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TRADITIONAL CHILDREN’S GAMES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: ANALOGIES
Games such as marbles, knucklebones, triangle, hopscotch and ring-based games are played in modern times in Mediterranean countries, but they date back to the 5th century BC, and are mentioned by Alcibiades. Taking as a basis these interesting facts, we decided to investigate further and sought out specialist articles and books on traditional children's games. The similarity of games in Mediterranean countries would seem to be due to a shared culture, but can the analogies detected be confirmed from the perspective of social sciences and sciences of physical activity? Due to such a large body of documentation and the number of authors with specialist knowledge in games, we have selected those that we feel make the most solid epistemological contribution. We have specifically chosen researchers who could best guide us in terms of interculturality in traditional children's games, ranging from eminent classical historians to the most well-known modern-day folklorists. Analysing the factors that have led to the development of Mediterranean culture, it becomes clear that the human race is simply the product of the constant mixing of human beings. The world of play may also be the result of an individual's biological, sociomotional and contextual characteristics. In this context, interculturality means recognising the culture of the other, and the positive values of both cultures. The universal language of play is a valuable tool to foster knowledge of and respect for different cultures and languages present in society. In short, children's traditional games are an excellent instrument for intercultural development, given that many of them increase tolerance, respect and participation, and due to their content constitute a powerful resource for moral education and a unifying link between children from different cultures.
Key words: traditional play; folk games; Mediterranean; analogies | <urn:uuid:c32cca02-df5f-47a1-93f6-7f54dfc73a2e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jhse.ua.es/index.php/jhse/article/view/63 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943506 | 385 | 3.46875 | 3 |
Global warming promoters like to use three different situations to prove the existence of global warming. One is the hockey-stick graph which was produced in 1999 by Professor Mann of Penn State University by using manipulated treeing data. The graph supposedly proved air temperatures that had been stable for some 900 years then soared off the charts in the 20th century. Mann along with others had to make the historical Medieval Warm Period (A.D. 800-1400 and the Little Ice Age (A.D. 1400-1850) statistically disappear which they did.
An analysis of the graph was found to contain numerous errors as demonstrated by two Canadian researchers, McIntyre and researcher Ross McKitrick and confirmed by statistics expert Edward Wegmar in 2006. The graph clearly shows that the 20th century temperature was far below the Medieval Warm Period (A.D. 800-2400), an erroneous error.
The inescapable conclusion is that the scientists involved in creating the hockey-stick chose to knowingly create phony outcomes that would support their political agenda and provide themselves with continuing financial funding.
It is apparent that the news media seems blind to information excessive abuse involved in global warming’s scientific debate, there is no consensus. Mann’s infamous hockey-stick graph has been used by Gore as his mainstay for proof of global warming. This graph has also been used by George Soires and other politicians and by Congress for the same reason as goofy Gore’s along with the mainstream news media.
The IPCC has also excessively used this graph by the hundred-fold in reports to various U.S. and foreign countries and especially to our Congress.
For those readers who don’t know the (IPCC), it is Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is an organ of the United Nation and the major source of information for our politicians and Congress.
The global warming theme and Cap & Trade (fraud) are one in the same which is about power and money, and redistribution of wealth and a one world government, socialism that is.
It’s interesting to note that the IPCC has abandoned the use of Mann’s hockey-stick in all its publications. That speaks for itself to all those global warming believers, who still believe in Gore and in fantasy and the Wizard of Oz. | <urn:uuid:bbcd46e6-39d2-4d20-93bb-c072d465ff09> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2010/jan/08/global_warming_fact_or_fraud/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00140-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962055 | 470 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Dr. Gloria Totoricagüena, Center for Basque Studies. University of Nevada, Reno
The day-to-day life experiences of Basque urban immigrants, and their experiences of maintaining Basque ethnic identity in New York, Miami, and Tampa share little with the communities of the American west, or with those of Central or South America. New York’s proximity to the Basque Country has facilitated constant travel and exchange, and the surrounding influences of living in the immigration gateway to the United States have impacted these East Coast Basques’ cosmopolitan definitions of Basqueness. They share multi-layered identities and have no problems whatsoever describing themselves as “Basque-Gallego-Hungarian-American”, as does Vivian Zuluaga-Papp, or, “I am Italian-Irish-Basque-American,” as stated by Elizabeth Aspiazu. Others, such as Xanti Mendieta and Karlos Iturralde simply define themselves as “Basques living in the United States.” Basques in Miami and Tampa are surrounded with Hispanic culture and access to international sporting, art, culture, and media events. Their physical environments envelop many ethnic groups who maintain their native languages, traditions, and values, and this eases the desires of the Basque communities to do the same.
|Altube ranch, men on horses (1900).|
|Esteban Aspiazu in USA Merchant Marines.|
Baserritarrak, literally “those from the farm” or rural, versus kaletarrak, literally, “those from the street” or urban, differences in understanding of life and identity are prevalent in most societies. In Basque Country society, these differences between people of the streets and people of the farms have been transplanted to the new host country of the United States and its east coast “city Basques” and west coast “rural Basques”. Western Basques have a stereotype of the easterners, and the easterners also have many misconceptions of western Basques in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Not every Basque heading west became a sheepherder! Numerous Basques I have interviewed in New York consistently have asked me many questions about those of us in the west, and the overwhelming majority believed that “the Basques out there in the west” still live on vast ranches with massive land holdings and work in sheepherding and commercial gardening. There are Basques working in landscaping and gardening for commercial and private clients (mainly in California) and a few Basques do live on ranches, but these are a small minority of the thousands spread throughout nine western states.
Correcting this misunderstanding becomes a segment of almost every encounter between eastern and western Basques. The same is true of today’s west coast Basques’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the United States’ first incorporated Basque organization in New York, and the thousands of Basques who live and work on the eastern seaboard. Most do not live in fifty-story apartment buildings surrounded by gang violence, screeching busses, or pollution. Most of “those New Yorkers” own peaceful homes with gardens, drive their children and grandchildren to weekend soccer matches, and enjoy Sunday barbecues at home on the back patio. Yet there are obviously differences that attribute to life as a Basque in New York City or Miami, where a person is merely from one of hundreds of ethnic, cultural, or religious groups, as opposed to a Basque living in a more homogeneous Buffalo, Wyoming.
While historically, the majority of Basques in the American west experienced a country-to-country cultural shift from agricultural life in the Basque Country to agriculture in the United States, those moving to New York City experienced an additional country-to-city life cultural crisis. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the overwhelming majority of Basque immigrants to New York had never lived in a city, had never seen a building taller than three or four floors, and had never seen live Asian, Middle Eastern, or African people. “There were people from Lekeitio with me and they had never even seen a woman wearing pants, let alone all those other people and their ethnic clothes! New York was incredible for us, you know, we just couldn’t believe that all those things were real!” exclaimed one Basque immigrant.
The images upon arrival were truly traumatic for some, though liberating for others. Life in the city created completely different categories of stress factors for immigrants. These were no more, or less, significant than those of young Basque men who were left alone in the Nevada mountain desert with responsibility for 1500 sheep for weeks at a time. Immigrants to New York did not face the loneliness of the desert and physical isolation from other human beings, they suffered from the bombardment of hundreds of unknown languages, foods, styles of dress, religious worship, and human lifestyles which they had never even imagined existed. Human activity, noise, smell, and movement were inescapable in the early 1900s. It is not surprising that many of the Basque community activities involved day-cruises on the water, or day-outings to natural parks away from the concrete and noise of Manhattan. They were attempting to re-create a typical Bizkaian day’s outing to the beach, or duplicate a picnic with nature.
|Bastanchury Ranch 1920s San Diego CA.|
|New York dancers in the streets.|
Basques in New York were confronted with, and eventually enjoyed, contact with a myriad of distinct ethnic groups. Iñaki Aberasturi remembers that his grammar school classes had, “Everything, you name it. We had Italians, Irish, Jewish, Polish, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Gallegos, everything all mixed up. But, I never tried to blend in. What would I blend in to? I have always been just Basque.” Basques in the western United States communities were not typically exposed to so many different cultures nor surrounded by hundreds of thousands of recent immigrants on a daily basis. Of course there was constant new immigration in the west, however, the scale and concentration cannot be compared to that of New York or Miami. The thousands of Basques who have lived in Florida are mainly secondary migrants, having moved to the peninsula from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and other Latin American countries. They maintain Spanish language skills and a Basque ethnic identity, and do differentiate themselves from their various Latin American-origin neighbors. Others are former Jai-alai players -nearly all Bizkaian- and their families who remained in the United States after the boom of Jai-alai in the 1970s-1990s.
The urban experience is a cosmopolitan one, influenced by the rhythm of the city and the uniqueness of the access to culture which has shaped and helped to construct and re-construct Basque identity. It is interesting to note that Basques in the urban environment of San Francisco are still more similar to their fellow western Basques, than they are to their fellow city Basques on the east coast. The overwhelming majority of Basques in the Bay Area is constituted by immigrants and first generation born in the United States Basques, and is mainly from rural villages of Iparralde. Their occupations often have derived from rural type careers in landscaping and gardening, and though they live and work in the city, they might also have a small dairy or rice farm. San Francisco Basques’ constant interaction with the other rural Basques of the west makes their urban identity (if they have one) a minor aspect in the United States Basque society, and perhaps they have taken their cues regarding Basque identity from their own rural backgrounds in the Basque Country, and from the other Basque clubs in the west. However, both groups have similarly maintained Basque cuisine, dance, music, song, sport, and festivals days such as St. Ignatius and Aberri Eguna, or Day of the Homeland.
On the East Coast, the Basques of the New York Euzko-Etxea do tend to share the desire to utilize their unique position as New Yorkers to promote the Basque cause to the world’s media, intellectuals, academics, and general citizenry that pay attention to cultural, political, economic, historical, artistic and social developments. They want to promote all of the positive aspects of Basque society and especially tourism to the Basque Country. In 2001, the government of the historical territory of Bizkaia mounted a tourist campaign in Miami, utilizing the Basque community and the historic Basque aspects to the colonization of Florida, and they involved the highest social and economic circles of the city. According to the Basque Government Department of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, in 1992, the three Basque Country provinces of Araba, Bizkaia, and Gipuzkoa received 11,500 visitors from the United States, but by 1999 that number had multiplied to 53,000 and in 2000 there was another twenty percent increase.
Florida and New York Basques see these indicators as a significant opportunity and they hope that a future international Basque cultural center in Manhattan could help in that advocacy. The Basque International Cultural Center, BICC, is still an idea and not yet a reality. While other Basque communities around the world have tended to focus on their ancestrally Basque memberships and the preservation and maintenance of Basque culture and identity, the concept of a proactive offensive strategy to assertively promote Basque themes to the entire world is an unequaled New Yorkers’ interpretation of “Basque Center”. Their idea to construct a Basque International Cultural Center in lower Manhattan is one that is little understood in the west, where the Basque Centers usually consist of a bar and area for playing mus, and a dining and dancing area open only for members. The BICC’s mission is to promote Basque culture to the ‘outside’ world. Basque Floridians love the idea. In the west, a few of the younger Basques are also interested in changing the structures of their ethnic associations to be more inclusive, and to expand their range of activities, including educating the larger general public about the Basque territories, history, language, and culture.
|Basque boys in suits in New York.|
|Elordi family, 1920, Jordan Valley, Oregon.|
Basques in the west and the east do share the problematic issue of maintaining interest of their youth. Regardless of urban or rural setting, teenagers often are not interested in ethnic folk dancing, playing card games such as mus, tute, or briska, or hurting their hands playing pelota, or handball. The Centers have attempted to expand their offerings of activities, yet Basque clubs in Portland, Oregon and northern Idaho have collapsed. The Basque organizations in Las Vegas and Gardnerville, Nevada have almost no youth participating in their events. The Basques of New York have also arrived at such a crossroads, however, this time the gravity and the implications are monumental. Julen Abio queries, “We used to get involved with everything. We had our own club within the club, we had dances, we had the youth group. We were here every weekend. What happened? What happened to this club?” Perhaps it is not the club that changed, but the people in it, and precisely because the club did not change with the people, fewer young Basques now make the effort or take an interest in its activities. Recent younger Basque immigrants to New York, many of them artists from Nafarroa, have also stated they do not participate in the Euzko-Etxea activities because “they are not interesting,” and because “they are things of a past generation.”
Membership and participation in organized activities are dramatically decreasing in several of the Basque clubs, and fewer in the next generation know the history, current events, dances, songs, sport, language, or food preparation of their own Basque ancestors. How will they be able to maintain their identity and what will make them Basque if these cultural markers are lost? Basque people in the United States do not tend to be self-promoting, and this in turn often tends to be self-defeating. When accurate information about the seven Basque provinces is generally absent around the United States from libraries, newsrooms, travel agencies, academic, cultural, economic, and political institutions, that vacuum is either ignored or filled with misinformation by other agents. In the western states where Basques meet a critical mass in smaller cities and towns, information about local Basques seems to be more prevalent because there is so much less ‘competition’ for attention from other ethnic groups and news items, and of course, the local paper in Boise, Idaho cannot be compared to the New York Times or the Miami Herald. In the cities, we find the opposite in regards to news articles about the Basques; there is almost no coverage of local Basque events, but there is much better media reporting of Euskal Herria in the quality and quantity of stories.
The exclusivity of defining “Basqueness” by ancestry only, may be one of the most significant factors for debate in all of these ethnic colonies –east and west. As new generations take hold of leadership positions in the ethnic associations they are more likely to open the doors to membership from other ‘non-Basques’ who want to promote the Basque cause. It could prove to be a unifying movement that Basques around the United States would share. Perhaps the idea of promoting Basque identity to the world is one whose time has come.
Earlier versions presented in:
Totoricagüena, Gloria. Identity, Culture, and Politics in the Basque Diaspora. Reno: University of Nevada Press. 2003.
The Basques of New York: A Cosmopolitan Experience. Serie Urazandi. Vitoria-Gasteiz: Eusko Jaurlaritza. 2003. | <urn:uuid:10f60743-3eb2-463c-9def-71f449d1926b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.euskonews.com/0243zbk/kosmo24302.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00132-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959329 | 2,948 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Those little nutrition facts boxes on the back of everything we consume certainly do get us thinking about the calories that we consume. You may use it to judge what to eat, what to purchase, and how big your serving size should be. But, the real baffler seems to be the “calories from fat” notation. What really is the difference between fat calories and other calories?
Fat contains 9 calories per gram. On the other hand, protein and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram. That said, fat is twice as caloric as the other two components. But, don’t stop there!
Fat is also easier to store than carbohydrates and protein. In other words, if you eat 100 calories more than you burn in a day, those 100 calories will be stored as fat. To do so, your body expels about 23 calories if those 100 calories are carbs. That said, 77 calories are stored as fat. To store 100 fat calories, your body only needs to use 2.5 calories. So, you are storing 97.5 calories as fat. Not such a good deal, however, only an issue if you are consuming more than you are burning.
Many people are under the misconception, then, that if they consume little or no fat, that that will solve the problem, however, fats and proteins are what keep you feeling full. Picture eating only fruit or vegetables with no fats. You probably have found that you feel hungry quickly. If your meal is balanced with some protein and fat, you generally feel fuller longer, even if the meal has the same caloric content as your fruit only meal. Various studies out there suggest that people who don’t consume enough fat calories tend to eat more calories because they get hungry.
Needless to say, eating small fatty meals isn’t the answer either. The general rule followed by body builders and athletes is the 40-40-20 rule. That’s 40% of the diet (or meal) made up of protein calories, 40% from carbohydrates, and 20% from fat. This balance also aids in the breakdown of carbohydrates and fat and the absorption of protein and nutrients in the body.
The Bottom Line
When all is said and done, a calorie is a calorie. Cutting calories will induce weight loss, and eating more than your needed amount will cause weight gain. In that case, the best bet is to choose wisely. When you choose carbohydrates, make them whole grain, and get heart disease fighting power with them. Make your fats “good” fats, in other words, unsaturated fats, rather than saturated or trans fats, which have a negative effect on the body. Get some of those fat calories from omega-3 fatty acids, and protect yourself from certain cancers, heart disease and inflammation, among so many other things!
No matter if you go high-carb low-fat, or high-fat low-carb, as long as you are cutting calories, you can lose weight. Balance is the most important variable when you are cutting calories. | <urn:uuid:ff475e07-cd0a-49c7-8a47-6305cb9320d2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.3fatchicks.com/fat-calories-vs-calories-whats-the-difference/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953639 | 623 | 3.4375 | 3 |
||The Mammals of Texas -
Artiodactyla : Family Bovidae :
Bos bison (Linnaeus)
Description. A large, cowlike
mammal with distinct hump in the shoulder region; head,
neck, shoulders, and forelegs with long, shaggy hair;
hind part of body with short hair; head heavy with short,
curved, black horns; tail short and ending in tuft of
hair; color brownish black anteriorly, brownish
posteriorly. Dental formula: I 0/3, C 0/1, Pm 3/3, M 3/3
X 2 = 32. External measurements approach: (males) total
length, 3,400 mm; tail, 610 mm; hind foot, 610 mm; height
at shoulders, 1,800 mm; females somewhat smaller. Weight
of bulls, 700-1,000 kg; females, 300-400 kg.
Distribution in Texas.
Formerly widespread in the western two-thirds of Texas;
now extirpated or confined in captivity. It is no longer
considered a game animal in Texas.
Habits. In early days
the bison was found in great numbers over a vast range in
North America. With the westward expansion of the white
settlers, it became an object of exploitation on a
tremendous scale that resulted in its total disappearance
from the East and its almost complete extermination over
much of its western range. By 1825 it had become
practically extinct east of the Mississippi River. The
building of the transcontinental railways after 1830
hastened the slaughter of the vast herds west of the
river. In the 1870s hundreds of thousands were recklessly
killed for their hides and tongues. In 1877-78 the last
great slaughter of the "southern herd" took
place south of the main transcontinental railroads. In
the north their numbers likewise rapidly decreased.
When protection of the buffalo was
under consideration by the Texas Legislature, General
Phil Sheridan opposed it, pointing out that the sooner
the buffalo was eliminated the sooner the Indian would be
starved into submission. Sure enough, before 1880 both
the buffalo and the Indian had all but passed away.
The big slaughter took place about
1877-78 when there were reported to be 1,500 hunting
outfits working out of Fort Griffin (Shackelford County)
alone. More than 100,000 hides were taken in the months
of December and January of that winter. From 1881 to
about 1891 there were shipments of buffalo bones from
Texas totaling $3 million in value.
In the late 1880s it was realized that
the bison was approaching extinction. By then, there were
left in the United States only a few privately owned
herds and a herd in Yellowstone National Park. It was not
until May of 1894 that an effective law for the
preservation of the bison was passed by the United States
Congress, and subsequently, the various herds were built
up in the United States and Canada. By 1933 the total
population of bison in North America was estimated at
21,000, of which the greater part (17,000) were in Canada
on the Buffalo National Park near Wainwright, Alberta.
The bison of the western United States
is normally a dweller of open prairies. The subspecies B.
b. athabascae of Canada and the Old World relative (Bos
bonasus), however, are forest animals. This, together
with the fact that our plains bison lacks the keen
eyesight of most plains dwellers but has a keen sense of
smell, suggests that at some remote time in the past the
plains bison, too, lived in woodland areas.
Bison are gregarious creatures that
live together in herds, except for the old bulls which,
especially in spring and early summer, lead a more or
less solitary existence. During the period of rut in July
and August, and again in winter, the old bulls tend to be
more tolerant of the herd. Normally, bison are
unobtrusive but when angered or when called upon to
protect their calves they are vicious and dangerous. As
with domestic cattle, old bulls are surly and may attack
with slight provocation, as will cows with calves.
The daily activity of bison is much
like that of domestic cattle. The chief feeding periods
are early morning and late afternoon, with midday given
over to cud-chewing, siesta, and wallowing. Normally,
nighttime is a period of rest. Formerly, the plains bison
migrated seasonally, going south as far as Florida and
Texas in winter, and northward again in summer. Their
normal gait is a plodding walk, which may break into a
swinging trot or, when frightened or angered, a
Plains bison are predominantly grazers,
feeding chiefly on grasses and secondarily on forbs.
Browse species contribute slightly to their menu. Because
of this, competition between bison and domestic cattle
for range forage is so great that we cannot afford, for
economic reasons, the return of the bison to anything
like its former numbers.
The period of rut is July and August.
The animals are promiscuous in mating habits but usually
only the large, mature bulls do the breeding. Young and
undersized bulls are driven from the herd to linger on
the outskirts and await with anticipation the opportunity
to participate whenever the herd bull is off guard. As
with range cattle, a scale of social dominance is
established with each bull next highest dominating those
The period of gestation is 8½ - 9
months the calves arriving in April, May, or early
June. One calf at a time is the rule; twins are rare. The
young one normally is weaned in late fall, but
occasionally it continues to nurse until the arrival of
the next calf. Sometimes cows breed only in alternate
years. Sexual maturity is reached in the third year.
According to Cahalane, cows have remained productive for
40 years indicating a life span of at least 45 years.
At present, the plains bison has little
economic importance. There is some demand for its flesh
as food for man, but the temperament of the beast will
not permit its wide replacement of cattle.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and | <urn:uuid:2bc81a06-83d3-42b0-a75b-d2f43ee0984e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1/bos_biso.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00166-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94614 | 1,390 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Leonard David has written a column about new Federal regulations governing meteorite collection on public land. Reading the column, we spotted one quote that raised a red flag:
“We tried to account for every kind of occurrence out there,” said Lucia Kuizon, national paleontologist at the [Bureau of Land Management] in Washington, DC. “We felt the policy helps the public understand the issues, as well as for our own resource specialists out in the field when they get inquiries.”
Wait a minute? Meteorites are not fossils. Why is a paleontologist issuing statements about them? What’s going on here?
A bit of history is in order. In the early 1990’s, the Federal government began to crack down on commercial and amateur fossil hunting on public land. The crackdown came at the behest of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, a small but politically powerful association of academic paleontologists who were upset about commercial and amateur collectors taking fossils of scientific value. The Society’s lobbying led to changes in the law and regulations that make it illegal for anyone other than professional scientific paleontologists, or their associates, to collect vertebrate fossils on Federal or Indian land.
The new fossil laws and regulations constitute an unprecedented grab of mineral rights by the US government. Historically, the Federal government has always recognized the right of US citizens to prospect for commercially valuable minerals on Federal land. For the first time in American history, the government declared a specific mineral resource completely off-limits to commercial prospecting everywhere on Federal land.
Ironically, the government’s actions will actually harm the science they were supposed to protect. Most fossils are buried deep in the Earth and only come to light when they are exposed by digging or erosion. If an exposed fossil is not discovered and collected within a limited period of time, it will be destroyed by continued erosion. The number of professional vertebrate paleontologists in the United States is very small. If fossils are not discovered by amateur or commercial fossil hunters, most will be destroyed by erosion before they are discovered, along with any potential scientific value. Other losers include American Indians, who no longer have the right to sell valuable fossils found on Indian land.
Now, it appears, the government is trying to bring meteorites under the same sort of restrictive regulation. The fact that Lucia Kuizon is one of the officials responsible for implementing the Great Fossil Grab is surely not coincidence.
On the surface, the new meteorite regulations do not appear quite as restrictive as those for fossils. They do allow some commercial collection, with a government permit and government fees. Ominously, however, the Bureau of Land Management redefines meteorites as antiquities, like arrowheads or pottery, rather than minerals. The same legal trick was used previously with fossils. Scientifically, it is clearly wrong, like defining the pi to be 3.0. Legally and politically, however, it serves a useful purpose, since it allows the government to declare that fossils and means that meteorites are not subject to US mining law or mining claims, removing hundreds of years of legal precedent that protect the rights of prospectors.
If these regulations stand, they may set a precedent that has serious implications for companies like Planetary Resources, which plans to mine asteroids in space. If asteroidal materials that have fallen to Earth are not minerals, it stands to reason that asteroidal materials in space are not minerals, either.
This touches on the issue of space property rights, which has been the subject of some debate recently. The Outer Space Treaty says that the Moon and other celestial bodies are “not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” It is silent, however, on the subject of appropriation by private parties.
This silence has led to a rift in opinion between lawyers holding statist views and those with a classical liberal leaning. Statists believe that real property rights (land rights) originate with the government and flow down to individuals. Thus, they argue, there can be no claims of private property without prior claims of national appropriation. This legal theory dates back to medieval Europe, where the nation was the property of the King who bestowed land (fiefdoms) on his followers.
Classical liberals, on the other hand, believe that property rights originate with individuals who occupy previously unowned property and mix it with their own labor to create something of value. According to this natural-rights theory, first set down by the great 17th Century philosopher John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government, government’s role is not to create property rights but merely to recognize and protect them. The views of John Locke greatly influenced the Founding Fathers and the American view of property rights since the beginning of the Republic.
Under the classical liberal (and traditional American) theory, private property rights could exist on the Moon and celestial bodies, even in the absence of national sovereignty, because private property does not originate with the national government. That theory would open the way for extraterrestrial development through property-right claims such as the plan proposed by Rand Simberg.
Under the statist (and feudal European) theory, however, property-rights claims cannot exist without prior claims of national sovereignty. Nor are property-right claims necessary, according to proponents of this theory. Property rights are a distraction, according to a recent article co-authored by Berin Szoka, an attorney, board member, and former chairman of the Space Frontier Foundation. “Rather than land grants,” Szoka and co-author James Dunstan wrote, “what these ventures really require is exclusive mining rights for limited durations to reward them for investing in prospecting.”
The Space Frontier Foundation’s position on space policy rights has always been inconsistent, with leaders claiming to support property rights in theory while refusing to support property-rights initiatives in practice. Alan Wasser, an Advocate of the Space Frontier Foundation and chairman of the Space Settlement Institute, has been trying to get the SFF to take a stand in support of property rights for at least a decade, to no avail. (Update: SFF executive director Jon Card has informed us the Space Frontier Foundation now supports space property rights, although we have not found any evidence of public activities in that regard.)
These new BLM regulations show why Szoka is wrong and Simberg and Wasser are right. Mere mining claims, as proposed by Szoka, are not sufficient to protect the rights of private citizens, nor will they create sufficient legal certainty to allow companies like Planetary Resources to operate in space. The US government has already declared that asteroidal materials (at least on the ground) are not minerals and not subject to mining law. If a government bureaucrat can wipe away hundreds of years of mining law and outlaw mining claims with the stroke of a pen, there is no certain at all. Private enterprise needs a firmer basis of protection than that. | <urn:uuid:1bef6919-4e5f-4121-bdd3-ac45e6c57236> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.citizensinspace.org/2012/10/the-great-meteor-grab/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00009-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947194 | 1,427 | 3.296875 | 3 |
- upper (adj.)
- c. 1300, originally comparative of up (adj.). Similar formation in Middle Dutch upper, Dutch opper, Low German upper, Norwegian yppare. Upper hand "advantage" is late 15c., perhaps from wrestling (get the over-hand in the same sense is from early 14c.). Upperclassman is recorded from 1871.
Upper crust is attested from mid-15c. in reference to the top crust of a loaf of bread, 1836 in reference to society. Upper middle class (adj.) is recorded from 1835. Upper ten thousand (1844) was common mid-19c. for "wealthier and more aristocratic part of a large community;" hence uppertendom.
- upper (n.)
- "part of a shoe above the sole," 1789, from upper (adj.). Sense of "stimulant drug" is from 1968, agent noun from up (v.). | <urn:uuid:f15cd19e-905a-49ab-8990-803d3306c7f2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://etymonline.com/index.php?term=upper&allowed_in_frame=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397111.67/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00024-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915785 | 200 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Every U.S. citizen has the right to quality health care. The U.S. has the means, if not the will, to finance an efficient health care service delivery system through which every citizen can receive essential health care. If receiving quality health care is a right, which entity is responsible for establishing, protecting and preserving that right? Government establishes and protects rights. And how can government afford to guarantee this right? By having each of us participate equitably in financing what it takes to support this right through taxes.
If we truly believe health care for all is a right, we have to contribute what it takes to be granted that right. Does this equate to a government takeover of health care? No. Would this necessarily spell the demise of health insurance companies? No. It means through tax revenues government can, through necessary regulation and oversight, ensure that all citizens can get essential health services when needed.
Some might suggest that guaranteed health care through taxation is an entitlement similar to Medicare and Medicaid programs. So what? What entity can grant, preserve and protect each? It is our government, subsidized through taxation.
Whether you think affordable health care for all is a right or an entitlement, tell your senators and representatives that you want affordable health care for all and you’re willing to pay your fair share for it. Otherwise, they will continue to squabble over how to finance their “plans,” oblivious that other countries already have dealt with that issue.
Founders on guns
In his Dec. 4 OpEd, “Proliferation of guns threatens security,” Ken Horn states, “It is a safe bet that discussions revolving around the Second Amendment will continue unabated.” He’s right, and while I wish to thank him for his service, I respectfully suggest that it is he who is “parsing the wording of [the Second] Amendment from its intent.”
The first 10 amendments to our Constitution are known as the Bill of Rights. They are individual rights. If, as Mr. Horn states, the Founders’ sole concern was the defense of the state, then they would not have fought the revolution. England was the state at the time and it was a state depriving its own citizens, the colonists, of their rights, liberties and freedoms.
The issue of private ownership of guns was well-known to the Founders.
Thomas Jefferson, in his Commonplace Book, quoted Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria in writing, “Laws that forbid the carrying of arms … disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes … Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.”
Benjamin Franklin is credited with the sentiment, “He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither.” Indeed, what would devastate the Founders more?
This debate has been going on for well over 200 years and yes, “will continue unabated.”
The health care plan
Who can say what the potential of an aborted baby would have been if the child had been allowed to be born? Critics of Sarah Palin declared vehemently that her Down syndrome baby, Trig, should never have been born!
My precious young niece was confronted by three doctors, all stating that her little boy should be aborted, but she bravely stood up to all of them, stating she would not kill her baby. Austin Nicholas, that precious little one, is astounding everyone, as he is now beginning to talk and will soon be walking. He has brought great joy to our family. Would anyone say now that he should have been torn limb from limb in the womb?
The government has no business funding the slaughter of little lives. Those opposing that part of the pending health care bill must speak up now to our congressmen and senators.
I was born blind, but I graduated from college, have a husband and two wonderful stepsons, and have written a book. Dare anyone say that I never should have been born?
The apprentice hunter license, authorized by the Legislature in response to a Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine bill, allows an experienced hunter to offer the hunting opportunity to any hunter who is 16 years old or older. The apprentice hunter may hunt, in the presence of the sponsoring hunter, without taking the hunter safety course.
I have hunted for 59 years and thought this was some kind of joke when I first read about the new law.
After reading about the 35-year-old apprentice hunter from Sydney, resting her gun barrel on top of her boot and shooting part of her foot off, it is no joke. How could SAM sponsor such a bill, the DIF&W support it, and the Legislature vote for it? This bill includes out-of-state applicants. It’s all about money with no consideration for safety.
This is not like a tryout for baseball or basketball where mistakes can be corrected.
This instance with the apprentice hunter with zero training is a clear indication of how lightly safety is taken while handling a firearm. This bill needs to be thrown out and go back to the hunter safety course. Bring back common sense.
Richard A. Pease
Hunger hurts society
The Nov. 28-29 edition of the BDN confronted us with a shameful reality about life in America. In the midst of our national celebration of plenty, the paper had us contemplate the fact that half the children in our country live on food stamps at some point by the time they reach the age of 20. Considering that 12 percent of all Americans now receive food stamps, and that 20,000 more join the program daily, this is not a surprising statistic. However, it is nonetheless alarming.
Consider the human misery that lies behind these numbers. A lack of sufficient food, while bad enough in itself, is too often indicative of a wider range of childhood deprivation that frequently dogs the children of poverty into adulthood due to low education, poor socialization, poor physical and mental health and a host of accompanying liabilities often associated with poverty. They suffer as individuals; we suffer as a society.
Of course poverty is not fate. We all know of people who have risen from poverty to lead lives of great accomplishment and personal fulfillment. But these heroic exceptions should provide cold comfort to a society already in decline because of its inability to come to grips with the basic requirements of life — one of which must be a safe and secure environment in which to raise children. | <urn:uuid:f7eb65ab-1c4b-41c1-81a2-5cbca4a6f942> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://bangordailynews.com/2009/12/07/opinion/dec-08-letters-to-the-editor/?ref=relatedBox | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00005-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968568 | 1,351 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Hysteria, also known as hysterical neurosis, is a psychological state that is caused by extreme emotions such as overwhelming fear or sorrow. The psychological strain will become so severe that the individual will begin showing physical symptoms. The person will be extremely emotional and will often feel pain associated with supposed problems.
For centuries, it was thought that hysteria only affected women. In fact, the word hysteria comes from the Greek word “hustera”, meaning “uterus”, because it was thought that all hysterical symptoms stemmed from the female uterus.
Unfortunately, hysteria became a blanket diagnosis for all women who showed abnormal behavior whether it was simple hormonal problems and sexual dysfunctions or serious mental disorders. Until the early 20th century, hysteria was often referred to as female hysteria. Since the advent of modern medicine and psychiatry, diagnoses of hysteria are not as wide spread. Although it has been established that the disorder is not caused by the female uterus, hysteria is still diagnosed more in women than in men.
Mass hysteria occurs when a group of people experience paralyzing fear that stems from the same cause. For example, mass hysteria could occur during a school shooting or a civil disturbance. It is very much thought that mass hysteria was part of the Salem Witch Trials.
Although hysteria is divided into several disorders, it is now most commonly referred to as somatization disorder.
Those suffering from hysteria are completely consumed by fear and anxiety. The person is absolutely certain that his or her body is suffering from disease or injury. The person will be so afraid of the supposed problem that he or she will often dissolve into “hysterics” that cannot be controlled by the person or by others. The person is so certain of the problem that he or she will actually feel associated pain. A person suffering with hysteria will often not be able to function socially.
Other symptoms of hysteria include hyperventilation, fainting spells, elevated heart rates, depression, convulsions, and sensory impairment. Symptoms can last anywhere from a few weeks to a lifetime depending on the cause and type of hysteria.
Hysteria is not a physical disease that can be treated and ultimately cured. It is a serious psychological disorder. As with many mental problems, a person can be born with it. It can also be brought on by emotional or traumatic experiences such as witnessing a crime or the unexpected death of a loved one. Hysteria can also develop in children who have lived in an extremely abusive environment.
Unfortunately, hysteria can also be a side effect of chemical drugs. Long term use of the anti-anxiety drug Valium, for example, has been proven to cause the symptoms of hysteria.
Those suffering from hysteria will often do harm to themselves and to others. Because depression is a common symptom, thoughts of suicide can occur.
Even if a person is able to function socially, the symptoms of hysteria can be detrimental to interpersonal relationships. Hysteria sufferers often have difficulty making friends or forming and maintaining intimate relationships.
Histrionic Personality Disorder
3. Pain Disorder
Conversion disorder occurs when a person encounters a personal difficulty that he or she feels unable to cope with by ordinary means. The person therefore “converts” the psychological dilemma into physical symptoms. A person suffering from conversion disorder will often have unexplainable physical problems such as tremors, paralysis, or even loss of sight, speech or hearing. For example, if a person sees his or her house burn down, he or she may, for a time, be unable to talk. The symptoms of conversion disorder are often alleviated by therapy.
Conversion disorder used to be known as hysterical blindness.
Histrionic personality disorder is diagnosed in people, particularly women, who show behavior patterns marked by overly emotional or dramatic thoughts and actions. The person will often embellish stories, be extremely egotistical, will seek approval and be hurt when it is not given, and will often dress and behave in sexually inappropriate ways. Although the person is able to interact socially, he or she will often be unable to maintain relationships.
Before personality disorders were discovered and defined, histrionic personality disorder was often blamed on sexual problems and/or witchcraft.
Pain disorder occurs when a person suffers from chronic, unexplainable pain, usually after having endured a psychologically stressful event such as the unexpected death of a loved one. The pain can last anywhere from a few weeks to several years. Pain disorder is not the same as fibromyalgia, although many of the symptoms of these two disorders are identical.
The most common hysteria disorder is somatization disorder. Somatization disorder is diagnosed when a person continually complains of physical pain and/or problems although there is no medical evidence that the problems actually exist. The person will go from one doctor to another, often with a new complaint for each.
Somatization disorder is sometimes considered a more serious form of hypochondria. A person with somatization disorder is absolutely certain of a physical problem; in fact, he or she will even feel pain associated with these supposed illnesses or injuries. Somatization disorder sufferers will also often manifest unexplainable physical impairments similar to those of conversion disorder sufferers.
Alternative Medicine and Natural Remedies
There are a wide number of homeopathic remedies that can help relieve the symptoms of hysteria. Each remedy depends on the type and severity of the symptoms. For example, Ignatia can be given to help relieve convulsions and supposed pain, Valeriana has a calming effect and can help with mood swings, and Gelsemium can help relieve irritability.
The Bach flower remedies are another effective homeopathic treatment. The remedies, developed by English homeopath Edward Bach, are made up of very small and very concentrated amounts of flower material. Rescue Remedy is the Bach flower remedy most commonly used in treating hysteria.
Although homeopathic remedies rarely have any lasting side effects, they should never be taken without the guidance of a homeopath, naturopath or other qualified medical professional.
1.2. Herbal Remedies
Herbal remedies are usually used to calm hysteria sufferers, thereby making them more manageable. Lavender, in any form, is often used because of its established ability to relieve tension. Lavender has no side effects except that it may possibly induce allergy attacks and/or hay fever.
Another common herbal remedy is St. John’s wort. St. John’s wort is a very potent relaxant that can be used to treat depression; in fact, St. John’s wort is often considered the poor man’s anti-depressant. The herb can be given in tea, capsule, or tincture form. Sensitivity to sunlight can develop after long term use; otherwise, St. John’s wort has no side effects.
Passion flower, which has practically no side effects, can also be used as a tranquilizer or to help induce sleep.
Acupuncture is an affordable way to treat nearly every illness and disorder. If done properly, acupuncture has no risks or side effects. Acupuncture sessions can cost as little as 50 dollars.
1.4. Massage Therapy
Another way to calm hysteria sufferers is massage therapy. Massages are very relaxing and often have no risks or side effects; only minor muscle or vein injuries can result. Costs usually start at about 60 dollars an hour.
Because hysteria is such a serious psychological disorder, hypnotherapy is sometimes necessary to help the person cope. Hypnotherapy can help the person relax, deal with his or her problems, and begin developing better habits.
Although hypnotherapy does not have any serious risks, it should only be conducted by a trusted professional. Hypnotherapy does not, by any means, have a one hundred percent success rate; however, it is a legitimate and, at times, useful treatment option. Hypnotherapy sessions can cost anywhere from 65 to 160 dollars. The severity of the illness or disorder is what determines the cost as well as the number of sessions.
2.1. Anti-Anxiety Medication
If necessary, medical doctors can prescribe traditional anti-anxiety medications for hysteria sufferers. Xanax and Ativan are two of the most commonly prescribed drugs.
However, anti-anxiety medications should only be administered to patients with either severe or violent hysteria symptoms. Anti-anxiety medications can aggravate symptoms and can also have nasty side effects. For example, some of the side effects of Xanax are depression and jaundice; Ativan can cause dizziness and amnesia.
Anti-depressants are often prescribed in an attempt to control mood swings and thoughts of suicide. Lexapro is one of the most often prescribed anti-depressants. Lexapro is effective although it can increase thoughts of suicide.
Again, these medications should only be used in extreme cases. If an anti-depressant is thought necessary, it is advisable to consider the aforesaid St. John’s wort.
