Exacerbation of pre-existing inflammatory disorders, including arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, SLE (Lupus), or the development of new inflammatory conditions which coincide with exposure to ILFN & vibration
Is there a link between ILFN and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Repetitive physiological stress events as well as a once off major acutely stressful event like a fire or a flood or a major accident have both been linked with subsequent development of PTSD.
There are residents living near ILFN sources who have reported that symptoms of their pre-existing PTSD (resulting from Vietnam War experiences or childhood sexual abuse) are triggered with exposure to operating wind turbines. Other residents with a history of PTSD have reported feeling the symptoms of a panic attack coming on when driving past operating turbines (these individuals were unaware of any possible connection between ILFN and anxiety symptoms, and were strong supporters of wind turbines at the time).
Helicopter noise, and blast noise and vibration from mining have also been reported by other clinicians as triggers for recurrence of PTSD symptoms in their patients. All these are also known sources of ILFN & vibration, as well as sources of sudden impulsive noise.
There are also reports of people who develop PTSD after exposure to operating wind turbines, having no previous psychiatric problems. One former resident at a wind development has ongoing problems with residual PTSD seven years after they moved away, having been bought out and silenced by the wind developer.
Stress and dental disease
Stress is an acknowledged long term contributor to dental disease via a number of mechanisms including impaired immunity and a dry mouth from repetitive physiological stress episodes. Increased severity of dental infections has certainly been reported by some residents living near turbines who report this as one of a number of health problems.
The conditions below have been reported from Germany in residents exposed to operating wind turbines for over 10 years.
- Pericardial thickening
- Mitral and tricuspid valve thickening
- Characteristic mouth ulcers described in Vibroacoustic disease
The cardiac tissue pathology is identical to that described in workers and others studied by the Portuguese researchers who first described vibroacoustic disease (VAD), now being diagnosed in others including most recently in Taiwanese aviation workers.
The occurrence of symptoms correlating with ILFN exposure
All of the above problems listed have the characteristic pattern of improving partially or completely when the turbines are off, or when the residents are away from their homes or source of other ILFN.
Some residents also report subsequently being affected by other sources of ILFN, such as when flying in some aeroplanes, or when exposed to LFN from heating and cooling (air conditioning) compressors, or travelling in some motor vehicles. This is not unknown to acousticians, and is evidence of that individual’s sensitisation to ILFN, described by Professor Leventhall in 2003. The only known solutions are either removal of the source of the ILFN, or relocating away from it.
What happens with ongoing exposure? Do people “get used to it”?
What is being consistently observed is that the symptoms progress, and the mental and physical health of many sick people deteriorates with ongoing exposure to ILFN, if they cannot move away.
This pattern of deterioration was well described in the scientific literature relating to chronic stress by Bruce McEwen in 1998, in an important review article in the New England Journal of Medicine. (McEwen, Bruce “Protective and Damaging Effects of Stress Mediators” New England Journal of Medicine 1998, 338 171–179)
There is no clinical or experimental evidence that people “get used to” the sound energy in low frequencies, especially once they are “sensitised”. | <urn:uuid:87d8a23f-69da-4a3f-9aef-4235220b99c7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://waubrafoundation.org.au/health/symptoms/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960445 | 2,902 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Botanists Call Them “Novelties”
Botanists have been exploring North America for more than 250 years and they have found about 20,000 species of vascular plants. With that many plants, you would think botanists had found them all; but you would be wrong. About 40 new plant species are discovered each year in North America. Botanists call these new species “novelties” and the hope of finding new novelties keeps botanists exploring the remote nooks and crannies of North America year after year.
Some of the best and most remote nooks and crannies are on our national forests. For instance, botanists have discovered three new species on national forests in New Mexico in the last few years. Heil’s alpine whitlowgrass was discovered on the Santa Fe National Forest and Capitan Peak alumroot and Cloudcroft scorpionweed were discovered on the Lincoln National Forest.
Ken Heil and Steve O’Kane are expert botanists who have been exploring New Mexico for decades. They packed on horse into the remotest parts of the Pecos Wilderness on the Santa Fe National Forest in July 2008. While searching the alpine tundra above 12,000 feet, they found a tiny little mustard about 3 inches tall that they recognized as a whitlowgrass (Draba spp.). However, they had never seen a whitlowgrass like this one and suspected it might be a new species. They sent specimens to Ishan Al-Shehbaz at the Missouri Botanical Garden who is an expert on these plants. Al-Shehbaz confirmed the plants were a new species and published the name Draba heilii in 2009.
Patrick Alexander is a doctoral candidate at New Mexico State University. He is an avid explorer, skilled photographer, and keenly observant botanist. While hiking in the Capitan Mountain Wilderness on the Lincoln National Forest in 2006, he found an alumroot (Heuchera spp.) he could not identify using the Flora of New Mexico. But, perhaps this species was just new in New Mexico and already well known elsewhere. Further study revealed that indeed this was a new undescribed alumroot with the closest similar alumroots being found in the Pacific Northwest and adjacent Canada. Alexander published the name Heuchera woodsiaphila in 2008.
Dwayne Atwood is a former Forest Service botanist, assistant curator of the herbarium at Brigham Young University, and expert on scorpionweeds (Phacelia spp.). He was studying scorpionweed specimens from all over the Southwest when he found one that just did not fit. The plant had been collected in the 1960s along U.S. Highway 82 near the town of Cloudcroft on the Lincoln National Forest. He visited the forest in 1993 and found plants in the same general area as the one collected in the 1960s. He concluded this was a new species and told other botanists to be looking for it. But, no more plants were found and he ultimately decided he could delay publication on longer. After all, perhaps recognition with a name would inspire more botanists to look for this elusive plant. He published the name Phacelia cloudcroftensis in December of 2007. In 2009, botanist Bob Sivinski found and photographed the Cloudcroft scorpionweed at a completely new location on the Lincoln National Forest helping confirm that this new species really does exist.
Are there more botanical novelties waiting to be discovered on New Mexico national forests? “By all means yes,” is the universal response from New Mexico botanists. | <urn:uuid:255ed857-2ee0-4b26-847c-2d6568b45a0c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/regions/southwestern/news/novelties.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964133 | 756 | 3.1875 | 3 |
common name: alligatorweed flea beetle (suggested common name)
scientific name: Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Halticinae)
Introduction - Distribution - Description - Life Cycle and Biology - Host - Economic Importance - Selected References
Alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. (Amaranthaceae), is an invasive aquatic weed native to South America that began threatening Florida's waterways in the early 1900s. This rooted perennial herb reproduces vegetatively from stem fragments and forms dense floating mats. The floating mats impede navigation, block drains and water intake valves, reduce light penetration, and displace native species. Alligatorweed is a prohibited species in Florida (UF/IFAS 2015).
The alligatorweed flea beetle, Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt, was the first insect ever studied for biological control of an aquatic weed. The introduction of this insect into the United States was approved in 1963, but it was not successfully established on the invasive alligatorweed until 1965. The insect was first released in 1964 in California, and subsequently, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas.
Figure 1. Larvae and adult of the alligatorweed flea beetle, Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt. Larvae shown devouring leaves and stems. Photograph by Gary Buckingham, USDA-ARS; Bugwood.org.
The first successful release in Florida was made on plants infesting the Ortega River near Jacksonville, Florida. These insects were originally obtained from the Ezeiza Lagoon near Buenos Aires, Argentina (Buckingham et al. 1983). Most of the beetles that were later released at subsequent locations were progeny (offspring) from this original population.
Agasicles hygrophila is native to southern Brazil and northern Argentina. It also is present in, Australia, China, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and Thailand,where it was introduced as a biological control agent of alligatorweed (CSIRO 2004, Winston et al. 2014).
In the United States, this leaf beetle is present in the southeastern U.S., but is less common in northern inland areas where winter temperatures eliminate the emerged portions of the plants and summers are hot and dry.
Eggs: When the eggs are laid, they are uniformly light cream colored but change to a pale orange yellow 24 hours later. On average, the eggs measure 1.25 mm by 0.38 mm and are laid in two parallel rows. Each pair of eggs forms a V, which creates a chevron-like pattern for the mass. An egg mass contains from 12 to 54 eggs (average=32).
Larvae: Neonates (newly hatched larvae) lack complete pigmentation; the head, legs and body are pale gray. The legs turn brown in color within a few hours after eclosion (hatching). Older larvae are light gray in color with a brown head and legs. The integument (external covering) of mature larvae is dark gray in color. The instars (larvae between successive molts) range in length from 1.2 to 2.0 mm, 2.2 to 4.0 mm, 4.1 to 6.0 mm, for the first to third instars, respectively. Head capsule widths for the three instars measure 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 mm, respectively.
Pupae: The pupae (nonfeeding, transitional stage) are soft-bodied and uniformly pale cream in color.
Adults: Adult alligatorweed flea beetles measure 5 to 7 mm in length and about 2 mm in width. The shiny adults have a black head and thorax; the elytra (hardened forewings) are black with yellow stripes.
Figure 2. Adult alligatorweed flea beetle, Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt, on a damaged leaf. Note characteristic feeding scars. Photograph by USDA-ARS.
Adult females begin to lay eggs about six days after emerging from the pupal stage. They deposit their eggs in masses on the undersides of alligatorweed leaves. Oviposition continues for about three weeks during which time the female produces, on average, 1,127 eggs during her lifetime, which averages 48 days.
The larvae hatch in four days when the ambient temperature ranges from 20° to 30°C. Larvae emerge from the eggs by rupturing the chorion (egg covering) along a longitudinal line for a distance of about one-third its length. Neonates (newly hatched larvae) prefer to feed on young leaves, and larvae are gregarious at first but later become solitary as they move away from the egg masses. The stadia (developmental periods) are three, two, and three days for the three instars, respectively. Total developmental time for the larval stage is eight days.
After the larvae are mature, they search for a suitable site in which to pupate. Larvae pupate within the hollow stem of alligatorweed, so stem diameter is critical. They normally descend from the tip to the fourth internode (portion of the stem between leaf nodes) but always pupate above the waterline. Larvae chew a circular hole in the internode and enter the hollow stem with the head oriented toward the growing tip. They plug the hole with masticated (chewed) plant tissue and seal off a chamber within the stem. The flea beetle is unable to reproduce on the terrestrial form of alligatorweed because the stems are solid, which prevents pupation.
In the southeastern United States, two population peaks (spring and fall) occur in the southern most parts of the insect's range whereas only one generation (fall) occurs in the more northerly areas. Because the beetles are poorly adapted to freezing temperatures (lack a winter diapause), they starve during the winter months when alligatorweed populations are frozen down to the waterline. They also suffer during periods of high temperature, and their fecundity (egg production) is reduced at temperatures above 26°C.
The only known host of Agasicles hygrophila is the alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb. (Amaranthaceae).
Figure 3. Dense stand of alligatorweed, Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb (left), with floret and leaf (right). Photograph by University of Florida.
Alligatorweed flea beetles kill the plant by destroying its stored food and interfering with photosynthesis by removing leaf tissue. Both adults and larvae feed on the leaves of alligatorweed, often defoliating the stems. After the leaves have been consumed, the insects will then chew the epidermis (outer surface) from the stems. Feeding damage by young larvae consists of circular pits < 1 mm in diameter located on the abaxial (lower) surface of the leaf. The larvae do not chew entirely through the leaf but leave the upper surface intact. Later instars consume more leaf tissue, creating larger and more irregular feeding pits, and may feed on either side of the leaf. High flea beetle populations can decimate alligatorweed, reducing it to bare stems in a short time. From a distance, alligatorweed mats under attack appear yellow, progressing to brown until the plants collapse. Once established, his insect is capable of reducing plant populations in about 3 months.
This insect has been an extremely effective biological control agent in coastal regions of the southeastern United States, as can be seen in U.S. Army Corps of Engineer photographs (USACE 2007). Because the beetles cannot survive exposure to winter temperatures, populations of the insects are routinely re-established in the northern inland areas by augmentative releases conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Jacksonville Office (USACE 2008). This is a novel case of a classical biological control agent being used for augmentative biological control of alligatorweed in areas where the beetle is unable to established permanent populations.
- Buckingham GR, Boucias D, Theriot RF. 1983. Reintroduction of the alligator flea beetle (Agasicles hygrophila Selman and Vogt) into the United States from Argentina. Journal of Aquatic Plant Management 21: 101-102.
- Buckingham GR. 2002. Alligatorweed. pp. 5-16. In Van Driesche R, Blossey B, Hoddle M, Lyon S, Reardon R (editors). Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States, USDA Forest Service Publication FHTET-2002-04.
- Center TD, Dray Jr FA, Jubinsky GP, Grodowitz MJ. 2002. Insects and Other Arthropods That Feed on Aquatic and Wetland plants. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Technical Bulletin No. 1870.
- CSIRO. (2004). Alligatorweed flea beetle, Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt. CSIRO Entomology. (31 October 2013).
- Grodowitz MJ, Whitaker, SL. (2005). Agasicles hygrophila - Alligatorweed Flea Beetle. Engineer Research and Development Center. (31 October 2013).
- Langeland KA, Cherry HM, McCormick CM, Craddock Burks, KA. 2008. Identification and Biology of Nonnative Plants in Florida's Natural Areas, 2nd Edition. University of Florida/IFAS. Gainesville, FL.
- Lieurance D, Flory S, Cooper A, Gordon D, Fox A, Dusky J, Tyson L. (2013). Assessment of nonnative plants in Florida’s natural areas: History, purpose, and use. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ag376 (16 November 2015).
- Masterson J. (December 2007). Agasicles hygrophila, Alligatorweed Flea Beetle. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce. (31 October 2013).
- USACE (October 2007). Agasicles hygrophila Selman & Vogt - "Alligatorweed Flea Beetle." U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Environmental Laboratory. (no longer available online).
- USACE. (July 2008). Alligatorweed. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Jacksonville. (31 October 2013).
- Winston RL, Schwarzländer M, Hinz HL, Day MD, Cock MJW, Julien MH (eds.). 2014. Biological control of weeds: A world catalogue of agents and their target weeds, 5th edition. USDA Forest Service, FHTET, Morgantown, West VA, FHTET-2014-04. | <urn:uuid:715c146f-74a0-4a4c-b21d-13cba48d25a3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/beetles/alligatorweed_flea_beetle.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00090-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914817 | 2,260 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Pronunciation: (vyOO), [key]
1. an instance of seeing or beholding; visual inspection.
2. sight; vision.
3. range of sight or vision: Several running deer came into the view of the hunters.
4. a sight or prospect of a landscape, the sea, etc.: His apartment affords a view of the park.
5. a picture or photograph of something: The postcard bears a view of Vesuvius.
6. a particular manner of looking at something: From a practical view, the situation presents several problems.
7. contemplation or consideration of a matter with reference to action: a project in view.
8. aim, intention, or purpose.
9. prospect; expectation: the view for the future.
10. a sight afforded of something from a position stated or qualified: a bird's-eye view.
11. a general account or description of a subject.
12. a conception of a thing; opinion; theory: His view was not supported by the facts.
13. a survey; inspection: a view of Restoration comedy.
14. in view,
a. within range of vision.
b. under consideration.
c. as an end sought: She went over the material with the scholarship examination in view.
15. in view of, in consideration of; on account of: In view of the circumstances, it seems best to wait until tomorrow.
16. on view, in a place for public inspection; on exhibition: The latest models of automobiles are now on view.
17. with a view to,
a. with the aim or intention of.
b. with the expectation or hope of: They saved their money with a view to being able to buy a house someday.
1. to see; watch: to view a movie.
2. to look at; survey; inspect: to view the construction of a road.
3. to contemplate mentally; consider: to view the repercussions of a decision.
4. to regard in a particular light or as specified: She views every minor setback as a disaster.
5. Fox Hunting.to sight (a fox).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. | <urn:uuid:0dc7e12c-c7d1-49dd-8e21-dd6413a84d4b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dictionary.infoplease.com/view | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923717 | 479 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Is Your Sushi Killing You?
Mercury. It’s poisonous, and it’s in our favorite fish. How worried should we be?
For decades now, doctors and media pundits have been warning us about the dangers of mercury in fish, particularly in larger varieties such as swordfish and tuna. Given how much ahi Hawaii eats, are we doomed to slow mercury poisoning? And how much do you have to eat, anyway, to catch a toxic dose?
