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More than three years ago, parents and students in suburban Philadelphia filed suit against their school district for classifying black children as special education students improperly. Finally, a trial for Blunt et al v. Lower Merion School District has been set.
In July 2007, eight black families filed a class action lawsuit in federal court and claimed the district had failed to provide a proper education to their children.
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer:
[The lawsuit was filed] on behalf of "all present and future African American students" in the district who, "because of defendants' acts and omissions...are denied access to the general education curriculum; are placed in below-grade-level classes; receive a modified curriculum; and/or are sent to separate, segregated schools which provides them with an education inferior to that provided their Caucasian peers."
A judge ruled in 2009 that each student's case was too individualized to be filed as a class-action suit. And when Concerned Black Parents Inc. and the NAACP Main Line Branch joined the plaintiffs' efforts, he argued the groups lacked legal standing to join the suit.
Jennifer R. Clarke, executive director of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, argued to The Inquirer Monday that though the cases are individualized, the district must adopt a better strategy for minority achievement.
"We want to establish a more objective method of identifying children for special education and also a different way in which children are being tracked into different courses...particularly so early on and particularly in math but also in other courses."
Main Line Times, a local new source for Lower Merion residents, reported Monday that lawyers from the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia are handling the case.
Sonja Kerr, director of the organization's Disabilities Rights Project, said in a statement:
"The district is essentially wrongly using its special-education programs to resegregate their schools...Teachers and other staff often have unfairly low expectations for minority students, and they also often misperceive cultural differences as disabilities. What we hear from families is that this has been going on for generations. Those attitudes and misunderstandings lead directly to the racial disparity you see in Lower Merion schools. LMSD has definitely been aware of this problem since 1997 when it first created committees to address the problem, but the system has not improved."
The school district said in a statement released Monday that it has taken steps to address the achievement gap between minority and white students.
According to The Inquirer:
[The district has] acknowledged...historical concerns surrounding minority achievement and supports." So, "the district has aggressively sought to take a leadership role in the effort to address minority achievement in the areas of educational programming, hiring, community engagement, and staff development.
The trial is set for Nov. 1, 2011. Read more about the case at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
2099 It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: "Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice." 16
2100 Outward sacrifice, to be genuine, must be the expression of spiritual sacrifice: "The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit...." 17 The prophets of the Old Covenant often denounced sacrifices that were not from the heart or not coupled with love of neighbor. 18 Jesus recalls the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." 19 The only perfect sacrifice is the one that Christ offered on the cross as a total offering to the Father's love and for our salvation. 20 By uniting ourselves with his sacrifice we can make our lives a sacrifice to God.
English Translation of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church for the United States of America © 1997, United States Catholic Conference, Inc. | <urn:uuid:522fe424-9459-4fc9-b096-82352b70fcec> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/catechism/index.cfm?recnum=5769 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931564 | 211 | 2.984375 | 3 |
The National Basketball Association was organized in 1949 and integrated the next year. Before that, pro African-American players were limited to teams known as 'Black Fives.' Five things to know about the teams:
1. The Harlem Globetrotters began as a 'Black Five.'
2. The 'Black Five' New York Renaissance defeated the all-white Oshkosh All-Stars in 1939 in what was billed as the first championship game.
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* Required Fields
Teaching with the News
ISIS: A New Threat
In this lesson, students will:
- Explore the role of ISIS in the Middle East
- Interpret political cartoons on the U.S. response to ISIS
- Identify the techniques used by cartoonists to express political opinion
- Monitor the news media coverage of ISIS over time
Video: Wall Street Journal, Iraq: “ISIS Sparks a Crisis in the Middle East, Explained”
This short video provides a clear and concise overview of ISIS and its role in the region.
Video: BBC News: “Phillip Hammond Says No to IS Talks With Syria”
This short video gives an overview of the current U.S./U.K. response to ISIS.
Note: The abbreviations ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), and IS (Islamic State) are used interchangeably in the media. To avoid confusion for students, we have chosen to use ISIS because it is the most commonly used. A convincing case for using the abbreviation ISIL is made by the Associated Press.
In the Classroom
Ask students if they have heard about ISIS in the news. What have they heard? Tell students that they are going to learn more about the group and the U.S. response to ISIS’s activities. Watch the videos listed above with the class and then distribute A Look at Dangers Posed by the IS Group to the class and give them 5-10 minutes to read. Review the reading and videos with the class. Clarify any difficult vocabulary or concepts. (For example, be sure students understand what a caliphate is.) Ask students to identify information from the videos and article that they believe is important. What information is new to them? What are ISIS’s goals? How is it trying to achieve its goals? How is the U.S. responding to ISIS? Are students aware of any controversies surrounding the U.S. response?
2. Analyzing Cartoons
Divide the class into groups of three or four each. Distribute Political Cartoons to each student. Review the introduction with your class, emphasizing the techniques cartoonists use to convey an opinion on political issues. Review the cartoon on page 2 and answer the questions with your students to model the assignment. What are the techniques being used? What is the message of the cartoon? How is this cartoon related to what the class knows about ISIS and U.S. policy?
Assign the remaining cartoons to students, two per group. Have the students discuss the cartoons and answer the questions provided. Inform students that they will be presenting their work to the class.
3. Drawing Connections
Have each group present on their political cartoons. If you have multiple groups analyzing the same cartoons, you may wish to have them present together or on different questions from the activity.
As a class, discuss how cartoonists provide perspective on political issues. Were students able to identify the message of each cartoon? If so, what were the cartoonists trying to express? What techniques are used in the cartoons that students analyzed? Which techniques did students think were most effective in getting the message across? Were certain techniques easier to identify than others? Why? How do these cartoons relate to U.S. policy regarding ISIS? Do students think that the cartoons they analyzed give favorable or unfavorable views of U.S. policy? If students were making their own cartoons on the response to ISIS, what opinions would they want to express?
4. Monitoring the Situation in the News
Distribute Monitoring the Situation. Tell students that over the course of the next month, they will be following ISIS in the news and taking note of how the situation evolves. As a starting point refer students to the list of news sources below. Encourage students to seek out other sources. Students should consult at least two or three news sources and write a short update about the crisis every week on Part I of the handout. At the end of the month, students should answer the questions listed in Part II.
After students have completed the activity, bring the class together to debrief. How has the crisis evolved? Have conditions improved or worsened? What steps has the international community taken? Have the positions of the United States and other countries changed at all? If so, how? What challenges do people of the region face? Is violence ongoing? Do students believe that an end to the conflict is within sight?
Have students create their own political cartoons that reflect their opinion on the U.S. response to ISIS.
Additional News Resources
Resources on ISIS pages
Resources on the Middle East | <urn:uuid:fe821705-3ac0-445b-a63a-b07fccbfe63a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn/twtn-isis.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395166.84/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00155-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938946 | 953 | 4.0625 | 4 |
The Role of Local Elected Officials in Economic Development: 10 Things You Should Know is part of the Center for Research and Innovation’s ongoing work to provide city leaders with the skills to become informed, strategic decision-makers in economic development. The “ten things” were derived from analysis of successful city programs and interviews with economic development professionals, elected leaders, academics and business organizations.
Local businesses are essential to a stable and diverse local economy. In recent years, many cities have shifted their primary economic development focus away from attracting large firms from outside the community to growing new businesses from within and helping existing businesses survive and thrive. Local officials can help create an environment that supports the growth and expansion of local businesses.
In the case of entrepreneurs and small businesses, many fail not for lack of ideas, but on planning and management. By allocating resources for entrepreneurial and new business support services, local governments can help these businesses overcome critical barriers to success. Such services include small business development centers, entrepreneurship training, market information, networking opportunities, marketing assistance, business incubators, and even financing opportunities.
Running a business is a full-time job, and even if local services are available, business leaders may be unaware of the assistance available to them. Even more likely, they may not automatically view the city as a resource or an ally. By making the effort to reach out and communicate with your local business community, whether through your local chamber of commerce, organized events, or visiting businesses individually, local officials can gather input to help improve local business policies and demonstrate that the community cares about the success of their business.
It is important for local elected officials to bring the same commitment and enthusiasm to existing business as they do to new business prospects. The city often creates incentives or other policy packages to attract new employers, and celebrates a new, large company with ribbon cuttings and stories in the local media. By similarly celebrating local business accomplishments, you can show the city's support, increase the business's profile, and draw attention to economic development success stories that often go unnoticed.
Additionally, by publicly highlighting the achievements of your local companies, you will build your city's reputation as a business friendly community. This, in turn, may encourage outside businesses to take a second look at your community as a desirable location, while providing existing businesses with even more reasons to stay in your jurisdiction.
When making policy decisions focused on business retention and expansion, including small business and entrepreneurial development, it is important to remember that many local businesses need time to mature and grow. Although this form of business support may not deliver an overwhelming, immediate economic impact, the benefits of staying the course with your local businesses can provide greater long-term pay-offs. These include a more diversified, stable economy, a business community with stronger local ties, and maybe even the next, great fortune 500 company.
New York, New York (population 8,308,163)
New York City provides an example of a successful, city-led effort to directly link workforce development and economic development. In 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg eliminated the NYC Department of Employment and consolidated the City's adult workforce programs with the Department of Small Business Services (SBS). The resulting program provides employment and training services for individuals and seeks to meet specific workforce needs of local businesses.
Much of the program's success has been due to a dual customer approach - focusing on meeting the needs of job seekers, as well as local businesses. In fact, SBS has developed two distinct brands associated with both customers. Workforce 1 provides individuals with job placement, training and advancement services and NYC Business Solutions provides a suite of services to support local businesses, including employee recruitment services from the pool of screened job candidates from the Workforce 1 program.
The effort has shown real results in New York City. In 2003, prior to the consolidation of the two programs, the workforce system only achieved 500 job placements. In 2009 the workforce system achieved 25,000 placements. | <urn:uuid:c559c197-e7f1-47b2-866e-705f9c2e6c80> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nlc.org/find-city-solutions/city-solutions-and-applied-research/economic-development/the-role-of-local-elected-officials-in-economic-development/the-needs-of-your-local-business-community | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396027.60/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00123-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95085 | 808 | 2.625 | 3 |
InstrProf: Calculate a better function hash
The function hash should change when control flow changes. This patch
hashes the type of each AST node that affects counters, rather than just
counting how many there are. These types are combined into a small
enumerator that currently has 16 values.
The new hash algorithm packs the enums for consecutively visited types
into a uint64_t. In order to save space for new types, the types are
assumed to be 6-bit values (instead of 4-bit). In order to minimize
overhead for functions with little control flow, the uint64_t is used
directly as a hash if it never fills up; if it does, it's passed through
an MD5 context. | <urn:uuid:87088767-bb98-46dd-96bb-10973f92272a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://reviews.llvm.org/rL206397 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398628.62/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.859109 | 161 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Scientific Evaluations of Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
Publication Date: May 2007
Publisher(s): Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service
The long-awaited experimentally designed evaluation of abstinence-only education programs, commissioned by Congress in 1997, indicates that young persons who participated in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Title V Abstinence Education block grant program were no more likely than other young persons to abstain from sex.
The evaluation conducted by Mathematica Policy, Inc. found that program participants had just as many sexual partners as nonparticipants, had sex at the same median age as nonparticipants, and were just as likely to use contraception as participants.
For many analysts and researchers, the study confirms that a comprehensive sex education curriculum with an abstinence message and information about contraceptives and decision-making skills is a better approach to preventing teen pregnancy. Others maintain that the evaluation examined only four programs for elementary and middle school students, and is thereby inconclusive. Separate experimentally designed evaluations of comprehensive sexual education programs found that some comprehensive programs, including contraception information, decisionmaking skills, and peer pressure strategies, were successful in delaying sexual activity, improving contraceptive use, and/or preventing teen pregnancy. This report will not be updated. | <urn:uuid:3b19760a-4625-4393-8d30-5c80c77e5d58> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.policyarchive.org/handle/10207/4497 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948151 | 260 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Barcelona was founded by the Carthaginians, and, according to tradition, it supposedly derives its name from the great Barca family of Carthage. The city flourished under the Romans and Visigoths, fell to the Moors (8th cent.), and was taken (801) by Charlemagne, who included it in the Spanish March. In the 9th to 10th cent. the march became independent under the leadership of the powerful counts of Barcelona, who wrested lands to the south from the Moors, thus acquiring all Catalonia. The counts also won suzerainty over several fiefs in S France.
The marriage of Count Raymond Berengar IV to the heiress of Aragón united (1137) the two lands under one dynasty; the title, count of Barcelona, was subsequently borne by the kings of Aragón, who made the city their capital, and later the kings of Spain. Under its strong municipal government Barcelona vastly expanded both its Mediterranean trade, becoming a rival of Genoa and Venice, and its cloth industry and flourished as a banking center. Reaching its peak around 1400, the city later shared in the general decline of Catalonia. It was repeatedly (1640–52, 1715, 1808–14) occupied by the French.
Barcelona was always the stronghold of Catalan separatism and was the scene of many insurrections. It was the center of the Catalan revolt (1640–52) against Philip IV of Spain. Later it also became the Spanish center of anarchism, syndicalism, and other radical political beliefs. It was the capital of the Catalan autonomous government (1932–39) and the seat of the Spanish Loyalist government from Oct., 1937, until its fall to Franco on Jan. 26, 1939. Barcelona remains a center of separatism and political liberalism; in the 1950s, it was the scene of sporadic demonstrations against the Franco regime. Present-day Barcelona is a cultural center of Spain, and since the 1970s it has reasserted its Catalan linguistic character. It was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:017326a0-60fc-42c2-8ec2-8c395b4a5f30> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/world/barcelona-history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00171-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975641 | 452 | 3.359375 | 3 |
THEOSOPHY, Vol. 24, No. 4, February, 1936
(Pages 151-154; Size: 12K)
(Number 5 of a 7-part series)
PRECURSORS OF H.P.B.
ROBERT BROWNING'S "PARACELSUS"--II
THE poem of Paracelsus is a mine of information to the student of philosophy, religion or science, for the "sacred knowledge" which was the goal of Paracelsus' quest is a synthesis of all three. But however illuminative this poem may be to the mind, its true value is never perceived until it is read with the eyes of the heart.
During the long evolutionary journey of the Soul, a point is reached where mere brain knowledge no longer satisfies, where a philosophy is demanded which feeds not only the mind, but the heart as well."For men begin to pass their natures bound,There is one aspect of this poem which is particularly valuable to those who have reached this point. Paracelsus was one who thirsted for the real, aspired toward the highest, and attained to supreme wisdom; and he tells the story of his trials, his failures, and his final triumph, to help those who are still in the midst of the battle. The Philosopher, the Occultist and the Warrior-Soul speak in turn through Browning's words, encouraging the efforts of every aspirant through the example of one whose aspiration and determination burgeoned forth into full-blown attainment.
And find new hopes and cares which fast supplant
Their proper joys and griefs; they grow too great
For narrow creeds of right and wrong which fade
Before the unmeasured thirst for good."
The quest for the "sacred knowledge" would be in vain were there not Those who possess it and teach it; Those who have accumulated the wisdom of the ages and carefully preserve it against the ravages of time. The very laws of evolution demand the existence of individuals who have progressed farther along the path of knowledge than ourselves, whose minds and hearts are more replete with understanding and compassion than our own."Such men are even now upon the earth,Who has a better right than Paracelsus to speak of men like these? Was he not himself one of the stones that form that Guardian Wall? The meaning of his words is unmistakable:
Serene among the half-formed creatures round
Who should be saved by them and joined to them.""I am not blind to my undoubted rankThe mission of Paracelsus was the same as that of every other Servant of Humanity: to show the Path to those whose eyes could see. His doctrine was identical with that of every other great Teacher: the doctrine of individual responsibility. His charge was "to impart the spirit which should instigate the search for Truth," and he boldly lit his torch in the midst of his darkened, creed-ridden age, knowing full well that persecution, ingratitude, perhaps a martyr's death would be his lot. He knew in advance how the blind and foolish world would dissect and disparage the truths won for them with his life's blood. And yet, realizing all this, he pledged himself to the task that lay before him:
When classed with others. I precede my age.
And whoso wills is very free to mount
These labours as a platform whence his own
May have a prosperous outset.""And why should I be sad or lorn of hope?The world is ever attacking us with one hand, seducing us with the other. There comes a time in every man's life when, wearied with these eternal buffetings, he stops and questions: "Is this the only Path? Must I ever move in circles, gaining naught but pain and anguish from my efforts?" When this question is asked in all sincerity, the answer comes:
Who shall succeed if not one pledged like me?""There is a way;This Path is not for the timorous or the faint-hearted, nor for the individual who is too cowardly to face his own lower nature without flinching. Only the Warrior-Soul can stand undismayed before the frailty of his own flesh, contemplate with dispassion the ugly fruits of his past misdeeds and still say:
'Tis hard for flesh to tread, imbued
With frailty -- hopeless if indulgence first
Have ripened inborn germs of sin to strength.""I will fight the battle out; a little spentThe Path of the Warrior-Soul is guarded at every step by faithful sentries whose questions must be answered before the aspirant can proceed along his way. At the very entrance to the Path he is confronted with a question which will decide his fitness for Occultism and gauge the possibility of his future success. At the very first gate the sentry of the Higher Self approaches him and asks:
Perhaps, but still an able combatant.""Wilt thou adventure for my sake and man's,He cannot pass beyond this gate until he has declared the nature of the motive which prompts him to knock for admittance. Is it the desire to gain something for himself, or the unselfish longing to be the better able to help and teach others? Does he seek for knowledge so that great powers will come to him, or does he seek to
Apart from all reward?""...know, not for knowing's sake,Unless the pure motive of altruistic service is uncovered in this preliminary process of self-examination, it is better to leave Occultism alone. From the very moment the Path is entered, the disciple must begin to live not for himself, but for the world. From that time on, the divine motive must become the basis of every thought and action, and he must pledge himself to serve without thought of reward.
But to become a star to men forever."
If the desire for service exists in the heart today, the seeds that produced it must have been planted long ago; for such seeds as these cannot sprout and come to fruition within the span of one short life. It is said in the Voice of the Silence that no Arhan(1) becomes one in that birth when for the first time the Soul begins to long for final liberation. Like Paracelsus, each one must look far back into the dim recesses of the past for the cause of his present desire to serve and for the reason of his present incapacity to serve more efficiently. Such introspection may bring out a thought like this:"At times I almost dreamOne of the worst snares along the Path of Discipleship is the one which is here described as "arrogant self-reliance." Many a failure can be traced to an arrogance bred in the soil of a false sense of self-importance, and the annals of discipleship are filled with many a blotted page containing
I too have spent a life the sages' way,
And tread once more familiar paths. Perchance
I perished in an arrogant self-reliance
Ages ago; and in that act a prayer
For one more chance went up so earnest, so
Instinct with better light let in by death,
That life was blotted out -- not so completely
But scattered wrecks enough of it remain,
Dim memories, as now, when once more seems
The goal in sight again.""The sad rhyme of the men who proudly clungBehind each one of us there lies a desert strewn with the dry bones of past mistakes and failures, for Nature has no rubbish-heap where forgotten follies may be burned to ashes. The wise man sees this fact, reviews his past mistakes, extracts what experience he can from them, and uses it to fertilize and enrich the soil of his present endeavor. Although discouragement may assail him, it is not allowed to overpower him, for he knows there is only one real failure -- to stop trying.
To their first fault, and withered in their pride.""You think it strangeThe man who shrinks like a crushed snail within the carapace of discouragement will never reach the goal. "The Path that leadeth on is lighted by one fire -- the fire of daring, burning in the heart." The fire that makes him dare today was lighted long ago, at some far-off altar where the Soul first took its vow of service. This sacred vow can never be forgotten by the Soul, despite the difficulty of impressing it upon the mind. The day will come when it will pierce through the dense opacity of the brain, and then the man will rise with determination to
I should profess to have failed utterly,
And yet propose an ultimate return
To courses void of hope; and this is because
You know not what temptation is, nor how
'Tis like to ply men in the sickliest part."..."hold straight on,The poem of Paracelsus should fire every one who reads it with this determination. It should impart to every reader the spirit which instigates the search for Truth, making him another "wanderer" on the small old Path that leads to the "sacred knowledge." As these wanderers increase in number, the age will be prepared for the re-emergence of such men as Paracelsus, whose dying lips framed the promise:
For now 'tis all or nothing."..."If I stoop
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time. I press God's lamp
Close to my breast; its splendour, soon or late,
Will pierce the gloom. I shall emerge one day.
You understand me? I have said enough?"
Precursors of H.P.B.
(Part 6 of 7)
ONE (1) FOOTNOTE LISTED BELOW:
COMPILER'S NOTE: I added this footnote; it was not in the article. If it doesn't paint an accurate enough picture, or is incorrect, I hope the Editors of THEOSOPHY magazine will spot it and point it out to me, so that I can make the necessary corrections.
(1) "Arhan" means an initiated Adept at some high level.
Back to text. | <urn:uuid:71dfc8b3-0cbd-4187-9f50-0457e4d9b2be> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wisdomworld.org/setting/browningtwo.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9648 | 2,125 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Example 1 – A small funnel forming at the base of a cumulonimbus cloud
You and your sister are driving through north Texas to visit distant family, relations through your father’s side, and you hear on the radio that a tornado warning has been issued for all citizens in your area. You scan the sky to discover that a small funnel has formed at the base of a thick, castellated storm cloud over the road ahead; it seems to approach quickly.
1. Turn to the index and find the term ‘funnel cloud.’ The index directs you to the entry on Tornadoes & Other Whirls.
2. In the text, you read that Tornadoes are an error of the deceased farmer’s jealousy, and that through his funnel cloud, the deceased farmer can again take hold of the earth, for good and for evil. Your sister weeps in fear, for she once dated a soybean farmer. He had enormous, callused hands and used her roughly.
3. As you try to calm her, you immediately reverse direction in search of a suitable shelter: a farmhouse, a ditch, etc. The horizon, far and flat and empty of any feature, mocks you.
Example 2 – The distant sound of thunder; a dark, menacing cumulonimbus cloud approaches
You have just received news via telephone that your mother and father have driven their newly purchased recreational vehicle nearly six hundred miles to surprise you for your twenty-sixth birthday. They carry with them a number of acrobatic kites, which they wish to fly with you this afternoon, despite your having repeatedly informed them that you had long since abandoned that childhood hobby. The sky has considerably darkened, is punctuated by the occasional flash of lightning, and menaces the neighborhood; you desperately replace the telephone in its cradle, wishing upon your mother and father a blown tire or some other mechanical mishap. Your wife angrily peers into the storm, awaiting the sweep of headlights up the drive, as the first heavy drops of rain splat themselves against the living room window.
1. Turn to the index and find the phrase ‘parental malaise.’ The index directs you to the entry on Thunderstorms, which surprises you, as you had expected to read about Hurricanes or Hailstorms.
2. In the text, you read that thunderstorms represent a familial convulsion, often symptomatic of repressed childhood memories, the wicked burdens of maturity, and the guilt that comes of fleeing one’s family. You become disheartened by this description, ignoring the thunderstorm’s capability to create positive transformation in its wake.
3. You and your wife secure the storm shutters, retrieve candles from the pantry, and await your parents’ arrival.
Ryan Call lives in Houston with his wife. Excerpts from his ongoing field guide to North American weather have been published by mlpress, Lamination Colony, and sleepingfish. | <urn:uuid:e43cfed8-28f3-40ae-9ebd-ce340b9b5864> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.everyday-genius.com/2009/12/ryan-call.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963626 | 613 | 2.734375 | 3 |
|Name: _________________________||Period: ___________________|
This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which one of the children is missing when it is time to re-board the ship?
2. What is one of the items in Kristina's basket which is almost the last of the food for the group?
(d) Dried apples.
3. Which of the following is NOT one of Karl and Kristina's children?
4. What type of trees do the men take special note of in the forest?
(c) Sugar Maple.
5. What does Robert study in preparation for the farmers' new lives in America?
(a) The social customs.
(b) The seasons.
(c) The religions.
(d) The currency.
6. What does Danjel create in everyone around him?
7. Who wife died during the sea voyage?
8. The farmers and their families on board the ship are from which country?
9. What is the final destination of the group?
(c) Taylor Falls.
10. Why does Danjel think his child died?
(a) Because he was angry with God.
(b) To give him one less mouth to feed.
(c) So Danjel would move his devotion back to God.
(d) So she could be with her dead mother.
11. How many children does Danjel have?
12. Which one of Karl and Kristina's children died while they were still in Sweden?
13. To whom does Karl write a letter telling of the group's arrival in America?
(a) His brother.
(b) His parents.
(c) Kristina's uncle.
(d) His parish priest.
14. Robert hopes to earn enough money to find a doctor to help with ________________________.
(a) painful back.
(b) a hearing problem.
(c) swollen joints.
(d) skin lesions.
15. Karl finds the land he wants by a lake called ____________________.
(a) Big Eagle.
Short Answer Questions
1. Ulrika is known as ______________________.
2. Who is Robert's best friend?
3. The passengers learn that there is an epidemic of __________________ on board the ship.
4. Who is the man who Karl Oskar knows who lives in the state in #7?
5. What is a requirement for the men as they select their homesteads?
This section contains 366 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) | <urn:uuid:0b1c68f2-5e04-483f-bbe1-61bf499ef7b3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/unto-a-good-land-a-novel/test1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00002-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.887328 | 564 | 3.21875 | 3 |
1A person’s thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow. The term was introduced by William James in his Principles of Psychology (1890).
- Controlled yet so easily distracted, his camera eye acknowledges that existence is merely an ongoing stream of consciousness, intuition, dissociation.
- It is a stream of consciousness where Benjy remembers events not in a chronological order but as free association brings them to his mind.
- A stream of consciousness of wit and despair is matched by tips about reverse phone psychology; if you don't think about it the phone will ring.
1.1A literary style in which a character’s thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow uninterrupted by objective description or conventional dialogue. James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and Marcel Proust are among its notable early exponents: [as modifier]: a stream-of-consciousness monologue
More example sentences
- Updating the stream-of-consciousness technique of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, Shaw transforms his dreams into a droll epic crammed with postwar American flotsam and jetsam.
- Bleached of punctuation, the words flow freely in a stream of consciousness manner reminiscent of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.
- Other authors have experimented with putting their stream-of-consciousness narrators in motion with mixed results, since the awkwardness of self narrated movement introduces a dissonance into the narration.
For editors and proofreaders
Line breaks: stream of con|scious|ness
Definition of stream of consciousness 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:0475ea29-dd2b-46a4-8f5e-306c0375cd45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/stream-of-consciousness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92807 | 355 | 3 | 3 |
Digital Photography for Beginners
If you are about to make the switch from film cameras to digital cameras, you will want to make use of tips for digital photography for beginners. Digital photography is becoming very popular today, since it offers photographers an excellent way to shoot photographs with considerable ease and for a low cost.
As a beginning digital photographer, you'll need to learn to handle a digital camera as well as learn about the basic parts of the camera (and the jargon used). You will want to start by understanding the meanings of words such as resolution, pixel, mega pixel, dots per inch or DPI, and JPEG or Joint Photographic Experts Group. You will then want to learn about how to handle the camera.
Handling the Camera
If you want to achieve success as a digital photographer, you should know how to handle a digital camera. You must know this aspect of digital photography to become a successful photographer.
Start by mastering a fundamental aspect of digital photography, which is to pay attention to the subject. You must learn that it does not pay to position the object exactly at the center of the picture, as this can cause a dead center image.
It pays to learn about the benefits of taking extreme close-up shots, as this allows you to be more creative.
The best way to prevent blurry pictures is by placing your digital camera on a tripod before you should start shooting pictures. Doing so will help in stabilizing the camera and prevent it from moving when you click to take a shot.
If you wish to be more creative as a digital photographer, it is important for you to be active. This means that you will need to be in different places, including at a hilltop or by the side of your yacht. It also means being active in the outdoors where you are going to find many interesting subjects that will be worth capturing with your camera.
There is more to mastering the art of digital photography than clicking and using trial and error methods. It also pays to join digital photography classes so that you get a chance to learn from an expert. This will help to hone your skills as a digital photographer. You should, therefore, be ready to join photography classes in a community and you should be willing to attend online classes.
Becoming an accomplished digital photographer is something that can take time. The important point is that it pays to be creative and resourceful, and your earnest endeavor should be to stay abreast with all the latest techniques. It also pays to start learning by using tutorials, as this will set you on the path of becoming an accomplished digital photographer.
It is also important to buy a suitable digital camera, especially one that has some useful editing features. This will help you in cropping and centering pictures. The bottom line is that digital photography requires careful attention. Modern digital cameras are very user friendly and easy to use. They are also becoming smaller and more powerful. The more you learn how to use them, the more exciting digital photography becomes. | <urn:uuid:a0d240b6-ab83-476c-9deb-4bbfac1d6612> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/photography-tips/digital-photography-for-beginners.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961714 | 606 | 2.609375 | 3 |
The standard pressure boundary conditions for compressible flow fix speci fic flow variables at the boundary (e.g., static pressure at an outlet boundary).
As a result, pressure waves incident on the boundary will reflect in an unphysical manner, leading to local errors. The effect are more pronounced for internal flow problems where boundaries are usually close to geometry inside the domain, such as compressor or turbine blade rows.
The turbo-specfiic non-reflecting boundary conditions (NRBCs) permit waves to pass through the boundaries without spurious reflections. The method used in FLUENT is based on the Fourier transformation of solution variables at the non-reflecting boundary.
This tutorial demonstrates how to do the following:
- Set up and solve the turbine blade flow field using the standard pressure outlet boundary treatment -
- Activate the turbo-specific NRBCs and solve the problem again
- Compare the results for the standard and non-reflecting pressure boundaries | <urn:uuid:8ab78dc9-66a0-40fb-998b-c76b30dd0f05> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fluent-workshop.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00083-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.856286 | 196 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Civilian Conservation Corps History
During the darkest days of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The mission—put young men to work saving America’s natural heritage.
A Lasting Legacy: Preservation & Opportunity for All
In South Carolina, the CCC created 16 state parks that preserve some of the state’s most beautiful places. This work provided access to thousands of acres of public land to all South Carolinians. It also gave jobs to the unemployed and helped many families survive hard times.
Though the work of the CCC occurred more than 70 years ago, an important legacy remains. The park planners of the 1930s wanted to create opportunities for all people, rich or poor, to get closer to nature. They believed that outdoor recreation could help cure many of society’s ills, and that nature could inspire, educate and even give meaning to life. Countless South Carolinians have benefited from the CCC’s idealistic vision.
We Worked Hard and Played Hard: Memories of the CCC
Many of the men who built our state parks remember their CCC days fondly. A typical CCC camp was made up of 200 young men, aged 18-25 years, who lived in army-style barracks and worked on surrounding park lands.
A museum dedicated to the legacy of the CCC is located at Lake Greenwood State Park
. Additionally, one of the finest examples of CCC craftsmanship in the state park system can be found at the newly restored Table Rock Lodge
You can enjoy the other landmarks they created and search the CCC-created parks by using the search below.
History and Interpretation | <urn:uuid:23d2caf8-32f2-46db-96bb-db830fd1eb0a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/historic-sites/ccc-history.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946164 | 347 | 3.578125 | 4 |
From its first printed appearance in the West, type drew on existing forms, with the results then impacting on future designs. The letters printed in Renaissance Europe by Johann Gutenberg were a direct interpretation of the ornate gothic handwriting of the day; black-letter, in movable, reusable hot metal. Black-letter would also influence the first italic type cut by Francesco Griffo, which was largely informed by 16th century Italian handwriting. But it was the renewed interest in classic Greco-Roman culture, rather than technological development, that would see our standard roman alphabet find its definitive printed expression.
The early Humanist faces derived their majuscules from stone-carved Roman capital letters (hence the serifs) while their minuscules were adapted from the formal calligraphy of scribes. The more successful types revealed an ability to differentiate the written from the printed character, as evidenced by the letters of Nicolas Jenson. Extremely well-proportioned and unified in form, Jenson�s type reconciled capitals with small letters and provided the blueprint for future letterpress faces.
Our more familiar Baroque types of the 17th century were designed by Claude Garamond and, later, William Caslon. Displaying low stroke contrast and a diagonal stress derived from Italian cursive, they were elegant and highly legible, their dominance only challenged by the work of John Baskerville in the mid-18th century. His strongly vertical Neoclassical faces were based on earlier French grid-based designs and introduced the contrasting stroke weights which were to reach their apotheosis in the coming Romantic faces of Giambattista Bodoni and Firmin Didot.
The influence of calligraphy now diminished as punchcutting evolved and letterforms began to echo their metal origins. Improved technologies had gradually facilitated fine detail like unbracketed hairline serifs and high stroke contrast. As a result these sophisticated designs earned type a newfound importance in their ability to command attention. This was timely as the next phase would require and produce various distinctive faces, though the beauty of their form would be contested.
The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century ushered in another typographic development not directly caused by technology. Advertising and commerce demanded that type work harder, resulting in heavily scaled novelty and display faces. Grossly inflated Romantic faces became fat-faces and Realist types emerged in the form of vertical, sturdy slab serifs or egyptians � their block-like forms anticipating the clarendon faces of the mid-1800s. But most significantly, monoline sans serif or grotesque faces appeared, with Hermann Berthold’s Akzidenz Grotesk of 1896 becoming the first widely adopted sans in the wake of this typographic profusion.
Bulky wooden type was used in conjunction with the existing metal technology which, although accurate and efficient, was struggling to keep up with exhaustive typographic demands. It remained, however, until the invention of mechanised typesetting at the end of the century with the Linotype and Monotype machines. By this time type had become increasingly crude, and excepting notable achievements like Morris Fuller Benton’s Franklin Gothic of 1902, such forms surely helped trigger the rationale behind the impending designs.
The early 20th century saw the progressive designers at the Bauhaus ally themselves with the machine age in a vigorous attempt to define the modern. Rejecting both calligraphy and ornamentation in favour of purity and elemental form, they embraced refined sans forms and delivered Geometric Modernist types: grid-based, modular, often unicase alphabets like Herbert Bayer’s 1925 universal. Design was now being driven by a socialist ideology, with the new technology providing a functional aesthetic. Forms were tested to their limits and obliged to convey meaning along with content � even more so than Postmodernism would demand in the future.
In 1927 Paul Renner released the radical Futura, dubbing its modern geometric form ‘the typeface of our time’. The first sans designed as a text face, it heralded the arrival of the Swiss Style � a movement that would remain influential for the next 50 years. This milestone was paralleled by the 1928 release of Gill Sans by Eric Gill. Unlike Futura, this humanist sans serif was based on roman proportions but would also have an immediate impact and lasting popularity.
The Lyrical Modernism of mid-century saw an enormous range of types break free from recent dogma. Sans were stressed into glyphics and slab serifs refined alongside the invention of expressive new script, brush and period faces. Pre-existing designs were revived and hybridised � Stanley Morison’s Times New Roman of 1932 being noteworthy as a fusion of Baroque, Neoclassical and Romantic elements; it became the most widely read and commercially successful text face. But it was the modern sans serif that was in demand and in order to compete commercially, the Swiss typefoundry Haas commissioned Max Miedinger’s infamous neo-grotesque, Helvetica, in 1957. Neutral, adaptable Helvetica (with its large family) prevailed from the 1960s on and it has not yet lost prominence.
The photosetting of the 1950s had used light to project and scale typefaces which often resulted in distortion, but Letraset dry-transfer lettering soon arrived to physically return type the the hands of the designer. Quick and cheap, this intermediate technology mirrored Pop Art in its brash, fun display faces. However, as computers increased their presence, type began moving definitively away from these physical restraints towards the pliancy of the digital; Neue Alphabet by Wim Crouwel and the OCR fonts of Adrian Frutiger in the late 1960s were inspired by and custom-designed for screen display � hinting at things to come.
The design, production and distribution of type changed irrevocably in the early 1980s with the advent of desktop publishing and the Apple Macintosh. Efficient, user-friendly software democratised typography but simultaneously allowed designers to produce ill-conceived and badly drawn faces. An exception was the prolific Neville Brody whose geometric, authoritarian faces would define the decade. Ironically, Brody’s pre-digital types were hand-drawn yet they fully expressed the geometry of bitmaps.
The new technology also resulted in the proliferation of digital type foundries like Bitstream and Emigre. The latter’s Zuzana Licko was a pioneer in exploiting the low-res bitmap forms of the early Mac, while her later fonts would present timely challenges to legibility and provoke heated typographic debate.
Type’s newly prominent status made for a highly creative period in the 1990s, with experimental design leading the way and technology coming a close second. Postmodern sampling resulted in hybrids loaded with self-indulgent typographic theory, subjective revivals and faces with both serif and sans versions. The distinct move towards vernacular references was an antidote to the ‘perfection’ of the new technology and grungy, raw typefaces expressed a metanarrative, best exemplified by Barry Deck’s Template Gothic of 1990 � declared the ‘typeface of the decade’ by its publisher Emigre.
A once arcane craft, typography is now widely accessible and highly visible. But good typography requires an understanding of proportion, rhythm and gestalt � objectives that become harder to see for the surrounding technology. Although our digital fonts retain the earmarks of the chisel, the pen and the metal punch, the new tools have rendered type far more elastic.
Recent innovations, both technological and conceptual, appear to have effected a renewed reverence for classic form as revivals flourish and obscure historical faces are digitised. Still, typographic design remains essentially commercially driven, with some dedicated enthusiasts experimenting alongside. Advertising has developed a pronounced preference for typefaces with the friendly, rounded forms that originated in 1979′s V.A.G., while in the midst of the ongoing war between the modernists and the traditionalists, the search for the definitive sans serif continues, moving from Helvetica to Frutiger to Meta to Akkurat. Elsewhere, experiments in dimensional typography, randomizing and onscreen time-and-motion type remain for a select audience.
In light of history, the current approach to typography appears sober, yet it may anticipate a phase of radical invention akin to the excesses of the late 20th century. | <urn:uuid:5945120d-495a-436a-afb2-6dc867481ea5> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dhub.org/a-short-history-of-typography/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956357 | 1,786 | 3.65625 | 4 |
In the foamy chop of the warm-water discharge flowing into the San Gabriel River from a Long Beach power plant, a green sea turtle, wide as a manhole cover, materialized Friday just a few yards from shore.
A few minutes later, an even larger sea turtle surfaced in the murky water near the plant's thicket of steel scaffolding, steam vents and transmission lines.
Green sea turtles usually have tropical haunts -- teeming coral reefs or white sandy beaches where they lay eggs -- but these chunky titans live more than a mile upstream in one of Southern California's most ecologically degraded rivers.
Little is known about the colony of at least six urban sea turtles. But a joint study by the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Aquarium of the Pacific aims to determine, among other things, what they're doing in there.
"Right now, it's a small group of what might be considered oddball turtles," said Peter Dutton, a senior researcher with the fisheries service. "But we have a lot to learn about them. Are they part of a more complex sea-turtle migration dynamic than we ever imagined, or just lost wanderers?"
Scientists also want to know how the federally endangered animals are adapting to the unique challenges they face in the 100-yard-wide river channel at the Los Angeles County-Orange County line, next to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Haynes Generating Station. Those challenges include speedboats, water skiers, baited hooks, urban runoff, tons of garbage and harassment.
On Friday, a green sea turtle that had been trapped for weeks in the whirlpools of an intake channel near the power plant a few yards east of the river was rescued by a team of divers hired by the DWP. The 45-pound turtle was taken to the Aquarium of the Pacific, where veterinarians discovered a hook in its rear left flipper and a hook and a 3-inch gash in its front left flipper.
This week, witnesses told federal wildlife authorities that several fishermen had repeatedly tried to snag the animal. One man, they said, hooked onto one of its rear flippers and struggled for about an hour and half trying to bring the animal to shore. Eventually, the fishing line snapped and the turtle swam free.
Aquarium officials said they planned to release the turtle into the river in the vicinity of the power plant.
For years, wildlife authorities have received occasional reports of possible sea turtles in the river from people who fish its brackish stretches north of Alamitos Bay for halibut, sand bass and perch. One of the first scientists to make positive identification was fisheries service biologist Joseph Cordaro.
"I got a telephone call in 1988 from a jogger claiming to have witnessed a startling phenomenon," Cordaro recalled. "He said, 'Do you guys know there is a green sea turtle in the San Gabriel River?' "
Cordaro was skeptical. "I asked him if the turtle had claws on its feet," he said. "If the answer is yes, which it almost always is, it's a freshwater turtle. It saves me a trip."
But the caller insisted it was a sea turtle. "So I went out to see for myself," he said. "The turtle surfaced. I muttered, 'I don't believe what I'm seeing.' "
Nonetheless, subsequent reports of sea turtles cruising the river were dismissed as anecdotal evidence of individual turtles, most likely strays from a colony of sea turtles discovered in the late 1970s near the warm-water discharge of a San Diego Gas & Electric Co. power plant in San Diego Bay.
That colony was initially studied by Margie Stinson, a professor at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. Its matriarch is a 570-pounder whom Stinson named Wrinklebutt.
Stinson initially concluded that six or seven turtles -- including Wrinklebutt -- were attracted to the warm-water effluent of the power plant but spent most of their time elsewhere.
Later studies, however, revealed that the San Diego Bay colony actually includes at least 100 turtles, all of them permanent residents.
"We used to think the San Diego Bay group was the northernmost foraging colony of green sea turtles," Stinson said. "But it looks like the San Gabriel River colony has us beat for that title."
Scientists finally confirmed the existence of the San Gabriel River colony in May.
Green sea turtles, which can grow to 5 feet long and weigh more than 500 pounds, are an ancient species dating back as far as 30 million years.
Biologists suspect that the turtles nest on beaches more than 1,000 miles to the south, on islands off the Pacific coast of Mexico. But that's just a guess at the moment.
In years to come, genetic analysis, satellite telemetry, flipper tagging, vital statistics and daily monitoring could help answer myriad questions:
Do they travel here together or individually? To what genetic stock do they belong? Exactly how many are in the river? What are they eating? | <urn:uuid:c2fc233c-fcdb-4dae-b3ff-abe99008feda> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://articles.latimes.com/2008/aug/30/local/me-turtles30 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00107-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969188 | 1,044 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Ants for Arthritis
Last Updated on Saturday, 17 January 2009 06:12
Although ants may be driving you up the wall in your home, and more specifically your kitchen, you may soon be welcoming them into your first-aid kit.
Some might say the day of the herbal remedy as the only alternative healer is over, and that the age of the ant has dawned.
Chinese chemists have identified substances in a certain kind of ant that may soon be used in medicine to fight arthritis and hepatitis along with several other diseases.
This may sound strange to westerners but Chinese have for centuries used ants in health foods and drinks to treat a wide range of ailments, of which arthritis and hepatitis are but two.
It is believed that the healing agents most likely come from anti-inflammatory and analgesic elements found in the ants. What the precise chemicals are, is still largely unknown.
Zhi-Hong Jiang, who headed up the latest research along with his chemist colleagues, examined extracts taken from a Chinese medicinal ant (Polyrhachis lamellidens), which is often made use of in folk medicine.
The research showed some promising results, identifying at least two polyketides - powerful natural substances also present in bacteria, fungi and plants studied for their use in fighting bacterial infections, arthritis, and other ailments.
As if taking over the kitchen is not enough, more medical research shows that another ant, the Polyrhachis vicina, extended rats' lifespans.
This particular ant is used as a drink to boost one’s immune system in Tibet, and has been prized by the royal family in China.
The ant was investigated by senior lecturer at Middlesex University, Dr John Wilkinson.
Mr Wilkinson said, "These ants contain a lot of zinc and zinc has been identified for some time as an immune stimulant and an antioxidant."
"This species of ant seems to act in a similar way on the immune system as ginseng and Vitamin E.
"This is a very exciting time in medicine. Insects have different compounds in them to plants."
"Now it is up to researchers to identify the novel compounds in insects and how they benefit health."
He concluded by saying: "Insects are potentially a vast new area of medicinal research."
One UK drinks manufacturer, InterContinental Brands (ICB) in North Yorkshire, manufactures a high juice drink aptly named Ant, which can be supped instead of the usual health and energy drinks seen in supermarkets.
Spokesperson for the company, Collette Fellows, said: "The vast history of the efficacy of the Chinese ant as a tonic is well documented in China. People here are beginning to understand its benefits."
The non-alcoholic, natural stimulant is not registered as a drug with the Standards for Trading and has already been on the market for years. | <urn:uuid:daf0487a-ff45-40b1-8fa9-0e45f65997cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.familyhealthguide.co.uk/ants-for-arthritis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961062 | 590 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Label: Sea Turtles
April 2, 2012
Saving Baby Sea Turtles
In today’s Science News, we have this photograph of baby turtles making their way into the ocean after their release during a campaign to save sea turtles in Aceh Besar, Indonesia. Hatching baby turtles have always been in danger from predators who snatch them while they are heading for the safety of the water, but now they are facing extinction due to the action of the most powerful predator of all - human poachers who kill them for their meat, fat, shells and eggs.
Now, conservationists are educating the public about the importance of helping these baby turtles to make it to the safety of the water. They hope that with knowledge and the support from the public, sea turtles will eventually be able to come off the endangered list.
Photo: Heri Juanda / AP
Be part of Seymour Simon’s celebration of Earth Day 2012 by commenting on blog stories like this one, and telling Seymour about YOUR Earth Day Promises! How are you going to make a difference for the Earth? What will you do to make it be Earth Day / every day? Each time you leave a comment between today and April 22, you will be entered into a drawing to win a free, personally autographed book from Seymour Simon. So get started by clicking "comments" below, and tell us about Your Earth Day Promises!
January 4, 2011
Sea Turtles: Update
Sea turtles are the last of our world’s ancient reptiles, and have been swimming the seas for more than 200 million years, since back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. But in just the last few decades, hunting, coastal development, fishing and pollution have reduced their populations to dangerously low levels, to the point that sea turtles are now endangered. That is why many of us, including our young environmental reporter Alana G., were very worried about the fate of the sea turtles when the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in the Gulf last year.
The very good news is that the rescue efforts were quite successful. NOAA (the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration), the Gulf states, many nonprofit partners and the Gulf fishermen teamed up to rescue more than 400 sea turtles from oiled waters and take them to aquariums and other facilities for de-oiling and rehabilitation. Marine biologists even moved more than 25,000 sea turtle eggs to Florida’s Atlantic coast, so that the hatchlings would make their way from their sandy nests to clean water. More than 96 percent of the 400 sea turtles brought into rehabilitation have survived, and most of them have already been returned to the wild. This is great news!
Unfortunately, scientists also learned something disturbing from the Gulf oil spill. Most of the dead turtles that turned up on the beaches did not have oil on their bodies and necropsies (that is what you call the autopsy of an animal) showed that they were in good health prior to their death. It appears that the majority of these 600 turtles died from drowning, after being trapped in fishing gear.
So now a new effort begins, to make fishing equipment more "turtle proof" in the Gulf, where five of the world’s seven species of marine turtles live. In order to protect this species and get them off the endangered list, NOAA is considering establishing a rule requiring fishermen to use TEDs (Turtle Excluder Devices). These escape hatches allow sea turtles to swim out of the shrimp skimmers so they don’t drown. As NOAA and the states continue to assess the natural resources damaged by the spill, we are gaining a much clearer picture of what we need to do long-term to protect these glorious, ancient creatures.
June 1, 2010
Kids Worrying About the Gulf
A fourth-grader wrote asking what she can do about the Gulf oil spill.
My name is Alana and I am a 4th grade student. We are currently reading the story you wrote "Wildfires." I think it is a great story. It helped us understand the positive effects that controlled wildfires can have.Although I greatly enjoyed the story, unfortunately that is not the main reason I am writing to you today. I just read your posting on the Gulf Oil Spill. My mom and I have been following the updates. It breaks my heart that this has happened. The sea turtles are one of my very favorite animals on the planet, but I love all marine life. I was even looking into becoming a Marine Biologist when I grow up. I love science and enjoy working with animals. I can’t believe what is going to happen the Gulf’s ecosystem. I know that I am very far away and that I am only 9 years old (almost 10) but do you have any suggestions of what I can do to help the situation? It makes me so angry but also sad that this has happened and the only thing that will help me feel a little better is to know that I am doing whatever I can to help save the animals that are still left. Do you think that the sea turtles will survive this disaster? So many have already died. : ( I know you are very busy. Thank you for taking the time to read posting.
Alana, thank you so much for writing and for caring so much about the sea turtles. Like you, I have always considered sea turtles to be one of my favorite animals on our planet. They travel long distances during their lives and return to the same place they were born, where the females lay their eggs for a new generation of turtles. It is so sad that the turtles are being killed by the terrible oil spill in the Gulf. The turtles are only one of the many animals that are being affected and no one seems to know how to put a quick stop to the oil pouring out into the sea. I wish I could tell you what to do to help the situation. More than that I wish I could tell you that someone knows what to do. It seems as if the oil spill will continue for weeks and months and I just hope that the company that caused the spill and the goverrnment can control it by the end of the summer. Perhaps the best thing you and everyone else can do is to try to make sure that it never happens again. There are many conservation groups, such as The Nature Conservancy and The Natural Resources Defense Council that are working to make oil drilling safer in a variety of ways.
The peoples of this country and of other countries all share the same planet. The more people who feel the way you and I do about this terrible situation, the more likely it is that the countries of the world will put rules in place to prevent it from ever happening again.Think environmentally all your life, no matter what you decide to do as an adult. Talk about it to your friends. Read about it in books and on the web. Remain committed to the idea that...read more | <urn:uuid:b0b37a8f-3ab9-4efd-9aa6-9a1257c2d473> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/blog/tags/tag/Sea+Turtles | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00086-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972474 | 1,415 | 3.21875 | 3 |
“Whitney understood power, he understood politics, and most of all he understood people. They said Martin was in the streets, Roy and Thurgood were in the courts, and Whitney was in the boardroom. One could not have been successful without the other.” - Vernon Jordan, CEO National Urban League
One of the most celebrated leaders of the Civil Rights era, Whitney Young helped thousands of people struggling against discrimination by taking the fight directly to those in power. However, because those in power were the same white elite that he shook hands, made deals, and worked with behind the scenes, he was also one of the most controversial figures in the Civil Rights movement and viewed by some as an "Uncle Tom". Follow the story of Young's journey from the segregated South to national campaign for equal rights as his legacy of pragmatism and deliberative negotiation resonates in today's political climate. Watch a preview of The Powerbroker below.