2.3. Pain Killers
Pain killers are often prescribed for patients suffering from pain disorder and somatization disorder. Vicodin and Oxycodone are two common pain killers. Caution should be used, however, because the pain associated with hysteria disorders is mostly psychological. Also, most pharmaceutical pain killers have unpleasant side effects; Vicodin, for example, can cause intestinal problems and Oxycodone can cause seizures and breathing problems. When treating painful symptoms of hysteria disorders, it is advisable to use either natural remedies or placebos.
Psychotherapy is still considered a viable treatment option for hysteria. It is often used for treating victims of conversion disorder. However, many people do not morally or medically agree with the teachings of Sigmund Freud. Psychotherapy should only be used by patients who are open to a cure from this type of therapy. Counseling sessions usually cost from 60 to 120 dollars.
3.2. Cognitive Therapy
Cognitive therapy, which is not as controversial as psychotherapy, can help treat irrational thoughts and symptoms of depression. This therapy type is particularly effective for those suffering from histrionic personality disorder. Cognitive therapy also focuses on behavioral modification and, therefore, can help the patient develop a better lifestyle. Unfortunately, cognitive therapy usually costs 120 dollars a session. However, many patients feel that the end results are worth the cost.
3.3. Group Therapy
Group therapy is a cost effective treatment option for patients with mild symptoms of hysteria disorders. The setting is very relaxed and it can be helpful for patients to know that they are not the only ones suffering from these problems. However, group therapy should not be considered a treatment option for severe or particularly violent hysteria sufferers.
Natural remedies are some the most economical and effective ways to treat the symptoms of hysteria. However, no matter how simple a treatment may sound, it should only be administered under the guidance of a qualified professional.
Alternative medicine is always a viable option, simply from the standpoint that these treatments rarely cause
any adverse effects.
For the most part, pharmaceuticals are not considered the first choice for treating hysteria. However, for more severe cases, pharmaceuticals may be the only option.
Because hysteria disorders stem from psychological problems, therapies can be very effective treatment options. If properly conducted, therapies can provide relief from nearly every symptom of hysteria. | <urn:uuid:ac6fa359-7ef5-4b13-ba53-bfe60897e61b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.naturalremedies.org/hysteria/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397864.87/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00032-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949204 | 2,336 | 3.453125 | 3 |
To consumers who have watched the world's technological imagination shift to Silicon Valley, the airline industry seems plodding. Computers and cellphones are obsolete almost as soon as they're unwrapped. The aviation industry looks stuck in time by comparison.
"Twenty years ago, 10 years ago even, a lot of technology and innovation came from the aerospace industry," said Larbi Ouchelouche, who is the project manager at Speel Praha, a Czech company that makes black boxes and other flight monitoring systems. "But today, the commercial is going so fast."
Restricted by huge costs, rising fuel prices and safety concerns, the aviation industry is unable to make the same leaps and bounds. It has instead turned its eye to less obvious advances, ones that companies say have allowed more people to fly than ever before.
But even some industry insiders revealed a touch of disappointment at the Paris Air Show this week.
"Look at all the aircraft ... they're exactly the same (as they used to be), they're just using different material," said Gerrard McCluskey, the vice president of engineering at AERO Vodochody, a Czech aerospace manufacturer.
One of the most talked about innovations at the show in Le Bourget this week was the use of composite materials -- including carbon fibers and plastics; Airbus' newest jet, the A350, relies heavily on composites. But to the naked eye, it looks just like all the other Airbuses on display.
Many plane manufacturers let the military lead the way because the armed forces have the money to play with new technologies, test them extensively and then figure out how to build them efficiently.
"We let the military test it, prove it," McCluskey said. "I think what we have to understand is that aircraft are vehicles, they have to be safe and have to follow certifications."
But he predicted that within the next 10 years, planes won't contain a fuselage -- where the cabin and cockpit are now. They'll just be one flying wing. Like a fighter jet. Or the gone, but-not-forgotten Concorde, which cut the flight time from London to New York to 3 hours and 20 minutes from nearly eight hours.
So what happened to the Concorde? The same thing that happened to the industry at large: the economy.
The Concorde was heavily subsidized by the French and British governments and as the industry declined in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it became clear it was no longer viable.
While the experience of air travel has changed little, its global popularity has grown almost exponentially in the past two decades. In its 20-year outlook, Boeing Co. predicted the commercial aircraft fleet would double by 2034, with most of the new passengers in Asia and Latin America, where standards of living are rising quickly. But increased demand and the rising price of fuel have forced manufacturers to focus all their innovation know-how on fuel economy.
In the last 10 years, "the price of a barrel of oil has gone up, say from 25 bucks to over 100," said Jim Stoker, president of GE Aviation Czech. "If you go look at your airline ticket, well, it's higher than it was 10 years ago, it's still not four (times) higher."
"Fifteen years ago nobody could afford to fly constantly. Today people can fly," said Ingrid Joerg, a senior vice president for Cleveland-based Aleris, which rolls out aluminum skins for major aircraft manufacturers. "The global mobility that has happened to a large extent has been because prices have dropped for passengers." | <urn:uuid:16ecc0b4-d5e4-492c-9d0e-5b1bd94d883d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailycamera.com/nation-world-news/ci_23515558/air-travel-changes-at-less-than-supersonic-speed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00146-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973465 | 741 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Environmental health focuses on the health interrelationships between people and their environments, promotes human health and well-being, and fosters a safe and healthful environment.
Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful
involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or
income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement
of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
Click here to learn more about environmental health
Tell us what environmental health means to you.
Environment, Health, and
We're making the connection!
The Multnomah County PACE-EH Coalition, which was active from 2000 – 2004, had a vision to create a network of individuals and local organizations that take an active role in setting an environmental health and environmental justice agenda for their communities. The coalition valued each individual’s right to a healthy place to live, work, and play-and the right of all communities to have influence in decisions that affect their environments and their health.
Although the Multnomah County sponsored coalition is no longer in operation, the community assessment work done by the coalition continues to influence positive environmental health and environmental justice change throughout Multnomah County. For example, the PACE-EH efforts provided the data and impetus for Multnomah County Environmental Health Services to apply and receive a 3-year HUD Healthy Home grant to reduce multiple household hazards in family’s home that have children under six with asthma.
The following web pages provide you a historical reference of the PACE-EH coalition and their community assessment activities. For more information about activities that resulted from the PACE-EH process, please view the Healthy Homes website.
In 2003 and 2004 we organized community members in Inner North and Northeast
Portland to participate in a PACE-EH environmental health and environmental
justice assessment. Through this experience, we learned that there are concerns
among some residents living in affordable housing. Specifically those concerns
are mold/mildew, lead and the childhood threats associated with it, the psychological
and biological impacts of trash and garbage on their properties, renter’s
rights, and communication gaps with property managers and owners. Please
see the links below titled Pilot Assessment Report and Action plan for more
information on this effort.
Other recent and exciting news includes the announcement of PACE becoming a non-profit c(3) organization. OPAL (Organizing People, Activating Leaders) is now a progressive coalition of community-based organizations, public officials, environmental justice advocates and activists committed to promoting environmental justice awareness in the communities of the Portland Metro area. While still in the formation stages, the c3 community-based organization will carry-on and expanding the grassroots organizing and social change work in metro-Portland and surrounding communities, building upon the success of the PACE-EH model, and working to empower community members around environmental justice and health issues
The first pilot project assessment report from N/NE Portland
The 2005 PACE EH Action Plan
PACE (Public Awareness = Community Empowerment) | <urn:uuid:b9cb5cd6-b108-468a-8e19-a7e8b25b253c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.pace-eh.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392099.27/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00118-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932778 | 623 | 2.703125 | 3 |
This Plain language review of physical activity among Indigenous Australians is based on the Review of physical activity among Indigenous Australians (2013) by Caitlin Gray, Rona Macniven and Neil Thomson
Physical activity involves movement of the skeletal muscles (muscles attached to the skeleton) of the body and uses energy . Being physically active can occur anywhere: at work, at play, doing chores, travelling. It can be a planned activity (such as organised sport) or unplanned (running to catch the bus). Regular, moderate physical activity (see Box 1) can help to :
- improve muscle strength
- increase heart and lung health
- reduce the risk of some diseases
- reduce the risk of falls (and broken bones)
- control weight.
Physical inactivity (not getting enough moderate or vigorous activity) is a modifiable risk factor1 for some chronic diseases and health conditions . Being physically active can help in the prevention, management and treatment of some diseases or health conditions including:
- cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- certain cancers
- some musculoskeletal conditions
- depression (and other social and emotional conditions)
- overweight and obesity.
Box 1: Levels of physical activity
Sedentary behaviour means doing little or no physical activity.
Moderate activities cause you to breathe heavier and your heart to beat faster, but you can still talk while you are doing them. Examples of moderate activity are: brisk walking, riding a bike, swimming, golf, gardening, social tennis, house cleaning.
Vigorous activities take more effort and make you 'huff and puff'. Examples of vigorous activity are: jogging, most organised sports, fast cycling, and activities that include digging, lifting or carrying.
Physical inactivity is the second leading modifiable risk factor that contributes to the loss of healthy life (the disease burden) in Australia , with smoking as the leading cause. Physical inactivity is the third leading cause of disease burden for Indigenous people , after smoking and being overweight or obese. The effect of physical inactivity on the health of Indigenous2 people is greater than it is for other Australians.
In Australia, the overall costs of physical inactivity to health and wellbeing are high . Costs are measured in terms of medical expenses and time lost from work due to illness or injury or death. There are no specific estimates of the cost for Indigenous people, but it is likely to be high.
What is known about physical activity and Indigenous people – how history influences the present
Physical activity levels among Indigenous peoples in Australia have changed over time. For some Indigenous peoples, their once active lifestyles changed with European colonisation. Their lifestyle may once have included :
- being a hunter-gatherer
- constantly moving across varying landscapes in different climates
- day-to-day physical activity involved in finding food and other necessities
- physically sustaining the spiritual connection to country
- physically maintaining familial and cultural practices.
The farming practices that were introduced by the white settlers prevented many Indigenous peoples from having access to the land . Some Indigenous peoples were moved to missions or towns and had to rely on food hand-outs by the Europeans. Physical activity levels and food quality were greatly reduced by these changes to the lifestyles of these Indigenous people . Physical activity was no longer a major part of everyday life.
Reduction in the physical activity levels of Indigenous people over time (particularly in the last half century or so), together with poor nutrition has contributed to an increase in the number of people who have chronic diseases such as:
- heart disease
- high blood pressure
- other health conditions (such as being overweight or obese).
For some Indigenous people, the concept of physical activity is not thought of in the same way as by other Australians . The activities that made up the traditional Indigenous lifestyle, such as hunting, gathering, and participation in other customs and traditions, were important and linked many different aspects of life such as:
- social structure
- building and maintaining relationships
- building and maintaining wealth
- managing and preserving the environment.
These historical beliefs form part of the values of many Indigenous people today. Engaging in an individual physical activity to benefit only oneself, away from family or community, may be seen as inappropriate or selfish .
Physical activity was, and is, not seen by many Indigenous people as a separate, measurable activity in the same way as it is for non-Indigenous people . Measuring levels and the types of physical activity by Indigenous people may be affected by:
- an understanding of what counts as physical activity
- whether the activity has been explained properly and is being performed correctly.
Self-reported measures of physical activity could inaccurately record the level of physical activity for Indigenous people, because the westernised definition and measurements of physical activity used may differ from Indigenous concepts.
Similarly, interventions targeting physical activity for Indigenous people may fail if they are based on westernised approaches to physical activity rather than taking account of Indigenous ideas of what constitutes physical activity.
What are the Australian physical activity guidelines?
The National Physical Activity Guidelines for Australians recommend that all Australians do some physical activity on most, preferably all, days of the week . Guidelines for physical activity in Australia were developed by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, and outline the least amount of physical activity required in order to be healthy.
The benefits of doing regular physical activity and limiting sedentary behaviour include helping you to :
- feel good about yourself (increasing confidence and self-esteem)
- control your body weight or lose weight
- reduce the risk of getting heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers
- manage and control your heart disease and type 2 diabetes
- recover from some cancers
- build strong muscles, bones and joints
- (for children) grow and develop into strong and healthy adults.
The amount of physical activity recommended is different for children and adults :
- children (5-17 years of age) require 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous activity
- adults (18-64 years of age) require 30 minutes per day.
Physical activity can be done as a large block of activity (do one 30 minute session) or in small blocks of activity throughout the day (do three 10 minute sessions) .
The recommendations also include not spending more than one hour at a time of sedentary behaviour, with the exception of sleeping.
Box 2: Physical activity guidelines
Very young children
Birth to 1 year
- From birth, babies should be as active as possible, particularly play on the floor.
- Once infants are moving around they should be encouraged to be as active as possible in a safe play area where they can be seen by a caregiver.
- Unless they are sleeping, infants should always be active and not spend more than one hour at a time without being active.
1 to 5 years
- Toddlers (1 to 3 years) and pre-schoolers (3 to 5 years) should be active every day for at least three hours, spread across the day.
- Active play is the best way for young children to be physically active.
- Children (less than 2 years) should not spend any time on electronic media (watching television or playing computer or video games).
- Children (2 to 5 years) should spend less than one hour a day on electronic media.
- Unless they are sleeping, toddlers and pre-schoolers should always be active and not spend more than one hour at a time without being active.
- Children (aged 5 to 12 years) should have 60 minutes of a combination of moderate and vigorous physical activity every day:
- moderate activities include walking, riding a bike or active play
- vigorous activities include activities of a greater intensity, such as football, netball, running and swimming.
- A variety of activities are important.
- Electronic media should be limited.
- Adolescents (12 to 18 years) should have at least 60 minutes of a combination of moderate and vigorous physical activity every day:
- moderate activities include walking
- vigorous activities include running, swimming, training for sport.
- This amount can be achieved with short sessions of activity throughout the day.
- Adults should have at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day.
- This can be a combination of shorter activities, such as two periods of 15 minute activities, for example one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
- Adults should think of all body movement as a benefit and be as active as they can every day: an example of this is walking instead of using the car, or taking the stairs instead of the lift.
- Older Australians should have at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most, if not all, days at a level of moderate intensity.
- It should be easily manageable and suitable for their capability, despite age, weight, health concerns or abilities.
- This can be achieved through being active every day in as many ways possible incorporating fitness, strength, balance and flexibility.
- Older people who are new to starting physical activity or those who have not been active in a while should start at a manageable level and gradually work towards the recommended amount.
- Older people who regularly participate in a physically active lifestyle are encouraged to carry on in a manner suited to their capabilities, provided they follow recommended safety procedures and guidelines.
People living with chronic conditions
- Physical activity is necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and prevent chronic conditions, but considerations also need to be given to the physical activity requirements for people living with chronic conditions.
- Living with a chronic disease can impact on a person’s ability to participate in the recommended levels of physical activity. This is an area that needs further development in terms of addressing physical activity.
The national guidelines include recommendations for different age groups but do not acknowledge different cultural groups. It is recognised that for the guidelines to benefit everyone, there need to be different guidelines for different population groups including Indigenous people.
Overall, the physical activity recommendations are the same for Indigenous people as for the general population. If the suggested types of physical activity, and the way in which the information is shared were to take cultural issues into account, the information may be more relevant for the Indigenous population. Examples of activities, such as playing golf or doing organised sport, may not be relevant to some Indigenous people, whereas a focus on family activities or more traditional activities may be more relevant.
What is known about physical activity levels among Indigenous people?
The two most recent detailed sources of information on the physical activity levels of Indigenous people are:
- the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey, 2008 (NATSISS)
- the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health survey, Australia, 2004-05 (NATSIHS) .
Information collected in the 2008 NATSISS for Indigenous children (aged 4-14 years) indicated [Derived from ]:
- almost two out of every three children (two-thirds or 64%) had taken part in some form of physical activity or sport in the previous 12 months
- almost three-quarters (74%) had been physically active for at least 60 minutes on every day in the previous week
- 3% had not had any activity
- males were slightly more likely to do some type of physical activity than females (65% of males and 63% of females) [Derived from ]
- people living in major cities were more likely to do some form of physical activity (68%), than those living in inner/outer regional areas (65%) or remote/very remote areas (58%)
- of all the states and territories, physical activity levels were the highest in Tas3 (74%), and lowest in the NT (50%) (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Proportions (%) of Indigenous children aged 4-14 years who participated in physical activity, by state and territory, Australia, 2008
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011 [Derived from ]
Information collected in the 2008 NATSISS for Indigenous adults (aged 15 years or older) indicated [Derived from ]:
- three out of every ten people (30%) had taken part in some form of physical activity or sport in the previous 12 months
- males (almost four out of ten or 38%) did more physical activity than females (two out of ten or 23%)
- physical activity levels were lower in the older age groups for both males and females; more than four out of ten people (44%) aged 15-24 years old did any physical activity compared with only one out of every ten people (10%) aged 55 years or more (see Figure 2)
- levels of physical activity were slightly higher for people living in major cities (33%), than people living in inner/outer regional areas (29%), and remote and very remote areas (28%) (see Figure 3)
- levels of physical activity were highest in the ACT (almost half the Indigenous adults, or 46%) and lowest in SA (about a quarter of Indigenous adults, or 27%)
- differences between males and females in the amount of physical activity they did were greatest in the NT, where males participated twice as much as females (42% compared with 20%) (see Figure 4)
- levels of physical activity among each of the Indigenous groups4 were similar with about one in every three people active: Aboriginal people (30%), Torres Strait Islanders (33%), and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (32%) (Figure 5)
- levels of physical activity varied between the sexes in each group. The greatest difference was among those who identified as Torres Strait Islanders: they had the highest levels of participation for males (almost 5 out of ten males or 46%), and the lowest for females (less than 2 out of ten females or 18%) (Figure 5).
Figure 2 Proportions (%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activity, by sex and age group, Australia, 2008
Source: Derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011 [Derived from ]
Figure 3 Proportions (%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activity, by sex and geographical area, Australia, 2008
Source: Derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011 [Derived from ]
Figure 4 Proportions (%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activity, by sex and state and territory, Australia, 2008
Source: Derived from Australian bureau of statistics, 2011 [Derived from ]
Figure 5 Proportions (%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who participated in physical activity, by sex and Indigenous status, Australia, 2008
Source: Derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2011 [Derived from ]
In the 2004-2005 NATSIHS survey the following levels of physical activity were used:
- sedentary (no physical activity or very low levels)
Survey results for Indigenous people (aged 15 years and over) indicated :
- three-quarters (75%) of those living in non-remote areas were sedentary or had done low levels of physical activity in the last year
- Indigenous people living in non-remote areas were 1.5 times more likely to be sedentary than non-Indigenous people living in non-remote areas (Figure 6) (these statistics have been calculated after adjusting for the different age structures of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations)
- females reported being more sedentary than males (51% or half the females and 42% or 2 out of every 5 males)
- people in the older age-groups reported being more sedentary than younger people; around 8 out of 10 people (85%) in both the 45-54 years and 55 years-and-over age groups
- the highest levels of moderate to high physical activity levels were reported for age-groups 15-24 years (32%) and 25-34 years (27%)
- Indigenous people did more sedentary or low levels of activity than non-Indigenous people across all states and territories
- the highest levels of sedentary or low activity for Indigenous people were in NSW (almost eight out of ten people or 79%) and Tas (seven out of eight people or 70%) (Figure 7)
- the portion of Indigenous people aged 15 years and older who were sedentary increased from two in five (37% ) in 2001 to almost half (47%) in 2004-2005.
Figure 6 Proportions (%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over who participated in some form of physical activity, Australia, 2004-2005
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006
Figure 7 Physical activity levels of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over, by state and territory, 2004-2005
Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011
What factors contribute to the amount of physical activity that people do?
Some people find it very difficult to take part in physical activity because of certain barriers . Barriers for Indigenous people can be:
- cultural (such as different understandings of the meaning of health, inclusion of family or community, and ideas of time and/or structure)
- geographical (such as physical location, environment, landscape and climate)
- historical (such as attitudes of the older generations that are passed down to the younger generation)
- socioeconomic (including time, accessibility, transport and costs).
Barriers can also include :
- having no fixed place to live
- difficulties with social structures, such as mixing between skin groups and gender
- negative thoughts about local practitioners or health workers - there may be a fear of doctors and other authorities because of what happened to the stolen generation
- privacy issues, particularly the beliefs that nothing can be secret in communities or if family members are working at local health services
- literacy levels, particularly if English is a second language
- less availability and frequency of services and poorer access to programs in remote areas
- a lack of awareness about existing services
- the cost of services
- a lack of understanding that not being physically active is a risk factor for chronic disease.
These barriers can reduce the success of interventions aimed at increasing physical activity among some Indigenous people. These barriers contribute to the low levels of physical activity and high rates of chronic disease among Indigenous people.
Cultural issues need to be respected in the development of policies and strategies, and when creating programs to increase the participation of Indigenous people in physical activity to help reduce the levels of chronic diseases . Physical activity programs developed for the general population may not always be appropriate. Consultation with Indigenous communities when planning and developing interventions is more likely to be relevant and therefore succeed.
What is known about physical activity and chronic disease?
Chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease are triggered by many different factors called risk factors. Risk factors can be:
- genetic – such as having a family history of a disease and being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent
- biomedical - such as having high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or obesity
- lifestyle - such as physical inactivity, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, and poor nutrition.
Some chronic diseases may also be caused by, or be a complication of, one or more other diseases. For example having diabetes increases the risk for getting heart disease . Low levels of physical activity are linked with various chronic diseases including:
- cardiovascular disease (CVD)
- type 2 diabetes
- some cancers.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD)
The main diseases of the cardiovascular system that are most affected by physical activity are:
- coronary (ischaemic) heart disease (CHD)
- heart failure
Box 3: Cardiovascular disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the general name given to all diseases of the cardiovascular system (which includes the heart, blood and blood vessels). The main types of CVD in Australia are:
Coronary heart disease (CHD). This occurs when the heart does not receive enough blood. It is usually caused by atherosclerosis (narrowing of the blood vessels due to a build-up of fatty substances in the blood vessels) in the arteries leading to the heart, which eventually results in a complete blockage. The blockage can cause angina (pains, difficulty breathing) and can lead to a heart attack.
Heart failure (cardiomyopathy). This is when the heart is not strong enough to properly pump blood around the body. The heart muscle has become weak, usually as a result of a heart attack, but sometimes due to diabetes, high blood pressure or a damaged heart valve. Weakened heart muscle cannot be repaired.
Stroke. The most common type of stroke is an ischemic stroke. This occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery leading to the brain, or in the brain itself. The result is a lack of blood and oxygen to the brain. Blood clots are most likely to block an artery that has atherosclerosis. Haemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks and blood leaks into the brain.
People who are physically active are more likely to have a healthy heart and fewer or no biomedical risk factors (high blood pressure and high levels of blood cholesterol) than people who are not physically active . People with CVD who do some physical activity show improvements in both their physical and social and emotional wellbeing . Australians who are not physically active are twice as likely to die from CHD as those who do regular physical activity .
Results from the 2004-2005 NATSIHS showed that of all Indigenous people living in non-remote areas who reported having CVD:
- less than half (42%) were physically active
- males and females had similar levels of inactivity (after adjusting for age)
- activity levels decreased as they got older - almost three-quarters of people aged 65 years and over were physically inactive
- Indigenous people were 1.6 times more likely than non-Indigenous people to be physically inactive
- Indigenous people reported greater levels of physical inactivity than non-Indigenous people across all age groups; this was particularly high for the 45-64 years age groups, with levels almost twice as high.
Physical inactivity accounts for 30% of the disease burden of CVD in the Indigenous population and 24% of the overall burden of CVD in Australia . The other main contributors to CVD in the Indigenous population are:
- tobacco smoking (33%)
- high body mass (overweight or obesity) (31%)
- high blood cholesterol (31%).
The benefits of regular physical activity are not only linked to a reduced risk of developing CVD, but in reducing some of the other risk factors for CVD :
- type 2 diabetes
- increased bodyweight
- high levels of total blood cholesterol
- high levels of bad blood fats
- high blood pressure (hypertension).
Positive changes to these factors can lead to overall improvements to cardiovascular health.
Type 2 diabetes
Being physically inactive accounts for 31% of the burden of type 2 diabetes among Indigenous people. Overweight and obesity accounts for 63% of the burden of type 2 diabetes . Physical activity can assist in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes by:
- reducing the likelihood of developing diabetes
- reversing high blood sugar levels
- helping in the management of diabetes
- improving the physical and psychological condition of people with type 2 diabetes .
Box 4: Diabetes
There are three main types of diabetes:
- type 1 (also known as juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes)
- type 2 (also known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes)
- gestational (also known as diabetes in pregnancy).
Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes and usually affects people over the age of 45 years (35 years in Indigenous people). It occurs when there is too much sugar in the blood. The body is not able to make enough insulin, or the cells in the body become resistant to insulin. Insulin is necessary to control sugar levels in the bloodstream. If diabetes is not controlled it can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and eye problems.
Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or managed through weight control, being physically active and eating healthy foods.
Being physically inactive accounts for 5% of the burden of cancer among Indigenous people, following tobacco (35%) and alcohol (6%) . Physical activity can help :
- protect against cancer as well as contributing to weight control (being overweight is a risk factor for some cancers)
- protect against colon cancer in men and breast cancer in women
- improve the physical and psychological condition of people with cancer
- reduce tiredness (fatigue) and stress
- improve fitness and muscle function.
How is physical activity involved in the management and treatment of chronic disease?
Physical activity is important not only in the prevention of chronic disease , it can also benefit people who already have a chronic disease .
For people with CVD, it is suggested that the greatest benefit from physical activity is among those who were the least active, and benefits can be seen even in low levels of participation . Physical activity was also associated with reduced repeated cardiac events (reduced by around 30%), and reduced hospital readmissions (reduced by around 25%) . For those people with existing CVD, physical activity can lead to improvements in :
- oxygen consumption (which is a measure of health and fitness in people with CVD)
- physical functioning (such as improved walking ability for stroke survivors)
- symptoms of CVD (such as angina symptoms and shortness of breath)
- quality of life
- biomedical risk factors (such as blood pressure, triglyceride levels, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations)
- lower risk of death for those who survive heart attacks.
Type 2 diabetes
Effective treatment and management of type 2 diabetes should include regular physical activity as it can help to:
- improve control of blood sugar levels
- reduce the need for diabetes medication
- control blood pressure
- improve the effectiveness of the body’s own insulin
- improve blood lipid levels
- improve body mass.
Overall, this can lead to a reduced risk of CVD which is particularly important for people with diabetes, as their risk of CVD events is twice as high as those who do not have type 2 diabetes . Physical activity also reduces the risk of death from a CVD event for those people with diabetes . The development of long term complications associated with diabetes such as neuropathy (nerve damage), retinopathy (damage to the blood vessels in the eye causing blindness), and nephropathy (kidney disease or damage) can be prevented or delayed by the introduction of regular physical activity. Physical activity can also lead to improved quality of life for those with diabetes, with improvements to social and emotional wellbeing and a reduction in the risk of developing other chronic diseases .
For people with cancer, physical activity can reduce the risk of death and also lead to improvements in :
- social and emotional wellbeing
- physical functioning
- body mass
What are the other health benefits of physical activity?
Apart from reducing the risk of developing chronic disease, being physically active can also lead to improvements to the musculoskeletal system, changes to areas of the brain that can have an effect on social and emotional wellbeing , and weight control.
Particular benefits of physical activity to the musculoskeletal system include :
- a reduction in injury and falls
- protection against the development of conditions relating to bone and joint health (such as osteoporosis and arthritis)
- aid in the management of osteoporosis and arthritis
- increases in the mobility and flexibility of joints
- maintenance of, and improvements in, muscle mass, strength, power and the functioning of the nerves
- improvements to posture and balance
- reductions in pain, fatigue, stress, tiredness and muscle tension
- increased muscle strength
- increased bone mineral content and bone mass density (when doing those activities that involve resistance activities such as weights)
- reductions in the risk of a hip or vertebral (backbone) fracture
- reductions in the risk of falls in older adults with poor mobility (by around 30%).
Social and emotional wellbeing
Physical activity can improve overall social and emotional wellbeing , and in particular lead to:
- reduced feelings of depression
- increased feelings of wellbeing
- lowered levels of stress and anxiety
- more social contact leading to less loneliness
- increased social support.
Overweight and obesity are usually caused by energy imbalances, that is, more energy being taken in to the body (in kilojoules in food) than is being used up (in daily activity) . Physical activity and nutrition both play a key role in maintaining a healthy weight. Healthy eating in combination with physical activity assists in weight control and serves as a protective factor against chronic disease.
Participating in regular physical activity also helps to :
- reduce the risk of dementia
- prevent and/or reduce the risk of injury
- prevent and manage osteoporosis (thinning of the bones)
- prevent and manage arthritis.
Regular physical activity can assist in the prevention and management of chronic disease and other health problems.
There are many barriers that prevent Indigenous people from taking part in regular physical activity: historical; cultural; geographical; and socio-economic factors all contribute. As a result, physical inactivity is the third leading cause of disease burden for Indigenous people.
Low levels of physical activity are linked with various chronic diseases. Chronic disease accounts for almost three-quarters of the observed difference in the burden of disease between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations. The main chronic diseases that are linked with physical inactivity are cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.
Being physically active can have other health benefits including to the musculoskeletal system, and can help with social and emotional wellbeing and weight control.
- Modifiable risk factors can be changed such as diet and blood pressure. Non-modifiable risk factors cannot be changed such as age or gender.
- The term Indigenous is used in this review to refer generally to the two Indigenous populations of Australia –Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people.
- In this review the following acronyms are used for the states and territories: New South Wales (NSW); Victoria (Vic); Queensland (Qld); Western Australia (WA); South Australia (SA); Tasmania (Tas); Australian Capital Territory (ACT); and Northern Territory (NT).
- Of all Indigenous people 15 years and older that took part in the survey, around 90% identified their status as Aboriginal, around 5% identified as Torres Strait Islander, and around 5% identified as both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
© Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet 2013
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Skip to comments.What's In Chocolate, Cocoa That Might Benefit Brain Health?
Posted on 08/08/2013 7:17:43 PM PDT by Innovative
In the new study, the team from Harvard randomly assigned 60 elderly people to drink two cups of flavanol-rich or flavanol-poor cocoa every day for a month.
There weren't any overall differences between the high- and low-flavanol groups in terms of cognitive abilities, so the researchers looked a little deeper. They found that people who had compromised blood flow to the brain and white matter damage at the beginning of the study did show a difference after drinking the cocoa for a month: Blood flow in their brains improved by about 8%, and the time it took them to complete a working memory test dropped from 167 seconds to 116 seconds.
The problem is that not only do we not know exactly how cocoa does this, but we dont really even know what compound in it is responsible.
While the authors don't think cocoa's effects have to do with the flavanols, they do say that in the future, "regular cocoa consumption may be a strategy to minimize (perhaps even reverse) cerebral vascular pathology in neurodegenerative disorders, regardless of its flavanol content."
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
PS. This article is from Forbes magazine, so I think it deserves to be posted in News.
Does anyone remember Woody Allen’s “Sleeper?” Wasn’t the line something like “Here, have some chocolate and tobacco...”
hot cocoa for breakfast and night time
Yesterday, I was in coffee aisle of grocery and past coffee saw canister of Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix without sugar, and I bought it. I’ll have a cup of that now.
The thing that jumps out at me is the cocoa butter.
Cocoa butter contains a high proportion of saturated fats, derived from stearic and palmitic acids.
Stearic acid occurs in many animal and vegetable fats and oils, but it is more abundant in animal fat (up to 30%) than vegetable fat (typically <5%). The important exceptions are cocoa butter and shea butter where the stearic acid content (as a triglyceride) is 2845%.
You can make guiltless sugar-free cocoa with stevia. Delicious.
I saw this thread and just had to get up and start some water heating... yum.
Beans are vegetables.
Cocoa comes from beans.
Chocolate is a vegetable!
However, I suspect the Mayans (royalty only were allowed chocolate) didn't use any milk - or Llama milk?
Cocoa is a stimulant, but I had not heard that it might improve brain function.
They mixed it with water, chilies, vanilla and cornmeal. They might have added in a bit of agave nectar.
“You can make guiltless sugar-free cocoa with stevia. Delicious.”
What I got is sugarless, and I did have a cup - the cup is larger than a usual cup.
Beans are legumes. Legumes are fruits. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legume
Dark chocolate is now supposed to be good for the heart.
organic chocolate melted with “So Delicious Dairy free French Vanilla creamer” !!
Now there is heaven in a cup!
Yes, one scientist told another that people used to think that steak and hot fudge were bad. Her reply was, “Incredible!” That was a great movie with great music. I wish there have been a soundtrack.
Keep on eating that dark chocolate!
Finding out what does it would spoil the fun.
Forget the “dairy free” crap and use the real thing.
Its healthier and tasts better too.
Here’s the scene from Sleeper:
Another study, mentioned on Sunday Morning Health Call (FOX News), stated that dark chocolate also helps prevent strokes. So there is something in chocolate that helps the brain in more ways than one.
Best news I have heard all day!
True - but aren't/weren't the Mayans and llamss in Peru?
Stevia tastes like something cracked from old gasoline and flavored with sugar beets.
Which was what was the final straw for me in the last Indiana Jones movie.
Refrigerators protect you from atomic blasts? Ok.
Telepathic Russian agents? Sure.
Aliens? Why not.
Maya in Peru? What the....!
I love stevia in hot chocolate and coffee. After you’ve had it for awhile, real sugar tastes too sweet and cheap.
But I still like real sugar in peanut butter cookies. :)
However, I use less sugar than the recipe calls for.
And no thanks to sugar of any kind.
And no thanks to any artificial sweetener of any kind.
What’s wrong with cocoa without any sweetener?
Taste like saccharin t me. Bleeaaahh!
You really have to ask? Really?
What jumps out for me, and your cocoa butter idea is a good one, is the emotion involved in hot cocoa. It is an extremely pleasant, tasty, homey association with the past that could be such a good feeling that the feeling itself is what stimulates the brain.
Just a thought. It would be a mind over matter explanation and would account for the lack of success identifying a specific chemical compound.
Start raising kids where a beating or a severe lecture (Michelle Obama) is associated with drinking hot chocolate and the benefit might disappear in a couple decades.
I’d always assume a chemical, because there are so darned many of them that are biologically interactive with us.
To start with, cocoa is full of antioxidant-rich phytonutrients. ORAC is the acronym for “Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity”, and raw cocoa has the highest ORAC value of any food (which is why the researchers focus on it.
(I might also add this is why chemotherapy patients should never, ever drink cocoa or eat chocolate, because the intent of the chemo is to create oxygen radicals in the tumor.)
Cocoa has more flavonoids than any known food. Two flavonoids in particular, catechin and epicatchin, are found in extremely high amounts in cocoa powder and have copious amounts of research supporting their health benefits. These two flavonoids along with hundreds of other known phytochemicals in cocoa appear to prevent and even treat some of todays most devastating diseases. Interestingly, this myriad of flavonoids in cocoa appears to be absorbed intact into the human blood stream.
This is unusual because many flavonoids are destroyed during digestion, a reason that flavonoid supplement don’t seem to work as well as those within plant cells tissue.
Many Americans are deficient in the minerals copper and magnesium, both of which are found in cocoa. Cocoa contains about 0.8 mg of copper per 100 g and is therefore a great food source of copper. Copper has many uses in the body, including the oxygenation of red blood cells and aiding in cellular energy production. Cocoa also has the highest amount of magnesium of any known food source,approximately 131 mg per 100 g of cocoa. This mineral, which plays a significant role in cocoas health giving properties, is required by over 300 enzymes in the body and is crucial for cardiovascular health, optimal blood pressure and protein synthesis.
Other chemicals in cocoa cause euphoria, including phenyethlamine (PEA), serotonin, tyramine and anandamide. One of the most well-known is phenyethlamine (PEA) which helps the body release its own opium-like compounds, called endorphins, and also boosts levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
Most people are deficient in the neurotransmitter serotonin and this is why many Americans are prescribed anti-depressants which boost serotonin levels. Anandamide binds to the same receptor sites in the brain as THC, the active constituent in marijuana.
The “dairy free” crap as you call it Mr E.S. is all this body can tolerate, and I disagree about better and healthier actually.. Coconut and it’s by products are some of the healthiest things you can consume.
I do not disagree with you as to Coconut, but many “dairy free” products contain harmful oils like soy, canola, and safflower.
Thanks. I had not heard that dark chocolate helps prevent strokes.
Soy is the GMO oil that will kill ya!
Coconuts are a great food source.. read ur labels!
I cut out sugars and all sweeteners over ten years ago. Needless to say, that means I haven't had cocoa or chocolate for at least ten years.
I have learned to drink my coffee without sugar (and without milk or cream; dairy is also unhealthy).
So I was wondering if it's possible (and convenient, as in not having to grind my own cocoa beans or something) to make hot chocolate without any kind of sweetener added.
Isn't coconut milk a laxative?
Next thing you know, there will be Puerto Ricans in NYC... | <urn:uuid:7b9c65bb-e23f-4e15-8fba-e2e4c050fc31> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3052685/posts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953382 | 1,953 | 2.5625 | 3 |
There is not enough information. You also need to know the distance between centers of the two circles.
The area of the lune is the area of the upper half of the small circle, plus the area of the triangle formed by the two radii of the large circle and the diameter of the small circle (see the attachment), minus the area of the sector of the large circle bounded by those two radii. So the area of the lune is
(Seeing this problem in the Calculus section, I started trying to calculate the area as a double integral using polar coordinates. It's possible to do it that way, but the geometric approach is far easier!) | <urn:uuid:37cf0ec7-8633-43a3-9d8e-5967c49f0880> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathhelpforum.com/calculus/163149-find-area.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944308 | 135 | 3.015625 | 3 |
The Constitutional Framework
The Constitution provides a specific framework with provisions directly governing
this institution and a framework of basic rights that supplements it.
Specific legal framework:
This is contained in article 37 of the Constitution, which reads:
Article 37. Extradition:
Extradition may be granted only by the executive branch upon the
recommendation of the Supreme Court, in compliance with the law and treaties
and based on the principle of reciprocity.
Extradition will not be granted when it is determined that it is sought for the
purpose of persecution or punishment based on religion, nationality, opinions or
Persons sought for political crimes or related acts will not be extradited. Acts of
terrorism, mass murder, and genocide are not classified as such.
This article gives us the following guidelines:
Extradition is an act of government. It is granted by the executive branch. No
other branch of government may grant it.
The act of extradition is subject to verification of legality. It is not an omnibus
power, as it is subject to the requirement of legality, i.e. the provisions of law and
treaties. It is granted only with the prior opinion of the Supreme Court. The
"mixed system" applies to the power to grant extradition: it is granted only by the
executive branch, with the prior opinion of the Supreme Court. The characteristic
of this system is that the opinion of the judiciary , while binding, is binding only
if it is contrary to extradition.
It establishes the sources:
• The principle of reciprocity.
It declares that extradition may be granted only pursuant to law, for which
• It prohibits persecution for non-legal reasons.
• It excludes persecution for political crimes or related acts.
• It declares that Peru does not consider genocide, mass murder or
terrorism as political crimes.
Legal framework of basic rights
Among the fundamental rights of individuals, the following are of special
The principle of penal legality. No one may be tried or convicted for an act or
omission that at the time it was committed was not previously qualified in law,
expressly and unequivocally, as a punishable offense, nor may any person be
punished with a penalty not stipulated in the law. It finds its basic application in
the principle of double criminality, which applies to active and passive extradition.
The principle of innocence: all persons are considered innocent until they have
been found guilty by a court. This relates to the need to demonstrate that there is
reasonable and probable cause for extradition, especially if guilt is not discussed
in the extradition proceeding.