The short answer: No one really knows for sure. Neither the Hawaii State Department of Health (DOH) nor the feds have an advisory on the subject for the general public. The good news: Hawaii has had no known cases of mercury poisoning stemming from fish consumption, says state toxicologist Barbara Brooks. The furthest the state will go is to warn pregnant women, nursing mothers and younger children to eat ahi only once every two weeks, and to completely avoid shark, marlin and swordfish.
That doesn’t mean the rest of us can relax. Hawaii researchers continue to study the mercury levels of ahi caught in Island waters, and while the levels don’t approach the unambiguously dangerous level found in shark, tilefish and swordfish (1 part per million, or ppm, roughly), they’re far from zero. Of 97 tuna (bigeye, yellowfin and skipjack) tested by the state DOH in 2009, bigeye ahi had the highest levels, with .542 PPM, (plus or minus 0.261 PPM). You’d have to eat a lot of ahi, for a long time, to incur much risk, but given Hawaii’s abundance of fresh fish, it’s something to keep in mind.
To further complicate matters, ahi also contains selenium, a trace element that scientists believe helps counteract the toxic effects of methylmercury. And let’s not forget that ahi is also a rich source of lean protein filled with omega-3 fatty acids ... if you need some shred of hope to cling to as you dig into yet another poke bowl. | <urn:uuid:360b75bd-1214-41bd-b7ce-2c68be474791> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.honolulumagazine.com/Honolulu-Magazine/December-2013/The-Everything-Guide-to-Ahi/Is-Your-Sushi-Killing-You/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00030-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944788 | 441 | 2.859375 | 3 |
'Little Pompeii' found 70 km northeast of Venice
3rd-century funerary complex preserved by natural disaster21 February, 16:58
An imposing monument from the third century AD was located outside the ancient walls of what was once the Roman colony of Iulia Concordia, now in the town of Concordia Sagittaria.
The site was likened to a "little, flood-plain Pompeii" in a guided tour at the restoration site in Gruaro, Veneto. Just as Pompeii was buried by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, a natural disaster wiped out and preserved sarcophagi in Iulia Concordia.
Floods swept detritus and sediment across the area in the fifth century AD, rendering the ancient structures inaccessible and invisible for 1500 years.
The complex includes a podium nearly two metres tall and six metres long with the remains of two elegant sarcophagi on top, two others nearby, and the base of a third.
The remains of a necropolis from the the late first century B.C. was also found.
The excavation is financed by the Region of Veneto with European Union funds under the direction of the Veneto Superintendency for Archeological Heritage. | <urn:uuid:b63e9d5a-482e-47fb-89b3-4498771dd62e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2014/02/21/-Little-Pompeii-found-70-km-northeast-Venice_10120249.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951936 | 252 | 2.96875 | 3 |
According to a new study, less US teens are using sunscreen while the rates of skin cancer including, deadly melanoma, are increasing. In addition, the use of tanning salons is increasing. The findings are of particular importance to residents of Sunbelt locations such as Southern California where sunshine is plentiful. The findings were presented on August 21 in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease by researchers at William Patterson University in New Jersey. The journal is published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The study authors note that skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US. From 2001 to 2010, the incidence of melanoma increased each year by 1.6% among men and by 1.4% among women; thus, preventive measures, such as using sunscreen and avoiding artificial tanning devices, are recommended to avoid developing skin cancer. In addition, skin-protection behaviors are particularly important for children and teens because sun exposure during childhood and adolescence directly influences the development of skin cancer later in life, Therefore they conducted a study to assess the use of sunscreen and indoor tanning devices among a nationally representative sample of high school students during a 10-year period (2001–2011).
For the study, the accessed data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YTBSS). The data represented each sex, race/ethnicity group, high school grade, and almost every US state. The study focused on the analysis of responses to two YRBSS questions: (1) When you are outside for more than one hour on a sunny day, how often do you wear sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher? and (2) During the past 12 months, how many times did you use an indoor tanning device, such as a sunlamp, sunbed, or tanning booth?
The investigators found that the overall percentage of students who reported using sunscreen dropped from 67.7% in 2001 to 56.1% in 2011. The lowest prevalence during the study period occurred in 2005 (55.3%). Similar patterns were found among Caucasian males and females. Overall, a larger percentage of females than males consistently reported using sunscreen. In addition, Caucasian students reported using sunscreen at higher rates than African Americans, Hispanic, and other racial/ethnic groups. The rates of sunscreen use were similar for all grade levels.
The study authors stressed that overexposure to ultraviolet radiation is a risk factor for skin cancer and that prevention of overexposure is especially important during childhood and adolescence. They concluded that their study supports past research that adolescents practice behaviors that increase the risk for skin cancer. In addition, the study found that certain demographic subgroups, girls and young women, are especially at risk for engaging in unsafe skin-protection practices. They recommended that future preventive efforts should prioritize these young people. | <urn:uuid:be096eb8-6704-4eea-8764-b25c2b2a707f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.examiner.com/article/us-teens-shunning-sunscreen-reports-new-study?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956707 | 567 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Walk into any stone, terrazzo or janitorial chemical supplier and you will find an endless selection of cleaners, sealers, restorers, etc., to keep your terrazzo and stone floors looking new.
The problem is that many of these chemicals can be harmful to the user, occupants, and the environment.
How does one design a program that is not only sustainable and safe, but also keeps terrazzo and stone flooring in like-new condition?
The following guideline will show you how to develop a sustainable maintenance program.
A good sustainable maintenance program starts with proper identification of the stone.
Is it granite, marble, terrazzo or limestone?
If it’s marble, is it soft or hard?
What type of finish does it have?
Is the type of stone the proper material for the traffic it is to receive? If not, maintenance costs will be higher.
If the answers are unknown, contact a reputable stone supplier or restoration company.
A complete understanding of your particular stone’s characteristics is an absolute must for designing a sustainable maintenance program.
Once the stone’s characteristics are identified, one can determine the quality of the installation.
Are the tiles flat and even?
Do they contain lippage (uneven tiles)? If so, proper maintenance may prove difficult.
The floor should be ground flat, then honed and polished using sustainable restoration procedures that utilize non-chemical methods.
Are there any cracked tiles?
Dirt has a tendency to accumulate in these cracks.
These tiles should be replaced, or if replacements are not available, at least repaired.
What is the present condition of the stone?
Has it been coated with waxes, acrylics, urethane or other coatings?
If so, these coatings need to be ground off to determine the condition of the stone as well as eliminate any toxic and unsafe properties.
If a poor condition is found, complete restoration is necessary before a successful sustainable maintenance program can begin.
Only after the stone is restored to like-new condition will a sustainable maintenance program provide good results.
This applies not only to the following, but to any program.
If the stone will be exposed to water, coffee, spills, etc., an application of an approved green impregnator is recommended.
These impregnators are designed to penetrate into the stone, without leaving coatings on the surface and still allowing the stone to transpire (breathe).
They contain no harmful vapors or off gases when cured.
The three most important tasks that can be done on a daily basis to keep the stone’s appearance new and extending the time before restoration is required are: Dust mopping, dust mopping, and mopping with a duster.
The most destructive materials to the majority of stones are miscellaneous gritty substances such as sand and dirt.
If these substances could be eliminated, maintenance of the stone would be almost non-existent.
A stone floor can never be dust mopped too often.
Use a clean, non-treated, dry dust mop at least two to three times a day in high traffic areas and less often in low traffic areas.
Walk-off mats placed outside and inside an entrance will eliminate a good portion of sand, dirt and grit.
It takes approximately seven steps to remove all loose dirt from the bottom of one’s shoes.
Walk-off mats also need to be removed and cleaned daily.
Keep this in mind when purchasing walk-off mats.
Remember, if sand, dirt and grit are eliminated, there will be nothing left behind to scratch and dull the stone.
Moreover, coatings, in addition to potentially being hazardous, contribute to the accelerated wearing of the stone or terrazzo surface by acting as a magnet for dirt and debris.
It has been shown in studies that a stone or terrazzo floor without any coating will be easier to maintain and more cost effective.
All natural stone, both polished and unpolished, should be cleaned daily in high traffic areas and less often in lower traffic areas.
A clean rayon or cotton string mop should be used with cold to warm water with the addition of a quality, green-certified neutral cleaner or stone soap.
Approved green neutral cleaners are defined as surfactant-type detergents that have a pH of seven.
Acidic and alkaline cleaners should not be used.
Be sure to follow the directions carefully.
Why does stone shine?
All stone is taken from the earth in a raw block form.
This block is cut into slices that we call slabs.
The slabs are then cut further to a smaller size, such as tile or countertop.
It is then polished using a series of abrasive materials.
The mechanics are relatively simple.
A piece of stone is rubbed with a series of abrasives starting with a coarse grit size followed by finer grit sizes.
The scratch pattern left behind from one grit is removed by the next grit, creating finer scratches.
This process is continued until the scratch pattern becomes microscopic.
The process is similar to refinishing a piece of wood, starting with coarse sandpaper and ending with fine sandpaper.
The shine is placed on the stone by continuing this abrading process using very fine powders.
With sustainable (green) restoration methods, no chemicals are used.
Periodically, the stone will need to be restored.
However, how often this will need to be done is difficult to determine.
Generally, if all the precautions above are followed, restoration may only be needed as often as once per year or as little as once every five years.
The restoration process re-hones the stone to remove deep scratches and, in this process, is re-polished.
Do not attempt the re-honing process yourself, this requires a great degree of skill and experience. Call a reputable restoration company who specializes in sustainable methods for this task.
Natural stone care and maintenance is one of the oldest tasks performed by our ancestors and was done without any of today’s modern chemical products.
The above guidelines were developed after years of experience with this beautiful material which, with the addition of sustainable practices, will continue to provide many years of beauty.
Dr. Frederick M. Hueston is an internationally known stone consultant. He is also the founder of the National Training Center for Stone and Masonry Trades, Stone University (stoneuniversity.org
) and serves as technical director for Boylan Stone Restoration (boylanstonerestoration.com
). For further information on going green, e-mail email@example.com
or visit http://thestonedude.blogspot.com | <urn:uuid:be3cc976-bf42-4d83-af32-cbe465346ad0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cmmonline.com/articles/designing-a-sustainable-stone-floor-maintenance-program-3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930179 | 1,398 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Major Ideas and Issues in Education
SOC202 (Liberal Arts) Major Ideas and Issues in Education 3 hrs. 3 crs. An introduction to the major historical, philosophical, and sociological ideas in American education, including the history of schooling in the United States. Historical threads from a variety of multicultural perspectives will be presented, and philosophical approaches from selected global thinkers will be discussed. The student will be encouraged to develop his/her own unique philosophy of education. Preq: ENG 125. Not open to students with credit in PHIL 202. Required for all teacher education students. This course is cross-listed with PHIL 202. This is a Writing Intensive course. | <urn:uuid:bc22dd27-d6e9-4fdf-ba32-7edf7c3f7445> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.york.cuny.edu/produce-and-print/contents/bulletin/listing-of-courses/listing-of-courses-by-department/SOC/SOC202 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913095 | 136 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Posted: November 21, 2013, 4:10 p.m. EST
© Courtesy of Joanne Kosiorek
It takes time to introduce rabbits to each other, and not all rabbits will get along.
Q: Help! I have a 3-year-old Rex female rabbit who is not very friendly and seems frightened most of the time. It takes a lot of effort for me to get to hold her. We let her roam free in our home, and she spends most of the time under one of our boys’ beds. We just got a new Flemish Giant girl, and our other rabbit is now extremely aggressive and biting and growling. She even attacked the Flemish. Any help in making our Rex more comfortable and loving would be greatly appreciated.
A: First of all I would suggest getting an exercise pen to contain your Rex rabbit inside your house. It is great when rabbits have the run of a whole house, but if they seem afraid and hide a lot, it is not ideal.
To help your Rex feel safer, make the exercise pen her home, outfitting it with everything she needs. Spend time in the pen with her, talk to her softly and offer some veggies by hand. With time and patience she should learn to trust you. When she is comfortable with you and comes up to you inside the pen, then allow her playtime outside of the pen. Once she seems comfortable and unafraid during this playtime, you can allow her to live in a rabbit-proofed room. If you then want her to have run of the house, do it gradually.
Besides her initial fearfulness, you are now dealing with territorial behavior because you have added another rabbit. Your Rex thinks she has to protect her territory, which happens to be the whole house. Rabbits often want to fight with another rabbit when they first meet, so it can be very dangerous to just let them be in the house together. There is a bonding period you need to go through when introducing rabbits, first to see if they like each other, and second to gradually get them together without fighting. Plus, both rabbits must be spayed or neutered before doing the introduction.
See more rabbit Q&As, click here>>
See rabbit health Q&As, click here>>
See Caroline Charland's author bio, click here>> | <urn:uuid:00ddb2c8-5a0c-46bc-861f-8200e39ad528> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.smallanimalchannel.com/critter-experts/rabbit/rabbit-fears-people-and-attacks-new-rabbit-in-house-1311.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00023-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972209 | 483 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Ecosystem-based management for protected species in the North Pacific Fisheries.
|Abstract:||In the North Pacific Ocean, an ecosystem-based fishery management approach has been adopted. A significant objective of this approach is to reduce interactions between fishery-related activities and protected species. We review management measures developed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce effects of the groundfish fisheries off Alaska on marine mammals and seabirds, while continuing to provide economic opportunities for fishery participants. Direct measures have been taken to mitigate known fishery impacts, and precautionary measures have been taken for species with potential (but no documented) interactions with the groundfish fisheries. Area closures limit disturbance to marine mammals at rookeries and haulouts, protect sensitive benthic habitat, and reduce potential competition for prey resources. Temporal and spatial dispersion of catches reduce the localized impact of fishery removals. Seabird avoidance measures have been implemented through collaboration with fishery participants and have been highly successful in reducing seabird by catch. Finally, a comprehensive observer monitoring program provides data on the location and extent of by catch of marine mammals and seabirds. These measures provide managers with the flexibility to adapt to changes in the status of protected species and evolving conditions in the fisheries. This review should be useful to fishery managers as an example of an ecosystem-based approach to protected species management that is adaptive and accounts for multiple objectives.|
(Protection and preservation)
Fishes (Protection and preservation)
Wildlife conservation (Protection and preservation)
Ecosystems (Protection and preservation)
Heltzel, Jeannie M.
Wilson, William J.
|Publication:||Name: Marine Fisheries Review Publisher: Superintendent of Documents Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Agricultural industry; Business Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2011 U.S. Department of Commerce ISSN: 0090-1830|
|Issue:||Date: Summer, 2011 Source Volume: 73 Source Issue: 3|
|Product:||Product Code: 0910000 Fishing; 9106280 Wildlife Protection Programs NAICS Code: 11411 Fishing; 92412 Administration of Conservation Programs|
|Organization:||Government Agency: United States. North Pacific Fishery Management Council; United States. Fish and Wildlife Service|
|Geographic:||Geographic Scope: United States Geographic Code: 1USA United States|
In 2010, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order 13547 that established a National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, Coasts, and Great Lakes. The highest priority of the National Policy is to adopt ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for comprehensive management of the oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes (CEQ, 2010). Federal agencies are directed to take appropriate steps and to work together to implement the National Policy objectives to the fullest extent consistent with applicable law.
An ecosystem-based strategy to manage fisheries involves using the best available scientific information to promote long-term sustainability and to prevent adverse and irreversible harm to ecosystem structure and functioning by addressing how fishing activities affect biodiversity, food web interactions, and habitat (NMFS, 1999; Pikitch et al., 2004; Fluharty, 2005). Practical strategies to achieve ecosystem-based management of marine fisheries include: 1) maintaining abundant fish stocks, 2) maintaining healthy habitats, 3) maintaining biodiversity and food webs, 4) minimizing the effects of fisheries on protected species, 5) incorporating variable environmental conditions, uncertainty, and ecosystem science into decision making, and, 6) coordinating with other nongovernmental agencies and communities to address nonfishery impacts on marine ecosystems (Francis et al., 2007; Marasco et al., 2007; Witherell, 2009).