Actress Alfre Woodard narrated the upcoming Independent Lens film, The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights
Whitney M. Young, Jr. was one of the most celebrated - and controversial - leaders of the civil rights era. | <urn:uuid:0a901cd8-ecac-4f85-94f6-09c89c96a6fe> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pbs.org/black-culture/shows/list/powerbroker-whitney-young/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977241 | 248 | 3.0625 | 3 |
I'm in a moms' business group online and recently a few moms asked for curriculum help for their 2-3 year olds. They are eager to get them prepared for pre-K, as I'm sure they have heard nightmares from other parents whose children have problems in school as early as age 4. I am convinced that these problems are not due to a lack of curricula for 2-3 year olds at home and I will tell you why.
Because most parents have been through at least 12 years of worksheets, tests, and bookwork, their only reference for what "school" is makes them think "workbook." So we automatically think we should get our 2-3 year-olds started on workbooks as soon as possible. The fact is, most parents are teaching their toddlers everything they need to know- as long as they are playing with them and not sticking them in front of the television. (Keep in mind that many home day care facilities do just that...hence the "problems" children have when starting school.)
Below are some ideas to help children ages 2-3 build the connections in their brain that will make them excellent learners, readers, and problem solvers as they enter school and beyond:
1. Play with colored stacking cups and foam letters. Both of these can be done during bath time. While playing, your words mean everything. "Can you hand me the big red cup? Can you find the blue cup that fits inside this green cup?" Foam letters can be named as the child places each one on the wall. Start with just 5-6 and then add more as they learn them. It is very easy for kids to learn letters at age 2. Once they learn them, you can start spelling words, talking about the sounds that they make, write them on paper later, etc. If you wait until age 5 to teach this, I promise, you will have a nightmare on your hands. The connections need to be started much earlier, before the child has other things on the brain, such as socializing or sports.
2. Color and draw often. (Another great time to talk about color). You can incorporate shapes into your drawings and ask your child to draw a picture using only circles, triangles, and rectangles. Show your child each shape and let him have at it. Children learn shapes really quickly and the earlier they do, the better. Hang their creations on the fridge, where you can later talk about the shapes again. Later, go around the house and find things that look like the various shapes.
3. Do puzzles. I cannot stress this enough. So many parents miss out on the value of puzzles for children who will need the same skills to learn how to read. Totally different task, but doing puzzles sparks connections in the brain that are going to be used when learning to put the sounds together from each letter when reading. Typically, children who can complete more difficult puzzles are often the same children who have the easiest time learning to read. This is not coincidence and it has little to do with anything the child was born with: it has everything to do with brain development that occurred as a baby and toddler.
4. Build with blocks. If you haven't sat down with your toddler and built with him or her, do it today. When my son and daughter were younger, I remember building with them and realizing all of the different ways you have to use your brain in order to build. It was mind blowing! I actually had a difficult time at first and then as my brain settled into the task, it began remembering the things I had probably learned as a toddler myself. Building promotes problem solving at the very least, but I'm not going to tell you more because you will see it when you sit down with your toddler and build. Make sure you have a good set of blocks with many different shapes to increase the creative possibilities in your child's building. (This will also make connections later for your child as you discuss three-dimensional shapes).
5. Read, sing, and talk to your child often. Admittedly, I was not a reader. I hardly ever read to my children. That sounds horrible! But from the day they each were born, I spoke to them- about EVERYTHING. I had "conversations" with them, talked about what I was doing, where we were going, about the weather, etc. I sang as I rocked them as well. Not lullabies, but silly songs. My daughter, who was often rocked to sleep by her Aunt Susie, learned the words to the Beverly Hillbillies and The Brady Bunch by the age of two. By three, she was making up her own songs. I know a lot of kids do, but hers actually rhymed! My kids love books, despite my neglecting to read to them. They were always there for them and I would read when they brought one to me. We loved looking at the pictures and telling our own stories sometimes. They both also learned to read very easily, my son at age five, my daughter at age four. This is not because their momma is so smart! This is because momma provided the toys and activities above, which prepared their brains for the task.
6. Count things. There are numerous opportunities to count things with your toddler. Point to each object as you count. Don't sit down with counters (there is time for that later) but use natural opportunities that come up in your day to count.
7. Dance. Dance in front of your kids and with your kids. Let them see you be silly. Aside from the physical aspects of balance and rhythm, your child will learn that it's okay to let loose and not to take things so seriously sometimes. We stress our kids out enough with all the things we require of them, especially once school starts. They need to be able to let loose from time to time and know that life is more than learning facts, passing tests, and making the grade. Isn't it?
I know that there is much more to add that you are probably doing with your toddler. But these, in my opinion, are the "must dos." Have fun! | <urn:uuid:a6dd7192-df1f-4876-a96d-61ec002da88f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.stay-at-home-child.com/2009/08/curriculum-for-2-3-year-olds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00051-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98612 | 1,266 | 2.84375 | 3 |
1 Answer | Add Yours
The main function of Peter Walsh, if we look at the text, is the way that he represents a profound ambivalence towards life. He acts as a foil to the stable Richard, whom he finds extremely boring as a character. What is key about Peter Walsh is the way that he finds it impossible to decide on any one identity or to stick to one partner in life. Every aspect of his character features vacillation and ambivalence. For example, he feels at times he is not yet old, yet he fears that the best years of his life have already vanished and gone and he has wasted them. He tries to convince himself that he does not love Clarissa any more only to find that he experiences massive grief because he has lost her, and this suggests that he is still very much in love with her. If Richard is a rather basic character, very stable, Peter by contrast is something of a very unpredictable character who constantly surprises even himself with what he says, does and feels.
The significance of Peter therefore is in the way that he contrasts with others. His character does allow Clarissa to examine her youth, but what is much more significant about him is the way that he contrasts with others around him. Another way he acts as a foil is when Clarissa manages to accept her mortality, whereas Peter remains terrified of the thought of dying.
We’ve answered 327,858 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question | <urn:uuid:8c84b7a3-2243-47e8-9801-4b076cfc8beb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/peter-walsh-introduced-into-novel-share-clarissa-323334 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982103 | 302 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter
. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event ...
It was a springtime Sunday in about the year 30 A.D. The holy city of Jerusalem
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before Easter) and the last Sunday before Easter, the sacred ...
Palm Sunday is one of the most important days in the Christian calendar after
Christmas and Easter. Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and marks the | <urn:uuid:af9b741d-dd29-43ab-98c7-0395360ac9c2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ask.com/web?q=What+Happened+on+Palm+Sunday%3F&o=2603&l=dir&qsrc=3139&gc=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903575 | 350 | 3.546875 | 4 |
Belsebuub, Guest Writer
Go far enough back in time and you’ll reach to a point where entire societies were based around the universal knowledge of the journey of consciousness in its awakening – in Central and South America, Easter Island, Egypt, Cambodia, India and in many other places now submerged under the ocean. The precision of some of the sacred sites that were created is astonishing, revealing the cosmic principles of enlightenment in their geometry and design. Many of the oldest teachings such as the Rig Veda and the Pyramid Texts of Egypt contain a sublime spiritual message.
As time went by however, much of the ancient knowledge was lost and various religious forms appeared. For some people though there has been a drive to search for the truths of existence, and a few enlightened individuals have emerged here and there throughout history, showing how these sacred principles are inherent in the universe. From this the knowledge emerged here and there throughout history, as the drive for enlightenment is inherent within the human being.
Spiritual and esoteric knowledge has appeared in many different cultures, and has found its expression in different words, symbols, sacred sites, teachers, prophets, messengers, gurus, avatars, artwork, dances, poetry, and much more. However, although the manifestations have their differences, there are obvious and more often hidden similarities. These have served as markers of an esoteric knowledge running like an undercurrent that flows throughout the whole of human history.
However, not all those who search for spirituality arrive to this awakening, and so not all spirituality that is taught is of it. In fact, throughout much of history esoteric knowledge was kept secret to preserve it from the persecutions of society, governments, and religion.
The Secret Knowledge of the Ancient Past
Civilization is much older than many think. Sacred texts talk about lost civilizations from a very ancient past, such as Lemuria and Atlantis which were destroyed by cataclysms, and it is known that these occurred at the end of the last ice age when a huge amount of the world’s most productive land was lost to water.
There is evidence that survivors created magnificent esoteric civilizations throughout the world—the knowledge they possessed can be seen in the symbols, temples, pyramids, astronomical alignments and sacred geometry they used in numerous ancient sacred sites. It was a time in human history in which esotericism was central to human life and society.
As seen in the ruins of many sacred sites around the world, esoteric knowledge was practiced and preserved by ancient civilizations in India, Persia, Asia, South America, Britain etc. some of which had their connections with the esoteric knowledge which came from pre-Egyptian civilizations. Messengers, Avatars, and Prophets given missions by divinity to teach esotericism anew also appeared throughout the world, such as Zoroaster, Krishna, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Quetzalcoatl etc. Striking similarities can often be found not only in the message of these great spiritual teachers, but also in the very events of their own lives. However, as society spiritually degenerates and religion strengthens, those who practice esotericism are often persecuted out of it and it must either go underground or move elsewhere – thus the need for its continual renewal.
The Split of the Esoteric and the Exoteric
True spirituality has been given at two levels: a public (or exoteric) one that the majority of people can understand, and an inner, more esoteric teaching, which only those at an advanced level can understand. Esoteric schools have therefore existed as part of or alongside many different religions of the world. The esoteric schools provided a connection to divinity that was accessible at an individual level and provided a connection to higher planes and spiritual dimensions; through esoteric schools people learned about inner initiations and the way to awakening.
Esotericism was taught this way to protect it from those who would profane, deride and destroy it. Teachers would come who either found and achieved a level of awakened spirituality and were given a mission to spread esotericism, or were born awakened with a mission. There are many examples in which the teacher would split their teaching, giving the public the exoteric side of spirituality whilst giving the esoteric teaching privately to those who were prepared enough to receive it. Once the spiritual figure dies, often the exoteric side of the teaching becomes a religion, whilst the esoteric practice of it carries on in secret. Unfortunately and ironically, the religion usually turns on the esoteric practitioners and drives them away. Like this, esotericism has moved from place to place throughout the world whenever the environment has become too hostile.
One of the clearest examples of this can be found in the life and teachings of Jesus. Jesus taught both exoterically and esoterically. That is, he taught the public at a basic level, but gave the esoteric knowledge to his disciples in secret.
Then the disciples came up and asked Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered them, “Because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven have been given for you to know, but it has not been given to them…For this reason I speak to them in parables, because looking they do not see, and hearing they do not listen or understand.” –Matthew 13: 10,11,13
He would speak the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. And He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, He would explain everything to His own disciples. –Mark 4:33-34
A Very Brief History of Esoteric Teaching in the West Over the Last 2,000 Years
A variety of esoteric groups and mystical religions existed throughout Europe, some with links to the east and to Egypt. Many were absorbed by or integrated into the Roman empire and their religious practices. Later, the Romans became Christian, and Christianity spread throughout Europe. The old religions of Europe then became known as pagan. Ironically most of these pagan religions contained the same universal knowledge through dressed in its own form for the society of its time.
Jesus himself was persecuted as a “blasphemer” and the disciples continued to be persecuted by the orthodox religion at the time and by the Roman government, however from the work of the disciples the esoteric practice of Jesus’ teachings continued in secret. It was Paul who then went in a different direction from the disciples and preached his own version of what Jesus taught based on the exoteric side of it: it was from what Paul did that Christianity became popular and eventually went on to become an established religion with an ecclesiastical hierarchy, which within a very short time, began persecuting other forms of Christianity, particularly the esoteric that were outside its fold.
Nearly 300 years after Jesus’ death a Roman emperor made it the official religion of the Roman Empire; this is when the Bible became the official text of Christianity, and church merged with state. Now established and in power, those in it turned upon what was deemed non-orthodox with greater force. This included the esoteric practitioners who were known as the Gnostics. Their practice and texts were banned, and like this esoteric texts such as the Nag Hammadi Library and the Pistis Sophia (which were left out of the Bible) disappeared until their recent rediscovery.
Christian lands became places of terrible persecution—they have continued this way for nearly 2,000 years, with the Inquisition, witch hunts, and now the “cult” label. The Knights Templar and Cathars had attempted to practice esotericism within Christian territories, only to have been brutally persecuted out of existence after a relatively short time. It appears that either the esoteric knowledge withdrew or moved to the East and to Islamic lands, which for many, many centuries provided a more favorable environment to the exploration of mysticism. Now Islamic lands have becomes places of increasing violence and strife.
During this time esoteric schools, which had their origins in ancient times, operated in Egypt, India and the Middle East. Spiritual seekers in Europe who came in contact with the knowledge from these schools became known as the Medieval Alchemists. Famous esoteric practitioners from this time include Paracelsus, Nicholas Flamel, and Raymond Llul. These groups had to practice esotericism in total secrecy, encoding much of their teachings in symbols and the external practice of science and medicine, which was more acceptable to the society of the day.
In more modern times, people like Madame Helena Blavatsky and Gudjieff gave account of how they had traveled in search of esoteric knowledge (before the days of the internet) and recalled their learning from the esoteric schools of the East. It is not clear how far both of them went into the knowledge, as there were probably schools with varying degrees of wisdom for those at a beginner to an advanced level. These esoteric schools probably functioned as the places of higher learning for people who went in search of it throughout the world for many centuries. However, they closed their doors in the early 20th century not to reopen them again, due to the dark times we find ourselves in.
Today, it is not possible for an esoteric school to function due to the hostility towards the spiritual knowledge that is on the increase throughout the world as the human race becomes increasingly aggressive, degenerate, controlled by a powerful elite through mainstream media, politics, music etc. In addition to the usual persecution from orthodox religions, now comes the use of the “cult” stigma gearing up in the Western world, perpetuated by the powerful elites with their agenda against white esoteric knowledge.
Three Kinds of Knowledge
Throughout history the knowledge has been split into three kinds: white, black and grey. This is white knowledge. It has been continuously infiltrated and attacked by dark forces and its reputation muddied and lost, thus many sacred deities and spiritual principles became seen as black, while dark forces such as Baal were seen as spiritual.
Dark forces and ceremonies have existed alongside white esoteric knowledge, obscuring and confusing their meanings to the public. Secret societies of dark knowledge exist to this day, having passed through centuries largely undetected, yet accumulating power.
Grey esotericism is practiced by those who don’t know what they are doing. Many modern day secret societies, often with clear financial and other agendas and popular Satanism are examples of this.
Today dark esoteric knowledge and practice reigns supreme to the virtual exclusion of white knowledge. It’s easier to achieve results in dark knowledge – it brings power, wealth, fame, and pleasure. Whereas white knowledge is difficult to attain – it requires suffering and sacrifice, often poverty and brings wisdom, peace, love and liberation, qualities that most readily drop in favor of pleasure, power and darkness. Darkness has organized and practitioners of white knowledge have all but vanished. Read more in The Powerful Use Esoteric Knowledge While Keeping it from Humanity: Empower Yourself by Awakening Consciousness.
The Work to Re-establish the Ancient Knowledge and its Cosmic Principles
In ancient times two kinds of civilizations emerged: the simple hunter gatherers who settled down to farm and became today’s societies; and advanced societies, who built incredible monuments and mysteriously vanished – a lost civilization, many of whose remnants lie under the ocean, that held the principles of spiritual awakening as their highest goal, whose incredible architecture mysteriously appears as if from nowhere and seems to disappear. Later societies emerging as stable civilizations developed around these and became the Egyptians, Mayans, Incas, etc. The further back you go in time into their civilizations the more advanced their knowledge is.
With the experience of esoteric processes this work is pioneering a return to the pure form of knowledge that would be recognizable both to the founders of those esoteric civilizations. There is a shared understanding of one universal knowledge, and a work is taking place to restore this knowledge to humankind.
Below is the re-enactment of an ancient ceremony based on the article A Ceremony to Celebrate the Spring Equinox
About the Author
Belsebuub is an author and practitioner of esoteric knowledge. He writes primarily on the transformation and exploration of consciousness from over 30 years of dedicated metaphysical experience. He has authored a number of books on out-of-body experiences, consciousness, and spiritual awakening, including The Astral Codex and Gazing into the Eternal, which are free to download on his website www.belsebuub.com
Belsebuub is the name of his spirit/soul/consciousness. Everyone has their own unique spiritual name; it’s a matter of knowing it.
This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.
~~ Help Waking Times to raise the vibration by sharing this article with the buttons below… | <urn:uuid:87d24263-4438-4eeb-a712-a31d28aa0ad3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wakingtimes.com/2013/05/06/esoteric-knowledge-throughout-time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00163-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976638 | 2,620 | 2.515625 | 3 |
By Hamish Johnston at the AAAS Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada
Depending on how you express it, Moore’s law has held up remarkably well over the past 40 years. In particular, chipmakers have been able to double the number of transistors that can be squeezed onto a chip every two years. This explains why the mobile phone in your pocket is more powerful than the most advanced “supercomputers” of the early 1970s.
Round about 2004 however, one aspect of this exponential growth hit the buffers – it became very difficult to remove the vast amount of heat produced by all these tightly packed circuits. The result being that it is not possible to use all circuits to their full potential. This problem has the ominous moniker of “dark silicon”.
Looking into the not-so-distant future, another problem is expected to crop up when the size of insulating structures in circuits drops below about 4 nm. At this point, electron tunnelling between circuits is expected to put an end to Moore’s law.
One way round this, according to Ralf Cavin of the Semiconductor Research Corporation, is to make the electrons heavier and therefore less likely to tunnel. While this might sound crazy, an electron in a solid has an effective mass that is often greater than its mass in free space. The thing that I don’t understand about this solution is that the speed at which a transistor operates is related to the effective mass of the electrons. The heavier the electron, the slower the speed; so it seems this is at odds with sustaining Moore’s law.
Ultimately, engineers will have to look beyond Moore’s law, and that was the topic of a session where Cavin spoke at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) meeting here in Vancouver.
Cavin is keen on in carbo electronics – devices that are based on the remarkably efficient information processing done by living organisms. The benefits, according to Cavin, are many. For one thing, biological molecules such as DNA can store data at much higher densities than the ultimate upper limit of semiconductor devices. Living systems are also highly parallel and extremely energy efficient. On the downside, living circuits are much slower than silicon.
I’m not sure when your mobile phone will contain in carbo devices, if ever, but work has begun in that direction. | <urn:uuid:bd4abdeb-7c85-4f9e-b4a0-6bbd049d6fab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.physicsworld.com/2012/02/20/could-the-molecules-of-life-su/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952453 | 493 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Sticky proteins serve as glue: mammals
The bioadhesive glues used by mammals, plants, and mussels for adherance to mucosal surfaces (mucoadhesion) are made up of sticky proteins.
"Bioadhesion may be defined as the state in which two materials, at least one of which is biological in nature, are held together for extended periods of time by interfacial forces. In the pharmaceutical sciences, when the adhesive attachment is to mucus or a mucous membrane, the phenomenon is referred to as mucoadhesion." (Smart 2005:1557) | <urn:uuid:f0455038-32fc-4ca3-8a84-5e68e94dbf16> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eol.org/data_objects/2093941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943007 | 121 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Ninety years ago this this week, Clarence Darrow gave a 12-hour summation in the sentencing hearing for Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold.
The case known as Leopold and Loeb was heralded as the “trial of the century.” The case was not really a trial at all. Darrow had changed the young men’s pleas from not guilty to guilty and focused his efforts on preventing a death sentence.
On May 21, 1924, Leopold and Loeb rented a car and stocked it with tools to commit the “perfect crime.” Then they drove to a park near a local prep school to wait for the perfect victim. They found Bobby Franks.
The two wealthy University of Chicago students lured the 14-year-old Franks into the car. The two men murdered Franks for the thrill of the kill.
The next morning, a man on his way to work found Frank’s naked body, his face and genitals burned with acid, in a culvert in an isolated field outside of Chicago.
Darrow’s change of plea had turned the case on its head. Darrow, a graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, needed only a reduction from death by hanging to life in prison to win the case.
Darrow’s summation has been characterized as one of the greatest orations ever presented in opposition to the death penalty.
Darrow asked the judge, “Why did they kill little Bobby Franks? Not for money, not for spite; not for hate. They killed him as they might kill a spider or a fly, for the experience. They killed him because they were made that way.”
Darrow pleaded, "If the state in which I live is not kinder, more humane, and more considerate than the mad act of these two boys, I am sorry I have lived so long."
He concluded “Your Honor, what excuse could you possibly have for putting these boys to death? You would have to turn your back on every precedent of the past. You would have to turn your back on the progress of the world. You would have to ignore all human sentiment and feeling …You would have to do all this if you would hang boys of eighteen and nineteen years of age who have come into this court and thrown themselves upon your mercy.”
Cook County Circuit Court Judge John R. Caverly was impressed. He imposed a sentence of life in prison for both men.
(Image: Nathan Leopold, 19, far right, and Richard Loeb, 18, second from right, are seen during their arraignment in a Cook County courtroom with attorney Clarence Darrow, left, in July 1924. The two teenagers were convicted and sentenced to serve life plus 99 years for the murder-kidnapping of Bobby Franks in May 1924. AP Photo)
Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George, P.C. He is the former district attorney of Lawrence County and just completed a six year term on the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole. His weekly column on crime and punishment is syndicated by GateHouse New Service. You can read his musings on the criminal justice system at www.mattmangino.com and follow Matt on Twitter @MatthewTMangino. His new book The Executioner’s Toll, 2010: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States is now available from McFarland & Company publishers. | <urn:uuid:b76571a3-7b8a-448a-b9d4-c2ca96c2f69b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://communityvoices.post-gazette.com/news/ipso-facto/item/38322-the-cautionary-instruction-this-week-marks-the-90th-anniversary-of-the-leopold-and-loeb-case | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00045-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976545 | 744 | 2.8125 | 3 |
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Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873 – 1943)
Russian composer, pianist, and conductor
One of the finest pianists in history and perhaps the last of the great Romantic style composers.
He used his own skills as a performer to fully explore the full possibilities of the piano.
Even in his earliest compositions, he had an uncanny gift for melody and harmony.
Born in north-western Russia to noble parents.
It was his paternal grandfather who brought in his first teacher when Sergei was about nine years old.
He soon entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory and then moved to Moscow to studies in composition, counterpoint and harmony.
In school he was actually quite lazy in his academic studies, failing most of his classes. It was only the strictness of his piano teachers that instilled some much needed discipline.
While he was still a student, he began serious composition for which he displayed incredible skill, composing a one-act opera called Aleko (for which he was awarded a gold medal in composition) and also his first piano concerto and some smaller piano pieces including one which would become one of signature pieces, the Prelude in C#m, composed when he was just 19. The public took an instant fascination to the piece, so much so that young Sergei became amused at the constant requests for him to play it and developed a habit of replying to the request, “Oh Must I?!” or claiming that he couldn’t remember it.
In his late teens, while In Moscow, he met the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who became an important mentor. One of Tchaikovsky’s tasks for him was arranging some of his Sleeping Beauty ballet for piano. Tchaikovsky’s death hit the young Sergei very hard causing many of his compositions during this period to be very dark, including his first Symphony a few years later. Unfortunately, it didn’t go well due to lack of rehearsal time and also because according to Rachmaninoff’s wife and several other witnesses, the conductor, none other than Alexander Glazunov, was probably drunk during the premiere. The horrific event caused Rachmaninoff to spiral down into a severe depression and writer’s block that lasted for three years. He began to see a psychologist who helped him out of his years-long gloom. He dedicated his Second Symphony to his doctor. The piece was received very well which added to his recovery.
Rachmaninoff fled the Russian Revolution and ended up in the United States and signed a contract with the Victor Talking Machine Company (the precursor to today’s RCA Victor).
Rachmaninoff met and became friends with celebrated pianist Vladimir Horowitz, a friendship that lasted until the composer’s death. Horowitz referred to him as “the musical God of my youth.”
Due to his heavy performance schedule in the last part of his life, his output as a composer slowed tremendously. Between 1918 and his death in 1943, he completed only six works, including the “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” “Symphonic Dances” and the Symphony #3.
Rachmaninoff fell ill during a concert tour in late1942 and was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. His last recital was given February 17, 1943 in Knoxville, Tennessee, which ironically included Chopin’s Piano Sonata #2 which contains the famous funeral march.
Rachmaninoff died March 28, 1943 in Beverly Hills, California. He is buried in New York State in Valhalla, New York.
For further reading: | <urn:uuid:c1cc9463-3136-498d-872e-8e68b83d3395> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wmht.org/blogs/composers/sergei-rachmaninoff/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00056-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987841 | 766 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Returning Veterans Needed for PTSD Study:
New Medical Technique for PTSD
HOUSTON - Many Veterans return to civilian life having experienced traumatic events. Researchers recently discovered these experiences actually produce changes in the brain. A new medical study currently being conducted at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) in cooperation with Baylor College of Medicine uses functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to learn how deployment affects the brain and to improve treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD).
FMRI is a technique for measuring brain activity. It works by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity. When a brain is more active, it consumes more oxygen. To meet this increased demand, blood flow increases to the active area. FMRI can be used to produce activation maps showing which parts of the brain are involved in a particular mental process. This is a relatively new medical technique.
“There is limited information regarding the brain-related changes during psychotherapy,” said Matthew Estey, a research coordinator for MEDVAMC. “We are interested in learning how psychotherapy changes neural functioning in Veterans with PTSD and anxiety disorders.”
“Ultimately, we hope what we learn in our study will assist future combat Veterans who may experience PSTD and anxiety symptoms due to combat trauma,” said Wright Williams, Ph.D., the principal investigator and a psychologist. The study is funded by a pilot merit review grant sponsored by the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Program.
As part of the research, eligible Veterans will use various computer applications while inside the fMRI machine. Participating Veterans will also participate in interviews regarding their past and present difficulties. They will be compensated for their time at a rate of $10 per hour for interviews and $20 per hour for fMRI scans. Participants will also receive a free high-resolution image of their brain. For Veterans who decide to enroll in the study, the entire process takes approximately 14 weeks.
“Week one includes an interview and fMRI scan,” said Estey. “Weeks two through 13 involve an hour and a half group treatment meeting. Week 14 is another interview and fMRI scan. The study includes male and female treatment groups, and will potentially run through the beginning of 2013.”
Eligible Veterans should be between 18 and 65 years old, free from current serious medical conditions, free of metal in their bodies, not claustrophobic, able to see a computer screen clearly with or without glasses, and diagnosed with PTSD. All participating Veterans receive on-going assessments by MEDVAMC mental health professionals.
“Unlike most medical studies, this one involves treatment specifically for Veterans,” said Estey. “I think providing the best possible care for our nation’s Veterans is extremely important.”
For more information about the study or how to enroll, call 713-794-7629.
Awarded re-designation for Magnet Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Services in 2008, the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center serves as the primary health care provider for more than 130,000 veterans in southeast Texas. Veterans from around the country are referred to the MEDVAMC for specialized diagnostic care, radiation therapy, surgery, and medical treatment including cardiovascular surgery, gastrointestinal endoscopy, nuclear medicine, ophthalmology, and treatment of spinal cord injury and diseases. The MEDVAMC is home to a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic; Network Polytrauma Center; an award-winning Cardiac and General Surgery Program; Liver Transplant Center; VA Epilepsy and Cancer Centers of Excellence; VA Substance Abuse Disorder Quality Enhancement Research Initiative; Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence; VA Rehabilitation Research of Excellence focusing on mild to moderate traumatic brain injury; Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center; and one of the VA’s six Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Centers. Including the outpatient clinics in Beaumont, Conroe, Galveston, Houston, Lufkin, Richmond, and Texas City, MEDVAMC outpatient clinics logged almost 1.3 million outpatient visits in fiscal year 2011. For the latest news releases and information about the MEDVAMC, visit www.houston.va.gov.
Photo: Research Coordinator Matthew Estey prepares Army Veteran Aaron Smelley for a functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan in order to learn how deployment affects the brain and to improve treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Photo credit: Agapito Sanchez, Jr., Baylor College of Medicine. | <urn:uuid:06e67f46-1578-40c8-9edc-e6952bd30760> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.guidrynews.com/story.aspx?id=1000040130 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00154-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915545 | 955 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Caspian Sea, Sarygamysh Lake and Aral Sea45.3N 52.3E
Green sediments color the waters of the northern part of the Caspian Sea. The majority of them enter the sea through the delta of the Volga River, visible as a fan-shaped dark green area along the northwestern shores, in southern Russia.
The central part of the sea appears dark blue, although the smaller Karabogas Bay, in Turkmenistan, at the central-east part of the coastline, is shallower and thus lighter in color.
Visible further east are two lakes: the small Sarygamysh Lake, on the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and the Aral Sea, divided into three basins due to its shrinking size, on the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. | <urn:uuid:763dbba9-5fae-4266-b562-5e1b1359aa85> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eosnap.com/lakes/caspian-sea-sarygamysh-lake-and-aral-sea/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921999 | 174 | 3.25 | 3 |
Creating a topiary is an ancient artform, dating back thousands of years, and involves pruning or training shrubs or trees into various shapes. A boxwood shrub is commonly used, because of its compact growth, only about 3 feet tall, and dense foliage, which creates a full, lush topiary. Using a wire form to create an animal topiary requires less work and faster results, and is ideal for trying this ancient art for the first time.
Plant a boxwood shrub in a location that receives partial shade or full sun in the morning only. Water consistently, once a week, to keep the soil moist, but not soggy. In warmer weather, watering more often maybe necessary to avoid the soil drying out.
Apply a 2-inch layer of mulch around the base of the shrub. Mulching a boxwood protects its shallow roots, keeping weeds under control, and retaining moisture in the soil. Use a shredded bark or chopped leaves.
Select a wire animal form for the topiary shape. Use a shape that is not over 3 feet tall because the boxwood will grow only that tall. Place the wire form into the ground so it is over the boxwood shrub or directly behind the plant, if necessary. Push down at least 6 to 8 inches deep to secure it well.
Carefully pull some of the boxwood branches through the wire form. Secure with floral wire, if needed, to hold them until they grow longer and will stay around the form without tying. Let the shrub grow for several months before pruning, to allow enough growth to cover the frame.
Wrap the branches around the form as they continue to grow, re-tying and re-wrapping as needed to begin covering the entire form with the shrub. Once the form is almost completely covered, prune the bush so it outlines the animal-shaped form. Cut off any foliage that sticks out at an angle and trim up the bottom of the shrub, if needed, to make the outline of the animal form more distinctive. | <urn:uuid:bbebe419-3b93-4763-a5b2-a980c32197eb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gardenguides.com/120703-make-animal-topiary-using-boxwood.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408828.55/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940824 | 422 | 3.109375 | 3 |
FREE SHIPPINGON EVERY ORDER!
For undergraduate/graduate courses in Theories of Development, Child Development, and Lifespan Development.
The result of extensive scholarship and consultation with leading scholars, this text introduces students to twenty-four theorists and compares and contrasts their theories on how we develop as individuals. Emphasizing the theories that build upon the developmental tradition established by Rousseau, this text also covers theories in the environmental/learning tradition.
From Locke and Rousseau to Piaget and Bandura, scholars have advanced our understanding of psychological development. In this lively and readable book, Crain introduces the concepts of a number of outstanding theorists, giving special attention to the practical applications of their thought.
This Fifth Edition features new discussions of:
-Piaget and his critics
-Freud's mechanisms of defense
-Werner and today's push for early literacy instruction
-Schachtel's views on why adults forget early childhood experiences
-The standards movement that dominates contemporary education | <urn:uuid:9330e901-c9c7-4330-ba40-892e2aa9dae3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.knetbooks.com/theories-development-concepts-6th-crain/bk/9780205810468 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00059-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902466 | 205 | 3.28125 | 3 |
This power of science demonstration is quite impressive. But it involves
the stove, so kids, get your parents help.
Before the challenge, crack open a fresh soda can so that it's just barely
open. Pour out (or drink) the soda. You now have an empty soda can. This
experiment is easier if the opening isn't wide open.
Next, take the chopstick and thread it through the pull tab. Make it
fit snuggly, so that you can easily manipulate the can.
Now prepare two pots of water, side by side on the stove. Bring one to
a full boil, and fill the other with ice cold water, preferably just above
freezing to comply with the letter of the challenge.
Emerse the can into the boiling water, taking care to leave the top out
of the water. You may see steam from left-over soda escaping.
After about a minute, carefully but quickly lift the can out of the water
and slap it upside-down into the ice cold water. It's critical
that the entire top of the can be submerged in the water at once and rapidly.
From right side up in the boiling water to upside down in the ice water
should be done in well under a second.
If you perform the experiment correctly, there will be a loud BANG! as
the can implodes in on itself.
Why? Air pressure is inversely related to air temperature. All things
being equal, a volume of air at a higher temperature exerts a higher pressure.
When you heated the can, the air expanded, equalizing pressure with the
room by escaping out the top.
When the can quickly cooled, the air pressure inside the can fell immediately.
It sucked some water through the opening, but not quickly enough. The
can, with a very low internal air pressure, was literally crushed by the
air in the surrounding room. | <urn:uuid:9ca26c9f-80a9-4381-b69a-f92ab2f62834> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.greylabyrinth.com/solution/puzzle073 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399106.96/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923283 | 400 | 3.53125 | 4 |
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Promise and Progress - Cover Story Sidebar: The Frankenstein Project
Cover Story Sidebar: The Frankenstein Project
Valerie Matthews Mehl
Date: November 11, 2010
Radiation Oncology is unique among the cancer specialties in that it is intrinsically dependent upon technologically-advanced equipment. These devices deliver precisely targeted X-ray beams to destroy tumors. The ever-evolving technology makes clinical research difficult. In the few years it takes to complete a clinical trial, the technology has already evolved making the original question irrelevant.
Radiation oncology physicist Todd McNutt has developed his own system, called “Oncospace,” to more quickly improve clinical care. The system uses anatomy, radiation dose distributions, toxicity, and outcome data of prior patients to improve the therapy for those about to be treated.
Working with collaborators from Johns Hopkins Computer Science and Physics and Astronomy Programs, McNutt and team have created an analytical database that pulls together radiation therapy data in a complex, computerized system. It enables the analysis of the best outcomes, and conversely, those with less than favorable outcomes, to create the optimal treatment plan.
More and more, cancer research is data driven. McNutt’s computerized system is no exception. It surveys the data from prior patients to uncover similarities between tumors and their relationship to critical organs and tissue they want to spare from radiation. The system finds the set of critical organs from all patients in the system. This “Frankenstein method” provides up front information on how good of a radiation dose distribution can be achieved as well as any potential toxicity risks to the patient. The information is then used to automate and ensure quality in radiation treatment planning. Just as cancer gene sequencing uses data from millions of DNA samples to establish patterns in gene expression, McNutt’s model uses data from patients treated with radiation therapy to reveal patterns in patient outcomes.
“Todd’s work is one of the first demonstrations of how we can develop large data warehouses of patient information collected from previously treated patients and use it to make individualized treatment decisions for new patients,” says Theodore DeWeese, Director of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences.
The goal with radiation therapy is to target the highest doses of radiation directly and precisely to tumors. Lower doses of radiation are aimed at high risk tissue around the tumor and nearby lymph nodes that could potentially harbor small numbers of unseen cancer cells that if left untreated can allow the cancer to come back.
Equally important as hitting the tumor and high risk tissue around it with radiation, is not hitting the critical structures, organs, and normal tissue that could be irreparably damaged by radiation. The spinal cord, brain stem, and esophagus are examples of critical structures. In head and neck cancers, the parotid gland is a critical structure. Damage to the gland, McNutt says, can permanently destroy the function of salivary glands. The inability to produce saliva can substantially affect patients’ quality of life, causing them to have a chronically dry mouth and making it difficult to eat.
McNutt’s Frankenstein method is currently being tested in head and neck and pancreatic cancers. There is early evidence showing that the method considerably improves treatment plan quality and sparing of critical organs. As a result, they are planning to expand the approach to thoracic and other cancers.
Articles in this Issue
Cover Story: Personalized Medicine is Here, The Time is Now
- Personalized Medicine is Here: The Time is Now
- Cover Story Sidebar: Our Cancer Research is Curing Other Diseases Too
- Cover Story Sidebar: A New Paradigm for Cancer Drug Discovery
- Cover Story Sidebar: Personalized Approaches in Pediatric Cancer
- Cover Story Sidebar: The Frankenstein Project
- Cover Story Sidebar: The Serendipitous Discovery of a Cancer Starter
- Cover Story Sidebar: The Mathematics of Curing Cancer
- Immune Cell Commander
- A Personalized Genetic Profile for Brain Cancer
- A New "Twist" in Breast Cancer
- JHU Engineering Student Invents Melanoma Screening Device
- Special Delivery: Biodegradable Particles Transport Drugs to Diseased Tissues and Organs
- Targeting Brain Cancer Stem Cells
- Vaccine Clears Out Leukemia Cells
- Does Low Cholesterol Equal Lower Risk of High-Grade Prostate Cancer?
- A Common Good - The Commonwealth Foundation
- Helping Us Solve The Cancer Puzzle
- The Skip Viragh Center
- Making Waves to Fight Cancer
- Gift Brings Complementary Care to Cancer Patients
- A Major Gift for Kidney Cancer Research
- Giant Food Supports Childhood Cancer Research
- Wawa Cares About Cancer Patients
- Young Lacrosse Players Faced Off Against Childhood Cancer | <urn:uuid:0abfddb1-0043-44b9-83e8-531bae58a3e8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/publications/promise_progress/the_time_is_now_2010_2011_/cover_story_sidebar_the_frankenstein_project | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.881346 | 1,042 | 2.796875 | 3 |
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
The largest Etruscan settlement ever found has been discovered in the Tuscan plain near Lake Accesa, Italy. Dubbed the "Etruscan Pompeii" for its potential to illuminate many new facets of Etruscan daily life, the late-seventh-early-sixth-century B.C. town covers 75 acres and features still-intact house foundations, streets, and tombs.
Up to this time, almost all of the information we have about the Etruscans comes from their tombs; the team at this new, unnamed town, led by Giovanngelo Camporeale of the University of Florence, has already excavated five residential quarters.
These quarters are laid out on a rectangular plan with houses built on streets that intersect at right angles. The houses had stone foundations that remain, while the brick walls joined to the tile-covered roofs by wooden beams disappeared long ago. The town has been identified as a mining community, and the iron, copper, and tin it produced was most likely exported to Greece in exchange for the ceramics for which Etruscan tombs are famous.
According to Camporeale, each quarter of the town had about ten houses and controlled one mine. Mine managers lived in the houses while the slaves who worked the mines lived in nearby huts, which have also been identified. Much of the actual metalworking may have taken place in an industrial quarter next to the lake that is nearby.
At some point the town was abandoned; its inhabitants seem to have taken their expensive roof tiles with them. | <urn:uuid:7a5ff0c3-28bc-47a7-a05b-2ec177b8687e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://archive.archaeology.org/0207/newsbriefs/etruscan.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395560.69/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982715 | 334 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Early Wednesday morning, scientists at the National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded Tropical Storm Humberto to hurricane status, making it the first of the year during a season when hurricanes generally occur earlier and more frequently.
In fact, Humberto fell just a few hours short of setting the record for the latest first hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean during the hurricane season, which runs from June through November. If Humberto had been declared a hurricane after 8 a.m. Wednesday, it would have been officially ranked the latest inaugural hurricane on record, CNN reports.
Despite its 75 mph winds, Humberto isn’t likely to cause major damage, scientists say. The storm, which on Wednesday morning was some 300 miles off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands near Africa, is expected to weaken into a tropical storm over the weekend. | <urn:uuid:6526ab90-c63f-4f67-ae48-3efd8137aed8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://science.time.com/2013/09/11/meet-humberto-the-first-hurricane-of-the-season/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974022 | 172 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Infection Control in Dental Settings
Although the principles of infection control remain unchanged, new technologies, materials, equipment, and data require continuous evaluation of current infection control practices. The unique nature of many dental procedures, instruments, and patient care settings also may require specific strategies directed to preventing pathogen transmission among dental health care personnel and their patients.
Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care – A new resource for those needing information about basic infection prevention measures in dental health care settings.
Fact Sheets and Frequently Asked Questions for Infection Control in Dental Settings
Additional Recommendations and Resources
Hepatitis B Frequently Asked Questions
These FAQs cover hepatitis B infections, vaccinations, chronic hepatitis B, serology, traveler’s health, and more.
Prevention of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Transmission in Dental Health Care Settings
In health care settings, MRSA most often is spread indirectly from patient to patient on the transiently contaminated hands of health care professionals. Standard Precautions has been shown to be an effective strategy in preventing transmission. Learn more at CDC’s About MRSA Skin Infections.
The Safest Dental Visit™ is a collaborative effort led by the Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) focused on increasing infection control and safety in dentistry. The initiative includes tools and resources dedicated to Dental Practices, Educators, Consultants and Speakers, and the Dental Trade.
This 7-module course is designed to assist dental health care professionals in preventing or reducing the potential transmission of disease in dental practice settings.
This set of tools and resources developed by the ADA addresses multiple topics, building on existing recommendations to reflect new scientific knowledge and growing understanding of the principles of infection control.
- American Dental Association Infection Control Resources
- National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention
- Safety and Health Topics for Dentistry from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
- USAF Dental Evaluation and Consultation Service
- Page last reviewed: December 6, 2013
- Page last updated: March 31, 2016
- Content source: | <urn:uuid:a9cde485-7851-4d1e-bcf1-f18b06eb4033> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cdc.gov/Oralhealth/infectioncontrol/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.879693 | 469 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Ecological Disaster Recovery Program
Large Scale Life Rescue and Resettlement Operations. The purpose of this program is to familiarize anyone who is interested in the continuity of life on Earth with the actions that must be taken to save the planet… or at least conserve a fragment of the future for the next generations!
Phase One: Effecting a Major Reduction in the World’s Energy Consumption
Humans are torching the planet at a rate of 16.8 terawatts (16.8 million megajoules per second) [revised October 7, 2007] equivalent to the energy released by detonating 26,636 Hiroshima-sized A-bombs on the planet every day, or 9.73 million bombs throughout 2007.
Unless the global energy consumption is reduced rapidly—by mid 2006—to levels below 60 exajoules (6E+19 joules) annually (this level is about 12.4 percent of global energy consumption in 2005), our studies show that the runaway positive feedback loops that are destroying Earth’s ecosystems including ozone holes, global heating, extreme climatic events, toxic pollution, resources depletion, war, unethical behavior, and disease pandemics would reach the point of no return and overwhelm our life support systems rendering most of our cities uninhabitable by as early as 2015, possibly earlier.
Phase Two: Returning the Land to Nature
Tremendous pressures are being exerted on the planet’s natural resources driving the ecosystems to the verge of collapse. At least 15 of the 24 ecosystems vital for supporting life are collapsing including fresh water, fisheries, air and water purification systems, and the systems that regulate climate, natural hazards, and pests. The MSRB Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) currently [June 2007] stands at a terminally high level of 171.40 that is 71.4 percent higher than the planet could cope with resulting in the collapse of the population centers possibly by as early as 2015. To relieve some of the pressures, humans must return vast expanses of land (and water) to nature, possibly as much as two-fifth (40 percent) of the world’s land mass. The inhabitant of those areas that are be returned to nature would be relocated to other parts of the world. To reach the 40-percent target, the following selection criteria should be used.
1. Population density. To minimize disruptions to the lives of people who would be relocated, the selection criteria targets countries, states, or regions with low population densities. For example, the combined land area of Canada, Australia and New Zealand constitutes about 11.5 percent of the world land mass, whereas the population of the three countries (less the indigenous peoples) is only about 0.8 percent of the total world population. Furthermore, under Canadian, New Zealand and Australian stewardship the land has been devastated. The systematic genocide of the indigenous peoples in the hands of the non-indigenous population in those countries provides yet another compelling reason for the evacuation.
2. Unethical lifestyles and immoral activities. Countries, states or regions whose inhabitants’ lifestyles or activities (e.g., consuming resources unsustainably, manufacturing weapons, releasing pollutants to the environment…) pose a significant threat to wellbeing of the remaining ecosystems would be targeted for evacuation. The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, for example, register the world’s highest ecological footprints per capita. Saudi Arabia serves as another egregious example. One of the largest procurers of war materials in the world, the Saudis facilitated the ecocide of Iraq and genocide of Iraqis. It is inconceivable that without the Saudi consent the Iraqi Holocaust could have occurred. | <urn:uuid:f062aa1e-6843-4324-a828-87479b732513> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://msrb.wordpress.com/edrp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00145-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917067 | 747 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Dr. Pjotr GARAJAJEV [ Peter Gariaev ] & Vladimir POPONIN
Russian DNA Research
Russian biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev and his colleagues have been carrying out cutting-edge research the more esoteric nature of DNA. They simply did not believe that 90% of our DNA is ‘Junk DNA’. From the German book Vernetzte Intelligenz by Grazyna Fosar and Franz Bludorf (summarised and translated by Baerbel):
The latest research explains phenomena such as clairvoyance, intuition, spontaneous and remote acts of healing, self healing, affirmation techniques, unusual light-auras around people (namely spiritual masters), mind's influence on weather-patterns and much more. The Russian scientists also found out that our DNA can cause disturbing patterns in the vacuum, thus producing magnetized wormholes! Wormholes are the microscopic equivalents of the so-called Einstein-Rosen bridges in the vicinity of black holes (left by burned-out stars). These are tunnel connections between entirely different areas in the universe through which information can be transmitted outside of space and time. The DNA attracts these bits of information and passes them on to our consciousness...
Russian researcher Dr.Vladimir Poponin put DNA in a tube and beamed a laser through it. When the DNA was removed, the laser light continued spiralling on its own, like it would through a crystal! This effect is called ‘Phantom DNA Effect’.
It is surmised that energy from outside of space and time still flows through the activated wormholes after the DNA was removed. The side effect encountered most often in hyper communication and also in human beings are inexplicable electromagnetic fields in the vicinity of the persons concerned. Electronic devices like CD players and the like can be irritated and cease to function for hours. When the electromagnetic field slowly dissipates, the devices function normally again. Many healers and psychics know this effect from their work.
The Mysterious DNA
While western science invested in the International Human Genome Project focusing on the 5% of the encoding triplets of DNA, in the Soviet Union in 1990 a group of Russian scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences was formed to study the complete human genome. This research was led by Dr. Pjotr Garjajev, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as the Academy of Sciences in New York. The Russian research was taking a wide angle and held an open view in their studies. The research team included bio physicists, molecular biologists, embryologists and even linguistic experts. Their research revealed that the supposed junk DNA that has been completely neglected and forgotten by western mainstream science, was no redundant leftover of evolution at all. Linguistic studies revealed that the sequencing of the codons of the non-coding DNA follow the rules of some basic syntax. There is a definite structure and logic in the sequence of these triplets, like some biological language. Research further revealed that the codons actually form words and sentences just like our ordinary human language follows grammar rules.
Scientists have conducted much research on the origins of human languages and the origins of the grammatical rules that are so essential to all human languages; however they have always failed to find the source. But now for the first time in history the origins of language may be surprisingly attributed to DNA. The language of the genes is much, much older than any human language that was ever uttered on this globe. It is even conceivable that the DNA grammar itself served as the blueprint for the development of human speech.
Whereas the western Human Genome Project deciphered the ‘machine language’ code of the DNA molecule, the structure of the DNA ‘bits’ formed by the sequence of nucleotides, Russian scholars discovered the higher level language present in DNA. Another amazing fact that Garjajev’s group discovered was that the DNA is by no means a closed book of life. He discovered that the text of the DNA book can be altered. The codons of the DNA string can be rearranged in different sequences. In other words the software of the human genome our DNA molecule can be reprogrammed! Research revealed that the triplets in the DNA string are able to exchange places.
Since the DNA was found to have a syntax and semantics akin to our human languages, it indicated that our currently restricted understanding of DNA serving only for the coding of the reproduction of proteins for the chemical make up of an organism, is only half of the story.
When in vitro DNA in test tubes was exposed to coherent laser light, the laser light spiralled along the DNA helix as if it was guided by the structure of the DNA molecule. The most amazing effect was noticed when the DNA itself was removed and the laser light kept spiralling! The vacuum of the space that was just previously occupied by the DNA had changed and something caused the laser light to keep spiralling. These effects have been measured and remained for quite some time after the DNA was removed. The effect is now becoming well known as the DNA phantom effect. Vladimir Poponin and his team of Russian Academy of Sciences repeated the work of Garjajev at the Hearthmath Institute in the U.S.A. Poponin concluded again that a field structure was formed in the physical vacuum even when the original DNA was removed. We’ve seen similar examples of vacuum changes before that could be attributed to torsion fields. (1)
The most astonishing experiment that was performed by Garjajev’s group is the reprogramming of the DNA codon sequences using modulated laser light. From their discovered grammatical syntax of the DNA language they were able to modulate coherent laser light and even radio waves and add semantics (meaning) to the carrier wave. In this way they were able to reprogram in vivo DNA in living organisms, by using the correct resonant frequencies of DNA. The most impressive discovery made so far is that spoken language can be modulated to the carrier wave with the same reprogramming effect. Now this is a baffling and stunning scientific discovery! Our own DNA can simply be reprogrammed by human speech, supposing that the words are modulated on the correct carrier frequencies!
Whereas western science uses complicated bio chemical processes to cut and paste DNA triplets in the DNA molecule, Russian scientist use modulated laser light to do exactly the same thing. The Russians have proven to be very successful in repairing damaged DNA material in vivo!
Laser light therapies based on Garjajev’s findings are already applied in some European academic hospitals with success on various sorts of skin cancer. The cancer is cured without any remaining scars.
When Our Cell Phones Chat with Our Genes
By Grazyna Fosar and Franz Bludorf
"...In truth, DNA is not just a blueprint for constructing the body; it is also a storage medium for optical information as well as an organ for communication.
The German biophysicist Fritz-Albert Popp spent many years studying biophoton emission, i.e., the light that the body naturally emits. Popp’s studies indicate that DNA is one of the main suppliers of biophotons. Through comprehensive studies, he discovered that DNA is a harmonic oscillator – an oscillating system with its own particular frequency, or resonating frequency. Using the length of the DNA molecule (about two meters, when stretched out), and the known speed of light, DNA’s own frequency is calculated as about 150 megahertz...
The principles have been worked out by Dr. Piotr P. Garjajev and his colleagues at the Russian Academy of Science in Moscow.
Genes Speak Our Language
Garjajev’s findings go far beyond Popp’s: According to Garjajev’s studies, DNA is not only the transmitter and receiver of electromagnetic radiation (in the form of energy), but it also absorbs information contained in the radiation and interprets it further. Thus, DNA is an extremely complex interactive optical biochip. In our book Vernetzte Intelligenz (Cross-Linked Intelligence) we wrote the following on this subject:
“For example, today we speak almost matter-of-factly about the “genetic code,” that is, about a systematic codification of information. However, genetics to date has gotten stuck at this point, and has relied exclusively on chemistry to finish the work, without even once calling in language experts.