Protection of the right to liberty. No one may be detained except by a written and
substantiated warrant issued by a judge, or by the police authorities in the case
of flagrante delicto. This is linked to extradition, because extradition is generated
by the judiciary. As well, in the case of passive extradition only the judge can
issue an arrest warrant. This provision must be treated with care, as article 523
(1.b) referring to passive extradition will allow the provisional arrest of a person
sought by the authorities of a neighboring country, even if the Peruvian judge has
not issued a warrant.
In reality, the constitutional provision banning the offer of extradition has no
practical application in this case, as Peru's neighboring countries are bound by
treaties, either bilateral or multilateral, that require a petition for preventive arrest
or extradition by the requesting State, but not the offer of extradition.
Physical and moral protection of the individual. No one may be the victim of
moral, mental or physical violence, or subjected to torture or inhumane or
degrading treatment. If there is evidence of possible acts that affect a person
morally, physically or mentally, extradition may be denied.
The right to communicate. A person may be held incommunicado only when
necessary to clarify a crime, and as extradition does not in itself seek to clarify
crimes but rather to guarantee the presence of the person, the person wanted for
extradition may not be treated in this way.
In addition, we find other guidance in the principles and rights of the jurisdictional
function contained in article 139: there is a sole and exclusive right to
jurisdictional function, which excludes the possibility of accepting an extradition
request issued by a non-jurisdictional body or by bodies parallel to the judiciary,
or exceptional courts.
Independence in exercise of the jurisdictional function, which enshrines the
prohibition on government inteference in jurisdictional questions. The executive
branch is prohibited from interfering in an extradition issue until the time it is
required to intervene. Nor may the executive branch of the requested State be
asked to intervene in the decision of the jurisdictional body of its State.
Observance of due process and jurisdictional protection. Extradition may be
declared null and void if the rules of due process have not been followed.
The principle of no conviction in absentia. Extradition for purposes of execution of
a sentence may only be granted if the person has been convicted in his
The prohibition on double jeopardy. This provision requires denial of an
extradition request if it involves a second prosecution for the same deeds. It also
allows recognition of res judicata, if a previous extradition request was denied .
A further application arises when extradition is not consummated by the removal
of the wanted person: in such cases, a second request will not be accepted.
This constitutional framework has two applications:
1. It serves as a framework for negotiating extradition treaties.
2. It serves as a source of guidance for the pursuit of the extradition procedure.
In the first case, extradition treaties are negotiated on general grounds, leaving
procedural aspects to the respective domestic legislation.
In the second, even when following pre-established guidelines, there are
substantial aspects that will influence the decision and even the process itself,
leading in particular to nullification even if this is not contemplated in the specific
rules governing the extradition process.
Domestic legal framework
This is set out in the provisions of Book VII, "International Judicial Cooperation",
of the Code of Penal Procedure.
CPP Article 508 specifies the rules applicable to extradition and governing the
relations of the Peruvian authorities with foreign authorities:
2. Principle of reciprocity, within a framework of respect for human rights
From the foregoing we may draw the following conclusions:
a) The treaty prevails and only in the absence of a treaty does the principle of
reciprocity come into play. Consequently, the conditions of acceptability,
requirements, prohibitions and other general aspects are governed by the
provisions of the treaty, leaving procedural aspects to domestic law. However,
domestic law may not impose stricter requirements than those established in the
treaty. Article 513 (2) provides that in the absence of a treaty, extradition
proceedings will rely on the principle of reciprocity.
b) To say that the principle of reciprocity operates within a framework of respect
for human rights is not to say that treaties are exempt from such respect.
Treaties are negotiated on the basis of respect for human rights and there are
numerous articles providing to this effect (requirement for double criminality to
protect liberty when the deed is not considered a crime in the legislation of the
requested State, prohibition of the death penalty, exclusion of cases based on
extralegal grounds such as prosecution by reason of ideas, religion, race etc.).
Nevertheless, there is a technical deficiency in the drafting of article 508, when it
says that "if there is a treaty, its rules shall govern the process of international
judicial cooperation. Notwithstanding this, the rules of domestic law, and in
particular those in this code, shall be used to interpret them.” In fact, the ordinary
internal rules do not interpret a treaty: treaties are interpreted in accordance with
their own provisions which have been previously negotiated to make them
compatible with both country's laws. We may note that article 27 of the Vienna
Convention on the Law of Treaties provides that "a party may not invoke the
provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty".
The limitations are those set by the rules that comprise its public order, which
must have already been foreseen in the treaty (for example the prohibition on
conviction in absentia – which is part of the internal public order – is already
contained in treaties) and if they are not, then they are limiting norms, not
because they interpret the treaty but because they are part of the internal public
order which must not be violated. In general they are rules that guide the
protection of human rights, or the requirement, for example, for due process visà-
vis the wanted person, guaranteeing his physical safety, which may be
requested because our laws so permit. This may not be contained in the treaty
but can be invoked as a request for assurances and it must be answered with the
guarantee that extradition will not be used as a mechanism of political
persecution but as a mechanism for enforcement of justice.
Article 513 reads as follows: "When extradition, in the absence of a treaty, is
based on the principle of reciprocity, the Prosecutor General and the Ministry of
External Relations shall advise the judiciary of cases in which that principle has
been invoked by Peru and accepted by the foreign country involved in the
extradition procedure, as well as those cases in which the foreign country has
invoked it and Peru as accepted it."
The following consideration is relevant here: article 37 of the Constitution
declares that extradition is granted in compliance with laws and treaties and the
principle of reciprocity. This brief reference to the principle of reciprocity has
allowed it to be invoked without the need to cite a precedent. When it says that
extradition is granted only in compliance with treaties and according to the
principle of reciprocity, it is recognizing reciprocity as a legal source
complementary to treaties, so that the country may surrender the wanted person
on the understanding that it will receive similar cooperation when it so requests.
The wording of article 513 has a bearing on a practice of seeking a precedent
that may not exist and that in practical terms will prevail only for the precedents
generated after February 2006. Even so, the deficiency here is that precedents
for denying extradition, for example, may relate to questions which, in the context
of a treaty, do not constitute grounds for denial, for which reason if there is a
denial on legal grounds this would not generate a negative precedent. Normal
practice is for countries to accept and deny extradition requests by examining
each case specifically, and not by relying on precedents.
Article 513 refers to a person tried, accused or convicted as perpetrator or
accomplice. Curiously, and dangerously, it indicates that if the purpose of the
request is to enforce a criminal sentence it must have been imposed in the
presence of the accused.
Article 516, referring to passive extradition, states: "or to have him serve the
sentence imposed in his presence."
Article 525, on active extradition, refers merely to seeking extradition of "a
[person] tried, accused or convicted from the State in which that person is found."
We cannot say that a sentence has been imposed with accused present when it
was merely imposed “in presence." This could give rise to a dangerous
interpretation that would admit a sentence where the person has been present
throughout the entire process but not at the time the sentence is read. In any
case, article 516 is correct in its specification, because to convict a person in
absentia is expressly prohibited by the Constitution.
According to law these are, in the first place, crimes included in the list of
offenses approved by the treaty, if any. If there is no treaty, then the offense must
be punishable both in the requesting State and in Peru by deprivation of liberty
for a minimum or a maximum of at least one year.
If the treaty adheres to the minimum penalty system then, in addition to double
criminality, the minimum penalty must be verified.
Participation by the authorities in an extradition process. Pursuant to article 37 of
the Constitution, article 514 provides that the government must decide
extradition, whether passive or active, through a supreme resolution issued with
the agreement of the Council of Ministers. This decision requires the previous
advice of an official commission, created by Supreme Decree 016-2006-JUS as
the Official Commission for Extraditions and Surrender of Convicts.
Although the opinion of this commission is merely advisory and nonbinding, it is
nonetheless a prerequisite.
Next, the government's decision requires a ruling of the Criminal Chamber of the
Supreme Court, which must issue an advisory resolution.
The Supreme Court verifies the legality of the extradition request and issues an
advisory resolution that is binding only if negative to extradition.
If the advisory resolution is favorable to rendition or considers it appropriate to
apply for extradition to a foreign country, it is merely illustrative and guarantees
the legality of the request, but the government may decide the issue at its
Article 512 designates the Prosecutor General's Office as the Central Authority. It
reads: "1. The central authority for international judicial cooperation is the Office
of the Prosecutor General. The foreign authority shall address itself to that office
for initiating international judicial cooperation, and for coordinating and
conducting consultations in this matter (...)". The Ministry of External Relations is
responsible for "intervening in the processing of requests for cooperation
formulated by the national authorities. Similarly, if the treaties so provide, it shall
receive and provide to the Prosecutor General the requests for international
judicial cooperation submitted by the foreign authorities." The Code of Criminal
Procedure confirms that diplomatic channels must be used to receive and
transmit extradition requests.
What does the government evaluate? It evaluates whether an extradition is not
only legally possible but politically advisable . Except in very unusual cases,
the government may deny extradition even if the judiciary considers it legally
The political evaluation in turn refers to the overriding national interest, and it lies
with the government, which is in charge of international relations.
Conditions or guarantees that may be requested
Beyond the requirements of the treaty, the following may be requested:
a) Assurances that the wanted person will be credited with the time spent in
detention during the extradition process, as well as any previous time
served in the process that gave rise to the request.
b) Assurances that if the offense for which extradition is requested is
punishable by death in the requesting State, the wanted person will not be
c) Assurances of due process or a fair trial for the wanted person.
Denial of extradition
Extradition may be refused or denied on the following grounds:
With respect to the State:
1. If the requesting State has no jurisdiction to try the offense.
2. If the wanted person would have to stand trial in the requesting State
before an exceptional court.
3. If the process to which the wanted person will be subjected does not meet
international standards of due process.
4. If there are special reasons of national sovereignty, security or public
order or other considerations whereby acceptance of the request would
not be in the best interests of Peru.
5. If the requesting State cannot give assurances that the wanted person will
be credited with the time spent in detention during the extradition process,
as well as any previous time served in the process that gave rise to the
6. If, where the offense for which extradition is requested is punishable by
death in the requesting State, that State cannot give assurances that the
wanted person will not be executed.
With respect to the wanted person:
1. If the wanted person has already been acquitted, convicted, pardoned or
With respect to the offense:
1. Absence of double criminality: if the offense in question does not constitute a
crime in both the requesting State and in Peru.
2. Insufficient severity of the penalty: if the laws of both countries have not
stipulated punishment that, at either extreme, is equivalent to one year or more of
3. The expiry of the time limit for prosecution or punishment, pursuant to the laws
of Peru or the requesting State, provided this does not exceed the limit
established in Peruvian legislation.
4. If the offense was exclusively of a military or religious nature, or related to
politics, the press or opinion. The fact that the victim of the offense, or the wanted
person, exercised public functions does not by itself make the offense political.
Nor does the definition of political offenses applied to acts of terrorism, crimes
against humanity, and offenses with respect to which Peru has accepted an
international obligation to extradite or prosecute.
5. If the offense is actionable ex parte, or is a misdemeanor.
6. If the offense was of a taxation nature, unless it involved a deliberately false
declaration or an intentional omission for purposes of concealing the proceeds
of another offense.
7. If the extradition request is motivated by an offense under ordinary law but has
been presented in order to persecute or punish an individual for reasons of race,
religion, nationality or political opinions, or if the situation of the wanted person is
likely to be aggravated by one or other of these reasons.
Treatment of double criminality in the new legislation
While many texts in this area hold double criminality to mean that the criminal
conduct in question is deemed an offense in the laws of both the requesting and
the requested State, this definition is not wholly satisfactory, as it merely
specifies that the offense must be punishable in both states.
Upon closer examination, there are certain other parameters that must be
considered. First, the offense must have been punishable before it was
committed (principle of legality) in the requesting State, and before the extradition
request was submitted, in the requested State .
Second, the deed must constitute an offense both at the time it was committed
and at the time extradition is requested, and also at the time of surrender. In
other words, there must be continuity in the punishable nature of the act. If this
continuity is broken, extradition loses its justification.
Third, the offense must not be affected by grounds of exemption in the requested
State: if it were, there would be no grounds to issue an arrest order or to initiate
extradition proceedings, as the acts would have no criminal relevance in the
Fourth, the offense must exceed a certain degree of severity, as indicated in the
treaty or, in its absence, in the domestic law of the requested State. It must also
be remembered that the criteria for evaluating double criminality will vary
depending on the system adopted in the legislation.
One system is to evaluate double criminality in the abstract: does the type of
conduct in question constitute a crime? To determine this, that conduct will be
compared against the crimes specified by law. Evidence will be confined to
verifying that the wanted person faces criminal charges.
A second system is to evaluate double criminality in the specific case: does the
conduct of the wanted person constitute a crime in the requested State? The
evidence in this case will be used to determine whether there is "reasonable and
probable cause" pointing to guilt, the personal situation of the wanted person will
be analyzed and linked to prior demonstration of the existence of the crime. This
is the system adopted in the laws of Japan, Chile and the United States, for
Until February 1, 2006, Peruvian law reflected the second possibility:
consequently, evidence could be presented to demonstrate the innocence of the
wanted person, and one of the essential requirements was to present the
evidence for the prosecution and for the defense. Currently, there is no
requirement to present evidence, but merely to supply documentation proving
that charges have been laid, referring to the provisions of the applicable treaties;
if evidence must be submitted this will not include evidence for the defense but
only that supporting the charges against the wanted person.
Treatment of provisional arrest
This is generally referred to as preventive detention in the treaties. There are
three classes of provisional arrest:
a) Provisional arrest at the petition of the requesting State: this is the classic
form of preventive detention requested by the requesting State.
b) Provisional arrest ex officio: this occurs only when a person seeks to enter
the country when wanted for prosecution in a neighboring country.
c) Provisional arrest via Interpol: this occurs when the person is definitively
located within the national territory, and an urgent arrest request is
channeled through Interpol.
Provisional arrest at the petition of the requesting State
The requesting State may submit a formal petition for provisional arrest, through
diplomatic channels and through its central authority. This petition is transmitted
to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
A formal petition for provisional arrest may also be presented through Interpol
channels. Interpol will remit the petition to the Prosecutor General's Office, which
will immediately refer it to the competent investigating judge, with notice to the
appropriate provincial prosecutor.
Upon receipt of the documentation, the judge will issue the provisional arrest
warrant if the petition, after evaluation, is found to fulfill the requirement of double
criminality, understood in the following sense:
a) The offense is punishable in both nations.
b) The minimum penalty requirement is met.
Nevertheless, there is a serious error in the wording of CPP article 523 in this
respect, which would make preventive detention outside a treaty legally
That article deals with provisional arrest and stipulates the following conditions:
"Article 523. Provisional or pre-extradition arrest.
1. A person sought by the foreign authorities may be subjected to provisional
4. The judge shall issue a provisional arrest warrant, provided the alleged offense
constitutes a criminal act in Peru and the minimum or maximum applicable
penalty is not equal to deprivation of liberty for one year or more. If several
offenses are alleged, it is sufficient that one of them meet this condition in order
for [provisional arrest to proceed] with respect to the other offenses. The decision
shall be notified to the public prosecutor and reported to the Office of the
Prosecutor General and the Local Office of Interpol."
Let us look closely at the minimum penalty parameter: “the minimum or
maximum applicable penalty is not equal to deprivation of liberty for one year or
more” - in other words, if the penalty is for one year or more, provisional arrest is
This stands in contradiction to article 517, which prohibits extradition if the
penalty is not equal to one year or more:
“Article 517. Denial of extradition:
1. Extradition shall be denied if the material fact of the case does not constitute a
crime in the requesting State and in Peru and if the minimum or maximum
applicable penalty is not equal to deprivation of liberty for one year or more. If
several offenses are alleged, it is sufficient that one of them meet this condition in
order for [provisional arrest to proceed] with respect to the other offenses.
The judicial decision shall be notified to the public prosecutor and reported to the
Office of the Prosecutor General and the Local Office of Interpol.”
In cases of urgency, provisional arrest may be sought through a simple
requisition made by any means, including telegraph, telephone, radio or e-mail.
The formal request for provisional arrest must contain:
a) The name of the wanted person, with personal identity data and
information that may assist in locating him in the country.
b) The place and date of the alleged offense and its criminal classification.
c) If the wanted person is a suspect, indication of the penalty for the offense;
and if the person has been convicted, details on the penalty imposed.
d) Reference to a judicial warrant of arrest or imprisonment, and to the
wanted person's status as missing or a fugitive.
e) The commitment of the requesting State to submit a formal extradition
request within 30 days after receipt of the requisition. At the end of that
time, if a formal extradition request has not been submitted, the arrested
person will be immediately released.
Provisional arrest ex officio
This case applies when a police detachment stationed in a frontier zone locates a
person wanted by a neighboring country. The law requires that the border police
must immediately turn the person over to the competent investigating judge, and
so advise the provincial prosecutor. Using the fastest means available, by
telephone, fax or e-mail, the judge must bring this fact to the knowledge of the
Prosecutor General and the diplomatic or consular officer of the requesting
The diplomatic or consular officer will have two days to request that the arrest be
maintained, accompanying that request with all the requirements for arrest. If this
is not done within the stipulated time limit, the arrested person will be released
This provision, however, contravenes the text of the Constitution, which
stipulates the cases in which a person may be arrested and, as noted earlier,
prohibits the offer of extradition. Moreover, let us repeat, the extradition treaties
with neighboring countries do not accept the offer of extradition, but require that
extradition or preventive detention must be requested.
Provisional arrest via Interpol
In the case of provisional arrest via Interpol, the law merely declares that the
national police shall apprehend the wanted person and deliver him immediately
to the competent local judge, and so advise the provincial prosecutor, the
Prosecutor General, and the diplomatic or consular officer of the requesting
country. This provision requires urgent regulation, for even if it takes only minutes
to apprehend and deliver the person, this nevertheless amounts to a deprivation
of liberty that can be ordered only by a judge.
Provisional arrest procedure
Having ordered provisional arrest, the investigating judge has 24 hours to hear
the person, and must appoint a defense attorney, ex officio, unless the detainee
designates a lawyer of his own choice. If the judge finds that the conditions of
double criminality and minimum penalty are not met, he will quash the arrest
order and convert it into a summons to appear, with a prohibition on leaving the
country. The wording of the Code is questionable. If there is no double criminality
or minimum penalty, then a summons to appear is no more appropriate than
Termination of provisional arrest
Provisional arrest will terminate if it is proven that the person arrested is not the
person wanted, or upon expiry of the 30 days for formal submission of the
extradition request, with the proviso that in the latter case the wanted person may
be rearrested for the same offense, provided a formal extradition request is
The executive branch may not grant or deny extradition without a prior ruling
from the judiciary, through its advisory opinion. It is the judiciary's verification of
legality that allows the government to take a decision.
This initial denial may in fact have involved a third State rather than the
requesting State, as happened in the case of an extradition request by Peru to
the government of Chile. The denial ruling declared the following: "14: the fact
that this request for the extradition of Torres Iturra comes from a government
other than the government that formulated the request that was denied (...) does
not prevent application of the principle cited. In the end, it is not a question of
giving effect to the exception of res judicata, with the triple identity of elements
necessary thereto, since the provisions mentioned (...) of the Code of
International Private Law prevent a repeat request for extradition based on the
same facts, without requiring that the new request be made by the same
government" (cited by Huapaya Olivares Alberto and other authors in:
Extradición. Teoría y Jurisprudencia. Instituto de Defensa y Desarrollo Social.
This power does not mean taking a stance on the jurisdictional process or
becoming a party to the case, but rather that the denial is given for reasons
beyond the jurisdictional context, and that belong instead to the realm of State
interests. As noted by Quintero Olivares, quoted by San Martín Castro, Caesar
“(...) is bound by the public interest; the requested State must therefore assess
whether extradition is not only legally possible but politically advisable." (La
extradición y la cooperación judicial internacional. Academia de la Magistratura.
December 2001. Peru).
The minimum penalty criterion must be used with care: in most treaties the
minimum penalty is set at one year, but in the case of extradition treaties signed
with Paraguay and Panama the intermediate duration is set at no less than two
years, and in the case of the extradition treaty with Bolivia, about to come into
force, the penalty must be greater than two years; in the treaty of extradition with
El Salvador, the minimum penalty is three years. The Treaty of Montevideo on
International Penal Law requires a penalty of no less than two years.
States do not legislate at the same speed, but in light of the juridical goods
they deem most important to protect. For this reason, in the case of the
requested State, what is important is that the conduct be punishable as a crime
before the extradition request is received, and not at the time the acts were
committed, which is irrelevant for this State. | <urn:uuid:252ced98-460e-4133-b94c-3d340ece6f7d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://ahuapayao.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-legal-framework-for-extradition-in.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398516.82/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927018 | 6,291 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Whatever happened to: wave power? Why is it so far behind wind and solar?
TreeHugger is ten years old this August. We're taking a look back at some of the changes that have happened in the green movement over the decade.
Dave Levitan at Yale 360 has written a great overview of the current state of affairs in the wave power field, providing some clarity on why progress has been so slow.
Some themes stood out to me:
1. The ocean's a harsh environment for machinery, so costs are higher than to build things on the ground. Salt water corrodes things, waves can get really violent, sending crews to install things and repair them is expensive, etc. Offshore wind farms are always more costly than onshore ones for that reason, for example.
2. R&D into wave power simply hasn't been a priority. Wind and solar have received a lot more attention.
A recurring theme among wave power experts is that wave energy is where wind energy was three decades ago. At that time, engineers had not settled on the optimal design for wind turbines, but decades of ensuing research have resulted in highly sophisticated turbine designs. With wave power, some research occurred after the Arab oil embargo of the 1970s, but since then government and commercial research and development into wave power has paled compared to wind and solar energy.
3. Despite challenges, there is progress. Pilots programs in places like Portugal, Scotland, Australia, etc, are moving forward. Things could start moving faster if a wave power design prototype proves to work really well; sometimes it takes longer to find the right formula than to scale up deployment.
4. But there are also reasons to be pessimistic for wave power. If the cost disadvantages can't be overcome, it simply won't make sense to build wave farms in most places when more wind or solar capacity could be built for the same amount of money.
So it's possible to imagine a future where wave power is cost-effective and widely deployed as one more leg to the renewable stool, but it's an uphill battle. I hope that engineers can figure it out, because we need all the options we can get to clean up our power grid. There might be areas where offshore wind farms can't be built for whatever reason but wave farms can, for example.
I encourage you to read the whole thing at Yale 360. If you want to know more about wave power, it's quite in-depth. | <urn:uuid:7f867e49-04c9-44f2-8d2b-198160780ac3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/why-wave-power-so-far-behind-wind-and-solar.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00189-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963254 | 502 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Editors: Huhana Smith and Arapata Hakiwai
Publication date: November 2008
This exceptional book highlights over 120 taonga tuku iho (ancestral Māori treasures) from Te Papa’s collections. Rich images of these precious objects, are accompanied by stories from the artists who created the taonga, the people who used them in daily life, and their living descendants.
Items include traditional carvings, weapons, waka huia (treasure containers), jewellery, and taonga such as puppets used by tohunga (ritual experts) and tools for tā moko (customary skin marking).
Maps, diagrams, and additional photographs – both archival and contemporary – elaborate on the making of the taonga, and elucidate Māori life, art, and beliefs.
“Of interest and value to both a New Zealand audience and one less familiar with Mäori culture, this is much more than just a striking coffee table tome, though it is certainly that as well.”
- Amy Macpherson Heritage Key online, May 2009 | <urn:uuid:a5306bb5-a425-4ce6-8318-7e1133ea60bf> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.tepapastore.co.nz/products/toi-ora-ancestral-maori-treasures | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00055-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935516 | 233 | 2.6875 | 3 |
the activated adenylate cyclase manufactures cyclic adenosine mono-phosphate (cAMP),
which in turn catalyzes the activity of another protein, kinase A (or PKA).
In other words, there is a typical cascade of biochemical reactions which can
have many different effects.
For example, PKA phosphorylates
the AMPA receptors, allowing them to remain open longer after glutamate binds
to them. As a result, the postsynaptic neuron becomes further depolarized, thus
contributing to LTP.
Other experiments have shown that
CREB protein is another target of PKA. CREB plays a major role in gene
transcription, and its activation leads to the creation of new AMPA receptors
that can increase synaptic efficiency still further.
other enzyme activated by Ca2+/calmodulin, CaM kinase II, has a property that
is decisive for the persistence of LTP: it can phosphorylate itself! Its enzymatic
activity continues long after the calcium has been evacuated from the cell and
the Ca2+/calmodulin has been deactivated.
II can then in turn phosphorylate the AMPA receptors and probably other proteins
such as MAP kinases, which are involved in the building of dendrites, or the NMDA
receptors themselves, whose calcium conductance would be increased by this phosphorylation. | <urn:uuid:f46f47f8-826a-4bcd-bc00-7d4228682f8a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/a/a_07/a_07_m/a_07_m_tra/a_07_m_tra.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935182 | 297 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Crossbow hunting is growing across the country. If you’re thinking of joining the horizontal archery world, here are 10 things you need to know about crossbows.
By Al Raychard
Crossbows, by design, are not that complicated. In the simplest terms, a crossbow is nothing more than a smaller vertical bow attached to a stock. On a technical level, crossbows are different from vertical bows in several ways. The arrows used are shorter, and crossbows have a much shorter power stroke. Even though crossbow arrows and arrows shot from modern compounds travel at comparable speeds, the ballistic characteristics and attributes of the two are as different as night and day and bring their own their unique limitations and challenges to the hunting field.
Although gaining in popularity and acceptance, the modern crossbow remains somewhat of a novelty to the general hunting public. With that said, there are certain things about crossbows that should be understood to achieve optimum performance in the field.
1. They are Short-Range Tools
More so than vertical bows, crossbows are short-range hunting instruments. The maximum recommended range by just about every crossbow manufacturer is 40 yards, with 25 to 30 yards considered optimum. When hunting, that is a critical rule to live by. There are reasons for that, including the crossbows short power stroke and the short, light arrows used.
We could talk about specifics and comparisons all day long, but the bottom line is: Compared to heavier and longer arrows from vertical bows, crossbow arrows drop like a rock and lose energy quickly after leaving the rail. What’s more, they do not stabilize well at long range. It takes energy to kill game at long distances, and crossbow arrows simply do not have it.
2. You Need to Uncock It
Theoretically, once cocked, crossbows could remain locked into firing position indefinitely. It is not unusual for some hunters to leave their crossbows cocked for days, even weeks. Bad idea. Leaving a crossbow cocked for extended periods of time increases stress on the limbs, strings, cables and trigger mechanism and shortens the life of all these components. It is best to fire the bow at the end of each day’s hunt. The easiest way to do this while hunting is to carry a practice arrow with a field point and release the bow into soft ground when the day is done.
Keep in mind, too, most states and provinces have regulations stipulating when a bow is considered loaded or when and where crossbows must be uncocked, such as at the close of legal hunting hours or in a vehicle, for example. Whatever the case, releasing and reloading is the best medicine for long crossbow life.
3. They Can Withstand the Elements
I have used crossbows in the blistering heat of the Deep South and bone-chilling cold of the far North day after day with no visible affects on performance or accuracy. However, it is best not to leave crossbows for long periods of time in direct sun because excessive heat has a tendency to quickly dry strings shortening their life.
During normal hunting conditions, properly maintained crossbows will get the job done in heat, cold or adverse weather.
4. Maintenance is a Must
They’re not just words, but words to live by. Regular maintenance plays a major roll in the overall performance, accuracy, effectiveness and life of a crossbow. The owner’s manual that comes with every crossbow will be the best guide here, but under normal use cables and strings should be replaced every three years or so — sooner if needed.
Through time, strings and cable stretch, including steel cables, resulting in lower draw weight. This will affect arrow speed, range, trajectory and energy. Rails should be lubed with a high quality lube according to manufacturer’s recommendation, and it is a good idea to wax strings, except the center serving, at the same time. Both will ensure longer string life. It is not unusual for quality strings to last 150 shots if not more, but lubing and waxing is the key.
From time to time, crossbows might require adjusting, or tuning, especially the braced height (the distance between a braced string and underside side of the riser measured from the string’s center) and the tiller, the balance between the two limbs, which should be equal in pull length and weight. If a crossbow consistently shoots high or low, or if arrows show wear marks on the shaft from the rail, the problem might be improper brace height, or the bow is out of till.
5. You Need to Cock it Properly
This cannot be overemphasized. Most crossbow accuracy problems are caused by an improperly cocked bow. This is especially true with new bows and novice shooters (and when cocking by hand).
Other factors contribute to poor or unreliable accuracy but — before those are considered — concentrating and developing a proper cocking technique will generally cure the problem. To achieve accurate and consistent arrow flight, the string must be drawn and locked into position with an equal length of serving on each side of the rail. If not, the arrow is released with an uneven amount of energy, resulting in inconsistent downrange groups. As little as ⅛-inch can make the difference between hitting and missing the vitals on a deer at 25 yards.
If cocking by hand, the problem is easily remedied by indexing or marking the server with a permanent marker on each side of the rail when the bow is at rest. When the bow is drawn and locked, the index marks should be in the same position on each side of the rail. Cocking ropes also help keep the serving properly aligned while reducing the draw weight by as much as 50 percent and are one of the most beneficial and helpful crossbows aides to invest in.
6. Arrow Selection is Crucial
Crossbow arrow selection seems complex at times, or some folks make it seem that way. Easy solution: Always use arrows recommended by the manufacturer.
The arrows selected by manufacturers for their various models take shaft length, diameter, spine, mass weight, fletching specifications, type of nock and front of center (FOC) into consideration to achieve optimum performance and accuracy at normal hunting distances. If you deviate from what is recommended, performance might be sacrificed. Damage to the bow can also occur, resulting in voiding the factory warranty. Bodily harm to the shooter is also a possibility.
Don’t make a simple decision into a complex dilemma. This isn’t rocket science: Use arrows the builder recommends.
7. Safety is Important
Crossbows are not toys and should not be treated as such. Those are simple words, but they are extremely important just the same.
Consider the owner’s manual as your crossbow bible. Read it, understand it and — if you have questions — contact the manufacturer. On a basic level, handle a crossbow as you would a firearm. But the crossbow is unique and, therefore, special safety considerations apply. For example, never carry a crossbow when locked and loaded with an arrow. When shooting, always keep fingers and thumbs below the shooting rail. If you don’t, a surprise is coming, and it will hurt.
Before shooting, check the bow for damaged or loose parts, especially the limb bolts, retention spring and wear and tear on the string, serving and cables. Also, a crossbow should never be fired without an arrow.
When sighting in or practicing, bystanders should be positioned behind the shooter, not to the side. And, when hunting from elevated stands, crossbows should be cocked on the ground, elevated into the stand with a rope and loaded only when the hunter is safely seated, in position and ready to shoot. When hunting from ground blinds, ample room should be available for the bow limbs to expand.
8. You Need to Keep it Level
Cantering is when one limb of a crossbow is held lower than the other, and it is a common problem for novice shooters and even experienced shooters at times in hunting situations.
If you canter the bow to the left, the arrow will hit left and most likely high or low depending upon the range. If you canter to the right, the arrow will hit right, and again high or low depending upon range. For optimum and consistent accuracy, crossbow limbs must be level when the trigger is pulled. Cantering is rarely a problem while sighting in or practicing off a rest or bench, but off-hand shooting in hunting situations compounds this problem. This is especially true when sitting, because the inside limb has a natural tendency to drop as we swivel to get into shooting position.
To cure this problem, practice shooting as often as possible from different positions. Concentrating on keeping those limbs parallel with the ground is the best way to eliminate the problem.
9. Real-Life Practice is Important
This advice rings true for any type of deer hunting: Practice the way you hunt, and hunt the way you practice. Crossbow arrows equipped with fixed-blade or expandable broadheads do not fly as fast or on the same trajectory as arrows equipped with field points. Expandable heads are close, but there is still a difference. To be absolutely sure how a crossbow will perform with a hunting head, it is important to practice with that same head at various yardages. This means with the same exact arrows and broadheads of the same style and weight.
After sighting in with a field tip, changing to a hunting head will tell us whether adjustments have to be made. Some will be minor tweaks; others will be more complicated. It is best to make those corrections before hitting the deer woods. Also, keep in mind that crossbow arrows lose speed and drop quickly. If you will be hunting from elevated stands, practice shots from the same height.
10. You Need to Keep it Simple
You needn’t give up your day job to crack the code for obtaining optimum crossbow accuracy and performance. Some folks would want you believe that it is an incredibly delicate science. It’s not.
Manufacturers have done a great job in designing and testing today’s horizontal bows, even noting what arrows to use with various makes and models for peak performance. With occasional care, today’s crossbows are practically maintenance-free and — if we follow the manufacturer’s recommendations — will provide years of serve. If there is a problem, dilemma or question, manufacturers are just a phone call away.
All the hard work is done. Our job is to understand the crossbow and its limitations. We should not expect the crossbow to do more than it was intended — and that is simply to be a reliable hunting companion.
— Al Raychard is a crossbow hunting expert from Maine.
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A research proposal or prospectus serves two general purposes. One, it is a signal to others of your research plans. It is an opportunity for those who must approve of your research, or of funding your research, to consider your plans. The second general purpose is that it is a great opportunity for you to clarify for yourself what your research plans will be and the steps that you need to take to complete the project.
Key Components of a Research Prospectus
The following is not the only way to structure a research prospectus. As with all aspects of the research process, it is a good idea to be in contact with our advisors/instructors to be clear about their expectations.
|1. State your research question.||It is a good idea to lead with this. Academic writing is not like writing a mystery novel. Readers want to know what they are reading right away.||Why is there full democracy in Ghana but not in the rest of West Africa?|
|2. Explain why the question is important; relevance to scholarly literature||Why do we care? What theoretical, empirical and/or policy contributions will the project make?||American policy-makers want to spread democracy. Democracies are more peaceful. Democracy is a good thing…|
|3. Core Concepts||What is the core outcome of interest? How do you define, conceptualize and measure the object of your study.||What is “full democracy”? How do you define and measure democracy?|
|4. Working Hypotheses||These are possible answers to your proposed research question, which you plan to evaluate for your research project.||Full democracy evolves out of the practice of democratic participation.|
|5. Methods||How will you be collecting information and how will you be evaluating your research hypotheses?
What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?
|In-depth interviews. Surveys.|
|6. Next Steps||What are your specific research plans. It can be useful to include in this section a proposed outline for the final project, a detailed timeline for completing the project, and a discussion of the feasibility of carrying out research on this project given existing constraints (time, budget, etc.).||Outline. Project Timeline.|
|7. Bibliography||Always include a list of sources and try to include a variety of sources (academic journals, books, primary source material), as appropriate to your topic.||Boafo-Arthur, Kwame. (Ed). 2006. Voting for Democracy in Ghana. Freedom Publications: Ghana.|
Key Components of a Theory Prospectus
Many of the key components of a theory prospectus are structurally similar to a research prospectus.
1. State your question.
2. Explain why it is important and its relation to scholarly literature
3. Discussion of how you plan to answer the question, including likely arguments and approach(es).
4. Next Steps: tentative outline and timeline | <urn:uuid:6384e32f-38ed-4302-a783-61d869d3cfa4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://govthesis.site.wesleyan.edu/what-is-research/research-proposal-and-prospectuses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00011-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907198 | 609 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Medical Screen Predicts Liver Cancer Risk
In general population, enzyme levels in blood are also the key predictor of liver cancer risk, states study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
"These two enzymes alone predicted 91 percent of liver cancer cases in our prospective study," said paper senior author Xifeng Wu, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of MD Anderson''s Department of Epidemiology. "If our research is confirmed in other studies, we''d have a measure for liver cancer risk that''s easy to apply via a simple blood test that''s already in widespread clinical use."
AdvertisementWhile hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection are predictors of cancer risk among people considered at high risk of developing liver cancer, the enzyme levels outperformed both HBV and HCV infection as risk predictors in a general population. Between 30 and 40 percent of people who develop liver cancer are not infected with either virus. There has been no way to assess their risk, Wu noted.
"Knowing their risk would allow people to respond with lifestyle changes to address other risk factors, such as stopping smoking, reducing alcohol consumption, engaging in physical activity and better managing diabetes," Wu said.
According to the National Cancer Institute, 5-year survival rates for liver cancer patients range from:
- 27.7 percent of those with disease limited to the liver upon diagnosis;
- 10 percent of those whose disease has spread to lymph nodes; and
- only 2.1 percent of those with disease that has spread to other organs.
Triumph of transaminases
Wu and colleagues'' prospective study evaluated comprehensive medical, demographic and lifestyle data from 428,584 people in Taiwan from 1994 to 2008 who are covered by MJ Health Management, the largest private health-screening company in Asia. Average follow-up was 8.5 years.
The researchers divided study participants into two groups: the 130,533 who had known HCV test results and the other 298,051. They found 1,668 cases of liver cancer.
Wu and colleagues then analyzed data routinely gathered by MJ Health Management based on screening for 100 separate factors and a 100-item questionnaire. Information included:
- Personal characteristics such as age, gender, height, weight, body fat percentage, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration rate.
- Medical history including stroke, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
- Blood tests after overnight fasting to check blood counts, blood sugar, liver, kidney and thyroid function, lipid levels, and HBV or HCV infection.
- Lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, smoking and physical activity.
The researchers developed their risk prediction models by dividing each cohort in half, which allowed them to base the model on one set and then validate the model in the second set. They applied a stepwise regression analysis to identify risk predictors that were statistically significant when multiple variables are taken into account.
Five models were analyzed: health history alone, transaminase enzymes alone, health history plus transaminases, and a model that added HBV status and AFP protein level to the third model. The fifth model added HCV, including all five factors. They found:
- The model that relied only on levels of the enzymes alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) predicted 91.2 percent of cancer cases.
- Both HBV and HCV separately predicted 84 percent of cases.
- Adding HCV and HBV to the transaminase model only boosted predictive power to 93.3 percent.
- All five factors raised prediction to 94 percent.
Elevated levels of the two enzymes, which are involved in producing amino acids, are an indicator of liver damage. The scientists found that levels of ALT or AST at or above 25 international units per liter of blood were predictive of cancer risk. This is less than the 40IU/L commonly defined as the upper limit of normal levels.
Their models were applied to eight hypothetical people with varying risk profiles. A person with HBV but with abnormal transaminase had a probability of 38.2 percent of having liver cancer in 10 years. A person with HBV and normal transaminases would have only a .3 percent risk at 10 years if other risk factors are equal to the first person.
"We think our models will apply generally, but validation studies must be conducted in other populations," Wu said.
Future plans include putting the risk models on a website for public use.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated 28,750 new cases of liver cancer will be diagnosed in 2012 and 20,550 people will die from the disease.
Worldwide, an estimated 749,000 cases were diagnosed in 2008, the latest year available, and 695,000 people died, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Countries in Asia, Africa and Southern Europe have the highest incidence of the disease.
Co-authors with Wu are co-first authors Chi-Pang Wen, M.D., of the Institute of Population Science, National Health Research Institutes, Taiwan; and Jie Lin, Ph.D., of MD Anderson''s Department of Epidemiology. Also in that department are Carol Etzel, Ph.D., Maosheng Huang and Yuanqing Ye, Ph.D.; Other co-authors with Taiwan''s Institute of Population Sciences are Yi Cheng Yang and Min Kuang Tsai; Chwen Keng Tsao and Chung Yi Hsu, M.D., Ph.D., of China Medical University Hospital, Taiwan; Lopa Mishra, M.D. , of MD Anderson''s Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition; and Ernest Hawk, M.D., head of MD Anderson''s Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences and vice president, prevention.