In the North Pacific, measures to protect seabirds and marine mammals arise from an overall ecosystem-based approach for managing Alaska groundfish fisheries (Witherell et al., 2000; NPFMC, 2010a; NPFMC, 2011). The stated management policy is "to apply judicious and responsible fisheries management practices, based on sound scientific research and analysis, proactively rather than reactively, to ensure the sustainability of fishery resources and associated ecosystems for the benefit of future, as well as current, generations." This policy has been implemented through a variety of measures to achieve specified goals (NPFMC, 2010a; NPFMC, 2011). Precautionary and conservative annual catch limits have been established for every target fish species (DiCosimo et al., 2010). Total removals of fish (of all species) from the ecosystem have been constrained by system level optimum yield limits, particularly in the Bering Sea (NMFS, 2004). Bycatch of nontarget species has been controlled with explicit catch limits and area closures (Witherell and Pautzke, 1997; Reuter et al., 2010) and avoided by the fleets using gear modifications and proactive real-time fishery closures (Haflinger and Gruver, 2009). Fishing for forage fish species has been prohibited. Sensitive habitats and vulnerable species have been protected from fishery impacts with marine protected areas (Witherell and Woodby, 2005). At-sea observers, combined with strict reporting requirements and tight enforcement of regulations, ensure effective implementation of these measures. An Ecosystem Considerations Report containing an ecosystem assessment and ecosystem indicators is prepared annually, and provides fishery managers information to qualitatively incorporate ecosystem information into the establishment of annual catch limits for target species (NPFMC, 2010b). The ecosystem-based approach for fisheries, as applied in the North Pacific, provides both direct and indirect beneficial impacts to marine mammals, seabirds, and other components of the ecosystem. This paper reviews these measures as they apply to reducing impacts of fisheries on protected species.
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) was established by the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 and is responsible for developing Fishery Management Plans (FMP's) for fisheries that take place in Federal waters (5.6-370 km or 3-200 nmi from shore) off Alaska (Fig. 1). The process of developing FMP's involves extensive input by state and Federal agencies, industry, and public interest groups, and proposed measures also undergo formal scientific review. Management measures developed by the councils must be approved by the Secretary of Commerce, and they are implemented by NMFS if they meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA) of 2006. In developing FMP's, the MSFCMA requires councils to consider the impacts of fishing activities on all living marine resources, including marine mammals and seabirds.
In addition, fishery management measures are reviewed to ensure that they are consistent with several other Federal laws. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1973 requires that all Federal actions, including fishery management measures implemented by NMFS, be reviewed to ensure that potential environmental impacts are duly weighed and considered in decision making. And the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973 requires the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to ensure that fishing activities do not jeopardize the continued existence of any listed species or adversely modify its designated critical habitat.
Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972, NMFS has responsibility for the management and conservation of all marine mammal species in the North Pacific, with the exception of Pacific walrus, Odobenus rosmarus divergens; sea otter, Enhydra lutris; and polar bear, Ursus maritimus, which are managed by USFWS. The MMPA requires these agencies to conserve species, protect their habitat, limit mortality, and not allow them to diminish below their optimum sustainable population.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 requires NMFS to work cooperatively with USFWS to reduce the impacts of fishing activities on seabirds. The Protected Resources Division of NMFS coordinates management and conservation of protected species, which include marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles, and all marine and anadromous species (including fish and invertebrates) listed under the Endangered Species Act. Fishing activities in state waters of Alaska (0-5.6 km or 0-3 nmi from shore or the baseline) are regulated by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) implements the Board's actions.
Fishing activities may have both direct and indirect impacts on protected species. Direct impacts of fishing activities include inflicting incidental injuries or mortalities of animals through entanglement with fishing gear or vessel strikes or disturbances to animals at rookeries and haulouts. Fishing activities may also affect protected species indirectly through competition for or disruption of access to prey resources (Lowry and Frost, 1985). The indirect effects of fishing are difficult to assess because they often cannot be isolated from other ecosystem processes, such as oceanographic regime shifts and predator-prey dynamics (Springer et al., 2003; DeMaster et al., 2006). Because these impacts are uncertain and difficult to quantify, fisheries managers in the North Pacific have adopted a precautionary approach to mitigate the effects of fishing activities on marine mammals and seabirds.
In the North Pacific, several types of management measures work in concert to reduce interactions between the groundfish fisheries and protected species. Area closures are designed to reduce the direct and indirect impacts of fishing in areas and during time periods determined to be especially important to protected species (Witherell and Woodby, 2005). Catch limits are seasonally apportioned to reduce the likelihood of localized depletion of key prey resources. Seabird avoidance measures allow the longline groundfish and Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, fisheries to be prosecuted with minimal disruption to the fisheries or economic burden on participants while minimizing seabird by catch. Finally, observer monitoring requirements ensure that managers have access to timely and accurate data on the interactions between fisheries and protected species. The North Pacific Observer Program is unique in that the costs of deploying observers are paid for by the fishing industry, but the program is administered by NMFS to ensure that observers provide independent, scientifically valid data (NPFMC, 2010c). In addition, the Council has worked cooperatively with the fishing industry and state and Federal agencies to promote new research on the impacts of fishing on protected species.
This paper examines how the NPFMC and NMFS have developed an ecosystem-based management approach to mitigate interactions between the fisheries off Alaska and protected species. For the purposes of this review, we focus on marine mammal and seabird species which have known or likely interactions with the fisheries off Alaska, and hence have been addressed by the Council management process. We review direct measures developed by the Council and NMFS to mitigate known interactions between protected species and fisheries, and precautionary measures taken in cases where no direct fisheries actions have been identified to date, but where the potential exists for interactions to occur. Although other factors may have contributed to or may have been the primary reason for the decline of some species, such as shooting, predation, or shifts in the ecosystem, fisheries managers have focused on addressing fisheries interactions when and where practicable to assist in the recovery of protected species.
The Council process involves extensive participation by the public, fishery participants, marine scientists, and fishery managers. Protected species management measures continue to be developed and refined as new information becomes available and provide the Council with the tools to address new problems as they are identified (Witherell, 2004, 2005; NPFMC, 2010d).
Direct Measures for Species with Known Fisheries Interactions
Pacific walrus occur in the Bering and Chukchi Seas and make seasonal movements among several areas. In winter, Pacific walrus are found in shelf waters of the Bering Sea and use pack ice as a haulout. The breeding season occurs in late winter, and during this time walrus are concentrated in the Gulf of Anadyr, southwest of St. Lawrence Island, and south of Nunivak Island (Fay, 1982; Speckman et al., 2010; Fig. 2). In summer, most Pacific walrus move north with the receding pack ice to the Chukchi Sea, but thousands of male walrus may remain in Bristol Bay in the southeastern Bering Sea throughout the summer and use terrestrial haulout sites (Fay, 1982; USFWS, 1994; Jay and Hills, 2005; Okonek et al., 2009).
The Council first addressed interactions between Pacific walrus and fishing activities in the late 1980's by establishing several area closures around terrestrial haulouts in Bristol Bay. Walrus use of coastal haulouts in Bristol Bay began increasing in the 1970' s as walrus numbers recovered following restrictions on commercial hunting (Fay et al., 1997). By the 1980's, four primary haulout sites were being used by walrus in Bristol Bay, including Round Island, Cape Peirce, Cape Newenham, and Cape Seniavin. However, peak counts at the largest haulout on Round Island declined in the 1980's by more than 50% from counts in the late 1970's (Okonek et al., 2009). Walrus in Bristol Bay may use more than one haulout during a given season, and the decrease in use of the Round Island haulout may be related to increased use of other Bristol Bay haulouts (Jay and Hills, 2005).
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
Shifts in haulout use within Bristol Bay are not well understood (Jay and Hills, 2005), but walrus use of haulouts may be influenced by human disturbances at haulout sites, which can cause animals to flee haulouts temporarily or abandon them permanently (Salter, 1979; Fay et al., 1989). The decline in use of the Round Island haulout in the early 1980's was coincident with the development of the Togiak Pacific herring, Clupea pallasii, fishery and increased aircraft traffic bringing visitors to Round Island (NPFMC, 1989). Visitor use was restricted and use of the haulout increased. However, Round Island haulout counts declined again in the late 1980's when the yellow fin sole, Limanda aspera, fishery was developed in northern Bristol Bay. This fishery was prosecuted by a fleet of more than 100 vessels during summer months (NPFMC, 1989). Peak annual counts at the Round Island haulout declined from more than 14,000 animals in 1978 to 4,500 in 1988 (Okonek et al., 2009).
In response to concerns expressed by residents of Bristol Bay and wildlife managers from USFWS and ADFG about fishery-related disturbances to walrus using the Bristol Bay haulouts, the Council designated several walrus protection areas in 1989 (NPFMC, 1989; Fig. 3). The closures extend from 5.6 km to 22.2 km (3-12 nmi) from haulouts on Round Island, the Twins, and Cape Peirce, and are intended to reduce fishery-related disturbances to walrus using these sites. The closures are seasonal (1 Apr. through 30 Sept.) and coincide with peak walrus use of haulouts. All vessels with Federal fisheries permits are prohibited from engaging in fishery-related activities in the closure areas. In addition, the State of Alaska created a complementary vessel closure that extends from 0 to 5.6 km (0-3 nmi) from Round Island and is in effect year round. The walrus area closures encompass approximately 3,087 [km.sup.2] (900 [nmi.sup.2]).
The Council did not designate a closure around the walrus haulout at Cape Newenham, but this site is also used as a haulout by Steller sea lions, Eumetopias jubatus, and is encircled by a 37 km (20 nmi) radius Steller sea lion closure that prohibits directed fishing for walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, or Pacific cod, Gadus macrocephalus, using trawl, hook-and-line, and pot gear (Fig. 3; NMFS, 2010a). More recently, the Council has considered establishing a new closure area around a recently established walrus haulout on Hagemeister Island, also located in northern Bristol Bay, where nearly 3,000 walrus have been counted (NPFMC, 2010e).
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
During 2001-10, up to 14% of the Bering Sea yellowfin sole catch was harvested in northern Bristol Bay, with harvests occurring in May and early June (NPFMC, 2010e). The yellowfin sole grounds in Bristol Bay are important to the fleet because halibut by catch is relatively low compared with other yellowfin sole fishing grounds in the Bering Sea (NPFMC, 2010e).
Herring and Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., fisheries are also prosecuted in northern Bristol Bay during the time walrus are present. The intent of establishing a new closure at the Hagemeister haulout site would be to mitigate these potential fishery-related disturbances. The proposed closure would be precautionary, as the status quo fisheries have not been determined to have non-negligible adverse impacts on walrus (NPFMC, 2010e). The primary economic cost of the proposed closure to fishery participants is increased travel time and fuel costs to transit around the closure area, because little fishing activity occurs inside the proposed closure area (NPFMC, 2010e). No action was taken since other sources of walrus disturbance in this area would not be affected by a Council action.
The Council and NMFS monitor other potential impacts of fisheries on walrus in cooperation with USFWS. By catch of Pacific walrus in the commercial fisheries is not considered to be a significant source of mortality. Observer data indicate that fewer than three fishery-related mortalities of walrus occur per year (Allen and Angliss, 2011).
Bottom trawling may disturb benthic habitat in areas that are used by foraging walrus. Walrus generally feed in waters less than 80 m in depth (Fay, 1982; Jay et al., 2001; Jay and Hills, 2005) and forage on the seafloor for bivalve mollusks and other invertebrates (Fay, 1982). In 2007, the Council closed 458,921 [km.sup.2] (133,800 [nmi.sup.2]) of the northern Bering Sea to bottom trawling year-round. A portion of the closed area is designated as the Northern Bering Sea Research Area (188,645 [km.sup.2] or 55,000 [nmi.sup.2]) and a research plan is being developed for the area that may open limited areas to experimental trawling in the future.
The intent of the closures is to protect sensitive benthic habitat in areas where little fishing currently occurs. Fishing activities in the North Pacific have the potential to shift northward as climate patterns and fish distributions change (Mueter and Litzow, 2008). Areas used by Pacific walrus during the late winter breeding season overlap extensively with the newly designated bottom trawl closure areas (Fig. 2).
The USFWS recently determined that listing Pacific walrus as threatened under the ESA is warranted but precluded at this time due to higher priority listings (USFWS, 2011a). A range-wide survey conducted in 2006 estimated a minimum population of 129,000 walrus (Speckman et al., 2010). This may indicate that the population has declined from estimates of more than 200,000 animals in the 1970's and 1980's (Fay et al., 1997), but different survey methods make it difficult to compare historical and recent population estimates (Speckman et al., 2010). If Pacific walrus are listed under the ESA in the future, USFWS would prepare a Biological Opinion evaluating the status of walrus and any adverse impacts of human activities, including fishing. If non-negligible, adverse fishery-related impacts on walrus are identified, the Council and NMFS would likely need to consider additional walrus protection measures.
Steller Sea Lions
Steller sea lions overlap in distribution with commercial fisheries throughout their range off Alaska. Steller sea lions use coastal rookeries on a seasonal basis and use haulouts on a seasonal or year-round basis, and forage offshore from these sites. The diet of Steller sea lions consists of several commercially harvested species, including walleye pollock, Atka mackerel, Pleurogrammus monopterygius; Pacific cod, Pacific salmon, and herring, as well as noncom mercially harvested species (e.g. forage fishes), and it varies seasonally and by area (Sinclair and Zeppelin, 2002).
Steller sea lion numbers declined dramatically beginning in the 1970's, and the species was initially listed as threatened in 1990. Two distinct population segments (DPS) were later identified based on genetic and demographic differences, and the western DPS was listed as endangered in 1997. The western DPS of Steller sea lions declined by about 80% from the 1970's to 2000, and then increased slightly from 2000 to 2008, although the trend is not statistically significant (NMFS, 2010a). Declines have continued in some areas, particularly in the western and central Aleutian Islands (NMFS, 2010a).
Many management measures have been implemented since 1990 when Steller sea lions were initially listed as threatened. These measures are summarized in detail in NMFS (2010a, 2010b), and an overview of the measures is provided here. Prior to 1990, shooting and incidental take in commercial fisheries were likely important causes of the decline (Loughlin and York, 2001). An estimated 6,543 Steller sea lions were incidentally taken in groundfish fisheries off Alaska from 1978 through 1988, although there was generally a declining trend in the number of animals taken per year over this time period (Perez and Loughlin, 1991). Shooting at or near a sea lion was prohibited in 1990, and the incidental take limit was reduced by 50%. In recent years, fewer than 20 sea lions per year have been taken in the groundfish fisheries off Alaska (Allen and Angliss, 2011).
Extensive area and fishing closures have been implemented around rookeries and haulouts and several larger at-sea foraging areas to reduce disturbance to animals and to reduce the potential for fisheries to cause localized depletion of prey species (NMFS, 2010a; NMFS, 2010b). In 1990, when Steller sea lions were initially listed, 5.6 km (3 nmi) radius no-entry zones were established around all rookeries.
Several consultations conducted by NMFS under Section 7 of the ESA have concluded that the groundfish fisheries may be contributing to the decline of sea lions and have resulted in additional closures. Groundfish trawling was prohibited within an 18.5 km (10 nmi) radius of all rookeries in 1992. In 1999, the western DPS of Steller sea lions was listed as endangered and this prohibition was extended to all major haulouts for the pollock trawl fishery. Some closures around rookeries and haulouts were extended to a 37 km (20 nmi) radius either on a seasonal or year-round basis. In addition, the Aleutian Islands were closed to directed pollock fishing.
In 2002, the Council, together with NMFS, developed a comprehensive suite of gear, fishery, and area closures, including no transit and fishing zones extending up to 37 km (20 nmi) from rookeries and haulouts and directed fishing closures for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel in three important foraging areas. Altogether, these closures total approximately 198,940 [km.sup.2] (58,000 [nmi.sup.2]) in waters off Alaska and encompass extensive portions of the area designated as critical habitat by NMFS in 1993 (Fig. 4). Detailed descriptions and maps of the Steller sea lion area, time, and fishery closures are available on the NMFS website (http:// www.fakr.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/sslpm/), and are not displayed here owing to the complexity of the closures. Area closures have generally resulted in a decrease in the proportion of catch made inside Steller sea lion critical habitat in the walleye pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel fisheries (Table 1; NMFS, 2010a). The catch data in Table 1 are calculated from annual catch data provided in NMFS (2010a).