“In Moscow, things are different. There, the genetic code was…additionally subjected to thorough examination by linguists. (Linguistics is the science of the structure and formation of languages). When studying a language, people investigate regularities such as syntax (rules for building words from letters), semantics (the study of the content meaning of words), and rules of grammar.
“When this scientific knowledge is applied to the genetic code, it can be seen that this code follows the same rules as our human languages.
“It should be noted: not the rules of a particular language (in this case, for example, the Russian language), but rather rules at a fundamental level where common features reside among all existing languages of mankind. Thus, the structure of the genetic code can be connected with every existing human language.
“Scientists have been seeking the ancestral human language for centuries – Piotr Garjajev and his colleagues may have found it.”
Quantum Physics in for Radical Revision - DNA
From the book, "Vernetzte Intelligenz"
Grazyna Fosar und Franz Bludorf
The human DNA is a biological Internet and superior in many aspects to the artificial one. The latest Russian scientific research directly or indirectly explains phenomena such as clairvoyance, intuition, spontaneous and remote acts of healing, self healing, affirmation techniques, unusual light/auras around people (namely spiritual masters), mind´s influence on weather patterns and much more. In addition, there is evidence for a whole new type of medicine in which DNA can be influenced and reprogrammed by words and frequencies WITHOUT cutting out and replacing single genes.
Only 10% of our DNA is being used for building proteins. It is this subset of DNA that is of interest to western researchers and is being examined and categorized. The other 90% are considered "junk DNA." The Russian researchers, however, convinced that nature was not dumb, joined linguists and geneticists in a venture to explore those 90% of "junk DNA." Their results, findings and conclusions are simply revolutionary!
According to them, our DNA is not only responsible for the construction of our body but also serves as data storage and in communication. The Russian linguists found that the genetic code, especially in the apparently useless 90%, follows the same rules as all our human languages. To this end they compared the rules of syntax (the way in which words are put together to form phrases and sentences), semantics (the study of meaning in language forms) and the basic rules of grammar.
They found that the alkalines of our DNA follow a regular grammar and do have set rules just like our languages. So human languages did not appear coincidentally but are a reflection of our inherent DNA.
The Russian biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev and his colleagues also explored the vibrational behavior of the DNA. [For the sake of brevity I will give only a summary here. For further exploration please refer to the appendix at the end of this article.] The bottom line was: "Living chromosomes function just like solitonic/holographic computers using the endogenous DNA laser radiation." This means that they managed for example to modulate certain frequency patterns onto a laser ray and with it influenced the DNA frequency and thus the genetic information itself.
Since the basic structure of DNA-alkaline pairs and of language (as explained earlier) are of the same structure, no DNA decoding is necessary. One can simply use words and sentences of the human language! This, too, was experimentally proven! Living DNA substance (in living tissue, not in vitro) will always react to language-modulated laser rays and even to radio waves, if the proper frequencies are being used. This finally and scientifically explains why affirmations, autogenous training, hypnosis and the like can have such strong effects on humans and their bodies. It is entirely normal and natural for our DNA to react to language. While western researchers cut single genes from the DNA strands and insert them elsewhere, the Russians enthusiastically worked on devices that can influence the cellular metabolism through suitable modulated radio and light frequencies and thus repair genetic defects.
Garjajev´s research group succeeded in proving that with this method chromosomes damaged by x-rays for example can be repaired. They even captured information patterns of a particular DNA and transmitted it onto another, thus reprogramming cells to another genome. So they successfully transformed, for example, frog embryos to salamander embryos simply by transmitting the DNA information patterns! This way the entire information was transmitted without any of the side effects or disharmonies encountered when cutting out and re-introducing single genes from the DNA.
This represents an unbelievable, world-transforming revolution and sensation! All this by simply applying vibration and language instead of the archaic cutting-out procedure! This experiment points to the immense power of wave genetics, which obviously has a greater influence on the formation of organisms than the biochemical processes of alkaline sequences.
Esoteric and spiritual teachers have known for ages that our body is programmable by language, words and thought. This has now been scientifically proven and explained. Of course the frequency has to be correct. And this is why not everybody is equally successful or can do it with always the same strength. The individual person must work on the inner processes and maturity in order to establish a conscious communication with the DNA. The Russian researchers work on a method that is not dependent on these factors but will ALWAYS work, provided one uses the correct frequency.
But the higher developed an individual´s consciousness is, the less need is there for any type of device! One can achieve these results by oneself, and science will finally stop to laugh at such ideas and will confirm and explain the results. And it doesn´t end there.
The Russian scientists also found out that our DNA can cause disturbing patterns in the vacuum, thus producing magnetized wormholes! Wormholes are the microscopic equivalents of the so-called Einstein-Rosen bridges in the vicinity of black holes (left by burned-out stars). These are tunnel connections between entirely different areas in the universe through which information can be transmitted outside of space and time. The DNA attracts these bits of information and passes them on to our consciousness. This process of hypercommunication is most effective in a state of relaxation.
Stress, worries or a hyperactive intellect prevent successful hypercommunication or the information will be totally distorted and useless. In nature, hypercommunication has been successfully applied for millions of years. The organized flow of life in insect states proves this dramatically. Modern man knows it only on a much more subtle level as "intuition." But we, too, can regain full use of it...
All informations are from the book "Vernetzte Intelligenz" von Grazyna Fosar und Franz Bludorf, ISBN 3930243237, summarized and commented by Baerbel. The book is unfortunately only available in German so far. You can reach the authors here: [www.fosar-bludorf.com] ; Transmitted by Vitae Bergman [www.ryze.com/view.php?who=vitaeb]
Revolutionary Results of Modern Genetics
by Grazyna Fosar and Franz Bludorf
The Biological Chip in our Cells
Independent of the biochemical function as a protein producer the DNA is a complicated electronic biological chip that communicates with its environment, as latest research from Russia found out.
In the year 1990 a group of scientists got together in Moscow, for whom the study of the human Genoms was too much reduced exclusively to biochemistry. They had recognized that by this viewpoint, which is based rather on orthodox dogmatism than on objective scientific realizations a lot of information remains hidden to us.
Highly-qualified scientists belong to this group, to a large extent from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Beside physicists of the renowned Lebedev institute also molecular biologists participate, bio physicists, geneticists, embryologists and linguists. Director of the project is Dr. Pjotr Garjajev, a bio physicist and molecular biologist. He is member of the Russian Academy of Sciences as well as of the Academy of Sciences in New York.
In the eight years since establishment of the project the Muscovite group came to revolutionary realizations, which let our understanding of the DNA and the human genetics appear in a completely new light.
For example we speak today nearly naturally of the »genetic code«, thus of a systematic information coding. But the past genetics stopped here and settled the remainder of the work exclusive with the help of chemistry, instead of consulting also language experts.
Differently in Moscow. Here, as already mentioned, the genetic code was submitted an exact investigation by linguists too.
Linguistics is the science of the structure of languages. It investigates thereby not only the natural languages, which developed in the individual countries and cultures, but also artificial languages, which are used for example for programming computers and which were developed in the past decades systematically using linguistic realizations.
One examines semantics (theory of the meaning of the words) and language regularities like the syntax (rules for the setting up of words from letters), as well as the bases of the grammar.
If one uses these scientific realizations on the genetic code, then one recognizes that this code follows the same rules as our human languages.
Mind you: not the rules of a certain language (in this case e.g. the Russian one), but on such a fundamental level, where all existing languages of mankind have comparable structures. So it is possible to set the structure of the genetic code in relationship with each existing language of mankind.
For centuries scientists looked for the human original language - Pjotr Garjajev and his coworkers possibly found it.
We must turn around the relations: the structure of the DNA does not correspond to the human language structure, but the human languages follow the genetic code in their structure the rules! DNA and genetic code existed already for a long time, before first humans spoke an articulated word for the first time! Every human languages developed since that time followed the basic pattern, already existing in the structure of the genetic code.
You should not misunderstand this realization: It does not concern here an orthodox materialistic conception of the world, according to which the ability for speaking would be only a secondary effect of proteins, which are put on in some genes. The arrangement of the elementary bases in the DNA follows a grammar, an immaterial plan, which is similar to the structure of our languages.
The fact that no physical procedure is concerned here is proved by the next discovery of Garjajev's team: The analogy between the structure of the DNA and the human language is most pronounced just in the parts of the giant molecule, which are not used for protein synthesis!
For a long time one knows that only about 10 per cent of the DNA molecule are used for setting up genes. The remaining 90 per cent have a function unknown to classical science and were designated so far as »silent DNA«.
Garjajev's realization thus is a revolution for the entire area of genetics. Examining only the well-known genes calling the remainder »silent DNA«, you will miss the most important facts! It is paradoxical: just the »silent DNA« - figurativy spoken - speaks a language!
In various experiments the Muscovites group could prove that these extensive codes in the DNA are not used by any means for the synthesis of a so far unknown quantity of components of our body, as it is the case with the genes. This code is rather actually used for communication, more exactly - for hypercommunication.
Hypercommunication is a data exchange on DNA level using genetic code. Since this code possesses a structure, which is the basis of all human languages, also higher information may be transported, which is able to come up to human consciousness and to be interpreted there.
Garjajev and its colleague continued still another step. They analyzed the vibration response of the DNA and found out that it follows quite complicated laws, which are however well known in the physics for a long time.
Those are the laws of nonlinear waveform-shaping, known since center of 19 century as so-called Soliton waves. They are known from observations, but so complicated that they may be calculated only with modern computers. Soliton waves are temporally extraordinarily stable and may store information in this way for a long time.
Summarizing all these realizations, one comes to a perfectly new form of the genetic engineering, possibly even to a new gene therapy.
Concerning this Pjotr Garjajev writes: »The majority tries to understand the principles of the DNA biological computer by appointing oneself exclusively to the DNA Watson Crick Chargaff rules: A-T, G-C. That is correct, but it is so not enough! The DNA chromosomale continuum in living systems has wave attributes, which lets us derive the unknown, a computer-similar program for the setting up of the organisms. The well-known genetic code is a code for protein synthesis and nothing further. Chromosomes in vivo work as solitonic holographic computers under use of the endogenous DNA laser radiation.«
This sounds like science of the 21st century and probably is. But don't forget: Garjajevs statements are founded scientifically in theory and experiment.
The consequences of these realizations are as incomprehensible as simple and logical: If one modulates a laser beam by a frequency sample, then one may affect with this the information of the DNA waves and so the genetic information itself.
For this one does not even need to decode the language of the pairs of bases in laborious work, in order to formulate from it artificially genetic information, but one can use quite easily words and sentences of the human language! The bases of the language structures are, as we in now know, the same.
Also this astonishing conclusion the Muscovites group of researchers could prove already experimentally. DNA substance in vivo (i.e. in the living fabric, not in the test tube) reacts to language-modulated laser light, even to radio waves, if one keeps the correct resonant frequencies.
In this way unknown possibilities are opened to the medicine. One may design devices, with which through suitably modulated radio or light radiation cell metabolism may be affected, even the repair of genetic defects is possible, without all the risks and side effects of the classical-biochemical proceeding.
Garjajevs group of researchers could already prove that with this method chromosomes may be repaired, which were damaged e.g. by x-rays. The effects on medical therapy possibilities of the coming century are immense: one can develop devices for new, subtle cancer therapy, also for the treatment of aids and for the slowing down of the aging process.
Already today devices are in use also in German university clinics, with whose assistance cancer patients are exposed to frequency-modulated magnetic field irradiation. The results are promising.
We see here that the objectives of the Muscovites researchers deviate from those of the western human Genome Project in principle. While in the western science the trend is to develop new chemical medicines from as much as possible items of information from the genes - a procedure, which is however not free from substantial risks, a potential giant business -, the Russian scientists have a rather holistic understanding of the DNA leading to the development of therapy devices, which may replace some expensive and dangerous medicine in the long term.
Quite beside from the new wave theory of the genetic code still some further interesting facts follow. For example one knows for a long time that almost any bodily function, particularly also in the metabolism and in the hormone production, can be affected by suggestive strength of the spoken word, although they run perfectly autonomously, thus under elimination of the conscious will, whereupon the impact of the medical hypnosis is based. These facts are well-known, however could not be explained so far scientifically.
The medical model of the psycho neuro immunology led back the effect of hypnotic suggestions so far exclusively to control mechanisms in the brain, particularly in the regions, which are assumed to contain subconscious layers.
Now it looks that it is much simpler: the DNA is able to react directly to the spoken word.
Also different therapy procedures, whose impact was inexplicable so far, as for instance the Chinese acupunkture, may be explained with help of the DNA wave theory in Garjajev's opinion scientifically.
If we summarize the research results of Professor Popp and Professor Garjajev, then a remarkable connection results: Light actually represents an important factor in the power supply of our hereditary molecule, the DNA. It provides healthy functioning of all procedures in our cells. However it cannot form a complete replacement for material food alone.
The information, which will transfer via the light, is much more important. The DNA communicates in this way - perhaps with other organisms or with a superordinate plan - which a morphogenetic field, which could be proven by the research in Russia for the first time scientifically.
In this way the genetic information of each cell can employ comparisons of their actual condition with a specified condition each time and arrange possibly necessary repairs. This can prevent or at least stop diseases such as cancer or aids, in addition, slow down the age process.
The modern wave genetics is one of the key technologies for the coming millennium, and we can be strained, what science will discover in this area in the very near future.
I Speak of Dreams: Annals of Quackery: Hypnosis and Dyslexia
4. The press release also claims that hypnosis is a valid treatment for dyslexia based on a "scientific release" from a Russian scientist, biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev, with the following claims"
"scientifically proven that affirmations along with meditation/ hypnosis (another term for meditation) will raise consciousness, well-being, and even change DNA
Garjajev has no citations in Pubmed. The claim for DNA modulation seems to come from the article entitled, "The Biological Chip in our Cells", by Grazyna Fosar and Franz Bludorf, published on their website, "German Magazine KonteXt reports on current developments within the ranges of border science and spirituality." There are a number of claims made, but no data to back up the claims. Remember, "Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof". We can reject the Fosar-Bludorf claims for lacking evidence...
Quantum Phenomena in Biology
1. Genetic code only half the story - DNA is a quantum mechanical biowave computer
Recent research has demonstrated that electromagentic signals are of key importance in the regulatory functioning of DNA . Part of it is based on ultraviolet luminence creating biophotons that have been experimentally demonstrated to be able to enhance metabolic reactions thousandfold (1). Another aspect is an electromagnetically mediated "language" for communication between DNA and the cells. Actually laser light generated in DNA, experimentally demonstrated by P.P. Garajev (2),(3) is a key element in this information transmission system.
Gariaev P., et al, "The DNA-wave Biocomputer" (3)
"...These assumptions produce a chromosome apparatus and fast wave genetic information channels connecting the chromosomes of the separate cells of an organism into a holistic continuum, working as the biocomputer, where one of the field types produced by the chromosomes, are their radiations. This postulated capability of such "laser radiations" from chromosomes and DNA, as will be shown, has already been demonstrated experimentally in Moscow, by the Gariaev Group. Thus it seems the accepted notions about the genetic code must change fundamentally, and in doing so it will be not only be possible to create and understand DNA as a wave biocomputer, but to gain from nature a more fundamental understanding of what information [Marcer in press] really is! For the Gariaev Group's experiments in Moscow and Toronto say that the current understanding of genomic information i.e. the genetic code, is only half the story [Marcer this volume]. "
1. Kaznacejev V. P., Michailova L. P. Ultraschwache Luminiszenz in interzellularen Interaktionen. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1981 (in Russian.)
2. Garjajev P. P. Der wellengenetische Code. 1997, ISBN 5-7816-0022-1 (in Russian.)
3. Peter P. Gariaev, Boris I. Birshtein, Alexander M. Iarochenko, Peter J. Marcer, George G. Tertishny, Katherine A. Leonova, Uwe Kaempf, "The DNA-wave Biocomputer" at http://www.rialian.com/rnboyd/dna-wave.doc
The DNA-Wave Biocomputer
Peter P. Gariaev*, Boris I. Birshtein*, Alexander M. Iarochenko*, Peter J. Marcer**,
George G. Tertishny*, Katherine A. Leonova*, Uwe Kaempf ***.
* Institute Control of Sciences Russian Academy of Sciences,
Moscow, Russia [email protected], http://www.aha.ru/~gariaev, and
Wave Genetics Inc. 87 Scollard Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5R 1G4, [email protected],
**53 Old Vicarage Green, Keynsham, Bristol, BS31 2DH, UK,
*** Institut f. Klinische, Diagnostische und Differentielle Psychologie- Am Falkenbrunnen - D-01062 Dresden TU, Dresden, Germany, [email protected]
This paper reports experimental work carried out in Moscow at the Institute of Control Sciences, Wave Genetics Inc. and theoretical work from several sources. This work changes the notion about the genetic code essentially. It asserts: -
1) That the evolution of biosystems has created genetic "texts", similar to natural context dependent texts in human languages, shaping the text of these speech-like patterns.
2) That the chromosome apparatus acts simultaneously both as a source and receiver of these genetic texts, respectively decoding and encoding them, and
3) That the chromosome continuum of multicellular organisms is analogous to a static-dynamical multiplex time-space holographic grating, which comprises the space-time of an organism in a convoluted form.
That is to say, the DNA action, theory predicts and which experiment confirms,
i) is that of a "gene-sign" laser and its solitonic electro-acoustic fields, such that the gene-biocomputer "reads and understands" these texts in a manner similar to human thinking, but at its own genomic level of "reasoning". It asserts that natural human texts (irrespectively of the language used), and genetic "texts" have similar mathematical-linguistic and entropic-statistic characteristics, where these concern the fractality of the distribution of the character frequency density in the natural and genetic texts, and where in case of genetic "texts", the characters are identified with the nucleotides, and ii) that DNA molecules, conceived as a gene-sign continuum of any biosystem, are able to form holographic pre-images of biostructures and of the organism as a whole as a registry of dynamical "wave copies" or "matrixes”, succeeding each other. This continuum is the measuring, calibrating field for constructing its biosystem.
Keywords: DNA, wave-biocomputer, genetic code, human language, quantum holography.
1. What Theory Predicts.
How did this new theory take shape? The principle problem of the creation of the genetic code, as seen in all the approaches [Gariaev 1994; Fatmi et al. 1990; Perez 1991: Clement et al. 1993; Marcer, Schempp 1996; Patel, 2000] was to explain the mechanism by means of which a third nucleotide in an encoding triplet, is selected. To understand, what kind of mechanism resolves this typically linguistic problem of removing homonym indefiniteness, it is necessary firstly to postulate a mechanism for the context-wave orientations of ribosomes in order to resolve the problem of a precise selection of amino acid during protein synthesis [Maslow, Gariaev 1994]. This requires that some general informational intermediator function with a very small capacity, within the process of convolution versus development of sign regulative patterns of the genome-biocomputer endogenous physical fields. It lead to the conceptualization of the genome's associative-holographic memory and its quantum nonlocality. These assumptions produce a chromosome apparatus and fast wave genetic information channels connecting the chromosomes of the separate cells of an organism into a holistic continuum, working as the biocomputer, where one of the field types produced by the chromosomes, are their radiations. This postulated capability of such "laser radiations" from chromosomes and DNA, as will be shown, has already been demonstrated experimentally in Moscow, by the Gariaev Group. Thus it seems the accepted notions about the genetic code must change fundamentally, and in doing so it will be not only be possible to create and understand DNA as a wave biocomputer, but to gain from nature a more fundamental understanding of what information [Marcer in press] really is! For the Gariaev Group's experiments in Moscow and Toronto say that the current understanding of genomic information i.e. the genetic code, is only half the story [Marcer this volume].
1.2 What experiment confirms, part one.
These wave approaches all require that the fundamental property of the chromosome apparatus is the nonlocality of the genetic information. In particular, quantum nonlocality/teleportation within the framework of concepts introduced by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR) [Sudbery 1997; Bouwmeester et al.1997]. This quantum nonlocality has now, by the experimental work of the Gariaev Group, been directly related (i) to laser radiations from chromosomes, (ii) to the ability of the chromosome to gyrate the polarization plane of its own radiated and occluded photons and (iii) to the suspected ability of chromosomes, to transform their own genetic-sign laser radiations into broadband genetic-sign radio waves. In the latter case, the polarizations of chromosome laser photons are connected nonlocally and coherently to polarizations of radio waves. Partially, this was proved during experiments in vitro, when the DNA preparations interplaying with a laser beam (=632.8nm ), organized in a certain way, polarize and convert the beam simultaneously into a radio-frequency range. In these experiments, another extremely relevant phenomenon was detected: photons, modulated within their polarization by molecules of the DNA preparation. These are found to be localized (or "recorded") in the form of a system of laser mirrors' heterogeneities. Further, this signal can "be read out" without any essential loss of the information (as theory predicts [ Gariaev 1994; Marcer, Schempp 1996]), in the form of isomorphously (in relation to photons) polarized radio waves. Both the theoretical and experimental research on the convoluted condition of localized photons therefore testifies in favour of these propositions.
These independently research approaches also lead to the postulate, that the liquid crystal phases of the chromosome apparatus (the laser mirror analogues) can be considered as a fractal environment to store the localized photons, so as to create a coherent continuum of quantum-nonlocally distributed polarized radio wave genomic information. To a certain extent, this corresponds with the idea of the genome's quantum-nonlocality, postulated earlier, or to be precise, with a variation of it.
This variation says that the genetic wave information from DNA, recorded within the polarizations of connected photons, being quantum-nonlocal, constitutes a broadband radio wave spectrum correlated - by means of polarizations - with the photons. Here, the main information channel, at least in regard to DNA, is the parameter of polarization, which is nonlocal and is the same for both photons and the radio waves. A characteristic feature is, that the Fourier-image of the radio spectra is dynamic, depending essentially on the type of matter interrogated. It can therefore be asserted, that this phenomenon concerns a new type of a computer (and biocomputer) memory, and also a new type of EPR spectroscopy,namely one featuring photon-laser-radiowave polarization spectroscopy.The fundamental notion is, that the photon-laser-radiowave features of different objects (i.e. the Fourier-spectra of the radiowaves of crystals, water, metals, DNA, etc) are stored for definite but varying times by means of laser mirrors, such that the "mirror spectra" concern chaotic attractors with a complex dynamic fractal dynamics, recurring in time. The Gariaev Group experiments are therefore not only unique in themselves, they are a first example, that a novel static storage/recording environment (laser mirrors) exists, capable of directly recording the space-time atomic/molecular rotary dynamical behaviour of objects. Further the phenomena, detected by these experiments described in part two, establish the existence of an essentially new type of radio signal, where the information is encoded by polarizations of electromagnetic vectors. This will be the basis of a new type of video recording, and will create a new form of cinema as well.
Further experimental research has revealed the high biological (genetic) activity of such radio waves, when generated under the right conditions by DNA. For example, by means of such artificially produced DNA radiations, the super fast growth of potatoes (up to 1 cm per day) has been achieved, together with dramatic changes of morphogenesis resulting in the formation of small tubers not on rootstocks but on stalks. The same radiations also turned out to be able to cause a statistically authentic "resuscitation" of dead seeds of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which were taken from the Chernobyl area in 1987. By contrast, the monitoring of irradiations by polarized radio waves, which do not carry information from the DNA, is observed to be biologically inactive. In this sequence of experiments, additional evidence was also obtained in favour of the possibility of the existence of the genetic information in form of the polarization of a radio wave physical field. This supports the supposition that the main information channel in these experiments is the biosign modulations of polarizations mediated by some version of quantum nonlocality. A well known fact can therefore be seen in new light, namely, that the information biomacromolecules - DNA, RNA and proteins - have an outspoken capacity to optical rotatory dispersion of visible light and of circular dichroism. Similarly, the low molecular components of biosystems, such as saccharides, nucleotides, amino acids, porphyrins and other biosubstances have the same capacity; a capacity, which until now made little biological sense. Now, however, it supports, the contention that this newly detected phenomenon of quantized optical activity can be considered as the means by which the organism obtains unlimited information on its own metabolism. That is, such information is read by endogenous laser radiations of chromosomes, which, in their turn, produce the regulative ("semantic") radio emission of the genome biocomputer. Furthermore, the apparent inconsistency between the wavelengths of such radiations and the sizes of organisms, cells and subcell structures is abrogated, since the semantic resonances in the biosystems' space are realized not at the wavelength level, but at the level of frequencies and angles of twist of the polarization modes. This mechanism is the basis for the artificial laser-radio-wave vitro-in vivo scanning of the organism and its components.
However, chromosome quantum nonlocality as a phenomenon of the genetic information is seen as particularly important in multicellular organisms and as applying on various levels.
The 1-st level is that the organism as a whole. Here nonlocality is reflected in the capacity for regeneration, such that any part of the body recreates the whole organism, as, for example, in case of the worm Planaria. That is to say, any local limiting of the genetic information to any part of a biosystem is totally absent. The same concerns the vegetative reproduction of plants.
The 2nd level is the cellular level. Here it is possible to grow a whole organism out of a single cell. However with highly evolved animal biosystems, this will be a complex matter.
The 3rd level is the cellular-nuclear level. The enucleation of nuclei from somatic and sexual cells and the subsequent introduction into them of other nuclei does not impede the development of a normal organism. Cloning of this kind has already been carried out on higher biosystems, for example, sheep.
The 4th level is the molecular level: here, the ribosome "would read" mRNA not only on the separate codons, but also on the whole and in consideration of context.
The 5th level is the chromosome-holographic: at this level, a gene has a holographic memory, which is typically distributed, associative, and nonlocal, where the holograms "are read" by electromagnetic or acoustic fields. These carry the gene-wave information out beyond the limits of the chromosome structure. Thus, at this and subsequent levels, the nonlocality takes on its dualistic material-wave nature, as may also be true for the holographic memory of the cerebral cortex [ Pribram 1991; Schempp 1992; 1993; Marcer, Schempp 1997; 1998]
The 6th level concerns the genome's quantum nonlocality. Up to the 6th level, the nonlocality of bio-information is realized within the space of an organism. The 6th level has, however, a special nature; not only because it is realized at a quantum level, but also because it works both throughout the space of a biosystem and in a biosystems own time frame. The billions of an organism's cells therefore "know" about each other instantaneously, allowing the cell set is to regulate and coordinate its metabolism and its own functions. Thus, nonlocality can be postulated to be the key factor explaining the astonishing evolutionary achievement of multicellular biosystems. This factor says that bioinformatic events, can be instantaneously coordinated, taking place "here and there simultaneously", and that in such situations the concept of "cause and effect" loses any sense. This is of a great importance! The intercellular diffusion of signal substances and of the nervous processes is far too inertial for this purpose. Even if it is conceded that intercellular transmissions take place electro-magnetically at light speeds, this would still be insufficient to explain how highly evolved, highly complex biosystems work in real time [Gariaev 1994; Ho 1993]. The apparatus of quantum nonlocality and holography is in authors' view, indispensable to a proper explanation of such real time working. The 6th level therefore says, the genes can act as quantum objects, and that, it is the phenomenon of quantum non-locality/teleportation, that ensures the organism's super coherency, information super redundancy, super knowledge, cohesion and, as a totality or whole, the organism's integrity (viability).
Indeed it can be said that this new understanding of biocomputers, constitutes a further step in a development of computer technology in general. An understanding that will bring about a total change of the constituent basis of that technology, in the history of analogue > to > digital > to > now, the figurative semantic (nonlocal) wave computer or biocomputer. This biocomputer will be based on new understanding of the higher forms of the DNA memory, and the chromosome apparatus, as the recording, storaging, transducing and transmitting system for genetic information, that must be considered simultaneously both at the level of matter and at the level of physical fields. The latter fields, having been just studied, as showed experimentally in this research, are carriers of genetic and general regulative information, operating on a continuum of genetic molecules (DNA, RNA, proteins, etc). Here, previously unknown types of memory (soliton, holographic, polarization) and also the DNA molecule, work both as biolasers and as a recording environment for these laser signals. The genetic code, considered from such a point of view, will be essentially different from today's generally accepted but incomplete model. This, the wave-biocomputer model asserts, only begins to explain the apparatus of protein biosynthesis of living organisms, providing an important interpretation for the initial stages within this new proposed composite hierarchic chain of material and field, sign, holographic, semiotic-semantic and, in the general case, of figurative encoding and deciphering chromosome functions. Here the DNA molecules, conceived as a gene-sign continuum of any biosystem, are able to form pre-images of biostructures and of the organism as a whole as a registry of dynamical "wave copies" or "matrixes", succeeding each other. This continuum is the measuring, calibrating field for constructing any biosystem.
1.3 Features of the Wave Model
Adleman , for example, has used the mechanism for fast and precise mutual recognition between the DNA anti-parallels half-chains to solve the "the travelling salesman's problem". However in the wave model of biosystems, this is only one aspect of the self-organization taking place. For here, as the experimental evidence now confirms, the mutual recognition of one DNA anti parallel half chain (+) by the other (-) concerns special super persistent/resonant acoustic-electromagnetic waves or solitons. Such DNA solitons have two connected types of memory. The first is typical of the phenomenon discovered by Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) [Fermi, 1972]. It concerns the capability of non-linear systems to remember initial modes of energisation and to periodically repeat them [Dubois 1992]. The DNA liquid crystals within the chromosome structure form such a non-linear system. The second is that of the DNA-continuum in an organism. Such memory is an aspect of the genome's nonlocality. It is quasi-holographic/fractal, and relates, as is the case for any hologram or fractal, to the fundamental property of biosystems i.e. to their ability to restore the whole out of a part. This property is well known (grafting of plants, regeneration of a lizard's tail, regeneration of a whole organism from the oocyte). And a higher form of such a biological memory would be a holographic (associative) memory of the brain cortex, i.e. of its neural network [Pribram 1991; Schempp 1992; Marcer Schempp 1997, 1998; Sutherland 1999]. Such wave sign encoding/decoding therefore, like DNA's ability to resolve "the traveling salesman's problem", is, it can be hypothesized, an integral part of DNA's computational biofunctionality. Indeed DNA solitary waves (solitons), and in particular, the nucleotide waves of oscillatory rotation, "read" the genome's sign patterns, so that such sign vibratory dynamics may be considered as one of many genomic non-linear dynamic semiotic processes. The expression "DNA's texts";, borrowed earlier as a metaphor from the linguists, is it turns out therefore related directly to actual human speech. For as mathematical-linguistic research into DNA and human speech textual patterns, shows [Maslow, Gariaev 1994] the key parameter of both such patterns is fractality. It can therefore be hypothesized that the grammar of genetic texts is a special case of the general grammar of all human languages.
Returning however to DNA computation based on matter-wave sign functions with a view to realizing its wave coding capabilities, as distinct those used by Adleman, which might be termed its matter capabilities. Such true wave control capabilities of the DNA or chromosomes are, we hypothesize, those conditions that apply inside the living cell, i.e. in an aqueous solution but which correspond to a liquid-crystal condition as well. For under such conditions, in the unique circumstances of cell division, the living cell has the ability to replicate itself, and has the property of what in relation to a self replicating automaton, von Neumann called "universal computer construction" so that we may say that the living cell is such a computer based on DNA [Marcer Schempp 1997a]. And while the artificial cloning of a single cell is not yet feasible, what we have been able to do, is to record the DNA-wave information appropriate to these wave sign conditions of the DNA in a cell on laser mirrors, and to use, for example, the recorded DNA-wave information from living seeds in the form of radio waves to resuscitate the corresponding "dead" seeds damaged by radioactivity.
The next step forward is therefore to bring into general use, such wave information and memory as now newly identified in relation to DNA and gene structure. Such applications could be on the basis of, for example,
i) The FPU-recurrence phenomenon, and/or,
ii) The ability to record holograms, as well as,
iii) The recording the polarization-wave DNA's information onto localized photons.
Regarding volume and speed, such memory could exceed many times over the now available magnetic and optical disks, as well as current classical holographic systems. But in particular, such applications may employ the principles of quantum nonlocality. For DNA and the genome have now been identified as active "laser-like" environments, where, as experimentally shown, chromosome preparations may act as a memory and as "lasers", with the abilities i), ii) and iii) above. And finally there are the quasi-speech features of the DNA, as these concern both natural gene texts, and artificial (synthesized) sign sequences of polynucleotides, which emulate natural quasi-speech gene programs. However, we believe this maybe a rather dangerous path, where a regulatory system of prohibitions on artificial wave genes is indispensable. The reason is that such an approach to DNA-wave biocomputation means entering new semiotic areas of the human genome and the biosphere in general; areas, which are used by the Nature to create humankind. This thought follows from the theoretical studies on a collective symmetry of the genetic code as carried out by the Eigen's laboratory [Scherbak, 1988] at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. This research shows, that the key part of the information, already recorded and still being recorded as quasi-speech in the chromosomes of all organisms on our planet, may concern semantic exobiological influences, since in regard to DNA-wave biocomputation, DNA acts as a kind of aerial open to the reception of not only the internal influences and changes within the organism but to those outside it as well. Indeed we regard this as one of our primary findings, which in view of quantum nonlocality of organisms extends not only to the organism's local environment, but also beyond it to the extent of the entire universe.
With reference to what we have said already, it is possible to offer the following perspectives on the sign manipulations with gene structures.
1.Creation of artificial memory on genetic molecules, which will indeed possess both fantastic volume and speed.
2.Creation of biocomputers, based on these totally new principles of DNA-wave biocomputation, which use quantum teleportation [Sudbury 1997] and can be compared to the human brain regarding methods of data processing and functional capabilities.
3.The implementation of a remote monitoring of key information processes inside biosystems by means of such artificial biocomputers, resulting in treatments for cancer, AIDS, genetic deformities, control over socio-genetic processes and eventually prolongation of the human life time.
4.Active protection against destructive wave effects, thanks to wave-information channel detectors.
5.Establishing exobiological contacts.
2. What Experiment Confirms, part two, the Experiments
Some of the experiments and computer simulations carried out in Moscow are now described. They set out in more detail how the understanding in sections 1. was arrived at. These descriptions concern the specific apparatus used and results obtained, together with computer simulations carried out to validate specific aspects of the developing understanding,
Photograph 1. This first picture shows a photograph of the experimental apparatus. The principal elements are a laser, the light of which is directed through a lens system and a DNA sandwich sample as shown diagrammatically below
Diagram 1. Illustrates the workings of the experiment which employs a dynamic light scattering system of the type Malvern.
This understanding is then compared in section 3 with an entirely independently researched prospective obtained by Marcer, and Schempp .
This shows the scattering by the DNA sample of the laser light, which is then guided through another lens system into the type Malvern analysing device, which counts the photons registered in different serial channels.The results of two experiments are shown at end of paper: the first entitled "Background - Empty Space", done without a DNA sample, and the second, with it in place, entitled "Physical DNA in SSC Solution".
The latter has the typical form of a periodically reoccurring pattern, which is of the same functional type as found in an autocorrelation. Such regularly occurring periodic patterns have an interpretation in terms of the phenomenon of so-called Fermi-Pasta-Ulam recurrence, which concerns solitonic waves. That is to say, this interpretation says that roughly speaking, the DNA, considered as a liquid-crystal gel-like state, acts on the incoming light in the manner of a solitonic Fermi-Pasta-Ulam lattice, as illustrated here:
The leading question, if this is the case, is what could such action achieve? The starting idea was that it must be concerned with the reading of the genetic texts encoded in the DNA, where however this language metaphor is now applied directly to these texts. That is to say, rather than the usual analogy taking such texts as a digital computer language or symbolic instruction code, such texts are considered instead as having the semantic and generative grammatical features of a spoken or written context dependent human language. That is, we conceived of the DNA acting in the same way as the human would, when presented with a text from a good book on a fascinating theme, which, as it is read, invokes actual 3 dimensional pictures/images in the mind's eye.
The reason for this choice concerned the problem in DNA coding raised by the question of synonymy and homonymy as it applies to the third element/codon of the codon triplets. For while, see figure below, synonymy even seems to provide a kind of redundancy, homonymy constitutes a serious difficulty under the often proposed postulate that only the first two elements of the DNA codon triplet (standing for a particular protein- the picture in the mind's eye, so to speak) are the significant ones. That is to say, how does the reading ribosome know which protein has to be generated, if the third nucleotide in codon's triplet does not of itself provide the answer with total certainty? The proposed answer was, that this ambiguity might be resolved by some kind of context dependent reading similar to that inherent in human speech and language understanding.
Figure: Synonymy versus Homonymy
Satisfyingly, this need to explain how such context-dependent reading might be implemented in the DNA reduplication/reading process, as will be shown, led back to the experimental evidence as presented above, for it supports the postulate that such context dependent reading of the DNA is indeed best understood in the framework of a biosolitonic process model.
A soliton is an ultra stable wave train often with a seemly simple closed shape, which can arise in the context of non-linear wave oscillations. It actually consists of a rather complexly interrelated assembly of sub wave structures, which keep the whole solitonic process in a stationary state over a comparatively long time. In the literature, a soliton is often described as an entity, which is neither a particle nor a wave in much the same way as is a quantum, for it, too has wave/particle duality. It can also be a means to carry information. Solitonic processing in DNA, would therefore, it was hypothesized, relate, in one of its aspects, the reading of the codons, to quantum computing [Patel 2000], and this could therefore concern the soliton viewed as the travelling "window", that opens in the double helix structure as the reading takes place, as is illustrated below:
It was therefore decided to model this reading process as a complex mechanical oscillator [Gariaev 1994], capable of producing solitonic wave transmissions, which takes the form of a system of rotary pendulums, like those in a certain type of pendulum clock, as illustrated,
to see if the computer simulations could shed more light on just what might be happening in the DNA. In the basic model, illustrated and shown below, each of the oscillatory movements of each element of the linked chain of oscillators depends heavily on the motion of its neighbours, and on the differences in the specific weights of the elements. Imagine now that the DNA forms such a kind of pendulum, whilst the intertwined helices/chains are opened at one particular section to provide the travelling window, as in the previous figure. That is to say, the model to be simulated is a chain of non-linear oscillators, the four types of which can be identified with the Adenine (A), Cytosine (C), Guanine (G), and Thymine (T) or Uracil (C) components DNA, all having different spatial structures and masses, and where there is a travelling window opened in the double helix. Such a model allows a rather complex pattern of oscillation in the DNA chain of elements, depending on the actual layout of the elements as specified by the actual genetic code sequence involved. The window as it travels, is therefore highly context dependent.
Starting at the following sequence:
the figures, which follow, are those of the computer simulation of this process of the travelling window, carried out in relation to a particular fragment of viral DNA. The first two figures with respect to the simulation, where the vertical is the time axis, show what would happen, in case of a context dependent reading beginning from two different nucleotides of the DNA chain, namely the 400th and the 450th respectively. In both cases these concern activity in the form of a "kink", which runs through the chain of nucleotides, A, C, G, T. The second two figures show even more sophisticated types of context dependent effects. These concern the complex dynamic patterns, which arise when also taking into account the non-linear covalent connections between the nucleotides.
i) The masses of the nucleotides and other parameters show that these oscillatory activities should be located somewhere together in the "acoustic" wave domain, and
ii) That, as a liquid crystal, the DNA could influence the polarization of the weak light emission known to exist in cells, the so called "biophotons". This kind of emitted light in cells was first discovered by the Russian investigator Alexander Gurwitsch , who called it the "mitogenic radiation". Today it is known from the work of Fritz Albert Popp [Popp, 2000], that such biophotonic or mitogenic light, while being ultraweak, is however on the other hand, highly coherent, so that it has an inherent laser-like light quality.
The experimental setting and the resulting simulations therefore say that:-
iii) The experimental laser beam is simply a substitute for the endogenous intracellular coherent light emitted by the DNA molecule itself, and that
iv) The superimposed coherent waves of different types in the cells are interacting to form diffraction patterns, firstly in the "acoustic" domain, and secondly in the electromagnetic domain. Furthermore such diffraction patterns are by definition (and as is known for example from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [Binz, Schempp 2000a,b] a kind of quantum hologram. Thus, it seems that our original picture is confirmed and that the considered interaction between solitonic oscillations in the liquid crystal structure of DNA, and the polarization vector of the ultraweak biophotonic highly coherent light, could indeed be hypothetically understood as a mechanism of translation between holograms in the "acoustic" frequency domain, which concerns rather short range effects and those in the electromagnetic domain and vice versa.
The basis of such an hypothetical mechanism as a translation process, between acoustic and optical holograms, can be easily illustrated in the laboratory, where, as shown below, there is a fish illuminated in water by means of the acoustic radiation, in such a way that on the surface of the water an interference pattern or hologram forms, such that when this interference pattern is illuminated from above in the right way, by light of a high laser quality, a virtual visual image of the fish appears above the water. It shows that the hologram in question acts as a holographic transducer between the acoustic and electromagnetic domains.
Laboratory illustration of a holographic transducer between the acoustic and electromagnetic domains
This illustrated transduction when described in terms of the formalization of Huygens' principle of secondary sources [Jessel 1954], has been used as the basis of a new topological computing principle [Fatmi, Resconi 1988] which defines entire classes of non-commutative control structures, Fatmi et al . It was applied to DNA. and more recently to the brain [Clement et al. 1999].
3. Another Theoretical but Experimentally Validated Perspective - Quantum Holography
Sections 1 and 2 are in excellent agreement with the independently researched model of DNA produced by Marcer and Schempp . This explains the workings of the DNA-wave biocomputer in terms of a quantum mechanical theory called quantum holography
[Schempp 1992] used by Schempp and Binz and Schempp [2000a,b; 1999] to correctly predict the workings of MRI. These two DNA-wave biocomputer models are also, as cited, in good agreement with qubit model explanation of DNA more recently published by Patel , and earlier independent researched models by Clement et al and Perez .
The quantum holographic DNA-wave biocomputer model describes the morphology and dynamics of DNA, as a self-calibrating antenna working by phase conjugate adaptive resonance capable of both receiving and transmitting quantum holographic information stored in the form of diffraction patterns (which in MRI can be shown to be quantum holograms). The model describes how during the development of the embryo of the DNA's organism, these holographic patterns carry the essential holographic information necessary for that development. This would explain the almost miraculous way the multiplying assembly of individual cells is coordinated across the entire organism throughout every stage of its development - in complete agreement with the explanation arrived at in Moscow by Gariaev and his co-workers
The quantum holographic theory requires that the DNA consists of two antiparallel (phase conjugate) helices, between which (in conformity with DNA's known structure, ie the planes on which the base pairing takes place) the theory says, are located hologram planes/holographic gratings, where the necessary 3 spatial dimensional holographic image data of the organism is stored in agreement with the Gariaev group's hypothesis. It says, as described in relation to laser illumination of a DNA sample, that such illumination can be expected to turn the DNA into a series of active adaptive phase conjugate mirrors (see figure below)/holographic transducers (see figure of laboratory illustration earlier), from which would resonantly emerge a beam of radiation, on which is carried the holographic information as encoded in the DNA. As indeed is the case in the Gariaev group experiments already described. These experiments thus confirm the quantum holographic prediction that DNA functions an antenna capable of both encoding and decoding holographic information. This functionality is also in good agreement with the findings of Schempp that quantum holography is capable of modelling antennae such as synthetic aperture radars, and that this mathematical description of radar can be applied [Marcer and Schempp 1997] to a model, working by quantum holography, of the neuron. This model is in good accord with the biological neuron's information processing morphology and signal dynamics. As indeed are the quantum holographic models of the brain as a conscious system, and of the prokaryote cell [Marcer, Schempp 1996, 1997a]. It is a viewpoint originally voiced by de Broglie, who presciently pictured the electron as being guided by its own pilot wave or radar! These examples including MRI all demonstrate that quantum holograph does indeed incorporate signal theory into quantum physics and it can be hypothesized biocomputation.
Phase conjugate mechanism or mirror in the laboratory. Action of an active adaptive phase conjugate mirror
Furthermore, quantum holography predicts that the planes, in which the base pairing takes place, constitute a "paged" associative holographic memory and filter bank (carrying holograms which can be written and read) and which has no cross talk between the pages. The orthogonality of the holograms encoded on these pages, arises as the result of the sharp frequency adaptive coupling conditions (1), which specify very narrow spectral windows, i.e. the "pages".
(1) <Hv(a,b; x,y)| Hv(c,d ; x,y)> = 0 when frequency v is not equal v'
<Hv(a,b; x,y)| Hv(c,d ; x,y)> = <aOb | cOd> when v = v'
for non-degenerate four wavelet mixing where a,b,c,d are the corresponding wave functions of the mixing; Hv(a,b; x,y) is the holographic transform which in quantum holography defines the probability of detecting a wave quantum frequency v within a unit area attached to the point (x,y) of the hologram plane, where the wavelet mixing aOb takes place and is described in terms of a tensor multiplication O. The orthogonality condition (1) can be seen therefore as specifying a set of diagonal elements or trace Tr in a unit matrix in the frequency domain. It implies, as can be shown, that the Shannon encoding schema employed in DNA is optimally efficient, which following a billion or more years of evolution, in DNA could be expected to be the case.
The conditions (1) are therefore in excellent agreement with Gariaev group's conclusion. It confirms that the planes on which the base pairing takes places, concerns two quantum holograms, ie the wavelet mixings aOb and cOd, where each specifies a "context", one for the other. Further quantum holography predicts, based on the symmetries of the 3 dimensional representation of the Heisenberg Lie group G, that in relation to the quantum hologram defined by a wavelet mixing aOb, the coherent wavelet packet densities a(t)dt and b(t')dt' are indistinguishable by means of relative time and phase corrections applied to the respective wavelet pathways (x,y) in the hologram plane. That is, to say, the tensor operation O, in the case of quantum holography, describes a quantum entanglement, even though aOb defines a quantum hologram, from which quantum holography shows and MRI proves, holographic information can be both written/encoded and read/decoded.
Thus, mathematically, DNA can on the basis of quantum holography be thought of represented quantum mechanically very simply by the trace
Tr < a,b | c,d >
such that when the double helix is opened, in accordance with the Gariaev description above, this corresponds to the representation
< a,b | >< | c,d >
The process of completed duplication of DNA can therefore represented as
Tr<a,b | c,d>< a,b | c,d >
The topological differentiation referred to above follows from the fact that, while in quantum mechanics, a wave function is only determined up to an arbitrary phase, phase difference is of physical significance (as in holography), because there exists a class of quantum observables, which are the gauge invariant geometric phases of the state vector or wave function [Resta 1997; Schempp 1992; Anandan 1992]. These observables must therefore be distinguished from those which are the eigenvalues of some operator, usually the Hamiltonian or energy function. Such a state vector description (with gauge invariant phases) by means of which each DNA molecule can clearly be expected to be described, would explain the difference between the nature of quantum interference and quantum self interference, which DNA from its double helical structure can thus be recognized to concern.
In the above means of representing DNA therefore, | >< | represents by the quantum correspondence principle, the quantum soliton control [see also, Denschlag et al, 2000] or wavepacket activity rather than its classical soliton counterpart, which was the subject of the Moscow computer simulations. These all confirm the Gariaev group's conclusions reached as a result of their experiments, that DNA functions as a quantum coherent system/assembly (of now quantum oscillators) or whole, by means of quantum entanglement. A whole, where as (1) shows, this may be decomposed into an orthogonal family of holographically encoded 3 spatial dimensional images in line with the usual description of a quantum mechanical diagonalization. It also says in line with the Gariaev group's findings that DNA can be described as an "autocorrelation", where as shown here, this is an optimally efficient decomposition into a decorrelated family of holographic code primitives /holograms, and that this, as Schempp shows, follows from the fact a quantum mechanical harmonic oscillator (in this case the highly complex DNA molecule itself) is equivalent to an assembly of bosons each having one polarization state. The latter substantiates the Gariaev group conclusion that they have indeed discovered an entirely new form of electromagnetic vector by means of which holographic images are carried in the form of a polarization state, suitable for a new form of cinema, video and computer.
Quantum holography says that DNA satisfies the principle of computer construction [Von Neumann, 1966], since it carries a copy of itself, and is
(b), and (c) : 'Background – Empty Space', 'Physical DNA in SSC
Solution', and 'Phantom DNA' respectively
Graphs (a), (b), and (c) Background – Empty Space, Physical DNA in SSC Solution, and Phantom DNA” respectively
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Vladimir POPONIN Patents
Apparatus and method for analysis of nucleic acids hybridization on high density NA chips
Inventor: POPONIN VLADIMIR
METHOD OF CONTROLLING FUNCTIONAL CONDITION OF BIOLOGICAL OBJECT MAINLY FOR CORRECTION OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITION
SYSTEM OF CONTROLLING FUNCTIONAL CONDITION OF BIOLOGICAL OBJECT MAINLY FOR CORRECTION OF PATHOLOGICAL CONDITION
METHOD FOR CONTROL OF FUNCTIONAL CONDITION OF BIOLOGICAL OBJECT PREDOMINANTLY FOR CORRECTION OF PATHOLOGY
METHOD OF CONTROLLING FUNCTIONAL CONDITION OF BIOLOGICAL OBJECT FOR CORRECTION OF PATHOLOGIC CONDITION
The Wave, Probabilistic and Linguistic Representations of Cancer and HIV
Peter P. Gariaev*, George G. Tertishny, Katherine A. Leonova
*Chief Scientific Officer, Wave
907 Alness Street, North York, ON M3J 2N2, Toronto, Canada.
Abstract: The basic assumptions of our work include the
following: 1. the genome has a capacity for quasi-consciousness
so that DNA “words” produce and help in the recognition of
“semantically meaningful phrases”; 2. the DNA of chromosomes
control fundamental programs of life in a dual way: as chemical
matrixes and as a source of wave function and holographic
memory; 3. processes in the substance-wave structures of the
genome can be observed and registered through the dispersion and
absorption of a bipolar laser beam. The present article brings
forward considerable theoretical and experimental evidence in
support of this model, and discusses its practical applications
with respect to cancer and HIV therapeutic strategies.