The study was funded by grants from the MD Anderson Center for Translational and Public Health Genomics of the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment, MD Anderson Cancer Center Trust, and the Taiwan Department of Health Clinical Trial and Research Center of Excellence. | <urn:uuid:f26fb741-1f4a-46d7-982c-91dbd552b177> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medindia.net/news/medical-screen-predicts-liver-cancer-risk-108730-1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00175-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941227 | 1,254 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Water is the elixir of life. We cannot exist without it. Scientists monitor the rise and fall of global bodies of water and warn us of depleting resources while engineers and environmentalists try to devise ways to conserve the precious commodity.
Water’s importance and fear of its loss have been expressed in literature, science fiction, and film, exemplified by The Man Who Fell to Earth, a 1963 novel by Walter Tevis made into a 1976 film by Nicholas Roeg, starring David Bowie as an extraterrestrial searching for water for his planet. Artists also have created compelling images to inspire the world. Among them, Charles Burchfield rises as exemplar. Water in its many manifestations from rain to landscape waterways is an element that permeates Burchfield’s landscapes—both literally and figuratively. As an aesthetic vehicle, watercolor—basically a mixture of water with pigments—became his medium of choice. Boldly, Burchfield took watercolor painting to an advanced stage of complexity and realization that has remained completely unique to this day.
Foreshadowing Marshall McLuhan, who in 1967 asserted “The Medium is the Massage,” Burchfield took command of the watercolor medium to expound his ideas about nature, humanity, sound, and the cosmos. He was not without a sense of humor, revealing in an interview: “I am often asked by people ‘Just what is your style of painting?’ I baffle them by saying ‘I hope it is strictly Burchfieldian’.” Not only did he paint what he saw; he also painted what he heard. You will be taken places where rippling brooks soothe the soul, blustering storms strike terror, and shallow ponds provide haven for peeping frogs and chirping insects. Leave it to Burchfield’s quirkiness that he would focus on sketching clouds at Niagara Falls instead being mesmerized by the powerful, mammoth waterfalls that have attracted millions of visitors.
This exhibition, curated by Head of Collections and Charles Cary Rumsey Curator Nancy Weekly, presents a look at the nexus of water as subject and as the unifying vehicle for the watercolor medium. It features artworks from the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s collection and studies from the Charles E. Burchfield Foundation Archives, as well as a newly discovered work on loan from a private collection. Paintings and drawings depict many of Burchfield’s favorite idyllic haunts in Ohio and Western New York; ways he represented the weather effects of rain, sleet, snow, and ice; and examples of vulnerable, endangered, waterways polluted by destructive industrial practices. | <urn:uuid:2e2bb4b1-4573-44d9-aee7-ab1c8c8d4d10> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://newsandevents.buffalostate.edu/events/exhibition-charles-burchfield-water?date=2014-03-21 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00106-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964164 | 558 | 2.53125 | 3 |
This book advances the theoretical account that Barbara Rogoff presented in her highly acclaimed book, Apprenticeship in Thinking. Here, Rogoff collaborates with two master teachers from an innovative school in Salt Lake City, Utah, to examine how students, parents, and teachers learn by being engaged together in a community of learners. Building on observations by participants in this school, this book reveals how children and adults learn through participation in activities of mutual interest. The insights will speak to all those interested in how people learn collaboratively and how schools can improve.
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Rent Learning Together 1st edition today, or search our site for other textbooks by Barbara Rogoff. Every textbook comes with a 21-day "Any Reason" guarantee. Published by Oxford University Press.
Need help ASAP? We have you covered with 24/7 instant online tutoring. Connect with one of our Education tutors now. | <urn:uuid:950e775d-20da-4a7e-84e2-1a1995c11c32> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.chegg.com/textbooks/learning-together-1st-edition-9780195160314-0195160312?ii=6&trackid=69222d61&omre_ir=1&omre_sp= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00139-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953166 | 183 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Geothermal Energy is Underutilized, Says GEA
The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) says geothermal development waned during the 1990s, but new developments in geothermal power have resumed since 2005, attributed to the extension of the federal production tax credit in 2005 to geothermal facilities, the ITC cash grant program, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, coupled with growing state-level recognition of the value of renewable portfolio standards.
GEA released an Air Emissions Comparison and Externality Analysis report that touts the environmental benefits of geothermal power, including GEA’s estimate that geothermal provides approximately $88 million in externality benefits per year to California and $29 million to Nevadans by avoiding fossil fuel emissions.
According to the report, 27 plants came online between 2006 and 2012 in seven Western states, bringing the total installed capacity in the US to 3.38 GW. Today, geothermal power plants are currently online in eight states: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Additionally, 175 geothermal projects are currently in development, which could add about 2,500 MW to US installed capacity in the next decade or so.
But the report warns that geothermal power is being underutilized because federal tax credits, which tend to be modified every few years, are reaching their end dates. For geothermal plants with long lead times, the legislative uncertainty means the effects of the incentive are diminished.
Recently, the US Department of Energy recognized the nation’s first commercial enhanced geothermal system (EGS) project to supply electricity to the grid. EGS technologies utilize directional drilling and pressurized water to enhance flow paths in the subsurface rock and create new reservoirs, capturing energy from resources that were once considered uneconomical or unrecoverable.
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- Mobility from the Plant Floor to the Store Door: Improve Safety, Accuracy and Productivity | <urn:uuid:889bc19c-2bea-4783-ad46-9f8f21aac2cd> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.energymanagertoday.com/geothermal-energy-is-underutilized-says-gea-091560/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397428.37/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916185 | 512 | 2.65625 | 3 |
|Perl Monk, Perl Meditation|
Re: Perl High School Graduationby CharlesClarkson (Curate)
|on May 20, 2002 at 12:05 UTC||Need Help??|
I'd like to leave them with a taste of things to come without losing them.
Perhaps you shouldn't use perl to explain it at all.
Ask them to create a Person. Ask for typical characteristics of a person. Let them have some fun with it. Write the answers on the board.
Ask for actions most people do. Write those on the board. Now turn to the class one more time and ask for two volunteers. We'll pick Mary and Bob. Tell Bob he is a person (even if you're not sure). Write "Bob is a Person" on the board. Do the same for Mary.
You could mention that Person is an object. Feel your audience out and introduce OO terminology accordingly. Leave them with the excitement of explaining the world as objects containing objects containing objects containing objects . . .
Charles K. Clarkson
Clarkson Energy Homes, Inc. | <urn:uuid:1cf7a4b0-b2d3-4a64-8a4a-8f586bbadd82> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=167810 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939317 | 225 | 2.5625 | 3 |
More Resources on Test StressPosted by Valentine Burr in Fair Is Not Equal on Apr 05, 2013
A colleague recently alerted us to Renée Dinnerstein's blog Investigating Choice Time: Inquiry, Exploration, and Play. It's a lovely blog, which we recommend exploring. Her most recent posts are also focused on testing and so we thought it fitting to highlight.
We're linking to the post titled "Tears!" in which she describes a first grader’s heartbreaking reaction to taking the math assessments and the reality of how pervasive testing is in many classrooms right now.
We also found this resource from KidsHealth.org written for teens, which helps kids think about, understand and manage their own stress.
As always, we’d love your additional ideas and resources.tagged blog, resources, stress, testing, tests | <urn:uuid:d8782a7d-bd7e-4a35-9822-613864f9c105> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.bankstreet.edu/blogs/fair-is-not-equal/2013/04/05/more-resources-on-test-stress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399428.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945971 | 171 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Open Swift 3D and create a new document. This version of Swift 3d has no drawing tool for a cube so we have to make a cube from a square shape. click the text button - and display the character map -
Find a font that features a plain square (windings or webdings) and choose it from the character map - click apply.
On the bevels menu - click square and apply. Set the sizing (a depth of 0.600 makes a cube)
and rotate the cube by clicking and dragging across the object trackball
so that the cube appears 3 dimensional in the main viewport.
|» Level Intermediate|
Rating: 7.99 Votes: 98
|No details available.|
|Download the files used in this tutorial.|
|Download (26 kb)|
|More help? Search our boards for quick answers!| | <urn:uuid:30806998-d6bb-4621-9c1c-e01fcb27367a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.flashkit.com/tutorials/3rd_Party/Swift3D/Rotating-Michael_-615/more2.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395160.19/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.791994 | 182 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Purpose: Allow faster text entry on mobile devices, esp. on iPhones, iPod touch’s and Android phones.
Kind: Mobile development (general) / App development (local realization)
Target Group: Every smartphone user, esp. iOS users
Can be realized by: Software Developers, App Developers
Problem: Smartphone keyboards, physical or virtual are not ‘smart’ (to paraphrase Steve Jobs). They align the keyboard horizontally and repeat the layout of a much larger physical keyboard (or typewriter). Not only are the keys too small, users do also not face the keyboard like when they are sitting in front of a PC. They usually hold the smartphone in one hand and either type with the other hand or with the thumb of the hand with which they are holding the phone. Furthermore, the keyboard covers the information that is displayed! But with a virtual keyboard there is no need for that — it can be a semitransparent HUD. Thus, the currently used horizontally aligned keyboard is not useful for writing on a mobile device.
Solution: Have a look at the area which the thumb of the hand that is holding the phone can cover (see image), and how easy it is to reach certain place on the display (green = very good, blue = okay, yellow = not so good, red = should be avoided; iPhone held with the right hand on the lower part — actually it was an iPhone 4). This implies that the keys should be placed in these areas depending on character frequency in the native language (yes, this means saying good bye (or riddance) to QWERTZ): Most frequently used keys (e.g., “e”, “l”) should be place in the green area, lesser used characters in the blue and yellow one. Given that the keyboard will cover the whole screen (with the top left area for saving, etc.) the keys should be semi-transparent (HUD-style). The text is either in the text field where it belongs or shown at the bottom of the screen. Notice that the default-keyboard of iOS covers the worst part of the touchscreen in terms of easy of access.
Feature list: It should have the following features:
- Mirror possible for left-handed users.
- Keys are not horizontally aligned rectangles but polygons aligned to the circle the thumb makes when moving.
- Night mode where the keys are shown in dark red.
- All keys are lower case, upper case by quickly pressing the same key twice — if it is either the beginning of a paragraph or there is a space in front of the current place, this produces an upper case key, if not, it gives the key a second time.
- Large space key or space by swiping horizontally.
- Return key is triple space or swipe downwards.
- Double space equals the same as on iOS Keyboards, space and dot.
- Auto-completion words are shown above the keyboard and can be selected by swiping in the direction of the word and ending on it (pressing on it will do nothing but select the key below it)
- One key changes the keyboard to display the special characters (can be selected beforehand, e.g., depending on the country). Likewise umlauts are displayed on the special character view or if there is only one other variant they can be selected by triple-clicking on the basic character.
- Size of the keys is adapted to the position, e.g., I have less dexterity on the right side of the screen if I hold the device with the right hand and type with the right thumb — consequently, these buttons should be a bit larger. With a virtual keyboard this is no problem.
- Position of keys (which letter a key produces) could depend on the letters the user types. It’s easy to keep track of the letters that are used and it can even be done retrospectively by feeding a script with some chat transcripts. The strength of virtual keyboards is adaptivity — why not use it?
Similar solutions: None known, although there are similar interfaces in games. The keyboard of the iPad can now be split (in iOS 5), but so far there is no similar solution for smaller devices where you type with the same hand with which you are holding the device.
Influenced by: Games interfaces and my discontent and frustration when typing while walking.
Note: I will program such a keyboard for an App I have in mind, but it would be nice if this was more widely available — and ideally, part of the settings of the phone.
I played around with different keyboard designs with XCode and found one that will likely work for me. Below is a sample app, a proof of concept.
They keys are semi-transparent (alpha .6), the text view behind it has a large text in lightGrayColor with autoscrolling (found the code for this on the net, programmers are so cool! ). It has two views for typing, one with the major characters (incl. the umlaute, as I occasionally make notes in German), the other with numbers and other characters (switching via the orange key top right). Space and Backspace are easy to reach in the vertical middle at the top (in gray).
There is no shift key as it is not needed. Shift keys make sense with a keyboard where you can use more than one finger at the same time. The ways Shift is realized on virtual keyboards is similar to keyboards for the disabled, usually not a very convenient solution. Here you simply hit the key and drag the finger outside of the key area you have just pressed (UIControlEventTouchDragExit). This triggers the upper key function (some non-alphabetic characters also have uppercase functions). This is much, much faster than the press-and-hold solution of Apple keyboards for alternative uses of the key (you have to stop writing for a second, why?!?!) and also faster than pressing a shift key that is somewhere else on the screen. You just press the key directly and drag your finger outside, simple, easy, convenient and fast. I thought about double taps but there are a lot of keys which you type multiple times because you want the same letter twice or trice, so I thought this would be a bad idea. TouchDragExit works much better.
Not all functions are realized at the moment, but it can copy the text to the clipboard and send it automatically via eMail (address, subject, and text body automatically entered). Storage of multiple notes via an SQLite database comes later. It also has a privacy mode where the text is either very close to the white background or (mode 2) where the text is white (I never liked it when people look at my screen ). It also has a mode where you can see the text view and have a default keyboard to edit the text, as not all functions are implemented yet. The visual design of the keys is “strongly inspired” by the iOS App “Mass Effect Galaxy” because they somehow draw your finger in. No copyright infringement is intended as I will use the App only for private purposes.
I think the hardest part here is to learn the locations of the keys, which was the reason why I deviated from the “most used keys in the areas that are easiest to reach” idea and choose an alphabetical order. I also tried out ordering them in a spiral but it placed some of the more often used keys in hard to reach areas (and made my thumb spiral around and around in search of the keys).
Next up are some functions that are missing (storing multiple notes via SQLite, Undo, etc.) and later connection via iCloud. I am also thinking about a Quicklink Tool that makes sending SMS, MMS, and eMail easier. Thing is, what the key writes is stored as text in an array and there is no difference between a single letter (like “a”) and a whole sentence like “Hello [Placeholder], one question, [Placeholder 2]. Best regards, Daniel” which could be used to write eMails more quickly. Especially on a mobile device this is very helpful. I’m thinking about getting the name automatically via the address and some kind of form to more quickly write short messages — hence Quicklink (like the tool in the Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Stories). | <urn:uuid:27223df5-a5ae-4870-acb7-a59c603db676> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://arkofideas.org/2011/06/ergonomic-mobile-keyboard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00174-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925144 | 1,738 | 2.6875 | 3 |
A precis is a brief summary of a larger work. The term "abstract" has the same meaning, but I prefer the term precis because of its relation to the word "precise," and because of the way the word is pronounced: "pray-see." A precis is a precise condensation of the basic thesis and major points of a paper; it tells the reader the gist of what has been said. In other words, a precis answers the question: "what's this paper saying?"
Precis are difficult to write if you are not used to doing them because they require a real exactness in your understanding of what is being said. But their difficulty is an indication of their importance. If you are writing a paper, you need to be able to restate in one paragraph exactly what you are trying to say in the paper. If you can't, you don't have a sure handle on what you are thinking and writing. The same is true of an article you are reading: if you can't restate the article's thesis and major points in one efficient and coherent paragraph, you don't understand that article. A precis, then, is a discipline, a way of training your mind. Like most disciplines, it is difficult and even frustrating at the beginning, but with time it becomes easier and the results more significant.
How do you write a precis?
1. First, speak in direct, assertive language. You are not arguing your points or explaining them, just stating them in simple declarative statement. Don't refer to the author ("Snyder said that..."), just state directly what the author said.
2. Second, identify the overall thesis of the paper, the different sections of the paper, and the major points in each section. This involves distinguish ing secondary information from primary points.
Always ask yourself two questions: (1) Is this a major point of the paper, one that is directly related to the main thesis? (2) How do I state the point in the most direct and simple way?
Keep in mind the goal: communicating to the reader (and yourself) the main thesis and the major points in the most succinct form.
What I look for in a great precis
1. Is is a correct summary of the key sections and points?
2. Is it comprehensive, touching on all the key sections and points?
3. Is it efficient, saying a lot in a brief way?
4. Is the presentation clear to the reader?
5. Is the writing, grammar, spelling, etc., correct?
Type, double space, one-inch margins. At the top, put your name, the title of the essay, and the date.
EXAMPLES OF PRECIS FOR ESSAYS IN ES 243 "INTRODUCTION TO NATURE WRITING"
David Barnhill, “Surveying the Landscape”
precis by Nicole Helminiak
There are many different ways of answering what nature writing is and what different approaches we can take. There are two taxonomies that are useful, one by Thomas J. Lyon and another by Patrick D. Murphy. Taxonomy is a categorization that locates texts into different types of nature writing, which serves several functions (identifies and highlights diversity within this genre, tells us something of the qualities of nature writing, provide a vocabulary for analyzing nature, and allows us to compare texts). In Lyon ’s nature writing, there are three main dimensions: natural history information, personal responses to nature, and philosophical interpretation of nature, moving from the more objective to the more experiential to the more abstract and speculative. This taxonomy of nature writing is not as tidy as this classification might suggest, but it has admirable qualities of logic and simplicity and also succeeds in using the three main dimensions of nature writing that Lyon highlights. Murphy’s taxonomy suggests a broader category of nature-oriented literature that includes Lyon ’s nature writing as well as much more. Murphy’s taxonomy is the emphasis on environmentalism (environmental writing, and environmental literature), which makes it structured by either writing and literature or nature and environmental. This taxonomy is not an alternative to Lyon ’s taxonomy, but more of an expansion. These taxonomies map the rich diversity of nature-oriented literature by locating individual works in clearly differentiated categories, which can also be a disadvantage. An alternative way to the taxonomy approach is the ecosystem scheme. An ecosystem is a community together with its environment, functioning as a unit. In the ecosystem approach, the literary work (rather than the abstract categories) takes center stage. There are seven elements in the ecosystem approach: natural history, accounts of personal experience in nature, philosophy of nature, ecological psychology, social experience of nature, ecosocial politics, and spirituality. The first three elements are similar to the three dimensions in Lyon ’s taxonomy. Ecological psychology concerns not just nature, but our consciousness of nature. The social experience is the social context of our experience of nature and the significance of society and culture in our relationship to nature and also that we don’t experience nature solely in terms of the present. The political dimension is related to Murphy’s associates with environmental literature, but unlike Murphy’s idea, it does not follow his strong distinctions between nature writing and environmental writing. To pursue an in-depth analysis of ecosocial ideals, there are three different aspects that are needed: bearing witness, analysis, and activism. The spiritual dimension concerns conceptions of nature's sacredness, religious emotions such as awe and humility, and states of mind such as mystical awareness of the earth.
David Barnhill, "The Spiritual Dimension of Nature Writing"
Precis by Peter Havlik
The range of sources nature writing draws from is incredibly vast. Anarchism, animism, Buddhism, Daoism, and Christianity all speak in varying degrees through nature writers. There are three dominant ways that nature writers use to approach the question of “what is nature?” which has become a difficult question to answer. The first is extra-ordinary. In this view nature is separate form the conventional lives we lead and should be encountered on its own terms. Another belief details an intimate connection with nature. This entails a deep sense of place and identification with the land base that directly supports oneself. The third dominant answer is that everything is sacred and there is an unlimited value in every place. All three approaches to the question are beneficial to understand our relationship to nature and have even been combined in many cases. Nature has also been depicted as sacred and can be analyzed using the same categories. The relationship between nature and the divine is also a key question. Many people view the natural world as being sacred or divine, although sometimes there is a tension between nature as sacred in itself or as simply the product of the divine. Nature writers also depict nature in different ways. Inter-relatedness is the most common theme depicting nature. Another depiction of nature is the vastness ascribed to it. The timelessness of nature is also presented in many works. Awareness of nature is an additional area focused on by nature writers. The social and political aspects are also discussed, with the term social spirituality useful in understanding the significance of family, community and culture to nature and the sacred. Nature writing draws from an extremely wide variety of influences. All of these approaches are beneficial to nature writing and nature in many ways. The power of nature writing lies with-in its range of incredibly vast influences which allow it to stand against the destruction of the earth.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN EFFECTIVE PRECIS OF A STUDENT PAPER ( ON THE FILM RASHOMON)
The way in which a film is lighted can be crucial to an audience's perception of the concepts and characters. In Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa is particularly conscious of the effects of light as it strikes his characters. Some critics and viewers, particularly Keiko McDonald, see light in the film as expressing reason and good, and darkness as representing impulse and evil. A careful examination of the film's lighting proves this to be an overly simplistic and, at times, inaccurate assessment. The concept of certainty can be expanded upon to help illuminate the way in which light works in the film. Certainty deals with each character's clarity of thought, purity of intent, and decisiveness. Throughout the film, and particularly the scenes in the police station, differing degrees of light show differing degrees of certainty. Each character who gives testimony can be judged in terms of his certainty based upon the way in which the light falls upon him in this scene. Kurosawa has not intended to make any moral judgments about the characters in this film. He wishes us to come to the realization that reality is a subjective concept that can only be understood in context. For this reason it is invalid to discuss any aspect of the film, including the juxtaposition of light and darkness, in terms of good and evil.
>> Note how this precis efficiently summarizes the specific points made in the paper, and tells the reader what the paper has actually said.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN INEFFECTIVE PRECIS OF THE SAME PAPER:
In this paper I talk about Kurosawa's use of light in the movie Rashomon and how that effects the meaning of the film. I criticize McDonald's interpretation and present a new perspective on the significance of light in the overall meaning of the film. I relate the use of light to the important theme of the subjectivity of truth.
>> Note how this attempt at a precis does not give actual points made. Instead, it merely states the general topics the writer will talk about. As a result it does not communicate to the reader what the paper actually says. A precis like this suggests that the author of the paper isn't really clear about the points s/he has made. | <urn:uuid:1f2dfabd-1bb4-4a84-a7b7-c2fbe6c05ed0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.uwosh.edu/facstaff/barnhill/ES-243/precis-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404826.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00016-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9502 | 2,045 | 3.53125 | 4 |
Don't Underestimate North Korea
Earlier this year, there were cyber-attacks on South Korean computers that erased much data, harmed bank records, and silenced the websites of anti-North Korea political groups. Some speculated that these attacks were planned intrusions of North Korean cyber-warfare agents.
Recent official reports confirm that these attacks are indeed the work of North Korean government agencies. Japan Times reported the findings of an extensive study by South Korea, including work by the American company McAfee. North Korea was indeed the culprit, as witnessed by the cyber-"fingerprints" left by the perps.
South Korea's Ministry of Science said it was blaming North Korea based on analysis of codes, Internet addresses and personal computers used to launch the attacks. The attacks occurred June 25, the 63rd anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War.
The image of North Korea in the United States is that of a backward country that can barely feed itself, let alone engage in sophisticated computer intrigue. Nah, it couldn't be North Korea, some wags would say. It must be China behind the scenes, they speculate.
The recent investigations into the March and June cyber-attacks on South Korea brought to light the shape and methodology of North Korea's cyber-weapon. They do indeed have their own resources to do damage over the internet. Although much of the country may live hand-to-mouth, North Korea cultivates quite a serious computer-hacking capability.
According to Strategy Page:
Since the late 1980s, Mirim College in North Korea has been known of as a facility that specialized in training electronic warfare specialists. But by the late 1990s the school was found to be teaching students how to hack the Internet and other types of networks. ... Each year 120 students were accepted (from the elite high schools or as transfers from the best universities). .... The school contained five departments: electronic engineering, command automation (hacking), programming, technical reconnaissance (electronic warfare), and computer science. There's also a graduate school .... for a hundred or so students.
North Korea is quite sophisticated when it comes to electronic warfare, as is becoming clearer as more investigation is done. South Korea, which relies on computer communication as a vital part of its national life, is unlikely anymore to dismiss North Korea with the back of its hand.
Not that South Korea is passive in this drama. Chosun Ilbo, one of South Korea's main news sources in English, chronicles a number of intrusions by hackers into North Korea's civilian and military systems.
The game is on. It is not a one-sided match. | <urn:uuid:c90471c3-0f79-4c33-9cc2-101a4518e1d8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/07/dont_underestimate_north_korea.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00037-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970482 | 534 | 2.578125 | 3 |
ERIC Identifier: ED384682
Publication Date: 1995-07-00
Author: Burnett, Gary
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban
Education New York NY.
Overcrowding in Urban Schools. ERIC/CUE Digest Number 107.
In January 1995, the Citizens' Commission on Planning for Enrollment Growth
submitted a report, "Bursting at the Seams," to the Chancellor of the New York
City Board of Education, Ramon C. Cortines. In its report, the Commission,
comprised of educators and policy-makers specifically convened by the Chancellor
to study the rapid and ongoing growth of student enrollment, outlined a series
of proposals to offset the resultant serious overcrowding in New York City
Because of a dramatic increase in immigration, the New York City schools are
perhaps the hardest hit by overcrowding among urban schools in the United
States; the city as a whole faces a projected enrollment of well over one
million students by the year 2002. Still, the conditions that led to the
formation of the Citizens' Commission are not unique to New York; particularly
in the inner-cities, where space for new construction is at a premium and where,
in any case, funding for such construction is improbable, many school systems
simply do not have the room to grow in order to accommodate increasing numbers
of students. As a result, students elsewhere, like their counterparts in New
York, find themselves trying to learn while jammed into spaces never intended as
classrooms, such as libraries, gymnasiums, laboratories, lunchrooms, and even
Thus, although the proposals of the Commission were developed in response to
a set of conditions specific to New York, they may be used as guidelines for
other cities striving to provide an effective education in the face of
ever-increasing numbers of new students being taught in limited classroom
THE IMPACT OF SCHOOL OVERCROWDING
Research on the impact of
school overcrowding on student achievement has, surprisingly, been inconclusive,
in part because of a dearth of studies tracking the progress of students in
overcrowded schools over time. Still, there is some evidence, particularly in
schools with a high proportion of students living in poverty, that overcrowding
can have a dire impact on learning. A study carried out as part of the
Commission's work found, in fact, that students in such schools scored
significantly lower on both mathematics and reading exams than did similar
students in underutilized schools. In addition, when asked, students and
teachers in overcrowded schools agreed that overcrowding negatively affected
both classroom activities and instructional techniques. Crowded classroom
conditions not only make it difficult for students to concentrate on their
lessons, but inevitably limit the amount of time teachers can spend on
innovative teaching methods such as cooperative learning and group work or,
indeed on teaching anything beyond the barest minimum of required material. In
addition, because teachers must constantly struggle simply to maintain order in
an overcrowded classroom, the likelihood increases that they will suffer from
burnout earlier than might otherwise be the case.
It is unquestionable that overcrowding has a direct and often severe impact
on the logistics of the school day, forcing changes in schedules and making
disruptions and noise part of normal operating procedure. For example, in order
to accommodate all students, lunch periods must often begin as early as 9 a.m.,
and must extend far into the afternoon. Teachers cannot use a single room for
the full day, but must transport their materials from classroom to classroom.
There also may be too few lockers for the number of students, and, because they
must navigate crowded hallways, students may require additional time to travel
from class to class. Perhaps most seriously, electives such as art, music, and
shop classes may have to be eliminated, because of the need to use all available
space for educational "basics." Finally, administrators must devote their time
and energies to maintaining order, rather than undertaking the more important
work of leading efforts to improve their schools.
STRATEGIES FOR RELIEVING OVERCROWDING
Increases in a school
district's enrollment may come as a result of normal fluctuations in local birth
rates, a one-time influx of new residents, or, more seriously, may be part of an
ongoing trend. In cases where increases in school enrollment are expected to
continue, the only guaranteed long-term means of relieving overcrowding is the
expensive and time-consuming process of building new schools or of renovating
and adding to existing schools, undertakings that can be nearly impossible in
already underfinanced urban schools.
However, in cases where increases in enrollment may be temporary, or where
stop-gap measures are needed while new schools are being built, there are a
number of short-term solutions that districts may take to help relieve
overcrowding. In general, these strategies fall into two broad categories:
finding new space and using time to more fully utilize existing space.
FINDING NEW SPACE
LEASING. Leasing provides a quick,
cost-effective way of obtaining additional short-term space. Not only can spaces
for leasing be identified and acquired in a fraction of the time needed to
acquire similar spaces through new construction, but leasing can represent a
significant per seat savings over the cost of construction. Further, leases can
be negotiated with lease-purchase agreements, allowing districts to buy spaces
at the end of the lease period if necessary.
COLLABORATIVES. Local colleges and universities, businesses, and non-profit
organizations may have spaces available for use, allowing students to receive
instructional or non-instructional services in settings outside of traditional
school buildings. Such arrangements can range from work-experience programs to
courses offered in the evenings and weekends. By developing collaborations with
such organizations, districts can not only find needed space for students, but
can also enrich their educational offerings.
RELOCATING ADMINISTRATIVE SPACE. In many cases, administrative offices may be
located within schools. Moving them to a centralized location can free up space
for instructional use.
DISTRICT-WIDE REDISTRIBUTION OF SPACE. New York City districts are atypical
in the degree to which they offer students the option of attending a school
outside of their own neighborhood; thus, the Commission's recommendations for
school redistricting and rezoning may have only limited relevance for other
urban districts as they now operate. However, these other districts may also be
able to redefine the legal and geographical boundaries that determine which
students attend particular schools. In most overcrowded districts, it is likely
that certain schools are significantly overutilized, while others house fewer
students than their space could allow. By shifting district or zoning
boundaries, building utilization can be equalized across the district, thus
relieving some of the burden on overcrowded schools and making more efficient
use of under-enrolled schools.
In addition, districts with magnet and special school programs that draw
students from across the district can place these programs in underutilized
schools, thus better distributing students within available space.
USING TIME TO MORE FULLY UTILIZE EXISTING SPACE
two fundamental methods of using time in order to ease the burdens caused by
school overcrowding: extended day programs and year-round education.
EXTENDED DAY PROGRAMS. Schools can increase their capacity by beginning the
school day earlier and ending it later, and by having students attend in shifts.
In the most extreme version of such extended day programs, half of a school's
students attend only in the morning, while the other half attend only in the
afternoon, thus doubling the number of students taught in a single space during
the day. Other types of extended day programs might comprise overlapping shifts.
However, there is some evidence that split shifts negatively affect not only
student achievement, but also--and more radically--school climate. Thus they
tend to be used only as a last-chance option for relieving overcrowding.
YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION. By changing from a nine-month to a twelve-month
calendar, schools can accommodate more students in existing buildings. With this
strategy, all students attend school for the same number of days--180--every
year, but take several short vacations rather than a single three-month-long
summer break. Most programs divide students into three or four "streams"; while
one group is on vacation, another uses the vacationing group's classroom space.
While year-round education relieves overcrowding and has some educational
benefits (such as increasing students' retention of what they have learned), it
also has some drawbacks: parents may resist changes in the traditional school
year; school maintenance and student transportation costs may increase; and, in
warmer climates, schools may have to be fitted with air conditioning for summer
classes, which may be prohibitively costly.
CONCLUSION: A STUDENT SPACE "BILL OF RIGHTS"
adequate spaces for education is not simply a matter of ensuring a certain
number of square feet of classroom space per student. For learning to truly take
place, students must have access to spaces appropriate for the purposes to which
they are being used. Among other things, this means that classes should be held
in rooms meant for instruction, not in makeshift spaces such as closets and
hallways; science classes should be held in laboratories designed to support
hands-on learning; and classrooms for the arts, the trades, and technology
should be equally appropriately equipped. Schools should be able to provide
quiet and safe places for individual testing and private counseling, as well as
suitable common areas such as libraries, gyms, and playgrounds. School
facilities should be properly maintained and functional, and all areas should be
accessible to people with disabilities.
All too often such space configurations are not recognized as fundamental
educational necessities. However, if schools are to fulfill their education
mission, adequate spaces for learning must be provided. This is especially true
in urban areas, where students may not have access to a safe and orderly
environment outside school walls.
This digest is based on two reports. One, "Bursting at the Seams: Report of
the Citizens' Commission on Planning for Enrollment Growth," by Ricardo R.
Fernandez and P. Michael Timpane, Chairmen, is available from the Office of the
Chancellor, New York City Board of Education, 110 Livingston Street, Brooklyn,
NY 11201. The other, "A School System at Risk: A Study of the Consequences of
Overcrowding in New York City Public Schools," by Francisco L. Rivera-Batiz and
Lillian Marti, is available from the Institute for Urban and Minority Education,
Box 75, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027. Both
publications are also contained in the ERIC microfiche collection. | <urn:uuid:ffa975f5-d8aa-4626-b9b1-abe5df56613c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-1/overcrowding.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396222.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941045 | 2,343 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Help support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more all for only $19.99...
An historian and jurist; born 24 March, 1830, at Münster in Westphalia; died at Bonn, 15 March, 1905. Having finished his classical education in his native city, he went to Bonn and applied himself to the study of philology, the history of literature, and history. He was compelled to take up jurisprudence in consequence of a serious disease of the eye, but never lost his fondness for history. In the year 1853 he graduated at Breslau with the dissertation: "Justinianische Quasi-Pupilar-Substitution", and, after a long educational tour in Italy and France, qualified as lecturer on canon and Prussian civil law at Bonn. In 1860 he became professor extraordinary, and in 1873 ordinary professor. From 1865 to 1870 he was a member of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, and from 1867 to 1870 of the North German Reichstag but did not affiliate with the Catholic "party" because the formation of a party on sectarian lines appeared to him a hazardous experiment. In fact in accordance with his ideal views he always sought to find a higher unity in religious, civil, and social life; in his opinion the important and decisive question was not that which divides parties, nations, and creeds, but that which binds them together. In addition to numerous essays in periodicals and a few rather unimportant juristic professional treatises, he published several works on the history of literature as well as on historical subjects — works planned on a large scale and elaborated down to the smallest detail. Among the former class his writings on Heine (Aus dem Leben Heinrich Heines, 1878) and on "Annette von Droste-Hülshoff und ihre Werke" (1887) are particularly worthy of mention. His contributions to history are confined to a period of scarcely ten years, namely, the early years of the French Republic. They reveal, however, not only a wonderful knowledge of his subject from every point of view, but also the mind of a profound and acute scholar the master of diplomatic and historical research. he threw new light on many hitherto unsolved problems, and created an entirely new conception of the relations of the two great German powers to the Revolution and to each other, and accordingly of the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. His principal work is entitled: "Diplomatische Verhandlungen aus der Zeit der französischen Revolution" in three volumes (1869-79), of which the first treats of the hostility of Austria and Prussia to the French Revolution down to the Treaty of Campo Formio, while the second and third deal with the Congress of Rastatt and the second coalition. Worthy of mention among his other works are "Der Krieg von 1799 und die 2. Koalition" (2 volumes, 1904) and "Quellen zur Geschichte des Zeitalters der französischen Revolution" (2 vols., 1900-).
HERRMANN in Biographisches Jahrbuch, X (1907), 210-22; IDEM in Annalen. des historischen Vereins für den Niederrhein LXXX (1906), 1-78.
APA citation. (1910). Hermann Hüffer. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07514a.htm
MLA citation. "Hermann Hüffer." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07514a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:44d1a8c4-98e6-487b-a2a6-8cab20534d9a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07514a.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00128-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927713 | 956 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The popularity of television programs such as Who Do You Think You Are and Heir Hunters has seen a growth of people trying to retrace their family history in the hope of discovering any possible hidden secrets which might lie in their family's past. The National Trust has recently reported that tracing a family's history has become a very popular and enjoyable pastime, with over 56% of Britons taking part in their poll say they have researched their family history.
For many people the idea of retracing your entire family history can seem a daunting task at first, with many people unsure as to where to begin. There is a variety of family tree software available today for people to use; however, purchasing the necessary software is not always useful. Often using the available national census records and following a simple step by step guide is an easy alternative to software and can make tracing your family history an exciting and fun experience.
Within this website you will find an explanation of what the national census is, how to use the census and more importantly, help and advice for those trying to retrace their family history. | <urn:uuid:aa7db183-b0e0-4726-bf46-e0e56b5dd2e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.censusuk.co.uk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394987.40/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00104-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97508 | 219 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Study: Smoking Cigarettes Causes Genetic Damage in a Matter of Minutes
January 17, 2011 9:48 AM
comment(s) - last by
Smokers reach maximum levels of a cigarette pollutant in just 15-30 minutes
A researcher from the
University of Minnesota
has found that smoking can cause damage to genes in a matter of minutes, which could then lead to cancer.
Stephen Hecht, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Wallin Chair in Cancer Prevention, along with a team of researchers, have discovered that the first inhalation from a cigarette is enough to
cause genetic damage in minutes
Many believed it took years for cigarettes to cause any harmful effects to the body, but this study is the first to actually observe how tobacco substances relate to DNA damage when smoking. It is also different from any other smoking-related study because it strictly tracks the effects of smoking without "interference" from other harmful causes such as poor diet and pollution.
To study how a cigarette's contents impact human DNA, Hecht and his team used 12 volunteers to track PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are
pollutants found in tobacco smoke
. PAHs can also be located in charred barbecue food and coal-burning plants. One specific type that Hecht was particularly interested in tracking was phenanthrene, which is in cigarette smoke.
The team observed the phenanthrene as it traveled through the blood, and watched as it destroyed DNA and caused mutations that lead to cancer.
developed maximum levels of the substance in a time frame that surprised even the researchers," said the study. "Just 15-30 minutes after the volunteers finished smoking. These results are significant because PAH diol epoxides react readily with DNA, induce mutations, and are considered to be ultimate carcinogens of multiple PAH in cigarette smoke."
The results are also significant because lung cancer claims the lives of 3,000 people worldwide each day, and 90 percent of these deaths are linked to smoking. With high death rates like these, it's worth researching what the effects really are.
"The results reported here should serve as a stark warning to those who are considering starting to smoke cigarettes," said Hecht.
was published in
Chemical Research in Toxicology
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
1/17/2011 3:14:01 PM
In my experience, you have to reply with one precisely aimed and masterfully dosed comment that will cause the smoker to be so enraged that a little bit of rationality will slip in undetected, while their mind is focused on their outrage at what was said. This has been successful before and, once that very tiny bit of reasoning enters, it is able to grow a bit and cause cracks in the foundation of the smoker's barricade, which they set up to protect their consciousness from rationalizing their harm-causing habit and how it might affect people around them. When these mental cracks begin, it is just barely enough for a concerted barrage of reasoning strikes to flake away at the wall of their barricaded mind and eventually the barricade with begin to break down and begin to allow rationality to flow into their consciousness. They will then begin a healing process and start thinking about how their habit harms others.
But I assure you, until that perfectly aimed and dosed comment strikes the spot, their is nothing in heaven or Earth that will even get anywhere near their conscious.
1/18/2011 11:02:00 AM
Ex smoker here. It's a split personality thing.
Suppose you say "hey man smoking is bad for you, does blah blah, kills kittens etc.."
If a smoker has recently had a smoke they'll readily agree with you and maybe mention how they need to quit.
If a smoker hasn't had one in a while you'll be disagreed with or even vigorously argued with.
Smokers know good and well the crap is bad. They know it makes their clothes smell. They hate standing in the cold to smoke. All that stuff... this isn't news to them. They just have another factor strongly influencing them that outweighs this knowledge.
Shame on the manufacturers for even selling this crack. By some measure it removes freewill from otherwise intelligent people. It's evil.
1/18/2011 11:16:41 AM
i am not sure why your comment was rated down.There is more than an iota of truth in it. Also, it would be true of all addictive disorders. Denial vs Reality.. ad infinitum.. until the cycle breaks
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Teachers Lesson Plans
Urban Panorama: Grade 7-8
Outdoor photography session During the outdoor session, ask your students to identify their subject. The purpose of the activity is to document the subject by creating a panorama consisting of several photographs. A simple way of carrying out the activity is to ask the student to choose and assume a position in front of his subject. The first photo is taken in this position. Then the student remains in the same place, rotates slightly to the right or left and takes another photograph. He continues taking photos until he has rotated 360 degrees around his own axis. These photographs, mounted in a collage, will create a panorama. This method can be adapted according to various needs or to encourage experimentation. For example, the students could divide a skyscraper into several different sections and take multiple photographs that are slightly offset from one another. Once the activity has been completed, the digital photographs are printed or the students develop the film at the photography centre.