In addition to area closures, the total allowable catch (TAC) of three species that are important prey items for Steller sea lions (walleye pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel) is seasonally apportioned to distribute fishing effort over time (NMFS, 2010b). Temporal distribution of fishing effort may reduce the likelihood that fishing activities will cause localized depletion of key prey species. These measures have been implemented for the largest fisheries off Alaska, including the Bering Sea pollock, Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel, Gulf of Alaska pollock, and Pacific cod fisheries. In addition, directed trawling for pollock, Pacific cod, and Atka mackerel is closed from 1 November through 19 January, and area-specific harvest limits have been established in key Steller sea lion foraging areas. Finally, directed harvests of forage fish species (with the exception of herring), some of which are regionally and temporally important prey items for many marine mammals and seabirds, have been prohibited since 1998.
In a recent biological opinion, NMFS determined that the status quo groundfish fisheries in the Aleutian Islands may be jeopardizing the continued existence of the western DPS of Steller sea lions and adversely modifying its designated critical habitat (NMFS, 2010a). In addition to fisheries, environmental changes were also identified as likely contributors to the decline, and predation by killer whales, contaminants, and interspecific competition were identified as possible contributors to the decline (NMFS, 2010a). The Steller Sea Lion Recovery Plan divides the western DPS into 7 subareas, and the Plan's recovery criteria state that if the western DPS is declining in two or more adjacent subareas, the recovery plan goals are not being met (NMFS, 2008a). Because fisheries effects, along with enviromental changes, were identified as likely contributors to the decline of Steller sea lions, the Biological Opinion recommended additional restrictions on the Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fisheries in the Aleutian Islands as precautionary measures. In the Aleutian Islands, counts of nonpups (defined as adult and juvenile sea lions, excluding pups of the year) declined substantially from 2000 to 2008 (7% annual decline in the western Aleutians; 1-4% annual decline in the central and eastern Aleutians: NMFS, 2010a). Counts of both pups and nonpups were stable or increasing in the rest of the western DPS range (0-5% annual increase from 2000 to 2008; NMFS, 2010a). Consequently, no changes were made to Steller sea lion protection measures outside of the Aleutian Islands.
Beginning in 2011, NMFS prohibited retention of Atka mackerel and Pacific cod in the western Aleutian Islands management area (Fig. 4), and most areas of critical habitat are closed to Atka mackerel and Pacific cod fishing in the central and eastern Aleutian Islands management areas (NMFS, 2010a). Overall, about half of the Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel catch limit cannot be harvested under the new measures (NMFS, 2010b). These are the first Steller sea lion measures that have directly reduced groundfish catch limits. In addition, Pacific cod harvests in the Aleutian Islands are likely to decline because of the additional spatial restrictions on harvests, but some effort may shift to the Bering Sea (NMFS, 2010b). The economic impact of the measures on gross revenues is estimated to be $50 million to $66 million per year (NMFS, 2010b).
Much remains unknown about the causes of the Steller sea lion population decline (NRC, 2003; Atkinson et al., 2008; NMFS, 2010b). Recent studies have examined the effects of the pollock and Pacific cod fisheries on the prey field (Wilson et al., 2003; Conners and Munro, 2008). Future research efforts will likely focus on the Aleutian Islands to investigate the cause of continued sea lion population declines and to monitor the effects of the recently implemented fishery closures (NMFS, 2010a).
Short-tailed Albatross and Seabird Avoidance Requirements
The Council began addressing seabird bycatch issues in the late 1990's when incidental take limits were established for the endangered short-tailed albatross, Phoebastria albatrus. Short-tailed albatross numbers were severely reduced by commercial feather hunting in the late 1800's and early 1900's (USFWS, 2008). Nesting sites now have protected status, and the primary threat to the recovery of the population is the potential for volcanic activity at Toroshima Island, Japan, where more than 80% of short-tailed albatross nest (USFWS, 2008). The Short-tailed Albatross Recovery Plan (USFWS, 2008) has focused recovery efforts on establishing additional nesting sites.
A secondary threat to recovery is bycatch in the commercial fisheries (USFWS, 2008). Short-tailed albatross primarily range in waters off Alaska during the post-breeding season from May until November (Suryan et al., 2007). Locations where short-tailed albatross are frequently observed include several canyons along the Bering Sea shelf edge and passes in the Aleutian Islands (Piatt et al., 2006; Suryan et al., 2007), areas where commercial fishing also occurs seasonally.
Regulations that have been developed to limit incidental takes of short-tailed albatross are described in detail in USFWS (2003) and a summary of the measures is provided here. In 1998, the USFWS issued short-tailed albatross incidental take limits of four birds during a 2-year period in the longline groundfish fisheries and two birds during a 2-year period in the longline Pacific halibut fisheries. In anticipation of the take limits being established, the fishing industry recognized a looming threat, and adopted voluntary measures to test seabird avoidance devices aboard longline fishing vessels (Wilson, 2004). This experience led the Council and NMFS to develop seabird avoidance requirements for longline vessels (Wilson, 2004), and measures were implemented in 1997 and 1998 (NMFS, 1997, 1998). All longline vessels targeting groundfish were required to adhere to specific seabird avoidance measures beginning in 1997, and the measures were extended to the longline halibut fleet in 1998.
The regulations developed by the Council required all longline vessels more than 7.9 m (26 ft) long to utilize one or more of the following seabird avoidance measures: set gear at night; tow one or more streamer lines while deploying gear; tow a buoy bag or stick while deploying gear; or deploy hooks underwater through a lining tube (NMFS, 1997, 1998). In addition, longline vessels were required to use weighted hooks that sink quickly and to follow specific offal discharge protocols. Research conducted by the University of Washington's Sea Grant Program in 1999-2000 found that the use of paired streamer lines substantially reduced seabird bycatch (Melvin et al., 2001). Consequently, seabird avoidance measures were revised by NMFS and the Council in 2001 to require all longline vessels greater than 16.7 m (55 ft) in length to use paired streamer lines (NMFS, 2002). Longline vessels from 7.9 m to 16.7 m (26-55 ft) in length are required to use either a single streamer or a buoy bag, depending on the fishing location. Streamer lines have been provided to longline vessel operators free of charge through a program administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in Portland, Oreg.
Overall seabird bycatch in the demersal longline fisheries declined dramatically as many vessels in the longline fleet began to use paired streamer lines (Fitzgerald et al., 2008). The regulation requiring the use of streamer lines was implemented in 2004, but many longline catcher processors began using streamer lines voluntarily in 2002 (Fitzgerald et al., 2008). Annual seabird bycatch data from 1993-2006 are provided in Fitzgerald et al. (2008).
Bycatch data for the demersal longline groundfish fisheries is summarized here for the time periods before and after streamer use was extensive in the longline fleet (1993-2000 and 2002-06, respectively: Fitzgerald et al., 2008). The average annual bycatch rate in the Alaska demersal longline groundfish fisheries declined from 0.083 birds per 1,000 hooks in 1993-2000 to 0.017 birds per 1,000 hooks in 2002-06 (Fig. 5). The average number of incidental takes in the Alaska demersal longline groundfish fisheries declined from 16,507 birds per year during 1993-2000 to 5,138 birds per year during 2002-06 (Fig. 6).
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
Albatross takes (Laysan albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis; black-footed albatross, Phoebastria nigripes; and short-tailed albatross combined) declined from 1,051 birds per year during 1993-2000 to 185 birds per year during 2002-06 (Fig. 7). The majority of by catch in the longline fisheries during 2002-06 consisted of northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis (39%); gulls, Larus spp. (39%); and shearwaters, Puffinus spp. (8%) (Fitzgerald et al., 2008). Total annual seabird bycatch is a relatively small proportion of the total seabird population in Alaska, which includes an estimated 48 million breeding seabirds in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and additional seabirds that visit Alaska waters (Fitzgerald et al., 2006).
Short-tailed albatross incidental take limits have not been reached since they were established in 1998. Five incidental takes of short-tailed albatross were documented in the 1990's and occurred in the Bering Sea longline Pacific cod fishery (2 takes), Bering Sea longline sablefish fishery (2 takes), and western Gulf of Alaska longline sablefish, Anoplopoma fimbria, fishery (1 take) (USFWS, 2008). No short-tailed albatross takes were reported from 1999 to 2009. In 2010, two short-tailed albatross were taken on observed vessels in the Bering Sea Pacific cod longline fishery. The short-tailed albatross population has increased in recent years at an annual rate of about 6-7% and currently numbers about 2,400 (USFWS, 2008). As the short-tailed albatross population increases, the likelihood of incidental takes may also increase. The take limits could be revised in the future if USFWS determines that this action is warranted.
The majority of seabird bycatch in the North Pacific during 1993-2006 occurred in the longline groundfish fisheries (92%), but bycatch also occurred in the trawl (7%) and pot (1%) fisheries (Fitzgerald et al., 2008). In the trawl fisheries, seabirds are often caught during retrieval of the trawl net.
In addition, seabirds collide with trawl cables and with transducer or "third" wires, which extend from the stern to the head of the trawl net and monitor the net's performance (Wilson et al., 2004; Melvin et al., 2011). Species with large wingspans, such as albatrosses, are particularly vulnerable to collisions with trawl cables and transducer wires (Wilson et al., 2004; Melvin et al., 2011). These mortalities are not systematically monitored by observers in the groundfish fisheries off Alaska and are likely underestimated (Fitzgerald et al., 2008).
To date, no short-tailed albatross mortalities have been observed in the trawl fisheries. However, due to the spatial and temporal overlap between short-tailed albatross and the trawl fisheries, in 2003, the USFWS issued an incidental take limit of 2 short-tailed albatross during the period of time in which the Biological Opinion is in effect (USFWS, 2003). If this limit is reached, NMFS and USFWS could consider raising the take limit or implementing new mitigation measures for trawl gear. Zador et al. (2008) examined the potential impact trawl fisheries could have on the recovery of short-tailed albatross. They determined that as many as 20 birds could be taken with trawl gear during a 5-year period and have little impact on the recovery plan timeline. Researchers are currently focusing on finding ways to reduce the potential for albatross interactions with the trawl fisheries (Melvin et al., 2011).
Precautionary Measures for SpeciesWithout Known Fisheries Interactions
North Pacific Right Whale
The endangered North Pacific right whale, Eubalaena japonica, is one of the rarest great whale species in Alaska waters, with an estimated 30 individuals recorded in recent surveys (Wade et al., 2011). Most recent sightings have occurred in the southeastern Bering Sea (Wade et al., 2006). This species was once relatively abundant in the North Pacific, but commercial whaling that continued until the late 1960's, including hundreds killed illegally by the Soviet Union in the 1960's, severely depleted the population (Brownell et al., 2001). Visual surveys, historical catch records, and acoustic monitoring indicate that right whales primarily occur in the waters off Alaska during May through December (Brownell et al., 2001; Munger et al., 2008). An analysis of call detection rates found that right whale abundance in the southeastern Bering Sea may peak in July through October (Munger et al., 2008). Wintering areas where calving occurs are unknown, but may be located in more temperate waters (Clapham et al., 2004). Migration routes between feeding and wintering areas are also unknown.
[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]
In 2006, NMFS designated critical habitat for the North Pacific right whale in the southeastern Bering Sea and in the Gulf of Alaska southeast of Kodiak Island (NMFS, 2006; Fig. 8). The areas were identified based on an analysis of historical and recent right whale sightings which determined that these were likely important foraging areas (Clapham et al. (1)). Right whales are known to feed in areas with dense aggregations of large copepods, and the areas where most right whales have been sighted recently may support high concentrations of these prey species (Shelden et al., 2005; Clapham et al. (1)).
Fishery-related activities have not been restricted within North Pacific right whale critical habitat because no fisheries target the prey species identified as important to right whales (Shelden et al., 2005; Clapham et al. (1)). Moreover, there are no documented interactions between North Pacific right whales and the fisheries off Alaska (Allen and Angliss, 2011). In contrast, North Atlantic right whales, Eubalaena glacialis, are frequently entangled with fishing gear, most often with pot gear and to a lesser extent with gill nets (Johnson et al., 2005).
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
Ship strikes are believed to be the most common anthropogenic cause of mortality of North Atlantic right whales (Knowlton and Kraus, 2001), but have not been documented in the North Pacific. Because of slower speeds, fishing vessels may pose less risk; higher speed cargo or other vessels transiting the Great Circle Route travel well to the south of the North Pacific right whale critical habitat. Large groundfish, crab, and halibut fisheries occur inside the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska critical habitat areas (NPFMC, 2005), and the majority of groundfish catches occur inside critical habitat during January through March, when right whales may be less likely to occur in the area (NPFMC, 2005).
However, substantial groundfish catches are also made during summer and fall. Most catches in the Bristol Bay red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, fishery, which occurs from 15 October through 15 January, are made within or near the Bering Sea critical habitat area (NPFMC, 2005). The Bering Sea Tanner crab, Chionoecetes bairdi, and snow crab, C. opilio, fisheries are also prosecuted inside the Bering Sea critical habitat area and open on 15 October, and these fisheries typically remain open until early spring. The timing of the crab fisheries may reduce the likelihood of interactions with right whales, which may be most abundant in Alaska waters during late summer or early fall.
Several marine protected areas overlap with North Pacific right whale critical habitat and may indirectly provide protection to right whales in key foraging areas. In the Bering Sea, right whale critical habitat encompasses 92,282 [km.sup.2] (26,905 [nmi.sup.2]), and partially overlaps or is adjacent to areas closed year-round or seasonally to certain fishing activities to protect red king crab habitat (Fig. 8). The Red King Crab Savings Area (13,713 [km.sup.2] or 3,998 [nmi.sup.2]), established in 1995, is closed year-round to bottom trawling and dredging. The Nearshore Bristol Bay Trawl Closure Area (65,398 [km.sup.2] or 19,067 [nmi.sup.2]), established in 1997, is closed year-round to all trawling except for a small area open from 1 April to 15 June. In addition, other areas in the Bering Sea are closed seasonally to all trawling (15 March through 15 June) to protect red king crab while they are molting.
In the Gulf of Alaska, right whale critical habitat 3,042 [km.sup.2] (887 [nmi.sup.2]) is adjacent to several bottom trawl closures designated to protect red king crab habitat. In addition, the Gulf of Alaska critical habitat area overlaps areas where observer coverage requirements were recently augmented to improve monitoring of Tanner crab bycatch (NPFMC, 2010f). Vessels bottom trawling in the designated areas will be required to have 100% of fishing days observed and vessels using pot gear will be required to have 30% of fishing days observed, which increases the likelihood that any adverse interactions with fishery activities will be documented (NPFMC, 2010f).
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
Spectacled and Steller's Eiders
Spectacled eiders, Somateria fishcheri, occur in marine waters during most of the year and were listed as threatened by the USFWS in 1993 following a large decline in the western Alaska breeding population. In 2001, the USFWS designated several areas in the Bering Sea as critical habitat for spectacled eiders (USFWS, 2001a; Fig. 9). In winter, spectacled eiders are found in large, concentrated flocks in areas where openings in the sea ice have formed (Peterson et al., 1999; Lovvorn et al., 2003). The only wintering site known was discovered in the 1990's and is located in a persistently-formed polynya in the Bering Sea south of St. Lawrence Island (Peterson et al., 1999). This site is designated as critical habitat (USFWS, 2001a). In the wintering area, spectacled eiders dive up to 70 m and feed on clams, primarily Nuculana radiata (Lovvorn et al., 2003).
Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri, also occur primarily in marine waters and were listed as threatened by USFWS in 1997 due to a long-term decline of the breeding population in Alaska. Several nearshore areas in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands are designated as critical habitat for Steller's eiders (Fig. 9; USFWS, 2001b). The seasonal distribution and diet of Steller's eiders is described in detail in the Steller's Eider Recovery Plan (USFWS, 2002). Steller's eiders use shallow bays and lagoons along the Alaska Peninsula in the fall when they are molting. In winter, Steller's eiders occur in nearshore areas along the Alaska Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands, Kodiak Island, and Cook Inlet. In spring, large concentrations of Steller's eiders use shallow bays along the Alaska Peninsula as staging areas before migrating to nesting grounds. While in marine waters, Steller's eiders feed on benthic invertebrates, and diet varies depending on the site.