I. The nature of HIV and cancer: problems in interpretation.
The challenge of HIV and cancer and the essence of Life both lie on the same plane. As of now, we still don't understand the most crucial facts about Life: how did it appear on earth and in which way it is coded in chromosomes? Several hypotheses are available, and each of them at best represents just a piece of reality. This is where the theoretical and biological difficulties in interpreting the HIV and cancer phenomena come from - and the price we are paying for this misunderstanding are the mistakes emerging in the treatment of these diseases. Both pathologies affect the most vital part in any biological system, namely, its genetic apparatus - the organism’s “self-knowledge”. And this is the paradox: we seem to know quite enough about chromosomes and DNA - oncogenes have already been found, the HIV genome has been studied, and it’s clear how these informational structures function in chromosomes. The genetic code and ribosome operation principles also seem to have been investigated in detail. But for some reason all this information is not enough to develop universal methods for a successful intervention against cancer and HIV.A half-lie is the worst lie, because people have reason to believe it - and this is especially true with respect to the genetic coding paradigm. In this field, everything is an impregnable bastion for critics, and everything is ruled by dogma. Even the key definition, the strategic scheme of genetic coding (DNA-> RNA-> protein), is called “the Central Dogma”. Until recently, all attacks on this dogma seemed trivial and doomed to failure. That was an incorrect assumption, as it turned out. The accuracy and effectiveness of research strategies dealing with HIV, cancer and many other pathologies depend on whether we orderly understand the genetic coding mechanism. The discovery of reverse transcriptase was the first spectacular breach in this dogma, which as a result was re-assigned a more discreet, working-hypothesis status: DNA Û RNA--> protein. However, our ideas on protein biosynthesis are gradually eroding: each new model is just an approach to the truth, to the understanding of the genome language-image pluralism as coding tool for the spatiotemporal structure of biosystems [32, 33].
II. What do we want to prove?
In this paper we intend to propose ideas which are not aimed at the final destruction of the so-called genetic code “canonical” triplet model, but at the development and establishment of its exact position in the knowledge basis of the chromosome operational principles. Yes, it’s possible to state that the triplet code is the truth. However, this truth is as correct as the statement that we could write a word using an alphabet. That statement is certainly right. But if we try, based only on this knowledge, to go further and vouch that by means of this alphabet we can compile grammatically-correct sentences, this new statement won’t be accurate. Such a statement is incorrect, in fact, because for the compilation of human speech laws of syntax, logic and grammar have to be applied. As for the genome, it’s a very speech-like and logical structure, but its fundamental features are not the only way to express genome associative-semantic structures. Furthermore, we are inclined to agree with V.V.Nalimov’s ideas leading us to the conclusion that a genome possesses quasi-conscious abilities. The logic we use and the models we developed are only an attempt to obtain higher-level understanding of laws pertaining to genetic text structuring or to other genome vital structures - knowledge which is now just beginning to emerge. The Russian researchers A.G.Gurwitch , V.N.Beklemishev and A.A.Lyubitchev laid the foundation of this science in the late 1920s.
What type of approaches might enrich the commonly-accepted genetic coding theory and how can these innovations assist in resolving the HIV and cancer issues, in particular? Let’s assume, until getting a final proof, three "axioms" which have already gotten definite theoretical and experimental confirmation [8, 32, 33, 37]:
DNA molecules, included in chromosomes, possess a substance--wave duality which is similar to the dualism of elementary particles. In accordance with it, DNA codes an organism in two ways, both with the assistance of DNA matter and by DNA sign wave functions, including coding at its own laser radiation level - .
The genetic apparatus can be non-local at the molecular level (holographic memory of a chromosome continuum) and at the same time quantum mechanically non-local in compliance with the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen effect . The latter means that the genome genetic and other regulatory wave information is recorded at the polarization level of its photons and is non-locally (everywhere and in no time) transferred (plays out) throughout the entire space of a biosystem by the polarization code parameter. This helps to set a quick-response information contact among the billions of cells constituting an organism.
The genome on the whole
and the individual nucleus of cells can generate and recognize
text-associative regulatory structures with the application of a
background principle, holography and quantum non-locality.
III. What’s the next step?
Let’s assume that final proofs of the above-mentioned statements have been obtained. Then the problem of HIV and cancer rises to an altogether different intellectual dimension.
For instance, what does the “DNA matter-wave dualism” mean - and in which way is it linked with the chromosome's numerous code functions? (Note: by code function we understand processes which are dramatically differed from the known triplet genetic code) In some sense, the genome operates like a complex multiwave laser with adjustable frequencies. It emits DNA light which is gene- and sign-modulated by amplitude, phase, frequency and polarization. Moreover, the genome is also likely to be a radio wave emitter converting a wide spectrum of coherent sign-polarized radio bands (P.P. Gariaev, G.G.Tertyshniy, Ye.A. Leonova, etc. Radio wave spectroscopy of local photons: exit to quantum non-local bioinformational processes. Sensors and Systems (2000, N9, pp. 2-13). The genome is also a dynamical multiple hologram which is able to produce light and radio wave images which carry out management functions by the biosystem. These structures are also the carriers of electromagnetic marking schemes (calibration fields) of biosystems’ space and time organization. And finally, the genome is a quasi-text form possessing elements of quantum non-locality, which can without any time delay “read” itself in billions of cells and use information, thereby received, as a control blueprint for living functions and structural organization [8, 37]. Many biologists and geneticists, let alone doctors, are likely to consider these new concepts of genome organization as extremely complicated. However, not all of them will: these ideas, whose seeds were first planted in Russia in the 1920s, have seen a dramatic and accelerating development over the last decade.
This clearly suggests that it’s necessary to modify our strategy in searching for HIV and cancer cures, as the traditional approaches to solving this issue increasingly resemble the wish to produce a good harvest, having planted an asphalt road. The new strategy has to be based on fundamental investigations of substance-wave duality and quasi-speech attributes of a higher system genome. Let’s stress once again that we consider a chromosome continuum as a sign laser & radio wave emitter [8, 33, 37], and direct experimental evidences allows us to think so. For instance, to demonstrate laser abilities of genetic structures, we showed that DNA and chromatin in vitro could be pumped as a laser-active medium for a consequent laser light generation .
If we accept these vital characteristics of a genome, then new specific issues arise: for example, does the sign character of chromosome laser & radio wave radiation change when a xenobiotic HIV genome inserts itself into it? And, at the same time, what happens to the radiation “semantics” during a transposition of oncogenes or any other mobile polynucleotide sequences as well as during B<--> Z and other conformational transitions of DNA in-vivo? Are these changes linked to an alteration of quasi- and real holographic programs, i.e. are new programs created and old ones changed, or are these programs erased, and so on? Does the radiation polarization parameter retain, in semiotic sense, its dynamic properties in the process of genome reorganization? Do all these changes influence ribosome operation? Further questions may arise. The answer to any of them can play a key role in interpreting the nature of HIV and cancer.
IV. Theoretical structures - more details
Let’s take another fundamental problem. Oncogene and HIV genomes, occupying certain positions in a 3D space of master cell chromosomes, do not express themselves as pathogenic factors until a certain time. In this sense, the behavior of HIV in the infected patient’s organism is unpredictable. HIV's latency period may vary from a week to 10 years. A specific mechanism of HIV-infection induction from the latent (sleeping) condition is thought to exist, but this mechanism is still misunderstood and, therefore, the opportunity to make HIV viruses permanently latent in the human organism is being missed. In this condition, the organism and the cells simply “don’t notice” them or even, as in the case of oncogenes, use them for their own benefit as a reproduction factor. Why does an organism adequately accept and contain them until a certain time X, and why they are semantically reborn, causing a management catastrophe in cell, after the X-time has come? Following our logic, it’s possible to think that both in the pathologic and normal state four factors are engaged, at least: genome “holography” and “linguistics”, genome background (context) self-organization, and its quantum non-locality.
In the course of evolution, biosystems have produced their own genetic “texts” and a biocomputing genome as a quasi- intelligent “subject” which “reads and understands” these texts at its level. The fact that natural human texts (it doesn’t matter what the language is) and genetic “texts” have similar mathematical & linguistic and entropy-statistical characteristics is extremely important for the genome elementary “intelligence”. This relates, in particular, to concepts such as the fractality of letters' occurrence frequency density distribution (in genetic “texts”, nucleotides execute function of letters) .
American researchers obtained another confirmation of the genome coding function linguistic interpretation . Dealing with the “coding” and “non-coding” eukaryote DNA sequences [(in the framework of old concepts of a gene), they came to a conclusion which was similar with ours and which conflicted with the central dogma that meaningful functions are concentrated only in the protein-coding DNA sections. The researchers applied a statistical analysis method for studying natural and musical texts, known as Zipf-Mandelbrot’s law, as well as the known Shannon postulate of text information redundancy calculated as a text entropy (more information about text entropy and statistics of words distribution in texts is given in [1, 25, 27, 31]). As a result, they found that DNA “non-coding” areas (space, intronic and others) had more in common with natural languages than the “coding” ones. Taking this for granted, the authors inferred that “non-coding” sequences of genetic molecules were the basis for one or more biological languages. Furthermore, the authors developed a statistical algorithm for searching DNA coding sequences; the algorithm they developed demonstrated that protein-coding areas had significantly fewer long-distance correlations, compared with areas separating these sequences. The DNA-sequence distribution was so sophisticated that the methods the researchers applied stopped working satisfactorily at distances of over 10^3-10^2 base pairs. Zipf-Mandelbrot’s distribution for “words” occurrence frequency, where the number of nucleotides ranged from 3 to 8, demonstrated that natural language had more in common with the non-coding sequences, than with the coding ones. It’s worth noting that the authors considered the coding only as a record of amino acid sequence information. And that was a paradox which made them state that DNA non-coding areas were not merely “junk”, but the lingual structures designed for reaching some still unknown goals. Despite the discovery of hidden complexity in these non-coding areas, the authors didn’t understand the implications of the long-distance correlations characterizing these structures. (They illustrated the process based on a family of genomes of the myosin heavy chain and assigned it to the evolutionary transition from lower taxons to higher taxons). The data presented in is in full compliance with the ideas we had independently put forward [32, 33]; according to our point of view, DNA non-coding sequences, or approximately 95-98% of a genome, are a strategic informational content of chromosomes. The said context has a substance-wave nature and, therefore, is multidimensional and functions as a holographic associative-image and semantic program of embryological origin, the semantic continuation and the logic end of any biosystem. Having intuitively understood that the old genetic coding model led to a dead-end, the authors said a nostalgic good-bye to this now-obsolete paradigm, but didn’t propose anything to replace it.
V. Homonymous-synonymous ambiguities of genetic texts. What does an organism need them for?
Text homonymy and synonymy are the common fundamental semantic properties of natural and genetic texts. These features provide chromosomes, natural texts and speech with redundant and multivalent information and, thus, ensure some adaptive flexibility. Ambivalent genetic texts acquire their monosemantic meaning owing to a variation of DNA sequence position in genome space through their transpositions and/or a transposition of their environment. This resembles the situation with natural texts and speech, in which homonymous-synonymous ambiguities of a semantic field are eliminated by the context (this background principle is described in ). Homonymies of coding doublets are easily found in the traditional genetic code triplet model. The meaning of these homonymies is still misunderstood and isn’t taken into account, with some exceptions [33, 35]. The perplexing issue of mRNA codon homonymies emerged with the creation of the triplet model of amino acid coding in the process of protein biosynthesis. It immediately became a “time-bomb”, since the correct explanation of a biological (informational) meaning of these homonymies automatically leads to the necessity of significant correction or complete revision of the triplet model. How are codons homonymies produced? A set of different amino acids is coded in mRNA codons by similar doublets; the third nucleotides in codons can relocate chaotically: they are wobbling and may become any of the four canonical ones. As a result, they don’t correlate with the coding amino acids [3, 11]. That’s why semantic ambiguity appears regarding the ribosome’s choice of amino acid-carrying-tRNA anti-codons. For instance, each synonymous codon of the standard code of higher biosystems (AGT and AGC) codes for serine, while each synonymous AGA and AGG codon codes for arginine. Thus, the third nucleotides of mRNA codons in combination with a sign doublet don’t have exact amino acid correlates; at the same time, the first two sign codon nucleotides are similar with one another, yet code different amino acids - hence the ambiguity in selecting tRNA anti-codons. In other words, a ribosome may take serine or arginine tRNA with an equal probability ; such an outcome can initiate synthesis of abnormal proteins. In fact, these mistake don’t occur and the precision of the protein synthesis process is extremely high. These mistakes appear only in some metabolically abnormal situations (the presence of some antibiotics, a lack of amino acids, etc.). Usually a ribosome somehow correctly chooses the tRNA anti-codons out of the homonymous doublets.
We think that the correct choice out of doublet anti-codon-homonyms is realized through a resonant-wave or context (associative, holographic) and/or “background” mechanisms. Amino acid code homonymity can be overcome in the same way as they are in natural languages - by the placement of a homonym in a complete phrase; the homonym decodes the context and attaches a unique meaning to it, thus resolving the ambiguity. That’s why mRNA, acting as a “phrase”, should operate in the protein synthesis process as an integral coding system, non-locally determining the sequence of amino acids at the level of tRNA aminoacylated associates, which interact in a global and complementary way with the entire mRNA molecule. Macrosteric disagreement between mRNA and tRNA continuums could be eliminated due to a conformational lability of macromolecules. The A-P sections of a ribosome are responsible for accepting these associated amino acids, with their consequent enzymatic sewing into peptide chains. In this case, a context-oriented unambiguous choice and elimination of the doublet-anticodon homonymy will occur. Considering the above, it’s possible to predict that the interaction of aminoacylated tRNAs with mRNAs has a collective phase character and is effected by a type of re-association (“annealing”) of one-string DNA upon the temperature reduction after melting of a native polynucleotide. Does any experimental evidence for this contention exist? Yes. A great deal of such information is available and collected in the analytical review . Here we will only present some of the data. For example, the correctness of terminating codons recognition by tRNA molecules is known to depend on their context (that’s a confirmation of our theoretical model), in particular, on the existence of a uridine after the stop codon. In Paper the following information is presented: the insertion of a line consisting of nine rarely-used CUA-leucine codons in the position after the 13th one (in the compound of 313 codons of the tested mRNA) resulted in active inhibition of their translation, yet did not notably influence the translation of other CUA-codon-containing mRNAs. Here, the translation context effect is clearly seen as a strategic influence of distant mRNA codons on the inclusion (or non-inclusion) of certain amino acids in the composition of a protein being synthesized. This is a remote influence, connected with the protein synthesis continuum; it’s also an example of the genetic apparatus’ non-local functions, whereby the protein-synthesizing apparatus recognizes mRNA not only in parts (by nucleotides, locally), but in one piece (non-locally) as well. However, in the work being cited this key phenomenon is only stated and remains inexplicable to the researchers; and probably for this reason they don’t even discuss it. Similar results continue to appear in the literature at an increasing rate. In the work under discussion the authors refer to half a dozen analogous situations, whose explanation in the classical interpretation is rather difficult. This obviously points to inconsistencies in the genetic code triplet model. The model also fails to explain the existence of unusually swollen anticodons. When they are involved in protein synthesis, the number of base pairs in the ribosome A-site exceeds 3 . This finding challenges the dogmatic postulate of code triplets . Furthermore, studies of tRNA-tRNA interactions on ribosomes are presented in ; they offer full confirmation of our model, in which we consider an amino-acid-loaded tRNA complex as the predecessor of a protein. In an important idea, very close to ours, was put forward: the influence of the mRNA context on monosemantic incorporation of amino acids into a peptide chain reflects some basic, still unstudied, laws of genetic information coding in the protein synthesis process. It’s worth remembering that genetic information about protein synthesis occupies only some 1% of a chromosome's total volume. The remaining 98.5% of the whole contain programs of a significantly higher level.
VI. Prions: the last blow to the central dogma of molecular biology
As we can see, the previously-existing hypotheses regarding the genetic code and the operation of the protein-synthesis apparatus have been grossly simplified. The prion phenomenon is likely to be the last argument in favor of a final revision of the molecular biology central dogma.
Prions are low-weight molecular parasitic proteins (PrPsc) targeting the brains of animals (mad-cow disease) and human beings (Alzheimer’s, Kreutzfeld-Jacob’s syndrome, etc.). Virus-like strain-specificity is an inexplicable feature of prions. This strain-specificity is only attributed to microorganisms or viruses which have a genetic apparatus. And yet, it’s thought that prions don’t have a genome, since all efforts to find traces of DNA or RNA in them have failed. An acute contradiction, which once again discredits the molecular biology central dogma, arises: prions don’t have a genome, but genetic signs are present. Some scientists, unable to explain this phenomenon and trying to “save” the central dogma, nevertheless suppose that DNA or RNA traces are hidden in the prion molecule’s wrinkles . However, investigations carried out in this field over decades and endorsed by the Nobel prize awarded to Stanley Prusiner in 1997, reliably demonstrated that prions had neither nucleic acids nor a genome . How are we to resolve this contradiction? If we admit that the central dogma is correct, then this is impossible. Having rejected this dogma, we can imagine the following prion biogenesis scenario : in this model, a “prion virtual genome”, i.e. a provisional genome "borrowed" from the master cells for a given time, is the chief player. To put it more exactly, this is a protein-synthesizing apparatus of master cells. Prions are likely to have retained the paleogenetic way as their way of reproduction; in some cases this breeding method enables prions not to use genes encoded in chromosomes, but to self-reproduce in another way, ignoring the central dogma of molecular biology and genetics. To synthesize prions, a cell has to address their genes: it’s a progressive, but, at the same time, organizationally and energetically difficult method. Prions can simplify this procedure.
We believe that PrPsc (Prion-Protein-scrapy) NH-group peptide bonds can react with the OH-groups of ribose remains of accepting CCA-sequences of respective tRNAs. In the course of a hypothetical fermentative reaction, an emerging poly-tRNA-complex, the collinear PrPsc, pairwisely in space draws together anticodons and forms a covalent and discrete “information RNA analog ” (iaRNA). This stage is practically a reverse process of the protein synthesis on a ribosome. The process is likely to take place on the ribosome’s A- and P-sites. Then, the synthesis of RNA on iaRNA takes place. For this purpose, a respective RNA polymerase, which can work with an iaRNA covalently-discrete matrix, is required. That’s the mechanism of “mutual usage” of the protein-synthesizing apparatus during the prion reproduction period. This impermanence creates the illusion that prions don’t possess a genetic apparatus. In this process, prion peptide chains are used as matrices on which poly-tRNA-continua in pairs arrange themselves on the ribosome’s A-P sections, forming discrete polyanticodons. The latter, joining in pairs , either become a direct matrix for the prion’s RNA-dependent mRNA synthesis, or (in the other case) polyanticodons may be specifically spliced and then alloyed in a covalently-undisrupted mRNA matrix of prions. Thus, prion’s mRNA polymerizes prions on a ribosome. That means that the ribosome operates in the reverse direction, being a “prion-polyanticodon-dependent mRNA polymerase” in the process. And, therefore, violating the dogma, information is transferred from a protein to RNA. Thus, the scheme of the DNA>RNA>Protein dogma completely changes. In this case, it isn’t the dogma any longer, but only a working model which needs further clarification and development. In accordance with this view on prion biogenesis, the prion stain-specificity is explained by peculiarities of reverse operation of ribosomes, temporarily recruited during the synthesis of each prion strain. These peculiarities reflect a taxonomic position of prion-producing biosystems. Now, back to the basic postulates of the genetic code model, still widely-accepted: the genetic code is a triplet, unoverlapped, degenerated and doesn’t have “commas”, i.e. codons are not separated from each other. Information flows from DNA through RNA to a protein. And finally, the code is universal. In light of the preceding arguments, what’s left out of the initial postulates? Nothing, essentially. Indeed, the code is likely to be a multi-letter fractal and heteromultiplet structure coding both individual proteins and functionally-linked protein associates. It has overlaps formed due to a shift in the ribosome’s reading frames. It has commas, since heterocodons can be isolated from one another by sequences with other functions, including punctuation functions. The code is not universal: in 14 cases, it is differed from the standard code of higher-level biosystems. The mitochondrial, yeast, micoplasm, trematodian and other lower organisms’ codes are included in these cases [5, 6].
And finally: a protein
can be a matrix for RNA, as we can see from the prion example.
How should we understand an actual protein code, taking into
account all the above-mentioned contradictions and in line with
our theory? It is possible to postulate a qualitative,
simplified, initial version of substance-wave control over the
amino acids' line-up order, dictated by the associates of
aminoacylated tRNA, the predecessors of proteins. Having
admitted this assumption, it’s easier to understand the
operation of the protein code and consider it as a
hierarchically-structured program of the substance-wave
biosystem organization. In this sense, the code is the first
stage in a chromosome’s plan of building a biosystem, since the
genome language is multidimensional and pluralistic and is
capable of setting up more than just a protein synthesis task.
The basic statements of this proposed preliminary model of
matter-wave sign processes in protein biosynthesis are as
Multicomponent ribonucleoproteid protein-synthesizing apparatus is a system which generates highly organized sign radiation of acoustic-electromagnetic fields which strategically regulate its self-organization and the order of inclusion of amino acids in a polypeptide chain.
Aminoacylated tRNAs are assembled in sequences, which are the precursors of protein synthesis. This assembling is realized before the contact with the A-P ribosome site. The resulting continuum of tRNA anticodons pool is complementary to the complete mRNA, excluding dislocations determined by the availability of non-canonical nucleotide pairs.
The sequence of aminoacylated tRNA in associates-protein precursors is determined by the sign collective resonance of all the participants involved in the amino acid sequence synthesis. In this process, pre-mRNA and mRNA, which function as an integral continuum (macrocontext) of heteropolycodons variously scaled by length (including an intronic fraction pre-mRNA) are the key wave matrices. The main function of the wave matrices is an associative-context orientation of the aminoacylated tRNA sequence; this orientation works on a global scale, compared to F.Crick's “wobble-hypothesis”, superseding the rules of canonical pairing of nucleotides in the unidimensional space mRNA-tRNA. Laser-like radiations, emitted by the participants in this process and correcting the order of insertion of the amino acid components into a peptide, also function on the ribosome in addition to and/or together with the resonance regulations of a mutual dislocation of the codon-anticodon continuums. A ribosome enzymatically “de jure” fixes the peptide covalent bonds of amino acid sequences, selected “de facto” in a polyaminoacid-poly-tRNA-associate, the predecessor of the protein.
The resonance-wave “censorship” of the order of inclusion of amino acids in a peptide chain emends the potential semantic disorder in the creation of false protein “proposals” following from the homonymy of codon families, and ensures their correct “amino acid conceptualization” due to the context lift of the homonymy of multisided even doublets in codons The same mechanism is engaged in a higher-ranked ambiguity when the number of codons is (n+1).
Genetic code degeneration is necessary for pre-mRNA-mRNA-dependent, context-oriented exact matching of aminoacylated tRNAs, determined by the nature of wave associative resonance interactions in a protein-synthesizing apparatus.
The mechanism of generating the correct sequences of aminoacylated tRNAs on the wave matrixes of pre-mRNA-mRNA may be considered as a particular case of a partially complementary re-association of one-string DNA-DNA and RNA-DNA or, in general, as a self-assembly process known to characterize ribosomes, chromosomes, membranes and other molecular- and super-molecular cellular structures.
Ribosome can facilitate RNA synthesis on a protein matrix.
Thus, the role the mRNA plays is many-sided and dualistic. This molecule, like DNA, is a cornerstone in the evolutionary process and is marked by the mutually-dependent, synergistic unity of material and wave genetic information. An ambiguity of the material (substantial) coding is resolved by the precision of the wave information, which is likely to be realized through the mechanisms of collective resonance and laser-holographic (associative, contextual and background) effects in the cellular-tissue continuum. A jump to a more advanced level of wave regulation of the RNA-->Protein translation is accompanied by a partial or complete departure from the canonical laws of pairing of adenine with uracil (thymine) and of guanine with cytosine, which were attributable to the early (and simpler) evolutionary stages of DNA replication and RNA transcription. Such a refusal is informationally necessary, unavoidable and energetically preferable at a higher biosystem level. It’s worth stressing once again that the context associative-holographic mechanisms of operation of an organism’s protein-synthesizing system are tightly linked with the so-called “background principle” and also with a multivector and multisided logic of a sophisticated system management (Gerhard Thomas’ kenogrammer) . From this point of view, macrocontexts of pre-informational and contexts of informational RNA might be considered as a background which in this particular case is an “information noise source”. This permits to significantly amplify a signal under which the correct choice (wave identification) is made of one in two homonymous aminoacylated tRNAs, where only one of the two is to be incorporated in a protein correct “phrase”. This selection is only possible after a ribosome has managed to split a coherent component in the form of repeats of the same recognitions of one of the two similar doublets in codons. The following simplified example can explain the situation. Let’s suppose that it’s necessary to select one of two words (analogues of codons with doublets-homonyms). The words are “cow” and “bow”. It’s clear that the choice depends on the entire sentence, or on the context which helps to identify a signal, the correct word. If the sentence is “A good cow gives lots of milk”, then the replacement of “cow” with the word “bow” is equal to noise generation and to losing the signal. Pre-informational RNA and introns are likely to play a similar part; they are different levels of contexts which a live cell and its ribosome apparatus have to read and conceptualize to take a precise decision on tRNA anticodon selection in homonymy situation.
A family of various solitons (optical, acoustic, conformational, rotational-oscillating, etc.) excited in polynucleotides can become an apparatus for continual (non-local) “reading” of context RNA sequences on a whole. These solitons help gather semantic information on RNA contexts and then associatively regulate codon-anticodon sign interrelations. Genomes-biocomputers of cells carry out semantic estimates. Soliton reading, scanning the RNA surface, is a method of polynucleotide continual reading. For instance, the solitons of rotating torque vibrations of nucleotides on a sugar-phosphate axis we physically and mathematically considered for one-chain RNA-like DNA segments [30, 36]. These solitons respond to the nucleotide sequence alteration by the modulation of their dynamic behavior which acquires sign features and can probably be transmitted remotely, or over distances significantly exceeding the hydrogen bond length. Without a remote (wave, continual) migration of a signal containing information about the whole system, i.e. about pre-mRNA-mRNA-sequences, it isn’t possible to realize associative-context protein synthesis regulation. For this purpose, the wave capability of solitons (as well as of holographic memory) to deal both with separate parts and integral system as a whole, is required. This continuity or non-locality (which is the same) ensures that the ribosome apparatus recognizes and correctly chooses an actual codon from the two available doublet-homonymous ones, the codon, pseudo-noised with a background (context).
VII. Practical applications of genetic text linguistic ambiguities
What is the link between the above discussion and the problem of HIV and cancer research? Obviously, the link is direct. The HIV genome and oncogenes as well as other DNA structures, pseudogenes for instance, “are silent” (as factors of destruction), and this silence continues until a certain time. This key moment for initiation of a genome's pathological condition in cells, potentially inclined to abnormal development, is determined by transpositions of oncogenes and the HIV genome, or by transpositions of their polynucleotide surroundings in the chromosomal space and time structure. In both cases, the context environment of the pathogenic genome changes. The latter is no longer homonymous, unrecognizable or acceptable as a normal one by the cell. Other signals aimed at HIV reproduction are turned on (“are read and conceptualized”). A cell under the new context recognizes oncogenes as factors having other (pathological) command functions. The changed background (context) identifies and amplifies in the new polynucleotide situation potential signals and other meanings, which were hidden so far. The situation looks like that taking place in protein synthesis (choosing a correct codon out of the homonymic codons). Under this new context, cells are “confused in giving meanings” of DNA sequences and take-in wrong “decisions” as correct; this results in the complete shift of metabolism and its re-adjustment to a “cancer/viral way” - to reproduce the HIV genome. Here, a dualistic situation occurs: the new decisions are wrong in relation to the organism, but are right pertaining to the HIV reproduction. That’s how pathogens identify themselves and uncover their real “targets”, keeping and multiplying themselves as allogenic particles through the destruction of a biosystem as a whole. The problem of the DNA sequences migration in chromosomes may be discussed more globally (oncogenes, HIV genome or any other transposons whose purposes are still unclear for us). Moving along a genome as if over a context continuum, they obtain new meanings and other semantics which depend on their location in a 3D space of interphase chromosomes. The same logic is also true for “genetically-engineered” transgenesises of plants and animals. A growing number of artificial transgenetic organisms threatens with a global and rapid degeneration of all creatures living on Earth, because an uncontrolled automatic sign reconstruction of higher-ranked genetic codes, occurring after the introduction of foreign DNA molecules, isn’t taken into consideration. Practically uncontrolled intertaxonic transfer of foreign DNA-sequences, an avalanche-like semantic chaos in chromosomes and metabolic chaos in all biosystems (including human beings) will be the result of these genetically-engineered manipulations. It’s becoming hard to slur over the first alarming signals.
The rather abstract theoretical structures of genetic material transpositions we propose are confirmed not only by the example of transgenetic biosystems, but also by R.B.Hesin’s fundamental work . Euchromatic genes, moving to an intercalar heterochromatin, produce a positioning effect, i.e. they are inactivated in some somatic cells and continue to function in others. Oncogenic cellular sequences are able to build-in in retroviral structures which didn’t originally have their own oncogenes. As a result, relatively non-hazardous viruses sometimes become tumorigenic. For instance, the RaLV rat virus might transform, having included master’s determinants in the genome, into the RaSV sarcoma virus. Cellular oncogenes, like viral ones, acquire a transforming activity if the lengthy repeated viral end sequences (LTR) are alloyed to oncogenes’ 5’-ends. In appropriate surroundings, proviruses including HIV viruses (as we think) are converted into latent (“silent”) genetic elements. They can persist in a master’s genome without producing any harm to it namely owing to the cellular DNA’s neighboring sequences repressing their activity. Taking into account this statement of Hesin’s, it’s possible to imagine a reverse situation, namely, the HIV genome activation in an environment of other DNA sequences when a cell in another DNA context already interprets HIV as a hostile semantic structure, but can do nothing to defend itself. However, as Mr. Hesin stresses, both peculiarities of the chromosomal DNA adjacent sections and operational principle which determine a provirus activity, are still a mystery. The mystery will remain unresolved, unless we apply new measurement criteria (semantically-vocal, wave or image measurements, i.e. the criteria we propose) to the genome. In this aspect, an interesting comparison of chromosome semantic and holographic information appears. A higher biosystem genome has several levels of information non-locality, “smearing” and redundancy, with a chromosome continuum holographic memory being one of them. Information locality and unambiguity of the genome’s mobile elements, the transposons, is contraposed to it; however, the multi-vector meanings of this information are developed dependent on a changing context of the transposon context surrounding; at the same time, transposons themselves are the triggers initiating the appearance, disappearance and repetition of the texts. A context “game” (combinatorial analysis) depends on current metabolic requirements of cells, tissues and an organism. The difference between a text and a context is conditional and depends on the domain of a part and an integer in a genome. The boundaries between the part and the integer are conditional and are likely to have a morpho-functional character which depends on an organism’s part differentiation at the cell, tissue, organ and biosystem levels. A finer ranking - by functional and metabolic areas of a cell which are controlled by certain chromosome sections (up to protein-genetic and exon-intronic splitting) - may also exist. Each of these quanta is an integral system in relation to itself, and just a part if the division rank is higher. Is it here that metabolic pathologies and herontologic manifestations are rooted when a biosystem stops identifying and differentiating many-sided patterns of a part and an integer? The HIV genome, like a transposon and a conditional part, might be invisible for a cell under some DNA contexts of master chromosomes . This is the way in which molecular-semantic mimicry of pathogenic chromosome structures is produced. Each coding-noncoding homonymous (or synonymous) and any other DNA sequence can be considered as a potentially multi-meaning pseudo-noised signal (signals) or as an image (images) which has to be identified and understood on the background of other dynamic gene images. The genetic apparatus amplifies each image signal and picks up the amplified signals out of the background (context, noise) not through the noise suppression procedure. On the contrary, a cell, a tissue and an organism use the background changing context as a means of extraction, amplification and to understand the meaning of each of these available image signals. It’s also logical to discuss in the same way the role of 3’- and 5’ - flanking sequences of protein genes highlighting one or another meaning. If we realized that the proposed mechanism of the dynamic game of genetic text meanings could play an important role in HIV and cancer development and in an organism’s entire metabolic status on the whole and if we accepted the idea that the comparison of a genome with natural texts and images wasn’t just a poetic metaphor, then real opportunities for the creation of a new biosystem management strategy, including management of viruses and oncogenes behavior, would emerge.
VIII. Is it possible to apply a probabilistic approach to identify individual (including pathogenic) meanings in a changing polysemantic genome continuum?
We have already mentioned some similarities between the Background Principle and Gerhard Thomas’ multi-vector logic (keno-grammar) and the prospects of these methodologies for the extraction and recognition of genetic or even metabolic vectors of multicellular organisms’ live functions. There’s one other direction in the natural languages theory, which, we hope, is applicable to genetic linguistic. This direction was developed by V.V.Nalimov and is linked with a probabilistic approach to understanding a language [22, 43]. V.V.Nalimov proposed that the semantics of any actual text (including a genetic one, we believe) could be described by its own distribution function (probability density), r (m ). Text revision and evolution are linked with a spontaneous manifestation of the filter r (y/m ), multiplicatively interacting with the initial function r (m ), in a certain situation y. We consider a “y-change” in a genetic text to be the natural transpositions of the DNA mobile elements, recombinations, the slicing and the alloying. The incorrect (for a biosystem) transpositions of its own (or foreign) DNA mobile elements, mutations and artificial transgenic manipulations are considered “unnatural changes”. An introduction of viral genomes, the HIV genome for instance, into a biosystem’s chromosome material, relates to a “specific class of unnatural changes”. The interaction of the r (y/m ) filter with the initial function r (m ) is ruled by known Buys’ formula:
r (m/y) = kr(m ) r(y/m ),
r (m/y) = distribution function determining the semantic of a new text after the “y-changes”
k = normalization constant.
V.V.Nalimov, Buys’ formula comes forward as a syllogism: based
on the two statements -
r (m) and r (m/ y), a text with a new semantic r (m/ y) comes to life. Let’s assume that Buys-Nalimov’s logic is applicable to genetic “texts”. Then the “idea” of these “texts” taken as a whole is determined by 3 weight correlations which the r (m ) function specifies. “Meanings”, being a qualitative parameter in nature, obtain a new quantitative characteristic. With the help of the conditional distribution function r (m/y) V.V.Nalimov presents a new interpretation, somewhat different from that used in Buys’ statistics. In his theory, r (m/y) shows the distribution density of a random value y under the given value m . Therefore, not y, but m can be considered as an argument of for the r (m/y) function which plays the role of a filter. We think that the “y-changes” factor, initiating and exciting a new semantic situation, is a key element in this model. Namely this factor stimulates the unfolding of an increasing number of alternative and new meanings, as well as of holographic and other images in a variable semantic space of mobile DNAs in a multicellular organism’s genome. The genome-carrying continuum passes through the dynamic filter r (y/m) responding to it by dramatic “y-changes”. It is significant that V.V.Nalimov had been puzzled by the question of what permitted the reproduction of the non-trivial r (y/m ) filters, but didn’t find an answer. Nevertheless, at the same time he put forward an idea about the role played by the environment and about a variety of situations which could act as a source and a reason for adequate filter formation. Here, V.V.Nalimov practically came up to the above-discussed Background Principle. After the unification and combination of Nalimov’s model and the Background Principle statements it’s logical to consider that the y-factor is nothing but a context (background) mechanism of switching on the r (y/m ) filters. These filters pick up the semantic loading and meaning which are determined by an actual metabolic, including genetic, situation: for instance - the necessity for a cell to synthesize a huge amount of catalase at a given moment, a process which is accompanied by a choice and the expression of the catalase gene from a gene multi-meaning continuum. Herein another, and perhaps the key mechanism of genome differential activation to produce different proteins, is seen. Therefore, the Background Principle and Buys-Nalimov’s logic became linked by identical natural definitions. G.Thomas’ keno-grammar , which is largely based on context orientations in choosing priorities to manage complicated situations, is likely convergent with the above-mentioned ideas.
Now back to the “genetic engineering”. Let’s also remind of the “chromosomal engineering”, when large blocks of a genome are used for production of useful hybrids. From the probabilistic approach to the mobile polysemantic chromosomal continuum, these “engineering” seem rather gloomy. Any manipulation here is an instant (as compared to the evolution pace) creation of new y-factors by people (and not by the evolution) and therefore, a mutation of the r (y/m ) purporting filters, unhampered by any time (evolutionary) frames. That’s the Earth’s genetic fund forthcoming chaos.
IX. The genetic apparatus paradox
The paradox of the genetic apparatus lies in the combination of two normally opposite properties - the stability of the information transferred from one generation to another, and the genome's volatility . Genomic mobility is provided by polynucleotide transpositions, soliton-like non-linear dynamics (electric acoustic), and conformative and halogen restructuring. These non-random (programmed) movements of a chromosome continuum in live tissues are subtly and extensively distributed in a biosystem's space-time. The said dynamics is a means of the wave management of re-distribution of an organism’s various parts among each other. At the same time, it’s a method of metabolic event sequence organization. This strong sign chromosomal non-linear dynamics, which is easily found even in vitro, is realized through its isomorphous image in an organism’s space and time structure . As a result, in a chromosomal continuum, as in a polysemantic and multiplex holographic formation, a permanent and variable semantic “game” of meanings goes on. Some kind of “endogenous semiotic show” of optical-acoustic regulatory (sign) images, which also have variable meanings, takes place. One of these chromosome images was experimentally found in many laboratories and is generally known as the phantom leaf effect (ref. to ). The phantom leaf effect theory is based on the principles of holography [32, 37]. It’s possible to say that the “game of meanings” is a function of sign dynamics of interphase chromosomes. This is a prerequisite for storing and processing vast volumes of information when a super-small volume of zygote mesomorphic chromosomes is able to operate a multi-vector and many-sided logic of development of extremely sophisticated biological systems. This is the origin of the idea that an essentially novel approach strategy to HIV and cancer treatment presumes the understanding and the possibility of managing a multi-vector genome logic. If we manage, applying genetic engineering methods, to purposefully and site-specifically introduce certain context DNA sequences to the 3’ and 5’ ends of oncogenes or HIV-genome, then it’s reasonable to expect the inactivation of their pathologic expression. On the other side, if we know the principles of ribosome operation in a context orientation mode, then we can successfully fight HIV in a ribosomal wave (laser, solitonic, polarization and radio wave) regulation zone. Ribosomes, synthesizing HIV proteins, must have thin wave vectors for management through context-background paths. Knowing them, it’s possible to suppress viral protein synthesis by external artificial modified fields similar to those normal cells use.
X. Genetic apparatus non-locality levels. Preliminary experiments.
Now, let’s turn to another genome operation phenomenon - that is, a supposed effect of quantum non-locality of chromosome sign conditions, which we have more or less experimentally confirmed [8, 37]. The idea of quantum non-locality was proposed by Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen (EPR-effect). This effect is well in line with quantum physics experimental evidence. In short, the EPR-effect states that elementary particles, two photons for instance, which have initially been in a so-called “entangled” state, retain a mutual bond (this bond may be called “informational”) by quantum parameters (for example, by polarization), even if these elementary particles are removed from one another by any arbitrary distance. If the polarization of one of the particles has changed for any reason (for example, the photon passed through an optically-active layer and recorded the polarization modulations, then this photon disappears, but it manages to instantly transfer the recorded polarization information to another photon. To be more correct, it’s not a “transfer”, it’s a transition of one photon into another by means of a permissive teleportation mechanism. The first changed photon turns into the second one, independent of the distance between them. The second photon becomes a complete analogue of the first one. If this situation is in some way reflected in the genetic apparatus, then we rocket to new and higher orbits in understanding a metabolic processes and the Life phenomenon as a whole. In strictly physical terms, the EPR effect as a phenomenon of photon teleportation was correctly confirmed only in 1997 .
Other researchers soon obtained similar results, and not only based on photons. Multi-frequency physical fields are now teleported. Based on this data, it’s possible to suppose that photon fields, emitted by chromosomes as sign fields, can be teleported within or even outside the organism’s space. The same is true for wave photon fronts, which were read from the chromosome continuum similar to reading from a multiplex hologram. If photons are transformed into radio waves (the situation we found - ref. to [8, 33, 37]) through the EPR-mechanism, then this phenomenon is vital. In fact, the importance of quantum non-locality existence for a genome is hard to overestimate. We put forward and published this idea when we identified, with the help of the equipment we had developed, what was probably a more sophisticated variant of the EPR-effect. The said equipment includes a specially-designed laser which is capable of transforming its own photons into radio waves [46, 37, 8, 34]. The laser features a unique light beam dynamic polarization which could in some way simulate a dynamic polarization of chromosome laser radiations. It converts its photons (l =632.8 nm) into kHz-MHz-band radio waves upon the interaction of its beam with matter and the introduction of probing photons back in the laser resonator. Under these conditions, we suppose, pairs of entangled photons born in a gaseous phase of the laser optic resonator are transformed during their splitting and interaction with any body, including the laser mirrors, into radio waves. Photons were found to be able to localize in fractal clusters of the laser metal mirrors. If photons are probing an outer object, then the mirrors “store” its spectral characteristics. In such a way we have managed to record polarization & radio wave information of DNA preparations. This information carries morphogenetic signals. This fact enabled us to develop a fundamentally new type of dynamic polarization laser-radio wave spectroscopy and to investigate quantum non-local (teleportative) genetic processes.
We’d like to make some additional comments on the importance of quantum teleportation of genetic & metabolic information for biology on the whole. Quantum non-locality of genetic (chromosomal) information as a method of manifestation of its wave total distribution (continuity) in the space of multicellular biosystems seems to be just a particular case. In biosystems, there are at least six non-locality levels:
The first level is the constitutional (organism) level. Here, non-locality is expressed through the regeneration ability that organisms such as the planarium worms possess. After sectioning off any part, the worms’ body is able to reproduce an entire organism through regeneration. In other words, in this case there’s no link point between the genetic information common pool and a part of a biosystem. The same is also applicable to vegetative reproduction of plants.
The second level is the cellular level. It is possible to grow an entire organism from each cell (not only from a zygote). Despite the difficulties, it’s also possible for animal biosystems. Each cell is a potential continuum of an organism.
The third level is a cellular-nuclear level. Removal of nucleus from somatic and reproductive cells with a consequent introduction of another nucleus inside doesn’t impede a normal organism development. Such type of cloning has already been carried out at a higher biosystem level, on sheep for instance. Each nucleus of a cell is also a potential continuum of a biosystem. There’s no localization of genetic potencies at the level of individual cells.
The fourth level is a molecular level. The ribosome “reads” informational RNA either by individual codons, or on the whole, with the consideration of context, i.e. non-locally and continuously.
The fifth level is a chromosomal-holographic level. A genome possesses a holographic memory which in nature is a typically-distributed (non-local) associative memory. At this and the next level non-locality obtains a new feature - a dualistic substance-wave character, since electromagnetic and/or acoustic fields, bringing out gene-wave information outside chromosomal material, “read” holograms as a substance. A physical field (or fields), marking the organism’s prospective space (calibration), comes on scene. The brain cortex holographic memory, establishing mental, semantic and image spaces calibrating potential actions of higher biosystems, is likely to belong to this category. In this way, social and genetic processes are alike.
The sixth level is a genome quantum non-locality. At the levels of up to 6th, genetic information non-locality is realized in an organism’s space. The 6th level is of a special nature, since it acquires a new quality. It’s manifested within the frames of one of the quantum non-locality forms, namely, in the permissive form we postulate in the current paper. In this case, non-locality is realized both by biosystem space and by its own, shrinkable to zero, time. Gene-wave programs, instantly spreading in such a way, simultaneously operate in an organism “here and there” and therefore, the semantic construction “now and then” loses its meaning. And this is a strategic factor and a vital evolutionary achievement of multicellular biosystems. Billions of organism’s cells have to instantly “know” a lot of information about each other. Without the “wave information instancy” phenomenon, a giant multicellular continuum of higher biosystems won’t be able to completely coordinate a metabolic process and its physiological and other functions. The intercellular diffusion of signal substances and nerve processes are too inert for this purpose. Even if we assume that sign electromagnetic fields are involved in an intercellular transfer process occurring with the speed of light (this assumption is quite reasonable), it’s not enough. A quantum non-locality mechanism, applicable to the genetic apparatus and which can act as an instantly-distributed quantum (wave) object isomorphous with substantial chromosomes, is required. Using non-locality, the genetic apparatus of higher biosystems creates an unparalleled phenomenon, where for certain intervals of time the “here and there” and “now and then” structures operate within the biosystems’ “closed” space-time as a continuity providing the organism with intrinsic super-coherence, information overredundance, a super-informativity and linkage and, as a result, proper integrity (survival). The ability of lower organisms’ (hydros, worms, amphibian, lizards, crustaceans) tissues and organs to regenerate (people have largely lost this ability ) is a manifestation of this phenomenon. But, considering the biosystem wave self-organization principles we are developing, it can be re-activated. The world’s first successful adaptation of donor tissues implanted to a blind man, which helped to return sight function to the patient, is a good example of regeneration. The principles behind this surgical operation and regeneration process is described in [33-35].
At the same time, theoretical and experimental research in this field is just emerging and needs further physical and mathematical understanding and development.
XI. Possible mechanism of recording information on laser mirrors
Now, let’s return to some features of the phenomenon of long-term recording of dynamic photon polarization-radio wave information on laser mirrors. We think this is linked with the phenomenon of photon fields localization (compression) in the system of correlated dispersers of laser mirrors. Given that the disperser material possesses a low radiation absorption ability, the external light field is capable to persist in the system for a long time without dissipation into other forms of energy. The reason for localization is connected with the interference of many times-diffracted waves. An external electromagnetic signal (in our case, it’s a laser beam modulated by polarization, for instance, by a DNA preparation) is localized (“recorded”) in the system of non-uniform laser mirrors. Later, the signal can be “read” without a significant loss of information in the form of isomorphously (in relation to photons) polarized radio waves. Theoretical research on a strain state of localized photons [12, 14-19, 24] seem to support these ideas. If this opinion is correct, then a chromosomal apparatus may also be considered as a fractal medium of localized photons accumulation, creating a coherent continuum with a quantum-nonlocally-distributed polarization radio wave genetic information. To some extent, this is in correspondence with our idea of genome quantum non-locality manifesting in one of its forms - ref. to [8, 34, 37]. It’s possible that the apoptosis phenomenon, which is likely to be involved in the regulation of multicellular creatures’ life time, is connected with an abnormal compression of photons by the nucleus of a cell, which are accumulated to a maximal value and then destroy the nucleus. The background principle of gene operation (including anti-oncogenes) may be another supplemental apoptosis regulation mechanism. For instance, an anti-oncogene coding the p53 protein could be controlled through the introduction of the DNA artificial flanking contexts from 3’-and 5’-ends of the p53 gene.
XII. Analysis of experimental evidences of gene wave forms existence
We are unaware (with some exceptions, of course) of modern publications on wave genetic theory and practice, as available in the major scientific journals. In the 1920-1940s, A.G.Gurwitch, A.A.Lyubitchev and V.N.Beklemishev, who developed the first theoretical models, were pioneers in this field; their ideas are described in detail in [32, 33]. In this paper, we are trying to produce more developed opinions of some possible synthesis mechanisms and functions of wave genetic structures, attributable to higher biosystems, as well as of the methods applicable for simulation of sign wave processes in chromosomes and model units simulating chromosome field functions and transferring wave genes. A publication and a patent, granted for the development of a device for the transfer of wave genes from a donor biosystem to an accepting one, are worth mentioning as an example of a rarely-appearing event. The said research was carried out by Yu.V.Dzang Kangeng [39, 40]. Kangeng’s device for a directed wave transmission of oncologic, including genetic, information to change hereditary characteristics of a biological accepting object is of a special interest. Unfortunately, there’s no theoretical interpretation of the device operation principles. Kangeng’s device has some common functional features with the equipment we developed and whose operation is based on similar principles. Kangeng’s device includes space elements (forms) which make it possible to split the radiation of a high-frequency SHF electromagnetic field generator into two orthogonally-polarized beams which repeatedly, as in our installation (in our case, it’s a laser beam transforming into radio waves), were passing through a donor biosystem and an accepting biosystem. Dzang Kangeng used a hexahedron, a cone, a sphere and a parabolic-reflector aerial as types of special forms. These forms provide a specific spinning (polarization) of the SHF (super-high frequency) field electromagnetic vectors. In our laser design, one of the mirrors used also had the form of a parabolic-reflector aerial directed to a resonator. During numerous repeated passes through an optically-active (an electromagnetic wave polarization rotating plane) hetero-liquid-crystalline donor biosystem, the organism’s tissues modulate the radiation (in our case, this is laser-radio wave radiation) by polarization, which is strengthened owing to repeated passes and is repeatedly and over a long time delivered to the accepting biosystem. In this process, the generator electromagnetic field “stores” the donor biosystem gene-sign polarization modulations in its “memory” then resonantly interacts with gene-sign polarization distribution of the accepting biosystem electromagnetic field. If the donor biosystem is at an early morphogenesis stage accompanied by an intense cell fission rate, it can’t be excluded that the supposed polarization resonances are also of a holographic nature. This many times-amplified signal, carrying the wave information that was “read” from the donor biosystem chromosome continuum, passes through the substance-wave structure of the accepting biosystem and makes it execute new gene-wave-polarization programs by means of the variation of their differential polarization structure. Changes in the accepting biosystem's gene-wave-polarization structure induced by the donor in the process of the field integration (“wave heterosis”) leads to a restructuring of its morphologic (genetic and phenotypic) characteristics. Shear wave correlations of polarization angles during the donor-accepting mixing of physical waves resulted in the acquisition of new morpho-genetic and biological properties from the accepting organism, are one of the most important quantum-electrodynamic events of the “wave hybridization” process. This fact allowed Dzang Kangeng with the help of the wave method to transfer genetic information from ducks to hens, for instance. Hybrid chickens of hens had typical features of a duck - a flat beak, an elongated neck, larger internal organs ( heart, liver, stomach and bowels). The weight of a one-year-old hen-duck hybrid was 70% higher than the weight of hens grown from irradiated eggs. The second generation of the hen-duck hybrids retained all changes, which were obtained in the first generation, even without further re-radiation. A wave transfer of peanuts’ features to sunflower seeds resulted in the change of form, taste and odor of a hybrid plant, which became similar to those of peanuts. Productivity grew by 1.8-fold; new features are transferred from one generation to another even without further re-radiation.
Let’s highlight some common features of the experiments Dzang Kangeng and we independently carried out: first and foremost, they demonstrate the possibility of genetic information existence in a wave form. This similarity is in the polarization modulation of the radiation orthogonal beams with intensity re-distribution in primary orthogonal beams with a frequency secured in the radio wave spectrum we register, by a donor organism. The spinning polarization planes here act as gene-semiotic structures whose biological meanings are identified and coded by angular and intensity shifts by a frequency spectrum. Similarly-polarized waves are known to be able to interfere, while orthogonally-polarized waves do not interfere at all. Waves with a partially-coinciding polarization produce, dependent on their polarization coincidence degree, a more or less sharp contrast interference picture. In other words, an angle cosine of each vector in relation to their registration plane or to the wave interference plane is a crucial factor.