Collage It?s time for collage and creativity! Ask the students to mount the photographs they have taken on a cardboard support to produce a panorama. Each student chooses an interesting way of presenting his photos. Are the links between the photos invisible or obvious? Can repetition of the same element be observed? The students select and assemble their photos according to principles of composition (balance, repetition, rhythm, proportion). If the students wish, they can add text to their collage and thereby emphasize certain aspects of their subject or the process of creation.
Discussion The group now has a chance to admire the works they have created and to comment on them. Encourage the students to talk about their own works and those of their classmates. What are the differences and similarities between the different subjects chosen and the mounting techniques used? | <urn:uuid:5cd4e830-7bac-4e20-a7c0-b94c3f6e4a49> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cybermuse.gallery.ca/cybermuse/teachers/plans/activity_procedures_e.jsp?lessonid=42&actpid=120 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397213.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00099-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95813 | 366 | 3.578125 | 4 |
Gardening Articles: Flowers :: Perennials
May's Flower: Bearded Iris
by National Gardening Association Editors
In the legends of the ancient Greeks, Iris -- goddess of the rainbow and a messenger of the gods -- shuttled between heaven and Earth atop colorful arcs. Wherever she stepped on earth, iris flowers sprang up in all the hues of the rainbow. To modern gardeners, these beloved flowers are, in a sense, gifts from the gods.
Of the many kinds of iris, the bearded ones, which are perfectly at home in cottage gardens and formal borders, are by far the most common.
While bearded iris are easy to grow in most regions, they show subtle preferences in climate and soil; these are worth knowing so you can enjoy them at their best. Also, because there are so many named varieties on the market, "Top Choices" (below) will help you select some of the best to grow in your garden.
As on all types of iris, the orchidlike flowers of bearded iris have six petals. The three inner ones that point up are called standards, and three outer ones that point down are called falls. The beards are the hairs that grow in the center of the falls. A healthy flowering stalk produces 9 to 12 buds on short side branches, and each flower lasts about three days over a total bloom time of about a month.
Iris are available in virtually every hue: sky blue to the deepest ocean blues, luxurious lavenders, regal purples, blazing coppers, radiant reds, saffron yellows, and soft to rosy pinks. Then there are the innumerable intricacies of color combinations, multihued beauties, contrasting beards, and other unique color patterns.
All bearded iris spread from rhizomes, roots that spread horizontally right at the soil's surface. The gray-green leaves are long, flat, and pointed, and they overlap almost like a fan.
Plants range in height from 4 inches to more than 36 inches, a habit that gives iris enthusiasts a convenient way to categorize them: dwarf (4 to 15 inches), intermediate (15 to 28 inches), and tall (more than 28 inches). The tall types, far and away the most popular, bloom in April in mild-winter regions, and as late as June in the north, but in most of the country their peak bloom is now, in May.
Most bearded iris bloom only once, but some newer introductions have the capacity to bloom a second (or third) time. Another way to maximize bloom is to use dwarf and intermediate types as well. They generally flower two to four weeks before the tall types.
Reblooming iris are extra-vigorous growers. They bloom in spring, earlier than normal, then again in summer, and, depending upon your climate, perhaps again in fall. Plants in coastal gardens can bloom continuously for 9 to 10 months, though 4 to 5 months of bloom is more typical. Most of these are tall types, while a few dwarf kinds also qualify as rebloomers. | <urn:uuid:7eddb4d8-ddc4-409d-9513-9061797b185a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://garden.org/subchannels/flowers/perennials?q=show&id=706 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00185-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938467 | 644 | 3.03125 | 3 |
A deadly dog virus is blamed for killing pets in Ohio and Michigan. The mysterious illness has not been identified. However, veterinarians say it is similar to Circovirus.
The virus presents with flu-like symptoms, including lethargy, abdominal pain, vomiting, and bloody diarrhea. The illness progresses quickly, killing dogs within days if not treated.
The sickness is blamed for killing at least six dogs in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Dr. Lindsay Ruland of Emergency Veterinary Hospital treated several dogs with the virus. She believes the dogs may be contracting the sickness from their owners. As reported by WXYZ News, several pet owners report experiencing flu-like symptoms days before their dogs become ill.
Although it is unusual for illness to pass between humans and dogs, it remains a possibility. The virus is not deadly in humans. However, pet owners are encouraged to wash their hands or use sanitizer before and after handling pets.
As reported by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, a deadly dog virus is killing pets in Ohio as well. The deaths prompted a warning from director David T. Daniels.
Ohio dog owners and veterinarians report the same symptoms seen in Michigan. Officials are calling the virus an unidentified “severe dog illness.” The virus has affected dogs in several regions throughout the state.
Officials in Ohio also announced a confirmed report of canine circovirus in one of the sick dogs. State veterinarian Dr. Tony Forshe explains the results:
“Because the symptoms being exhibited can also be linked to other known illnesses, additional analysis and information is needed to determine if this virus alone or in co-infection contributes to death and illness… “
As officials continue to gather information, pet owners are encouraged to take precautions. Washing hands is imperative when handling pets. Pet owners are also cautioned to keep their dogs away from other dogs that may be ill.
The virus may be passed through saliva or feces. Therefore, dogs should not share toys, bedding, food, or water. Pet owners are also urged to be cautious of feces encountered when walking their dogs outside.
Dogs that begin to display flu-like symptoms should be taken to the vet immediately. The deadly dog virus can be treated, but it needs to be diagnosed early.
[Image via Flickr] | <urn:uuid:ef303aa7-133e-40f3-abf7-1fc50e76d794> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.inquisitr.com/978709/deadly-dog-virus-killing-pets-in-ohio-and-michigan/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961935 | 471 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Plagiobothrys nothofulvus (A. Gray) A. Gray
Rusty Popcorn-flower, Rusty popcornflower
Boraginaceae (Borage Family)
USDA Symbol: PLNO
A slender, hairy plant with most leaves in a basal tuft and small white flowers in a coil at ends of few branches or branchless stems.
Open flowers are clustered at the top of the coil, resembling pieces of popcorn. Rusty Popcorn-flower is similar to species of Cryptantha, but Rusty Popcorn-flower is generally more softly hairy and grows in moister places. Many species have a purple dye in the stem, leaves, and roots. When they are pressed and dried in a folded sheet of clean paper, a striking mirror-image pattern results.
From the Image Gallery
Bloom InformationBloom Time: Mar , Apr , May
DistributionUSA: CA , NV , OR , WA
Native Distribution: South-central Washington south to northern Baja California.
Native Habitat: Open places; common in grass.
Find Seed or Plants
Find seed sources for this species at the Native Seed Network.
National Wetland Indicator Status
From the National Organizations DirectoryAccording to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:
Native Seed Network - Corvallis, OR
Additional resourcesUSDA: Find Plagiobothrys nothofulvus in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Plagiobothrys nothofulvus in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Plagiobothrys nothofulvus
MetadataRecord Modified: 2007-01-01
Research By: TWC Staff | <urn:uuid:169a6e0d-7bc5-4d69-b0fb-22c7c6aeee98> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PLNO | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395679.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00012-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.775863 | 360 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Imagination and application are key to this tall tale lesson in which students take
... based on your teaching points throughout the unit or in previous lessons. 3.
Tall Tales Lesson Plan For 3rd 4th or 5th grade by Ginny Bennett .... Then the
students began planning their stories which will be revised and edited, before ...
United States Folklore gathers folktales, tall tales, myths and legends by state. ...
This resource features tall tale extension activities for grades 3–5, a unit plan on ...
Fables, fairy tales, folktales, legends, myths, and tall tales --six literary genres that
engage student interest--can be used in the classroom to inspire creative ...
A Tall Tale (Lesson A). ACTIVITIES: Students create exaggerations, learn about
characteristics of tall tales, examine materials about the Old West and early ...
Lesson Plans ... A tall tale is a fictional story that exaggerates the truth. ... DLTK's
has a decent list of Tall Tales about Paul Bunyan if you'd like to print them off to ...
(CKLA) goals. Alignment Chart for. Fairy Tales and Tall Tales. Lesson. 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8 ..... to be used in teaching the Fairy Tales and Tall Tales domain. The.
Lessons. Lesson 1 Heroes Explain that tall tales are stories about a hero.Identify
a characteristic or ... Lesson 3 Exaggeration Identify examples of exaggeration in
a tall tale.Explain that exaggeration is a ... Lesson Plans. Skill & Strategy Units.
The following lessons will introduce students to characteristics of tall tales and
help them develop an ... A lesson plan for grades 3–4 English Language Arts.
This is a collection of resources to use when teaching tall tales.> | <urn:uuid:121fd6f3-c4a2-47dd-beb8-2910f59530cc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ask.com/web?qsrc=6&o=102140&oo=102140&l=dir&gc=1&q=Tall+Tale+Lesson+Plans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00041-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.78823 | 389 | 4.15625 | 4 |
Algorithm::Diff is a Perl module that allows users to analyze text based on a Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) algorithm. It can compare two files and find the differences between them, which can produce the same information as the common Unix tool 'diff'.
There is an XS-optimized implementation of the core loop, which accelerates some types of diff output (see libalgorithm-diff-xs- perl).
|License||Verified by||Verified on||Notes|
|Other||Debian||20 March 2013|
Leaders and contributors
|This version released by Tye McQueen (http://perlmonks.org/?node=tye).||contact|
Resources and communication | <urn:uuid:0658f560-8dc8-4353-889a-1f55e4467832> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://directory.fsf.org/wiki?title=Algorithm-Diff&oldid=17123 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00144-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.754876 | 150 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Characterization of energy flux partitioning in urban environments: links with surface seasonal properties
Loridan, T. and Grimmond, C. S. B. (2012) Characterization of energy flux partitioning in urban environments: links with surface seasonal properties. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, 51 (2). pp. 219-241. ISSN 1558-8432
To link to this article DOI: 10.1175/JAMC-D-11-038.1
A better understanding of links between the properties of the urban environment and the exchange to the atmosphere is central to a wide range of applications. The numerous measurements of surface energy balance data in urban areas enable intercomparison of observed fluxes from distinct environments. This study analyzes a large database in two new ways. First, instead of normalizing fluxes using net all-wave radiation only the incoming radiative fluxes are used, to remove the surface attributes from the denominator. Second, because data are now available year-round, indices are developed to characterize the fraction of the surface (built; vegetation) actively engaged in energy exchanges. These account for shading patterns within city streets and seasonal changes in vegetation phenology; their impact on the partitioning of the incoming radiation is analyzed. Data from 19 sites in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia (including 6-yr-long observation campaigns) are used to derive generalized surface–flux relations. The midday-period outgoing radiative fraction decreases with an increasing total active surface index, the stored energy fraction increases with an active built index, and the latent heat fraction increases with an active vegetated index. Parameterizations of these energy exchange ratios as a function of the surface indices [i.e., the Flux Ratio–Active Index Surface Exchange (FRAISE) scheme] are developed. These are used to define four urban zones that characterize energy partitioning on the basis of their active surface indices. An independent evaluation of FRAISE, using three additional sites from the Basel Urban Boundary Layer Experiment (BUBBLE), yields accurate predictions of the midday flux partitioning at each location. | <urn:uuid:84107b02-7eef-4cb6-80f8-ed93f967cf8c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/33533/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877899 | 440 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Summer cookouts are right around the corner and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is urging consumers to remember the four simple steps to food safety – Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill – and to steer clear of the ‘Danger Zone’ while cooking outdoors.
“I encourage families to get outside and enjoy the great outdoors and the variety of food America’s farmers are able to provide,” said Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety Al Almanza. “It’s important to remember that bacteria grow faster in the same warm temperatures, so extra care should be taken to make sure perishable food doesn’t spend too long in the Danger Zone. That is temperatures between 40 and 140˚F when perishable food spoils rapidly. Foods that should be served hot or cold should not spend more than one hour in the Danger Zone when temperatures are above 90˚F, and two hours when temperatures are below 90˚F.”
Planning ahead is a key factor for ensuring food is safely handled and stored, and USDA’s FoodKeeper App can help. Developed by FSIS in partnership with Cornell University and the Food Marketing Institute, this application informs users on how to store food and beverages to maximize their freshness and quality, helping to promote food safety while also reducing food waste. The FoodKeeper application offers users valuable storage advice about more than 400 food and beverage items, including various types of baby food, dairy products and eggs, meat, poultry, produce, seafood, and more. The app also links to FSIS’ other digital resources, such as AskKaren.
What is the Danger Zone?
The Danger Zone is the temperature range in which bacteria can grow faster. Bacteria can actually double in number in as little as 20 minutes when perishable food is kept in the Danger Zone. In order to steer clear of the Danger Zone, you should always:
- Keep cold food, at or below 40°F, in the refrigerator, in coolers, or in containers on ice.
- Limit the time coolers are open. Open and close the lid quickly. Do not leave coolers in direct sunlight.
- Keep foods served hot at or above 140°F, in chafing dishes, warming trays, slow cookers or on the grill. You can keep cooked meats hot by setting them to the side of the grill rack, not directly over the coals where they could overcook.
- Use a food thermometer to check the safe recommended temperatures.
- Never leave food between 40 and 140˚F for more than two hours. If the temperature is above 90°F, food should not be left out more than one hour.
As always, we remind consumers to follow the four steps to food safety when preparing dishes for a cookout:
Clean: Make sure to always wash your hands and surfaces with soap and warm water for 20 seconds before cooking and after handling raw meat or poultry during cooking. Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and work spaces with soap and warm water too. If you plan to be away from the kitchen, pack clean cloths and moist towelettes for cleaning surfaces and hands.
Separate: When taking food off the grill, use a clean platter. Don’t put cooked food on the same platter that held raw meat or poultry. Any harmful bacteria present in the raw meat juices could contaminate safely cooked food.
Cook: Always use a food thermometer to check the internal temperature of burgers, steaks, chicken, and foods containing meat or poultry.
Hamburgers, sausages and other ground meats should reach 160 °F.
All poultry should reach a minimum temperature of 165 °F.
Whole cuts of pork, lamb, veal, and of beef should be cooked to 145 °F as measured by a food thermometer placed in the thickest part of the meat, and allowed to rest for three minutes before eating. A “rest time” is the amount of time the product remains at the final temperature, after it has been removed from a grill, oven, or other heat source. During the three minutes after meat is removed from the heat source, its temperature remains constant or continues to rise, which destroys pathogens.
Fish should be cooked to 145°F.
Meat and poultry cooked on a grill often browns very fast on the outside, and by using a food thermometer you can be sure items have reached a safe minimum internal temperature needed to destroy any harmful bacteria that may be present.
Chill: After a cookout, place leftovers in shallow containers and refrigerate or freeze immediately. Discard food left in the Danger Zone too long. Remember, when in doubt, throw it out! | <urn:uuid:64b28317-08e1-4990-a624-0a109cf97a53> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cedarspringspost.com/tag/usda/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00109-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929244 | 1,004 | 3.15625 | 3 |
August 15, 2011
UPTON, NY — Daniel Nocera, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor whose recent research focuses on solar-powered fuels, will give a BSA Distinguished Lecture, titled "Harnessing Energy from the Sun for Six Billion People — One at a Time," on Thursday, September 8, at 4 p.m. in Berkner Hall at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory. BSA Distinguished Lectures are sponsored by Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that manages Brookhaven Lab, to bring topics of general interest before the Laboratory community and the public. The lecture is free, and no preregistration is required. All visitors to the Laboratory 16 and older must bring a photo ID.
Nocera will explain that the world population is expected to double by 2050, increasing to about six billion people, mainly from developing nations. Thus, global energy consumption is expected to rise from 14 to 30 terawatts, or trillion watts.
Nocera suggests that building small, "personalized" energy systems that rely on the sun's energy will be an economical, efficient, and environmentally friendly way to meet these ever-increasing energy needs.
He and his research team have found a way to harness solar energy through artificial photosynthesis — mimicking the way plants turn sunlight into energy. They have developed a device called an "artificial leaf" that can be used to power a home in the developing world. Made of nickel, silicon, and cobalt, the device is smaller than an oak leaf.
Nocera will show a brief film to demonstrate how the device works. The artificial leaf is placed in a glass of water and is irradiated by the sun. A specially designed catalyst in the device enables it to split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. The gases can then be combined in a fuel cell to create clean fuel and electricity. Nocera says this simple method can power a home in a developing nation, using two bottles of water.
Nocera earned a B.S. in chemistry from Rutgers University in 1979 and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 1984. He joined the faculty of Michigan State University in 1983 and moved to MIT as a chemistry professor in 1997. He is currently MIT's Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy, and the director of both the Solar Revolutions Project and the Eni Solar Frontiers Center at MIT. In 2008, Nocera founded Sun Catalytix, a company committed to bringing personalized energy to the developing world.
A member of the American Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Nocera was named in 2009 as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." He is a frequent guest on television and radio, and is regularly featured in popular print publications. Nocera has been an organizer to and primary author of the DOE Basic Research Need workshops on hydrogen, solar energy, energy storage, and catalysis. He was also the lead author of several reports on energy for DOE and MIT. Nocera has won numerous awards for his energy research, including, most recently, the American Chemical Society's Inorganic Chemistry Award (2009), the United Nations Science and Technology Award (2009), and the American Crystallographic Association's Elizabeth Wood Award (2010).
2011-1319 | Media & Communications Office | <urn:uuid:edbaafe2-dd86-4dae-8703-f5c710dc7c14> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.bnl.gov/newsroom/news.php?a=11319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.25/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00054-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951528 | 703 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The form of government expressed through is prevailing philosophy will to a large extent determine the public posture toward specific issues, such as universal healthcare.
Here are three examples of government followed by a statement of the relationship between the government and the citizen within the confines of its philosophy:
Socialism*: We will look out for you.
Liberty: Look out for yourself.
Solidarity: We look out for one another.
A philosophy is a worldview. The prevalent philosophy, or worldview, of the United States is Liberty. Since the American Revolution of 1776, the countries of the world have increasingly sought the emancipation of Liberty. The latest wave of democratic freedom is sweeping across Muslim North Africa and the Middle East. Historians are eager to know the nature of the freedoms adopted by these new governments.
This anticipation is not limited to Muslim nations only. Israel, although a long-time democracy, is considering its own codified form of government. Danny Ayalon, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister and an Israel Beiteinu Member of Knesset, proposes a formal Constitution:
We need to establish a constitution that will uphold the spirit of our Declaration of Independence and replace the current quasi-constitutional Basic Laws as set by the judiciary. The constitution will define the nature of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic state, will state the core values of our state, affirming its responsibilities toward its citizens and the responsibility of its citizens towards the state. The constitution will be written after deliberations and will be a unifying and not a divisive document.**
Constitutions are a social contract delimiting the powers of government and the rights of citizens. The obligations of citizens are modified by their personal character, which is predominately the domain of family, school, and place of worship.
The best government is the least restrictive, thus surrendering the role of conscience to the individual, the family, school, and place of worship.
PROGRESSIVE GOVERNMENT AND 'DOCTRINE OF INCLUSION'
The American example proves we are stronger together than we are divided. The systems of the future must be adapted to the strengths forged from the hard lessons of history.
Under a "Doctrine of Universal Inclusion', nations are friends until proven otherwise. Friends disagree, but they do not fight. Friends talk over a friendship meal. They sit down together and counsel over their daily affairs. They talk about family, other friends, careers and money, education, aspirations, and religion.
END OF SLAVE NATIONHOOD
Jesus promised His Disciples, You are my friends and not my slaves ***(John 15:14, 15). His was an expression of Solidarity.
Solidarity is the New World Order, a new way of thinking and structuring personal and social relations.
A complete system of Solidarity is political, economic, and religious.
Solidarity is the common good.
Solidarity is the common good stemming from the foundation of religion. We learn our first lessons while sitting at the feet of our mother and our religious instructors.
Because women are our first teachers their virtue is fundamental to the welfare of society. We afford place, protection, and peace to mother and motherhood.
We are told to honor our mother so our days may be long in the Land, with neither conflict nor rejoinder. We recognize in Judaism the Mother Faith. Christianity and Islam are her daughters.
Under the terms of Solidarity the faiths of monotheism may coexist in theological harmony. Religion is progressive; we view the monotheistic faiths as complementary rather than competitive.
A Harmony of the monotheistic faiths is known as Solidarity Theology.
All spiritual inquiry is rooted in three universal questions:
1. From whence did we come?
2. Who are we: i.e., what is our collective purpose?
3. To what is our destiny?
From the premise of these questions, we declare:
1. We were created soul and body by one God.
2. We derive our dignity from God as co-equal sons and daughters of God, who calls us to a life of community and mutual service. This world is the training ground for the eternal soul.
3. We are destined for an eternal afterlife with God.
Solidarity is an extra-secular religio-political system wherein religion and government act in harmony. Solidarity is pluralistic and tolerant of private and non-public displays of religious views. Competitive proselytizing is discouraged.
Solidarity recognizes the Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament), Christian New Testament, and the Islamic Koran as its inspired authorities. Solidarity employs public education to promote a mandatory non-sectarian exposure to and proficiency in all three religious texts.
Religion is our Mother; she nurtures our political and economic institutions. Solidarity is her name; she is the common good who determines our political system. Government is derived from religion.
Solidarity favors a form of government sympathetic to the primacy of religion as the source of morals and adapted to the exigencies of our times. Federated nations must be responsive to the needs of its member states for representation, self-determination, and the other basic human rights common to democratic republics.
The American Founding Fathers recognized the necessity of forming an altogether new system of government blending the best in a pure democracy, their historical heritage from the Greeks; and, a pure republic, their historical heritage from the Romans. The United States enjoys a democratic-republican system of government.
The American Founding Fathers saw an element of merit in the democratic ideal of citizenship and personal responsibility toward the body politic. Likewise, they recognized the practicality of surrogate representation entrusted to elected officials chosen through a regular schedule of voting.
Democracy emphasizes power in the people, visualized as power flowing from the bottom upward; whereas, a Republic recognizes power in leadership, either elected or divinely ordained. This latter power flows from the top down to the people.
There are elements of truth and practicality in both positions in that they reflect typical aspects of psychology and human behavior. Power sharing is vital because of our social interdependence; but, the degree of power exercised by any one sector over another must be minimized through checks and balances in order to preserve maximum liberty.
The American bicameral approach to power sharing has worked well because the people have Democracy through a House of Representatives; and the Republic has its voice through the Senate. Both the House and the Senate must agree before a piece of legislation becomes law. Their coordination is a check and balance of power.
Divided societies in North Africa and the Middle East may find inspiration in the American example of bicameral power sharing. However, the demand of progressive government mandates that Solidarity improve upon Liberty.
Political Solidarity may benefit from a tricameral government that includes the role of an independent judiciary in the legislative process before a bill is passed into finalized legislation. The essential constitutionality of a law would no longer become a matter of incessant challenge.
A political Congress must neither debate nor settle matters of religious faith.
Solidarity recognizes an independent judiciary. The judicial branch of government is exercised by a quasi-priesthood entrusted with the responsibility of weighing the ethical and moral relevance of legislation.
Solidarity is the common good stemming from the harmony of our theological, political, and economic systems. Fundamental to the common good is the ending of all forms of slavery.
Perpetual debt is a form of enslavement. We observe an economic order that refuses perpetual personal, corporate, and national debt.
The goal of Solidarity is the liberty of the human spirit to maximize its potential in personal and social development.
We are witnessing in modern history the advance of the human spirit. Solidarity seeks to implement a New World Order that secures our political, economic, and religious systems.
* Socialism is the paternalistic heritage of Rome, partly strong and partly divided.
** "Preventing the political system's stagnation, collapse",
*** Literally "bondman", a man bound to service without wages. | <urn:uuid:72e871ad-477d-4e9e-a0b0-4fa9a8fb92c1> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://amberneve.newsvine.com/_news/2012/03/09/10627187-progressive-government-and-doctrine-of-inclusion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783408840.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155008-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935769 | 1,661 | 3.25 | 3 |
List of Parables in the Bible: Jesus Parables for Kids, Youth, Children, Teenagers & Adults, Parables of Jesus Explained with Meaning, Lessons & Morals, Complete list of all parables of Jesus in the Bible – useful for Parables of Jesus for children, Parables of Jesus for youth and teenagers, Jesus Parables for kids (young & old), famous parables of Jesus, and Parables of Jesus Bible Study & Stories.
Explore Parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible, Luke & The Gospels, i.e. List of Parables of Jesus. Parables of Jesus Christ are explained with Meaning, Summary, Bible Study, Bible References & Moral Lessons. All parables in the Bible include all parables in the gospels (four gospels) – All Parables in the gospel of Luke, Parables in the book of John, Parables in Matthew, & Parables in Mark. It’s a complete list of parables of Jesus in the New Testament, including the well known parables of Jesus as well as the less famous Jesus stories.
All Parables of Jesus Christ from the Bible are simple, yet extremely powerful, compelling and relevant to our modern lives – can be adapted into modern parables of Jesus.
Parables and their meanings are explored, as well as discussion on Parable Names, Purpose of Parables in the Bible, Definition of Parable, Prophecy of Parable, Examples of Parables in the Bible, Meaning of Parables in the Bible, Purpose of Parables of Jesus, Parable Summary, Synonym, Explanation, Analysis; along with Supporting Bible Verses & Scriptures for all the parables of Jesus. Parables of Jesus Explained: Inspirational, Motivational, Uplifting, Encouraging & Useful Parables; Powerful, Practical, Convincing & Convicting Moral Lessons, Teachings, Morals & Stories from the Bible.
Please scroll down for a List of Parables of Jesus in the Bible. Read further down for the discussion on Purpose of Parables of Jesus, Parable Synonyms, Definition of Parable & Prophecy of Parable. Each topic listed below explores parables & their meanings. All parables of Jesus are extremely relevant for all ages – little children, older kids, teenagers, youth, young adults, adults, and the elderly.
If you have any questions, comments or contributions, please let me know.
There are so many great parables told by Jesus Christ in the Bible. Parables are also called Allegories, and they are simple stories or illustrations that people in the Bible days could all relate with. Parables of Jesus in the Bible are still relevant to us as modern Christians.
All the parables of Jesus Christ teach us, encourage us, motivate us, open our eyes and and help us to explore a wide variety of practical applications of Christianity – for instance what it actually means to serve God wholeheartedly, humility and what it means to be humble, what it means to show love, mercy and compassion, how to treat others with kindness and respect, how to avoid embarrassments, the importance of prayer, how to approach God, practical wisdom for daily living, growing in God, the importance of putting what we learn into practice, The Kingdom of God, moral lessons, and so many more.
Parables of Jesus from the Bible are useful & practical for all ages, even little children! Jesus Christ parables for children, youth, and adults are included in the list below. There are Parables from Nature, Parables about Animals, Parables for Children, and Parables about all kinds of people – believers and non believers, rich and poor, old and young. Please be encouraged to read these parable stories again and again. You’ll be sure to learn something new each time! God bless you and minister to you as you read!
List of Parables in The Bible, List of Parables of Jesus Christ, Parables of Jesus Christ Explained, List of All Parables & Their Meanings – (All the parables of Jesus).
*Parable names are List of Parables told by Jesus in the Gospels (all four gospels).
*Most parables of Jesus from Luke, Matthew & Mark, 1 from the Gospel of John.
*Includes Parable Summary, Explanation, Analysis, Lessons & Bible Study.
*Includes well known parables of Jesus & less famous parables of Jesus.
*Scroll Down for Definition, Purpose & Prophecy of Parables (right after parables of Jesus list).
All Parables of Jesus Christ in the Bible & Four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
The Parable of The Ambitious Guest
The Parable of The Blind Leading The Blind (or Blind Man Leading The Blind)
The Parable of The Children in the Marketplace (Children in the Market,
or Children Sitting in The Market)
The Parable of The Debtors, Parable Of The Debt (Unforgiving Debtor, Unmerciful Debtor)
The Parable of The Two Debtors (The Forgiven Debts, Debt being Forgiven)
The Parable of The Doorkeeper (Or The Faithful Servant or The Door keeper)
The Parable of the Evil Farmers
The Parable of The Faithful Servant and The Evil Servant
The Parable of The Farmer Scattering Seed (or The Sower and The Seed)
The Parable of The Fig tree (Or The Budding Fig Tree)
The Parable of The Barren Fig Tree
The Parable of The Friend at Night (or The Persistent Friend)
The Parable of The Good Samaritan
The Parable of The Good Shepherd
The Parable of The Grain of Mustard Seed (or The Mustard Seed)
The Parable of The Great Banquet or The Great Supper
The Parable of The Greedy Farmhands (Or The Wicked Husbandmen)
The Parable of The Growing Seed
The Parable of The Hidden Treasure
The Parable of The King and the Servant (Or The Unforgiving Servant, Unmerciful Servant)
The Parable of The King going to War
The Parable of The Laborers in the Vineyards (or The Workers in the Vineyard)
The Parable of The Lamp (Or Lamp under a Bushel)
The Parable of the Landowner
The Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Or The Rich Man and Lazarus)
The Parable of The Leaven (or The Yeast)
The Miracle of The Loaves & Fishes
The Parable of The Lost Coin
The Parable of The Lost Sheep
The Parable of The Lost Son (or The Prodigal Son)
*Continued on the next page, please scroll down to navigate to the next page.
The Next Page rounds up the entire List of Parables. We then go on to explore The Purpose of Parables, The Prophecy of Parables, and The Meaning of Parables (i.e. Parable Definition).
Explore & Enjoy: Joyful Living Blog; Inspirational Bible Verses & Quotes;
Inspirational Scriptures, Passages, & Bible Scriptures | <urn:uuid:fdb12041-18ea-4bd7-bf51-55c2cffa2f36> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.jollynotes.com/inspirational-verses/parables/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394937.4/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00093-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.877262 | 1,468 | 2.8125 | 3 |
World war was at the time the most devastating
war the world had ever seen. It was ‘the war to end all wars”. Countless young men’s lives were sacrificed in the name of freedom and democracy,
and countless more deployed into the war, and experienced the horrors first hand. With
nearly all able, working men serving overseas in the war, women undertook the task of managing the war effort at home, and
also providing for their families. African-Americans as well worked to manage
the war effort, and provide for themselves and families. The home front became
a nation of working women and African –Americans, who not only worked in factories to produce goods needed for the war,
but also cared for the sick and wounded men from the war, recruited men and also supported to war with bonds and boycotts.
entered into the war in Europe, thousands of men were deployed overseas, and a great portion
of that number was killed. With so many casualties and many more men serving
abroad, the brunt of the production in factories were left to the women and African-Americans left in the U.S. Women,
who had once only contemplated staying home to manage their house and families, were now working in all types of factories. From the production of ammunition and military products to household goods, about
one million women worked long hours in factories fulfilling the jobs usually held for men only. Women working in factories not only supported the war effort by providing materials for the military and
American citizens, but also allotted for the independence of women. Finally,
the majority of women in the U.S. were
working and making their own wages in order to support their families. Due to
the strength and independence women displayed during the war years, women gained more respect from politicians, and once the
war was over women’s suffrage was almost immediately granted (“Women’s Contribution to the War” 1). “We have made partners of the women in this war; shall we admit them only to
a partnership of suffering and sacrifice and toil and not to a partnerships of privilege and right?” (Woodrow Wilson). Not only were women working jobs in factories that had only been reserved for white
males, but also African-Americans migrated from the rural south to the urban north, and began to undertake the jobs left by
men serving in the armed forces. Many more African-Americans held jobs during
the war years than ever before, and they too helped with the war effort by producing goods for both the military and the home
did women work in factories supporting the military aboard and home front, but also many upper class women, who did not need
to work for money to support a home, joined organizations that cared for wounded soldiers, and also the victims of the 1918
influenza pandemic. One of these organizations included the American Red Cross,
which was instrumental during America’s
time of need. Some women worked abroad with the Red Cross while others
stayed at home supplying the organization. Many women worked as nurses in the
Red Cross performing duties such as rolling bandages, knitting socks, and working in military hospitals taking care of wounded
soldiers (“Women’s Contribution to the War” 1). Women also
organized clubs and canteens for soldiers on leave, as well as drove ambulances across battlefields (1). Women also helped with the recruitment of men in America
by encouraging other women to outcast any man who had not joined the war.
The war had a heavy impact on America’s
economics and culture. Liberty
bonds became one of the most common ways to support the American war effort, and everyone bought liberty bonds to support
the war, but also for the economic promise they offered. American women also observed days for boycotting a certain food or material.
National “wheat less” or “sweet less” days were used as a way to conserve food during the war. The Lever Act also persuaded Americans to conserve food for soldiers abroad (“What
was the American home front like during World War 1?” 1). Women created
“war gardens” that produced extra fruits and vegetables, which were rare for the lack of labor on farms (1). Prohibition restricted the sale of grain supplies, and the eighteenth amendment also
banned consumption of alcohol (1). Women on the home front obliged all of these efforts and restrictions for the sole purpose of supporting American in
Truly, World War I was very devastating to
all nations in involved, and the home front of the nations had to substitute for all the men serving in the military or killed
in action. However, in America
the majority of the war effort on the home front was conducted by women forced to provide for their families while their men
were at war. Other women joined the effort just to help the Americans in the
war. American women and African-Americans fulfilled factory jobs that supplied
the armed forces and households in the U.S.,
and women served as nurses and recruiters for the military.
Women back on the home front also bought Liberty bonds, and observed days for conserving food, as well as abiding by numerous laws,
which aided the war effort. The support of all the hard working people on the
home front during World War I enabled America
and the Allied forces to win the “Great War”, and end the violence, death, and despair, which had scourged the
world in the early twentieth century.
“Factory Workers”. Women
in World War One. 2 pages. Online. Internet. May 28, 2006. Available at http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_in_world_war_one.html.
to the War”. Women in World War One.
2 pages. Online. Internet. May 28, 2006. Available at http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/women_in_world_war_one.html.
“What was the American home front like during World War 1?”. World
War One. 1 page. Online. Internet. May 28, 2006. Available at http://www.faqfarm.com/Q/FAQ/1822 | <urn:uuid:75dc8e3b-4ee1-4985-a38c-916acabd75ef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://jarredjoly0.tripod.com/id2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402479.21/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00191-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971949 | 1,319 | 4.09375 | 4 |
Researchers at Cambridge and Cardiff have found that, on average, a normal healthy person carries approximately 400 potentially damaging DNA variants and two variants known to be associated directly with disease traits. They showed that one in ten people studied is expected to develop a genetic disease as a consequence of carrying these variants.
It has been known for decades that all people carry some damaging genetic variants that appear to cause little or no ill effect. But this is the first time that researchers have been able to quantify how many such variants each of us has, and list them. This figure of 400 is likely to increase as more and more powerful genetic studies discover rare genetic variants more efficiently. Such research brings to the fore ethical questions surrounding anonymous studies and incidental findings.
"For over half a century, medical geneticists have wanted to establish the magnitude of the damage caused by harmful variants in our genomes," says Dr Yali Xue, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Our study finally brings us closer to understanding the extent of these damaging mutations.
"We measured the number of potentially damaging variants in the genomes of apparently normal healthy humans by comparing two different datasets: whole genome sequences from 179 people in the 1000 Genomes Pilot Project, who were unlikely to have any overt genetic disease at the time of sampling, and information from the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD), a detailed catalogue of human disease-causing mutations that have been reported in the scientific literature."
In many cases, the disease or damaged variants were single, 'recessive' genetic variants that are unlikely to cause any harm to the carrier. A recessive genetic variant will only exert its effect when two copies – one in each chromosome – are present.
In one in ten people, however, the team could point to a potential clinical effect of the genetic variants. This is because these people either carry two copies of a specific recessive disease variant, or alternatively a dominant genetic variant. Dominant disease genetic variants can give rise to a disease trait when even a single copy is present.
"In the majority of people we found to have a potential disease-causing mutation, the genetic condition is actually quite mild, or would only become apparent in the later decades of life," says Professor David Cooper, lead author of the study from Cardiff University. "We now know that normal healthy people can possess many damaged or even completely inactivated proteins without any noticeable impact on their health. It is extremely difficult to predict the clinical consequences of a given genetic variant, but databases such as HGMD promise to come into their own as we enter the new era of personalized medicine."
Catalogues of disease-causing variants such as HGMD have been created over the past two decades but they are still far from complete. Disease variants are generally extremely rare and comprehensive searches for such mutations in many populations have scarcely begun.
The genome samples selected for this study were anonymized so the participants could not receive any information about whether or not they might be at risk for a particular genetic disorder. This is increasingly becoming an ethical issue for medical geneticists.
"Should incidental findings be fed back to people who have volunteered their sample to a study? There is no clear answer to this question," says Dr Chris Tyler-Smith, lead author from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "All of our genomes contain flaws; some of us will carry deleterious variants but will not be at risk of acquiring the associated disease for one reason or another. For others, there will be health consequences, and early warning could be useful, but might still come as an unwelcome surprise to the participant."
As DNA sequencing becomes more commonplace, geneticists must determine the most ethical way to handle this sensitive information.
Yali Xue, Yuan Chen, Qasim Ayub, et al (2012). 'Deleterious- and Disease-Allele Prevalence in Healthy Individuals: Insights from Current Predictions, Mutation Databases, and Population-Scale Resequencing' Published online in American Journal of Human Genetics on 06 December
Volume: 91; Issue: 6; Manuscript: 1298; DOI: 10.1016/; PII
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute: http://www.sanger.ac.uk
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
Free-living songbirds show increased stress hormone levels when nesting under white street lights. But different light spectra may have different physiological effects as this study finds, suggesting that using street lights with specific colour spectra may mitigate effects of light pollution on wildlife
Scientists identify the condition aphantasia, in which people cannot create images in their head
The dust in our homes contains an average of 9,000 different types of fungi and bacteria, a study suggests.
A mosquito can bear up to 23 times its total body weight on each leg, which is crucial for landing on water – the insect's secret is way it stands
Tropical species with smaller geographical ranges are more likely to die out in a warming climate than those that can adapt by ‘invading’ new regions
Most people think of bacteria as germs, signs of filth, or unwanted bringers of disease. Slowly, that view …
The gloomy octopuses crowded at Jervis Bay, Australia, appear to spit and throw debris such as shell at each other in what could be an intentional use of weapons
Therapies based on hormones that make us more trusting enhance our natural placebo effect – a finding that could alter the way clinical trials are conducted
The blind, hairless babies born recently at Washington D.C.'s National Zoo are completely dependent on their mothers—who can sometimes accidentally crush them.
The poop-hoarding insects have an amazingly advanced internal GPS that allows them to navigate by day or night. | <urn:uuid:c6195a7f-e1a2-4157-bfa2-17d7d0290373> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.labspaces.net/125798/Genetics__Nobody_s_perfect | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.0/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00162-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94879 | 1,236 | 3.59375 | 4 |
200 INCH TELESCOPE Is Greatest Engine of Science (Jun, 1934)
200 INCH TELESCOPE Is Greatest Engine of Science
by WILLIAM JENNINGS
COOLING slowly in a brick igloo in Corning, N. Y., is a lake of 34 tons of molten glass, representing the greatest scientific project ever attempted by man. It took six years to reach this stage of the great task and it will be more than four more years before its success is known.
From far and wide scientists came to see the formation of this huge lake of glass— the pouring of the 200-inch telescope mirror that is expected to reach out into the unknown depths of the universe.
The work has hardly begun with the pouring of the mirror. Countless problems still face the scientists who have undertaken the task.
The most complex of these is the shaping of the mirror. To properly reflect and focus light from the stars the mirror of a telescope must have a concave surface that is exactly parabolic. Amateurs feel that they have accomplished much when a six inch mirror is polished and corrected to fractions of an inch after a few days’ work.