No incidental takes of spectacled or Steller's eiders have been recorded in the groundfish fisheries (Fitzgerald et al., 2008). Bottom trawling has the potential to disturb benthic habitat used by foraging spectacled and Steller's eiders (NPFMC, 2007). In 2007, the Council took final action to close large areas in the Bering Sea to bottom trawling, and the closures overlap with Steller's and spectacled eider critical habitat (NPFMC, 2007; Fig. 9). In addition, the Council closed the Arctic Management Area to fishing in 2009, and this closure overlaps with spectacled eider critical habitat (NPFMC, 2009a; Fig. 9). Some bottom trawling has occurred in the past in spectacled eider critical habitat in the Bering Sea. The extent of this activity is documented in NPMFC (2007).
Bottom trawling has also occurred to a limited extent in Steller's eider critical habitat in the Yukon-Kuskokwim shoals, primarily by vessels targeting yellowfin sole (NPFMC, 2007). Because fishing effort in these areas was limited, the economic impact of the bottom trawling closures is considered minimal (NPFMC, 2007) but these closures consider possible shifts in fishing effort northward if climate change continues to favor movement of target fish species northward. This was a precautionary measure taken by the Council that may not provide an immediate, tangible benefit, because fishing effort was low in these areas.
Polar bears are listed as threatened under the ESA, and in 2009 the USFWS designated critical habitat for polar bears (USFWS, 2010). The designated area does not overlap with any existing commercial fisheries, and there have been no documented interactions between polar bears and the commercial fisheries (Allen and Angliss, 2011). Nearly all of the area designated as critical habitat for polar bears was recently closed by the Council to any commercial fishing as part of the Arctic Fishery Management Plan (Wilson and Ormseth, 2009).
Potential Future Issues
In addition to the actions described above, the Council monitors developments in the management status of other marine mammal and seabird species that are listed under the ESA or have the potential to be listed in the future. For example, in 2008 the southwest DPS of northern sea otters, which ranges from Kodiak west to the Aleutian Islands, was listed as threatened under the ESA. In 2009, the USFWS designated critical habitat for the southwest DPS of sea otters (USFWS, 2009). The designated area does not overlap with any existing commercial fisheries managed by the Council, and no significant restrictions on fishery-related activities are anticipated, but the consultation process continues to be monitored by the Council.
The Cook Inlet DPS of beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, is listed as endangered under the ESA, and more than one-third of Cook Inlet has been identified as critical habitat (NMFS, 2011). The population declined from an estimated 1,300 whales in the 1960's (NMFS, 2008b) to approximately 340 whales in 2010. Interactions with commercial fisheries have not been identified as a primary reason for the population decline (NMFS, 2008b). This population of beluga whales is not believed to range outside of Cook Inlet, and the whales are not likely to occur in areas where groundfish fisheries are prosecuted (NMFS, 2008b). There are no documented fishery-related mortalities of Cook Inlet belugas (Allen and Angliss, 2011). However, the groundfish fisheries may have indirect effects on the availability of prey species important to beluga whales, such as Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (NPFMC, 2009b). In recent years, high levels of Chinook salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries have been closely monitored and managed by the Council and NMFS (NPFMC, 2009b).
Northern fur seals, Callorhinus ursinus, range throughout the North Pacific and overlap in distribution with the commercial fisheries off Alaska. Northern fur seals spend the majority of the year foraging in the open ocean and breed during summer months at only a small number of locations. The majority of fur seals breed on the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea, and a small breeding population occurs on Bogoslof Island (NMFS, 2007).
Northern fur seal numbers have declined to less than half of population levels in the 1950's (NMFS, 2007). Pup production on the Pribilof Islands declined by more than 50% from 1975 to 2004 (Towell et al., 2006). The species is designated as depleted under the MMPA, but is not listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA. To date, the Council has not taken any direct actions to mitigate any potential effects of fishery-related activities on northern fur seals. A conservation plan was prepared by NMFS that identifies possible causes of the population decline and outlines potential measures to reduce any adverse anthropogenic impacts on northern fur seals (NMFS, 2007). NMFS continues to examine trends in pup production and investigate possible interactions between fur seals and commercial fisheries.
The USFWS has completed a status review to determine whether to recommend listing black-footed albatross as threatened or endangered under the ESA because of conservation concerns, many of which are summarized in Naughton et al. (2007). On October 6, 2011, the USFWS determined that listing this albatross was not warranted based on the best available scientific and commercial information available on the condition of this species' habitat, the importance of disease and predation, the utilization of this species for scientific and commercial purposes, and other factors (USFWS, 2011). The population of black-footed albatross consists of approximately 61,700 breeding pairs (Arata et al., 2009). Incidental takes in the pelagic and demersal longline fisheries in the North Pacific are the largest source of human-caused mortality (Arata et al., 2009). Fisheries bycatch may be impacting the long-term population viability of black-footed albatross (Lewison and Crowder, 2003; Veran et al., 2007). The majority of bycatch occurs in the pelagic longline fisheries in the central North Pacific Ocean (Lewison and Crowder, 2003; Arata et al., 2009). Bycatch in the demersal longline fisheries off Alaska (<100 birds per year; Fitzgerald et al., 2008) is much less than the estimated take in the pelagic longline fisheries (5,000-6,000 birds per year; Arata et al., 2009).
In Alaska waters, satellite-tagged black-footed albatross overlap spatially and temporally with the longline sablefish, pot sablefish, and longline halibut fisheries (Fischer et al., 2009). Based on observer data, incidental takes of black-footed albatross in Alaska waters occurred primarily in the longline sablefish fishery (83% of takes), the longline Pacific cod fishery (15% of takes), and the longline halibut fishery (2%) (Fitzgerald et al., 2008), but only a small proportion of the halibut fishery is observed. The majority of these takes were recorded in the Gulf of Alaska, where 75 black-footed albatross were taken per year from 2002 to 2006. If the black-footed albatross is listed under the ESA in the future, incidental take statements could potentially be issued by USFWS to limit bycatch in the commercial fisheries off Alaska.
For over 30 years, the Council, working closely with the NMFS Alaska Region and NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, has developed and implemented proactive and precautionary management policies consistent with an ecosystem-based approach, resulting in sustainable fisheries with minimal environmental impacts (Witherell et al., 2000; NMFS, 2004, 2005). These conservation policies, developed through a scientifically based, transparent, and deliberative process, have resulted in healthy and profitable fisheries (Witherell and Peterson, 2011). Fish stocks and protected species have directly benefited from the ecosystem-based approach, and the good socioeconomic conditions for the fishery make it easier to develop and implement precautionary measures for protected species.
The Council's approach to managing fisheries interactions with protected species has been adaptive and accounts for multiple management objectives. Management measures have been tailored depending on the nature of interactions with the fisheries, incorporating economic trade-offs to allow measures to be practical while still providing conservation for protected species. In balancing objectives, managers take into account the relative costs to the fishery, potential benefits to protected species, effects on communities, legal requirements, and the scientific uncertainty about the magnitude and direction of adverse effects due to fisheries.
In instances where the interaction is known or scientific information suggests such an interaction may exist, gear requirements or marine protected areas have been established to mitigate these interactions. Seabirds are primarily impacted by bycatch in the longline fisheries, and management measures have focused on reducing adverse encounters with longline fishing gear. Incidental takes do not pose a significant threat to any of the North Pacific marine mammal stocks, in contrast with fisheries elsewhere. Pacific walrus are impacted by vessel activity near coastal haulouts, and area closures around designated sites are intended to reduce such disturbances. Fishery-related impacts to Steller sea lions have been addressed through fishery closures around rookeries and haulouts, seasonal distribution of catch limits, and limits on catches in key foraging areas.
In the absence of scientific information, the Council has taken precautionary actions to address protected species concerns if the scientific consensus is that such action may be prudent. For example, the Council required fishing vessels to stay away from sensitive benthic habitat areas where Pacific walrus, spectacled eider, and Steller's eider are known to forage. Similarly, the Council's decision to close U.S. waters in the Arctic to commercial fisheries is a risk-averse management approach (Stram and Evans, 2009; Wilson and Ormseth, 2009).
In several cases, the Council has examined potential interactions between the groundfish fisheries and other marine mammal and seabird species, but has not taken any direct action to restrict fishing activities when there has been no evidence that adverse interactions with the fisheries exist. The biological opinions for all species that are listed under the ESA are periodically updated. As new information becomes available regarding the status of the species or their interactions with the fisheries, the Council may develop new management measures or modify existing regulations.
Currently, there is little scientific information available to evaluate the effectiveness of the management measures adopted by the Council and NMFS, with the exception of the seabird avoidance measures. While the Council's high level of at-sea observer coverage on most commercial fishing vessels contributes important data on fishery interactions with protected species, this remains an important research gap that has been discussed extensively by the Council and will likely be addressed as new measures are developed (Witherell, 2004, 2005)
Throughout the United States and in many other countries of the world, the effects of fisheries on marine mammals, seabirds, and other species are a serious concern. Based on the experience in Alaska, a precautionary ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management can address these concerns as information becomes available.
Although mitigating impacts due to fishing may not be a panacea for a species in decline if environmental conditions or other factors are involved, it can at least reduce effects due to fisheries. In the future, ecosystem modeling tools that are being developed for the North Pacific Ocean should improve our understanding of the factors that affect populations of protected species and the relative impacts due to fisheries (Hollowed et al., 2011). Because the management program in the North Pacific is science-based and adaptive, we would anticipate that fishery managers will respond accordingly.
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Jeannie Heltzel was with the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage, Alaska, and is currently at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon (email: jeannie.heltzel@gmail. com). David Witherell is Deputy Director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. William Wilson is retired from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Views or opinions expressed or implied are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA.
Table 1.--Total catch in metric tons (t) and percent of catch landed inside Steller sea lion critical habitat, averaged from 1991 to 1999 and 2000 to 2008. Average (1991-99) Percent Annual range catch of percent Total inside catch inside catch critical critical Fishery (t) habitat habitat Bering Sea pollock 1,248,553 52.9% 36.5%-66.1% Bering Sea Pacific cod 183,458 41.0% 27.0%-49.0% Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel 62,088 66.8% 27.0%-93.8% Aleutian Islands Pacific cod 26,944 82.7% 69.9%-95.2% GOA Pollock 93,493 75.5% 56.9%-85.6% GOA Pacific cod 65,778 67.9% 56.7%-74.3% Average (2000-2008) Percent Annual range catch of percent Total inside catch inside catch critical critical Fishery (t) habitat habitat Bering Sea pollock 1,364,726 36.3% 17.3%-54.1% Bering Sea Pacific cod 159,774 33.9% 23.4%-42.7% Aleutian Islands Atka mackerel 54,113 38.6% 29.3%-47.0% Aleutian Islands Pacific cod 31,438 80.5% 69.3%-89.5% GOA Pollock 63,117 68.1% 53.8%-78.7% GOA Pacific cod 50,212 53.3% 39.5%-61.6%
|Gale Copyright:||Copyright 2011 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.| | <urn:uuid:f43dfe1b-73c6-4a33-a8bd-e50be06f3b27> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/Ecosystem-based-management-protected-species/277601687.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897764 | 18,267 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The World Trade Organization (WTO) was founded in 1995 by the members of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is the world’s only international organization that supervises 95% of the world’s global trade. It assists trade related issues of its member nations that produce, export and import goods and services in a smooth manner. Comprising 153 member nations, the agreements pertaining to the WTO have been signed and confirmed by respective member nations.
The predecessor of WTO is General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). WTO is an International body dealing with the rules of trade among states and separate customs territories. The agreements in WTO provide the legal ground-rules for international trade and commerce. They are mainly contracts, binding governments to conduct their trade and trade policies according to principles and rules. Although negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers over the Globe and bringing them under one roof.
The International body has over 148 members as on October 13,2004 accounting for 90% of the world trade and around 30 others are negotiating membership and are WTO observers.
Members of the WTO include:
Why was WTO established?
The WTO was founded with the purpose of liberalizing international trade. Its aim was to help member nations reach cordial solutions to their trade-related problems.
The main principles of WTO are:
- To promote fair competition
- To encourage economic and development reforms
- To increase predictability through transparency
- To lower trade barriers for freer trade
- To ensure fair treatment to locals and foreigners
Objectives of the WTO
With manifold objectives like helping trade flow smoothly, freely, fairly and predictably it has become capable of organizing trade and commerce over the Globe through the mantra of liberalization, privatization and globalization. It is stepping forward with objectives like:
1) Rejecting all forms of protectionism.
2) Removing trade barriers and eliminating discriminatory treatment in international trade through successive multilateral trade negotiations.
3) Providing a fair, predictable and open rule-based trading system through overseeing the implementation of multilateral trade rules and enforcing legally binding obligations.
4) Providing a mechanism for settling trade disputes.
5) Integrates developing and least developed economies into the world trading system.
How the WTO Works
All important decisions are made by the Ministerial Committee which meets every two years. Trade disputes are resolved by the WTO through negotiations. In case any nation puts up trade barriers in the guise of customs duty against another country or for a specific good, the WTO can issue trade related sanctions against the violating country.
Two basic functions of the WTO are:
- To confirm whether the agreements that have been covered are implemented, administrated and executed effectively.
- To settle negotiations and disputes by providing a forum check.
The activities of WTO are managed by a Ministerial Conference that is held once in two years.
Structure of the WTO
WTO is run by its member nations. Decisions are taken by consensus among entire member nations.
The WTO's top-level decision-making body is the ministerial conference, which meets at least once in every two years.
Below this is the general council (normally represented by ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from members' capitals), which meets several times a year in Geneva. The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and the Dispute Settlement Body.
At the next level there are three Councils each handling a different broad area of trade - the Council for Trade in Goods (Goods Council), the Council for Trade in Services (Services Council), and the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Council).
There are also specialized committees, working groups and working parties dealing with the individual agreements and other areas such as the environment, development, membership applications and regional trade agreements. They regularly report to the General Council, Goods Council and Services Council as appropriate.
The WTO secretariat in Geneva has around 600 staffs and is headed by a director general. The WTO Secretariat's main duties are to provide administrative support for the running of the system.
Achievements of WTO
The WTO has several achievements as listed below:
- Enhanced the value and quantity of trade.
- Eradicated trade and non trade barriers.
- Broadened the trade governance scope to trade in investment, services and intellectual property.
- Emerged as a greater institution than GATT.
- Expanded the WTO agenda by including developmental policies.
- Eased settlement of disputes by enforcing improved rules.
- Improved monitoring by introducing the Trade Policy Review and the World Trade Report
- Increased transparency by removing green room negotiations
- Encouraged sustainable trade development
Challenges Ahead for WTO
The WTO faces considerable challenges as listed below:
- Decision-making within the organization.
- Streamline reforms related to its dispute settlement system.
- Implement development-oriented policies in an effective manner.
- Facilitate global trade liberalization in agriculture and textiles.
- Encourage Non Governmental Organizations or NGOs to become an important part of world trade governance.
- Devise ways to increase staff and resources to ensure effective regulation.
In the years 2008 and 2009, the WTO witnessed increased economic uncertainty. Its main function is to ensure the smooth and free flow of global trade. The WTO continues to administer agreements, handle trade disputes and monitors country-specific trade policies while training and cooperating with developing nations and other international organizations. | <urn:uuid:ee0124c3-0cb7-49ed-8a4e-7fc64dbf6aca> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.economywatch.com/world-trade-organization/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948374 | 1,141 | 3.8125 | 4 |
The Princess of Bekhten
In the reign of Rameses III, a large temple was built at Thebes in honor of the Moon-god Khonsu. According to a tradition which his priests in later times inscribed on a stone stelae, the fame of his Theban representative was so widespread that it reached a remote country called Bekhten.