Biology, including genetics and embryology, has already come to a turning point in its development, which is similar to the period when physics first admitted the idea that the properties of waves and particles didn’t contradict each other and were even complementary in quantum objects. A huge number of facts and scientific research outcomes available in modern molecular biology, genetics and embryology, can’t be understood without such a definition as physical fields, for instance, or without the application of quantum electrodynamics principles. The idea of lingual attributes of higher biosystems’ genome is a kind of humanitarian counterweight to an apparently excessive physical interpretation of basic Life function phenomena. The pace at which this idea is gaining acceptance by society is rather slow - in fact furious resistance has been encountered from certain circles. The current situation is easy to explain: the subject of Life is too complicated. Nevertheless, the time has come. If we are too late understanding the wave gene-sign functions of biosystems, it is possible that such diseases as cancer and HIV will destroy our society, or at least cause irreversible damage. We’ll also lose the opportunity for a mighty jump in biotechnology and biocomputing. Last but not least, we’ll also lose an opportunity to purposefully, rationally and positively influence sociogenetic and demographic processes. Following the above-described logic, we are coming to the conclusion that human speech structures, which provide the major information influx for mankind, possess fractally-scaled supergenetic properties. Evolution of society is similar to an organism’s morphogenesis. Books, libraries, movies, computer memory and people’s live speech in the end are the functional analogues of a cell chromosomal apparatus. The aim of these chromosomes is to control the creation of society space (houses, roads, oil- and gas pipelines, telephony, the Internet) and to arrange functional and structural relationships among the people inside it. Chromosomal sign properties, which have a lot in common with organisms, have a substance-wave nature. For instance, a movie showing an ideal model of a social structure and people’s relations within its frames is a substantial (material) formation (video tapes). However, it uses a mental-wave method to input information (light, sound, speech, idea, image). That’s the method chromosomes apply. The latter produce marking and calibration fields to arrange the organism’s space and also control information & metabolic relations, using, in particular, quasi-speech methods (let’s remember context orientations in the protein synthesis and function of oncogenes and HIV). Therefore, people ought to carefully study the operational principles of their own genetic apparatus and the “tricks” HIVs play to “mislead” our chromosomes. This kind of study is especially crucial today when Russia, and not only Russia, could face a demographic and social collapse within the next 5 to 10 years.
We have declared the theoretical approach to describe the logic of sign speech-wave relationships between HIV genomes and a master cell as well as the oncogene behavior logic. However, it’s not enough. We must obtain a set of key tools which will enable us to follow up at least the simplest wave command biocomputing functions of our chromosomes (1) and the reprogramming of our chromosomes by nucleotide sequences of HIVs and oncogenes. We have already developed this set of tools - it’s a laser uniquely reflecting coherent polarization-laser-radio wave (PLRW) quantum-non-local sign processes in chromosomes. Physico-mathematical formalism characterizing the PLRW-quantum processes in such appliances is presented in our research ( 2). PLRW-spectroscopy is the basis of wave information recording on laser mirrors - the phenomenon we have discovered. We have also managed to record information from specially prepared mesomorphic DNA matrixes, to broadcast it in a waveform at a distance of 1 m and to introduce it in accepting biosystems. As an accepting biosystem, we took plant seeds. Using this phenomenon, we effected a “wave reparation” of a genome of radioactively-damaged old seeds of Athaliana gathered in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant area in 1987, and initiated drastic changes in stem and tuber phenotype in the second generation of the Solanum tuberosum plant. These biological influences don’t have the nature of mutations, they only have a sense meaning and are just another evidence that genetic information can exist in the form of electromagnetic fields.
No less important is the fact that genetic information can be recorded, stored, read, transmitted and introduced in accepting biosystems. Here, two vital factors emerge. The first one is that the recording of vast information volumes (including the genetic one) is an unparalleled event which confirms that it’s possible to develop principally new carriers of the dynamic super-capacity analog memory (images, texts). This is rather important for future biocomputing. The second factor is that owing to the PLRW phenomenon we enter a huge area of genetico-metabolic wave sign processes. Numerous and unclear events of distant “recognition” of the antigene-antibody and tRNA anticodon-iRNA codon pairs, as well as complementary mutual recognitions of DNA single chains, self-construction of ribosomes, recognition sites of ferments, careful piloting and landing of transposons in the DNA and so on, are also well contained within the frames of these processes. None of these phenomena can be explained by only Brownian movement and adjacent van der Waals, ion, hydrogen and electrostatic interactions.
And finally, the most important thing for us in the context of the ideas we propose is a wave and sign behavior of viruses, HIV or influenza, for instance. Viruses can be considered as “orphaned” cells which retained a minimum of chromosomal information required for a wave search of landing site on a master cell and exact place to cut-in own DNA as a transposon in the master cell’s DNA with consequent possible precise re-transpositions. Wave “languages”, which viruses use during the information contact with a cell’s surface and its genome, are the most vulnerable parts of a virus. Viruses use these “languages” to enter the semantic space of a cell and then to “mislead” the cell; after that, they undergo mimicry and are reprogrammed, reproduced and thus survive in the end. Cells are likely to be able to “mislead” viruses as well, creating a kind of “wave immunity”. That’s why a certain balance of powers in the fight exists; the said balance can shift in favor of a virus - for instance, in favor of influenza virus if the temperature starts fluctuating. Cooling of a blood circulation in nose mucosa capillaries changes the temperature of liquid crystals in chromosome blood cells. At the same time, protective wave programs recorded on high topologies of chromosome mesomorphic phases can only be slightly distorted. As a result, the “cold temperature information breach” appears and is used by influenza virus to reproduce. As a response to this action, a compensatory reaction evolves in the organism, i.e. the body temperature goes up to a sub-lethal level of 41° C. According to our thinking, this reaction is designed to “submelt” mesomorphic phases of the virus nucleic acid and, therefore, to produce noise or completely erase virus wave programs which it needs to attack the organism’s wave semantic space, thus to kill the growing number of its cells. Virus genome acoustic fields tightly linked with photon ones might act as wave bioprograms. Using the method of correlative laser spectroscopy, we demonstrated drastic changes in acoustic performance of the DNA liquid crystals in vitro at temperatures of 40-41° C; the results obtained partially confirmed our suppositions. And that’s only an example of wave sign processes in the relationship between the influenza virus and the human organism. Similar sense relationships exist between HIV and human cells, and the same issues arise - how to correctly find a landing site on a cell’s surface and precisely build-in the DNA (reverse transcriptasal copy of a viral RNA) as a mimicking transposon into the master cell DNA. Thereafter, the task is to get accurately re-transposed in a proper place on a chromosome and to detect and realize itself as a reproducing pathogen.
For now we can initially list the bottlenecks of HIV wave programs and name countermeasures to eliminate the problems:
Searching and recognition of HIV on a landing site (by altering the radiation nature of a virus and/or sites of landing on a cell, it’s necessary to distort the system of resonance-wave recognition mechanisms).
Searching and recognition of a viral DNA on the landing site by the master cell’s DNA (altering the radiation nature of a virus and/or sites of landing on the cell’s DNA, it’s necessary to distort the system of resonance-wave recognition mechanisms).
Searching and mutual recognition: protein's mRNAs of HIV«tRNAs (codon-anticodon recognitions) and proteins of HIV«RNA of HIV (self-assemble) for wave distortion of this process.
Any violation of even small wave sign resonances in this triad will result in the loss of infectious ability of HIV and other viruses, and Nature has created an example. As it was already mentioned, it’s an organism’s temperature mode. In ways similar to the one found by Nature it’ll become possible to design a simple “wave” vaccine against HIV and other viruses and bacteria. Our goal is to study the “alphabet” and “grammar” of wave “languages” of viruses’ genomes. And the foundation for this study has already been laid. A laser capable to “read” PLRW-wave genetico-metabolic information has been developed. However, the research in this field is rather difficult due to intrinsically natural inertia of the material understanding of genetic and metabolic information. Technical issues also exist. The laser we use generates only red photons, while the chromosomal apparatus of human beings and viruses uses a wide spectrum of coherent radiation ranged from 250 nm to 800 nm. Therefore, it’s necessary to design lasers which function in a full span of the spectrum visible area. This aim is technically feasible, but significant investments are needed to achieve it. In our opinion, all attempts to produce a material vaccine or other drugs to fight against the HIV or influenza virus will fail. Viruses continuously change their antigenic composition and thus bury all efforts of immunologists and other scientists engaged in the vaccine development. Efforts to chemically block certain stages of virus morphogenesis are inefficient and only poison human organisms. Wave vaccine is a reality. This vaccine would be non-invasive and environmentally-friendly, since it touches only a narrow area of wave sign relations between a virus and a cell. | <urn:uuid:f3127cd2-8ef7-4d5a-874c-a96e5477d84b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rexresearch.com/gajarev/gajarev.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918411 | 33,877 | 2.53125 | 3 |
What green economy deals with is the idea of running our businesses in a sustainable way. All of them. All of us. Running a business in a sustainable way means that, while doing business, you preserve the basis of your business. One business may be based on a talent, another one on an idea, a third one on luck. There are capital intense businesses, risky businesses and there is dad’s business. What they all have in common, every single one of them, is they all require a certain state of affairs to run. I don’t refer to the classic triangle of land, labor and capital here – I stretch the point to emphasize that without air there is no combustion engine, without fertile soil there is no food production, and without biodiversity there is no tourism industry.
By this wider definition, it all comes back to mother earth. Whatever we call it – Gaia, Patcha Mama, planet, Earth – our businesses are all based on having this planet in good shape. If the Earth is unbalanced, eventually our businesses will fail. A diminishing stock of natural capital, in the vocabulary of economics, eventually destroys our revenues. Extinction of species, paving over of soil, loading the atmosphere with pollutants beyond its capacity – we are facing an incredibly short-sighted destruction of our capital. Preserving this incalculable capital is the goal of the green economy. In a few simple words: green economy deals with making money without destroying the basis for making money.
Printing a Green Economy in Blue
It reaches as far back as 1989, when the term was first introduced into the political discussion. The heavily cited Blueprint for a Green Economy, having never lost its capacity to fascinate, defines five goals that the economy has to comply with:
- constant reduction of emissions
- 100% closed loop recycling
- drastically diminished resource consumption by increasing energy and resource efficiency and by substituting fossil resources with renewables
- use of 100% renewable energy in the long term
- preservation of biodiversity and revitalization of negatively affected environments
Sounds good. But how do we get there? Let’s see how Germany, a country with a green image of world-wide renown, is trying to make a substantial shift towards a green economy. As an excellent starting point, I will introduce you to the “2011 Report on the Environmental Economy”. This document, published jointly by Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry and the Federal Environment Agency, contains some sophisticated data and some comprehensive statistics in its 200 pages. I show you the most interesting findings and the most important steps Germany will take in the next ten years. In English, there is only a press release available. But never mind that the full report is in German. I will review the findings for you in English.
How to Shift to a Green Economy
What a state can do, in order to encourage its population to participate, is to foster green innovations on all levels. This implies the promotion of green innovations not only in production, but also in research & development, in the market introduction phase, and through technology transfer to other countries. But the responsibility lies not only with the government. The realization of a green economy also requires that companies invest in the qualifications of their personnel. Banks should develop easier finance models for green investments. And, above all, an environmental policy framework is needed that allows all stakeholders to pull in the same direction.
Practical Indicators: How Green is the Economy?
One important indicator of an economy’s sustainability is energy productivity. Energy productivity measures the relation between gross productivity (GDP) and primary energy consumption. In a sense, how much money does a country earn and how much energy does it use to do so? Germany has the goal of doubling its energy productivity in 30 years, from 1990 to 2020. There is some work left since productivity increased by only 39% between 1990 and 2010. In the last 10 years, energy productivity has increased by only 1.1% – so in order to achieve the 2020 goal, it should rise by at least 3.7% annually.
Another important indicator is resource productivity, which deals with the relation between GDP and raw materials. All abiotic raw materials are included here – those imported from other countries as well as those extracted inside national borders. Germany’s sustainability goal foresees a doubling of resource productivity from 1994 to 2020. So far (’94 to ’09), it has increased by 47%. One way to increase raw material productivity is to increase the lifespan of products, and to facilitate reuse of their components once they become obsolete.
There is another indicator you have certainly thought of: total greenhouse gas emissions. Germany’s goal is to reduce them by 40% from 2011 to 2020. Other indicators are land conversion due to urbanization and transportation, which is measured in additional space taken per day, and air quality, measured in total emission of pollutants per year.
External Effects: Taking into Account the True Costs
It is argued by many economists that subsidies for renewable energy are too costly. In a serious discussion, however, we should include both the direct and the indirect costs of, for instance, power generation. The indirect costs are mostly long-term costs, e.g., when the health system has to pay for problems linked to the emission of pollutants. Not the polluter, but the general public will pay. This is referred to as an external cost. External costs, are costs generated by a business, but not paid for by that business. So when we compare the true cost of fossil fuels to that of renewable energy, a holistic approach is necessary, one that assigns the true costs of each power source. The following graphic gives you an impression of how cheap, or rather expensive, fossil energy is, compared to renewable energy.
However, the loss of biodiversity is not included in this calculation because it is hard to monetize. Hydro power, for instance, will generate more costs than the displayed 0.1 cent per KWh because the destruction of fluvial ecosystems and loss of habitat is linked to the installation of hydro power plants. On the other hand, this impact is trivial compared to the cost of fossil fuels. It is striking that coal power generates 8-9 cents of external cost per KWh! If this were to be included in energy bills, cheaper renewable energy, like wind power, would be fully competitive on the marketplace.
Benefits of Environmental Management Systems
What an Environmental Management System like ISO 14001 or EMAS can do for the environment is clear. However, it will also benefit your organization. While systematically reducing emissions, you also systematically reduce raw material and energy costs, improve your relationship with all your stakeholders, and lay the basis for a business beyond the oil era.
Life Cycle Cost Analysis for Public Sector Purchasing
In Germany, public procurement results in annual purchases of 260 billion euros. When calling for proposals, it is not the purchase cost, but the total life cycle cost that should be the deciding factor. All costs – for the purchase, for use and for disposal of a product – are included in its life cycle.
To conclude, we can see that there are infinite possibilities for moving toward a green economy. If you want to take a closer look at the report, you will find it here (in German).
June 8, 2016
Who is Energy Consulting Allgäu? Our focus is to consult manufacturing and trade companies in matte...
June 8, 2016
This article was printed in the May issue of the German professional journal “Nachrichten aus der Ch...
June 1, 2016
Wer ist Energy Consulting Allgäu? Unser Schwerpunkt ist die Beratung von Unternehmen aus Industrie ...
March 14, 2016
Managing to engage decision-makers at all levels of a company on sustainability matters is an all to... | <urn:uuid:bb7b122d-65fa-4f57-958c-96f34883b38c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.knowtheflow.com/2012/the-path-to-a-green-economy-lessons-from-germany/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392069.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945804 | 1,615 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Foundational Concepts and Skills
- ENERGY: Energy is required by and transformed in biological systems.
- STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION: Macromolecular structure determines function and regulation.
- INFORMATION STORAGE: Information storage and flow are dynamic and interactive.
- SKILLS: Discovery requires objective measurement, quantitative analysis and clear communication.
As shown above, evolution and homeostasis are important underlying concepts:
Explanations of each foundational concept and associated learning
goals can be found by clicking on the links above. A PDF version of the
concepts is available by clicking here. | <urn:uuid:3803ce24-741e-4d8e-b35e-8b7be8ff3bdf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.asbmb.org/education/teachingstrategies/foundationalconcepts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00069-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.850596 | 126 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Georgia Integrated Pest Management
Welcome to the Georgia IPM Web site
What is Integrated Pest Management? It is a science-based decision making process that employs biological, mechanical, cultural, and chemical control methods is such a way as to minimize economic, environmental, and public health risks associated with pests and pest management practices.
Integrated Pest Management is rapidly becoming the standard for handling pest problems in agriculture and urban settings. Consumer concerns about pesticides and food safety are growing and placing increased pressure on land grant universities to provide growers with effective management strategies that minimize the impact of pesticides and fertilizers on food products and the environment. Additionally, homeowners demand safe, effective pest management strategies for use in their own homes and gardens.
This Web site provides information about the University of Georgia Integrated Pest Management program. Further, we look to provide updates on valuable pest management information for homeowners and commercial operations. Please check back often as we continue to build and update this site! | <urn:uuid:98cb0432-4b8f-4b2c-b0bd-78cc604c656b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ipm.caes.uga.edu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92 | 194 | 2.6875 | 3 |
- Bacterial Infections 101 Pictures Slideshow
- Take the Tummy Trouble Quiz
- Hepatitis C Pictures Slideshow
- What is bioterrorism?
- What are the biological agents that can be utilized for bioterrorism?
- What are the causes of bioterrorism in food?
- What are other sources for detailed information on bioterrorism?
- How can I prepare myself for a bioterrorism attack?
- What are the warning signs of a bioterrorism attack?
- What should I do if there has been a bioterrorism attack?
- How do I know if I have been exposed to a bioterrorism agent?
- Should I have some antibiotics on hand just in case I get exposed?
How do I know if I have been exposed to a bioterrorism agent?
The symptoms of illness caused by the different bioterrorism agents are frequently very nonspecific. Many of the agents cause a "flu-like" illness. These symptoms would include fever, cough, nausea, vomiting, and headache. It is very hard to differentiate many of the different diseases initially, and tests to confirm the diagnosis often must be done at specialized state laboratories and may require weeks until the results are received.
It is best to stay informed through local news media on what symptoms to look for and when to seek medical care. The health care system simply cannot handle every member in the community demanding to be tested for the disease. Many diseases do not even have a treatment other than supportive care which can often be done at home.
Should I have some antibiotics on hand just in case I get exposed?
While there are a few biological agents that can be prevented by taking antibiotics (for example, anthrax), it is not recommended that you stockpile antibiotics. Antibiotics have a limited shelf life and would likely be unusable by the time the attack occurred. Also, there are many different types of infectious agents, each requiring different antibiotics. All drugs, including antibiotics, have side effects, and taking them inappropriately could cause more harm than good.
Since the likelihood of a biological attack is small, it is better to wait until there has been an attack before getting medications. The U.S. government has stockpiles of drugs that will be immediately flown into a community that has experienced a biological attack (these supplies are rotated to keep them current). Additionally, many large communities also have stockpiles of medications for emergency use.
Medically reviewed by Robert Cox, MD; American Board of Internal Medicine with subspecialty in Infectious Disease
Stern, E.J., K.B. Uhde, S.V. Shadomy, and N. Messonnier. "Conference Report on Public Health and Clinical Guidelines for Anthrax." Emerging Infectious Diseases 14.4 (2008): e1.
United States. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Bioterrorism." <http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism>. | <urn:uuid:69271d65-f75c-4d31-a94c-943326280e7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicinenet.com/bioterrorism/page4.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396459.32/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954298 | 626 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Below is a list of words that are commonly used in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).
Adolescent Inpatient Unit
A place in a hospital for young people (12-18 years old) with serious mental health problems. Young people will usually live in the unit and take part in lots of different activities which are designed to help them understand their mental health problems and find better ways of coping with them.
There is also a team of mental health specialists at the unit who work with young people to help them to feel better.
Advocate – Also see Independent Mental Health Advocate
An Advocate is someone who can offer independent support in speaking about what help you want.
Anorexia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder where people more or less stop eating altogether. This is usually because they feel they are too fat, even if they appear very thin to others.
Anxiety can make you feel worried, frightened, irritable and fidgety. It can also make you feel sick, give you a stomach-ache and make you want to go to the loo a lot. Everyone feels anxious sometime, but some people have anxiety difficulties, which means that they feel very worried about things for a lot of the time.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
People with ADHD find it very difficult to sit still, to concentrate on things and/or to think before they act.
This is a type of eating disorder where people eat a lot, but don’t get rid of it afterwards.
Bulimia Nervosa is an eating disorder where people will sometimes eat a lot of food at once, but then are sick or take laxatives to get rid of it.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
These are services that are available in every local area to help children and young people who have mental health difficulties. These services can help their families too. Mental health specialists work in teams in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services to make sure that each person gets all the help they need.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Learning and practising new ways of thinking and behaving that will make life easier for you and others.
Conduct disorder is very bad behaviour that has been going on for some time. It is much more serious than being a bit naughty, and can end up with people getting in trouble with the police.
Any information you give to your doctor or the person looking after you should be kept private, unless there are concerns about your safety, and they should tell you if they are going to share your information with anyone else.
Everyone feels sad sometimes but people with depression feel very sad for a long period of time and can see no way forward.
This is when your doctor asks you and your family about your difficulties. This might include question about how long you have had the difficulties, how bad they are, and how they are affecting your life.
Your diet is what you eat. Sometimes changing what you eat can help change how you feel.
Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT)
This involves a small electric current being passed through your brain. It is very rarely used on children and young people.
Talking about things in a group on a regular basis with other people who are having difficulties.
Taking medicine as a pill or as a liquid to help you think, feel or behave differently. For more information about particular medicines, visit netdoctor.
These are serious mental health problems that people can sometimes have for a long time. Children and young people with mental disorders can sometimes feel very upset and can find life very difficult. They often get help from mental health specialists or might take medication.
How ready and able you are to develop and learn and grow up with enjoyment and confidence.
Mental Health Act 2007
What the law says about going into a psychiatric hospital against your will, and your rights. See the Headspace Toolkit for more information.
Mental Health Problems
These are any feelings you have that get ‘too much’ so that they that get in the way of you leading your life. They can be many different kinds of feelings such as anger, feeling scared or sad. Some people sometimes also use the words ‘emotional and behavioural problems’ to describe mental health problems.
Mental Health Specialists
These are people who are specially trained to understand and help people with mental health problems such as psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, psychotherapists, art therapists, play therapists and counsellors.
People with a mental illness have a mental disorder that causes extreme upset, confusion and difficulty in their life every day. They often will find it hard to know what is real and what is imaginary. They will get help from mental health specialists and may take medication.
Modified Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
This type of psychological treatment helps people find ways to cope with intense and painful emotions.
Paediatric Ward & Adolescent Paediatric Ward
This means a hospital ward or unit that is for children, or teenagers.
Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)
This is a service you can go to if you want information or you want to make a complaint about the National Health Service (NHS).
Help and practical advice for parents and carers on how to change their own and their child’s behaviour.
Being sectioned means being taken into a psychiatric hospital against your will. See the Headspace toolkit for more information.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)
Type of antidepressant medication, used for difficulties such as depression.
Self Harm is a way that some people deal with very difficult feelings that build up inside them. People deal with these feelings in different ways. For instance cutting or burning themselves.
This is when people are given a label which affects the way others treat them or how they feel about themselves e.g. when a young person is called ‘crazy’ because they are attending Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.
People usually feel stressed when they are under a lot of pressure, for example during exams. Feeling stressed can sometimes be a good thing but if people feel stressed a lot they may feel scared, anxious or depressed.
Treatment Plan or Care Plan
This is a plan agreed by you, your family and your doctor or the person working with you. It should look at what your needs are, and what is going to happen to meet those needs and help you. | <urn:uuid:9238a3c2-8183-44d0-96d6-72042b121939> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.youngminds.org.uk/for_children_young_people/a_guide_to_mental_health_services/glossary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00200-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962483 | 1,334 | 3.84375 | 4 |
A Failure Mode, Effects, and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) uses an inductive approach to system design and reliability. It identifies each potential failure within a system or manufacturing process and uses severity classifications to show the potential hazards associated with these failures.
FMECA began with the standard developed by the United States Military, MIL-STD-1629, Procedures for Performing a Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis. This procedure was developed as a reliability technique to determine the effect of system and equipment failures. ISO 9000, and IEC 61508 methodologies are other and more modern approaches to performing this kind of analysis.
There are two popular approaches to performing a FMECA:
A FMECA is usually applied in two steps:
FMECA can be performed at any stage of system design. The results from a FMECA are maximized if the analysis is implemented during the early development stages and updated throughout the development. This approach also helps to educate system engineers about the system. Performing FMECA near the end of the design process minimizes the influence on the system design.
FMECAs can take many forms, but at the core, these analyses are used to study a particular system and determine how that system can be modified to improve overall reliability and to avoid failures. For example, consider a simple FMECA that contains a computer monitor which has a capacitor as a component. By analyzing the circuit design, you determine that if that capacitor was open (one failure mode), the display would appear with wavy lines (the failure effect). If the capacitor was shorted (a second failure mode), the monitor would go blank. The second failure would be ranked as more critical than the first because the monitor becomes completely unusable. Once FMECA has identified failures, you can explore ways to prevent the failure or to lessen their criticality.
Design and Process FMEAs can also be constructed if the analysis is centered around a process or other non-hardware system under consideration. | <urn:uuid:1df3314c-68df-4172-a496-45b7c1cbfad6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.reliabilityeducation.com/intro_fmeca.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952406 | 402 | 3.375 | 3 |
MADRID — The Vatican has beatified 522 people — mostly priests and nuns — who were killed in the turmoil that led to Spain’s civil war.
The beatification, the last step the Roman Catholic church takes before sainthood, was conducted by Cardinal Angelo Amato in an outdoor ceremony attended by thousands in the northeastern Tarragona region. Among the congregation were almost 4,000 relatives of those being beatified.
In the 1930s, Spain was engulfed in instability that saw the head of state, King Alfonso XIII, abandon the country and anti-clerical mobs attack clergy and burn churches.
The mayhem culminated in a 1936-1939 war, won by forces allied to Nazi Germany and fascist Italy and led by Gen. Francisco Franco. | <urn:uuid:c202e01d-5392-42f3-bec1-d2001589d45e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.toledoblade.com/World/2013/10/13/Vatican-beatifies-522-mainly-priests-nuns-killed-in-1930s-turmoil-before-Spain-civil-war.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976197 | 159 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Athletics and Polis
From the 8th century BC onwards, the emergence of the first city-states (poleis) influenced the evolution in athletics. Various systems
of gymnastics were set up in each city-state, which included gymnastic
exercises, musical training, reading and writing. As long as aristocrats
were in power, training aimed at the supremacy of the young members
of the noble families. The education of the young people aimed at
helping them to develop both their body and mind and achieve harmony.
Physical exercise was accompanied by music. Music, dance and athletics,
all helped to achieve a harmonious balance between the body and
A plethora of local festivals were organized by the emergent city-states in the 8th century BC. They provided a variety of competitive contexts in which most of the citizens of the city-states had the opportunity to demonstrate openly their virtues and fight for excellence. Gradually, music and athletic contests evolved into organized regional festivals of a repetitive nature. Such contests were directly connected to the cults of gods and heroes, thus stressing out their religious character.
During the games, athletes from various places gathered to demonstrate their physical and moral virtues in honor of the local deity or hero. By demonstrating the strength of his body, the athlete pleased the gathered crowd, gained recognition and made his city-state famous henceforth. The athlete's victory was celebrated by making offerings to the local god, such as tripods and figurines indicating the significance of the victory for the athlete and his homeland. | <urn:uuid:efd18a2d-d83f-40a8-97be-330b942cde42> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fhw.gr/olympics/ancient/en/105.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398075.47/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977265 | 318 | 3.640625 | 4 |
- This event has passed.
Bird Banding Winter Session
February 22, 2014 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Bird banding, or bird ringing, is an universal, indispensable technique for studying the movement, survival and behavior of birds. Bird banding is the process of attaching a small metal or plastic band around a bird’s leg in order to identify individual birds from the band’s unique number.
This technique has been used for centuries to identify captive birds, such as falcons. Today, banding is also utilized to track millions of wild birds.
Come see what winter birds we can catch and release for science.
Instructor: Brad Bumgardner
Interpretive Naturalist, Indiana Dunes State Park
Experienced bird bander
Cost: $8 Members/$10 Non-Members
Appropriate for all ages.
This is a beginner’s course.
Dress for hiking outside is strongly encouraged. | <urn:uuid:e4556984-95cf-410f-b6f0-526cf2407886> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.taltree.org/event/bird-banding-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00050-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901989 | 201 | 3.234375 | 3 |
The Bible is a collection of handed-down writings, seen by believers and denominations as the word of their god.
The Christian Bible consists of two parts. The first is the Old Testament, approximately equivalent to the Jewish Bible (Tanakh), written more than 2000 years ago. The second part is the New Testament, which was written after the death of its main protagonist, Jesus Christ. Depending on the denomination, some Bibles contain Apocrypha: writings generally considered somewhat less sacred.
The word 'bible' is from the Greek biblia (βιβλια), the plural form of biblion. Biblion meaning: papyrus, paper, scripture, writing, roll or book. Thus, 'bible' means 'books', which is consistent the division of the Bible into Books. The Books are divided into chapters, which in turn consist of verses, usually one or two sentences long.
The first Christian Bibles were based on a series of translations of the Jewish Bible from Hebrew into Greek. Written between 250 and 100 BC, these were known as the Septuaginta, a reference to the legend that they were made by seventy scholars. The Septuaginta were used by the first Christians for the purposes of conversion. Later translations of the Old Testament use older original Hebrew writings for a source.
Many centuries would pass before the Christian Church reached consensus on which texts should be added to the New Testament. There were numerous gospels and letters by apostles, most of them in Greek, the lingua franca of the Mediterranean countries in the 2nd Century. One translation set the standard: St. Jerome's Vulgata. This Latin translation was done around AD 400. Until this day all Catholic Bibles are based on the Vulgate.
Wyclif's Bible. The first complete Bible translation in Middle English. Done in the 1380s by a team of translators headed by the academic John Wycliffe, later dubbed the 'Morning Star of the Reformation' by historians, it included commentary and criticism. Considered heretical by the Church authorities, Wycliffe's translation was condemned and his spiritual movement and followers fiercely persecuted and annihilated.
The 16th Century witnessed various movements for Church Reform, many requiring a translation to suit their purpose. Possibly the most famous amongst these is Martin Luther's German translation of the Christian Bible. Luther published his New Testament in 1521, working from a Latin text translated from the Greek and edited by the Dutch scholar Erasmus. In 1534, Luther translated the Old Testament, excluding the Apocrypha. William Tyndale also used Erasmus' text for his 1526 version of the New Testament. Then he began translating the Old Testament, working from Hebrew texts in Germany and Belgium, but never finished, as Henry VIII had him burned at the stake in 1536.
John Rogers combined Tyndale's work and that of Myles Coverdale into the first complete Bible in English, known as Matthew's Bible and published in 1537. In 1539 Coverdale was granted permission to publish the Great Bible, which thus became the first Authorized Version. Several decades later King James I ordered a new Authorized Version which was published in 1611 and became known as the King James Version. In addition to Tyndale's translations, Greek and Hebrew source texts were used. The King James Bible would become the standard Bible for more than two and a half centuries to follow. | <urn:uuid:97a54977-8c07-4996-b210-5d055d8c255d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.artbible.info/bible/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392527.68/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973458 | 707 | 3.671875 | 4 |
The oldest known use of helmets was by Assyrian soldiers in 900 BC who wore thick leather or bronze helmets to protect the head from blunt objects, sword blows and arrows in combat. Maryann wore her helmet as part of the rituals she performed to control the citizens of Bon Temps and send them into a drunken frenzy. She was hoping that this would call forth her god, Dionysus. It was usually placed upon her head by Daphne Landry. Once the helmet was on, her transformation into a Maenad began to take over. | <urn:uuid:8ab16f4a-61e7-439b-907c-9a477ae65a33> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://trueblood.wikia.com/wiki/Maryann's_helmet | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397696.49/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988269 | 111 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Harold Pinter was born in 1930, and grew up the only child of working-class Jewish parents in North-East London. His education at Hackney Downs Grammar School brought him into a lively-minded group of energetic and intellectually adventurous teachers and fellow-students, in which both theatre and anti-Fascism seem to have been important influences. Against this stimulating background, however, there was the reality of the threat of anti-Semitic violence in London in the immediate post-war years, as Pinter himself has described. Both the intensity of his theatrical voice and the menace that stalks and indeed characterizes his early plays may owe something to this environment. From school, Pinter went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, …
Wyllie, Andrew. "Harold Pinter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2002; last revised 30 December 2008.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4985, accessed 26 June 2016.] | <urn:uuid:f5e9e61c-1091-4286-bdaa-197daf74ce81> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4985 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973246 | 214 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Clue 5: Purpose
Purpose is important because books, articles, and Web pages exist to educate, entertain, or sell a product or point of view. Some sources may be frivolous or commercial in nature, providing inadequate, false, or biased information. Other sources are more ambiguous concerning their partiality. Varied points of view can be valid, as long as they are based upon good reasoning and careful use of evidence.
How do you determine the purpose of your source?
- Why did the author or publisher make this information available?
- Is there an obvious bias or prejudice?
- Are alternative points of view presented?
- Does the author omit important facts or data that might disprove a claim?
- Does the author use strong or emotional language?
Photo source: Microsoft | <urn:uuid:9f1a15d2-f751-4f65-a9a9-fa4a625da8b0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://library.nd.edu/instruction/potofgold/evaluating/?page=11 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901241 | 162 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The idea behind a stormwater utility is that stormwater management is like other public services, such as wastewater and electricity, which are priced based on use. In a stormwater utility, fees are collected from residents and businesses and used for water resource improvement projects and for implementing BMPs on a local level. Sometimes the fees are used to keep up with the costs of replacing and repairing aging stormwater infrastructure. Typically programs assess a fee based on the amount of impervious area on a site.
Since a fee is charged on the basis of use, it is not a tax and therefore tax exempt land owners are still held responsible. Stormwater utility fees were contested by a group of twelve churches in the Rock Island, Illinois area. Case No. 3-04-0480 of the Illinois Appellate Court dealt with this particular issue. The court found that under Illinois law the stormwater utility was in fact a fee, not a tax. This case has allowed other municipalities in Illinois to develop their own ordinances and collect fees from tax exempt land owners.
The city of Bloomington, Illinois implemented a stormwater utility plan that charges fees to single family homes based on the total overall size of the lot. The City divided homes into three categories: small, medium and large. The owners were then assigned a fee based on the assigned category. Industrial, commercial, multifamily dwellings and government areas are charged in Impervious Area Units (IAU), where 1 IAU is equal to 1,000 square feet of impervious area. The fees have been used to educate the public, implement controls on stormwater runoff during construction, investigate illicit discharges and increase street sweeping. So far the utility has been successful and has been fairly well received (City of Bloomington).
The town of Fishers, Indiana also has a stormwater fee in place. The fee was implemented to cover the costs to develop a stormwater management plan and to manage the stormwater ordinance currently in place. The program is based on Equivalent Runoff Units (ERUs). An ERU is approximately equal to 3,318 square feet, which is the average amount of impervious area on a residential lot in Fishers. All residential properties are charged 1 ERU a month. Other properties are charged based the number of ERUs on site. The current rate in Fishers is $4.95 per ERU (Town of Fishers: Stormwater Fees). Overall, since the program has been implemented, it has been well-received. There was a general resistance to another bill but the town preceded the bill with a letter explaining why the fees were necessary and where the money would go. The fee is billed quarterly to help distribute the costs over the year.
DuPage County has extensively looked at implementing such a program. The main problem the County encountered is that the properties with the largest impervious areas are schools, churches, and government owned buildings. As mentioned before, these properties would still be subject to the fee. According to the School Siting Strategy Paper, schools are being built on larger sites and farther away from the students. This is creating a number of traffic and stormwater issues. The paper suggests that minimum acreage requirements be reduced for schools therefore reducing the schools footprint and amount of impervious area.
Another worthwhile note is that within the state of Illinois, a non-home rule local government wishing to implement a stormwater fee would have to pass a state statute to do so. Depending on the structure of the organization a referendum may need to be proposed to the public in order to get the fee passed.
Stormwater utility fees can provide funding for infrastructure updates and if necessary replacements. The fees can also fund special projects like stream bank restorations and the implementation of BMPs. | <urn:uuid:41351d9d-1d1c-4016-8c21-76e46c0d703f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/about/2040/supporting-materials/process-archive/strategy-papers/stormwater-best-management-practices/stormwater-utility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393442.26/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966838 | 761 | 2.6875 | 3 |
|Monument at Jenkins' Ferry State Park|
The last significant action of the Camden Expedition, as the Arkansas phase of the Red River Campaign is known, the battle took place in the floodplain of the Saline River about 12 miles south of Sheridan, Arkansas.
|Gen. Frederick Steele|
Courtesy National Park Service
Following disastrous defeats at the Battles of Poison Spring and Marks' Mill, Steele's army faced the very real threat of starvation due to his inability to obtain supplies. Giving up on the idea of pushing forward to Shreveport, he ordered a retreat back to Little Rock.
|Gen. E. Kirby Smith|
Library of Congress
The main Confederate army came up during the night and heavy fighting began at sunrise on April 30, 1864. As the Union troops threw up temporary breastworks of logs and fence rails, Confederate General E. Kirby Smith ordered wave after wave of Southern attacks.
The fighting was fierce and bloody as the soldiers fought in mud and water that ranged from a few inches to three feet deep.
To read more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/jenkinsferry1. | <urn:uuid:bca3e996-4e15-42b5-9c70-78ecd73f76f4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://civilwararkansas.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00152-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951699 | 234 | 3.03125 | 3 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Optical Society
LaserFest Encourages Youth to Shine a Light on Laser Science with Fun Activities and Informative Resources
Celebrate and Educate: 50th Anniversary of the Laser Invention Recognized with Contests, Comic Books, Experiments, Pioneer Profiles, Videos and More
WASHINGTON, May 4—Did you know there are at least 10 ways you use a laser before lunch? Did you know laser beams are invisible when traveling through air, so for a thief to try to get around them would be impossible? Did you know laser diagnostics allows archaeologists to identify intact dinosaur proteins? These and other fascinating facts for children ages 8 to 13 can now be found at LaserFest’s online resource center, LaserFest.org.
The organizers of LaserFest, a year-long celebration in 2010 of the 50th anniversary of the first working laser, have rolled out their educational resources specially designed to attract interest among youngsters. Through its collaboration in LaserFest, the scientific community endeavors to inform students about the immense influence the laser has had and continues to have on everyday life by focusing on today’s innovations and tomorrow’s possibilities. Educational materials highlight the numerous contributions and advances made possible by or with the use of lasers, along with significant applications under scientific investigation.
“LaserFest’s educational resources emphasize the countless benefits of the laser to society, notably its impact on science, medicine, communications, industrial technology and space, among others,” said Elizabeth Rogan, CEO of the Optical Society (OSA), one of the four founding partners of LaserFest. “To salute the 50th anniversary milestone, LaserFest has partnered with more than 56 organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution, the Exploratorium in San Francisco, dozens of scientific societies, and college student groups worldwide, to celebrate and educate youth about the importance of laser science and physics.”
At the LaserFest website, parents and their school-aged children will find fun tools and downloadable information about how the laser came to be and the early growth of this ubiquitous device. Hands-on activities and useful materials, including science kits, posters, comic books, and videos invite exploration of how lasers work and how they transform the way we live. Also posted online are profiles of today’s laser pioneers. LaserFest content is written to appeal both to general readers and science enthusiasts, young and old. With these resources, the LaserFest anniversary celebration and awareness campaign will reach thousands of youngsters and adults.
Following is a list of sample resources to excite kids about laser science and technology:
Lasers: Transforming Life – learn about how lasers play a role in everyday technologies, such as the Internet and laser surgery, and how laser research may lead to future clean energy sources or help understand such mysteries as black holes. See: http://www.laserfest.org/lasers/video-life.cfm.
Laser Graffiti Video Contest – Student chapters from around the world have submitted their entries – now you can “view to vote” for your favorite Laser Graffiti Video on YouTube. See: http://www.laserfest.org/events/graffiti.cfm.
LaserFest Video Contest - Enter to win $1,000 – Take any laser you want and use it to somehow express a physics concept. Entry deadline is May 16th – sound familiar? See: http://www.laserfest.org/events/involved/contest.cfm.
Posters & Toys -- Decorate the “lab” in the basement or a young astronaut’s bedroom with dazzling laser posters and plush photons in your choice of red, green or blue, corresponding to a different wavelength of light.
Cool comic books about Spectra, the original laser super hero and her battle against Miss Alignment – great reading for summer.
SpectraSound Kit - a stimulating experiment to transmit your music across the dance floor using laser light... perfect for the home, classroom, lab and parties!
Bright Idea: The First Lasers– a virtual museum exhibit for a rainy afternoon.
LaserFest, a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser, emphasizes the laser's impact throughout history and highlights its potential for the future. Through a series of events and programs, LaserFest showcases the prominence of the laser in today's world. Founding Partners of LaserFest are the Optical Society (OSA), the American Physical Society (APS), SPIE, and the IEEE Photonics Society. For more information, visit http://www.LaserFest.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For assistance with editorial coverage or to arrange interviews with laser pioneers profiled on LaserFest.org, please contact Nadine Tosk at 847.920.9858, email@example.com; or Lyndsay Meyer at 202.416.1435; firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:a1f48704-8c44-4cfa-b763-81fc2345c640> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.osa.org/en-us/about_osa/newsroom/news_releases/2010/laserfest_youth/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00105-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876604 | 1,016 | 3.234375 | 3 |
The Dearth of Ethics and the Death of Lehman Brothers
In an unprecedented move that rocked the financial industry to its core, on Sept. 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Not only was it the largest bankruptcy case in United States history, but it also came after repeated assurances from the company’s chief executives that finances were healthy, liquidity levels were high, and leverage was manageable. The implosion of this Wall Street institution shattered consumer confidence during a time of fragility, and in the aftermath of its collapse, a number of questionable decisions came to light. This analysis will proceed in two parts: First, a recap of the series of events leading to Lehman Brothers’ failure, followed by the identification of several dubious choices made by its executive management team and how the consequences led to the bank’s ultimate demise.
History and Facts
Many believe the beginning of the end for Lehman Brothers was when Washington repealed the Glass-Steagall Act. This landmark legislation from the Great Depression separated the interests of commercial and investment banks, preventing them from competing against each other (2) and protecting their balance sheets by allowing each sector to focus on the business and transactions that it did best. For investment banks, that typically meant highly liquid, asset-light portfolios, leaving commercial banks to handle capital-intensive portfolios, including real estate or corporate investments. Additionally, the act insulated the economy from mass collapse in the event of one sector’s failure by preventing the other from being dragged down in tow. But in 1999, President Clinton signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act into law, allowing commercial and investment banks to compete head-to-head for the first time in 60 years (2). The arms race that ensued would prove disastrous for Lehman Brothers, the financial community, and the global economy at large.
With the repeal of Glass-Steagall, Lehman Brothers became a key player in the United States housing boom. From 2004 to 2006, Lehman Brothers experienced a 56 percent surge in revenues from real estate businesses alone (1). The firm recognized profits from 2005 to 2006, and in 2007 it reported a record net income of $4.2 billion on revenues of $19.3 billion. In the same year, Lehman Brothers’ stock reached an all-time high of $86.18 per share, giving it a market capitalization close to $60 billion (1). This proved exceptional to the surrounding climate, however, and the housing market began to show signs of a pending bubble burst.
In March 2007, the stock market experienced its biggest single-day plunge in five years, while the number of mortgage defaults simultaneously rose to the highest percentage in almost a decade. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers’ most comparable Wall Street rival, experienced the total failure of two hedge funds in August. Despite rapidly deteriorating marketing conditions, Lehman Brothers continued writing mortgage-backed securities and touting its financial strength to the press and shareholders while decrying the notion that domestic and global economies were in danger. Meanwhile, its operations were reckless, as illustrated by its $11.9 billion in tangible equity and $308.5 billion in tangible assets on balance sheets in 2003 that yielded a leverage ratio of 26 to 1. Four years later, its $20 billion in tangible equity and $782 billion in tangible assets sent its leverage ratio skyrocketing to 39 to 1 (4). Even with storms brewing in every direction, Lehman Brothers failed to trim its portfolio of high-risk, illiquid assets, and when crisis erupted in 2007, Lehman Brothers had missed its chance. Instead of acknowledging this misstep, executives took internal action to preserve a rosy façade.
By means of deliberate accounting sleight-of-hand, concealment, and communication of misleading information, until 2008 Lehman Brothers maintained the appearance of underdog success to the investment community. The primary means by which Lehman Brothers disguised its distress was through implementation of what was known to insiders as “Repo 105.” This legal but shady accounting device helped create favorable net leverage and liquidity measures on the balance sheet, which was key for credit rating agencies and consumer confidence. By utilizing Repo 105, Lehman Brothers raised cash by selling assets to a behind-the-scenes phantom company called Hudson Castle, which appeared to be an independently run organization but was actually controlled by Lehman Brothers executives. In accordance with Repo 105 terms, assets were sold to Hudson Castle and repurchased between one and three days later (3). Because the assets were valued at 105 percent of the cash received, GAPP accounting rules allowed the transactions to be treated as sales, thus removing the assets from Lehman Brothers’ balance sheet altogether.
Under the direction of Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan and the certification of Chief Executive Officer Richard S. Fuld, Jr., Lehman Brothers applied this technique at the end of the first and second fiscal quarters of 2008 to transfer a combined total of $100 billion, amending its leverage ratio from 13.9 to a far more favorable 12.1. Thanks to creative accounting and clever public relations, Lehman Brothers was able to report a positive view of its net leverage, including a $60 billion reduction in net assets on the balance sheets and a deep liquidity pool. Each of these quarterly balance sheet spins was intended to offset the effect of announcing — for the first time in years — a loss of $2.8 billion from write-downs on assets, decreased revenues, and losses on hedges (1). Application of Repo 105 allowed Lehman Brothers to avoid having to report selling assets at a loss.
During the bankruptcy investigation, the company’s global finance controller admitted that, “there was no substance to [Repo 105] transactions (5).” Fuld, Callan, and their respective teams concealed the use of this tactic from ratings agencies, investors, and the board of directors. The one party in on the scheme was Ernst & Young, Lehman Brothers’ audit firm, which failed to alert either internal or external parties to the manipulation that was taking place, even when explicitly questioned. They could not maintain the illusion for long, however, and in September 2008, Lehman Brothers’ situation finally came to a head.
On September 10, 2008, just three months after reporting second-quarter successes, Lehman Brothers announced that its supposedly robust liquidity amounted to approximately $40 billion, but only $2 billion constituted assets that could be readily monetized. The remainder was tied up on so-called “comfort deposits” with various clearing banks, and though the firm technically had the right to recall said deposits, the validity of Lehnman Brothers’ work with these institutions was questionable at best (2). By August, the deposits had been converted into actual pledges.
A few months prior, Fuld began coming to terms with Lehman Brothers’ negative outlook. In a last-ditch effort, he made a public offering that yielded $6 billion in new capital for the firm. However, by the by the time third fiscal quarter financial statements were due, Lehman Brothers was projecting additional losses of $3.9 billion. Its stock price had plummeted to $3.65 per share, a 94 percent decrease from January 2008. Fuld announced a plan to spin off the majority of the company’s real estate holdings into a new public company, but there were no prospective buyers (Holdings, Inc.). On Sept. 13, the United States Treasury made it clear that Lehman Brothers would not be the recipient of bailout money. Instead, a number of financial institutions, including Barclays and Bank of America, were being encouraged to acquire the faltering company, invigorate it with much-needed capital, and bring it back from the edge of collapse (3). Each potential acquiror declined. On Sept. 15, 2008, Fuld admitted defeat and finally heeded private advice from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr. At 1:45 a.m., he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, just before the opening of Asian markets (1).
In the days following the largest bankruptcy filing in United States history, the American market experienced a shock unlike any it had felt since the Great Depression. When the domestic stock market opened on Sept. 15, the Dow Jones dropped 504 points. The following day, Barclays agreed to buy Lehman Brothers’ United States capital markets division for the bargain price of $1.75 billion. Meanwhile, insurance giant AIG was on the verge of total collapse, forcing the federal government to step in with a financial bailout package that ultimately cost $182 billion (3). On Sept. 16, the Primary Fund announced that due to its Lehman Brothers exposure, its price had plummeted to less than $1 per share. The ripple effect of Lehman Brothers’ failure was widespread, giving rise to a confidence crisis in global banks and hedge funds. Credit markets froze, forcing international governments to step in and attempt to ease concerns. Domestically, this resulted in the controversial passage of the Trouble Asset Relief Program, a $700 billion federal rescue aid package, on Oct. 3, 2008 (5).
Ethical Issues Examined
So what went wrong? The collapse of Lehman Brothers was not the result of a single lapse in ethical judgment committed by one misguided employee. It would have been nearly impossible for an isolated incident to bring the Wall Street giant to its knees, especially after it successfully withstood so many historical trials.
Instead its demise was the cumulative effect of a number of missteps perpetrated by several individuals and parties. These offenses can be categorized into three acts: Lies told by Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld; concealment endorsed by Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan; and negligence on behalf of Ernst & Young.
1. When the housing marketing began faltering in 2007, Fuld was entrenched in a highly aggressive and leveraged business model, not unlike many other Wall Street players at the time. Unlike the competitors, a few of whom had the foresight to identify the pending collapse and evaluate possible consequences of mortgage defaults, Fuld did not rethink his strategy. Instead he proceeded into mortgage-backed security investments, continuously increasing Lehman Brothers’ asset portfolio to one of unreasonably high risk given market conditions. In short, he was obstinate, but when the time came to recognize his error, he did not assume responsibility or admit wrongdoing. Fuld had an opportunity in 2007 to voice concerns about his bank’s short-term financial health and its heavy involvement in risky loans, and he squandered it in favor of communicating to investors and Wall Street that no foreseeable concerns existed. Had he been truthful, more competitive solutions — along with the benefit of time — would have been available, likely helping prevent or minimize the financial hemorrhage that loomed on the horizon. For example, commercial banks, such as Barclays and Bank of America, which were approached for a snap acquisition decision, would have had more time to evaluate whether the move would complement their long-term strategies. They also would have had more time and opportunity to resuscitate Lehman Brothers than they did a few quarters down the road.
Additionally, while the immediate effects of admitting a shaky outlook would have been negative, two repercussions must be considered. First, large capital investors would have been appreciative of the transparency, and after getting past the initial shock, they would have taken action to get the bank back on track. Second, had the general public — including the federal government — been aware of the situation and the actionable measures being taken to rectify it, more intellectual and financial aid would have been available to minimize losses and potentially avoid total collapse. This was not the case, however, and by choosing to paint an unrealistically optimistic picture of Lehman Brothers’ financial situation, Fuld forfeited the opportunity to take advantage of various solutions that would have cut the company’s losses. Had he acted more prudently, Lehman Brothers’ story may have ended differently.