The shaping, figuring, polishing, and silvering of the 200 inch mirror will require four years’ time. When it is completed, it will have a concave paraboloid surface true to within two millionths of an inch.
When the mirror is ready, engineers must find means to mount this great disk of glass that is 16 feet 8 inches in diameter and 26 inches thick.
The telescope is of the reflecting type. That is, the light from stars is collected by a huge concave mirror, and focused on a smaller mirror which transmits the light to any eyepiece, where the astronomer or the camera sees the enlarged image. Usually the focal length of a mirror is eight times its diameter. The focal length determines the length of the telescope. A 200-inch mirror would require a telescope more than 130 feet long.
To overcome the engineering problem of mounting and swinging a tube of such great length, the focal length of the great mirror will be reduced to 55 feet, requiring a telescope only 60 feet long.
The popular conception that this great telescope may reveal cities and life on Mars does not interest astronomers. They believe they have proved quite conclusively that human life does not exist on Mars. The 100 inch mirror at Mount Wilson observatory determined that only one-tenth of one percent of oxygen exists in Mars’ atmosphere, not enough to support life.
The purpose of the 200 inch telescope is to gather more light to show the faintest stars, planets and nebulae. The huge “eye” will reach farther into space. It will increase man’s knowledge of the vast voids of the cosmos, in which countless universes whirl on to an unknown destiny. The instrument will be used chiefly for photographic, spectrographic and radiometric work, that will give astronomers a better picture of the minerals and gases existing countless light years away from the earth.
The gigantic telescope will cost $12,000,-000 and will weigh 1,600 tons with its mounting. It will gather about 2,000,000 times more light than the human eye or about four times more than the present largest telescope, the 100-inch instrument of Mount Wilson Observatory.
A great difficulty that still remains to be solved is the transportation of the mirror to the site selected for the telescope. At first the plan was to ship the mirror from Corning, N. Y., to New York city by rail, from New York to Los Angeles, via the Panama Canal, by sea, and then by truck to Pasadena and to the site selected by Mount Wilson astronomers.
The plan had to be abandoned when it was discovered that the mirror will be too high for railroad bridges if loaded on a flat car on edge and too wide for tunnels if placed flat on flat cars.
Apparently the only means to transport the glass disk is overland. There remains the complication of finding a route without bridges and tunnels that are too small for the world’s greatest package of freight.
Reflecting Surface to Be Aluminum The glass disk, after it is shaped and polished, will not be coated with silver as has been done in the past. The reflecting surface of the 200-inch mirror will be aluminum, put on the disk by a special process developed by Dr. J. Strong, of the California Institute of Technology. The mirror will be placed in a high vacuum. Tungsten wire, coated with aluminum, will be heated electrically until the aluminum evaporates and collects in the form of a vapor on the mirror.
The pouring of the glass disk was a great spectacle. Approximately 7,500 persons, in addition to more than 100 scientists, witnessed the operation. In a large furnace in the Corning Glass Works the 34 tons of pyrex borosilicate glass was heated white hot at 1,500 degrees Centigrade.
The mold, studded with circular cores which will leave indentations in the mirror for mounting purposes, rested on the floor of the brick igloo. A workman, with a shield before his face, opened a furnace door. Eight men shoved the 20-foot handle of a huge ladle into the glaring interior, dipped the bucket into the dazzling mass of liquid and came out with 750 pounds of molten glass.
The ladle was trundled along an overhead monorail to the brick igloo where 400 pounds of the glass were poured into the mold. The other 350 pounds hardened before it reached the mold, and the glass had to be broken off.
Workmen Labor Ten Hours Three ladles were used, one for each furnace door. For ten hours the ladlemen dipped and poured load after load, while spectators looked on in relays.
The ladles became red hot on each trip and had to be dipped into water to cool before taking on another load. The molten glass was so hot it melted some of the cores from the mold. These were found floating on the liquid glass, and had to be taken out with ten-foot pincers.
The glass is cooled very slowly so that it will anneal properly and will not crack. Within a short time the glass experts will be able to judge the success of the pouring. If the glass is found imperfect the great task will have to be done over.
In 1938 this telescope, the greatest ever devised, is expected to be ready to turn on the heavens and seek new fields. The great mirror will be held in a 60-foot skeleton steel tube in an observatory yet to be built.
When all difficulties are overcome, man’s greatest “artificial eye” will look three times farther into space than is possible now. | <urn:uuid:fe090962-1f03-4f8f-9289-6104d0a61fc3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.modernmechanix.com/200-inch-telescope-is-greatest-engine-of-science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946458 | 1,401 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Hippocampal cells linked to fearful memories (green) were activated in Alzheimer's mice using optogenetics, which led to retrieval of lost memories.
Image credit: Dheeraj Roy
One of the earliest symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is memory loss, which gradually worsens as the disease progresses.
But senior author Susumu Tonegawa, of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and colleagues suggest that individuals with early Alzheimer's still have the ability to form new memories - they just have difficulty retrieving them.
The researchers thought this might be the case following the results of a study they conducted last year, in which they found that mice with retrograde amnesia - memory loss caused by stress or trauma - had the ability to form new memories, despite having impaired memory recall.
In that study, Tonegawa and colleagues found they were able to retrieve the "lost" memories of these mice using a technique known as optogenetics, which involves the use of light to activate and control specific brain cells, or neurons.
This got the researchers thinking: could the same technique be used to retrieve memories that have been lost as a result of early Alzheimer's? This is what they set out to investigate with their latest research.
Retrieving lost memories using optogenetics
To reach their findings, the team genetically engineered two strains of mice so that they would develop clusters of beta-amyloid protein - known as plaques - in their brain, triggering memory loss; the same process is believed to cause memory loss in humans with Alzheimer's.
To test their memory loss, the researchers put the mice in a chamber alongside normal, healthy mice, where they all received an electric shock to the foot. When placed back in the chamber a few hours later, all mice showed fear.
Fast facts about Alzheimer's
- Around 5.3 million people in the US are living with Alzheimer's
- Of these, around two thirds are women
- Last year, Alzheimer's and other dementias cost the US around $226 billion.
When placed back in the chamber a few days later, however, the normal mice showed fear - suggesting they remembered the electric shock - while the Alzheimer's mice appeared to have no memory of the foot shock.
"Short-term memory seems to be normal, on the order of hours. But for long-term memory, these early Alzheimer's mice seem to be impaired," says lead study author Dheeraj Roy, also of the Department of Biology and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT.
Through using optogenetics, however, the researchers showed that these mice still had memories of the foot shock.
The team engineered the Alzheimer's mice to produce a light-sensitive protein called channelrhodopsin in neurons in the hippocampus - the brain region key for short-term memory - that are linked to fearful experiences.
The researchers placed the mice back into the chamber and activated the modified neurons by shining a light on them. They found that the mice showed fear immediately.
"Directly activating the cells that we believe are holding the memory gets them to retrieve it," says Roy. "This suggests that it is indeed an access problem to the information, not that they're unable to learn or store this memory."
However, when the Alzheimer's mice were put back into the chamber the following day, they showed no fear, suggesting that their memories of the foot shock had been lost once again.
Longer-term memory retrieval achieved
For the next part of the study, the researchers set out to see if they could use optogenetics to reactivate lost memories for longer.
For 3 hours, they repeatedly shone a light on cells within the entorhinal cortex of the Alzheimer's mice - cells that were connected to the cells in the hippocampus associated with the fearful memory. This brain connection is important for long-term memory storage.
A week later, the researchers placed the mice back into the chamber. They found that the mice showed fear once again, suggesting they remembered the foot shock, even in the absence of optogenetics.
What is more, the team found that the brain cells associated with the fearful memory had longer dendritic spines, which are protrusions from dendrites that enable neurons to communicate with others.
This increase in dendritic spine length suggests that the repeated optogenetic stimulation had boosted connections between the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex; in Alzheimer's disease, these connections are usually broken down.
Commenting on the findings, Rudolph Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA, who was not involved in the research, says:
"This is a remarkable study providing the first proof that the earliest memory deficit in Alzheimer's involves retrieval of consolidated information. As a result, the implications for treatment of memory deficits Alzheimer's disease based on strengthening synapses are extremely exciting."
More precise memory-retrieval technique required for human use
The team notes, however, that optogenetic stimulation failed to work if the section of cells within the entorhinal cortex that was treated was too big, suggesting that the use of a memory-retrieval technique in humans would need to be very targeted.
The researchers say that while optogenetics is precise, it is too invasive for use in humans at present, and current methods available for human use - such as deep brain stimulation - target too much of the brain.
But Tonegawa says that there is hope for a more precise method for retrieving memories among patients with early Alzheimer's.
"It's possible that in the future some technology will be developed to activate or inactivate cells deep inside the brain, like the hippocampus or entorhinal cortex, with more precision," he says. "Basic research as conducted in this study provides information on cell populations to be targeted, which is critical for future treatments and technologies."
Medical News Today recently reported on another study that found women may be able to hold on to their verbal memory skills for longer than men in the early stages of Alzheimer's. | <urn:uuid:7995ac8c-008c-4138-aacf-4197b4df7c76> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/308051.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395346.6/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00036-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953428 | 1,251 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Mechanics - Punctuation - Slash
Use a slash (/) to separate parts of fractions. Example: 2/3, 15/16
Instructions: Replace the fractions in these sentences by using numbers with the slash.
1. We only need three quarters of a yard of that material.
2. That door is three sixteenths too long to fit.
3. You only get one-half of the money.
4. She was asleep one fourth of the time when she should have been working.
5. This must be within one sixty-fourth of an inch.
--For answers scroll down.
1. We only need 3/4 of a yard of that material.
2. That door is 3/16's too long to fit.
3. You only get 1/2 of the money.
4. She was asleep 1/4 of the time when she should have been working.
5. This must be within 1/64 of an inch.
DAILY GRAMMAR - - - - by Mr. Johanson
Copyright 2014 Word Place, Inc - - All Rights Reserved.
For your convenience, all of our lessons are available on our website in our
lesson archive at http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.html. Our lessons are
Daily Grammar Lessons Search | <urn:uuid:e331fa7a-0efd-4778-be38-eb2cb75352c3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dailygrammar.com/Lesson-438-Punctuation-Slash.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00098-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.891669 | 279 | 3.578125 | 4 |
More to the face than meets the eye
Aleix Martinez, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and founder of the Computational Biology and Cognitive Science Lab, is working to change that.Researchers have been very successful in defining how facial expressions of emotion are produced, including which muscle movements create the most commonly seen expressions. Yet little is known about how these expressions are processed by the visual system.
Martinez and his team want to identify the cognitive model used by the human visual system to process facial expressions of emotion, which is a critical precursor to developing technology that imitates human perception. The project, “A Study of the Computational Space of Facial Expressions of Emotion,” is supported by a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Discovering how healthy individuals perceive facial expressions of emotion is the first step. Next, Martinez’s group will study and design protocols to help diagnose pathologies including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and autism.
Martinez also wants to learn how face perception develops from childhood to adulthood, how it develops over a longer span and how the elderly perceive faces.
In their quest to determine if there is a so-called normal way of processing faces—something he thinks is unlikely—Martinez and his team will soon study how young children, even babies as young at seven months old, perceive facial expressions of emotion. They will also examine different populations, and people with completely different life experiences, to see if those factors influence perception of facial expressions of emotions. Studying groups who have experienced trauma-inducing events, such as genocide, could aid in the early detection of posttraumatic stress disorder.
“The question is not whether the face perception will have changed, but whether these changes are consistent across subjects in a way that can be used for diagnosis,” said Martinez. “That’s what we’re working on, to define a protocol that works for the majority of people.”
Martinez’s research is already producing interesting results, including disputing a widely held belief that humans are very good at recognizing the facial expression of fear, a very primal emotion. The team found that adults were actually very bad at recognizing fear, but very good at recognizing happiness.
“One of the questions we are trying to address next is what happens with people with disorders like PTSD, are they much more attuned to recognition of fear?” said Martinez. “That seems to be one of those hypotheses that will turn out to be true, but we’ll find out.”
His research has also shown that certain facial structures influence the way humans perceive emotion. For example, the distance between the baseline of the eyebrows and the mouth
influence the perception of facial expression of emotions. A short distance between the brows and mouth, and wider faces are both perceived as being angry, whereas a longer distance
between the brows and mouth and thinner faces are perceived as sad.
Martinez is also researching a second NIH-supported project, “Computational Methods for Analysis of Mouth Shapes in Sign Languages.” The goal of this two-year, $400,000 research project is to understand what are called “facial expressions of grammar,” in regard to American Sign Language (ASL).
In ASL, as in any other sign language, part of the grammar is encoded on the face, not the hands, Martinez explains. Linguists have tried unsuccessfully for years to identify which components in facial expressions actually encode the grammar. Martinez’s group is working to design technology that can be used to aid in the search of such components. This could
revolutionize the study of sign languages the same way technology that analyzed components of the speech signal did for speech recognition.
“What we’re trying to do is to create a new revolution in the linguistic community by providing a new set of technologies that could be used to study American Sign Language,” explains Martinez. “We have had a project in the past that did similar things for the analysis of the hand motion and hand shapes, now we’re turning to the face, which is a much more complicated
The second research project could have vast implications on the way sign language is taught in the future and make it easier for deaf children to learn English and other languages. It could also aid in the design of a machine that could potentially translate American Sign Language to English someday. Such a machine could have a dramatic impact in places like hospitals and emergency rooms where deaf patients sometimes have to wait up to 30 to 60 minutes for an on-call translator to arrive.
about the images: Martinez’s research has shown that when people classify images showing facial expressions of emotions, people often make asymmetric mistakes. For example, people will classify a fearful face as a surprised face, but they will very rarely, or never, classify a surprised face as fearful.
This story originally appeared in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering's 2010-2011 Annual Report. | <urn:uuid:9cc27b84-0bbd-4665-a80b-de1881578448> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://ece.osu.edu/news/2012/01/more-face-meets-eye | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00199-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957412 | 1,044 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Onions: from seedlings to storage
Onions are a member of the allium family and are cousins of garlic, chives, leeks, and shallots. Onions are biennials which means they grow vegetatively the first year, then bloom the second year. The following are some varieties of onions:
Slicing onion: white, yellow or Spanish
Purple onions: have a mild sweet taste
Scallions or green onions: grown for their long stem and have little to no bulb
Pearl onion or pickling onions: usually small white and used for pickling
Shallot: mild tasting with a very small bulb
Leeks: Like scallions, mild but with a distinctive taste, the entire stalk is eaten
Vidalia onions: defined more by where they are grown than the variety
Onions first form a top and then depending on the variety and length of daylight, start to form the bulb. The size of the onion bulb is dependent on the number and size of the green leaves on top. For each leaf there is a ring of onion. The larger the leaf, the larger the ring will be. Onions are classified as long day onions or short day onions. Long day onions begin to form bulbs when there are 14-16 hours of daylight and are the best type of onion to grow in the northern states. Short day onions begin to form bulbs when there is 10-12 hours of daylight and are grown mainly in the southern states.
Onions are hardy plants, frost and freezing temperatures, and even snow will not kill them. It only slows their growth until warmer temperatures return. However, extended temperatures of 20-25 degrees will kill them.
You can start onions from seed in your home in late winter. However the most common way to grow onions is to buy seedlings or sets. Sets are onions that were planted from seed from last year. They look like a small onion about the size of a marble and come in varieties that are white, yellow, or red. Since this is their second year of growth they want to form seed heads. This hard seed stalk emerges through the center of the bulb and this is why onion sets do not last as long as onion seedling. The onion bulb which is penetrated by the seed stalk is hard when you harvest the bulb, but will prematurely decay, causing the loss of the entire bulb in storage. If you are storing onions, onions from sets need to be used first.
Seedling are small green onion plants with a tiny bulb which have been grown from a seed this year. They are usually in a mass and have to be carefully separated into the individual plants when they are planted. Onion seedling do not usually develop a seed stalk because this is their first year. Seedling are the best type of onion to store. Both onion set and seedling need to be planted out when spring temperatures reach around 48 degrees, and planted so there is 3-4 inches between each onion.
Onions are edible at any stage and immature bulb-forming onions can be thinned from the garden row and eaten. Harvest onions in late August to mid-September. It is time to harvest when 50 percent or more of the onion tops have fallen over. Gently push down the other plants, taking care not to break the stalk. Leave the onions in the ground for several days, then pull them and let them cure in a warm, airy place out of the elements for a week or two. Onions should not be left in the ground if there is a lot of rain in late summer, because they may begin to rot in heavy wet soil.
When properly dried for storage, onions will have a dry, shrunken neck and dry out skin. One thing you can do is to braid their tops together and store them in a cool dry place. Or you can cut off the dried tops and roots and let them air dry for 2-3 days to seal onions and avoid pre-mature spoiling. Than they can be stored in a mesh bag or nylon stocking. Place onion in nylon stocking or mesh bag, tie a knot between each onion, or use a plastic tie between each onion. Continue until the stocking is full. Loop the stocking over a rafter or nail it to the wall of a cool, dry building. When an onion is needed simply clip from the bottom, with a scissor or remove the plastic tie.
Another suggestion is to spread onions on a screen which allows adequate ventilation. Onions should not touch each other. The sweeter the onion, the higher the water content and the less shelf life, strong pungent onions will store longer.
Kyle Schulz is a Wadena County Master Gardener from Sebeka, and the regular gardening columnist for the Wadena Pioneer Journal. | <urn:uuid:a689552c-840b-433f-b215-f66985e2d171> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.wadenapj.com/content/onions-seedlings-storage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949116 | 982 | 3.5 | 4 |
Knowing about strep throat symptoms means you can help prevent the spread of the disease to other people.
That's important because strep throat is a throat infection caused by bacteria that — in very rare cases — can kill someone. In medical circles, that bacteria is called Streptococcus pyogenes, or group A streptococcus.
In the United States, the prime season for contracting strep throat is in the late fall, winter and early spring.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, strep throat cannot be diagnosed without a lab test.
In other words, you can’t just look in the throat and determine if the soreness is caused by a strep bacterial infection or a virus.
Strep throat is transmitted from one person to another through direct contact with the saliva or nasal fluids, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
If you think you might have been exposed, the symptoms of strep throat include one or more of the following:
- red and painful sore throat
- white patches on your tonsils
- swollen lymph nodes
- abdominal pain
In addition, the CDC recommends avoiding close contact with people who have colds, upper respiratory infections and, of course, those who exhibit strep throat symptoms.
Related on MNN: | <urn:uuid:881809bc-97cb-421a-86be-1c9d4ee50279> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/what-are-strep-throat-symptoms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00004-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937408 | 275 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Prunes. They may not sound exciting or sexy, but they may just become your new best friend after discovering all the benefits packed into this small, dark, shrivelled up fruit. Long used as an aid to constipation, prunes are brimming with some surprisingly impressive health benefits that might be enough to convince you to add them to your shopping list.
What do prunes have going for them and why do they deserve their place on a list of superfoods?
1. They’re an excellent source of fibre. For good reason, prunes and prune juice have long been the answer to irregularity. High in insoluble fibre, prunes are nature’s laxative. Insoluble fibre doesn’t dissolve in water, passing through the gastrointestinal tract and speeding up the journey of food through the gut. Prunes are also a good source of soluble fibre, the kind that helps to lower LDL, or bad cholesterol.
2. Prunes may help protect against cancer. This unassuming little fruit contains high levels of phytonutrients called phenols. Phenols act as antioxidants, protecting against damage from free radicals that can cause cell damage that may lead to diseases such as cancer. Suprisingly, prunes are also believed to lower the risk of Alzheimer’s due to the same free radical fighting power.
3. They promote bone health. A recent study by the University of Florida showed that prunes were effective in improving the bone mineral density in postmenopausal women at a time when the risk of osteoporosis increases due to estrogen deficiency. It’s believed that the high content of boron in prunes works to optimize estrogen levels which in turn increases calcium absorption.
4. Prunes help to fight hypertension. Including half a cup of prunes to your daily diet will provide over 600mg of potassium, an important mineral in maintaining a healthy blood pressure level. Adding a medium-sized banana to your breakfast will bump up your potassium intake by another 400mg.
Are you convinced yet about prunes? Maybe if we called them dried plums instead. Definitely more sexy. | <urn:uuid:777d2914-159c-48e8-b4ed-b8ba8a9a381f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blog.pharmacymix.com/prunes-your-new-best-friend | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398209.20/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00102-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935058 | 438 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Virtual network computing (VNC) is a remote control software that allows you to
view and fully interact with one computer desktop, the Xvnc server, by using
the VNC viewer on another computer desktop. The two computers do not have
to be running the same type of operating system. VNC provides a
guest domain graphical login.
By default, consoles for HVM guests are graphics consoles. You can use
VNC to view a Windows guest domain from a Solaris control domain.
Xvnc displays to a VNC viewer over the network. A VNC viewer
is a remote framebuffer (RFB) graphical user interface. Xvnc is a simple protocol
for allowing remote access to an RFB protocol client over the network, without requiring
an existing X server session to be displayed on local hardware. Xvnc
also includes the RealVNC vncviewerclient to connect to remote VNC servers, and several associated
Xvnc is the X VNC (Virtual Network Computing) server. Based on a standard X server,
Xvnc has a virtual screen rather than a physical one. X applications
display through a VNC viewer as if to a physical X display.
The VNC server display number is the same as the X server
display number. For example, snoopy:2 refers to display 2on machine snoopy for both VNC
and an X server.
To see the list of Xvnc options, use the -help option:
Many options are standard X server options. In addition to options that can
only be set at the command line, there are also parameters set
through both the command line and the vncconfigprogram.
To start Xvnc, use the vncserver script.
The server can be started by the x11-server SMF service.
For more information, see the Xvnc(1), Xserver(1), vncconfig(1) vncviewer(1), vncserver(1) man pages.
Setting a VNC Password
Use the vncpasswd command to set the password used to access VNC
desktops. The password is stored on the server. For more information, see vncpasswd(1)
and Example 40-6. | <urn:uuid:b29bff45-fc93-4764-b915-fbf772b53a7e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/opensolaris_2008/SYSADRM/html/gentextid-21615.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396887.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00087-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.777186 | 486 | 2.953125 | 3 |
An artist's conception of what the Planet-B spacecraft looks like while orbiting Mars.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of NASA
Japanese Space Program Takes Off...
News story originally written on July 13, 1998
After a long, slow struggle, the Japanese space program is taking off! Japan's space program started as University researchers launching pencil-sized rockets in the 1950's. They struggled and fought against low budgets, some unsuccessful launches, and a bureaucratic split between the two Japanese space agencies, to finally build a rocket capable of putting probes into deep space. Just last week, Japan's struggle came to an end.
On July 4, 1998, the Planet-B probe was launched sucessfully by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS). Planet-B is on its way to Mars to study the upper Martian atmosphere and ionosphere, and its interaction with the solar wind. The probe carries 14 instruments from Japan, Canada, Sweden, Germany and the United States, but the spacecraft was built, launched and will be controlled solely by Japan. Barring any unforeseen mishaps, Planet-B will reach Mars in October making Japan the third country (along with Russia and the U.S.) to reach another planet.
This successful launch has paved the way for future Japanese missions. In the next years, they are hoping to send a mission to the Moon, to an asteroid, and to Mercury. Japan is the only Asian country participating in the International Space Station.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Learn about Earth and space science, and have fun while doing it! The games
section of our online store
includes a climate change card game
and the Traveling Nitrogen game
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In late April through mid-May 2002, all five naked-eye planets are visible simultaneously in the night sky! This is includes Mercury which is generally very hard to see because of its proximity to the...more | <urn:uuid:b8ade7d3-89e5-40e9-be29-3d3512961fac> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/japan.html&edu=high&dev=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395039.24/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00147-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949946 | 662 | 3.359375 | 3 |
- the SI symbol for the volt (see
- a common symbol for the voltage in an alternating current (AC)
circuit (see var below for comments on alternating
current). The SI does not allow symbols to
be modified with additional information; instead of "12 VAC,"
write "AC 12 V."
- a traditional unit of mass or weight in countries of the
former Yugoslavia. Originally considered to be the weight that
could be carried by a wagon, the unit has been "metrized" and is
now defined to be equal to the dekatonne,
that is, 10 metric tons or 22 046.23 pounds
- a symbol used in Europe, especially in Germany, for the
- a unit of the reactive electric power delivered by an
alternating current (AC) circuit. In an AC circuit, the electric
potential or voltage (measured in volts) and the current (in
amperes) alternate direction,
varying smoothly according to sine curves. In a purely resistive
circuit, current is in phase with voltage. In a purely inductive
circuit, the variations of the current would lag the variations in
the voltage by 1/4 cycle, or 90°. In real circuits, the
current can be separated into two parts: a part in phase with the
voltage, and the "reactive" part, which lags the voltage by
90°. The reactive part does no net work; it simply heats the
conductor. Reactive current does perform important magnetizing and
voltage-regulation functions in real circuits. The reactive power
is the product of the voltage and the reactive part of the
current. The name of the unit is an acronym for
- a traditional unit of distance in Spanish- and
Portuguese-speaking countries. The length of the vara varied (no
pun intended), but in Spanish Latin America it was generally about
33 inches or a little longer. In
Texas, where it was often used in land measurement, the vara was
defined to equal exactly 33 1/3 inches, which is equivalent to
84.667 centimeters. In California, the vara was considered equal
to 33 inches (83.82 centimeters) and in Mexico the former standard
was 32.993 inches (83.802 centimeters). In southern South America
the vara was usually about 34 inches (86.4 centimeters). The
Spanish vara is shorter; it equals 32.908 inches or 83.587
centimeters. The Portuguese vara, on the other hand, is much
longer; it equals 5 palmos or about
110 centimeters (43.3 inches). The word vara means a stick
- a common symbol for the voltage in a direct current (DC)
circuit. In DC circuits, both voltage and current are constant.
The SI does not allow symbols to be
modified with additional information; instead of "12 VDC," write
"DC 12 V."
- a traditional Russian unit of volume equal to 100 charki.
The vedro is about 12.30 liters (3.249 U.S. liquid gallons
or 2.706 British Imperial gallons). In Bulgaria, the vedro has
also been used informally as a name for the dekaliter (exactly 10
liters or 2.642 U.S. liquid gallons). The word vedro means a
- an old name for the yard, taken
from the Latin word virga for a twig or stick. In modern
French, verge is the customary word for the English
- a traditional unit of land area in the Channel Islands, a
British territory just off the coast of France. The unit varied
from one parish to another. In Jersey, a common estimate is that
the vergee is equal to about 0.44 acre
(about 0.178 hectare or 2130
square yards). In Guernsey it is somewhat smaller, about 0.4 acre
(0.162 hectare or 1940 square yards). The name of the unit is a
old Norman word meaning an orchard.
- vershok or verchok
- a traditional Russian unit of distance equal to 1/16 arshin,
1.75 inches or 4.445 centimeters.
The plural is vershki.
- verst, versta, vehrsta
- a traditional Russian unit of distance, formerly used
throughout eastern Europe. The verst equals 1500 arshin,
which is 3500 feet, 0.662 88
mile, or 1066.8 meters.Although
vehrsta is the best transliteration of the Russian, the
spelling verst is common in English. The German spelling
werst is also used sometimes. In Finnish the unit is called
the virsta. The Russian plural is vehrsty.
- Vickers hardness number (HV or VHN) or
Vickers pyramid number (VPN)
- a measure of the hardness of a metal introduced by Vickers in
1922. In the Vickers test (suitable for surface-hardened metals),
a pyramidal diamond is pressed into the material being tested. The
Vickers hardness is the amount of force applied to the diamond
divided by the area of the indentation the diamond makes in the
material; in practice the diagonal of the pyramidal indentation is
measured and the result, computed in kilograms
of force per square millimeter, is read from a table. (The
reading should be stated as an empirical measurement, without
units.) Up to about HV 500, the Vickers hardness is about 1.04
times the Brinell hardness.
- viertel
- a traditional unit of volume in several European countries.
Oddly, although the name means "quarter" in German the traditional
viertel is not really 1/4 of any other unit. The Danish viertel
equals 8 pots or about 7.74 liters
(2.04 U.S. liquid gallons or 1.70
British Imperial gallons). In Switzerland the viertel is 40
schoppen, which is exactly 15
liters (3.9626 U.S. liquid gallons or 3.3000 British Imperial
- viertel
- a unit of volume for wine in Austria, equal to exactly 1/4
liter (250 milliliters) or about 8.45 U.S. fluid
- an obsolete unit of light intensity equal to 20.17 candelas.
One violle is the intensity of a square centimeter of platinum,
glowing at its melting temperature of 1769 °C (3216 °F).
The unit is named for the French physicist Jules Violle
(1841-1923), who proposed it in 1881; it was the first unit of
light intensity that did not depend on the properties of a
- an old English unit of land area equal to 1/4 hide.
This is roughly 30 acres or 12
hectares. The virgate was also
called the yardland or yard of land.
- viscosity grade (VG)
- a commercial rating of industrial lubricants. The grade
numbers are approximately equal to the kinematic viscosity of the
lubricant in centistokes. A
table is provided showing the
range of viscosities acceptable for each grade under the current
standard of the International Organization for Standardization
- a term often used with a Snellen
fraction in phrases such as "20/20 vision."
- viss, vis, vise
- a traditional unit of mass or weight in southern India and
southeast Asia, equal to 100 ticals.
The name is derived from the Tamil visai. The traditional
size of the viss is about 1640 grams (about 3.62 pounds),
but it is currently used in the Southeast Asian drug trade as a
metric unit equal to exactly 1600 grams (1.6 kilograms or 3.527
pounds). This metric unit is called the choi or joi
in Laos and Thailand.
- volcanic explosivity index (VEI)
- a measure of the severity of a volcanic eruption. The VEI
scale is from 0 to 8; an index value of v corresponds to an
output of at least 103+v cubic meters of magma. The Mt.
St. Helens eruption of 1980 was a 5 on this scale, and the largest
eruption of historic times (the Tambora eruption of 1815) rated a
7. A table is provided.
- volt (V)
- the SI unit of electric potential. Separating electric charges
creates potential energy, which can be measured in energy units
such as joules. Electric potential
is defined as the amount of potential energy present per unit of
charge. Electric potential is measured in volts, with one volt
representing a potential of one joule per coulomb
of charge. The name of the unit honors the Italian scientist Count
Alessandro Volta (1745-1827), the inventor of the first battery.
(Note: I am sometimes asked about standard line voltages in
different countries. Steve Kropla has a helpful chart
with this information.)
- volt ampere
- a unit of electrical load used in power engineering. In an
alternating current circuit, if the potential (measured in volts)
and the current (measured in amperes)
vary in phase with each other, then the power delivered (measured
in watts) is the product of the
potential and the current. In actual circuits, the potential and
current are usually out of phase (see var, above), causing the
device receiving the power to draw more current than its wattage
requirements would suggest. The product of the potential and the
actual current is the load, in volt amperes.
- volume unit (vu)
- a unit used in telecommunications to describe the volume of a
radio or television signal carrying complex information such as
speech or music. These waves vary wildly in amplitude in order to
represent the message they carry, so it is difficult to describe
mathematically how large their "average" amplitude is. To solve
this problem, the American Standards Association decided in 1951
to establish as a reference a signal which generates 1 milliwatt
of power in a circuit having an impedance of 600 ohms.
The volume of an incoming signal, in volume units, is equal to the
number of decibels by which it
exceeds this reference level. Thus the volume unit is (in a
complicated way) a variation of the decibel.
- volumetric unit (vu)
- a unit of volume equal to 200 cubic feet (5.663 cubic meters),
used in the U.S. forest products industry for wood chips and other
by-products of lumber production.
- a measure of the size of a package used for billing purposes
in the airline industry. The volumetric weight of a package, in
kilograms, is equal to lwh/6000, where l,
w, and h are the maximum length, width, and
height measurements of the package, in centimeters. Shippers are
billed for the larger of the volumetric weight and the actual
weight of the package. Since the calculation assumes a density of
only 1/6 gram per cubic centimeter (1/6 the density of water), the
volumetric weight is used only for rather light packages that take
up a lot of space on the aircraft.
- an abbreviation for "by volume," used in chemistry and
pharmacology to describe the concentration of a substance in a
mixture or solution. Thus 2% v/v means that the volume of the
substance is 2% of the total volume of the solution or mixture.
See also w/v.
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May 18, 2000 | <urn:uuid:011915a1-a149-4122-9d7b-46287ac1438f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.unc.edu/%7Erowlett/units/dictV.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396538.42/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.874499 | 2,715 | 3.890625 | 4 |
The characters in the Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov demonstrate the changing relationship among social classes during the late tsarist period in Russia. The power of the aristocracy was shrinking, while at the same time, members of the peasantry were rising to form a new middle class.
Madame Lyubov Andreyevna,her brother Gayev, and neighbor Simeonov-Pishchik are all members of the old aristocracy, unable to transition to a society where status no longer guarantees wealth. Madame Ranevskaya’s daughter Anya fits into this group as well as a result of her upbringing, but perhaps due to her age she is in some ways able to see a way to function in a new society that is not based on titles.
Dunyasha, Yepikhodov, Charlotta Ivanovna, Yasha, and Firs all fall into the lower class of servants, but which would also include peasants, which have always depended on working for a noble. Firs and Yashastand at two different ends, due to their age. Firs is still trying to process the meaning of his status as a free person, which he thoroughly rejects, whereas Yasha looks forward to the opportunity to travel with Lyubov Andreyevna as a almost a companion rather than a servant.
Petya Trofimov, Lopakhin, and Varya, based on their understanding that work is necessary to survive and grow, do not fit with the aristocracy, but their self–reliance also sets them apart from the aristocracy. However, each still partly identifies with the social group they came from, though they no longer belong to it based on measures of wealth or education. The middle class in particular faced the problem of defining their role in society, as there was no precedent from earlier history. In addition, growing social mobility further complicated things, as many members of this new group came from poorer backgrounds and but through education or business success were able to gain higher social status. What is interesting is that none of them seem to get along with each other. Lopakhin thinks that Trofimov reads too much, Trofimov thinks that Varya is bossy, and Varya cannot stand the idea of marrying Lopakhin. Despite this, their interactions with each other are not always camaraderous, even though in actuality, they have the most in common. | <urn:uuid:58280544-f52a-420d-9b3c-785a526f1e00> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://blogs.dickinson.edu/quallsk/2013/01/24/status-and-the-middle-class-in-the-cherry-orchard/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396875.58/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00095-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982612 | 495 | 3.078125 | 3 |
by Mike Bingham
Electronic download: $3.95
Proceeds fund our Research
Organisation for the Conservation of Penguins
King PenguinAptenodytes patagonicus
Breeding Range: Marion, Prince Edward, Crozet, Kerguelen, Heard, Macquarie, South Georgia and Falkland Islands
World Population: 2,000,000 breeding pairs
Despite the specific name of patagonicus, King penguins no longer breed in Patagonia, or indeed any other part of South America. They used to breed on Islas de los Estados (Staten Island) until the colony was wiped out by sealers during the 19th Century. There is a breeding population of about 400 pairs on the Falkland Islands, but the main breeding colonies are found on the islands of South Georgia, Crozet, Prince Edward, Kerguelen, Macquarie and Heard, which all lie close to the Antarctic Convergence.
The King penguin is the world's second largest penguin, with a typical weight of 12 - 14kg, and an average length of 90cm. Length is measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, in an outstretched bird. This is a more reliable measurement than height, since it is not affected by variations in stance.
King penguins have distinctive orange patches on either side of the head, which extend down and meet beneath the chin, where they become yellow and fade into the silvery-white breast plumage. The mandibular plates on either side of the bill are also orange in colour. The female is slightly smaller than the male, but has similar plumage.
Preferred breeding sites are flat coastal plains within easy reach of the ocean via a sandy beach. The breeding cycle is different to that of other penguins, with chicks taking the better part of a year to fledge, and a full breeding cycle lasting more than a year. This leads to pairs becoming out of phase with their neighbours, so that eggs and large chicks can be seen in the colony together, and pairs generally breed twice every three years. Chicks over-winter in the breeding colony, and during this period the chicks remain in creches, and are well insulated from the cold by their long brown downy coats.
King penguins make no nest, and instead lay a single egg of around 310g, which they hold on their feet for the entire incubation period of about 55 days. This adaptation allows breeding in much colder terrain than would be the case for species that lay their eggs on the ground, and negates the need for nesting material. The eggs are brooded by both parents in turn, with shift changes of 6 to 18 days; the non-brooding parent going to sea on extended foraging trips.
The newly hatched chicks are also held on the parents feet for the first 30 - 40 days, by which time they have developed their mesoptile plumage, and are able to regulate their own body temperature. During chick-rearing, parents continue to take turns at brooding, but change over periods vary from 3 - 14 days, so chicks may have fairly prolonged waits between feeds.
Chicks are eventually left in creches, to allow both adults go to sea on prolonged foraging trips, with chicks being fed even less frequently. By mid-winter, chicks are still dependent on the adults, and often undergo periods of up to 3 months between feeds. Healthy chicks have been shown to be able to survive up to about 5 months without being fed. It is quite common for chicks to lose 50% of their body weight whilst waiting for food.
Despite this lack of food, King penguin chicks are able to survive prolonged periods of extremely cold weather. This is achieved by increasing metabolic activity through the burning of body fat in muscle tissue, despite remaining inactive. Stored body fat reserves are usually adequate to maintain the chicks for at least 3 months, but as body fat reserves become depleted, chicks must begin to break down body protein to provide energy. Weight loss then becomes more rapid, and starvation would eventually result unless the chick was fed.
Chicks eventually fledge the following summer, and will not return to breed until they are at least 3 years of age. King penguins can live to over 30 years of age in captivity, and in the wild they normally return to the same site to breed throughout their life. Breeding is preceded by the period of moult, which lasts 4 to 5 weeks. Their return to the breeding colony is poorly synchronised, and hence birds often change partners each breeding cycle.
King penguins generally forage at depths of 150 - 300m, with 500m being the maximum depth recorded for this species. They mainly feed on small bioluminous Lanternfish, although they will take other prey, such as squid. Deep dives are only made during the daytime, but King penguins can also feed at night by making shallow dives. Presumably they can still hunt by sight at night because of the bioluminous light emitted from their prey. Since light penetration does not appear to be the only factor determining foraging depth, it could be that foraging depth is largely determined by diurnal migration of prey species in response to day and night.
Human impact is currently very low, despite King penguins being a great tourist attraction in the Falklands. They are very tolerant of human presence, and are not alarmed by the presence of tourists, provided that they remain at the outskirts of the colony. There is no direct exploitation of King penguins, and they are seldom caught as a result of commercial fishing, other than through the occasional discarded net. There is very little overlap between the prey of King penguins, and commercially harvested species of squid and fish. Fishing industries are therefore unlikely to greatly influence King penguin population trends. With an estimated population of nearly 2 million pairs, there are no particular concerns for this species at present.
Web Page by Mike Bingham | <urn:uuid:4a02bf1f-222f-49fb-be29-c226a997dab3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.penguins.cl/king-penguins.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403826.29/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956832 | 1,222 | 3.484375 | 3 |
FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: "Our report on housing shows that many regional and local authorities in the EU are reluctant to adopt and implement adequate Roma housing policies. Authorities need to act urgently, as poor housing conditions and residential segregation also have a negative impact on education, employment and health for the Roma. For example, living in segregated sites makes it difficult for Roma children to have access to schools, and for Roma and Travellers to find work and to get to work."
Unacceptable housing conditions
Many Roma and Travellers in the EU have to live in informal settlements without basic infrastructure, often in hardly habitable dwellings, without prospects of legalising their homes and improving the quality of their housing. Very often Roma housing areas have poor access to public services, employment and schools, as well as an inadequate supply of water, electricity or gas.