A king of Egypt (probably Rameses III) was in the country of Nehern (a portion of Western Syria near the Euphrates), collecting tribute according to an annual custom, when the prince of Bekhten came with the other chiefs to salute his majesty and to bring a gift. The other chiefs brought gold, and lapis-lazuli, and turquoise, and precious woods, but the prince of Bekhten brought with his offerings his eldest daughter, who was exceedingly beautiful; the king accepted the maiden, and took her to Egypt, where he made her the chief royal wife and gave her the name of Ra-neferu i.e., the "beauties of Ra", the Sun-god.
Some time after, in the fifteenth year of the reign of the king of Egypt, the prince of Bekhten appeared in Thebes on the 22nd day of the second month of summer, and when he had been led into the presence he laid his offering at the feet of the king, and did homage to him. As soon as he had the opportunity he explained the object of his visit to Egypt, and said that he had come on behalf of the young sister of Queen Ra-neferu, who was grievously sick, and he begged the king to send a physician to see his daughter Bent-Reshet, or Bent-enth-reshet. Thereupon the king summoned into his presence all the learned men of his court, and called upon them to choose from among their number a skilled physician that he might go to Bekhten and heal the Queen's young sister; the royal scribe Tehuti-em-beb was recommended for this purpose, and the king at once sent him off with the envoy from Bekhten to that country. In due course he arrived there and found that the princess of Bekhten was under the influence of some evil spirit, which he was powerless either to exorcise or to contend with in any way successfully. When the king of Bekhten saw that his daughter was in no way benefited by the Egyptian scribe, he dispatched his envoy a second time to Egypt with the petition that the king would send a god to heal his daughter, and the envoy arrived in Thebes at the time when the king was celebrating the festival of Amon.
As soon as the king, had heard what was wanted he went into the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep, and said to the god, "0 my fair Lord, I have come once again into thy presence [to entreat] thee on behalf of the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten"; and he entreated him to allow the god Khonsu to go to Bekhten, and said, "Grant that thy magical (or saving) power may go with him, and let me send his divine Majesty into Bekhten to deliver the daughter of the Prince of that land from the power of the demon."
The king of Egypt dispatched Khonsu to Bekhten, where the god arrived after a journey of seventeen months. As soon as he had been welcomed to the country by the Prince of Bekhten and his generals and nobles the god went to the place where the princess was, and he found that Bent-reshet was possessed of an evil spirit; but as soon as he had made use of his magical power the demon left her and she was healed straightway. Then that demon spoke to Khonsu , and acknowledged his power, and having tendered to him his unqualified submission he offered to return to his own place; but he begged Khonsu to ask the Prince of Bekhten to make a feast at which they both might be present, and he did so, and the god, and the demon, and the Prince spent a very happy day together. When the feast was concluded the demon returned to his own land, which he loved, according to his promise.
As soon as the Prince recognized the power of Khonsu he planned to keep him in Bekhten, and the god actually tarried there for three years, four months, and five days, but at length he departed from his shrine and returned to Egypt in the form of a hawk of gold. When the king saw what had happened, he spoke to the priest, and declared to him his determination to send back to Egypt the chariot of Khonsu, and when he had loaded him with gifts and offerings of every kind the Egyptians set out from Bekhten and made the journey back to Thebes in safety. On his return Khonsu took all the gifts which had been given to him by the Prince of Bekhten, and carried them to the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep, where he laid them at the feet of the god. Such is the story which the priests of Khonsu under the New Empire were wont to relate concerning their god "who could perform mighty" deeds and miracles, and vanquish the demons of darkness."
Editor's Note: this myth was taken more or less directly from The Gods of the Egyptians by E.A. Wallis Budge. | <urn:uuid:5138b6af-41e2-4dbf-9339-0da5972c9ffd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.egyptianmyths.net/mythbekhten.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00076-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991479 | 1,146 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Forget touch screens and voice recognition what if you could control your computer just by looking at it? Gaze-based interaction has been around for 20 years, used mainly by people with disabilities. But the technology could be available to the masses soon, allowing users to move a cursor with their eyes, or turn the pages of an e-book without lifting a finger.
In Denmark, an eye-control research group has just turned itself into a business, hoping to be part of the next wave of usability.
If you look at the big names in eye-control technology, you'll notice that most companies are based in the U.S. or Northern Europe, places where there's enough private wealth or government support to help people with disabilities pay for pricey specialized equipment.
"But not everyone gets it," says usability expert Sune Alstrup Johansen, of the Gaze Group at the IT University of Copenhagen. "And obviously if you look at the rest of the world, a lot of people don't have access to these expensive eye trackers."
Johansen, a Ph.D. student, spent years working on the question of how to make the systems cheaper.
"After a while, we figured out that probably the best way is to go for a mass-market approach," he says, "where everybody would have this available."
Just over a year ago, Johansen and his colleagues spun off into The Eye Tribe, a company with the goal of making it possible for all people to control mobile devices with their eyes. He explains how it works:
"You have infrared light that is projected toward your face. And the infrared light is then reflected in your pupil. And by seeing those reflections, we can pretty easily well, not easily," he adds with a laugh "with our algorithms, we can easily calculate where you're looking."
The snag is the infrared light, which is not a standard feature on most smartphones and tablets. Johansen says that adding it wouldn't be a huge change, as it means switching out a filter on the camera that comes on most mobile devices.
Still, it is a change and that means convincing manufacturers that mainstream users are going to want it. And what's more mainstream than Fruit Ninja, one of the most popular game apps in the world?
In the game, players swipe across a touch screen to slice flying fruit into pieces. In the Eye Tribe's version, you slice and dice using only your eyes.
When I ask to try it, Javier San Agustin hands me a modified Windows 8 tablet.
"So you hold it like that, and now you need to do the calibration process," he says. "Just follow the dot."
I follow the dot so the computer can get to know my eyes, which sounds easy enough. But it's weird using a sense organ as a muscle. I feel like an unpracticed superhero with lasers coming out of my eyes which may explain why I somehow manage to fail the calibration (twice).
"Let's try again," San Agustin says.
Once I do pass and actually play Fruit Ninja, it's pretty amazing. But just because what the Eye Tribe is doing is flashy, that doesn't mean it's a sure thing. There are plenty of other companies working on different versions of eye-control and eye-tracking technology. Some may not be as precise, or require changes in hardware.
Still, one way or another, "This will happen," says John Paulin Hansen, who heads the research group that spawned the Eye Tribe. But he adds that it won't happen in a vacuum.
"It's a small part of a very big change that's happening to the way that we interact with computers," he says. "I hope our children will look back on us and think, 'Oh my God, it was so hard back then to use a computer. You had to sit down in front of it all day!' "
For Stig Langvad, change can't come fast enough. He's the head of Denmark's umbrella organization for people with disabilities. Because of a spinal cord injury, Langvad relies on voice control to use his computer, reciting commands like, "Type. Control. Enter."
The system works fine, but it's slow. When he needs to make a selection, Langvad brings up a nine-square grid on his screen, and then narrows in on his target by choosing the appropriate square over and over, shrinking the grid.
And then, finally, he can say, "Mouse click."
If Langvad could just move a cursor with his eyes, he says, "It would be much easier, it would be much faster and it would be much more silent."
That's not all it would be. For people with disabilities, eye-control technology becoming mainstream would bring another important change.
"Then I can go to any computer, and then I can control it and I can use it, instead of just bringing my own," Langvad says. "So I'll be a part of society on an equal foot, instead of being a special solution."
He adds, "To me, it is going to change the world. And I think it's delicious, to be a part of that process." | <urn:uuid:04bbaa60-2d64-45ae-b3c4-a9ef5102fb58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gpb.org/news/2012/12/03/in-eye-control-a-promise-to-let-your-tablet-go-hands-free | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969237 | 1,087 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Greens used to be great when it came to protesting—top of the table. Activists could chain themselves to trees—or just live in one, like the devoted Julia Butterfly Hill—to protest logging. Anti-nuclear protesters were able to capitalize on the legacy of Three Mile Island, helping to end the construction of new plants. Lois Gibbs, a housewife in upstate New York, launched an unlikely fight against the toxic Love Canal, part of a wave of local activists from coast to coast who demanded clean water and clean air for their communities. If America’s rivers and skies are cleaner today than they were 40 years ago—and for the most part they are—it’s due not just to the work of new laws and enforcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, but because ordinary citizens took to the streets and demanded it.
But climate change isn’t so easy to protest. The very global nature of global warming makes climate activism like trying to throw your arms around the world. It’s still, for the most part, a danger to come—the most visible impacts are far away, in poor and distant places, and hard to separate from background noise of generally bad things in the world. We’re all implicated in our carbon use; we’re all at fault. You can try to fight, say, coal plants site by site—and campaigns like the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal have had success doing just that—but that doesn’t necessarily connect to the larger issue. Bill McKibben and thousands of activists around the world have created the alliance 350.org virtually from scratch, bringing global attention to the coming climate crisis—but you can’t say they’ve had real, practical success yet.
Will the Gulf oil spill change all that? We’ll start to find out today. Before the Deepwater Horizon spill, Dave Rauschkolb, a restaurateur and surfer from Florida, wanted to organize a protest against the expansion of offshore drilling to his state’s waters. He came up with the idea of Hands Across the Sand—people would gather on beaches and link hands to show their opposition to offshore drilling. He did one event on February 13 this year—nearly 1,000 people showed up to St. Pete’s Beach in Florida.
But after the Deepwater Horizon spill, interest in the idea exploded. National green groups like the Sierra Club promoted Hands Across the Sand, as environmentalists seized on a visible way to fight offshore drilling. So at 12 PM today, June 26, at hundreds of beaches around the U.S.—and a few more around the world—people gathered to hold hands and protest the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history:
“This is the worst oil spill that has happened in my lifetime,” said Sarah Mullins, 20, of Kendall [in Florida]. “We all complain about these problems. . . this is our Miami, this is our beach and we need to stop offshore oil drilling.’
Will protests like Hands Across the Sand make a difference? At the very least, they get people involved in environmental issues, people who might never have felt directly threatened by global warming. Green groups will do everything they can to take capitalize on the spill—as well they should—and major environmental disasters have galvanized Americans before. We’re angry, no doubt, and public opinion has gradually turned against at least the idea of expanding offshore drilling. But if Americans want more than that, they’ll have to take to the streets—or maybe the sand—and demand it. June 26 could mark the start. | <urn:uuid:2bfeac14-794a-4429-b8b1-6bf8138c1f3d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://science.time.com/2010/06/26/protesting-the-oil-spill-with-hands-across-the-sand/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00103-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957508 | 754 | 2.53125 | 3 |
[R] Graphic legend with mathematical symbol, numeric variable and character variable
ehlers at ucalgary.ca
Wed Mar 21 12:57:17 CET 2012
On 2012-03-20 06:09, "ECOTIÈRE David (Responsable d'activité) - CETE
Est/LRPC de Strasbourg/6 Acoustique" wrote:
> I'd like to make a legend with a mix of mathematical symbol (tau),
> numeric variable and character variables.I have tried :
> types<-c("Type 1","Type 2","Type 2")
> but it doesn't work: the 'tau' symbol is not written in its 'symbol
> style' but as 'tau'
> Any (good) idea ?
> Thank you in advance !
Does this do what you want:
types <- paste('Type', 1:3, sep='~')
mytau <- 4:6
leg <- parse(text=paste(types, "~~tau==", mytau, sep='~'))
The '~' symbols generate spaces; use more if you want more spacing.
More information about the R-help | <urn:uuid:78c1832b-2e0e-4b0d-8b7d-f5423485ebbe> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://stat.ethz.ch/pipermail/r-help/2012-March/307336.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.65781 | 257 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Hyderabad in 1951, lies across the Indus. Other education needs are served by numerous government colleges, the Liaquat Medical College, and specialized vocational institutions.
Hyderabad district is a vast fertile alluvial plain, excepting the hilly region of Hyderabad city, extending along the east bank of the Indus. Cultivation is dependent upon canal irrigation. Millet, jowar (sorghum), rice, wheat, cotton, oilseeds, and mangoes are the chief crops. Cottage handicrafts include leatherwork, glazed pottery and tiles, lacquer ware and susi (striped cotton cloth) from Hala (north of Hyderabad city), khes (cotton blankets), susis and anguchahs (cotton cloth) from Naseerpur (northeast of Hyderabad). Historic sites include Bhit Shah (4 mi [6 km] east of Hala), containing the tomb of Shah ‘Abd-ul-Latif (d. 1753), the poet and Sufi saint, and an ancient Buddhist stupa. The picture that you see is the tomb of the famous mystic poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitaai.
Hyderabad division (area 34,257 sq mi) comprises Dadu, Hyderabad, Badin, Sanghar, Thar Parkar, and Tatta districts. The division includes the swampy delta of the Indus river on the Arabian Sea (southwest), the fertile alluvial plain of the Indus (north central), and part of the great Thar Desert (east). Pop. (1981 prelim.) city, 795,000; metropolitan area, 1,045,000; district, 2,080,000; division, 7,103,000.
The battlefield at Miani is about ten kilometers (six miles) north of Hyderabad and some five kilometers (three miles) off the National Highway. The memorial is down a dusty narrow track in the forest and you’ll need a local guide to find it. Hyderabad’s eighteenth-century fort was first the court of the Kalhora dynasty and then that of the Talpur Amirs. According to contemporary British descriptions it must have been splendid, but apart from the tower, main entrance, and a room in the harem, little remains to be seen. Portraits of the Amirs and their weapons are exhibited in what passes as the Fort Museum near the railway station. Their stove-pipe hats are on display in Hyderabad’s Sindh Provincial Museum, near the Polytechnic College and opposite the Indus Gas Office.
Also worth a visit is the Institute of Sindhology’s museum at the University of Sindh. It has displays on all aspects of Sindhi history, music and culture depicting the lifestyles of the desert tribes. Infrequent GTS buses go to the campus, otherwise take a miniwagon to Jamshoro, across the river from Hyderabad, and walk the 1-1/2 km to the university.
Hyderabad Statistics (August 2006)
Population : 1,411,000 (Fourteen Lacs and Eleven Thousand)
Men : 783,000 (Seven Lacs Eighty Three Thousand)
Women : 627,000 (Six Lacs Twenty Seven Thousand)
Literacy Rate : 60% – 70%
CITY NAZIM: ( 2007 )
Res: H.No-9/A Block-D Unit No.6 Latifabad Hyderabad.
Ph: (Off.) 9200709, 9200690 (Res.) 9260368
CITY NAIB NAZIM: ( 2007 )
Zafar Ali Rajput
H.No A/2937 Tilak Incline, Hyderabad. | <urn:uuid:d16a1abc-1345-4ff7-bae0-61ee177f2c1e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://apnahyderabad.info/2007/06/09/hello-world/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00129-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.886596 | 784 | 2.546875 | 3 |
I am taking a DoE class and I'm going crazy. I can't seem to figure this one out, although I know it's fairly simple. I hope I can get some input from you guys!
Thereís a new teaching method thatís being applied to test if academic performance is improved in elementary school students. The method is applied to children in 2nd and 5th grade. Within a city, 20 schools are chosen from 5 different districts (4 schools per district). In each school, two 2nd grade and two 5th grade classes are chosen to test the new method and the old method in each grade (each class has anywhere from 18 to 32 students). At the end of the year, all the students, regardless of the method they got, get the same test to evaluate their knowledge to find out which method is better.
So, thereís 5 districts > 4 schools per district > two 2nd and 5th grade classes per school > 18-32 students per class > same test for everyone at the end of the year.
What I need to do is decide which design I will be using, how I will evaluate the final result to decide which method works best, and evaluate the possible factors that affect the academic result. I was hoping you guys could point me in the right direction here, although I have a few ideas:
1. I was thinking of using a Simple Factorial design. Would that be ideal in this case?
2. I thought of using a t (Studentís) test to see which method is better, since thereís only 2 methods to compare and I canít do any other post hoc tests if I donít have more than 3 groups to compare.
3. I have no clue about analyzing the factors that might affect academic performance. Can that be done with the Simple Factorial design as well?
Thank you very much! | <urn:uuid:270b7cc3-0dc5-47c1-916e-9f3f69e2539d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathhelpforum.com/statistics/211606-design-use-how-analyze-my-results.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971122 | 384 | 2.65625 | 3 |
North Sentinel Island is located in the Bay of Bengal off of the coast of India. It is well away from landlocked earth, and while it is officially administered by India, no one has been able to make contact with the native inhabitants. The island is one of the last remaining uncivilized areas of the earth, existing in a rare state of conceded sovereignty.