2. The second ethical lapse, which was perhaps the most premeditated and fundamentally wrong, was Callan’s approval of siphoning assets away from Lehman Brothers accounts and into Hudson Castle, the phantom subsidiary created for the benefit of its parent company’s balance sheet. This blatant misrepresentation of financial health, perpetrated through the employment of Repo 105, was an attempt to grossly manipulate the bank’s many stakeholders and also clearly indicative of a much bigger problem. Even more telling is the fact that this technique was used in two consecutive quarters.
Various documents examining the collapse of Lehman Brothers, including congressional testimonies and investigative reports, confirm that the purpose of Repo 105 was not to diminish earnings for tax benefits or similar effects. Instead, moving assets away from the balance sheet was intended to create the illusion of a company that was stable and secure. Had Lehman Brothers’ executive team been capable of managing the issue, this tactic would have been a temporary stay until reorganizational measures were taken and accurate statement releases could be resumed. Instead, for six consecutive months, the bank’s leverage was so dangerously high that it had no choice but to intentionally mislead its shareholders if it hoped to maintain any semblance of confidence in its operation. As with Fuld’s decision to lie about the company’s state of affairs, Lehman Brothers would have been better served by fully and accurately disclosing the details of its finances. With the benefit of credibility and time to strategize, the likelihood of receiving much-needed aid would have been far greater.
3. Finally, Ernst & Young, the only third party privy to the happenings at Lehman Brothers, failed to reveal the extensive steps taken by executive leadership to conceal financial problems. As a firm of certified public accountants expected to honor and uphold an industry-wide code of ethics, Ernst & Young may be accused of being responsible for gross negligence and lack of corporate responsibility. Why would such a highly respected organization risk its own reputation and turn a blind eye on behavior that is clearly unethical? Obviously Lehman Brothers was a sizeable (and presumably lucrative) client of the firm. But past scandals involving questionable accounting observances, such as Enron, have demonstrated firsthand that inaction is as equally reprehensible as direct involvement in the scheme itself. More than just a paycheck was at risk, and failure to act successfully discredited Ernst & Young on the basis of ethical and industry standards.
As an accounting firm, Ernst & Young is charged with certifying that companies deliver accurate and reliable information to shareholders. In this regard, Ernst & Young failed completely, as executives were aware of behind-the-scenes bookkeeping and the extent to which it was occurring. In this situation, concern for ethical behavior was of minimal or nonexistent concern. Therefore, the company’s shareholders were deliberately deceived for the purpose of preserving a paycheck, and in that regard, the team of accountants who chose not to act disappointed more than just their company; they let down the entire industry and each of the right-minded professionals within it.
The story of Lehman Brothers’ demise is unfortunate, and not just because its collapse meant the end of a Wall Street institution. The real tragedy lies in the lack of ethical behavior of its executives and professional advisors. They made conscious decisions to deceive and manipulate, and the consequences proved too dire to preserve the historic investment bank’s existence. The perennial lesson of the Lehman Brothers case is that no matter how dire the circumstances may appear, transparency and accountability are paramount. Right action up front may sting initially, but as history has repeatedly shown, gross unethical business practices rarely endure in the long term. A global financial crisis such as that of 2008 may not be prevented from happening again. What can be improved, in large measure through ethics education, is how corporations behave. Wall Street should take note of the case of Lehman Brothers to ensure history does not find a way to repeat itself.
BY: ASHLEIGH MONTGOMERY
1. “Case Study: The Collapse of Lehman Brothers.” Investopedia.com. 2 Apr. 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/lehman-brothers-collapse.asp>.
2. Leynse, James. “Three Lessons of the Lehman Brothers Collapse.” Time.com. 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 26 Nov. 2011. <http://www.time.com/business/article/0,8599,1923197,00.htm>.
3. Lubben, Stephen. “Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.” New York Times. 26 Aug. 2011. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/lehman_brothers_holdings_inc/index.htm>.
4. Sloan, Allan, and Roddy Boyd. “How Lehman Lost Its Way.” CNN Money. 2 July 2008. Web. 24 Nov. 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/02/news/companies/lehman_sloan_boyd.fortune/index2.htm>.
5. Valukas, Anton R. Volume 1 Report of Anton R. Valukas, Examiner. 08-13555 (JMP). Vol. 1.
Photo courtesy of jovike | <urn:uuid:3c3d87df-ef32-40cb-bdb3-bada81632693> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://sevenpillarsinstitute.org/case-studies/the-dearth-of-ethics-and-the-death-of-lehman-brothers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00114-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962403 | 3,595 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Excel Data Entry and Update Form
With this Excel data entry form, you can enter or update
records on the data entry worksheet (named Input).
Excel Data Entry and Update
Thanks to Dave Peterson, who created the
first version of the data
With this Excel data entry form, you can enter or update records
on the data entry worksheet (named Input). The form's features help
you enter your data quickly and accurately:
- Drop down lists, created with data
validation, help users enter the correct information.
- Make some fields mandatory, so users can't leave them blank.
- Click a button, to save the record and clear the data entry cells.
- Use navigation buttons to see the saved data
- Select a specific record to view or update.
Data Entry Form Workbook Setup
There are 3 worksheets used in the data entry and data storage process:
- Input - the data entry sheet. This can be protected, so
users are only able to enter data in the unlocked cells. In the
sample file, the sheet is protected, with no password.
- PartsData - the database sheet. This can be hidden, so
users don't accidentally delete the data or change the layout
- LookupLists - item lists used for data validation drop
Enter New Data
To enter a record:
- Go to the data entry worksheet (named Input)
- Type a value in each mandatory data entry cell, or select from
a drop down list
- The Price calculation is based on a VLOOKUP
formula, and the Total formula multiplies the quantity by the
- Click the Add button, to copy the record to the database
of stored records, located on the PartsData sheet.
- If mandatory fields are not filled in, a warning message will
appear, and the record is not added to the database.
- If the Order ID is already in the database, you'll see a warning.
- If all the mandatory fields have been filled in, the data entry
cells are automatically cleared, so you're ready to enter another
Navigate Through Stored Records
To see the records that are stored on the database sheet, use the
Click the navigation buttons to go to:
- First record |<
- Previous record <
- Next record >
- Last record >|
Or, type a record number in the yellow cell, to view that record
Select a Specific Record
Instead of scrolling through all the records, you can select a specific
record, based on its ID number. In the sample workbook, the Order
number is used as the ID number.
- Select the yellow cell under the "Select Order ID" heading.
- Click the drop down arrow, and select an ID number in the list
Update a Record
While you are viewing a record, you can change its data, then click
the Update button to copy those changes to the database.
For example, if you discovered that there was an error in the order
quantity, you could change it. The Total formula on the Input sheet
would automatically recalculate, to show the revised amount.
When you're finished changing the record, click the Update button,
and the revised data will appear in that record on the database sheet.
Note: If the Order ID is not in the database, you'll see a warning
message, that asks if you want to add as a new record.
Start a New Record
You can also add a "New" button to the data entry form.
This feature has been added the Version 2 sample file, which has Add,
Update, New and Delete buttons
In this version, 3 named ranges were added:
- DataEntryClear -- cells D5:D8 on the Input sheet, where
data is typed or selected from drop down lists
- IDNum -- Cell D5 on the Input sheet, where the Order ID
- NextID -- Cell H1 on the LookupLists sheet, which calculates
the next available ID number, using the following formula:
The New button runs a macro that clears the DataEntryClear range,
and puts the next available ID number in the IDNum cell.
The Update Code
Before updating the database record, the Update code checks to see
of all the mandatory data entry cells are filled in. If they aren't,
a message appears, and the code stops running. This prevents you from
accidentally overwriting an existing record with blank cells.
If all the data entry cells are filled in, the Update code:
- puts the current date and time in the selected record's row of
- adds the User Name from the Excel application
- copies the revised data to the database
- clears the data entry cells on the Input sheet
Change Field Names
After you download the sample Excel data entry form workbook, you
can customize it by changing the field names, to match your data.
- On the data entry sheet, select a cell with a field name that
you want to change
- Type a new name for the field
- Switch to the Database worksheet
- Make the same change to the field name in the column headings.
Add New Fields
If you need more fields that are in the sample Excel data entry workbook,
you can add as many new fields as you need (up to the column limit
in your version of Excel).
- On the data dntry sheet, unhide columns E:F. These contain markers
and formulas, to control which fields are mandatory, and which are
- Select a label cell, and the 3 cells to the right, where you want
to insert the new field. The new field will be inserted directed
above the selected cells.
- Right-click on one of the selected cells, and click Insert.
- In the Insert window, select Shift Cells Down, and click OK
- In column F, use the Fill Handle, to copy the formula from the
- If the new row copies the data validation from the row above,
you can change it, to use a different list as the source. Or, clear
the data validation, so users can type any value into the cell.
- On the PartsData sheet, insert a new column, between the same
two fields where you added the new field on the Input sheet. In
this example, the new field is inserted between the Part and Location
- Add more fields, if you need them, and hide columns E:F when you're
Update the Navigation Code for New Fields
If you add new fields, you'll need to change the range of cells that
are copied, when the navigation arrows are clicked on the worksheet.
- To view the code for a navigation button, right-click on it, and
click Assign Macro
- In the Assign Macro dialog box, click Edit.
- Scroll to the top of the module, and change constant that stores
the number of data entry cells -- lCellsDE. In the screen shot below,
there is a new field, so the 6 will be changed to 7.
NOTE: In some versions of the workbook, the constants
are not shown at the top, and you will have to change the column
numbers in the code on the Input sheet module, modData and modViewData.
- On modViewData and the Input sheet module, look for code that
is copying data from the historyWks sheet, e.g.:
- Change those number from 3 and 6, if necessary, to copy that data
that you want to paste onto the Input sheet when viewing a record.
Make sure that you don't paste over the formulas on the Input sheet!
- On modData, change the code that copies data to hostoryWks, if
necessary. Look for the lines where the starting column for the
paste are shown:
Watch the Excel Data Entry Form Customize Video
To see a quick overview of how you can customize the Excel Data Entry
Form, you can watch this short video.
Download the Excel Data Entry Form
The sample files are in xlsm format, and are zipped. After you unzip
the file and open it, enable macros, so you can use the worksheet buttons.
Data Entry Form - Add/Update:
View, edit and add records.
Entry Form With Delete. Add, Update, New and Delete buttons.
Checks database for Order ID, to prevent duplicates. Use this version
with caution, because the deleted records are gone forever. Click
here to read
the details on this version
Entry Form - 2 Entry Sections: Data is entered in two areas,
and copied to and from these cells by using links on other worksheets.
If required, use the same technique to add more data entry ranges
and fields in a workbook.
More Versions: For more versions of the Worksheet Data Entry form,
go to Excel Data Entry Form -
Forms -- Survey Form with Option Buttons
Forms -- Excel Data Entry Worksheet Form
Forms -- Print Selected Items in Order Form
Forms -- Excel Data Entry and Update Form
Basic Excel UserForm
Create an Excel UserForm with Combo Boxes | <urn:uuid:2e7f72d0-2693-42dc-bcab-c9bfbb721fbd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.contextures.com/exceldataentryupdateform.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399522.99/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.816777 | 1,949 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Battles and Campaigns:
* Fire in the Cane Field: The Federal Invasion of Louisiana and Texas, January 1861-January 1863 by Donald S. Frazier.
* Waters of Discord: The Union Blockade of Texas During the Civil War by Rodman L. Underwood.
* Planting The Union Flag In Texas: The Campaigns of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks in the West by Stephen A. Dupree.
* The Last Battle of the Civil War: Palmetto Ranch by Jeffrey W. Hunt.
* The Yankee Invasion of Texas by Stephen A. Townsend.
* Sabine Pass : The Confederacy's Thermopylae by Edward T. Cotham.
* Battle on the Bay: The Civil War Struggle for Galveston by Edward T. Cotham.
* Lone Star Blue and Gray: Essays on Texas in the Civil War by Ralph A. Wooster.
* The Seventh Star of the Confederacy: Texas During the Civil War edited by Kenneth W. Howell.
* The Fate of Texas: The Civil War and the Lone Star State ed. by Charles D. Grear.
Dissent and Unionism:
* Tainted Breeze: The Great Hanging at Gainesville, Texas, 1862 by Richard B. McCaslin.
* Brush Men and Vigilantes: Civil War Dissent in Texas by David Pickering and Judith M. Falls.
* Death on the Nueces: German Texans, Treue Der Union by Rodman L. Underwood.
* Lone Star Regiments in Gray by Ralph A. Wooster.
* Walker's Texas Division, C.S.A: Greyhounds of the Trans-Mississippi by Richard Lowe.
Politics and Society:
* Vaqueros in Blue & Gray by Jerry D. Thompson.
* Why Texans Fought in the Civil War by Charles David Grear.
* Texas in the Confederacy: An Experiment in Nation Building by Clayton E. Jewett.
* Frontier Defense in the Civil War: Texas' Rangers and Rebels by David Paul Smith.
* Civil War & Revolution On The Rio Grande Frontier: A Narrative And Photographic History by Jerry D. Thompson and Lawrence T. Jones III. | <urn:uuid:5e1b106e-9e03-4625-b961-396776c2e9e0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cwba.blogspot.com/2010/11/civil-war-in-texas-in-20-books.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.815232 | 463 | 2.625 | 3 |
The vast majority of Britons have never seen a red squirrel, according to a new survey which highlights how the native species has been decimated by the invasion of the grey squirrel.
Only five per cent of the population has ever seen a red squirrel in their garden, with that number falling to less than one per cent across the south of England and in the Midlands.
The species is more prevalent in its last remaining strongholds in the North-east and Scotland, where almost one in five people see them on a monthly basis, according to the first in a series of annual RSPB surveys on the prevalence of eight non-bird species in UK gardens.
However, even in the north of the country red squirrel sightings are well below those for their grey rivals. More than nine tenths of Britons have seen a grey squirrel in their garden at some point, with 71 per cent seeing them on a monthly basis.
“These figures further underline that there is a problem for this species, which is clinging on in just a few small areas,” said RSPB conservation scientist Dr Daniel Hayhow.
Dr Hayhow said he was also disappointed by the low levels of hedgehog sightings revealed by the survey. Hedgehog numbers have declined by about a third since 2000, primarily because development has reduced suitable habitat.
“It is shocking that only 21 per cent of people have ever seen a hedgehog in their garden. This is an animal that everybody knows, but increasingly this is only through books – these figures show the extent of their decline,” he said.
The survey also showed that 69 per cent of Britons had never seen a badger in their garden, while 13 per cent see them at least monthly.
In addition to squirrels, hedgehogs and badgers, the RSPB survey recorded garden-sightings of the common frog, the common toad, roe deers and muntjac deers.
The common frog was the most abundant garden amphibian in the survey – when they are not hibernating – with half of the half-million participants recording they see them on a monthly basis. In contrast, toads were seen by only 28 per cent of people every month.
Dr John Wilkinson, science programme manager at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC), said: “It’s great to know that frogs and toads are still widespread in UK gardens, which are a crucial habitat for both of them, but worrying that toads are relatively so much less common, especially in England.”
Both the muntjac deer – seen on a monthly basis by 6.12 per cent – and the roe deer – 7.88 per cent – were more common in the garden than the red squirrel.
Grey squirrels threaten the existence of red squirrels because of the lethal squirrel parapoxvirus they carry, which affects the native species because few have antibodies to deal with it.
As a result, a non-native species from North, Central and south-eastern America has decimated most of the red squirrel population since arriving on UK shores in 1828. | <urn:uuid:c30639a0-71f8-4cab-8b2f-f9cc0fac1f9a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/red-squirrels-the-creature-that-everyone-knows-but-is-hardly-seen-9265500.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397695.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972165 | 643 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Dr. Clark’s groundbreaking studies on race and child development helped end segregation in the United States. In the 1940s, Dr. Clark conducted experiments using dolls to assess children’s attitudes about race. He asked children to choose between a black doll and a white doll. In most instances the majority of children preferred to play with the white doll. The children in the study also gave the color white attributes such as “good” and “pretty” and qualified black as “bad” and “ugly.”
The results were viewed as evidence that children had internalized racism caused by being discriminated against and stigmatized by segregation. This work contributed to the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Brown V. Board of Education, led by then lawyer Thurgood Marshall. This case determined that “separate but equal” public education was inherently unequal.
Beyond the key role that Dr. Clark played in ending the scourge of de jure racial segregation in public education, his work also led him to establish the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem and Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited (HARYOU), an organization devoted to developing educational and job opportunities for young people. Clark was the first African American to join the New York Board of Regents and to serve as president of the American Psychological Association.
Listen to both parts of a 1976 interview session with Dr. Clark below or read the transcript here:
Interview Session 3, March 19, 1976, Part 1 | <urn:uuid:ac0c4a0a-c992-4650-a740-ac997098e130> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/ohro/2012/02/10/voices-of-change-dr-kenneth-clark/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400031.51/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973751 | 312 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Sweating Copper Water Lines
Copper is a popular material for water supply line. It's durable pipe that handles high water pressure loads and is relatively easy to work with.
However, copper is expensive and may cost up to three times more than plastic CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride) pipe.
Copper lines fit together with lead-free, solid-core solder. The soldering process involves heating the pipe and is commonly called "sweating."
Prepping & Soldering Lines
Before cutting any "live" water lines, make sure the water supply valve is off. Open the house's highest and lowest faucets to drain the water lines.
NOTE: Even a small amount of water in a copper line can prevent the joint from heating up enough to accept solder.
Cut the pipe with a hacksaw or a tube cutter by gradually tightening it to score and cut the pipe. Some cutters also have a triangular reamer that can be used to remove burrs.
Sand both the fitting and pipe surfaces to be soldered with a wire brush or emery cloth and wipe clean with a rag. Then apply flux on both pieces. Flux prevents the joint from oxidizing and helps solder flow and bond to the copper.
Fit the pieces together and heat the joint with a propane torch. It should only take up to 30 seconds to get the temperature hot enough to melt solder.
Pull the solder across the heated joint. The solder should virtually suck up in and around the joint. If the joint still doesn't melt solder, there may be water in the line.
Quickly wipe away any excess solder with a rag and allow the joint to cool and set up.
Once you're done soldering the run, brace the pipe between joists with brackets/braces to prevent them from banging and stuff insulation in any holes in joists that the pipes go through.
Prevent fasteners from puncturing water lines, nail up protective plates across framing members. | <urn:uuid:b3c7429a-f96d-401d-89c9-166dfdf8fd14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hometime.com/Howto/projects/plumbing/plum_3.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393533.44/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941001 | 407 | 2.859375 | 3 |
When Regulating Self-Driving Cars, Who’s at the Wheel?
In order for driverless cars to conquer the road, someone has to write the rules for their use. Right now, it’s not clear who that someone will be.
The storm that rolled through Ann Arbor, Mich., in late November brought nine inches of snow and an experimental opportunity too good to pass up. A team of Ford engineers working to develop self-driving vehicles decided it would be a good time to put their modified Ford Fusion sedans to the test.
Snow, like rain, can be especially tricky for automated vehicles. Precipitation makes it harder for driverless cars to know where they are. Their cameras can’t see lines on snow-covered pavement or in the reflections of puddles. Falling precipitation interferes with radar. Piles of snow make finding the curbs and road edges harder, even for the cars’ laser-powered mapping devices. On top of that, snow is something of a novelty for self-driving cars. Most of them have been confined to sunny locales in states like California, Nevada and Texas, where rain and snow are rarer.
So the Ford team jumped at the chance to test their vehicles in the Michigan winter. Rather than heading to Ford’s proving grounds in Dearborn, they went to Mcity, a 32-acre test track in north Ann Arbor. It’s a shared track that’s operated by the University of Michigan and used by automakers and the state transportation department to try out autonomous and connected cars. Mcity includes elements you wouldn’t expect to find on most test tracks, things like stoplights that broadcast information to vehicles, a railroad crossing, a bus stop, highway on-ramps and gantries, a small hill, gravel roads, sidewalk crossings, stop signs, a simulated tree canopy and overpass, roundabouts, vandalized traffic signs, and a mockup of downtown city blocks.
Jim McBride, Ford’s technical leader for autonomous vehicles, says the company’s cars handled the snow well that day. They stayed in their lanes, followed the rules of the road and managed the slippery conditions.
The Ford engineers bring their test cars to Mcity often. In fact, they started using the facility months before it was completed last summer. For them, it’s a place where they can test their cars’ reactions to a situation over and over again. “We can set up instances where we can push mannequins on carts out between parked cars,” McBride says. “Instead of encountering those once every million miles driving, maybe we can encounter them once every five minutes.”
Ford engineers recently tested a modified Fusion at Mcity, a 32-acre track operated by the University of Michigan. (Ford)
Mcity is itself something of an experiment. It is the most concrete indication of how the state of Michigan and its industries imagine that autonomous cars will become reality. Their hypothesis is that the march toward these vehicles will be completed step by step, not in a single leap; that cars will become better at talking with each other and their surroundings even as they include more advanced autonomous features; and that these potential society-scrambling innovations will be made by the existing auto industry.
For Michigan transportation officials, that requires a light regulatory touch. “The public sector has a role in this,” says Kirk Steudle, the director of the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). “What we’re trying to figure out is: How do we enable the technology to happen? It’s growing, it’s flourishing. How do we make sure the government is not in the way?”
But the competition to host the companies that will produce the cars and trucks of tomorrow is fierce. There is no guarantee that Michigan will remain the engine driving the automotive industry, especially if companies in Silicon Valley have anything to say about it. As states compete for business and the federal government works on providing national guidance, the rules of the road for driverless vehicles are not turning out to be consistent state to state. Those rules -- along with factors like technology-ready infrastructure, state leadership and even, yes, weather -- could go a long way in determining where Ford, Google or any of their competitors develop and build their autonomous vehicles.
The Mcity track in fairer weather. (University of Michigan)
Michigan trailed California and Nevada in passing a law explicitly authorizing driverless vehicles. Michigan’s law didn’t get on the books until 2013. But as the center of the U.S. auto industry, the state also has a lot more experience than most others with experimental vehicles. Its new law made clear that people other than car manufacturers and universities could build and test these vehicles, as long as they had permission from the state.
Michigan has also encouraged automakers to develop technology that lets vehicles and infrastructure communicate with each other. The state and other partners tested some of that technology for more than a year in Ann Arbor. About 2,800 cars, trucks and buses took part in the pilot project, allowing them to get information from traffic lights, curve warning devices and other sensors along roadways. Even though the testing phase is now over, the city of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan are still expanding the network of connected stoplights and roadside sensors.
Meanwhile, the state of Michigan and automakers are rolling out devices to communicate with cars and trucks along 120 miles of roadways, particularly interstate highways, in the Detroit area. The types of sensors vary along the network, and are often tailored to the needs of nearby automakers. While the car companies use the devices to develop their own connected vehicles, the state is using them for applications that would discourage red light running or warn travelers about work zones. The devices also feed information about traffic and weather to the state’s traffic center in downtown Detroit.
To Steudle, connecting cars to the roads they drive on is an important part of developing self-driving cars. “Some say the autonomous car can go do its thing, that it doesn’t need any infrastructure,” he says. “Yeah, that’s like having a classroom of really smart people who don’t ever talk. If they talk to each other, everybody gets smarter. That’s where we see the connected piece of automation coming together as well.”
Mcity is a proving ground to test how all of those pieces fit under realistic circumstances, including inclement weather. “If you want something that’s going to have mass appeal, it’s going to be something that works at all speeds, that operates in all weather conditions,” says Jim Sayer, the director of the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, who helped design Mcity. “What you don’t want to be doing is putting the public at risk unknowingly and creating problems in traffic.”
In other words, the Michigan group is taking a very different approach than the one used by Google.
Seeing a car drive itself is nothing unusual in the neighborhoods around Mountain View, Calif., where Google’s headquarters is located. Half a mile from the main Google campus, on a modest suburban side street, sits X, formerly known as Google X, that company’s not-so-secret research and development lab for major “moonshot” projects. Right now, the most elaborate of these projects is the driverless automobile.
The X fleet comes in two different models: an older version of a Lexus SUV retrofitted with cameras and other sensors, and the newer version, a white two-seater that can operate without a steering wheel or pedals.
Google initially tested its autonomous vehicles on freeways, but in the last two years it has shifted its focus to neighborhood driving. It now sends its driverless vehicles onto public streets, alongside regular cars, pedestrians, cyclists, baby carriages, dog walkers, traffic cops, school buses, construction equipment and everything else drivers must navigate around. A Google car once encountered a woman in an electric wheelchair chasing baby ducks in the road.
One sunny December afternoon, two X engineers took one of the Lexus models out for a spin. Sitting in the front seat, the engineers monitored the car as it tooled around on a preprogrammed route, passing the tidy lawns and modest ranch houses in the neighborhood around the X headquarters building. Riding in a Google car is at once thrilling -- there’s no one operating the wheel! -- and stultifyingly mundane. It’s like riding with an overly cautious grandmother. (Last year, a Mountain View cop pulled over a Google car for going too slow, but the car got off with only a warning.) On that test drive, the Lexus always traveled at or below the speed limit, coming to a complete stop at every stop sign and accelerating slowly when it started up again. When the Lexus approached a motorcycle parked harmlessly along the curb, the car jolted to a full stop and then gave the bike an exceedingly wide berth before continuing down the street.
In fact, one of the only reminders that the car is driving itself is the display on the computer that one of the engineers holds in her lap. It shows the readout from the lidar sensor onboard, which maps the surrounding area in much the same way that radar does, only using lasers instead of radio waves. The lidar display is essentially what the car “sees.” It’s a mesmerizing jumble of geometry, an endlessly redrawn set of lines that jitter and jump as the car renders the landscape around it. The X cars are remarkably good at identifying the objects, people and other vehicles they encounter.
So far, Google’s other model, the two-seater, has only taken to the California streets with a steering wheel and pedals that employees can use to take over whenever necessary. But someday, when the technology gets good enough, Google wants to put cars on the road that don’t have a steering wheel and pedals -- or even rearview mirrors. There’s one obstacle to that goal that Google so far has not been able to overcome: the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
In 2012, California became the second state (after Nevada) to pass a law expressly allowing driverless cars on its roadways and regulating them. The law required the state DMV to issue two sets of rules: one for testing the cars and another for their general use by the public. Google and 10 other manufacturers have operated under the testing rules since late 2014, but Google, in particular, had hoped the long-stalled rules for the sale of the cars and for their use by the public would be relatively lenient.
That hasn’t been the case. The biggest flashpoint was the state’s requirement that cars used by the public must include steering wheels and pedals to allow occupants to take control of the vehicle. “Right now, we don’t have any data on autonomous vehicles being used without a driver. So we couldn’t possibly let the public use it without a driver,” says Jessica Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the California DMV. She says her agency plans to revisit its testing regulations soon. That could open the door for letting companies test cars without steering wheels, and, perhaps eventually, enabling them to gather enough data to convince regulators that the cars are safe.
But a Google spokesman says the company was “gravely disappointed” by the requirement. “This maintains the same old status quo and falls short on allowing this technology to reach its full potential, while excluding those who need to get around but cannot drive,” says Chris Urmson, the head of Google’s driverless car project.
Chris Urmson, Google's director of self-driving cars, discusses proposed regulations on autonomous cars at a public hearing. (AP)
Google insists on developing a car without a steering wheel partly because it contends that people often don’t pay attention while their cars are operating autonomously, a fact other developers have noted as well. Google recorded one of its volunteer “drivers” reaching into the back seat while his car cruised along a highway at 65 mph. In fact, there’s a whole slew of videos on YouTube shot by the “drivers” of Tesla Model S cars while their vehicles are in “autopilot” mode (an advanced form of cruise control). Many of the videos show hair-raising near-accidents. In other words, Urmson says, the better the cars get at driving, the worse their human drivers perform. The way to solve this problem, in Urmson’s view, is to take driving responsibility away from the user altogether.
Many regulators and safety advocates, though, are sticking by the requirements for steering wheels so occupants can take control of their vehicles when they need to. John Simpson, director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog’s privacy project, says state-mandated reports from Google and other manufacturers testing vehicles in California show that, while their technology is improving, human intervention is often required. “That’s what the tech industry always says any time a sensible rule or regulation is being proposed: ‘Oh my God, you’re going to stifle innovation!’” he says. “I don’t think that’s true. When public safety is at stake, that should be the primary concern. Any regulations that are offered need to protect public safety.”
The rules from the California DMV for public use of autonomous vehicles, which are months away from being finalized, certainly take a cautious approach. The rules specify that manufacturers would have to pay a fee of up to $50,000 to sell their cars in the state. Manufacturers could only lease, not sell, their vehicles; they would have to get the vehicles and software -- including any software updates -- approved by a third-party validator; they would be required to share data with the state about any accidents, cyberattacks or switches away from the autonomous mode because of safety concerns.
Jude Hurin, the Nevada DMV’s top expert on autonomous vehicles, says California regulators are “overstepping their bounds” with such heavy-handed rules, taking what he calls a “federal approach” to regulating vehicles.
Hurin believes the California proposal would treat market-ready vehicles with the same wariness as it treats experimental vehicles. “You’ve allowed [manufacturers] to test on your highways for years,” he says. “So when they bring it to the consumer, you should have some kind of partnership or understanding that they’re not going to introduce something that’s totally threatening to individuals.”
Compared with California’s draft rules, Nevada’s regulations for public use of self-driving vehicles are modest. They require that the vehicles follow the state’s traffic laws, store crash data in black boxes, alert occupants if the driving software fails, and come to a stop if the occupants don’t respond. Both the cars and their owners must get state approval.
The rules fit in with Nevada’s embrace of companies developing the more ambitious version of driverless technology. Gov. Brian Sandoval has ridden in both a Google driverless car and a prototype of a driverless truck built by Daimler. The governor also announced earlier this year that he is creating a center for autonomous vehicles in Nevada’s economic development agency.
Daimler Freightliner self-driving trucks were demonstrated last spring in Las Vegas. (AP)
But the rush to regulate self-driving cars at the state level, outside of the first few pioneering states, has largely abated. For one thing, vehicle makers, particularly Google, have stopped pushing for state laws. They see state laws and regulations getting in the way of progress, rather than encouraging it. If every state issued a separate set of rules for the new cars, they argue, it could be nearly impossible to abide by all of them.
The federal government eventually came to the same conclusion. In January, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration announced an ambitious goal of proposing uniform national best practices for both the auto industry and state policymakers within six months. To get there, federal regulators are likely to look at the regulations in California and Nevada as models. For manufacturers, though, state laws and regulations have become less important. For the most part, they have stopped asking for the blessing of state governments before testing their autonomous vehicles. They have decided they won’t need it. Texas lawmakers have never explicitly authorized self-driving cars, and yet the state’s capital city of Austin is Google’s No. 2 testing ground for its autonomous fleet.
A Google driverless car makes its way through Austin. (AP)
Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, believes automated vehicles are already legal in the United States, and wrote a 110-page law review article aimed at proving his point. To reach his conclusion, Smith combed through state laws, federal regulations and even international treaties. “It comes down to a question of interpretation or enforcement discretion,” he says. “A state or a community that is really supportive of automated driving may well conclude that the laws already support it. A state or community that is resistant to automated driving will likely reach the opposite conclusion.”
Supporters of driverless cars, Smith argues, can bolster their case without passing a law like the ones in California and Nevada explicitly regulating their use. “What I recommend,” he says, “is to start by doing a close, careful legal audit of existing law. Identify all of the potential provisions in the vehicle code and other laws that are relevant to automated vehicles. Then decide if those need to be changed.”
Many of the most difficult questions are deep in state vehicle codes. For example, New York requires that drivers always keep one hand on the steering wheel. There are laws against obstructing rearview mirrors, rules governing drivers’ conduct after an accident and regulations limiting the number of hours a driver can drive. Many of these would lead to absurd results when applied to autonomous vehicles. Laws against abandoning vehicles could inadvertently apply to self-driving cars in search of a parking spot. In fact, as Smith points out, it is unclear in many cases who the driver really is: the person who pushed the “go” button, the software engineer who programmed the car’s autonomous functions, or even the car’s absentee owner.
Beyond legal clarity, leaders who want to promote autonomous and connected vehicles in their communities can take practical steps to facilitate the process. One important step may simply be to remind the public about the potential safety benefits of automated cars. Roughly 34,000 Americans die every year in car crashes, and, by some estimates, human error contributes to more than 90 percent of those deaths. “The public should be concerned about automated vehicles,” Smith says, “but terrified about human drivers.”
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Can someone please describe the social and cultural conditions that led to Gestalt psychology’s disappearance?
Question by megothic1: Can someone please describe the social and cultural conditions that led to Gestalt psychology’s disappearance?
What part did psychoanalysis and behaviorism play in the eventual disappearance of this field of psychology? I really appreciate any assistance given.
Answer by Simon
Hey I see you are running out of time. So here are only a few thoughts/guesses without consulting any references.
Behaviourism – This appealed to the scientific lobby. Why – because it could be demonstrated and was more visible and concrete. It probably interested the military because they used behaviourist principles in research warfare and espionage. Behaviourism could use experiments with animals – I don’t think Gestalt could. Behaviourism lent itself more easily to research. Therefore more conducive to the commercial world.
I think Skinner was one of the behaviorist’s. Behaviourism opened the way for cognitive therapy which probably overtook and later combined with behaviourism (CBT).
Gestalt was German? Maybe out of favour post war.
Well Freud was Austrian wasn’t he and then there was Jung. It seemed to capture the imagination of the public.The iconic image of the patient on the psychiatrists couch. It pandered to middle class women with their “vapours” and faints and “hysterical” behaviour. It was highlighted in the media – movies – literature etc
Maybe both of these were thought to be more scientific than Gestalt. I think they also liked to aly themselves to Darwinian evolution theory. Gestalt was more existential.
Add your own answer in the comments! | <urn:uuid:a3c08f08-0c99-4654-94ca-4810a50abc92> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.psychyclub.com/can-someone-please-describe-the-social-and-cultural-conditions-that-led-to-gestalt-psychologys-disappearance | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960981 | 358 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Creativity Springs From Careful Copying (Part 2): William Patry
Record companies, book publishers, movie studios and other media corporations are caught up in efforts to equate all copying of their works with theft. In fact, if we genuinely want to promote creativity, we must encourage copying.
The idea that people copy because they lack creativity is powerfully harmful, and it runs counter to the history of copyright.
For the first 300 years that copyright laws existed, the right to prevent unauthorized copying was determined not by property rules, but by reference to whether the defendant’s work added new insights -- whether the copier, too, was creating something. Verbatim copying, mere paraphrasing or qualitative copying of the heart of the work were all prohibited, because such copying did not provide new insights or evidence any creativity, but only acted as a substitute for the original. Yet there was considerable leeway for other kinds of unauthorized copying.
In the 1803 English case of Cary v. Kearsley, Lord Ellenborough nicely summed up the policy: “That part of the work of one author is found in another, is not of itself piracy, or sufficient to support an action; a man may fairly adopt part of the work of another: he may so make use of another’s labours for the promotion of science, and the benefit of the public. ... While I shall think myself bound to secure every man in the enjoyment of his copyright, one must not put manacles on science.” (Science here referred to the 18th-century conception of knowledge.)
Art in Context
Literature, music and the arts flourished under this policy, and for good reason: All works exist only in context with past and present authors and culture. That’s what Hans- Georg Gadamer meant when he wrote: “Understanding is to be thought of less as a subjective act than as participating in an event of tradition, a process of transmission in which past and present are constantly mediated.”
It is equally true of authors, as T.S. Eliot wrote: “The historical sense compels a man to write not merely with his own generation in his bones, but with a feeling that the whole of literature from Homer and within it the whole of the literature of his own country has a simultaneous existence and composes a simultaneous order.”
Even those who purport to rebel against tradition do so in relation to that tradition. The late Canadian pianist Glenn Gould made this point in discussing the music of Arnold Schoenberg: “Whenever one honestly defies a tradition, one becomes, in reality, the more responsible to it.” Creativity requires the breathing space necessary to permit all authors to draw on the whole of culture.
Regrettably, we have undergone a change in policy that works against the creative process. The current trend is toward finding that even minimal uses infringe copyright law. Instead of encouraging new works, we are fast adopting a property-based theory of absolute ownership.
Consider how hip-hop music has been changed by a series of court opinions in the past 20 years finding infringement for the creative copying and alteration of tiny amounts from recorded performances. The most important of these opinions came from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
The case arose from the unauthorized use of a very short sample from a sound recording by the immortal George Clinton and Funkadelic. The use first occurred in the rap song “100 Miles and Runnin’,” the second in the soundtrack of the movie “I Got the Hook Up.” The second use consisted of a two-second sample of a guitar chord. In this case, the defendant lowered the pitch and then looped the sample to last 16 beats. The sample was used in five places in the movie, with each looped segment lasting approximately seven seconds.
Because of the transformative way in which the samples were copied, a lower court had found no infringement. “Even one familiar with the works of George Clinton would [not] recognize the source of the sample without having been told of its source,” that court observed.
But the federal appeals court reversed that verdict in an opinion that contains almost every error that can be made in construing the U.S. Copyright Act. To begin with, the court adopted a different approach to infringement of a musical composition than for infringement of the recorded performance of it. For compositions, the court acknowledged there is no infringement from transformative copying. For sound recordings, however, the court held there is no such threshold; copying of any amount infringes copyright.
Since that decision, record companies have been unwilling to release albums unless each and every sample is cleared. Previous hip-hop albums used hundreds, sometimes thousands, of samples, but licensing that number is prohibitively difficult and expensive. Instead, hip-hop changed its creative process.
The sampling issue illustrates a fundamental transformation in copyright law. Once a tool for creativity, it has become focused on permission. All uses, no matter how trivial or irrelevant to artists’ incomes, are declared licensable. Yet culture can be built only from shared knowledge, and generous use of one another’s creations.
A 1971 note from John Lennon to New York Times reporter Craig McGregor addresses this point. McGregor had written a piece called “The Beatles Betrayal,” accusing the group of “ripping off” black artists. Lennon responded:
“‘Money,’ ‘Twist ‘n’ Shout,’ ‘You Really Got a Hold on Me,’ were all numbers we used to sing in the dance halls around Britain, mainly Liverpool. It was only natural that we tried to do it as near to the record as we could -- I always wished we could have done them even closer to the original. We didn’t sing our own songs in the early days -- they weren’t good enough.”
Tradition of Copying
It has been a tradition for hundreds of years for aspiring painters to go to museums and faithfully copy works hanging there. Poets, choreographers and novelists also find their voices only after long periods of imitation. As the literary critic Northrop Frey wrote: “Poetry can only be made out of other poems; novels out of other novels.” James Joyce’s “Ulysses” is closely patterned after Homer’s “The Odyssey,” yet at the same time it is very much a part of its own 20th century.
To deny people the right to copy, intimately, from others, is to deny the essence of what it is to be a creative person.
The most damaging consequence of the movement to turn culture into private property is the largely successful change in attitude toward creativity and copying. Creative people are supposedly those who do not copy or imitate others; copying is supposedly theft.
In truth, creative people must copy and must imitate others. Our copyright laws should be changed to reflect this reality.
(William Patry, senior copyright counsel at Google Inc., is the author of “Moral Panics and the Copyright Wars” “Patry on Copyright” and “Patry on Fair Use.” This is the second in a three-part series of excerpts from his new book, “How to Fix Copyright,” to be published Jan. 5 by Oxford University Press. The opinions expressed are his own. Read Part 1.)
To contact the writer on this article: William Patry at firstname.lastname@example.org.
To contact the editor responsible for this article: Mary Duenwald at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:29c0de02-c96c-4647-a991-1d7455e40a71> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2011-12-28/creativity-springs-from-copy-making-part-2-commentary-by-william-patry.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956145 | 1,601 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families
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Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Family data are collected as part of the monthly Labour Force Survey. Information is collected for civilians aged 15 and over who were usual residents of private dwellings where all the usual residents were present and within the scope of the Labour Force Survey.
While relationship in household and family type data are collected each month in the Labour Force Survey and published in Labour Force, Australia (ABS Cat. No. 6203.0), the June survey also collects information about the number of children aged 0 to 4, 5 to 9, and 10 to 14 in families.
Information is provided about the labour force status of usual residents of private dwellings and types of families to which they belonged. Information is also provided on the number and age of children in the household.
This survey is conducted as part of the Labour Force Survey.
SCOPE - Labour Force Survey
The Labour Force Survey includes all persons aged 15 and over except:
From July 1993 Jervis Bay Territory is also excluded from the scope of the survey. Before July 1993 it was included in estimates for the Australian Capital Territory.
SCOPE - Families
Since July 1983 family data is restricted to usual residents of private dwellings and those households where it was possible to obtain information relating to all the usual residents.
COVERAGE - Labour Force Survey
In the Labour Force Survey, coverage rules are applied which aim to ensure that each person is associated with only one dwelling, and hence has only one chance of selection. The chance of a person being enumerated at two separate dwellings in the one survey is considered to be negligible.
Persons who are away from their usual residence for six weeks or less at the time of interview are enumerated at their usual residence (relevant information may be obtained from other usual residents present at the time of the survey).
The concepts of families and households are fundamental in the collection and dissemination of both social and labour statistics. A household can be thought of, in its broadest sense, as a group of people who live and eat together as a single unit within a dwelling. Notions of what constitutes a family vary. However, it is operationally defined within ABS collections as two or more related (by blood, marriage, adoption, step or fostering) persons, one of whom is at least 15 years of age, who are usually resident in the same household. While the concept of household is broader than the concept of family, in practice both often refer to the same set of people.
All families; Couple families; One parent families;
Relationship in household
Labour force status
Number of dependants
Number of family members
Full-time and part-time status of employed persons
Duration of unemployment
Demographics: State, Area, Region, Sex, Marital Status, Relationship in Household, Period of Arrival and Age.
Country of Birth: The Standard Australian Classification of Countries (SACC).
Changes have occurred over the years to the classifications 'Relationship in household' and 'Family type'. See the publication 'Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families (ABS Cat. No. 6224.0) for further information.
Other concepts (summary)
Comments and/or Other Regions
Not all data available for all areas.
Additional data on ages of children are collected annually.
POPULATION AND FREQUENCY
Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Families (ABS Cat. No. 6224.0), Nov 1974 (irregular), July 1979 and 1980, June 1981, July 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985, then annually in June since 1986. See the Labour Force Survey for further information.
Data availability comments
Data available in publication form, as well on request.
These documents will be presented in a new window. | <urn:uuid:769d030b-e366-4a4a-862c-b6296de380ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DOSSbyTopic/4B13E543F5C027D5CA256BD00026E2A8?OpenDocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945513 | 796 | 2.734375 | 3 |
In the latest news in the climate change wars, you’ve got Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Prime Minister Tony Abbott, of Australia, saying climate change amelioration will “clobber the economy.”
On the other hand you’ve got the World Bank saying fighting climate change would help grow the world economy adding up to $2.6 trillion a year to global GDP in the coming decades.
And you’ve got a group of U.S. business leaders, current and former investment executives, and former U.S. cabinet secretaries saying if global warming continues unchecked, it is likely to cost the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars in lost productivity, inundated housing and infrastructure along coasts, and plunging crop yields in key farming regions by mid-century.
Now you’ve got a natural gas pipeline eruption in Kansas where crops and trees have withered since a dark, oily plume burst from the line while crews were trying to perform maintenance. Natural gas condensate can come in various compositions, but typically contains benzene, a carcinogen.
There’s also a group of international scientists who have published a letter in the prestigious magazine Nature saying Harper’s plans to promote his beloved tar sands in Alberta can only lead to catastrophe. Separate projects assessed in isolation usually fail to measure their combined effects, they say. All projects such as pipelines, fracking, LNG and tar sands need to be looked at as a whole and be decided in an international treaty. Do Harper and Abbot appear to be standing alone here? | <urn:uuid:280efd9a-e6b7-44af-a7dc-2016b8e71a19> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pqbnews.com/opinion/letters/265709801.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939054 | 327 | 2.8125 | 3 |
An army of youngsters have descended on the site of the former Clipstone Camp to help the Forestry Commission preserve the area’s First World War trenches.
Around 800 students from the Samworth Church Academy spent a day bashing bracken at the site, now part of Sherwood Pines.
The youngsters cleared Himalayan Balsam to preserve Forestry Commission land, and to clear the trenches - used to train British Tommies before heading to the front.
Student Darcey Gregory (13) said: ““We have been lucky enough to work on this site where we have been beating down the bracken and slowly revealing the First World War trenches.
“It also helps the trees they have planted to grow because they get more light and don’t have to compete for nutrients.”
Ranger Amy Chandler said the students made a big contribution to the commission’s ongoing battle with the bracken.
Sherwood Pines is still riddled with the remains of trenches and shooting ranges from its days as the former Clipstone Camp, where 30,000 men at a time where made ready for trench warfare in France and Belgium.
Construction on the camp started in 1914, soon after the outbreak of war, and it took its first cohort the following year.
A total of 29 graves at nearly St Alban’s Church, in Forest Town, are of those killed while stationed at Clipstone, including one woman who was training to be a nurse.
Samworth vice-principal Ian James added: “Our students have done some magnificent work and also learned a great deal about the historical trenches they have been helping to uncover.”
PICTURED: Youngsters from Samworth Church Academy helping Forestry Commission staff. | <urn:uuid:e0bd8c24-836f-43fc-9e36-4cc2170dc6ff> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hucknalldispatch.co.uk/news/local/pupils-join-up-in-commission-bracken-battle-1-6719645 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399117.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00196-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957816 | 364 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The perihelion is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet where[& when] it is nearest to the sun. It is the opposite of aphelion, which is where [& when] the orbit of the object is farthest from the sun.
The word perihelion stems from the Greek words "peri," meaning near, and "Helios," meaning the Greek god of the sun. (The similar word, perigee, refers to the nearest point in some object's orbit of earth.)
All planets, comets and asteroids in our solar system have approximately elliptical (a kind of non-circular) orbits (any single revolution of a body around the sun is only approximately elliptical, because the phenomenon known as precession of the perihelion prevents the orbit from being a simple closed curve such as an ellipse). Thus, they all have a closest and a farthest point from the sun: a perihelion and an aphelion. Orbital eccentricity measures the flatness of the orbit.
Earth comes closest to the sun every year around January 3. It is farthest from the sun every year around July 4. The difference in distance between Earth's nearest point to the sun in January and farthest point from the sun in July is 3.1 million miles (5 million kilometers). Earth is about 91.4 million miles (147.1 million kilometers) from the sun in early January, in contrast to about 94.5 million miles (152 million kilometers) in early July.
When Earth is closest to the sun, it is winter in the northern hemisphere and summer in the southern hemisphere. Thus it is possible to see that Earth's distance from the sun does not noticeably cause the seasons to change; the relatively minor effects of differences in distance is somewhat masked by the mainly oceanic southern hemisphere vs the half- continental northern hemisphere. Therefore, the Earth's seasons come and go mainly because Earth does not rotate with its axis exactly upright with respect to the plane of our world’s orbit around the sun. Earth's axial tilt is 23.5 degrees. This puts the Sun farther south in December and January, so the north has winter and the south has summer. Thus winter falls on that part of the globe where sunlight strikes least directly. Summer falls on that part of the globe where sunlight strikes most directly. | <urn:uuid:283ac3be-dd42-4249-95ff-9990d93e4d1c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perihelion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00062-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95935 | 489 | 4.5625 | 5 |
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, PETR ADAMEK
Japanese officials underestimated the amount of radiation released from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant after March's devastating earthquake and tsunami, according to a recently-published report analyzing data from a global array of sensors and detectors. In June, the Japanese government released a report stating that 1.5×1016 bequerels (Bq) of caesium-137—a harmful radioisotope that was released in large amounts from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986—and 1.1×1019 Bq of xenon-133, which does not pose a serious health risk as it's not absorbed by the body or the environment, had spewed from the crippled power plant. But the new report, submitted and available for open peer review in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, revises those totals to almost twice the official estimate, calculating a release of 3.5×1016 Bq caesium-137 and 1.7×1019 Bq of xenon-133.
The new findings are based on reading from dozens of sensors positioned within Japan and around the globe. Andreas Stohl, an atmospheric scientist with the Norwegian Institute for Air Research in Kjeller and first author on the paper, told Nature that the larger data set his team used to generate their estimates is likely the reason that they're higher than the official Japanese numbers. For example, the Japanese government's calculations did not take into account clouds of radioactive particles that blew out over the Pacific Ocean in the aftermath of the accident.
For detailed coverage of the nuclear disaster and its effects on people, wildlife, and the environment, see our Fallout at Fukushima series. | <urn:uuid:96d1f345-fd67-4d94-a3de-b34a6e6d8767> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/31324/title/Fukushima-Radiation-Worse-Then-Feared/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00156-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942003 | 341 | 3.8125 | 4 |
A form of opaque, usually patterned, chalcedony which is found in massive formations, agate is usually stained by impurities and occurs in various colours such as red, green, yellow and blue. The popular red variety is a fine-grained quartz, coloured by inclusions of haematite.
From ancient times this stone was cherished for its beauty and mystical properties.The jasper mentioned in the Bible and in the wall of the New Jerusalem is believed to have been a dark green, opalescent stone. Because of its physical properties, engravers of ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt carved this stone into exquisite cameos, intaglios and scarabs. Jasper was considered a sacred stone by the Native American Indians. | <urn:uuid:c66ff7ca-25af-455b-a202-a1721ee9e95b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scratchpatch.co.za/html/gemstone_types.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964594 | 153 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Sabuñgai is a twining vine, smooth except for the peduncles. Leaves are stalked (the uppermost ones stalkless), ovate-elliptic or lanceolate, 3.5 to 8 centimeters long, and 0.8 to 3.5 centimeters wide, with somewhat entire or toothed margins. Flowering heads are panicled, narrow, yellow, and 1 to 1.5 centimeters long. Involucral bracts are smooth and up to 6 millimeters long. Achenes are very small and smooth, with very close and slender ribs.
- In thickets along streams, in old clearings, etc., at low and medium altitudes, ascending to 1,500 meters, from northern Luzon to Mindanao, in most islands and provinces.
- Also occurs in Thailand and Indo-China to Malaya.
- Study identified abundant proteins from the leaves. Peroxidase was the abundant protein in the leaves. Other valuable proteins in the leaves were osmotin like protein I and thaumatin like protein I (TL) (see studies below) (4)
- An ethanolic extract yielded alkaloids and volatile oils.