High segregation rates
Segregation exists in many Member States, sometimes as a result of deliberate policy choices made by local authorities and/or national governments.
The report highlights forced evictions from municipal accommodation, even of Roma who are regular rent payers. These evictions often happen without prior notice, and may involve police violence and destruction of personal property. There are many cases where authorities fail to provide alternative housing and/or adequate compensation for expropriation.
Discrimination on grounds of race or ethnic origin in access to housing is legally forbidden. However, an FRA survey shows that many Roma experience discrimination which varies considerably between Member States. In one Member State, 34% of Roma reported discrimination in access to housing.
Low number of official complaints due to lack of knowledge
70% of Roma do not know that laws exist which prohibit their discrimination in access to housing. 71% think nothing would happen if they reported it, and 41% are unsure how to report discrimination. As a result, the number of official complaints remains very low.
Based on the findings of its report, the Agency advises:
- Member States should resolve the issue of residential segregation, as well as the problem of informal Roma and Traveller settlements. This means adopting positive measures, in particular concerning ‘culturally adequate' and acceptable housing conditions.
- Member States should provide for the regular collection of usable and meaningful ethnically disaggregated data regarding the housing situation of Roma and Travellers.
- Member States should ensure that the specialised bodies, e.g. Equality Bodies, are properly resourced to fulfil their tasks.
- Governments, local authorities and Equality Bodies must intensify their efforts to raise awareness and disseminate information regarding anti-discrimination legislation and the possibilities for redress.
- The EU Commission should link the use of European Union Structural Funds with the implementation of equal opportunity and desegregation plans in housing.
- The active participation of Roma and Travellers in planning, implementation and review of housing policies is essential.
FRA Reports on Roma Housing http://fra.europa.eu
For further questions please contact Ms. Heller at the FRA media team:
Tel.: +43 158 030 - 642
Notes to editors:
The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has three key functions: to provide evidence-based advice to the EU and its Member States; to collect information and data on fundamental rights; and to promote dialogue with civil society in order to raise public awareness of fundamental rights.
Previous FRA (EUMC) reports on housing: "Breaking the Barriers - Romani Women and Access to Public Health Care" and "Roma in Public Education" | <urn:uuid:4c0d5c1a-907a-49d0-a624-37898f6d9386> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://fra.europa.eu/en/press-release/2012/fra-roma-and-travellers-face-social-exclusion-and-discrimination-housing | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00066-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946433 | 721 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Epidermal nevi are hamartomas arising from the embryonic ectoderm whose pluri potentialcells differentiate not only into keratinocytes but also into the cell forming epidermal appendages. The lesions may be deeply or slightly pigmented, have either a unilateral or bilateral distribution, and often favour the extremities in what appears to be a dermatomal distribution. They may also appear on the oral mucosa and ocular conjunctiva. Onset is usually at birth but may also occur in the second or third decade.
Epidermal Nevus, Nevus, Epidermal
Congenital nevus, Epidermal naevus, Epidermal nevus, Epidermal nevus, NOS, Epithelial naevus, Epithelial nevus, Epithelial nevus, NOS | <urn:uuid:9b5d1459-3209-48fd-8130-2c9a4d99ca25> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dermis.net/dermisroot/en/21715/diagnose.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783391519.2/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154951-00034-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.845368 | 175 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Children are not typically diagnosed as having a language disorder until approximately two-years-old, and oftentimes even later. When a young child is identified as having a language disorder, it is difficult to determine at that point whether the child is simply late to start talking but will be relatively quick to catch up, or whether he or she will have a long-lasting language problem. This article provides an overview of research relating to the early identification of language impairments. It summarizes the literature relating to differentiating between late talkers and children who are truly language impaired. It also includes an overview of the relationship between babbling and language development and gestures and language development, as there is much evidence to indicate that both canonical babbling and gestures are important precursors to language development and both are useful as early indicators of language impairment. A more thorough understanding of this literature will improve clinical practice with regard to assessment of and intervention for young children with language impairments and will help bridge the gap between empirical evidence and clinical practice.
Language Problems First Identified
A variety of factors contribute to the difficulty with early identification of language disorders. One factor is the large variation in the early behaviors of children who are typically developing. For example, most children begin to use single words when they are approximately 12 months old; however, the typical age range of the emergence of single words spans several months, from approximately 10 to 15 months. This wide range of variability in normal development in young children makes it difficult to determine when a child is not developing typically. Therefore, unless a child is at high risk for a language impairment at birth because of a specific diagnosis (such as Down syndrome), language difficulty typically goes unnoticed until children are toddlers, after they have missed several linguistic developmental milestones.
Late Talkers Catch Up, Children with Language Impairments Don't
Recently there has been a great deal of research devoted to late talkers, a group of children who in spite of otherwise typical development are late to develop language but who subsequently catch up to their peers (Paul, 1991, 1993; Paul, Hernandez, Taylor, & Johnson, 1996; Paul & Jennings, 1992; Rescorla, 2002, 2005; Rescorla, Roberts, & Dahlsgaard, 1997; Rescorla & Schwartz, 1990; Thal & Bates, 1988; Thal & Tobias, 1992; Thal, Tobias, & Morrison, 1991; Williams & Elbert, 2003). Much of the research has been devoted to investigating the linguistic outcomes of these children (Paul, 1991, 1993; Rescorla, 2002; Rescorla et al., 1997; Rescorla & Schwartz, 1990; Thal et al., 1991; Ellis Weismer, Murray-Branch, & Miller, 1994). Current research suggests that approximately half of late talkers will catch up to their peers and develop age-appropriate language skills, usually by the time they enter school (Paul, 1991, 1993; Rescorla, 1990; Rescorla & Schwartz, 1990; Thal et al., 1991). Paul (1993) reported that approximately 40% of the late-talking toddlers she followed had good expressive outcomes at age three and Rescorla and Schwartz (1990) reported that of the 25 children with language delays they followed, approximately half had good outcomes when assessed between three and four years old. Thal et al. (1991) followed up on 10 toddlers with language delays, toddlers who were participants in a previous study, and found that one year later, six of the children had caught up while four continued to demonstrate language problems.
Although many toddlers late to develop language outgrow their difficulties, many do not. Studies have shown that for those children who continue to demonstrate language difficulty during the preschool years, they are at significant risk for continued language problems that last throughout childhood with difficulties spiraling to other areas of a child's life including academics and socialization (Aram, Ekelman, & Nation, 1984; Aram & Nation; 1980, Nippold & Schwarz, 2002; Rescorla, 2002; Stark, Bernstein, Condino, Bender, Tallal, & Catts; 1984; Tomblin, Zhang, & Buckwalter, 2003). In one of the earliest studies to examine the long-term outcomes of preschoolers with language disorders, Aram and Nation (1980) examined the language and academic outcomes of 63 preschoolers four or five years after initial diagnosis, and found that 40% of the children had continued language deficits and 40% had difficulty with academic achievement, particularly in reading and math. Aram, Ekelman, and Nation (1984) conducted a 10-year follow-up of 27 children diagnosed with language impairments as preschoolers and found that the majority of the children continued to evidence deficits in oral language along with difficulty with academics and socialization. Other researchers have made similar findings (Hall & Tomblin, 1978; Paul & Cohen, 1984).
The Pitfalls and Possibilities for Early Identification of Language Impairments in Children: A Review for Clinicians and ResearchersThe Pitfalls and Possibilities for Early Identification of Language Impairments in Children: A Review for Clinicians and Researchers
Nicole Magaldi, Department of Communication Disorders
PresenterChristine Ristuccia, M.S., CCC-SLP
PresenterTatyana Elleseff, M.A., CCC-SLP
PresenterRosemarie Griffin, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCBA
PresenterRosemarie Griffin, M.A., CCC-SLP, BCBA
PresenterCarolyn (Carney) Sotto, Ph.D., CCC-SLP | <urn:uuid:470d0b78-b78d-4404-83f8-ac0d6463cd45> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.speechpathology.com/articles/pitfalls-and-possibilities-for-early-1450 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393997.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00149-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940925 | 1,155 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Reason for Rehabilitation
The New Castle County Department of Special Services is responsible for the engineering, operation, and maintenance of the New Castle County sanitary sewer system, a significant portion of which is located in that part of New Castle County commonly known as Brandywine Hundred.
The Brandywine Hundred system is also the oldest sanitary sewer system for which New Castle County is responsible. As this system has aged groundwater and surface water flows have entered and exceeded the capacity of the pipe conveyance system causing repeated overflows into the basements of some homes as well as discharges into local watercourses during significant storm events. Extensive observations have been performed on the sewer pipe system throughout the area leading New Castle County to conclude that rainwater and groundwater are entering the pipe system through:
Clearwater connections – including sump pumps, roof drains, punctured floor drains, and foundation drains from buildings unlawfully connected to the sanitary sewer system
Cross connection to storm sewer pipes
Leaking collector sewer pipes
Leaking sewer manholes
Streams flooding over sewer manholes
Phases of the Project
In 2002, New Castle County, with approval from the State of Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, developed a program to address the sewer flow problems entitled CSO Elimination Plan: Brandywine Hundred Sewer Rehabilitation Plan.
The program prioritizes the areas requiring sewer rehabilitation by addressing the problems that are most critical for flow conveyance as well as those that have been determined to contribute the most rainwater and groundwater flows to the pipe system by volume in phase one, which began in 2002 and will continue until 2014.
Phase two will take place from 2015 to 2018 and will continue the effort in areas where the sewer pipes have not deteriorated to the same critical stage as the pipes identified in phase one, but are still a measurable source of rainwater and groundwater intrusion. For phasing information, view the Project Phasing Map. The phases have been divided into project areas for design, construction, and scheduling purposes.
New Castle County’s goal is to reduce peak flow rates in the sewer system by 35% in order to minimize the burden for future costs to county property owners which would be associated with upgrades to the Wilmington Wastewater Treatment Plant, sewage pump stations, and interceptor systems, to create capacity for the continually increasing flows from the deteriorating pipe system. The projects feature some of the innovative technologies available to rehabilitate the sewer pipe system as economically and with as little intrusion into the activities and properties of residents and business owners as possible. | <urn:uuid:5141e6f6-2d19-4abf-ab48-fe58bc3e5ac8> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.nccde.org/218/Brandywine-Hundred-Sewer-Rehabilitation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398869.97/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00119-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952549 | 517 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Brief SummaryRead full entry
Histerini contains some of the most commonly encountered histerids. Throughout the tropical and subtropical parts of Africa and the Americas, Histerini are the most abundant histerids associated with dung. Several predaceous Histerini have in fact been widely introduced (in Australia and Hawaii, in particular) to help control flies breeding in cattle dung. In the Old World, dung associations are by far the most common for species of Histerini. However, there are many exceptions to this 'rule' | <urn:uuid:1f8e4cb6-6147-4ad6-ad76-e90e63e1b54d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.eol.org/pages/2655034/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00141-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915457 | 113 | 2.78125 | 3 |
As the United States moves toward rebuilding its economy and ensuring the long-term strength of our middle class, we're mindful of the wise words of President Harry S. Truman: "In the long view, no nation is healthier than its children." By that measure, we have some work to do, and we're tackling it head-on.
Over the last three decades, obesity rates have tripled. Today one in three children is at risk for preventable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease due to being overweight. If left unaddressed, health experts tell us that our current generation of children may actually have a shorter life span than their parents.
To confront this, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken significant strides to help make sure America's children are eating better and leading healthier lives.
In December 2010, a coalition of parents, teachers, advocates, school lunch professionals, doctors and even retired military leaders worked with Congress to help pass the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. The act is a huge win for millions of schoolchildren. It allows us to combat child hunger and obesity and improve the health and nutrition of the nation's children with the most comprehensive changes to school food in decades.
The department recently finalized the improvements to food served to 32 million American children every day in the school lunch program. The new standards -- based on the most up-to-date science -- will make the same kinds of practical changes that many parents are already encouraging at home. Students will be offered daily servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains along with portion sizes and calorie counts designed to maintain a healthy weight. We'll reduce the amount of saturated fat, trans-fats and salt in children's meals.
The Agriculture Department has also been pushing schools to reinforce healthy lifestyles. We've worked with schools across the country, recognizing more than 2,100 with honors for meeting tough standards to expand nutrition and physical activity opportunities. And soon we will bring healthy choices beyond the lunch line to all foods sold in schools -- including vending machines and the a-la-carte line -- so we make the healthy choice the easy choice for students.
The Agriculture Department is working with parents, teachers and others to encourage kids to lead healthy, active lifestyles. Through our Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative and other similar work, we are working to make it easier for families to access healthy food in rural and urban communities that may lack a convenient supermarket. We are teaching kids about healthy foods through school and community gardens.
First lady Michelle Obama has been an important partner in this effort. Through her Let's Move! program, famous athletes are stepping up by renovating playgrounds and school gymnasiums; community activists are bringing farmers' markets to underserved areas; and food-industry leaders have agreed to participate in our work to raise a healthier generation of kids.
At the end of the day, the strength of our communities, our economy and our national security depends on the health of our children. The administration is committed to leading the way so that, together with leaders and partners from across the nation, we can help feed our children the nutritious food they deserve to excel, thrive and succeed in their lives.
Tom Vilsack is U.S. secretary of Agriculture. | <urn:uuid:8247053a-60d2-49f1-a4f0-ddd997d77e03> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.buffalonews.com/U.S._making_strides_in_efforts_to_raise_healthier_children.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396949.33/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00168-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953646 | 664 | 2.953125 | 3 |
MABTON, Wash. - Most American families have some kind of immigration lore — think Ellis Island, the Oregon Trail and slave ships. At dinner tables across the Northwest, some Mexican-American families tell their own vivid tales. They regale each other with stories of relatives swimming to better opportunities across the Rio Grande or crossing the desert at night.
Yes, these crossings are illegal, but they also are part of a family’s history. If the U.S. Congress adopts comprehensive immigration reform this year, these types of border stories could begin to fade.
I met Antonio at a poetry performance competition. He recited “Bent To The Earth,” by Blas Manuel De Luna. The poem relates a story of Mexicans trying to get into the U.S., and getting stopped by the border patrol.
As each word rolled out of him, Antonio’s face told me this was more than just a meaningful poem. This was his life.
“I was a child that had seen what a piece of polished wood could do to a face. Who had seen his mother about to lose the one she loved. Who had lost some friends, who would never return. Who later that morning bent to the earth and went to work.”
We’re not using Antonio’s real name because of his parent’s legal status. He’s 17. His parents leave for work early, and get back late. He sports $10 white sneakers and a blithesome smile.
We’re in his house. Two rooms, one bathroom. Six people, one baby. Sometimes, on Saturday mornings Antonio says they gather round hot chocolate and cookies and his parents tell stories.
Here’s one: On his mother’s trip from Mexico, her group had to cross the desert. It was hot in the day and very cold at night.
“They went over a river and so they were really wet. So their clothes, if they kept their clothes on they were going to freeze,” Antonio explains. “They had to take off all their clothes except their underwear just so they didn’t freeze to death.”
Antonio knows that these stories of overcoming adversity are important to his family – he has his own stories of sleeping in cars. But his younger brothers and sisters – including his baby brother — are are farther away from those crossing stories.
They’ve only ever known a roof overhead and new shoes. He worries as he gets older, “Maybe I’d lose those traditions all together. I’d hate to lose being who I really am.”
Across the Columbia Basin, in another small town called Mabton, I meet a family who also has a dramatic border crossing story.
Luis Vargas is some storyteller. His eyes open wide, and his voice – sometimes down to a whisper — relates the drama. He has huge scars to prove his tale. One runs long, flat, from mid-chest to his belly button. Another runs along the inside of his left arm.
His daughter Maria Rodriguez translates as Vargas tells the story of being packed into a 1968 Chevy truck with six others — shoulder-to-shoulder like sardines. A coyote or human smuggler was at the wheel – U.S. bound. They passed through a checkpoint, but soon after a state patrol officer spotted the men in the truck.
“… the state patrol follows the coyote right away, Vargas says through his daughter. “So they’re literally doing a Too Fast Too Furious kind of races back and forth side-to-side. The state patrol is on the side on the speaker going “pull over, pull over.”
The coyote smuggler tries to make a tight turn at high speeds, but his back wheels go off an embankment, and then the truck starts to tumble.
“So then my dad says he remembers most of the men flew off. Because they are going downhill,” Rodriguez says. “He managed to fly up and then down on the truck again. But the second time he managed to fly off, his stomach landed on a ginormous rock. And he says he remembers laying there. And according to how he used to tell us the stories you know how in the cartoons when someone lands and there are the little stars floating around? He goes, I swear to you I saw stars.”
Maria Rodriguez says she wants her descendants to always remember her father’s stories — but she admits it’s going to be hard to keep them relevant to American-born generations.
“Kids are born into money. But I’m actually glad that I was born poor,” she says, “Or should I say U.S. poor. When you know you don’t have it, and you finally get it, you appreciate it.”
For his part 17-year-old Antonio is grateful for the life his parents have given him. He says maybe it’s natural the stories may fade after generations.
“I think they really want us to know what its like,” Antonio says. “They want us to know even though they can’t offer us the world, they give us more than they could have ever wished for.”
His parents may never earn much more than minimum wage. But the story’s not finished. Antonio hopes to become a biomedical engineer. A junior, he’s already won a couple of scholarships for college.
On the Web:
“Antonio” reads “Bent to the Earth” by Blas Manuel De Luna
Copyright 2013 Northwest Public Radio | <urn:uuid:f6c5a60b-77c1-468c-a2b3-ccd456afd178> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-border-crossing-stories-play-big-role-in-immigrant-family-histories/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00058-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982691 | 1,205 | 2.5625 | 3 |
It's the middle of the night at JPL, and the usual dozens of deer are on their nightly foraging rounds across the campus. Mars is up. So is the Moon. And so are nine machinists in the lab's high-precision fabrication shop, working the second shift that ends between midnight and 3 a.m. They are part of the round-the-clock team turning out odd-shaped pieces of metal that will become robots destined for Mars.
Night shift supervisor Gary Keel holds in his hand an improbable mix of geometric shapes that somehow meld smoothly together. Finely machined out a solid, 25-pound brick of titanium, the part looks like a mechanical dog's leg as dreamed up by a computer. In a way, it is.
Only this is a leg for a rover of a different kind - it's a wheel strut for one of the two twin Mars Exploration Rovers now being built for launch in 2003. This part is one of thousands that will comprise the rovers.
The part displays a mathematical complexity made possible only through the speedy calculations of computer-aided design. Rendering it into a real part from a drawing falls to Keel and his colleagues in the fabrication shop.
About eighty percent of the rover parts are of a more routine sort that will be made by machinists outside of JPL. Some parts, like the launch vehicle adapter that connects the spacecraft to the rocket, are huge - the size of a round banquet table. Others are smaller than the diameter of a pencil. Large or small, the most exotic pieces stay at JPL with staff machinists, now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the crunch time of the rovers' assembly and test phase.
"We Get the 'Oh No!' Parts"
"We get the 'Oh No!' parts" says Keel. "The 'Nobody Else Wants to Touch This' parts." Engineers often want to keep the most complicated and challenging machining in-house, he says. That way, they can check the progress with the machinists who are bringing the new parts into being, and have an opportunity to make adjustments if needed. The relationship is known as "concurrent machining and engineering."
Mike Mangano, the Mars Exploration Rover mission's mechanical systems project element manager, explains the value of being able to communicate with the machinists on site: "You can do the design, you can put it on paper, but until you start to actually make it, you don't know what kinds of problems you're going to run into."
Because of the very strict constraints on size and weight, the spacecraft, landers and rovers are compactly layered inside of one another like Russian dolls, says Mangano. "We call it configurationally challenged," he says. The geometric complexity of some of the parts reflects the creative design that packs a lot of engineering and science capability into a relatively small spacecraft system.
The rover and lander systems require some three dozen gears and motors. Some of these help open and unfold the landers to release the rovers, some deploy scientific and communications instruments, and some are part of the rover's mobility and steering system. Building those and other parts for the project is driven by "a pretty ambitious schedule," says Mangano. Hence, Keel and other JPL machinists are burning the midnight oil.
"We interact a lot with the engineers," says Keel. Working against the project's tight deadlines, "If we have a question, they're going to get out of bed and come in and help us."
Keel, who grew up in Southern California's Simi Valley with a passion for science fiction and dreams of a baseball career, instead set out on a path that would lead to Mars when he took vocational machine shop classes at Royal High School. His shop teacher recommended him for an apprenticeship at a local shop making general industrial parts for autos, computers and safes. He later worked at Rocketdyne on parts for the Space Shuttle launch system. Ten years ago, he joined JPL.
"Mars Pathfinder was my first project where I worked from the start to finish," said Keel. Then he worked on parts for the Cassini spacecraft now enroute to Saturn. "Those were the first missions I felt part of."
For a machinist, Keel says, "this is the best place in the world to work. It's not the same thing day in, day out. There are challenging opportunities and a chance to advance your career. And this is the only place I know of where you work on a part for something and see it on the front page of the Los Angeles Times making history a few years later." | <urn:uuid:9a8985a7-e01c-41bf-abf7-7fc360f4ae92> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=804 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396100.16/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00100-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953979 | 971 | 2.90625 | 3 |
It's in the Bible
The wages of sin are really what???
If you search in the dictionary, you will find out:
wage = noun [sing.] (also wages [pl.]) a regular amount of money that you earn, usually every week, for work or service
Then the word WAGES is plural, so the correct answer is ARE
Not in this case- it's singular. Damnation is not the same as a salary.
Yet another thing the Bible gets wrong.
It is 'is' because the sentence defines what is death. We can rephrase this sentence as "Death is the wages of sin". What is death? It is the wages of sin.
Just because the Bible said it or it was translated that way doesn't mean it's grammatically correct. Wages can't be singular. It isn't in any other case, and the Bible doesn't get special cases. It's literature like any other.
God said it.
I believe it.
That settles it!
It is singular because "wages" here is functioning as singular. You would happily have "the pay of sin is death" or "the reward of sin is death"-- and in the alternate, "the rewards of sin are death". It's impossible to match the number here, so one must take a pragmatic approach. Since "is" is the established form, stet.
VERY INTERESTING that 58% (at the time I took the poll) prefer "is". I can think of two reasons for this. 1) The sentence is always written using "is". That's the norm and, by definition, most of us adhere to the norm. 2) It's biblical. The religious among us (and there are many) are inclined to accept statements from the Bible as a literal translation. So "is" it is.
I voted for "are" because "wages" in every case but this one is used as a plural noun. (Wages are paid on Friday.) Also, "are" falls more softly on the eye and ear, making it aesthetically, if not technically, correct.
I was curious what one of my favorite reference sites, dictionary.com, had to say on the subject. It says that "wages" (can be) used with a singular or plural verb." It gives "The wages of sin is death" as an example, but doesn't declare that form of the verb as the only option.
I did a little more research, with my MS Word Grammar Checker. It allows the sentence with either "is" or "are"; however, the suggested change for "The wages of sin am death" is "is". (Lousy traditionalist Microsoft!)
"is" , notional concord, while "are", grammatical concord. as NNS, I prefer the latler.lol.
sin is abstract noun
This is why I hate our language. Also, I have to wonder which came first: the translation, or the exclusion of "wages" from standard subject-verb agreement rules.
Subject-verb agreement indicates the verb should be "is" (and we don't have verb-object agreement in English). You can make the argument that here "wages" is a notional singular, but the word doesn't get used that way anywhere else that I'm aware of (you say, "The pay is a thousand dollars" but "The wages are a thousand dollars").
Granted that the King James Bible deliberately used archaic language, but I don't think this is an example of that usage.
It wasn't archaic when they did the King James Bible; it's archaic now.
The greek word for "wages" is in the plural form. However, in English, the word "wages" was historically used as a singular (implying a plural dollar sum but a singular payment). The word "is" is necessary for the English construction but it is not required for the Greek construction (Oh, the joys of translation). When it was first translated into English, "wages is" was considered the correct English form. Since then, every Bible scholar appears to have learned this verse very early on in their religious life and have continued to translated it using is (because, it's always been done that way). Nevertheless, English language has changed and the correct translation into modern English is "are" (and that's one of the few instances in English when "is" and "are" come next to one another in a grammatically correct way!)
The wages of sin is death. That's my anwser! What's yours?
Wages means punishments when used in singular.
The wages of sin is death. This sentence is grammatically correct.
In the case above, the answer is "The wages of sin are death." In the Romans, Paul uses the prepositional phrase "For the wages of sin." In that case the subject is singular because the preposition "for" is singular. The original question leaves out the whole text of Romans. In this case those two little letters make all the difference, but many have memorized it wrongly and forget about the "for."
It's got nothing to do with the preposition. 'Wages' here means retribution/recompense and is used in the singular despite the plural ending.
for sin it take singular verb and for remuneration it take plural verb.
When the passage was first translated into English, "wages" was singular. Many words in English are singlar despite ending in "s". Also, the word "wages" had a slightly different mraning then thsn now. If translated today, it would read, " The payment of the eages of sin is death." It still is "is". | <urn:uuid:1578cdba-342c-4336-aa9c-da57be9a8b37> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.usingenglish.com/poll/464.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397797.77/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963455 | 1,206 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Have a variety of hats available to show to the children. Make the selection as wide and as interesting as possible. Include hats for different occupations, sports, and purposes. Spend some time with the children discussing and modelling some interesting hats.
Ask the children, "What if someone took your favorite hat when you weren't looking? How would that make you feel? Why would someone take something that doesn't belong to them?" Discuss the concept of theft with the children. Discuss need versus want, envy, and the right way to deal with feelings of want.
This Is Not My Hat, by Jon Klassen. Introduce the story by explaining that it's about someone taking something that doesn't belong to them, in this case, a favorite hat. Enjoy the story with the children, and then discuss how the little fish tried to justify reasons that it was o.k. to take the big fish's hat. Take a few moments to talk about what was right and what was wrong in the story.
Game: Hide the Hat. Choose a colorful hat to be "it." Ask one of the children to hide it. Help the rest of the group cover their eyes and sing a little song or count for a few seconds while she hides it. (Ask a parent helper or other adult to help the child hide the hat.) Then, with the help of the adult, instruct the child to give clues to help the rest of the group find the hidden hat. Tell her to say "warmer, warmer" when the group is close to the hat, and "colder, colder" when they are not close to finding it. Play a couple of rounds of this game, and the children will soon catch on.
Bible Verse: Exodus 20:15 "Do not steal." (CEV)
Ask the children to sit again and take a moment to tell them what the Bible teaches about stealing. Explain that it is wrong to want something someone else has so much that they would take it. Also tell them that although stealing is very wrong, that Jesus loves each of us and is always ready to forgive.
Jennie's Hat, by Ezra Jack Keats
Read the story with the children and take time out to discuss the idea of being disappointed, and how to handle feelings of want and of disappointment in a healthy way. Explain that we don't just take what we want, or sulk about what we do not have. If we are patient, and if we take healthy action, we can be content and will be blessed.
Take the creativity of the previous story and run with it! Make "derby hats" with your young ones! ("Derby" here refers to the famous Kentucky Derby style hats.) Don't worry, the boys can have fun with this, too! Be sure to offer lots of fun items to decorate your hats with, including things that will appeal to both girls and boys. Let the children choose the colors and items they want to decorate their awesome hats with!
You will need: lots of newspaper, tape, a stapler, colorful tissue paper, glue, scissors, and lots of items for decorating.
The link below gives fantastic instructions on how to make these fanciful and fun paper hats:
Thank you, henryhappened.com! | <urn:uuid:0c4ea4e6-9a8e-4265-ba48-81a75329753f> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://preschoolstorytimes.blogspot.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.9/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00067-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959558 | 676 | 3.890625 | 4 |
Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word
a news article that consists of a chart (= a list, drawing or graph showing information) and only has a small amount of text
'A photo of a giant mushroom cloud that accompanied the charticle likely added editorial context, giving readers a front-and-center visual of what nuclear capable Iran might mean.'PBS Newshour 4th February 2013
In the early years of the 21st century, we've seen various ways in which new technologies have been used to imbue words with the expressive power of pictures. The wordle, for instance, is a visual depiction of the words in a text which exploits colour, font size and orientation. Kinetic typography goes one step further, and as well as adding aesthetic embellishments, makes words move. But sometimes, it seems that pictures really do speak louder than words, and that there's no substitute for the explanatory power of graphics. To this end, journalists and editors across the globe are periodically deciding that the best way to convey a message is not by writing extensive text, but by presenting information in a format now described as a charticle.
in a charticle, the proportion of text relative to images is the reverse of what would normally be expected in an article
A charticle is an article which presents information in the form of a 'chart', which in practice can adopt the format of a list, graph, table or other kind of diagram. This interesting example from Time magazine shows a 'hall of fame' bar graph depicting the number of times particular personalities have appeared on the cover. As the example illustrates, in a charticle, the proportion of text relative to images is the reverse of what would normally be expected in an article. Conventional news articles usually consist of large blocks of text which are sometimes interspersed with images in order to add visual appeal or convey less important information. Charticles, on the other hand, are primarily composed of images, with text used only sparingly to provide additional information where necessary.
The word charticle is of course a blend formed from the nouns chart and article. The first occurrence of the term dates back to 1996, when writer and financial journalist Peter Brimelow used it in reference to a style of article he had put together for Forbes magazine. Though there's plenty of evidence for use of the word, especially in publishing and media circles, charticle has yet to be recorded in any established dictionary.
The use of graphics as a more effective means of published communication is by no means a new idea. Underpinning the emergence of the word charticle is a concept now often referred to as an infographic, a visual representation of data intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. The London Underground map is a classic example of an infographic which has been around for some time, and there have been countless others, but new technologies and computer-based tools of recent years have made it possible for infographics to be created much more easily and disseminated around the world, aiding wider recognition of the term and concept.
The word charticle is in fact not the only blend based on the word article. Often used in magazine publishing, the word listicle refers to a piece of writing that uses a list as its thematic structure, but contains sufficient text to be considered an article. Typical listicles feature a number in their title, classic examples of which are magazine pieces along the lines of '10 Ways to Cook a Chicken' or 'The Top 20 Films of the Last Decade'.
Read last week's BuzzWord. Hate-watching.
This article was first published on 14th May 2013. | <urn:uuid:9c2e1b48-fe1f-43e3-9115-04717604ecc6> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzword/entries/charticle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00014-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948259 | 747 | 3 | 3 |
This dash has even been used when two different symptoms unequal value are separated a semicolon.
Neither the asterisk nor the cypher ever refers the part after a semicolon, even if there should no dash.
For instance, in the phrase, Pressure in the head tearing pain the asterisk only refers the pressure in the head, but not the tearing. A comma, however, never counter-indicates the asterisk or cypher. In this phrase, for instance burning in the eyes, also at night, and in the evening, or early in the morning, the asterisk refers both the burning in the eyes and also at night and evening, showing that these symptoms are physi ological effects which have been cured when occurring as symptoms a disease the early i need help writing a paper in apa format in the morning simply stands as part a pathogenetic symptom. The semicolon has never been employed separate the parts one and the same symptom has only been used for the purpose distinguishing the part after the semicolon as being entirely different from the part preceding For instance, the phrase vertigo in the evening when walking in the open air with nausea, etc.
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not read as if were vertigo with nausea, in the evening, when walking in the open air in this latter phrase the different parts form only one symptom, meaning that the vertigo, accompanied with nausea, experienced in the evening during a walk in the open air whereas the former phrase, the parts whereof are separated semicolons, expresses three different symptoms which are independent one another, and should understood as if stated in the following terms Vertigo umi dissertation in the evening vertigo when walking in the open air vertigo with nausea. This explanation concerning the use the semicolon especial importance a proper understanding the phrases expressing compound nervous, spasmodic or febrile paroxysms.
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Those parts the phrase which are separated commas, express only one symptom in other words, all those parts the phrase which are contained between two semicolons express only one symptom, which entirely different from the symptom contained between the semicolon terminating the former symptom and the semicolon following.? The note interrogation placed after the name any disease which has not yet, the best knowledge, been cured that remedy with absolute certainty, or which has been recommended merely upon theoretical grounds. In all such cases, a double note interrogation has been used, whenever those recommendations did not seem based upon a well-marked correspondence the remedy and the disease, or came from physicians the old school, leaving doubtful whether the disease had been really cured, or had merely been suppressed the large doses which those physicians use. Italics. Italics have not only been used in order distinguish those phenomena which have occurred more frequently in proving the drug, but also in many instances in order secure the eye a resting point upon which the reader might dwell, and from which might take a fresh start in reading over a long paragraph. homework help persuasive essay The italics will can i buy research papers prevent the mere important symptoms from being overlooked in a mass details minor importance. Whenever this latter object was attained, only one word has been italicized but whenever the italics have been used for a whole symptom, has been for the purpose informing the reader that the symptom has been observed many persons proving the same drug. For instance, in the phrase, paralytic weakness the limbs, the term weakness has been italicized merely prevent its being overlooked but if the whole the symptom were italicized, thus paralytic weakness the limbs, this would mean that the symptom had been frequent occurrence in the provings. If the symptom were printed thus weakness the limbs, even paralytic, the reader would have understand that the italicized portion the symptom, the weakness, had been frequent occurrence, but not the paralytic. Suffice therefore, remark, that the italics have never and vomiting excited custom research paper service oil, seem aggravate the effects who can write my thesis Increased frequency the pulse, with distention the veins.
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Image of Magellan orbiting Venus.
Click on image for full size
On May 4, 1989, Magellan, a spacecraft built mostly from spare parts from other missions, was carried into Earth orbit by the Atlantis space shuttle and launched toward Venus. It arrived on Aug. 10, 1990 and inserted itself into a highly elliptical polarorbit.
Over the next 3 years, Magellan used radar to penetrate the dense cloud cover surrounding Venus and map its surface. With every orbit it sent back strips of data, which were assimilated by scientists back on Earth into a 98% complete global map. Because Magellan viewed the Venusian surface from varying angles, 3-dimensional images of the planet's terrain were also possible.
After studying Venus' gravitational field for a year, Magellan then plunged into its atmosphere, testing a new technique for controlling surface descent, called aerobraking. Aerobraking involves dipping a spacecraft's orbit through a planet's atmosphere, thus creating friction which slows it down and results in a more energy-efficient descent. Although Magellan was crushed by the Venus' pressure before reaching the surface, scientists obtained valuable information that would make aerobraking useful in future missions.
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Radar is short for "radio detection and ranging". A transmitter emits pulses of high frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves). These waves strike conductive objects and are backscattered to the receiver....more
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the sky, so it is clearly visible to the naked eye. It can be tricky to spot, however, because it is always near the Sun. Because of this, it rises and sets with...more
The space shuttle Atlantis completed its final scheduled flight when it touched down on at Kennedy Space Center on the morning of May 26, 2010. NASA is planning to retire the entire fleet of space shuttle...more
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was one of the most important exploration tools of the past two decades, and will continue to serve as a great resource well into the new millennium. The HST is credited...more
Driven by a recent surge in space research, the Apollo program hoped to add to the accomplishments of the Lunar Orbiter and Surveyor missions of the late 1960's. Apollo 11 was the first mission to succeed...more
Apollo 12 survived a lightning strike during its launch on Nov. 14, 1969, and arrived at the Moon three days later. Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean descended to the surface, while Richard Gordon...more
Apollo 15 marked the start of a new series of missions from the Apollo space program, each capable of exploring more lunar terrain than ever before. Launched on July 26, 1971, Apollo 15 reached the Moon...more | <urn:uuid:9367dcc5-642f-4a7c-a37a-a2e9978a7e2d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.windows2universe.org/space_missions/magellan.html&edu=high | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00079-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929925 | 619 | 4.34375 | 4 |
Some clinical trials of swine flu vaccine are underway
The first swine flu vaccines are likely to be licensed for use in the general population in September, the World Health Organization has announced.
Several manufacturers have produced initial batches of a H1N1 vaccine and some clinical trials are already underway.
WHO director of vaccine research Dr Marie-Paule Kieny also sought to calm fears about safety of new vaccines.
She said the vaccines were based on "old and proven technology".
Figures show continuing rises in cases in the southern hemisphere in the past seven days.
Argentina has particularly seen a large increase and deaths now stand at 337.
And there has been a rise in cases of 25% in Australia.
INCREASE IN PAST WEEK
China (Hong Kong) 46%
China (mainland) 16%
Although it has not yet been clarified who would be first in line for a vaccine, it is likely to be those who are most vulnerable, such as pregnant women and young children.
Some experts have raised concerns about the lack of safety data on flu vaccines in these groups.
In particular, a very rare neurological condition called Guillain Barre syndrome affected 500 people during a US vaccine programme against swine flu in 1976.
Dr Kieny said much was known about flu vaccines in these groups from seasonal vaccines given every winter and added that regulatory agencies would be monitoring for any signs of adverse reaction.
"The quality controls on today's vaccine are much better than they were 30 years ago," she added.
Regulators in the US and Europe have special plans in place to fast-track swine flu vaccines, some of which are based on conventional seasonal flu vaccines and some which use newer technology.
Clinical trials are already underway in China, Australia, USA, UK, and Germany.
It comes as drug company, Baxter, has announced the production of the first commercial batches of its swine flu vaccine Celvapan.
The vaccine has been grown using cell culture, a much faster method than the traditional way of growing it in eggs.
Baxter is one of two companies contracted to provide pandemic flu vaccine to the UK, the other being GlaxoSmithKline, and both plan to start clinical trials this month.
One key part of the trials is to work out whether people need one or two doses of the vaccine.
Ministers have repeatedly said they expect to have enough doses for half the UK population by the end of the year. | <urn:uuid:22d7220a-0648-4495-9f1d-13c04a0dbb6d> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8187892.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402516.86/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00063-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968337 | 514 | 2.96875 | 3 |
CÓRDOVA REBELLION. Late in the summer of 1838 a group of Nacogdoches citizens accidentally uncovered a plot of rebellion against the new Republic of Texas. This incident, known as the Córdova Rebellion, at first appeared to be nothing more than an isolated insurrection by local malcontents. Later evidence, however, indicated the existence of a far-reaching web of conspiracy.
A volatile mixture of political and social forces existed in the Nacogdoches area during the 1830s. For the most part, former citizens of the United States controlled the newly formed government of the republic. They lived in constant fear of repression by the Mexican government, from which they recently had declared independence. Before 1836 Texans of Hispanic descent made up the largest segment of the population of Nacogdoches. The end of the Texas Revolution, however, brought an influx of American settlers into the area. Many older inhabitants, resenting this intrusion, understandably remained loyal to Mexico. Indians, represented principally by the Cherokees, made up the third major ethnic group. These Indians, a settled people who engaged in agriculture, desired clear title to the land they occupied. Attempts to secure this title from Mexico before 1832 were unsuccessful. During the Texas Revolution, Texas officials promised the Cherokees title to their lands in return for neutrality. The agreement, never ratified, was declared null and void in 1837.
In late 1836 several sources reported to President Sam Houston that the Cherokees had concluded a treaty with Mexico for a combined attack on Texas. It would be a war of extermination, and the Indians would receive title to their land in return for their allegiance. Vicente Córdova, a financially comfortable Nacogdochian who had served his community as alcalde, judge, and regidor, maintained contact with agents of the Mexican government during this period. On August 4, 1838, a group of Nacogdochians searching for stolen horses was fired upon by a party of Hispanics. Finding evidence that suggested the presence of a large assembly of people, they returned to Nacogdoches and reported their discovery. After being informed on August 7 that at least 100 Mexicans led by Córdova were encamped on the Angelina River, Thomas J. Rusk called up the Nacogdoches squadron and sent a call to nearby settlements for reinforcements. On August 8 Houston issued a proclamation prohibiting unlawful assemblies and carrying of arms and ordered all assembled without authorization to return to their homes in peace. Two days later the leaders of the rebellion replied with their own proclamation, signed by Córdova and eighteen others. It stated that they could no longer bear injuries and usurpations of their rights. They had, therefore, taken up arms, were ready to die in defense of those rights, and only begged that their families not be harmed. On the same day Rusk learned that the insurrectionists had been joined by local Indians, who brought their number to approximately 400. After ascertaining that the rebellious band was moving toward the Cherokee nation, Rusk sent Maj. Henry W. Augustine with 150 men to follow them. Rusk, ignoring Houston's orders not to cross the Angelina River, took his remaining troops and marched directly toward the Cherokee village of Chief Bowl. En route Rusk learned that the rebellious army had been overtaken near Seguin and defeated. After communicating with local Indians, who disavowed any knowledge of the uprising, Rusk and his volunteer army returned to Nacogdoches.