An indigenous tribe has lived on North Sentinel Island with extremely limited contact with outsiders. Anyone who has attempted to explore the island has been attacked or outright killed. North Sentinel is so dangerous for outsiders that India’s government has established a three-mile exclusion zone in an effort to prevent more violence.
On January 26, 2006, two fishermen were killed by Sentinelese when their boat drifted near the island. The bodies were tossed into shallow graves. An Indian coastguard helicopter attempted to retrieve the fishermen’s bodies, but was prevented from landing when it was greeted with a volley of arrows from the tribesmen.
On August 2, 1981, the ship Primrose grounded on the North Sentinel Island reef. Within a short time, shipmates on the immobile vessel noticed that men on the shore were carrying spears and arrows and building boats on the beach. The captain radioed for a drop of weapons so that the ship could defend itself, but did not receive them. Luckily, heavy seas kept the islanders away long enough for the crew to be rescued by helicopter.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the Indian government sent a helicopter to check on the inhabitants on the island. While other nearby islands were heavily affected, the Sentinelese appeared to have been unharmed. The helicopter observed several clansmen shooting arrows and throwing stones at the hovering aircraft with the apparent intent of repelling it.
Believed to number anywhere from 50 to 400, the Sentinelese have lived in isolation on the island for 60,000 years.
The deep tree canopy makes it difficult to observe the Sentinelese from the air, but based on limited observational data it is assumed that they are hunter-gatherers; agriculture does not appear to be known to them.
They have managed to create metal-tipped arrows by carving out pieces from the hulls of wrecked shops. If not for this practice, the Sentinelese would be described as Stone Age people.
The Sentinelese violence is almost certainly simply related to self-preservation, and they have been successful while other indigenous tribes have been wiped out. For now, the Indian government seems content to allow the native people to preserve their isolation, at least partially for fear that bacterial contamination may cause their extinction. So the people of North Sentinel Island continue to live in isolation, unaware and uncaring of the evolution of the world around them, on a tiny island in the great wide ocean. | <urn:uuid:fd90c3ba-ebe5-487a-9c10-a36c051d3a82> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://wackulus.com/people-live-island-kill-anybody-tries-come-ashore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973858 | 565 | 3.5 | 4 |
By: Mark Brownstein, Vice President, US Climate and Energy
Click to enlarge.
Here we go again.
A new set of peer-reviewed scientific papers pointing to 50 percent higher than estimated regional methane emissions from oil and gas operations in Texas were published this week. And like clockwork, the oil and gas industry’s public relations machine, Energy In Depth, proclaimed that rising emissions are actually falling, and that the industry’s meager voluntary efforts are responsible.
This is, of course, wrong on both counts. In fact, it’s a willful misrepresentation of the findings.
First, the assertion that emissions are going down is flat wrong. EPA’s latest inventory released in April reports that in 2013 the oil and gas industry released more than 7.3 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere from their operations—a three percent increase over 2012—making it the largest industrial source of methane pollution. So much for those voluntary efforts. Read More
Para leer este artículo en español, haga clic aquí.
Is that flare operating efficiently? Is it dangerous to my health? Whom do I ask? Whom do I tell? These are the types of questions an emerging workshop developed by EDF and RGISC aims to answer.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently ranked the Eagle Ford Shale play as the nation’s largest oil field. But with oil wells often comes wasted gas, something Texas knows all too well. A huge portion of the gas pulled from oil wells in the Eagle Ford is burned away— often sending damaging pollutants into our environment.
An investigative report published in the San Antonio Express-News last year found “the rate of Eagle Ford flaring was 10 times higher than the combined rate of the state's other oil fields.” The same researchers found that from 2009 through the first seven months of 2014 oil and gas operators in the Eagle Ford region wasted about 94 billion cubic feet of natural gas – roughly enough gas to serve the heating and cooking needs of all the homes in San Antonio over four years. Excessive or improper flaring is not only a waste of a valuable resource, but can also have harmful health effects and damage the environment. Read More
Flaring in Eagle Ford Shale
The Texas Tribune recently published a piece debunking some of the science behind the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) position on the national health standard for ozone – one of the most ubiquitous and harmful air pollutants on the planet. As outlined in the agency’s latest newsletter, TCEQ’s Director of Toxicology, Mike Honeycutt, questions the benefits of a stronger standard, even though public health experts across the country have been calling for a more protective standard for years. What’s more disappointing than the agency’s apparent anti-health position, however, is the lack of attention to other legitimate air pollution issues in Texas.
It would seem that the agency must have a surplus of staff, as well as unlimited resources to establish such an aggressive position on a standard that hasn’t been proposed yet. The reality is that there are so many more important things that the agency could and should be doing to serve and protect Texas citizens from real air pollution threats, including: Read More
EDITOR'S NOTE: The final draft report was released May 24. Download the PDF here.
A soon-to-be released key flare emissions report could help answer the question of why Texas air toxics concentrations are higher than those reported through industrial emission inventories.
Footage of flare emissions captured by advanced monitoring technology at facility in Texas. The video was presented by TCEQ at the Hot Air Topics Conference on Jan 13, 2011 in Houston, TX. Flare is described as being oversteamed, resulting in reduced destruction efficiency and increased emissions.
Across the state, there are 1,500 flares registered with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The “flaring” or burning of excess gases using these flares has been accepted industrial practice for combusting routine waste gases as well as for combusting large volumes of gases that may result from plant emergencies, such as those that could lead to a facility explosion. Air quality experts have long held that an increase in flare pollution has been a significant contributing factor in escalating smog levels and toxic “hot spots,” particularly in fenceline communities. Read More
Our first post to Texas Clean Air Matters offers a 12-step program to TCEQ for cleaning up air pollutant hotspots around the state (and not just because it's Earth Day, but if it helps promote the cause, we'll take it).
1. Identify that we have a problem with toxic air
As with other 12-step programs, the first step toward recovery is admitting that there's a problem. Texas, we have a problem: It's called "hotspots." The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) recently released the 2009 Air Pollutant Watch List (APWL) report, which outlines areas around the state where pollution levels for one or more toxic compounds exceeds the state’s health-based levels of concern, referred to as "effects screening levels" or ESLs. Some of the pollutants within these hotspot areas can cause cancer, birth defects, or even death. Read More | <urn:uuid:d64b32c5-8c98-42e3-888a-600ef51b409a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.edf.org/texascleanairmatters/category/flare-emissions-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00075-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948313 | 1,104 | 2.78125 | 3 |
June 30, 2014
ESA’s Rosetta Probe Catches Target Comet 67P Releasing 10 Ounces Of Water Every Second
Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online
As the European Space Agency’s Rosetta probe drew closer to its target – comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko – it was able to pick up data that showed the comet is releasing the equivalent of two small glasses of water into space every second, the space agency said.The Rosetta probe was able to detect the rate of water vapor being released through the use of the Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO) from nearly 220,000 miles away.
“We always knew we would see water vapour outgassing from the comet, but we were surprised at how early we detected it,” said Sam Gulkis, the instrument’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“At this rate, the comet would fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about 100 days. But, as it gets closer to the Sun, the gas production rate will increase significantly,” Gulkis added. “With Rosetta, we have an amazing vantage point to observe these changes up close and learn more about exactly why they happen.”
In addition to water, comets are also usually comprised of ammonia, carbon monoxide and methanol. MIRO is built to help ascertain the abundance of each of these compounds, to determine the nature of the comet’s nucleus, the process behind out-gassing and where it occurs on the surface.
These gases emanate from the nucleus along with dust, which forms the comet’s surrounding ‘coma’ or tail. As the comet moves nearer to the Sun, its coma will increase in size and eventually strain from the solar wind will cause the material to stream out even longer. The comet and Rosetta will get closest to the Sun in August 2015, at a point between the orbits of Earth and Mars.
Determining the shifts in the rate of water vapor and other gas release as the icy rock moves around the Sun is crucial for comet science, yet also important for future missions.
“Our comet is coming out of its deep-space slumber and beginning to put on a show for Rosetta’s science instruments,” says Matt Taylor, ESA’s Rosetta project scientist. “Rosetta’s engineers will also be using MIRO’s observations to help them plan for future mission events when we are operating close to the comet’s nucleus.”
As of Monday, Rosetta is within 45,000 miles of its destination. The ESA pilots still need to perform 6 out of 10 total approach maneuvers to make sure Rosetta’s flight path properly aligns with the comet’s orbit.
Earlier this month, the ESA released an image of the comet taken from Rosetta on June 4 that is helping to fine-tune Rosetta’s navigation toward the comet.
“The comet is now almost within our reach – and teaching us to expect the unexpected,” said Holger Sierks from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.
As Rosetta draws closer to the comet, it will start collecting gas and dust particles from the coma to analyze in its miniaturized on-board laboratories.
“It’s great to have started regularly receiving science data, especially after a long 10 year journey towards our destination,” Taylor said earlier this month. “The variable activity of the comet shows it definitely has personality, which makes us all the more eager to get there to learn just how it ticks.” | <urn:uuid:b5b8bbc4-0dbe-4a66-804f-dff0d26eb5c6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113181546/rosetta-data-comet-67p-sweating-water-063014/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933636 | 789 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Cardiologist, author, and heart health expert Dr. Sarah Samaan offers advice on how to live a heart smart life.See all posts »
Brush Your Teeth for a Healthy Smile and a Happy Heart
A trip to the dentist may mean more than just a healthy smile. A growing body of research suggests a strong link between oral health and heart health. Although the connection is not completely understood, the common pathway appears to be inflammation. When the gums are inflamed in periodontal (gum) disease, detectable levels of inflammation in the blood stream also rise, and it is thought that this inflammatory reaction may in turn affect the arteries that feed the heart.
Until recently, our understanding of the relationship between heart health and oral health was based on studies of relatively small groups of people. A recent report from the Scottish Health Survey took the question further by analyzing the tooth brushing habits of nearly 12,000 Scottish men and women without heart disease, and then following the participants for an average of eight years. They also measured blood levels of inflammation in nearly 5000 of those studied.
Overall, most people took fairly good care of their teeth. About two-thirds visited a dentist every six months and brushed at least twice daily. Only about five percent rarely if ever brushed their teeth. When other risk factors were taken into account, those who ignored their dental health were 70 percent more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event when compared to those with good dental hygiene. Not surprisingly, they also had higher blood levels of inflammation.
The take home message is as simple as the little goodie bag your dentist may give you after your checkup. Brush your teeth twice daily and floss at least once per day. You’ll look great, feel better, and keep your heart healthier.
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Nov 05, 2012
Should You Eat Organic? | <urn:uuid:a2564166-6679-464d-aa21-ef24eb0c43f7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.healthline.com/health-blogs/heart-smart-living/brush-your-teeth-healthy-heart | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397748.48/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961907 | 412 | 2.921875 | 3 |
It’s been a long time since most libraries were filled with card catalogs — drawers upon drawers of paper cards with information about books. But now, the final toll of the old-fashioned reference system’s death knell has rung for good: The library cooperative that printed and provided catalog cards has officially called it quits on the old-fashioned technology.
The news comes via the The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The cooperative, which created the world’s first shared, online catalog system back in 1971, allowed libraries to order custom-printed cards that could then be put in their own analog cataloging systems. Now, says OCLC, it’s time to lay a “largely symbolic” system that’s well past its prime to rest.
“Print library catalogs served a useful purpose for more than 100 years, making resources easy to find within the walls of the physical library,” Skip Prichard, CEO of OCLC, said in a blog post. Now, with comprehensive, cloud-based catalogs like OCLC’s WorldCat available to libraries, there’s just no need for cards any longer.
Catalog cards haven’t always been printed: In fact, good handwriting used to be a key skill for librarians. In an 1898 card catalog handbook, Melvil Dewey even gave instructions on what types of cursive should be used by catalogers on handwritten cards. “Legibility is the main consideration,” he wrote. “Skilful writers acquire reasonable speed without sacrificing legibility. The time of the writer is, however, of small importance compared with that of the reader.”
The official death of the catalog card was observed at OCLC’s headquarters by about a dozen workers, writes Dan Gearino for The Columbus Dispatch. The organization, which has printed a whopping 1.9 billion cards, sent its final shipment to a library in Concordia College in Bronxville, New York. But don’t think the college is the last holdout in an analog library world — in fact, writes Gearino, the school’s library only uses its card catalog as a backup for its computerized one. | <urn:uuid:0ab113c9-fd3b-42b7-9174-97331f527592> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/card-catalog-dead-180956823/?no-ist | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951838 | 470 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, , at sacred-texts.com
Introduction to Joshua
1. This book like several others of the historical books of Scripture derives its name from its contents. It takes up the history of the chosen people at the death of Moses, and continues it in a systematic and orderly narrative, through the leadership and government of his successor. It records (almost exclusively) the acts of Joshua in fulfillment of the commission laid upon him from God by the hand of Moses (compare Deu 31:7-8), and terminates with Joshua's death and burial.
The contents group themselves into two divisions of nearly equal length. The conquest of the land is described in twelve chapters, and then in twelve other chapters the subsequent partition of it together with Joshua's last acts and words.
The victories of Joshua described in the former of these portions were accompanied by repeated and stupendous interferences of God. This miraculous element has led some commentators to treat the book as altogether unhistorical. But it must not be forgotten that the miracles of the Book of Joshua do not stand alone. They grow, as it were, naturally out of the divine interpositions on behalf of Israel in the days of Moses, and are but the close of a series of extraordinary providences began in Egypt, and described in Exodus and the books following. No less do they stand intimately associated with the future history and development of the Jewish Church and nation, and even with the wider and more remote issues of God's counsels as manifested, or to be manifested, in the Christian Church to the end of all things. Thus, the conquest of Canaan by Joshua has other and vastly grander significances than its mere dimensions as a fact in history seem at first sight to suggest.
It is not to be regarded simply as the invasion of a little district about as large as three average English counties by a tribe of nomads from the Arabian deserts. It was also the accomplishment by God of a purpose revealed of old; it was an essential element in the plan ordained by Him for the preservation among men of His Law, Will, and Word; it was designed to foreshadow in many important particulars His future dealings with mankind at large. But for the special help of God, the Israelites could not have effected the conquest at all, for they were hardly superior to the Canaanites in numbers, and were destitute of chariots and horses, and of all the more elaborate equipments for war, above all of the appliances requisite for reducing the cities (compare Num 13:28; Deu 1:28; Deu 9:1) in which Canaan abounded. God's promise was, however, pledged to their forefathers to give them this land; whatever then might be necessary to give effect to this promise it belonged to His faithfulness to accord; and the Book of Joshua consequently is an essential sequel to the Pentateuch as declaring the thorough fulfillment by God of the covenant made by Him through Moses with Israel, and thus as illustrating His inviolable faithfuless.
But important as the theocratical and theological characteristics of the Book of Joshua are, both in themselves and as (so to say) vindicating the miraculous elements of the narrative, we must nevertheless not lose sight of the internal evidences of common and historical fact which it presents.
The invasion of Canaan by Joshua was evidently a carefully and skillfully conducted enterprise. An army marching upon Canaan from the south would find its path intercepted by range after range of heights, each, in the days of Moses and Joshua, bristling with towns and fortresses. The progress of such an army could be but slow, and at every step would be met by better organized resistance from an increasing number of enemies. When Israel, after 40 years' expiation of the revolt at Kadesh, again arose at the command of God to resume the long deferred enterprise on Canaan, the host was conducted round the whole southeast corner of the land and directed upon its comparatively defenseless eastern flank above the Dead Sea. The whole of the strong military positions and fenced cities in the "south country" and the "hill country" of what was subsequently the territory of Judah were thus taken in reverse and rendered comparatively useless.