Leaves considered anti-hyperglycemic, anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-inflammatory.
Whole plant, leaves, shoots.
- In many Asian countries, leaves eaten fresh or cooked; added to salads or stand-alone salad; used for sauces, as flavoring.
In Java, used for kidney troubles.
In Malacca, decoction used for dysentery.
In Thailand, used as topical inflammation, rheumatism, and viral ailments.
Poultice used for rheumatic and general body pains.
In some parts of Asia, used as abortifacient.
In Malaysia, a folk remedy for diabetes and hyperlipidemia.
• Anti-Inflammatory: Study of ethanol extract showed antiinflammatory activity. (1)
• Antihypertensive: Study showed the oral administration of aqueous extract significantly lowered blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Results suggest GPE may be useful for prevention and treatment of hypertension through increasing NO (nitric oxide) production in blood vessels. (2)
• Glucose Lowering: Ethanolic extract of leaves significantly suppressed elevated serum glucose levels in diabetic rats. The extract did not significantly suppress glucose levels in normal rats. Results conclude the leaves of GP may be biguanide-like activity. (3)
• Abundant Leaf Proteins / Peroxidase: Study found few abundant proteins from the leaves of GP; among these, peroxidase was found the most abundant of the extracted proteins. Results suggest a natural source for peroxidase for use in the cosmetic and skin care industry. The presence of TL protein in leaves indicate it may not be suitable as food in the raw state. However, raw eating of leaves is common in the Asian region. (see constituents above) (4)
• Nutritive / Antioxidative Properties: Ethanolic Gynura extract exhibited the highest antioxidative properties in every assay. Nutritive evaluation suggests the extract is a good protein source and may have positive effects on free radical scavenging and iron chelating. (5)
• Gynura procumbens Medical Toothpaste: A Gynura procumbens toothpaste invention consists of" gynura procumbens (Lour.) extractant of 1-20%, glycerol of 20-55%, diglycol of 10-15%, abradant of 20-45%, carboxymethyl cellulose of 0.5-1.5%, sodium dodecyl sulfate of 0.5-2%, additive of 1-4%, essence of 1-2% and saccharin of 0.1-1%. (6)
• Anti-Ulcerogenic: Study results suggest the ethanolic leaf extract of Gynura procumbens promotes ulcer protection as shown by significant reduction of ulcer area, histologic decreases in ulcer areas, with absence or reduction of edema and leucocyte infiltration of submucosal layer. (7)
• Anti-Diabetic: / Increase Glucose Uptake: Study evaluating the water extract of G. procumbens in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats showed a hypoglycemic effect by promoting glucose uptake by muscles. (8)
• Anti-Diabetic / Increase Glucose Uptake and Insulin Potentiation:Study results suggest the antidiabetic effect may be mediated through the stimulation of glucose uptake and the potentiation of insulin action. (10)
• Toxicological Evaluation: Administration of a methanol extract of G. procumbens did not produce mortality or significant changes in various parameters in both acute and sub-chronic toxicity studies.(9)
• Wound Healing / Acute Toxicity Study: Acute toxicity study of leaf extract showed no mortality with 5g/kg dose. In a wound healing model in rats, wounds dressed with leaf extract showed significant enhancement and acceleration of wound healing. (12)
• Antioxidant Effects: Study showed ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) may be scavenged effectively by the antioxidant system of G. procumbens leaves. The ratio between chlorophyll and carotenoid was higher than in other green plants.
• Hypoglycemic Effects / GSK3ß Phosphorylation: Study evaluated the hypoglycemic effects of G. procumbens and the involvement in the glycogen synthase kinase (GSK3), a key component of insulin biosignaling. Results showed the plant did not exhibit GSK3 inhibitory activity, and suggests the hypoglycemic actions of the fractions could be from direct or indirect effects on upstream insulin biosignaling pathway. (13)
• Blood Sugar Reduction: Major flavonoid constituents were identified in the n-butanol fraction. A methanolic extract of leaves showed reduction of blood glucose in STZ-induced diabetic rats. Results were compared to glibenclamide as standard drug.
• Antiproliferative Effects / DBMA-Induced Rat Liver: Study evaluated the antiproliferative effect of an ethanolic leaf extract on 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)antracene-induced male rat liver. Results showed significant antiproliferative activity, with histopathology showing no primary liver tumor on the DMBA group. (20)
• Cardiovascular Effects: A water extract of G. procumbens showed promising cardiovascular effects. Significant vasodilation and -ve chronotropic and ionotropic effects were observed with the water extract compared to the ethanolic extracts. (16)
• Antihyperglycemic / Leaf Extracts: Study evaluated leaf extracts for antidiabetic activity. Results showed significant lowering of fasting blood glucose in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Study suggests extracts contain active principles that possess anti-hyperglycemic but no hypoglycemic effect. The antidiabetic action may be via a mechanism similar to metformin. (18)
• Anticancer Proteins: An earlier study yielded plant defense proteins, peroxidase, thaumatin-like proteins and miraculin the the leaf of G. procumbens. Study investigated the bioactivity of the leaf extract proteins. An active protein fraction, SN-F11/12 inhibited the growth of a breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231. The proteins in the fraction can be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer treatment. (19)
• Antiherpetic: An ethanol extract of aerial parts of G. procumbens showed virucidal and antireplicative actions against herpes simplex HSV-1 and HSV-2. Several antiherpetic compounds were isolated from fractions: caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, phytosteryl glucosides, and glycoglycerolipids. Flavonoids probably imparted an anti-inflammatory effect. Lab evidence and reduction of infection supported the antiherpetic effect of G. procumbens. (21)
• Suppression of Osteosarcoma Cell Proliferation and Metastasis In Vitro: Study showed an ethanolic extract is able to induce apoptosis and suppresses proliferation and metastasis in U2-OS cells via inhibition of the nuclear translocation of NF-kB. (22)
• Vasorelaxant / Potassium Channel Openers and Prostacyclin: Study confirms the vasodilatory effects of G. procumbens through blocking of calcium channels. The vasodilatory effect may also be due to opening of potassium channels and stimulation of prostacyclin production. Putative compounds are probably flavonoids in nature. (23)
• Chemopreventive / Colon and Breast Cancer: Study of an ethyl acetate fraction investigated for cytotoxic properties and selectivity against colon cancer and breast cancer cells showed selective effect against cancer cells and reveals potential as cancer chemopreventive agent. (24)
• Antiherpetic: An ethanol extract of Gynura procumbens showed virucidal and antireplicative activities against herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2). Antiherpetic activity was attributed to caffeoylquinic acid derivatives, phytosteryl glucosides, and glycoglycerolipids. A double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial of the products was performed in patients with recurrent herpes labialis. The insignificant result was attributed to a low number of patients and insufficient concentration of plant extract. (25)
• Decrease Blood Pressure / Inhibition of Calcium Channels: An intravenous butanolic fraction elicited significant and dose dependent decreases in mean arterial pressure. Results suggest the presence of putative hypotensive compounds that appear to inhibit calcium influx via receptor-operated and/or voltage-dependent calcium channels to cause vasodilation and a consequent decrease in blood pressure. (26)
• Antioxidant / Inhibition of Drug Metabolizing Enzymes: Study investigated various extracts of G. procumbens for antioxidant capacity and CYP34A and CYP1A2 enzyme activities. Results showed the inhibition of CYP3A4 and CYP1A2 followed the rank order of total flavonoid content, where the higher the total flavonoid content the higher the inhibition of drug metabolizing enzymes. (27)
• Antioxidant / Antitumor: Study evaluated the antioxidant activities of plant extracts of G. procumbens, A. aspera and P. tomentosum using the DPPH assay. G. procumbens showed the more potent antioxidant activity. Gynura procumbens also showed antitumor activity at a dose of 1000 ppm. (28)
• Ashitaba has been getting a lot of press, being touted as the new "miracle" herb. However, a lot of potted "ashitaba" being sold locally from roadside herbal gardens and mall stalls, intentionally or unintentionally, is actually Sabungai rather than ashitaba (Angelica keiskei). (See Ashitaba) | <urn:uuid:db42db99-675a-4679-9580-6cc2e8ed2afc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.stuartxchange.org/Sabungai.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.891153 | 2,346 | 2.5625 | 3 |
WHAT'S NEXT; Octopus or Eagle Eyes? Oufitting a Robot for Its Mission
By IAN AUSTEN
Published: October 16, 2003
MOST research in digital imaging has been aimed at developing sensors that can rival photographic film.
But advanced image processing that provides rich detail isn't always the best option. It is expensive and consumes a great deal of power, and it is also often unneeded: for a robot to see where it is going, for example, a rather crude imaging system that can detect the edges of objects may be all that is required. So some researchers are trying to develop simpler, more limited imaging technology.
For inspiration, they are looking at some rather unusual examples in nature. Octopuses, for instance.
Octopuses have relatively poor vision. Among other things, they are incapable of seeing an X. For Albert H. Titus, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo, such limited vision makes the octopus eye interesting, and he has developed a silicon chip to try to mimic it. (A paper on the work was published in the August issue of the journal Optical Engineering.)
Like many other researchers, Dr. Titus believes that animal and human eyes -- and their related brain processes -- were ideal models for creating simpler electronic eyes. Biological systems, he noted, have to conserve energy because they don't have unlimited sources of food. They have also adapted to many different circumstances. ''Why can't we use biology to come up with better ways of doing it?'' he asked.
Before trying to mimic a natural eye, Dr. Titus assigned graduate students to comb biological vision studies to come up with an appropriate animal retina.
He quickly ruled out humans and other vertebrates, deeming their vision systems too complex to be a starting point. Research on the octopus, on the other hand, showed that while its visual system was fairly simple, it had many properties that might be useful for simple robots. Among other things, octopuses can distinguish between horizontal and vertical lines.
To create the electronic octopus eye, Dr. Titus turned to retina chips, a technology pioneered at the California Institute of Technology. Such chips are created with the same complementary metal oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, technology used in some digital cameras. But Dr. Titus said that retina chips operate differently from CMOS chips and the other common image-sensing technology, charge-coupled devices, or C.C.D.'s.
All three kinds of sensors start out with an analog signal that converts different intensities of light falling onto them into different electrical voltages. Conventional sensors then quickly transform those varying voltages into digital code. But in Dr. Titus's device, which he calls an o-retina, ''the goal is to never digitize the signal,'' he said.
''We're trying to mimic animals,'' he explained, ''and animals aren't digital.''
That's not the only area in which the o-retina differs. Regular sensors create pictures by faithfully mapping light values to each of their picture elements, or pixels. The o-retina takes a broader approach. Its pixels are connected horizontally and vertically like the cells in an octopus retina. The interwoven pixels allow the o-retina's software to detect patterns between cells without processing a complete image of the object before it.
In fact, the current o-retina (which is basically a semiconductor chip with a small, conventional lens mounted in front) does not actually create pictures. Instead, its software determines simply if a line is oriented horizontally or vertically. Just like a real octopus, the system stumbles when confronted by an X or other horizontally mirrored symbol.
In future o-retinas, Dr. Titus wants to add another property of octopus eyes: the ability to distinguish light polarized in different ways.
He concedes that even a perfect o-retina might not have practical applications. ''The octopus retina itself is perhaps not something you'll put in a robot vacuum or something that goes off exploring on Mars,'' he said. ''The o-retina itself is part of a bigger plot.''
Over time, Dr. Titus said, the goal is to develop retina chips that mimic the visual systems of a wide variety of animals. Properties from each of those systems could in turn be mixed and matched to develop different artificial vision systems with ideal properties for specific applications. Dr. Titus said that it might be possible, for example, to create a chip that could see objects far away by copying the vision system of an eagle.
Similarly, lions might be a good model for electronic systems that need to see in a desert. Portions of the two systems could be then merged for long-range vision systems suitable for desert work.
''Different animals provide different ways to view the world,'' he said.
Retina chips less directly inspired by nature have already found their way into some products. Because such chips can perform relatively fast calculations, Nintendo used a Mitsubishi Electric retina chip to create a gesture-based control system for Game Boy devices. Mitsubishi and Samsung Electronics are jointly exploring the idea of adapting retina chips for cellphones with built-in cameras as a way of reducing battery drain.
Dr. Titus, however, remains more interested in research than in applications. ''I want to know if we can create an animal-specific eye and combine it with a different animal-specific brain,'' he said. ''What will that tell us?
''Our goal isn't for everyone to have a pet octopus.''
Drawing (Drawing by Mary Ann Smith) | <urn:uuid:61acb461-d87f-449f-a312-637c7948e023> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/16/technology/what-s-next-octopus-or-eagle-eyes-oufitting-a-robot-for-its-mission.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396224.52/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00173-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939647 | 1,155 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Bletilla striata 'Alba' is a deciduous terrestrial orchid native to temperate areas of China and Japan. The tuberous rhizomes give way to up to 2 foot (60 cm) papery, thin leaves. Light green leaves are plicate (pleated) and are about 3 inches (7.5 cm) wide. It is one of the easiest terrestrial orchids to grow. The plants are hardy down to 20°F (-7°C) in the landscape and will withstand temperatures down to 10°F (-12°C) if mulched heavily. Whether grown in containers or in the landscape it is a showy addition to any orchid collection.
Blooming: In the greenhouse, our plants bloom from late spring to early summer. The 1-2 inch (2.5-5 cm) flowers are in racemes with 3-7 flowers.
Culture: Bletilla striata 'Alba' need light shade and a moist, rich, well-drained soil mix. In the greenhouse, we use a soil mix consisting of 2 parts peat moss to 1 part loam to 2 parts coarse sand. To this mix we add bone meal at a rate of 1 cup for each 0.01 cu yards of soil mix. During the growing season, the plants are well watered and allowed to dry slightly before watering again. We fertilize the plant in early spring with a 15-30-15 fertilizer on a weekly basis until after flowering. After flowering, the plants are fertilized with a balanced fertilizer monthly until late fall when water is restricted. The plants are moved to the cool rooms for the winter rest period, and the nighttime temperature is never allowed to fall below 48°F (9°C). During this period, the plants are watered very sparingly. Too much water during this period can cause the tuberous rhizomes to rot.
Propagation: Bletilla striata 'Alba' is propagated by division in early spring before new growth starts. One should not divide clumps too often because they bloom best when crowded.
Bletilla striata 'Alba' was featured as Plant of the Week January 12-18, 2007.
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:cb833af8-84f8-4086-92d9-fe27855b2c98> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week391.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783400572.45/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155000-00121-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93672 | 555 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Graduate students Josh Siegle and Jakob Voigts were planning an ambitious series of experiments at their MIT neuroscience labs in 2011 when they ran into a problem. They needed to record complex brain signals from mice, but they couldn’t afford the right equipment: The recording systems cost upward of US $60,000 each, and they wanted at least four. So they decided to solve their dilemma by building their own gear on the cheap. And knowing that they wouldn’t be the last neuroscientists to encounter such a problem, they decided to give away their designs. Now their project, Open Ephys, is the hub of a nascent open-source hardware community for neural technology.
Siegle and Voigts weren’t knowledgeable about either circuit design or coding, but they learned as they went along. By July 2013, they were ready to manufacture 50 of their recording systems, which they gave to collaborators for beta testing. This spring they manufactured 100 improved units, which are now arriving in neuroscience labs around the world. They estimate that each system costs about $3,000 to produce.
Neuroscience has a history of hackers, Siegle says, with researchers cobbling together their own gear or customizing commercial systems to meet their particular needs. But those new tools rarely leave the labs they are built in. So scientists spend a lot of time reinventing the wheel. The goal of Open Ephys (which is short for open-source electrophysiology) is not just to distribute the tools that Siegle and Voigts have come up with so far but to encourage researchers to put resources into developing open-source tools for the benefit of the whole community. “In addition to changing the tools, we also want to change the culture,” Siegle says.
The flagship tool that Siegle and Voigts developed is an acquisition board, which makes sense of the electric signals from electrodes implanted in an animal’s brain. The board interfaces with up to eight headstages that amplify, filter, multiplex, and digitize signals from the brain, and then sends those signals to a computer for further processing. Commercial systems typically have individual ICs perform each of those four functions, but Siegle and Voigts’s system uses a single microchip for the four steps. The chip was recently developed by Intan Technologies, based in Los Angeles. “Once we realized these chips were available, it seemed kind of silly to keep buying the big systems,” Siegle says.
The president and cofounder of Intan, Reid Harrison, says that shrinking and consolidating the gear wasn’t that complicated—it mostly required initiative. “It’s such a niche market that no one else had tried to miniaturize the technology,” he says. “It’s not exactly on the scale of CPUs and cellphones, which drive most IC technology.” However, Harrison says he recognized a need for his small, multipurpose chips. Neuroscientists are always trying to fit more electrodes into an animal’s brain to record more neural activity, he says, which requires ever tinier devices with the electronics close to the electrodes. “You could put 1,000 electrodes in the brain, but you don’t want 1,000 wires on an animal that’s supposed to be mobile,” he says. The Intan chips take information from up to 64 electrodes and turn it into one digital signal, eliminating the confusion of wiring.
The major neural technology companies have designed products that incorporate Intan’s chips, but they also swear by their larger, multichip systems. Keith Stengel, the founder of Neuralynx, in Bozeman, Mont., says that in his big systems, each component is optimized for peak performance. “A lot of our customers have said that you buy a Neuralynx system for the serious work that you’re going to publish, and then you get an Open Ephys system as a second system, for grad students to start their research on,” he says.
Andy Gotshalk, CEO of Blackrock Microsystems, in Salt Lake City, also argues that the commercial products will continue to be the gold standard. “You’re not going to be moving into FDA clinical trials using an Open Ephys system,” he says. The commercial products come with guarantees of quality and reliability, he says, as well as intensive customer support. Gotshalk says his customers are willing to pay a premium for that backing.
Both Stengel and Gotshalk say they welcome Open Ephys to the market and think that its systems can fill a niche. They’re also willing to work with the upstart to make sure their commercial software works with the Open Ephys hardware. Harrison agrees that the community is happy to have another option to work with, and he draws a parallel to the computing industry. “The existing tools are like the PCs and the Macs of the neuroscience world, but now we also have this Linux,” Harrison says. “It’s a lot less expensive, and you can hack it yourself, but it’s not for everyone.” | <urn:uuid:9a3e4bb6-7418-49ac-84cb-9518af10e593> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/neuroscientists-join-the-opensource-hardware-movement | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00089-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971059 | 1,086 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Plague a growing but overlooked threat: study
By Michael Kahn
LONDON (Reuters) - Plague, the disease that devastated medieval Europe, is re-emerging worldwide and poses a growing but overlooked threat, researchers warned on Tuesday.
While it has only killed some 100 to 200 people annually over the past 20 years, plague has appeared in new countries in recent decades and is now shifting into Africa, Michael Begon, an ecologist at the University of Liverpool and colleagues said.
A bacterium known as Yersinia pestis causes bubonic plague, known in medieval times as the Black Death when it was spread by infected fleas, and the more dangerous pneumonic plague, spread from one person to another through coughing or sneezing.
"Although the number of human cases of plague is relatively low, it would be a mistake to overlook its threat to humanity, because of the disease's inherent communicability, rapid spread, rapid clinical course, and high mortality if left untreated," they wrote in the journal Public Library of Science journal PloS Medicine.
Rodents carry plague, which is virtually impossible to wipe out and moves through the animal world as a constant threat to humans, Begon said. Both forms can kill within days if not treated with antibiotics.
"You can't realistically get rid of all the rodents in the world," he said in a telephone interview. "Plague appears to be on the increase, and for the first time there have been major outbreaks in Africa."
Globally the World Health Organization reports about 1,000 to 3,000 plague cases each year, with most in the last five years occurring in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United States sees about 10 to 20 cases each year.
More worrying are outbreaks seem on the rise after years of relative inactivity in the 20th century, Begon said. The most recent large pneumonic outbreak comprised hundreds of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.
Bubonic plague, called the Black Death because of black bumps that sometimes develop on victims' bodies, causes severe vomiting and high fever. Victims of pneumonic plague have similar symptoms but not the black bumps.
Begon and his colleagues called for more research into better ways to prevent plague from striking areas where people lack access to life-saving drugs and to defend against the disease if used as a weapon.
"We should not overlook the fact that plague has been weaponized throughout history, from catapulting corpses over city walls, to dropping infected fleas from airplanes, to refined modern aerosol formulation," the researchers wrote. (Reporting by Michael Kahn; Editing by Maggie Fox and Ibon Villelabeitia) | <urn:uuid:28a997d3-3748-4e25-94af-fa33c36ec85a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/29289/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00008-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952717 | 558 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Miniature steam engine manufacturer Bohm-Stirling takes pride in making beautiful things. Case in point is its latest promotional video showing how its employees create the small, self-contained steam engines from the ground up, which is done mostly by hand after the parts have been milled by a CNC machine.
The concept of the mini steam engine is a simple one, and has its roots in ancient Egypt when heated air was used to open and close temple doors almost 2,000 years ago. The brass “beehive” that you see the pistons operating from is a a sealed vacuum engine. As the small lamps sitting underneath the engines are lit, the air inside of the stainless steel cylinder is heated causing it to expand. As the piston moves out, it allows the air in the chamber to be cooled rapidly, causing a miniature vacuum environment that sucks the piston back in quickly. The rapid expanding and contracting of the air inside the cylinder creates the locomotion that you saw in the videos from the company. While these items alone would be an amazing present for any geek in your life (including yourself) as a conversation piece, the power that they produce can be harnessed for “useful” pursuits.
Now as you may have guessed, these little engines don’t come with an equally small price tag. The smallest and most popular engine offered by Bohm-Stirling, the “Little Pump” sells for $260, with its most expensive model running north of $1000. More collectors item than utilitarian work horse, a Brohm-Stiriling is made for enthusiasts to place on their desks and marvel at the engineering.
While it’s too late to get one of these for Mom this Mother’s day, Father’s day is right around the corner and the time is ripe to start dropping hints to your loved ones about these magnificent creations. They beat the yearly necktie hands down! | <urn:uuid:7d83c012-60ff-47fa-9139-f063208421e6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/mesmerizing-video-of-the-creation-of-a-miniature-steam-engine-1489357/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393518.22/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950777 | 397 | 3.28125 | 3 |
The current eruption of Kilauea is bringing back old memories for me.
I grew up on the Big Island of Hawaii. Mauna Loa awoke in the early morning hours 24 years ago this week, March 25, 1984.
The 1984 eruption on the 13,680-foot volcano’s southeast flank produced a river of lava that came within four miles of the upper slopes of Hilo before stopping.
I lived in Hilo at the time.
My friends and I joined other residents on Hilo’s bayfront or near the airport runway after dark, studying the suddenly strange-looking mountain looming over the city. The familiar placid evening silhouette was gone. Mauna Loa now had a glowing amber hot spot and a thin finger of orange lava moving downslope through its thick forests.
Twenty-four years ago we had a rare opportunity that even the current eruption does not afford: Two Hawaii volcanoes erupting simultaneously. Turn southeast at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and you’d see clouds lit up by the Kilauea eruption downslope. Turn west, and you could make out the curtain of 160-foot lava fountains upslope on Mauna Loa.
We were regulars at both locations over the three weeks that followed. Meanwhile, the intensely glowing orange finger of lava drew closer to the lights of Hilo each night. Fascination turned to fear. The town buzzed with talk of evacuation.
A friend’s house in upper Hilo was at least a dozen miles away from where the tip of the flow was mowing down vegetation. But sitting in his backyard gazing at the intense orange glow streaming through the forest beyond after dusk, you’d think it was just over the treeline, possibly arriving before morning.
In the end, the gentler slopes of Mauna Loa’s lower elevations slowed the flow’s progression. The eruption ended around the same time, three weeks to the day it began. Hilo returned to its sedate pace. Mauna Loa has been quiet ever since.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory’s most recent Mauna Loa report on March 15 showed no seismic activity or ground swelling—which means no lava is collecting in the mountain’s sizable below-surface reservoir.
One has to wonder, though, how long Mauna Loa will continue to let its younger sibling Kilauea continue to steal all the attention.
The 1984 Mauna Loa lava flow above Hilo city lights. Photo by David Little, courtesy of USGS. | <urn:uuid:f2f597c8-00b1-449d-95fb-f9356c8c6a4b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.hawaiimagazine.com/blogs/hawaii_today/2008/3/27/remembering_Mauna_Loa_eruption | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00020-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95267 | 531 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Create a bulletin board of inspiring quotes by famous women.
Women's History Month, women, quote, quotations, famous quotes
"I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure must be but a challenge to others."
--- Amelia Earhart
"In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do."
--- Dorothea Dix
"I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say -- I never ran my train of the track, and I never lost a passenger."
--- Harriet Tubman
Those are just a few of the inspiring quotes spotlighted on the Women's Words of Wisdom: Thoughts Over Time exhibit on the Web site of the Library of Congress. Share some of the other quotes from famous women that are part of that exhibit. Then challenge students to dig through library (encyclopedias, biographies) and Internet resources to find additional quotes from women.
Create a bulletin board that looks similar to the layout presented on the Women's Words of Wisdom Web site. Combine images gathered from the Internet with thought or talk bubbles in which their quotes are written.
A Few Quote Sources on the Internet
Online Quotation Dictionaries
Challenge students to reflect on one of the quotes on the bulletin board. They might respond to one of these questions:
FINE ARTS: Visual Arts
GRADES K - 4
NA-VA.K-4.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 5 - 8
NA-VA.5-8.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
GRADES 9 - 12
NA-VA.9-12.6 Making Connections Between Visual Arts and Other Disciplines
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
SOCIAL SCIENCES: U.S. History
GRADES K - 4
NSS-USH.K-4.3 The History of the United States: Democratic Principles and Values and the People from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic, and Political Heritage
GRADES 5 - 12
See more Lesson Plans of the Day in our Lesson Plan of the Day Archive. (There you can search for lessons by subject too.)
For additional history lesson plans, see these Education World resources:
Copyright© 2010 Education World
Originally published 02/08/2008 | <urn:uuid:5a35057b-7cd1-4945-ad0b-54e00e1370ef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/dailylp/dailylp/dailylp062.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00178-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.88321 | 605 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Bushrangers attacking a homestead (Tasmaniana Library, SLT)
Bushranging began in Tasmania in the early years of settlement, when near starvation meant convicts were sent into the bush to hunt. Some remained there, living by stealing from or trading with settlers. Their numbers grew as more convicts escaped, and until the 1850s there were many bushrangers. Attempts made to suppress them included a proclamation in May 1814 promising a pardon if they came in by December. Thus they could continue their depredations without fear of punishment for six months, after which many came in; some later returned to the bush.
After two settlers were murdered by bushrangers in 1815, and since there was no Supreme Court in the colony, Lt-Governor Davey proclaimed Martial Law to try bushrangers by court martial. Several were executed before Governor Macquarie revoked Martial Law. Michael Howe's gang was responsible for numerous robberies and raids, but its members were gradually annihilated by death or capture. It was thought bushranging was over, but the brutal treatment at Macquarie Harbour lead to thirteen convicts escaping in 1824, and they formed a gang under Matthew Brady.
In addition to the soldiers sent against the bushrangers, a force of field police was raised composed largely of convict volunteers, motivated by promises of freedom, money, free passages back home or grants of land. Soldiers and police were assisted by male and female Aboriginal trackers, such as Musquito, an Aboriginal convict from New South Wales. He was denied his promised reward of being allowed to return home, and formed his own band of Aboriginal bushrangers. Trained by their leader in the use of firearms, they became a formidable force. Musquito was shot and captured by Tegg, a Tasmanian Aborigine, but Tegg was not given the boat promised him as a reward, so he too took to the bush and led a band of Aboriginal bushrangers. No action was taken against him when he came in, but Musquito was hanged. Some settlers who fought bushrangers became popular heroes, like George Taylor of Valleyfield who captured two of the Brady gang, and Margaret Connell who overpowered a heavily-armed bushranger.
Bushranging continued until the 1850s under leaders like Martin Cash; William Westwood, known as Jacky Jacky, later hanged on Norfolk Island; Timothy Driscoll, alias Dido, a former Point Puer boy; and Daniel Priest, 'the friendly bushranger', who was spared execution by the intercession of several priests and a petition signed by many country people. The most bloodthirsty was John 'Rocky' Whelan, who would shoot then rob his victims. He was hanged, but remarks made by his accomplice, Connolly, about being made a public spectacle, helped influence the abolition of public hanging in Tasmania. Bushranging virtually ceased in 1859, though in 1883 two youths terrorised people in Epping Forest by shooting dead two men and burning a cottage. Both were hanged.
Some bushrangers were murderers and one used torture, but not all were violent or cruel, and they rarely harmed women. They did not rob to amass wealth, but to survive. They became bushrangers because of harsh treatment, for adventure, and in two cases to avoid debtors' prison. Others were deserters from the army or ships. There can be little doubt that the underlying reason was their desire for freedom.
Further reading: R Minchin, Bolters for the bush, Hobart, 1996; The first, the worst?, Hobart, 2001; and Banditti, beware!, Hobart, 2000. | <urn:uuid:e06dec07-cc69-4144-8d9a-fd75391dc38b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/B/Bushranging.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00117-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989341 | 762 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Now that Helicobacter pylori has been identified as a major cause of peptic ulcers, the usefulness of making certain lifestyle changes has been called into question. Still, some lifestyle changes may decrease your production of stomach acid, decrease your susceptibility to peptic ulcers, and help you control your symptoms. Smoking cessation is considered essential in reducing the development and symptoms of peptic ulcers.
Managing Peptic Ulcers
Some studies show that cigarette smokers have a higher risk of peptic ulcers. These studies have also shown that ulcers in cigarette smokers heal more slowly and have a greater chance of recurring. If you smoke, talk to your doctor about ways to help yourself stop.
Heavy alcohol use has been linked to an increased risk of peptic ulcers. Drinking alcohol while you are taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can greatly increase your risk of stomach irritation and peptic ulcer development. Alcohol may also worsen your symptoms if you already have a peptic ulcer.
When to Contact Your Doctor
Always call your doctor if:
H. pylori and peptic ulcers. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse website. Available at: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hpylori/index.aspx. Updated April 30, 2012. Accessed April 29, 2013.
Meurer LN, Bower DJ. Management of Helicobacter pylori infection. Am Fam Physician. 2002;65(7):1327-36.
Peptic ulcer disease. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated April 22, 2013. Accessed April 29, 2013.
Understanding peptic ulcer disease. American Gastroenterological Association website. Available at: http://www.gastro.org/patient-center/digestive-conditions/peptic-ulcer-disease. Published April 23, 2010. Accessed April 29, 2013.
Last reviewed May 2015 by Daus Mahnke, MD
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Copyright © 2012 EBSCO Publishing All rights reserved.
What can we help you find?close × | <urn:uuid:fd0e1037-1401-45ea-bb73-4054ca7f0e96> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mbhs.org/health-library?ArticleId=19983 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396455.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.892284 | 549 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Saint Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal
The sound of the evening Angelus bells floated across the fields and vineyards of Burgundy. It was the second day of the month of May in the year of Our Lord 1806. In the little village of Fain-les-Moutiers a child of destiny was coming into the world, a tiny instrument of God, who would one day be the confidante of the Queen of Heaven to usher in the age of Mary. Her name was Catherine Labouré, the ninth child of a family of eleven.
The following day, the Feast of the Finding of the True Cross, the small child was baptized. All her life she was to have a deep devotion to the Cross of Our Lord. It would not be long before she was to feel the weight of sacrifice with the death of her mother at the age of nine.
Early one morning shortly after her mother's death, a family servant came silently upon the little one standing on her tiptoes, stretching upwards, impelled by love, until she reached the statue of the Blessed Virgin. As she held the statue in her arms and leaned her head against the Madonna, the servant heard the child say: "Now, dear Blessed Mother, now you will be my Mother!"
Catherine received her First Holy Communion at the age of eleven on January 25th, 1818. From that day on, she rose at four o'clock each morning and walked several miles to assist at Mass and to pray for grace and strength before the start of her day's work. Her only desire now was to give herself without reserve to her dear Lord. Never was the thought of Him far from her mind.
By this time Catherine's elder sister, Marie Louise, had left to join the Daughters of Charity, and the little girl who had always been obedient now had to direct and supervise the homestead. She looked after everything: she made the bread, cooked and did the housework, carried daily meals to the workmen in the fields and cared well for the animals.
Once, when she was in the village church, she saw a vision of an old priest saying Mass. After Mass the priest turned and beckoned to her with his finger, but she drew backwards, keeping her eyes on him. The vision moved to a sickroom where she saw the same priest, who said: "My child, it is a good deed to look after the sick; you run away from me now, but one day you will be glad to come to me. God has designs for you. Do not forget it!" At that time, of course, she did not understand the significance of the vision.
As is the European custom, Catherine's father invited various suitors to seek her hand in marriage and always her reply was: "I shall never marry; I have promised my life to Jesus Christ." She prayed, worked, and served the family well until she was twenty-two, when she asked her father's permission to become a Daughter of Charity. He flatly refused, and to distract her, sent her to Paris to work in a coffee shop run by her brother Charles. During the entire year spent there, she maintained her resolve to become the bride of Christ.
Her aunt, Jeanne Gontard, came to Catherine's aid and enrolled her in the finishing school she directed at Chatillon. Since Catherine was a country girl, she was miserable at this fashionable school. One day, while visiting the hospital of the Daughters of Charity, she noted a priest's picture on the wall. She asked the nun who he might be, and was told: "Our Holy Founder, Saint Vincent de Paul." This was the same priest Catherine had seen in the vision. Later, after much persuasion from her Aunt Jeanne, her father granted permission for Catherine to enter the convent.
In January of 1830 Catherine entered the hospice of the Daughters of Charity at Chatillon-sur-Seine. This was just after the Reign of Terror in France, where sacrileges were committed in the name of freedom. Licentious women danced on the main altar of Notre Dame. Even the body of St. Genevieve, the Patroness of France, was desecrated. Saint Vincent de Paul's body had been hidden, but four days after Catherine's entry into the Mother House, his remains were transferred back to his own church with joyous processions and ceremonies.
Shortly after her entrance, God was pleased to grant Catherine several extraordinary visions. On three consecutive days she beheld the heart of Saint Vincent each time under a different aspect. At other times she beheld Our Divine Lord during Mass, when He would appear as He was described in the liturgy of the day.
In 1830 Catherine was blessed with the apparitions of Mary Immaculate to which we owe the Miraculous Medal. The first apparition came on the eve of the feast of St. Vincent, July 19. The mother superior had given each of the novices a piece of cloth from the holy founder's surplice. Because of her extreme love, Catherine split her piece down the middle, swallowing half and placing the rest in her prayer book. She earnestly prayed to St. Vincent that she might, with her own eyes, see the Mother of God.
That night, a beautiful child awoke her from her sleep, saying: "Sister Labouré, come to the chapel; the Blessed Virgin is waiting for you." When Catherine went to the chapel, she found it ablaze with lights as if prepared for Midnight Mass. Quietly, she knelt at the Communion rail, and suddenly heard the rustle of a silk dress. The Blessed Virgin, in a blaze of glory, sat in a chair like that of Saint Anne's.
Catherine rose, then went over and knelt, resting her hands in the Virgin's lap, and felt the Virgin's arms around her, as she said: "God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world."
A pained expression crossed the Virgin's face. "Come to the foot of the altar. Graces will be shed on all, great and little, especially upon those who seek them. Another community of sisters will join the Rue du Bac community. The community will become large; you will have the protection of God and Saint Vincent; I will always have my eyes upon you." (This prediction was fulfilled when, in 1849, Fr. Etienne received Saint Elizabeth Seton's sisters of Emmitsburg, MD, into the Paris community. Mother Seton's sisters became the foundation stone of the Sisters of Charity in the United States.)
Then, like a fading shadow, Our Lady was gone.
Four months passed until Our Lady returned to Rue du Bac. Here are Catherine's own words describing the apparition:
"On the 27th of November, 1830 ... while making my meditation in profound silence ... I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin standing near St. Joseph's picture. Her height was medium and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head was covered with a white veil, which floated over Her shoulders down to her feet. Her feet rested upon a globe, or rather one half of a globe, for that was all that could be seen. Her hands which were on a level with Her waist, held in an easy manner another globe, a figure of the world. Her eyes were raised to Heaven, and Her countenance beamed with light as She offered the globe to Our Lord.
"As I was busy contemplating Her, the Blessed Virgin fixed Her eyes upon me, and a voice said in the depths of my heart: ' This globe which you see represents the whole world, especially France, and each person in particular.'
"There now formed around the Blessed Virgin a frame rather oval in shape on which were written in letters of gold these words: ' O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.' Then a voice said to me: ' Have a medal struck upon this model. All those who wear it, when it is blessed, will receive great graces especially if they wear it round the neck. Those who repeat this prayer with devotion will be in a special manner under the protection of the Mother of God. Graces will be abundantly bestowed upon those who have confidence.'
"At the same instant, the oval frame seemed to turn around. Then I saw on the back of it the letter 'M', surmounted by a cross, with a crossbar beneath it, and under the monogram of the name of Mary, the Holy Hearts of Jesus and of His Mother; the first surrounded by a crown of thorns and the second transpierced by a sword. I was anxious to know what words must be placed on the reverse side of the medal and after many prayers, one day in meditation I seemed to hear a voice which said to me: ' The 'M' with the Cross and the two Hearts tell enough.' "
The Mother of God instructed Catherine that she was to go to her spiritual director, Father Aladel, about the apparitions. At first he did not believe Catherine, but, after two years, approached the Bishop of Paris with the story of the events that had taken place at Rue du Bac. Our Blessed Mother had chosen well Her time for the apparitions as the Bishop at that period was an ardent devotee of the Immaculate Conception. He said that the Medal was in complete conformity with the Church's doctrine on the role of Our Lady and had no objections to having the medals struck at once. The Bishop even asked to be sent some of the first.
Immediately upon receiving them, he put one in his pocket and went to visit Monseigneur de Pradt, former chaplain to Napoleon and unlawful Archbishop of Mechlin who had accepted his office from the hands of the Emperor and now lay dying, defiant and unreconciled to the Church. The sick man refused to abjure his errors and the Bishop of Paris withdrew in defeat. He had not left the house when the dying man suddenly called him back, made his peace with the Church and gently passed away in the arms of the Archbishop, who was filled with a holy joy.
The original order of 20,000 medals proved to be but a small start. The new medals began to pour from the presses in streams inundating France and the rest of the world beyond. By the time of St. Catherine's death in 1876, over a billion medals had been distributed in many lands. This sacramental from Heaven was at first called simply the Medal of the Immaculate Conception, but began to be known as the Miraculous Medal due to the unprecedented number of miracles, conversions, cures, and acts of protection attributed to Our Lady's intercession for those who wore it.
In 1841, the most remarkable miracle occured - the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a wealthy Jewish banker and lawyer and also a blasphemer and hater of Catholicism. M. de Bussieres, gave him a medal, daring him to wear it and say a Memorare. After considerable persuasion he agreed to do so. Not long after, Alphonse accompanied M. de Bussieres to the Church of Sant'Andrea delle Frate to make funeral arrangements for a dear friend. There Alphonse saw a vision of Mary as on the Miraculous Medal. He was converted instantly and immediately begged for Baptism.
Alphonse Ratisbonne later went on to become a priest, taking the name of Father Alphonse Marie. Working for thirty years in the Holy Land, he established several institutions. Out of reverence and gratitude to Our Savior, he built the expiatory sanctuary of the Ecce Homo on the spot where Pilate displayed Jesus to the Jews. So great was the love he had for his people, that he dedicated the remainder of his life, as did his brother, Father Theodore, to work for the conversion of their immortal souls. Among the converts of these two priest brothers were a total of twenty eight members of their own family.
On the last day of 1876, St. Catherine passed to her eternal reward. For the forty-six years from the year of the apparitions until her death, only she and her confessor knew who it was to whom the famous Miraculous Medal was revealed, despite many pressures she received to reveal the secret. The years passed by, Catherine performed daily her mundane and very ordinary tasks of sewing and door keeping, unknown to the world around her, which was buzzing with the miraculous effects of the medal. Because of this humility, she is often called the Saint of Silence. When her body was exhumed for beatification 57 years after her death in 1933, it was found as fresh as the day it was buried. Her incorrupt body can still be seen today at the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity in The Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, 140 Rue du Bac in Paris. | <urn:uuid:12947cc3-f4e2-4f45-abb8-7dbe3cf67283> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.olrl.org/lives/laboure.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399385.17/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00196-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97986 | 2,753 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Northern Virginians Go Solar: Local Efforts for Alternative Energy
(Conservation Currents, Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District)
by Kristine Mosuela, NVSWCD Intern
For as long as we are here, the sun will be here. It has been shining down its energy-rich rays on Earth for millennia, giving us life and warmth and now—a source of renewable energy that technology has enabled us to effectively harness. In only one hour, the earth receives more energy from the sun than the world uses in an entire year.
The first step in making solar power marketable occurred in the 1950s, when Bell Laboratories developed the use of silicon in solar energy capture. It wasn’t until the 1970s energy crisis and the Carter administration that solar power came into the public’s view. The energy climate is not so different today than what it was 40 years ago. With gas prices rising, the economy still crawling out of a recession and the globe warming, developing renewable resource technologies and harnessing the voluminous power of the sun have again captured the interest of many.
Benefits of Solar
The benefits of clean, non-polluting solar power are not only environmental. In addition, solar power is home-grown energy, harvested on-site, which reduces reliance on oil from other countries. Many solar installations work independently of a central power grid, thus solar users enjoy some protection from summer brownouts and other peak power grid problems.
However, startup costs are expensive and solar power is still about three times as costly as electricity produced by natural gas. They are not short-term investments; it takes several years for panels to pay for themselves and they must be maintained, especially after natural disasters, large hail storms or hurricanes. Nevertheless, with costs for solar falling, panels have been proven to be more and more practically and financially beneficial for the typical homeowner.
Photovoltaic vs. Solar Thermal Panels
There are two major types of solar panels: photovoltaic and solar thermal. Photovoltaic cells capture sunlight and directly convert it into electricity which can be used immediately or stored in batteries (for later or night use). PV panels are the type most people are familiar with: we see them on calculators, roadside phones, and lights on school zone speed limit signs.
Solar thermal panels, however, are cheaper and more efficient. Solar thermal panels work by using sunlight to heat liquid or air contained inside the panel. The heated medium can then be used to warm rooms in the house or preheat hot water for the tap. A typical residential solar thermal installation costs less than $10,000 for a mattress-sized panel while a comparable PV installation would cost upwards of $25,000 and cover significantly more roof area.
Federal Incentives and Research
Photovoltaic and other solar panels are becoming more and more affordable and efficient as technology improves and demand rises. In 1977, the U.S. Department of Energy launched the Solar Energy Research Institute, now known as the National Center for Photovoltaics. Since 2002, the DOE has also sponsored a Solar Decathlon, an international competition challenging collegiate teams to “design build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive.” Improving technologies have brought panel prices down dramatically over the last five to ten years.
Although government incentives to go solar are not as generous now as they were in the 1970s, they do still make solar solutions affordable for many homeowners. The federal government offers a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost of the renewable energy system through 2016. In Virginia, residents who applied for a state tax rebate from March 2010 - March 2012 have seen as much as two-thirds the cost of solar thermal installation returned to them, and almost half for photovoltaic installations. However, the tax incentive program for solar has recently ended and in its stead the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) is phasing in the Voluntary Solar Resource Development Fund. Passed in 2011, the Fund allows those who are interested in installing solar to apply for loans. After building up contributions (mainly from customers of investor-owned electric utilities but also regular citizens, and other groups) DMME may begin issuing loans as early as July 2012.
In some areas of the country, companies are offering “solar lease” options for PV panel installations. That is, the company will install PV panels onto a residence at no charge; the homeowner only pays a monthly flat fee of around $50 to lease the panels, plus the cost of any extra electricity needed from the grid at night or for especially hot days. Thus, the cost of the lease and any extra grid power turns out to be the same or less than previous panel-less electricity bills.
Local Efforts to Reduce Costs
The government isn’t the only place to find help making solar installations feasible: many neighborhoods, non-profit organizations and private solar companies have programs encouraging citizens to go solar. In 2006, individuals living in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C. formed the Mt. Pleasant Solar Cooperative. By buying in bulk and facilitating communication between solar-interested neighbors, the Coop reduces the cost and stress of installing PV panels.
In 2010 and 2011, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) sponsored a “Solar Raisers” program. Modeled after a traditional Amish barn raising, Arlingtonians came together to install a fellow Arlington resident’s solar hot water heater, thereby reducing the cost of labor (around $3500). In exchange for the reduced installation cost, the recipient of the solar hot water heater dedicated their labor to the solar raising day. In less than four years, the system paid for itself, as opposed to seven to nine years.
A new partnership to buy photovoltaic solar panels in bulk among Northern Virginia residents has been promoted in 2014 and 2015 by the NOVA Interfaith Solar Co-op, a partnership of Community Power Network, Virginia Sun and Interfaith Power and Light.
With prices going down, things seem to be looking up for new solar energy consumers. Advancements in solar technologies and large-scale manufacturing has brought up demand and thus also competition in the solar industry, domestically and abroad. Large companies like General Electric and Samsung have hopped on the bandwagon developing their solar sectors. Home improvement chains like Lowes and Home Depot are beginning to include solar energy options in their sales. Solar stakeholders organize themselves to advocate for government subsidies to allow companies to make more affordable offers and other solar support. In this way, the solar industry keeps on shining and homeowners interested in capturing the power of sun have a sunny forecast ahead.
Kristine Mosuela is a graduate of William and Mary and a NVSWCD intern. | <urn:uuid:8f861420-3cd4-4081-98e7-ae1b6f8698ec> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/newsletter/solar.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947622 | 1,398 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Defining the new energy equation
For more than a century, we have supplied our customers with affordable and reliable electricity. Our product is considered an essential service. It has also made possible many innovative technologies that enhance our customers’ standard of living. And it has helped keep our local and state economies competitive in the global marketplace.
Providing adequate power was once as simple as balancing supply and demand. Although that is still the core of what we do, times have changed. Today, we face the unprecedented challenge of solving a new energy equation.
During a time of rising and volatile fuel prices, historic environmental challenges and industry restructuring, the demand for electricity continues to grow. With our commitment to sustainability, we must balance the growing demand for power with the investments needed to supply it — while reducing our environmental impact and keeping prices affordable.
This requires new thinking on both the policy and technology fronts.
To meet the growing demand for power, we are investing in a new generation of highly efficient and environmentally advanced power plants, new environmental controls for existing plants, and transmission and distribution system upgrades. Our emphasis on new energy efficiency programs and technologies will help meet growing demand.
We call energy efficiency the “fifth fuel” because it complements coal, nuclear power, natural gas and renewable energy, the four primary sources of electric power for the future. We see it as one of our most promising solutions, because the most environmentally sound, inexpensive and reliable kilowatt‑hour is the one we don’t have to produce. Generating “save‑a‑watts” is just one part of the equation that requires our customers to change how they use electricity. We are looking at ways to help them do that.
UNDERSTANDING THE VARIABLES
Solving the new energy equation means understanding all of its variables. One of the most significant and unpredictable variables is future environmental regulation. Today’s irregular patchwork of federal and state environmental requirements has already prompted substantial investments.
Recognition of global warming as a serious problem has increased the call for regulation of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon. Mandatory carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions are being considered in Congress. When legislation passes, utilities will need to make substantial investments to comply. It is critical that any such carbon regulations be phased in to avoid causing economic disruption and that the affected companies receive emission allowances to defray the cost of compliance.
Our stakeholders, particularly our customers, investors and communities, expect us to play a leading role in shaping a national policy that addresses this national and global challenge. We take that responsibility seriously. Our goal is a policy that will slow the growth of greenhouse gases and then begin to reduce them — while protecting the economy and our customers from price shocks.
Another variable is the prospect of mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) at both the federal and state level. Twenty-two states currently have such standards, which require electric utilities to generate anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of their power from “climate‑friendly” renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal and agricultural waste, over varying periods of time. Congress is evaluating legislative proposals for a national RPS.
As a company focused on sustainability, we have invested in pilot projects involving wind and agricultural waste so that we can gain an understanding of the technologies and costs that would be required on a larger scale before mandatory standards are put in place. Today, we are also the second-largest generator of renewable hydroelectric power in the United States among investor-owned utilities.
Like any other publicly traded company, we have a responsibility to meet our customers’ needs while recovering our investments and earning a good return on those investments for our shareholders. To solve the new energy equation, we must use nuclear, coal, natural gas, renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our strategy for doing so is outlined on the following pages. | <urn:uuid:ee47f205-8e4f-4be2-8fb9-ed6cbffad44e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.duke-energy.com/investors/publications/annual/ar-2006/new-energy-equation/defining/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944966 | 792 | 3.015625 | 3 |
|Home > World News > Article|
Conspiracy theorists, you have a problem. In an effort to silence claims that the Apollo moon landings were faked, European scientists are to use the world's newest and largest telescope to see whether the spacecraft are still on the lunar surface.
For years, doubters have claimed that NASA, the United States space agency, spent billions of dollars faking the landings to convince the world that it had beaten the Soviet Union to the moon. Evidence cited has ranged from the absence of stars on any photographs taken by the astronauts to the way that the Stars and Stripes they planted seemed to flutter in a vacuum.
This month NASA tried to put an end to the controversy by commissioning a definitive account of the evidence for the landings. Days later it dropped the idea after criticism that it was wasting money by taking on the lunatic fringe: naturally, this only boosted claims that the agency was trying to hide something.
Now astronomers hope to kill off the conspiracy theory forever by using the Very Large Telescope (VLT) - by far the most powerful telescope in the world - to spot the Apollo lunar landers.
Operated by European astronomers in the Chilean Andes, the VLT has four mirrors eight metres across linked by optical fibres. It can see a single human hair from 16 kilometres away.
Trained on the moon, such astonishing resolution should enable it to see the base of one or more of the six lunar modules that NASA insists landed on the moon between 1969 and 1972.
Supporters of the conspiracy theory welcomed the news that astronomers were to photograph the landing sites. But Marcus Allen, the British publisher of Nexus magazine and a long-time advocate of the theory, said photographs of the lander would not prove that the US put men on the moon. "Getting to the moon really isn't much of a problem - the Russians did that in 1959," he said. "The big problem is getting people there."
According to Mr Allen, NASA was forced to send robots to the moon and faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans.