It is probable, too, that the southern Canaanites in particular were at this time greatly weakened by the invasions of Thotmes III, who had taken Gaza, apparently not many years previously, and no doubt had overrun the whole adjoining district (see the note at Jos 13:3). No less able were the measures adopted by Joshua to execute the plan thus judiciously laid down. The passage of the Jordan, by the special help of God, at a time of year when his enemies no doubt deemed the river to be an almost insurmountable obstacle to his advance (see the note at Jos 3:15): the seizing Gilgal, to serve as his foothold in the land: the capture and destruction of Jericho: the fall of Ai: these events enabled him to throw the forces of Israel like a wedge through the very midst of the land almost to the western sea, and in its most vulnerable part, between the fastnesses of Judah on the south and the mountain district of Ephraim on the north. The Amorites on Joshua's left, cut off from the Hittites on his right by his whole army interposing between the two, were overpowered before Gibeon. The whole south was reduced into at least temporary subjection before the larger multitudes of the north could be mustered. These in their turn shared the fate of their brethren in the south; Joshua broke their vast host to pieces on the shores of Lake Merom.
In these campaigns of Joshua it is impossible not to see the traces of strategical skill no less conspicuously than that presence of immediate and divine suggestion and succor which the narrative asserts.
2. The leading trait in the character of Joshua is courage - the courage of the warrior: this must have been already remarkable at the time of the Exodus Exo 17:9. Subsequently, Joshua appears as in constant attendance on Moses Exo 24:13; Exo 32:1; Exo 33:11; he without doubt acquired on Sinai, and in the precincts of the sanctuary, that unswerving faithfulness of service and unshaken confidence in God which marked his after career. He was naturally selected as one of the twelve "rulers" sent by Moses Num 13:2 to explore the land before the invasion of it was undertaken; and the bold and truthful report brought back by him and Caleb Num 14:7-9, was no less characteristic than was his undaunted bearing before the incensed people Num 14:10. These qualities pointed him out as the fitting captain over the Lord's people, who should overthrow their enemies before them and put them in possession of the promised inheritance. Accordingly, at the express command of God, he was solemnly appointed to that office and duty by Moses before his death Num 27:16-23; Deu 31:23.
Joshua was not a prophet (Ecclesiasticus 46:1; compare Num 27:21), but a divinely-inspired leader. After the great and peculiar work of his life was accomplished, he no longer held the same exclusive place at the head of Israel as before. In making the arrangements for settling the people in their homes, and establishing the theocracy on the lines laid down in the law of Moses, he acted in conjunction with Eleazar, the high priest: and with the heads of the tribes (compare Jos 14:1; Jos 17:4; Jos 21:1). This was but natural. The armies had done their work and were dispersed, or were ready to disperse, to their several inheritances; and the military authority of their general was consequently at an end. The latter years of his life were probably passed in retirement at Timnath-serah, whence, he would seem to have emerged in extreme old age to meet the princes and the people in the great gathering at Shechem Josh. 23-24, and to employ once more and finally his authority as the last survivor but one of a mighty generation, and as the hero of Israel's greatest triumphs, in order to engage his people more firmly and closely in their rightful allegiance to God.
The courage which was the leading feature in the character of Joshua was very distinctly and directly built upon faith Jos 1:5-6. Joshua obeyed God's call unhesitatingly and to the end, but it was because he trusted wholly in the promise which accompanied it. Hence, along with his soldierly qualities, were found others seldom present in the same man. He combined justice as a magistrate with gentleness as a man Jos 7:19; spirit as a ruler, with temper and discretion in dealing with the arrogant and exacting Jos 17:14; diligence and equity in disposing of the fruits of victory with a complete unselfishness as regarded himself Jos 19:49-51. Perhaps conspicuous above all was his humility. From first to last his valor and his victories are referred to God as their giver. Of his own personal work in the achievements of his life there is in his last addresses scarcely one word.
3. The chronological dates presented in this book are few:
a. Comparing Jos 4:19 and Jos 5:6, if the date of the Exodus be assumed to be 1490 B.C., that of the invasion of Canaan will be 1450 B.C.
b. The duration of Joshua's wars with the Canaanites is spoken of loosely in Jos 11:18 as "a long time." The words of Caleb (Jos 14:7, Jos 14:10 : compare Num 13:17) - who was thirty-eight years old when he passed through the Red Sea, and seventy-eight when he passed through Jordan - help us to assign a period of seven years (in round numbers) for the campaigns of Joshua.
c. The duration of Joshua's rule, and consequently the number of years covered by the record of this book, is far more uncertain. He died when he was 110 Jos 24:29. If (compare Exo 33:11) we suppose him to have been about the same age as Caleb, he will have been about 78 years old when he invaded Canaan, and have been at the head of Israel not much less than thirty-two years altogether after the death of Moses, surviving about twenty-five years after his retirement to Timnath-serah (compare Jos 23:1). Josephus, however, states that Joshua's rule after the death of Moses lasted for twenty-five years, and that he had previously been forty years associated with him. This would fix Joshua's age at the time of the Exodus at forty-five. On the whole, nothing more precise seems attainable now than this: that Joshua governed Israel from twenty-five to thirty years after the death of Moses, and that about the like number of years contains the events recorded in the book which bears his name.
4. No sufficient evidence exists to enable us with certainty to name the author. That he was one of "the elders that overlived Joshua" Jos 24:31 is probable, for the book appears to have been written by one coeval with the events recorded, and, indeed, an eye-witness of them. The spirit of the narrative in the former or historical portion of the book, and the graphic yet spontaneous rendering of details, which it everywhere presents, bespeak one who saw what he describes. And the topographical information which abounds in the latter portion of the book is of such a nature, and is presented in such a form, as strongly to suggest the use of written, and apparently contemporary documents. Some parts of this information are minute and accurate (e. g. Josh. 15), other statements are far less definite and complete. No doubt some of these imperfections are due to disorder in the text, or to clauses having dropped out of it, but others are mainly due to the fact that the writer's knowledge was itself imperfect. These very anomalies of the writer's most valuable description of Palestine, inconvenient as they often are, seem thus to be attributable to the early date of his information. His documents were written while Israel was still a stranger in the land of his inheritance, and in parts of it still a foreign invader.
The hand of a writer contemporaneous with the events is indicated in several expressions, e. g. in Jos 5:6-7; Jos 6:25; Jos 10:2, a notice which plainly borrows its terms from the state of things in Canaan at the time of the invasion; and in the record of ancient Canaanite names of cities, though disused after the Israelites occupied them, Jos 14:15; Jos 15:9, Jos 15:15, Jos 15:49, Jos 15:60.
The book cannot, in its present form at least, be ascribed to Joshua himself. The account of his death and that of Eleazar, with the few supplementary verses at the end of the book, might have been attached by another hand, as a conclusion to the historical work of Joshua, just as a like addition was made to the work of Moses. But there are up and down the book a number of historical notices, which point to a date clearly beyond the death of Joshua (compare Jos 15:13-20 and Jdg 1:1-15; 15:63, and Jdg 1:8; Jdg 15:13-19 and Judg. 18).
For these reasons the opinion of the rabbis and many moderns which names Joshua as himself the sole writer of this book, must apparently be abandoned. The evidence internal and external renders it likely that the book was composed partly from personal observation and inquiry, partly out of pre-existing and authentic documents, within a few years after the death of Joshua, and probably from materials furnished in part by Joshua himself.
5. The book of Joshua is a work complete in itself, with an organic unity and peculiar characteristics. This appears:
(1) From the definiteness of the writer's purpose, and the thoroughness with which he executes it. He proposes to narrate the conquest of Canaan, and to present that conquest as a proof of God's fidelity to his covenant. But the writer does not limit himself to the achievements of Joshua. Such additions to the main body of his story, which belongs to the lifetime and leadership of Joshua, as are contained in Josh. 13 and Josh. 15 are to be explained only by a reference to the writer's distinct and special aim.
(2) from the tokens of connection and method apparent throughout. Not only does the first part, which records the wars Josh. 1-12, evidently lead up to the second part Josh. 13-24, which describes the partition of the territory when subdued, but the contents of each part taken singly are given in proper and chronological order, each transaction growing out of the one preceding.
(3) from the style and phraseology. These are marked by distinctive features, whether the book be compared with the Pentateuch or with the other and later historical books. The difference of style, words, and treatment in the historical chapters, as contrasted with the topographical chapters is only what might be expected from the diverse nature of the subjects, and from the self-evident fact that in much of the latter part of his task the author was working from pre-existing documents.
Certain discrepancies alleged to exist in the book do not seriously impair its unity and independence. The difficulties, e. g. in the account of the capture of Ai Josh. 8 arise solely out of the numbers, and are far more probably due to a mistake in the numerals (see the note at Jos 8:3), which is by no means of infrequent occurrence, than to the presence in the narrative of two or three different versions of the events which the final editor omitted to harmonize.
The contradiction said to exist between some passages which speak of the land as completely subdued by Joshua, and of the Canaanites as utterly extirpated (Jos 11:16-17, Jos 11:23; Jos 12:7-8 etc.), and others which allude to "very much land," as still in possession of the native inhabitants (Jos 13:1; Jos 17:14 ff; Jos 23:5, etc.), is to be explained partly by the theocratic view which the writer takes of his theme; a view which leads him to regard the conquest as complete when it was so "ex parte Dei," and when all was done that was needed to enable the Israelites to realize fully the promises (compare Jos 21:43-45); partly also by the fact that territory was undoubtedly overrun by Joshua at the first onset, which was afterward recovered by the Canaanites, and only again and finally wrested from them at a subsequent, sometimes a long subsequent, date. That the early campaigns of Joshua were in the nature of sudden raids, overpowering for the moment, but not effectually subduing the country, has probably much truth in it.
Thus then, the Book of Joshua, though based upon pre-existing materials of various kinds, and sometimes incorporating them, appears to be a separate and complete work produced as a whole from one original hand. Its relation to the Pentateuch is that of an independent treatise by a distinct author, who resumes a theme of which the first great and important portion had been finished by a predecessor. The Pentateuch is not to be looked upon as principally a historical work. It is the statute book of the theocracy, and contains only such historical matter as illustrates the origin and import of God's covenant with Israel. Joshua records how the temporal promises of that covenant were accomplished; and describes how the basis was laid for the future development of the nation, under the special superintendence of God, by its settlement in Canaan. Thus, regarded, this book is no more an appendage to the Pentateuch than the books of Judges and Samuel are an appendage to it.
There is, assuredly, an intimate connection among these writings throughout, a connection which is expressly indicated by the connective conjunctions used in the beginning of each book (see the note at Jdg 1:1). This is due to the fact that the several authors were moved to write by one and the same Spirit, and that their one purpose in successive ages was to record the dealings of God with their nation. Hence, they have selected whatever declares or illustrates the divine call of Israel; God's methods in educating that people for its functions in His world; the preparations made through the chequered history of Israel for future issues bearing on the salvation of all mankind. We find at one time periods of considerable length, and events of great importance to secular history cursorily alluded to, while other occurrences, often of a biographical character, are dwelt upon with anxious minuteness, because of their theocratic bearings. Accordingly, the name "Earlier prophets," given to this and the following books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings by the Jewish Church which has handed them down to us as canonical, is appropriate. They were written by inspired men, and treat their subject from the prophetical point of view.
The Book of Joshua is repeatedly cited or referred to in the New Testament: compare Act 7:45; Heb 3:5; Heb 4:8; Heb 11:30-31; Jam 2:25.
6. The land of Canaan was given as a free gift by God to the Israelites - they took possession of it because He bade them do so - and He no less bade them annihilate the Canaanite nations without mercy?
The question then occurs in unbroken force, all palliative explanations being disallowed: Is this merciless treatment of the Canaanites consistent with the attributes of the Deity, especially as those attributes are illustrated for us in the New Testament?
The destruction of the Canaanites is always presented in Scripture as a judgment of God sent on them because of their wickedness. They had not only fallen into total apostasy from God, but into forms of idolatry of the most degrading kind. Their false religion cannot be regarded as a mere error of judgment; cruelty the most atrocious, and unnatural crimes the most defiling were part and parcel of its observances. Moreover, they had proved themselves to be incorrigible. They had had not only the general warning of the deluge, as had other nations of the earth, but the special one of the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah in the very midst of them. They had had also the example and instruction of Abraham and the patriarchs living for ages among them. Even after the miraculous providence of God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and across the Jordan, and even when the sword was as it were hanging over their necks, it was but in one or two isolated cases that signs of repentance and recollection of God were manifested (compare Jos 2:1; Jos 9:24). God had forborne for ages in vain (compare Gen 15:16); in the days of Joshua the time for mercy had passed, and that of judgment had come. It is impossible to acknowledge God as the moral Governor of the earth, and not to admit that it may be right or even necessary for Him to remove such nations. The fact, therefore, that God is described as having not only permitted, but even enjoined and caused the extirpation of the Canaanite nations, depraved as they were, is not inconsistent with His moral attributes. People, as was long ago pointed out by Dr. Butler ('Anal.' ii. 3), have no right to either life or property, but what arises solely from the grant of God. When this grant is revoked they cease to have any right at all in either. And in the case before us the forfeiture decreed by God was merited, and the execution of it was therefore righteous.
God chose to inflict His righteous judgment by the hands of the Israelites, and expressly commissioned them to be His executioners. If it be objected that this is to represent God as sanctioning cruelty, the answer is obvious: it is no sanction of cruelty to direct a lawful sentence to be carried out by human agents (compare Num 31:3). Nor would obedience to God's command in this matter make the Israelites brutal and bloodthirsty. The behavior of the Israelites, on many occasions, proves that they shrank from a terrible duty of this sort when laid on them by God, and did it only so far as they were compelled to do it. .
The slaughter of the Canaanites served various important purposes besides the mere removal of them from the face of the earth. To make and keep the Jewish people as much as possible isolated, was a marked and vital principle of the Old Testament dispensation. No more effectual means could have been adopted for inspiring God's people with an abhorrence for Canaanite sins, to which they were not a little prone, than to make them the ministers of divine vengeance for those sins.
They learned by experiment that God would certainly root out those who fell away in apostasy from Him. They were warned also that if they fell into the sins of the Canaanites they would themselves be the victims of those same judgments of which they had been the reluctant executioners (compare e. g. Deu 28:25). And the whole was so ordered as to exhibit a type, fearful no doubt yet salutary, of what must be the fate of the impenitent and obdurate in the upshot of God's righteous government. | <urn:uuid:dc0fcee2-bb67-4e48-9c72-5a427f81ce3c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sacred-texts.com/bib/cmt/barnes/jos000.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00196-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979657 | 4,897 | 3.390625 | 3 |
A new study has found that being exposed to pesticides, as well as suffering traumatic head injury raises the risk of developing Parkinsons.
The study, which is published online ahead of print in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, one of the BMJ Specialty Journals, states that the two increase the risk of developing the disease.
959 people suffering with Parkinsons, as well as 1,989 controls recruited in Scotland, Italy, Sweden, Romania and Malta were used in this study.
As a part of the research the subjects completed a questionnaire regarding their lifetime occupational and recreational exposure to solvents, pesticides, iron, copper and manganese.
Their lifetime exposure was then estimated blind to disease status and the results were adjusted, as appropriate, for age, sex, country of residence, tobacco use, ever having been knocked unconscious and family history of Parkinson's disease.
The researchers noted that while low exposure to pesticides increases the risk of developing the disease by 1.13 times, exposure to high levels of pesticides increases the risk by 1.41 times.
The researchers noted that while people who had been knocked unconscious once were 1.35 times more likely to develop Parkinsons, while it was 2.53 times more likely in those who suffered a head injury more often.
However, the researchers who conducted the study also insisted that these two risk factors are ones that can be controlled to a certain extent.
Traumatic head injury can be prevented by not indulging in contact sports such as boxing.
As for pesticides, well the researchers argue that further research could identify more specifically which pesticides are associated with this effect, so that these agents can be substituted.
The study, which was funded by The European Commission, is one of the largest case-control studies to date of
genetic, environmental and occupational risk factors for Parkinson's disease or other degenerative parkinsonian syndromes. Related medicine news :1
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. Use of Cellular Phones associated with Increased risk of Brain Tumors | <urn:uuid:a75c8ca5-52c0-49fb-b705-3a31463dfcfa> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Risk-of-Parkinsons-Increased-by-Exposure-to-Pesticide-and-Head-Trauma-21218-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00013-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950468 | 569 | 3.09375 | 3 |
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