The Telegraph, London
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Copyright © 2002. The Sydney Morning Herald.
|advertise | contact us| | <urn:uuid:ea60254a-358c-4f6d-bb3e-917e8fb6f66b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/24/1037697982142.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938201 | 600 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Genetically engineering e. coli bacteria to do cool things is the latest craze in the science world. With advancements in genetics and microbiology, the stuff of science fiction is fast becoming a reality. Biologists and bioengineers at UC San Diego have proven this with the creation of a living neon sign made of e. coli bacteria that will glow based on triggered reactions, completely in unison.
Using semiconductor-enriched carbon nanotubes, researchers have pioneered a technique for creating large-scale, flexible, inexpensive, thin-film transistor “electronic skin.” These stretchy, rugged sheets are the first step in creating wearable computers, intelligent sensors that can treat infections, and computers/books that can be folded up into a jacket pocket.
It turns out that, beyond amazing electrical and thermal properties, the ability to create electricity when struck by light, and a structure that can boost a battery’s capacity by an order of magnitude, graphene can also be used to detect explosives and dangerous chemical leaks. | <urn:uuid:7c399878-62ed-4373-a75f-2f88b4ce4342> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.extremetech.com/tag/sensors/page/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00096-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914619 | 208 | 3.5625 | 4 |
Scientists and policy makers need all the evidence to make informed decisions about medicines but drug research is an area where privacy concerns and transparency are in conflict.
Like all areas of research, trials with positive results are likely to be published but even then half of all trials for the treatments being used today have gone unpublished. Government officials have seen the studies but not the wide community, with some exceptions. GlaxoSmithKline, the world's fourth largest drug company, has committed to share all Clinical Study Reports going back to the foundation of the company, as part of the AllTrials campaign.
There is legislation mandating greater transparency, such as the U.S. law requiring trial results for potential new medicines to be posted on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Since 80% of the medicines prescribed this year came onto the market more than a decade ago, Ben Goldacre, blogger, author and research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, calls for trials from the past to be fully disclosed.
John Castellani, President of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), says mandatory disclosure could affect patient privacy, stifle discovery, and allow competitors or unscrupulous actors to use the information. Threats to patient privacy "will jeopardize patient willingness to participate in clinical trials, which would delay the availability of new therapies.
"The biopharmaceutical industry is firmly committed to enhancing public health through responsible reporting and publication of clinical research and safety information," he writes.
Rather than forcing the issue and allowing too much privacy he says industry is "engaged in a dynamic ongoing process to improve on all aspects of clinical trials" ans that should take its course.
Are regulators not enough?
Would science and medicine be improved if the public, trial lawyers and anti-medicine activists had access to all trial data, or would it lead to more promotion of fear and doubt by advocacy groups exploiting lack of knowledge to advance an agenda? Goldacre sides with more transparency, saying there is greater chance of "real and unnecessary risks" when only regulators see all the information on trials - because problems with evidence are also identified by academics and doctors working outside of regulatory bodies.
He says that Clinical Study Reports – long documents held by regulators and companies on the full methods and results of trials – should be shared publicly, with information about individual patients redacted where necessary. He says that 1.6 million pages of this material have already been shared by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
On the issue of patient privacy, he does not call for individual patient records from trials to be published openly, but does point to several examples of "sensible and cautious sharing of [these] detailed datasets" among professionals.
The problem of missing trials "is one of the greatest ethical and practical problems facing medicine today," writes Goldacre. "The AllTrials movement is driving the solution forwards: patients need industry to engage constructively with this widespread consensus, on the practical details – urgently – so that we can all move on."
Castellani disagrees. Mandatory public disclosure of clinical trial information, without appropriate scientific and clinical context, could undermine patient trust and confidence in the safety and effectiveness of approved medicines, he writes.
He also raises concerns over disclosure of intellectual property, confidential commercial information, and proprietary scientific methods found in clinical trials, saying this "could stifle discovery and open the possibility of competitors or unscrupulous actors using the information for their own products in other markets or countries."
He outlines the huge investment and "considerable risk" involved in the search for new treatments, and concludes that "only a carefully balanced regulatory and competitive environment can foster the future investments in this research necessary to produce new treatments to benefit current and future patients." | <urn:uuid:9e1296bf-f474-4bee-b15f-b0ddd7b1c6ea> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.science20.com/news_articles/glaxosmithkline_embraces_clinical_trial_data_sharing_good_thing-115971 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404405.88/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943932 | 763 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Development of the Agena began in 1956. On February 28, 1959, a Thor-Agena placed Discoverer 1 into the first polar orbit ever achieved by a man-made object. An Agena A carried Discoverer 14 into orbit on August 18, 1960, and sent it back to Earth 27 hours later to become the first satellite recovered in midair after reentry from space. The Agena had primary and secondary propulsion systems. The main engine had a thrust of about 70,000 newtons (N), while the secondary was used for small orbital adjustments. Both engines used liquid propellants and (from the Agena B on) could be restarted in orbit.
Related category• ROCKETS AND LAUNCH VEHICLES
Home • About • Copyright © The Worlds of David Darling • Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy • Contact | <urn:uuid:250ef8cb-9755-41d7-9c33-1480faff2625> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/A/Agena.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00092-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928323 | 171 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Depression and schizophrenia can be triggered by environmental stimuli and often occur in response to stressful life events. However, some people have a higher predisposition to develop these diseases, which highlights a role for genetics in determining a person's disease risk. A high number of people with depression have a genetic change that alters a protein that cells use to talk to each other in the brain. Imaging of people with depression also shows that they have greater activity in some areas of their brain. Unfortunately, the techniques that are currently available have not been able to determine why stress induces pathological changes for some people and how their genetics contribute to disease.
A new mouse model may provide some clues about what makes some people more likely to develop depression after experiencing stress. A collaborative group of European researchers created a mouse that carries a genetic change associated with depression in people. "This model has good validity for understanding depression in the human, in particularly in cases of stress-induced depression, which is a fairly widespread phenomenon" says Dr. Alessandro Bartolomucci, the first author of the research published in the journal, Disease Models and Mechanisms (DMM).
The scientists made genetic changes in the transporter that moves a signaling protein, serotonin, out of the communication space between neurons in the brain. The changes they made are reminiscent of the genetic changes found in people who have a high risk of developing depression.
"There is a clear relationship between a short form of the serotonin transporter and a very high vulnerability to develop clinical depression when people are exposed to increasing levels of stressful life events." says Dr. Bartolomucci, "This is one of the first studies performed in mice that only have about 50% of the normal activity of the transporter relative to normal mice, which is exactly the situation that is present in humans with high vulnerability to depression".
Mice with the genetic change were more likely to develop characteristics of depression and social anxiety, which researchers measure by their degree of activity and their response to meeting new mice. The work from this study now allows researchers to link the genetic changes that are present in humans with decreased serotonin turnover in the brain. It suggests that the genetic mutation impedes the removal of signaling protein from communication areas in the brain, which may result in an exaggerated response to stress.
Dr. Bartolomucci points out that many of the chemical changes they measured occurred in the areas of the brain that regulate memory formation, emotional responses to stimuli and social interactions, which might be expected. "What we were surprised by was the magnitude of vulnerability that we observed in mice with the genetic mutation and the selectivity of its effects".
|Contact: Kristy Kain|
The Company of Biologists | <urn:uuid:2e477116-1c52-4fb9-a441-14e2f4b33098> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-1/Depression-associated-with-sustained-brain-signals-12686-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398216.41/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959378 | 542 | 3.796875 | 4 |
“… Arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling a person’s life, lifting it from the spheres of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.” Albert Einstein
Why Liberal Arts Is So Important at Graceland
A liberal arts education at Graceland develops skills that will last you a lifetime, enhance your career, and help you understand and value the complexity, richness, and diversity of life. Graceland’s liberal arts education:
• Provides a broad foundation of knowledge that lasts a lifetime.
• Expands your social, cultural, and scientific horizons.
• Inspires intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning.
• Instills analytical and communication skills that serve any career.
• Provides an appreciation of divergent world views.
• Prepares you, if you choose, for graduate or professional training in arts and science disciplines, law, or medicine, to name just a few possibilities.
The Graceland University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences fosters the intellectual scope and depth needed to enhance opportunities, live purposeful lives, and participate responsibly and sensitively in a diverse, rapidly changing world.
- Open-Minded Inquiry
- A Healthy Work and Learning Environment
- Personal and Intellectual Engagement | <urn:uuid:8ccfec39-d0ea-4836-b999-27accc165454> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.graceland.edu/academics/college-of-liberal-arts-sciences.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397795.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00043-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.873681 | 263 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Of Sea Serpents, Varroa Mites and Mars
Before Varroa destructor got this rather menacing name, it was called Varroa jacobsoni after its collector by the Dutch zoologist Anthonie Cornelis Oudemans.
This is the wall of Oudemans Crater on Mars. Named after Oudemans (the astronomer) and located right here. (Image: NASA)
Oudemans was the son of the noted astronomer Jean Abraham Chr̩tien Oudemans, who had spent the years between 1857-1875 in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia, more or less), where he Рamong many other things Рpublished six volumes on the triangulation of Java.
Java in turn happens to be the place where Varroa jacobsoni was first found by the collector E. Jacobson, who sent it to Oudemans’ son in the Netherlands, who in turn published its taxonomic description in 1904. Anthonie Oudemans, the son, later donated his collection of 1316 mite species to the Rijksmuseum. His original catalogue can be found here, with Varroa jacobsoni duly mentioned on page 300:
Aside from mites, Oudemans was also interested in larger animals. In 1892, he published The Great Sea Serpent, a study of the many sea serpent reports from around the world. Oudemans concluded that the sightings might refer to a previously unknown large seal, which he dubbed Megophias megophias. His work was later considered to be one of the first in cryptozoology. | <urn:uuid:debcb61f-1c08-4b74-bd65-f6d52199e4d7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theviable.de/2011/10/23/of-sea-serpents-varroa-mites-and-mars/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396872.10/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959252 | 348 | 3.359375 | 3 |
"There is sufficient speed and duration of wind from a uniform direction up there," he said. "That makes for a good wind regime."
When the turbine in Traverse City was developed, Fricke said at the time it was the largest wind generator in North America, supplying power to 400 homes through the local municipal power company, Traverse City Light and Power. However, now it is average sized, and advancements in wind power are growing by leaps and bounds.
"The technology is rapidly changing today," he said. "20-years from now, we will not remember what our energy environment looked like."
In 2001, the two wind generators near the Straits of Mackinaw became the first turbines owned by a private company. Each of the turbines generates enough power for 300 homes, and pays $9,600 a year in rent to Mackinaw City in addition to property taxes.
Rich Vander Veen, the president of Mackinaw Power, is currently in talks to develop a similar project in Marquette.
"The most important thing we can do is save energy and conserve our resources. We need to be more cognizant and recognize our responsibility to lower our carbon footprint," he said. "Energy efficiency keeps money in your pocket, resources in the ground and emissions out of the air."
Electricity generation, which is primarily fueled by coal, is dirty and credited with being the largest industrial polluter in the country. It produces sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, in addition to other toxic metal emissions such as mercury, lead and nuclear waste.
Although wind power is more expensive on a per-kilowatt hour basis than traditional coal powered electricity, Fricke said there are "societal costs" that need to be considered as well. He added that perhaps more expensive energy is not necessarily so bad if it helps people rethink how they use power.
"The common lifestyle people only think about their energy source when they pay their bill once a month, and if their power ever goes out," he said. "More expensive energy will get people to conserve more, and use power more wisely. We can still live a good life this way."
Yet, wind energy is not without its detractors - some residents complain of the low hum produced by the blades.
Karla Dawn, who lives within earshot of the Mackinaw City wind turbines, and has run a dog kennel on the same property for 12 years, said the large apparatuses are a disturbance.
"They need to do more research before they go ahead and put them in residential areas," Dawn said.
Others have also raised concerns about what effect the spinning blades can have on migratory patterns of birds, but the state's DELG research attributed a minimum amount of bird fatalities to wind turbines.
While entrepreneurs continue to push the public toward thinking of energy in cleaner terms, legislators in Lansing have already begun moving in that same direction. But like any political process, it is not without its rough spots and nay-sayers calling for more clear language.
The House recently passed a pair of bills, 5548 and 5549, that would establish a renewable portfolio standard that requires 10 percent of Michigan's power supply to come from renewable energy sources by 2015.
Yet, Hans Detweiler, the manager of state legislation and policy for the American Wind Energy Association, said that while mandating the state use green energy, the legislation as it currently stands is flawed. Detweiler said the bill needs amendments for more stringent benchmarks because currently the state already produces the amount of required energy through 2014.
"The purpose of renewable energy legislation is to increase the amount the state uses," he said. "But House legislation fails to create any additional market. The benchmarks through 2014 are so small that they have already been met, it's essentially an empty marker." | <urn:uuid:43a669c4-76af-4341-8c6c-fbc7e09a5dfe> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://articles.petoskeynews.com/2008-05-23/wind-turbine_24027518 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397842.93/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00190-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965475 | 789 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Dehumanizing or demonizing the other is a particularly common form of moral disengagement, especially during wartime or other types of conflict.
Another moral disengagement mechanism described by psychologist Albert Bandura, it refers to portraying your enemy as less than human, as some sort of vile creature.
During World War II, all factions in the conflict created posters of the enemy as a subhuman monster. In addition, propaganda and feature films of that era–as well as during the Cold War and the Vietnam War–stereotyped, sub-humanized, dehumanized, and demonized the enemy.
Consider this quote: “…[This nation is] aiming at the exclusive domination of the [world], lost in corruption, [characterized by] deep-rooted hatred towards us, hostile to liberty wherever it endeavors to show its head, and the eternal disturber of the peace of the world.”
Who do you think said that? To what nation was he referring?
The answer to the first question is Thomas Jefferson, in 1815, when he was President. The nation in question was Great Britain. Imagine what might have happened if weapons of mass destruction were available back then. Suppose Jefferson, as President, pushed Congress for a preemptive strike against Great Britain. Would a more peaceful world have been achieved?
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology
Note: This post was adapted from my previously published article in Peace Psychology (a publication of the American Psychological Association), Spring, 2009. | <urn:uuid:e0036fd7-8840-47bb-8f84-c95939044a04> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://engagingpeace.com/?p=46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397562.76/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00183-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958114 | 312 | 3 | 3 |
Reading Group Guide
Touchstone Reading Group Guide
Blonde Like Me
1. Blonde Like Me appears to be a book about hair color. But it is really a book about identity. What are we trying to tell the world when we go blonde? Why do so many women choose to go blonde? What are you trying to tell the world when you cut, curl, perm, color, or grow your hair?
2. Fashion is a system of signs. We signal what we are thinking of ourselves and others by what we wear. Quick takes: say what high heels mean, what black leather means, what white lace means, what flat shoes mean. Why do these articles of clothing mean anything? Ask each person in the room to describe what she or he is wearing. Do you all agree? Is that person sending the signals that he wants to send? Is she aware of what she is saying with her clothes?
3. Changing your hair, wearing makeup, even picking out certain kinds of clothing can be a form of self-expression, but can also be a kind of mask. Think about some of the masks you have worn. Did you put them on voluntarily? Were you trying to conform to a cultural standard? Were you trying to avoid something unpleasant?
4. If a woman is trying to tell the world something through her hair color, makeup (or lack of it), and clothing, what might she also be trying to tell herself? Can changing the outer you also change the inner you? If the world treats you differently, do you become...different?
5. On a lighter note, Natalia Ilyin points out that there are different kinds of blondes as well as subsets of those blondes. The possibilities here are endless. What are the distinguishing features of an East-Side-of-Manhattan blonde? A Connecticut blonde? A Texas blonde? A corn-fed Midwest blonde? A Santa Barbara blonde? How are they different? Think of the blondes you know and start making up classifications for them. Then think about why you are classifying them that way! | <urn:uuid:747334f1-2f53-429b-a846-ae8e0e24d126> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://books.simonandschuster.com/Blonde-Like-Me/Natalia-Ilyin/9780684852140/reading_group_guide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961139 | 427 | 2.546875 | 3 |
by Staff Writers
Salinas CA (SPX) Sep 18, 2013
Throughout California's fertile central coast region, fresh spinach is a high-production, high-value crop. Spinach can be finicky, requiring sufficient nitrogen fertilizer and irrigation to ensure ideal growth, and to meet industry quality standards such as its defining deep green color.
These production practices -- combined with a shallow root system and the crop's intensive production cycle -- can increase the potential of detrimental nitrate leaching. Recent water quality monitoring in the region has found widespread incidences of NO3 levels that exceed the Federal Drinking Water standard. As a result, growers have come under increasing pressure to improve crop nutrient use efficiency (NUE), and thereby minimize NO3 losses from production fields.
In an effort to inform future spinach production practices, scientists Aaron Heinrich, Richard Smith, and Michael Cahn evaluated spinach nutrient uptake and water use in the Salinas and San Juan Valleys of California.
The team explained that spinach producers can improve nitrogen use efficiency by applying fertilizer at the optimal time and rate to match crop nitrogen uptake, but that data needed to make these critical fertilizer decisions was not available prior to their study.
"No studies had evaluated high-density planting of clipped or bunched spinach grown on 80-inch beds," said lead author Aaron Heinrich.
"Our study was specifically designed to provide data on the nitrogen uptake characteristics of spinach and to evaluate ways to improve nitrogen fertilizer management."
Heinrich, Smith, and Cahn evaluated grower fertilizer programs, and measured spinach nitrogen uptake over an entire production season with a range of soil conditions, climatic conditions, and cropping histories. They also conducted four replicated fertilizer trials of first -- and second-cropped fields.
"Over the growing season, NO3 levels in the soil can build up due to a combination of unused fertilizer and mineralization of crop residue and soil organic matter," the team reported
"Our evaluations showed that soil NO3 testing can be used to improve the nutrient use efficiency of spinach. We found that soil testing would be most effective in spinach production at two critical points: at-planting, and before the midseason fertilizer application when nitrogen use by spinach greatly increases."
The comprehensive report, including additional implications for nitrogen fertilizer management of fresh market spinach, can be found in the June 2013 issue of HortTechnology.
American Society for Horticultural Science
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology
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|“||[Sufism is] a science whose objective is the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.||”|
|“||a science through which one can know how to travel into the presence of the Divine, purify one’s inner self from filth, and beautify it with a variety of praiseworthy traits.||”|
Sufi Orders or Sufi Brotherhoods are traditionally known as Tariqa. They may be associated with Sunni Islam or Shia Islam, though the major ones, such as the Qādirī and Naqšhbandī orders, are associated with traditional Sunni Islam and are accepted by the majority of 'folk Muslims'.
- 1 Etymology
- 2 Basic views
- 3 History of Sufism
- 4 Sufi Concepts
- 5 Sufi Practices
- 6 Orders of Sufism
- 7 Influences
- 8 Islam and Sufism
- 9 Other Resources
- 10 See also
- 11 References
- 12 Additional Reading
- 13 External links
The conventional view is that the word originates from Template:Lang-ar (sūf), the Arabic word for wool, referring to the simple cloaks the early Muslim ascetics wore. However, not all sufis wear cloaks or clothes of wool. Another etymological theory states that the root word of Sūfi is the Arabic word صفا (safā), meaning purity. This places the emphasis of Sufism on purity of heart and soul.
Others suggest the origin of sufism is from Ašhab as-Sufā ("Companions of the Porch") or Ahl as-Sufā ("People of the Porch"), who were a group of Muslims during the time of the Prophet Mohammad who spent much of their time on the veranda of the Prophet's mosque, devoted to prayer. Yet another etymology, advanced by the 10th century Persian historian Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī is that the word, as sūfīya, is linked with the word sophia, the Greek term for wisdom.
While all Muslims believe that they are on the pathway to God and will become close to God in Paradise — after death and after the "Final Judgment" — Sufis believe as well that it is possible to become close to God and to experience this closeness while one is alive. The chief aim of all Sufis then is to let go of all notions of duality, including a conception of an individual self, and to realize the Divine unity.
Sufis generally teach in personal groups, as the counsel of the master is considered necessary for the growth of the pupil. They make extensive use of parable, allegory, and metaphor, and it is held by Sufis that meaning can only be reached through a process of seeking the truth, and knowledge of oneself. Although philosophies vary among different Sufi orders, Sufism as a whole is primarily concerned with direct personal experience, and as such may be compared to various forms of mysticism .
A significant part of oriental literature comes from the Sufis, who created books of poetry containing the teachings of the Sufis. Some of the more notable examples of this poetry are Attar's Conference of the Birds and Rumi's Masnavi.
History of Sufism
- Main article: History of Sufism
Sufism is generally believed to have originated among Muslims near Basra in modern Iraq, though there is a history of Sufism in Transoxania dating from shortly after the time of Muhammad. From the traditional Sufi point of view, the esoteric teachings of Sufism were transmitted from the Prophet Muhammad, who was taught by God, to those who had the capacity to contain the direct experiential gnosis of God, which was passed on from teacher to student through the centuries. Almost all traditional Sufi schools (or "orders") trace their "chains of transmission" back to Prophet Muhammad via his cousin and son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib. The Naqshbandi order is a notable exception to this rule, as it traces its origin to the first Islamic Caliph Abdullah (Abu Bakr).
Some orientalist scholars believe that Sufism was essentially the result of Islam evolving in a more mystic direction. For example, Annemarie Schimmel proposes that Sufism in its early stages of development meant nothing but the interiorization of Islam. According to Louis Massignon: "It is from the Qur’an, constantly recited, meditated, and experienced, that Sufism proceeded, in its origin and its development."
The Great Masters
The Sufis dispersed throughout the Middle East, particularly in areas previously under Byzantine influence and control. This period was characterized by the practice of an apprentice (murid) placing himself under the spiritual direction of a Master (shaykh, pir or murshid).
Schools were developed, concerning themselves with topics of mystical experience, education of the heart to purify it of baser instincts, the love of God, and approaching God through progressive stages (maqaam) and states (haal). The schools were championed by reformers who felt their core values and manners were threatened, as the material prosperity of society seemed to them to be eroding the spiritual life.Uwais al-Qarni, Harrm bin Hian, Hasan al-Basri and Sayid ibn al-Mussib are regarded as the first mystics among the "Taabi'een" in Islam. Rabia al-Basri was a female Sufi and known for her love and passion for God. Junayd al-Baghdadi was among the first theorists of Sufism; he concerned himself with fanā and baqā, the state of annihilating the self in the presence of the divine, accompanied by clarity concerning worldly phenomena derived from the altitude of that perspective.
Mevlânâ Celaleddin-i-Rumi (Jalāl-e-Dīn Rūmī, Balkh, 30 September 1207 - Waksh , 17 December 1273 - Konya) is known as Rumi in the West. He was a universal mystic and a devout Muslim. His way of sufism teaches unlimited tolerance, positive reasoning, goodness, charity and awareness through love. The Mevlevi order was formalized and propagated by his son Sultan Walad and the scribe of the Mathnawi, Husamaddin Chalabi.
- "So long as my life persists, I'm the servant of the Qur'an"</br >
- "A dust on the path of Muhammad, the Chosen,"</br >
- "If one conveys contrary to my words,"</br >
- "Disgusted I am from the conveyor and from the conveyed."
It has been suggested that Sufism was later influenced by Hindu, Sikh, and Buddhist culture when Islam was introduced in South Asia.
The Chishti order was founded by Abu Ishaq al-Shami ("the Syrian") who brought Sufism to the town of Chisht, now Afghanistan. The Chishti Order was first introduced in India by Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti (1143-1223 AD) and is the oldest known order.
The dates of the founding of the orders are as follows:[Reference needed]
- Chishti Order (India and Pakistan) (1143-1223 AD),
- Suhrawardi Order (India and Pakistan) (1234-1335 AD), Iraq (13th century)
- Mevlevi Order (Turkey) (1273),
- Qadriya Order (Iraq) (1430-1517 AD),
- Naqshbandi Order (Afghanistan) (d.1642 AD),
- Nimatullahi Order (Iran) (at the end of the 14th century AD),
- Rifa'iyya Order (Iraq) (12th century)
- Shadhiliyya Order (Egypt)(15th century)
- Shattari Order (India and Pakistan) (d.1485 AD)
- Bektashi Order (Turkey and Balkans) (13th century AD)
- Tijaniyyah Order (Morocco) (1739-present)
Formalization of Philosophies
Al Ghazali's treatises, the "Reconstruction of Religious Sciences" and the "Alchemy of Happiness," argued that Sufism originated from the Qur'an and was thus compatible with mainstream Islamic thought and theology. It was around 1000 CE that early Sufi literature, in the form of manuals, treatises, discourses and poetry, became the source of Sufi thinking and meditations.
Propagation of Sufism
Sufism, during 1200-1500 CE, experienced an era of increased activity in various parts of the Islamic world. This period is considered as the "Classical Period" or the "Golden Age" of Sufism. Lodges and hospices soon became not only places to house Sufi students, but also places for practicing Sufis and other mystics to stay and retreat.
Professor Victor Danner, in his book "The Islamic Tradition," writes that:
|“||Sufism has influenced the spiritual life of the religion to an extraordinary degree; there is no important domain in the civilization of Islam that has remained unaffected by it.||”|
The propagation of Sufism started in Baghdad, and spread to Persia, India, North Africa, and Spain. There were tests of conciliation between Sufism and other Islamic sciences (Sharia, Fiqh, etc.), as well as the beginning of the Sufi Brotherhoods (Turuq).
One of the first orders to originate was the Yasawi order, named after Khwajah Ahmed Yesevi in modern Kazakhstan. The Kubrawiya order, originating in Central Asia, was named after Najmeddin Kubra, known as the "Saint-producing Shaykh," because a number of his disciples became Shaykhs. The most prominent Sufi master of this era is Abdul Qadir Jilani, the founder of the Qadiriyyah order in Iraq. Others included Rumi, founder of the Mevlevi order in Konya, modern day Turkey, Sahabuddin Suharwardi in Iran, Moinuddin Chishti and Makhdoom Ashraf in India.
Mujaddid Alf Sani, a 17th century reformer of the Naqshbandi order, is also a seminal personality in the propagation of Sufism, as he began a movement that aimed to purify Islam of pantheist influence by returning to its basic sources (Quran and Sunna), while maintaining the integrity of its spiritual dimension.
Expansion of Islam and Sufism
Sufism is flexible in terms of religious materiality. This characteristic of Sufism attracted the nomadic people of mid-western Asia (mainly the current Iranic and Turkic republics of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan). Sufism also spread quickly among the Anatolian and Azerbaijani Turkmen and among the Balkan peoples of modern Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria.
The mystics of Khorasan, like Ahmad Yasavi and Hajji Bektash Wali, were influential in the spread of Sufi Islam first in Asia Minor and then in Eastern Europe as the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks extended their empires.
One of the first Western Sufis to return to Europe as an official representative of a Sufi path, and with the specific purpose to spread Sufism in Western Europe, was the Swedish-born wandering Sufi Abd al-Hadi Aqhili (1869-1917). Important Sufis alive today include Nader Angha, Nazim al-Qubrusi, Keller, Hamza Yusuf,and Muzaffer Ozak. These individuals have in some measure been responsible for the continued introduction and spread of the Sufi path in the modern West.[Reference needed]
Sufism also is popular in such African countries as Senegal, where it is seen as a mystical expression of Islam in Senegal. Mbacke suggests that one reason Sufism has taken hold in Senegal is because it can accommodate local beliefs and customs, which tend toward the mystical.
In Pakistan, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi appeared to be very well known sufi, who rendered great services to propagate Sufism. Gohar Shahi was the first ever Muslim Spiritualist who was invited by almost all religions to deliver speech in their place of worships. He toured the world and delivered the message of Divine Love without any discrimination of caste, creed, nation or religion. Gohar Shahi was in favor of divine love and considers it most important for an approach to God and no discrimination of caste, creed, nation or religion is accepted for Divine Love of God as every human has been gifted with an ability to develop spiritual power to approach to the essence of God.
- Main article: Sufi philosophy
The Six Subtleties
Realities of The Heart: Drawing from Qur'anic verses, virtually all Sufis distinguish Lataif-e-Sitta (The Six Subtleties), Nafs, Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi & Akhfa. These lataif (singular : latifa) designate various psychospiritual "organs", or faculties of sensory perception.
Sufic development involves the awakening of these spiritual centers of perception that lie dormant in an individual. Each center is associated with a particular color and general area of the body, often with a particular prophet, and varies from order to order. The help of a guide is considered necessary to help activate these centers. After undergoing this process, the dervish is said to reach a certain type of "completion."
The person gets acquainted with the lataif one by one by Muraqaba (Sufi meditation), Dhikr (Remembrance of God) and purification of one's psyche of negative thoughts, emotions, and actions. Loving God and one's fellow, irrespective of his or her race, religion or nationality, and without consideration for any possible reward, is the key to ascension according to Sufis.
These six "organs" or faculties: Nafs, Qalb, Ruh, Sirr, Khafi and Akhfa, and the purificative activities applied to them, contain the basic orthodox Sufi philosophy. The purification of the elementary passionate nature (Tazkiya-I-Nafs), followed by cleansing of the spiritual heart so that it may acquire a mirror-like purity of reflection (Tazkiya-I-Qalb) and become the receptacle of God's love (Ishq) and illumination of the spirit (Tajjali-I-Ruh). This process is fortified by emptying of egoic drives (Taqliyya-I-Sirr) and remembrance of God's attributes (Dhikr), and completion of journey by purification of the last two faculties, Khafi and Akhfa.
Although there is no consensus with regard to Sufi cosmology, one can disentangle at least two different cosmographies: Ishraqi visionary universe as expounded by Suhrawardi Maqtul, and Neoplatonic view of cosmos cherished by Islamic philosophers like Ibn Sina and Sufis like Ibn Arabi. All these doctrines (each one of them claiming to be impeccably orthodox) were freely mixed and juxtaposed, frequently with confusing results – a situation one also encounters in other esoteric doctrines.
- Main article: Dhikr
Dhikr is the remembrance of God commanded in the Qur'an for all Muslims. To engage in dhikr is to have awareness of God according to Islam. Dhikr as a devotional act includes the repetition of divine names, supplications and aphorisms from hadith literature, and sections of the Qur'an. More generally, any activity in which the Muslim maintains awareness of God is considered dhikr.
Some Sufi orders engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies, the liturgy of which may include recitation, singing, instrumental music, dance, costumes, incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance. (Touma 1996, p.162).
- Main article: Muraqaba
Muraqaba is the Sufi word for meditation. Literally it means "to watch over", "to take care of", or "to keep an eye". Metaphorically, it implies that with meditation, a person watches over or takes care of his spiritual heart (or soul), and acquires knowledge about it, its surroundings, and its creator.
- Main article: Qawwali
Qawwali is a form of devotional Sufi music common in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afganistan, Iran and Turkey. It is known for its secular strains. Some of its modern-day masters have included Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Sabri Brothers. Amir Khusro, a disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya, of the Chishti Order, is credited with inventing Qawwali in the 14th century.
- Main article: Sama
Sama or Sema' (Arabic "listening") refers to Sufi practices which can involve music and dance (see Sufi whirling). In Uyghur culture, this includes a dance form also originally associated with Sufi ritual. See Qawwali origins and Origin and History of the Qawwali, Adam Nayyar, Lok Virsa Research Centre, Islamabad, 1988.
- Main article: Khalwa
Khalwa refers to a form of retreat, once widespread but now less common. A khalwa may be prescribed by the shaykh (spiritual advisor) of the murid or talib (student). Muslims believe that most of the prophets, and also Maryam (Mary) the mother of Issa (Jesus), lived in some form of seclusion at some point in their life. Prophet Muhammad, for example, used to retreat to the cave on Mount Hira where he received his first revelation – but had been going there for many years prior to his meeting with the angel Gabriel. Similar examples include Moses' going into seclusion for 40 days in a cave in Mt. Sinai. Mary was in seclusion in the Jewish temple for a year, where only Zakariya was permitted to see her.
Sufism has produced a large body of poetry in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu which notably includes the works of Sultan Bahu, Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, Ibn Arabi, Farid Ud-Din Attar, Bulleh Shah, Amir Khusro, Yunus Emre, Bhittai, Muhammad Iqbal as well as numerous traditions of devotional dance, such as Sufi whirling, and music, such as Qawwali.
Orders of Sufism
- Main article: Tariqa
The traditional Sufi orders emphasise the role of Sufism within Islam. Therefore, the Sharia (traditional Islamic law) and the Sunnah (customs of the Prophet) are seen as crucial for any Sufi aspirant. Among the oldest and most well known of the Sufi orders are the Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Suhrawardi, Chisti, Shadhili,Jerrahi and Nimatullahi. One proof traditional orders assert is that almost all the famous Sufi masters of the past Caliphates were experts in Sharia and were renowned as people with great Iman (faith) and excellent practice. Many were also Qadis (Sharia law judges) in courts. They held that Sufism was never distinct from Islam and to fully comprehend and practice Sufism one must be a practicing Muslim obeying the Sharia.
For a longer list of Sufi orders see: Sufi orders.
Non-Traditional Sufi Groups
In recent decades there has been a growth of non-traditional Sufi movements in the West. Some examples are Universal Sufism movement, the Golden Sufi Center, the Sufi Foundation of America, the Blaketashi Darwishes, Universalist Sufis and Sufism Reoriented.
Some researchers find influences in Sufism from pre-Islamic and non-Islamic schools of mysticism and philosophy such as Neoplatonism. Some of these perspectives originate from the synthesis of Persian civilization with Islam, an emphasis on spiritual aspects of Islam, and the incorporation of ideas and practices from other mysticisms into Islam. [Reference needed]The same has been said of Buddhism and ancient Egyptian spiritual practices. [Reference needed] However, most Muslim theologians disagree with this.
Islam and Sufism
Sufism emphasises non quantifiable matters (like states of the heart). The authors of various Sufi treatises often used allegorical language which couldn't be read by an unknowledgeable person to describe these states (eg. likened some states to intoxication, which is forbidden in Islam). This usage of indirect language and the existence of interpretations by people who had no training in Islam or Sufism led to doubts being cast over the validity of Sufism as a part of Islam. Also, some groups emerged that considered themselves above the Sharia and discussed Sufism as a method of bypassing the rules of Islam in order to attain salvation directly. This was disapproved of by traditional scholars. An example of such a deviant sufi was Abu Hilman. One of the most vocal critics of such deviations from the Islamic creed was Ibn Taymiya.
Traditional Islamic Schools of Thought and Sufism
Islam traditionally consists of a number of groups. The two main divisions are the Sunnis and the Shia. Shia and Sunni Islam consist of a number of schools of legal jurisprudence (called Madhabs). Majority of Sunni muslim scholars today follow one or more of the four major madhabs viz Hanafi, Shafi, Maliki and Hanbali. Sufis do not define Sufism as a madhhab — what distinguishes a person as a Sufi is practicing Sufism, usually through association with a Sufi order. In this sense, traditional practitioners of Sufism don't see it as an exclusive group but just as a form of training necessary to cultivate spirituality and Ihsan in their lives. Thus, sufis can be from shias or sunnis following any of the schools of jurisprudence.
W. Chittick explains the position of Sufism and Sufis this way:
In short, Muslim scholars who focused their energies on understanding the normative guidelines for the body came to be known as jurists, and those who held that the most important task was to train the mind in achieving correct understanding came to be divided into three main schools of thought: theology, philosophy, and Sufism. This leaves us with the third domain of human existence, the spirit. Most Muslims who devoted their major efforts to developing the spiritual dimensions of the human person came to be known as Sufis.
The relationship between traditional Islamic scholars and Sufism is complicated due to the variety of views held among them. Many traditional scholars, such as Al-Ghazali, helped its propagation while certain medieval scholars, such as Ibn Taymiyyah, opposed it as an innovation.
Islamic Positions on Non-Islamic Sufi Groups
The use of the title Sufi by many groups to refer to themselves and their use of traditional Sufi masters (notably Jalaluddin Rumi) as sources of inspiration as well as the existence of interpretations of classical Sufis texts by people who have no grounding in traditional Islamic sciences has created a group of non-Islamic Sufis. These are considered by certain conventional Islamic scholars as beyond the pale of the religion, however, Sufis often allow a higher degree of forbearance.Template:Syn
Criticism of Sufism
- Sufi masters have introduced many special prayers and devotional acts into their schools.
- The allegorical and often abstruse language used by Sufis in their texts when interpreted by unqualified people opens avenues for many misunderstandings. As an example, some critics consider the concept of divine unity Wahdat-ul-wujood equivalent to pantheism and therefore incompatible with Islam. Sufi masters in many of their introductory texts caution aspirants from reading and interpreting texts by themselves. They hold that the subject can only be taught by a master to a student under strict guidance and supervision owing to its delicate nature. This discussion only scratches the surface of a very involved and subtle issue.
- Gohar Shahi was heavily criticized by orthodox theological scholars in Pakistan and abroad. Shahi's books were banned by the Government of Pakistan,. public meetings are not allowed to his followers and no press coverage is allowed to either Gohar Shahi or to his followers due to charges of blasphemy law violations. Several cases were filed against Gohar Shahi and his followers. Many attempts were made on Shahi's life including a petrol bomb attack, thrown into his Manchester residence, and an attack with a hand grenade during the discourse at his home in Kotri, Pakistan. A high price tag was put on his head in Pakistan. Shahi's books were banned by the Government of Pakistan, public meetings are not allowed to his followers and no press coverage is allowed to either Gohar Shahi or to his followers due to charges of blasphemy law violations. Several cases were filed against Gohar Shahi and his followers. Gohar Shahi was booked in 1997 on alleged charges of murdering a woman who had come to him for spiritual treatment; Gohar Shahi, and many of his followers, were later convicted under Islamic blasphemy laws by an antiterrorist court in Sindh. Gohar Shahi was convicted in absentia—as then he was in England—resulting in sentences that totaled approximately 59 years. Gohar Shahi died abroad, prior to any decision on appeals filed with the High Court of Sindh.
- 'Mediation of the Shaikh' by Abu Anees Muhammad Barkat Ali
- Sufism in a Nutshell
- Dar-Sirr.com: Portal to Moroccan Sufism
- Adab (the Conditions and Etiquette) for Initiation into the Nimatullahi Sufi Path
- List of Sufi orders
- List of Sufism related topics
- Sufi rock
- Sufi metaphysics
- How would you respond to the claim the Sufism is bida?
- Haddad, Gibril Fouad: Sufism in Islam LivingIslam.org: http://www.livingislam.org/k/si_e.html
- Sufism, Sufis, and Sufi Orders: Sufism's Many Paths
- Shushud, Hasan. Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia, Coombe Springs Press
- Massignon, Louis. Essai sur les origines du lexique technique de la mystique musulmane. Paris: Vrin, 1954. p. 104.
- Simsekler, Nuri; History of Mevlevi Sufism; in Çitlak, M. Fatih and Bingül, Hüseyin; Rumi and his Sufi Path of Love(2007); New Jersey; The Light, Inc. ISBN-13:978-1-59784-078-1
- Rumi, Diwan-e Shams-e Tabrizi, Rubaiyyat No. 133
- Esposito, John L. "Islam - The Straight Path" , Pg 102. Oxford University Press, Inc. 1998. ISBN 0-19-511233-4
- Sufism,Sufism in Islam,Origin of Sufism in Islam Religion,Sufi Orders In Islam
- Hourani, Albert. "A History of the Arab Peoples, Harvard University Press, 1991. ISBN 0-674-39565-4
- Victor Danner - "The Islamic Tradition: An introduction." Amity House. February 1988.
- Shushud, Hasan. Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia, Coombe Springs Press
- "Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal," Babou, Cheikh Anta, The International Journal of African Historical Studies, v. 40 no1 (2007) p. 184-6
- Sufism and Religious Brotherhoods in Senegal, Khadim Mbacke, translated from the French by Eric Ross and edited by John Hunwick. Princeton, N.J.: Markus Wiener, 2005.
- Divine Light in the Dark
- Realities of THe HEart Lataif
- 20th WCP: The Neoplatonist Roots of Sufi Philosophy
- Abd al-Qahir al-Baghadadi
- Sufism is not Islam: A Comparative Study ISBN 8186030352 http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDE944/
- Did ibn Arabi believe in pantheism? is pantheism outside of the shariah?
- the other side of salafism
- Pakistan's Supreme Court upholds ban on a Shahi disciple's book
- 10 held for raising slogans in favour of Gohar Shahi
- Attempts made on Gohar Shahi
- Gohar Shahi Chief of ASI
- Int’l Religious Freedom Report - May, 2001
- Country Reports on Human Rights Practices by United States of America
- "The Man in the Moon" by Ardeshir Cowasjee
- U.S. State Department Religious Freedom Report 2000
- Al-Badawi, Mostafa. Sufi Sage of Arabia. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005.
- Ali-Shah, Omar, The Rules or Secrets of the Naqshbandi Order, Tractus Publishers, 1992, ISBN 978-2-909347-09-7.
- Arberry, A.J.. Mystical Poems of Rumi, Vols. 1&2. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1991.
- Austin, R.W.J.. Sufis of Andalusia, Gloustershire: Beshara Publications, 1988.
- Awakening of the Human Spirit, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
- Bewley, Aisha. The Darqawi Way. London: Diwan Press, 1981.
- Burckhardt, Titus. An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine. Lahore: 1963.
- Colby, Frederick. The Subtleties of the Ascension: Lata'if Al-Miraj: Early Mystical Sayings on Muhammad's Heavenly Journey. City: Fons Vitae, 2006.
- Ernst, Carl. The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. Boulder: Shambhala, 1997.
- Jean-Louis Michon. The Autobiography (Fahrasa) of a Moroccan Soufi: Ahmad Ibn `Ajiba (1747-1809). Louisville: Fons Vitae, 1999.
- Lewinsohn (ed.), The Heritage of Sufism, Volume I: Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-1300).
- Nurbakhsh, Javad, What is Sufism? electronic text derived from The Path, Khaniqahi Nimatullahi Publications, London, 2003 ISBN 0-933546-70-X.
- Schuon, Frithjof. Sufism: Veil and Quintessence. Bloomington: World Wisdom, 1981. ISBN 0941532003
- Schuon, Frithjof. Esoterism as principle and way. London: Perennial Books, 1981. ISBN 0900588233
- Shah, Idries, The Sufis, (1971) ISBN 0-385-07966-4.
- Shah, Idries, The Way of the Sufi, (1991) ISBN 0-14-019252.
- Stoddart, William. Sufism: the mystical doctrines and methods of Islam. London, 1976. | <urn:uuid:b25885d8-d496-4df0-84a1-b1206c80349c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://creationwiki.org/Template:User_Sufi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00006-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946753 | 6,855 | 3.0625 | 3 |
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“An environmental victory is in some ways an absence – a road not built, a mine averted, a hotel relocated, a golf course avoided. We are used to the presence of a natural resource – while it persists, it’s unremarkable. An environmental victory is always temporary – no matter how solid the case, how overwhelming the public support – at some point in the future, an attempt will be made to reverse it….
“Environmental defeats, though, are glaring – forests razed, rivers “trained,” sand dunes destroyed, beaches scraped clean, wetlands laid waste. And despite the promise of the relatively new science of restoration ecology, such defeats are mostly permanent.
“On the doorstep to the city of Kingston in September 2010, you can see an environmental defeat. The Palisadoes spit, that jointed arm that holds Kingston Harbour in loose embrace, has been bulldozed… At this point, it appears that the entire spit will be denuded of all vegetation, its beaches compacted, sand dunes destroyed, the few struggling strands of mangroves obliterated in order to construct or expand (it’s not entirely clear which) an utterly unnecessary road.“
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When the existence of the Gömböc shape was discovered in 2007 by Hungarian scientists Gábor Domokos and Péter Várkonyi, it solved a long standing mystery. For years mathematicians had discussed, debated and tried to prove its existence using mathematical equations. Vladimir Arnold, a Russian scientist, had conjectured its existence, but it took a decade to prove it conclusively and create the shape. The New York Times called the discovery “one of the best ideas of the year.” Like in many other mathematical developments, Maple also played a role in creating the Gömböc.
A Gömböc is a convex three-dimensional homogeneous body which, when resting on a flat surface, has just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium. The Gömböc shape is not unique; it has countless varieties, most of which are very close to a sphere and all have very strict shape tolerance (less than 0.1 mm per 10 cm). The most famous solution has a sharpened top as shown in the figure.
If you put a Gömböc down on a flat surface, resting on its stable equilibrium point, it will stay in the same position. "Even if you kick it a little, it will come back to its resting position at the stable equilibrium point," says Domokos, one of the inventors of Gömböc. If it is put down at a non-equilibrium point it will start rolling around in a systematic way until it has reached the stable equilibrium position. In other words, the Gömböc is self-righting¹. In fact, Wired Magazine calls it the “world’s first self-righting object.”
Gömböc has found an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as “the first homogenous self-righting shape.” The Natural History Magazine illustrates that “the secret is in the mathematics of its shape.”
The invention of Gömböc is the culmination of a long process of mathematical research and Maple, the mathematical computation engine from Maplesoft, played an important role in its discovery. The yet-undiscovered shape was known to be a convex mono-monostatic object — a three-dimensional object, which because of its geometry had only one possible way to balance upright. Domokos and Várkonyi identified a two-parameter family of objects, all of which had the desired mono-monostatic property. However, not all of them were convex. Maple was used to identify the convex shapes and thus prove the existence of the shape. The process involved a large amount of complex, precise mathematical computation, and Maple’s symbolic computation power made it possible.
“The final geometry of Gömböc had to be determined with great accuracy, which meant the details were critical and we couldn’t afford to miss any,” said Domokos. “Maple was very useful in this regard. Using Maple made the calculations more thorough and secure; its computational power can calculate and explore very sensitive details. So it was a trusted companion in our discovery process.”
Speaking of the popularity of the Gömböc and the attention it received from the scientific and mathematical community around the globe, Domokos said, “The beauty of Gömböc is its absolute simplicity. It is so simple that high school students can understand it, but it has potentially great impact on the sciences and has several applications in nature. Yet the answer was elusive for 2000 years.”
Taking their discovery into the world of natural science, Domokos and Várkonyi discovered a unique application of Gömböc among tortoises. They conducted an extensive study of tortoises using complex three-dimensional models of the shell, created in Maple. Using these models, they discovered that, of the 200 species of turtles in nature, two species had Gömböc-shaped shells. This meant that these turtles had a unique evolutionary advantage in that they had the ability to self-right. “I saw that they were acting like Gömböcs!” exclaimed Domokos. Being on their back is a vulnerable and dangerous position for any tortoise. The male tortoise is known to turn over their rivals on their back in an attempt to render them helpless. So any tortoise that has the ability to get back on its belly, under gravity, without having to use its muscle, has a unique advantage, and more power. “It is the Gömböc shape of their shell that gives them this power. This is a classic example of evolution finding the optimal shape for survival,” observed Domokos.
Continuing his research, Domokos is currently involved in studying the shape of beach pebbles. His research with Gary Gibbons from Cambridge University attempts to describe the shape of pebbles, and the evolution of their shape. They are also trying to understand the interaction between pebbles in their collective evolution. Using Maple, Domokos was able to study a system of integrable differential equations. Solving the equation systems gives him unique insights that he otherwise may have missed. He is also studying the balance of friction and collisions in the abrasion process which results in what is called dominant pebble ratios, a phenomenon that makes pebbles in a certain geographical area display similar global geometrical features. Domokos is using Maple to determine the critical friction coefficients which are responsible for the emergence of dominant pebble ratios.
Understanding shapes in nature is becoming increasingly important, both on earth and off it. Recently, NASA’s Curiosity rover sent back images from the surface of Mars that showed an ancient riverbed. The size and shape of the pebbles indicate that water flowed on Mars billions of years ago, and by studying the images of the rock, scientists will be able to learn more about the speed and size of the ancient flow of water.
As Domokos continues his research into mathematical shapes and the discovery of natural and scientific phenomenon based on these shapes, Maple will continue to play a significant role in his research. “Maple is my favorite computational tool, it is simple and powerful,” says Domokos. “We are surrounded by geometrical shapes which our brains are not wired to understand. Shapes like Gömböc open a new language to understand such shapes.”
Gömböcs are available for purchase at the Gömböc web store in different material and sizes.
¹ Quoted from the article The story of the Gömböc in Plus Magazine | <urn:uuid:7366ed29-b655-419a-abe4-04099961bd3a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news/2013/04/maple-helps-discover-mathematics-based-g%C3%B6mb%C3%B6c-shape | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964241 | 1,385 | 3.890625 | 4 |
I recently saw this TED Talk: Joshua Foer: Feats of memory anyone can do. Personally I think that the talk was titled badly. It sounds great: Memory Feats!
But, while the talk was about memory feats, it seemed to be about something much more important - how we can all consciously use our memories better.
My students have TERRIBLE memories. I try to tell them things and I can't understand why they don't remember them. But, Joshua Foer makes it really clear and for a reason that I should have realized myself. Students don't remember things because they aren't really paying attention.
Attention span is such a huge discussion point in education. In my credential program we learned that attention span grows about one minute per year and tops out at about 12 minutes. That's why I try to keep my talking to the class as short as possible. But, how do we engage them from the beginning in listening? How do we make it clear that what we are saying matters?
Here's the failing that I see on my side, on the teacher's side: I have been under the failed assumption that students already KNOW that what I'm saying to them is important. But, that doesn't make any sense at all. Even when I stop to think about it for a second I realize that's wrong.
Example: I'm watching television, my wife wants me to help her figure out what we're going to have for dinner. My brain is engaged in the show, but subconsciously I know that I should give her the benefit of the doubt that what she has to say is important. However, it's still really hard to pull myself away from one thing to focus on another.
IS THERE A SOLUTION? Can we train our students somehow, at the beginning of the school year, to recognize the importance of what we have to say? Can we also train ourselves to make sure to only say things that are important? It's a fine line to walk and it's a lot to ask, of both sides. | <urn:uuid:48e9575e-84a4-4580-9606-2b5722b96f7f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://jrussellteacher.blogspot.com/2012/05/paying-attention-makes-memories-last.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394414.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00068-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987273 | 419 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Æthelflæd (ĕˈthəlflĕd, ăˈthĕlflăd) [key] or Ethelfleda –flēˈdə, d. 918, daughter of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and wife of Æthelred, ealdorman [alderman or earl] of Mercia. After her husband's death in 911, she ruled the semi-independent Mercia alone. Campaigning with her brother, Edward the Elder, she helped to recover the Danish-held lands S of the Humber River. After her death Mercia became part of the kingdom of Wessex.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:365e92d6-3eae-4ea3-90d7-77cd4f72a9cf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.factmonster.com/encyclopedia/people/aethelflaed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00133-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.890137 | 166 | 2.625 | 3 |
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