Houston remained in Nacogdoches throughout the insurrection, writing letters of reassurance to his friend Bowl, and issuing orders to Rusk. Houston trusted the Cherokees' loyalty and hoped to keep peace with Bowl. Rusk, on the other hand, distrusted the Cherokee leadership and thought that a show of force was necessary. Rusk disobeyed Houston's orders and often bypassed him completely by sending reports to Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar, who was in closer agreement with Rusk's views.
The leaders of the insurrection escaped arrest and went into hiding. Córdova eventually made his way to Mexico. Thirty-three alleged members of the rebellion, all with Spanish surnames, were arrested and indicted for treason in the Nacogdoches District Court. Because of the "distracted state of public feeling" a change of venue to neighboring San Augustine County was granted to all but one of the defendants. José Antonio Menchacaqv, one of those tried in San Augustine County, was found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang, while the remaining defendants were found not guilty or had their cases dismissed. After several former jurors claimed to have been pressured in their decisions, President Lamar pardoned Menchaca, only four days before his scheduled execution.
The capture of two Mexican agents after the rebellion produced new evidence pointing to an extensive Indian and Mexican conspiracy against Texas. On about August 20, 1838, Julián Pedro Miracle was killed near the Red River. On his body were found a diary and papers that indicated the existence of an official project of the Mexican government to incite East Texas Indians against the Republic of Texas. The diary recorded that Miracle had visited Chief Bowl and that they had agreed to make war against the Texans. On May 18, 1839, a group of Texas Rangersqv defeated a party of Mexicans and Indians, including some Cherokees from Bowl's village. On the body of Manuel Floresqv, the group's leader, were found documents encouraging Indians to follow a campaign of harassment against Texans. Included were letters from Mexican officials addressed to Córdova and Bowl. Although Bowl denied all charges against his people and Houston maintained his belief in their innocence, President Lamar became convinced that the Cherokees could not be allowed to stay in Texas. The Cherokee War and subsequent removal of the Cherokees from Texas began shortly thereafter.
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The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Handbook of Texas Online, Rebecca J. Herring, "Cordova Rebellion," accessed June 25, 2016, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcc03.
Uploaded on June 12, 2010. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:a9c6803f-ccd1-4cdf-a138-a902acd53a44> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/jcc03 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783394605.61/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154954-00101-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976927 | 1,443 | 4 | 4 |
No ecosystem is stable, and rainforests are no exceptions to this rule. Rainforests are subject to many types of natural disturbances which may further affect population sizes and proportions: fire, flooding, storms, winds, alterations in rainfall, and, in some places, volcanic or other seismic activities. Even where there is no apparent variation in conditions, the populations of many species will fluctuate over time. This is true for plants as well as animals. In Panamanian research plots, the proportion of shrubs in plant populations varies from approximately 10% to 40%, depending upon conditions such as pest levels and the presence of pathogens (Wright, 1996). Insect population booms and busts are well known, and lizard populations in tropical forests appear highly variable. Nevertheless, in undisturbed forests, although there is continual flux in the abundance of any one species, the overall composition of the forest tends to remain virtually the same. In Peninsular Malaysia, several two-hectare plots of rainforest maintained their species compositions for many years with relatively little variation. Over the period of the studies (24-38 years), the researchers found a low percentage of local extinctions (17% or less) or immigration (17% or less), mainly of rare species. For the most part, species which were abundant as adults were also abundant as juveniles. Thus, the structure of the forest is expected to remain similar over time (Manokaran, 2002).
a. Fire: Catastrophic fire is a relatively rare event in most rainforests which are devoid of humans (in contrast to temperate forests). In Amazonia, for example, natural major fires occur in any given area approximately every 440-1550 years. This is so because, where there is a closed canopy forest, fires are inhibited by the humidity, which often reaches 65% and more. Nevertheless, charcoal deposits (indicating previous fires) which predate human occupation have been located in the Amazon forest.
The probability of fires occurring in rainforests is greatly increased by the opening of the canopy by logging. This decreases the relative humidity and increases the ambient temperature. Logging activities also leave behind “slash,” the remnants of trees and underbrush, which are dry and much more susceptible to burning than intact forest. A 50% reduction of the canopy cover can increase the average temperature of an area of forest by 10o C. and may reduce the humidity by 35% or more. While a primary forest will burn under conditions of drought (and even small clearings can reduce humidity sufficiently to facilitate burning), a selectively-logged forest can catch fire after less than a week without rain, and a secondary forest, after eight to ten rainless days. In a forest which has burned, fallen branches and other combustible materials cover the ground, and highly flammable weeds and grasses invade the open areas. All of these add to the combustible fuel in the forest; thus, previously-burned forests are more susceptible to recurring fires at frequent intervals than are intact forests (Cochrane, et al., 1999).
Forest trees are able to survive and resprout following low-intensity fires. The probability of severe tree damage is much greater after repetitive fire, and, with repeated burning, most trees will be killed. Even large trees will be destroyed (up to 98%, compared to 45% of large trees in the initial fire). If fires occur more frequently than every 90 years, many trees will be lost; if more often than every 20 years, the burned area may become deforested entirely. Currently, in some parts of the Amazon, fires recur within less than five years. These secondary fires often occur in forests adjacent to land being burned for agricultural purposes, whereupon the area may become entirely treeless and reduced to scrub or grassland, probably irreversibly (Cochrane, et al., 1999).
b. Wind: In some regions there are severe storms with high winds. The largest and tallest trees generally have the strongest root systems and are able to resist wind activity, while smaller trees may be blown over and killed. Usually the forest composition will not be much altered, since the downed trees and undergrowth will resprout, or be replaced by natural succession (See Section F).
c. Flooding: Flooding is a natural event in some lowland rainforests, as in the varzea forests of the Amazon Basin, where many riparian (riverside) trees and plants spend months partially or wholly submerged during the rainy season. These plants are adapted to the flood cycle and are undamaged by long periods of submersion. Many do not even lose their leaves. Unusual flooding (often caused by human activity), however, can destroy the forest along riverbanks, leading to succession.
d. Geological activity: Long ago, glaciation altered the mix of plants and animals in forested areas by changing the physical environment in which they lived. Today, earthquakes and volcanic activity occur in a number of tropical areas, and can destroy or disrupt considerable areas of forest. Some will eventually become reforested; if the damaged area is very large, perhaps not.
e. Invasions by “exotic” (non-native) organisms: A very serious problem in many forests is the invasion by exotic species introduced mainly by human activities. Neotropical forests have been invaded by Africanized bees, and the fruit fly Drosophila malerkotliana from India has also been introduced into many of these forests. Tropical forests seem to have little resistance to such invasions, and the newly-introduced species frequently supplant or threaten native species, as they have no local enemies to control their populations. | <urn:uuid:64a04cd1-63c8-4f50-9df9-86e838b96d3a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.rainforestconservation.org/rainforest-primer/rainforest-primer-table-of-contents/g-rainforest-ecology/13-rainforest-stability-and-disturbance/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397565.80/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00110-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965464 | 1,168 | 4.125 | 4 |
Ratios and Proportions in Everyday Life
Date: 05/13/2002 at 07:51:20 From: Tal Subject: Ratios and Proportions How are ratios and proportions used in everyday life?
Date: 05/13/2002 at 09:32:57 From: Doctor Ian Subject: Re: Ratios and Proportions Hi Tal, Suppose you're having four people over for dinner; and you have a recipe that makes enough of a dish for 12 people; but you don't want to have leftovers. How would you change the recipe to make just enough for four people? Suppose your business is opening a new office, but instead of 24 employees (which is how many you have at your original office), this one will have only 18 employees. If you know how much water, paper, staples, and other office supplies you need for a year in the original office, how can you figure out how much to order for the new office? These are the kinds of problems that require ratios and proportions to solve. Does this help? - Doctor Ian, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/
Search the Dr. Math Library:
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© 1994-2015 The Math Forum | <urn:uuid:d833583d-6f7b-4d8f-b0bf-b2da3fbbafd7> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/60681.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403502.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00136-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94573 | 255 | 3.25 | 3 |
Acidity levels in the Pacific Ocean are rising faster than expected, according to a study published last week in the journal Science. A team of researchers from the Pacific Northwest as well as Canada and Mexico studied water samples up and down the coast last year and came up with some alarming results: acidity levels could become high enough to prevent shellfish from growing shells in the coming decades.
The ocean has helped temper global warming by absorbing carbon emissions from the atmosphere. That, coupled with the carbon dioxide that naturally occurs in the water, is quickly pushing the Pacific towards corrosive levels for plankton and organisms on up the food chain.
How does this new information fit into the larger global climate change puzzle? What is the best way to deal with the consequences of rising acidity levels in the ocean? How will this news impact the shellfish industry?
- Burke Hales: Associate professor of Oceanography at the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University
- Jonathan Davis: Lead researcher for Taylor Shellfish Farms
- Richard Feely: Lead researcher on the North American Carbon Program?s West Coast Cruise and supervisory oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | <urn:uuid:ee0e0162-a62a-4000-8dca-04fa9642d8fc> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/our-acidic-ocean/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403825.35/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00111-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92232 | 238 | 3.640625 | 4 |
Black Elk with wife and daughter, circa 1890-1910
Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) (c. December 1863 – August 19, 1950) was a famous Wichasha Wakan (Medicine man or Holy Man) of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux). He was heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse. Black Elk participated, at about the age of twelve, in the Battle of the Little Bighorn of 1876, and was wounded in the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890.
Black Elk married his first wife, Katie War Bonnett, in 1892. She became a Catholic, and all three of their children were baptized in the Catholic faith. After her death in 1903, he too was baptized, taking the name Nicholas Black Elk and serving as a catechist. He continued to serve as a spiritual leader among his people, seeing no contradiction in embracing what he found valid in both his tribal traditions concerning Wakan Tanka, and those of Christianity. He remarried in 1905, to Anna Brings White, a widow with two daughters. She bore him three more children, and remained his wife until she died in 1941.
Toward the end of his life, he revealed the story of his life, and a number of sacred Sioux rituals to John Neihardt and Joseph Epes Brown for publication, and his accounts have won wide interest and acclaim. Black Elk was guided throughout his life by visions, in which he was encouraged and exhorted to help his people. His earliest and guiding vision concluded with the sight of the whole world as one, the hoops of many nations united in one hoop, with one mighty tree sheltering everyone as the children of one father and one mother.
Black Elk remained a devout Catholic throughout the remaining years of his life, walking to church every Sunday, even when he was dying of tuberculosis.
Black Elk was born into the Oglala Lakota (Sioux Nation) in December 1863, ("Moon of the Popping Trees during the Winter When the Four Crows Were Killed"). When he was three years old, his father was wounded in the Fetterman Fight, known among the Sioux as the Battle of the Hundred Slain, organized by Chief Red Cloud. This was a winter when hunting was poor and snowfall was heavy. Nonetheless, the tribe moved westward, away from white encroachment.
When Black Elk was four years old, he began to hear voices when no one was present, which reportedly frightened him. At the age of five, he had a vision in which two flying men appeared to him, singing a sacred song to the accompaniment of the drumming of thunder. He kept these voices and visions to himself.
In the Native American way of life, young men traditionally go alone into nature for a period of time, fasting, sweating, and practicing traditional religion in the pursuit of a vision (a "vision quest") at the time of initiation into adulthood. However, at a much younger age, Black Elk received a vision without effort on his part. This seems to point to Black Elk having been chosen by the Ancestors for a special mission.
At the age of nine, Black Elk had a vision following the instruction of voices telling him to "hurry because his Grandfathers are waiting." His tribe was moving camp at the time, but Black Elk became so sick that he had to be carried. Arms, legs and face swollen, he was laid to recover in his parents' teepee. At this point, looking through the teepee's top opening, he viewed the same men from his earlier vision beckoning him to follow them to his Grandfathers. Then led by horses, he was taken to a teepee in which the six Grandfathers were waiting. Each of the grandfathers told Black Elk something about themselves and the Native peoples' destiny, and each gave him a symbolic object. He was told by the sixth Grandfather that he would receive his power, important for the great trouble to come to his nation.
The vision progressed to four ascents, each one getting progressively steeper and more difficult, which they climbed together. Black Elk reported seeing fighting, gunfire, and smoke, and his people fleeing "like swallows." However, the vision ended with the sight of the whole world as one, the hoops of many nations united in one hoop, with one mighty tree sheltering everyone as the children of one father and one mother. He was then instructed to go back empowered and restore his people.
When Black Elk regained consciousness following this vision, his parents told him that he had been near death for twelve days and the medicine man, Whirlwind Chaser, had cured him. Black Elk was afraid to share his vision, believing he could not adequately convey his experience. However, Whirlwind Chaser told his parents that there was something special about him, leading Black Elk to believe that the medicine man knew he had received such a vision.
When Black Elk was eleven years old (1874), his people were camped in the Black Hills of present-day South Dakota. The Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868, had specified the area of the Great Sioux Reservation to be all of South Dakota west of the Missouri River and additional territory in adjoining states. This included the Black Hills. The treaty stipulated that the land was to be "set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the Lakota.
However, after gold was discovered, the U.S. Government violated the treaty and took control of the region. General George Armstrong Custer moved into the Black Hills. Sioux chiefs at that time included Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Crazy Horse, the latter two more resistant and distrusting of the Europeans than Red Cloud was. Crazy Horse, a powerful warrior, was the first chief to come from Black Elk’s family, which had a tradition of holy men. Crazy Horse became a chief due to special power received through a vision.
For some time the Lakota tribes moved around on the Great Reservation, mainly in South Dakota and Montana. Unable to freely practice their traditional way of life, they began practicing the Sun Dance, which was feared by the white man.
In June 1876 Black Elk's people relocated to a big camp on the shores of the Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn River) in Montana Territory. The encampment was unusually large and included people from various Lakota bands (Oglalas, Brules, Sans Arcs, Minneconjous, and Hunkpapas), Northern Cheyenne, Blackfoot, and a small number of Arapaho. The size of the village is unknown, though is estimated to have been 949 lodges, with between 900 to 1,800 warriors.
While swimming on the afternoon of June 25, word came that U.S. Cavalry were approaching. Pandemonium ensued as General Custer attacked. The battle continued until sundown when the Indians drove the soldiers into the hills and resumed the following day. This historic battle, in which George Armstrong Custer was killed, is famously known as the "Battle of the Little Bighorn," or "Custer's Last Stand." It was a remarkable victory for the Indians, in which the attacking troops were essentially wiped out. Black Elk reported that he did not regret participating in the battle "because the Indians were in their own land, doing no harm, and were attacked without provocation." The Indians danced and sang all night.
Though the battle had been won, the war had not. The hard winter came early. The Indians seemed to be trailed by white soldiers. Some encampments were attacked and the Indians killed in their sleep. Indian removal began, though many chose death over assimilation or imprisonment on reservations. Over the next year, the new forces relentlessly pursued the Lakota, forcing many of the Indians to surrender. Sitting Bull refused to surrender and in May 1877, led his band across the border into Canada, where he remained in exile for many years, refusing a pardon and the chance to return.
In that same month, Crazy Horse surrendered to U.S. troops at Camp Robinson in Nebraska. Knowing that his people were weakened by cold and hunger, he believed there was no recourse. He and his people resided near the Red Cloud Agency for the next four months. He fled to the nearby Spotted Tail Agency with his ill wife in September. After meeting with military officials at the adjacent military post of Camp Sheridan, he agreed to return to Camp Robinson. Upon his return, Crazy Horse was arrested and murdered during the night; some accounts say he was attempting to escape at the time.
When Black Elk was about 15 years old, his family moved to Canada to join Sitting Bull. At this time, he began receiving and using visions to remove his people from impending danger. The voices of his spirit guides also led them to bison and other animals for food.
By the time he was 16, Black Elk began to feel uneasy. He had received a great vision years earlier and shared it with no one. Though his spirit guides continued to assist him and his people in their daily lives, he began to fear the time that they might soon confront him, demanding to know why he had done nothing with his vision.
Finally, at the age of 17, Black Elk shared his vision with the medicine man, Black Road. Black Road advised him that he must perform the duty he was given in his vision. He instructed him to first hold a horse dance. With the re-enactment of his vision through the ritual as guided by Black Road and assisted by his parents, Black Elk was then considered one of the medicine men.
At the age of 18, Black Elk began to feel that he should join the Oglala, and perform the duty his vision entrusted to him. This was a difficult period of time for him, as he lamented the suffering of his people as they were forcefully relocated again and again as their allotted lands were shrunk by the government. He had been able to help individuals, but not his tribe as a whole. Black Elk moved to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Performing a lamentation ritual, he received confirmation of his earliest vision, with the mandate to help his people.
At the age of 19, Black Elk began healing the sick. At this time, he began to share more in detail the aspects of his vision. He understood that he could not be empowered to fulfill each aspect until he revealed it to another and acted it out.
By the time Black Elk was 20 years old, his people were suffering greatly. They were dying of starvation and disease. Forced onto reservations, they could not practice their traditional ways of life.
At this time, Black Elk heard that Buffalo Bill Cody was hiring Indians to use in his Wild West Show. He decided to join, thinking that it might afford him the opportunity to learn some of the white man's "magic." Traveling to the big cities of Chicago, Omaha, and New York depressed Black Elk. The way of life without relationship to nature convinced him that the whites were actually lacking in knowledge and had no secrets to share.
Buffalo Bill took his show to England, where they had an audience with Queen Victoria. From London, Black Elk went to the city of Manchester. Buffalo Bill returned to the U.S. without him. With other Sioux who remained, he worked in another western show (Mexican Joe’s) which traveled to Germany, Italy, and Paris. While in Paris, he became involved with a girl. Becoming homesick and ill, the girl's family took him in and nursed him back to health. During this illness, he had a vision of his home, riding on a cloud over the Black Hills and the Pine Ridge Reservation. Awakening from his vision, he was informed that he had been near death for three days. He returned to America soon after that.
Upon Black Elk's return home, he discovered that both his sister and his brother had died in his absence. His father died soon after. Though he lacked power when he had left his homeland, it came back to him upon his return.
He soon heard rumors of a man among the Paiutes, Wovoka, who taught of ways to save the Native Americans, bring back the buffalo, and rid their lands of the white man. Three Oglala men went to investigate and returned with news of the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dance soon spread from Wovoka's home in Nevada throughout all lands west of the Mississippi River, though it was adapted tribe by tribe.
A dance was held at Wounded Knee Creek, which Black Elk witnessed. There were similarities to his vision, such as the circle dance and the flowering stick. He believed perhaps Wovoka had received a similar vision to his. Black Elk began to join in the dances, during which he experienced visions similar to his first vision. After this, he began to make holy shirts, which he believed would protect the lives of those who wore them.
Soon, however, Black Elk received a vision while dancing, which he interpreted as a sign that he had made a mistake in forsaking his great vision for the lesser ones he had received while ghost dancing. Government agents began to crack down on the Ghost Dance, and warned Black Elk's encampment. Fearing arrest, they moved to a Brule encampment on Wounded Knee Creek.
While there, they received news of Sitting Bull's death, which came during an attempted arrest. Soon the Minneconjou Chief Big Foot arrived at their encampment, suffering from pneumonia, with 400 people who had escaped to the Badlands when Sitting Bull was killed. Starving and freezing, they surrendered to soldiers who brought them to Wounded Knee.
The presence at Wounded Knee of the highly respected Chief Big Foot scared the soldiers, who feared an uprising. The cavalry had received orders to disarm the Natives before sending the "more troublesome" ones to Omaha via train. During the attempt to disarm, a scuffle ensued. Though the details are not clearly known, shots were fired and a battle began. Having largely given up their weapons, the Indians, including many women and children, sought shelter in a ravine. They were killed while fleeing and seeking shelter.
Hearing the shots, Black Elk, accompanied by about 20 others, rode toward them. Witnessing the massacre, they rode into the fight. It was over, and men, women, and children lie dead or dying in the snow. A blizzard the following day covered their bodies, freezing them into grotesque shapes.
The following day Black Elk went out with a Lakota war party. He was wounded, but determined to continue the fight, until an older warrior convinced him to live and help his people.
The month following the massacre at Wounded Knee, in January 1891, Black Elk joined an attack at Smoky Earth. Stealing the soldiers' horses, the warriors retreated into the Badlands. Chief Red Cloud, fearing the suffering that followed their victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, convinced them to surrender.
Black Elk felt this final surrender was the end of a dream, the end of his nation, and a sign that he had failed to live up to the command of his vision.
After the Wounded Knee Massacre and the Sioux's final surrender, Black Elk married and began to raise a family. He converted to Catholicism approximately ten years later and became a catechist. The reservation Indians were not allowed to meet in large groups and were forbidden to practice the native religion. However, as a catechist, Black Elk had the freedom to help his people with money, group gatherings, and prayer.
Unable to fulfill his vision, Black Elk opted to serve his people, though in a "white man's way." He lived this way for nearly 40 years. In 1930 he was interviewed by John Neihardt, an acclaimed American poet. Seeming to have expected his visit, connecting with him in a special way, he entrusted him to share his story. Though they needed an interpreter (Black Elk never learned to speak English), a bond of trust was formed. After sharing his life story over a period of several interview sessions, Neihardt and Black Elk—dressed traditionally for the first time in decades—ascended the 7,242 foot Harney Peak in the Black Hills, where he offered a prayer to Wakan Tanka for his people.
For the following twenty years, Black Elk remained a devout Catholic, walking to church every Sunday even when he was dying of tuberculosis. He raised a large family, with descendants living on his property on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
He passed from this life in August 1950.
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Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. | <urn:uuid:1e2b268d-b9fa-4989-bcad-fc77dc0e4f11> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Black_Elk | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783404382.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155004-00184-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990759 | 3,573 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Rob Hilsenroth, DVM
Diarrhea is a common condition that almost every dog owner will
experience at some point -- in the dog, not necessarily the owner.
Most often, the condition is inconvenient but brief, lasting only
a day or two. Diarrhea that lasts longer than a few days or is
particularly severe (with the dog showing other signs of illness
such as lethargy, vomiting, or a fever) can indicate a more serious
refers to any condition that results in an increased fluid component
to the stool. The condition can originate in either the small
or large intestine (also called the colon) and, depending on the
origin, the characteristics of the stool are different. Small
intestinal diarrhea is characterized by large volumes of watery
stool and can be accompanied by the other signs of illness described
above. In contrast, dogs with large intestinal diarrhea produce
small amounts of stool and have increased urgency. These dogs
may also have blood and/or mucus in their feces. Large intestinal
diarrhea is often referred to as colitis, which means inflammation
of the colon.
is caused by any one of a variety of injuries that usually involve
the innermost lining of the colon (called the mucosa). The mucosa,
as the name suggests, has numerous mucus glands that protect the
colon from injury and lubricate the passage of feces. The main
functions of the colon are to absorb water and store feces until
the animal defecates. In dogs with colitis, water is not effectively
absorbed, and the ability of the colon to store feces is impaired.
Excessive amounts of mucus, and even blood, are often passed with
the feces of dogs affected with colitis because of damage to the
protective mucosa lining.
in the colon can decrease the movement of the colon. The colon
normally moves the feces slowly back and forth, enabling maximum
absorption of fluids. When this movement is abnormally slowed,
the contents pass too quickly through the colon and diarrhea ensues.
are many different causes of canine colitis. Diet, parasites,
bacterial infections, and even stress are among the more common
causes of colitis in dogs. Fiber-responsive colitis describes
large bowel diarrhea that resolves by adding fiber to the diet.
In some instances, hypersensitivity or allergic reactions to certain
components in the diet can cause a disease called inflammatory
bowel disease (IBD) of the colon.
another common cause, are parasites that inhabit the large bowel
and attach to the mucosa. These worms interfere with the colon's
ability to absorb water, and thus cause diarrhea.
bacteria can also cause colitis. These bacteria normally live
in the colon but, when conditions are right for these bacteria
to overgrow, colitis develops. A species of bacteria called Clostridium
perfringens is an extremely common cause of colitis in dogs. C.
perfringens causes inflammation of the colon by producing a toxic
substance called an enterotoxin. This toxin acts directly on the
colon mucosa, causes the escape of fluid and salts (also called
electrolytes), and results in decreased movement, which produces
general, colitis is not difficult to diagnose, because the clinical
symptoms are very specific for large bowel inflammation. As mentioned
above, those symptoms include straining to defecate, production
of scant amounts of watery feces that may contain mucus and/or
blood, and increased urgency to defecate. The causes of colitis,
however, can be more challenging to uncover. Your veterinarian
may recommend trial diets with increased fiber or hypoallergenic
diets to identify fiber-responsive colitis or IBD. A stool examination
may reveal eggs of whipworms, indicating the need for a deworming
it's necessary for your veterinarian to see the inside of the
colon, directly, by using an instrument called an endoscope. He
or she can then take small biopsies of the colon for microscopic
examination. Colitis caused by C. perfringens is a diagnostic
challenge because these bacteria are normal inhabitants of the
colon. Thus, determining if the bacteria are truly the cause of
the colitis is difficult. Often, veterinarians must administer
antibiotics based on their clinical suspicion of C. perfringens
Animal Foundation is supporting a study to uncover a more definitive
way to diagnose C. perfringens infections that commonly cause
colitis in dogs. Dr. Stanley Marks of the University of California-Davis'
School of Veterinary Medicine is working to design a "better
mousetrap" for catching C. perfringens in the act of causing
disease. In the study entitled, "Diagnosis and Epidemiology
of Disease Caused by Enterotoxigenic Clostridium Perfringens Type
A in Dogs," Dr. Marks and his colleagues are working to establish
a variety of tests that can be used together to more accurately
diagnose this disease.
tests include counting spores produced by the organisms in feces
and measuring the amount of enterotoxin present in the feces.
This should decrease the number of dogs that receive antibiotics
unnecessarily, and will also help veterinarians uncover the actual
cause of colitis in many patients. As veterinarians are better
able to rule out C. perfringens as the causative agent in dogs
with colitis, they will also be able to more rapidly identify
the true cause and provide these patients with appropriate therapy. | <urn:uuid:1abe54eb-5fa0-486f-80dd-20b54a54a28e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.bullwrinkle.com/Assets/Health%20Topics/Colitis.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397873.63/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00015-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915846 | 1,186 | 3.453125 | 3 |
The mystery behind a strangely dimming star could soon be solved.
Astronomers around the world are keeping a close eye on the star KIC 8462852, which has dimmed dramatically numerous times over the past few years, dropping in brightness by up to 22 percent. These big dips have spurred speculation that the star may be surrounded by some type of alien megastructure — a hypothesis that will be put to the test if and when KIC 8462852 dims again.
"As long as one of those events occurs again, we should be able to catch it in the act, and then we'll definitely be able to figure out what we're seeing," said Jason Wright, an astronomer at Pennsylvania State University. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Alien Life]
Do you believe alien life exists elsewhere in the universe?
KIC 8462852 is a large star that lies about 1,500 light-years from Earth. The dimming events, which were observed by NASA's Kepler space telescope between 2009 and 2013, seem too substantial to be caused by an orbiting planet, many astronomers say.
Another plausible explanation — a planet-forming disk — doesn't seem to make sense, either, because KIC 8462852 appears to be a mature star whose planets (if it has any) have already formed.
So scientists are entertaining a number of other ideas, hypothesizing that the dimming might be caused by a swarm of exocomets or perhaps even some type of orbiting alien megastructure. This latter possibility is unlikely, researchers stress, but it's still worth checking out. Indeed, astronomers have aimed radio telescopes at KIC 8462852 to search for signals that may have been generated by intelligent aliens.
And follow-up is proceeding on other fronts as well. A number of optical telescopes are watching the star, waiting for another multiday dimming event to take place. Once such an event begins, large scopes outfitted with spectrographs will swing into action, studying and monitoring the various wavelengths of light emanating from KIC 8462852, Wright said.
"That'll tell us what that material is that the starlight is being filtered through," he said. "It'll tell us if maybe we're looking at ordinary astrophysical dust; it'll tell us if we're looking at gas."
"If we see any color dependence in the dimming — if it gets dimmer in the ultraviolet than it does in the infrared, for instance — then that would rule out that whatever we're looking at is a solid object," Wright added.
Wright thinks the data will eventually show that KIC 8462852's dimming events are caused by dust. If that turns out to be the case, it would raise another mystery for astronomers to solve — namely, where all that dust is coming from. Is it being shed by exocomets, for example, or is the material trapped in a giant ring system around a Saturn-like alien planet?
"The amount of dimming we get tells us something about the size of the dust — is it as fine as smoke, or is it pebbles and things?" Wright said. "That'll help us figure out which of those scenarios we're looking at." | <urn:uuid:fbcd783f-8210-4806-aaa1-baf7c545182b> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.space.com/30948-dimming-star-alien-megastructure-mystery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783392159.3/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154952-00170-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962878 | 670 | 3.078125 | 3 |
The water vapor animation from GOES-East on March 12th shows a structure rotating through the upper-level trough, which structure looks very much like a so-called “Sting Jet”. (In the animation above, the sting jet structure crosses the Missouri/Kansas border south of Kansas City, propagates across northern Missouri and eastern Iowa before moving northward into Wisconsin). (A more obvious Sting Jet event is discussed here; A Monthly Weather Review article on Sting Jets is here).
RUC wind analyses show that the sting jet structure was associated with a wind maximum on the 315 Kelvin isentropic surface. This Loop shows the maximum moving from northeastern Missouri into Central Wisconsin between 1000 and 1400 UTC on March 12th. Stability in the lower troposphere on March 12th (as suggested by this sounding from the Quad Cities in Iowa/Illinois) was strong enough to inhibit vertical mixing of stronger upper-tropospheric air down towards the surface. The circulation around the jet was sufficient, however, to generate showers over the upper Midwest, as shown in this loop.
MODIS water vapor imagery, above, from 0841 UTC on 12 March shows the sting jet structure in north-central Missouri, and curving back to central Nebraska and central South Dakota.
(Added 13 March: SPC Storm Reports show a rare March tornado north of I-69 in lower Michigan. The visible imagery above, bracketing the observed time of the tornado (near the yellow box), shows a strong thunderstorm. By this time, the possible sting jet has rotated northward into western Ontario, so its influence on the environment in Michigan would be secondary. The sounding from DTX at 2300 UTC shows a favorable low-level wind profile.) | <urn:uuid:58eaf3f1-0f63-4258-970b-f655c5427a40> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/9955 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397865.91/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00181-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939748 | 353 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Musical Space: How Pitch Keeps Rising
Most musicians use the pitch A above middle C to tune their instruments. That’s the note the first oboist plays at the beginning of an orchestra concert. This note is generally calibrated at 440 vibrations per second.
Centuries ago there was little standardization; concert pitch varied from town to town, and even within the same town. Most instruments were tuned much lower than the current norm. The closest thing we have to a measurable standard from Bach’s day are old tuning forks, which set the A at about 423, about a half-step lower than the A we use today.
Music in large churches was tuned much higher, somewhere between A460 and 470; partly because higher-pitched instruments and voices have more carrying power in a big room, and partly because organ makers liked to save money by making their pipes shorter. This meant violinists had to crank their strings extra tight for church gigs; wind instruments had to be built in different keys and church singers had to work a little harder to get the high notes out.
The old A-423 was still the preferred tuning for music in the court and homes, but that changed. As concert halls got bigger, musicians tended to tune their instruments higher. In the second half of the 19th century, several European countries limited their A to 435 cycles per second by law, but this did nothing to stop the trend. By the 1920s, 440 was the standard among American instrument makers.
Pitch inflation is still a problem today. Yamaha instruments are now pitched to A442, and some European orchestras tune to an A as high as 446 cycles per second. Stradivarius violins are pitched about a half-step higher than the tuning they were designed for, and high notes are becoming harder to sing than ever. | <urn:uuid:27620928-ea06-4df9-a6f2-e4b357f77eab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://kmuw.org/post/musical-space-how-pitch-keeps-rising | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00142-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984613 | 376 | 3.734375 | 4 |
What is in this article?:
- Planning best roadmap for invasive species control
- Asian citrus psyllid
- Long-term solutions
- Major invasive species facing California agriculture include the European grapevine moth, fruit flies, Asian citrus psyllid, and the light brown apple moth.
- About 1,700 invasive species threaten California, according to a list from the Invasive Species Council of California.
- California is inundated with invasive pests, says Robert Leavitt, ISCC executive director.
- Planning, reporting, plus local, state, and national coordination are critical to invasive pest control.
Asian citrus psyllid
Leavitt discussed the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), an insect which vectors Huanglongbing disease (HLB), or citrus greening. The insect has the California citrus industry sleeping with one eye open.
“The psyllid itself is not a particularly (bad) pest but it can carry HLB, one of, if not the worst, citrus diseases in the world,” Leavitt said. “This disease is particularly a threat for the California citrus industry since most of the crop is sold for the fresh market.”
The ACP, Diaphorina citri, is an aphid-like insect that feeds on citrus tree flush in the spring and fall. HLB has impacted every major citrus-growing area in the world except the California-Arizona-Texas area. Every citrus tree infected with HLB eventually dies.
The ACP was first trapped in California’s San Diego County in August 2008 with later finds in Imperial, Los Angeles, and Orange counties. The psyllid was found in Arizona in October 2009. So far California and Arizona are HLB-free.
“When we first found the psyllid (in California), the citrus industry was quite concerned the psyllid would quickly spread into the major citrus belts in northern San Diego County, Ventura County, and from Bakersfield through Fresno,” Leavitt said.
“We’ve been able to keep the psyllid down and the disease out of California for two years. We are predicting we can do it for several more years.”
About 16,000 square miles in Southern California are under quarantine for the ACP, mostly citrus trees in urban areas managed by the CDFA.
HLB deforms citrus, turns it bitter, and quickly makes the crop unmarketable. The disease has devastated the Florida citrus industry, the nation’s largest citrus producer.
Effective Jan. 1, 2012, Leavitt says California citrus nurseries will be required to grow mother trees and increase plants under screen to keep new plantings disease free.
Leavitt says about 63,000 square miles of California were under active quarantines this year for EGVM, ACP, Karnal bunt, melon fruit fly, oriental fruit fly, LBAM, and the Phytophthora ramorum pathogen which causes sudden oak death disease.
Melon fruit fly
Control efforts for the melon fruit fly are centered in the Mettler area south of Bakersfield in Kern County. The infested area has kill traps on almost 200 square miles.
“We believe we’ve caught and killed all of the (melon) fruit flies in that infestation,” Leavitt said.
Light brown apple moth
Leavitt says populations of light brown apple moth continue to grow. Due to public concern, pheromone twist ties and dispensers have replaced aerial pheromone applications.
Sterile LBAM moths reared in the Watsonville area will likely be released late this winter and early next spring in the Long Beach area. Sterile moth confusion technology is designed for long-term LBAM control. | <urn:uuid:61832812-1113-4993-a7e3-3eeaa87b0249> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://westernfarmpress.com/management/planning-best-roadmap-invasive-species-control?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397744.64/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00159-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921665 | 793 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Summit County residents are being asked to take part in a simple program that provides data to the National Weather Service, agencies such as Denver Water and climate change studies.
CoCoRaHS, or the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, is a national program started in Colorado in 1998 that provides data about precipitation throughout the 50 states and parts of Canada. CoCoRaHS is the largest provider of daily precipitation observations in the United States, and the network’s representatives are looking for hundreds of new observers to help track Colorado’s climate.
Observations are easy and take just a minute or two each day, said Chris Spears, with the Colorado Climate Center in Fort Collins.
A meteorology degree is not required to participate, just an interest in learning more about climate and the impacts it has on water and vegetation through the measurement of rain, hail and snow levels, Spears said.
“It can be someone who loves the weather and said they wish they would have become a meteorologist to someone who just wants to do it as a hobby,” Spears said.
The program doesn’t cost money other than the purchase of a standard rain gauge. CoCoRaHS uses a 4-inch diameter gauge with a 1-inch inner tube, funnel lid and 10-inch-capacity overflow can. Gauges can be purchased online or at hardware stores and usually cost about $30, Spears said.
CoCoRaHS observers are asked to make daily reports to a website. The site generates daily maps based on the data reported.
“It’s really cool because after a rain or snow storm comes in you can see your county and who got the heavy rain and who got missed,” he said.
Volunteers who participate in the program often become more water conscious.
“When you have a rain gauge in your yard and you use it every day, you really get a lot of self-education,” Spears said.
“Let’s say your rain gauge has been dry for the past 30 days. You really start to say, ‘Wow, where is my water coming from?’” he said. “You may turn the water down when you brush your teeth to make sure you’re not wasting it.”
A volunteer near a forest fire once recorded ash in their rain gauge.
“When those kinds of things happen it makes you think about your role, and conserving resources,” Spears said. | <urn:uuid:22f3d9b2-a70b-4dd9-9388-e6d9d9eec951> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.summitdaily.com/news/7807430-113/cocorahs-spears-rain-climate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393463.1/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00186-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95779 | 520 | 2.796875 | 3 |
A futuristic sight is greeting visitors to the Halifax waterfront: a ship powered by 515 square metres of solar panels.
MS Tûranor – or “power of the sun” in author J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictitious Elvish language – is stopping in various ports preceding a research mission to gather climate-related data in the Gulf Stream. The symbolic connection is that the vessel, launched in Germany in 2010, is powered without any emissions.
The ship does have backup generator for conventional fuel but it has never been used, according to a recent article in the St. John’s Telegram.
This ship was hugely expensive to build and, for now, is quite an anomaly. But part of the exercise is to suggest that possibilities for solar could be widespread – some more within grasp than powering a ship across the ocean.
The Nova Scotia government is one of many committed to identifying greener energy sources. We’ve seen a huge growth in wind farms in recent years, along with smaller, community-based wind projects.
We have the Community Feed-In Tariff program, or COMFIT, to encourage locally based renewable energy projects. Although a push was on by people in the solar power industry in the province to include solar under the COMFIT program, the idea has yet to be taken up.
An interesting observation about Tûranor – its makers say of the enormous pricetag, the components would cost much less now, only a few years later. That’s encouraging as we look for other ways to harness this power source: improved technologies and more reasonable costs.
This comes at a time of continuing debate over the Muskrat Falls hydro project. It’s apparent no way forward will be without expense, without massive support, nor are there obvious, easy answers.
Governments find themselves entwined with efforts to bring cleaner, efficient energy sources to people. But a big part of their task is to catch up with the future, recognize potential and, where support is necessary, back those with a winning chance. | <urn:uuid:54c83f8e-301c-4bf1-be31-64667a817d93> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.ngnews.ca/Opinion/Editorials/2013-07-16/article-3317493/Huge-potential-looms-bright/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396945.81/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00138-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960693 | 427 | 2.84375 | 3 |
A hacker is
|“||[an] unauthorized individual who attempt to penetrate information systems; browse, steal, or modify data; deny access or service to others; or cause damage or harm in some other way.||”|
|“||a savvy, curious, quick learner with natural ability to absorb technical information and techniques — and continuously improve the art of penetrating or protecting information systems.||”|
The term hacker encompasses
|“||both those who obtain unauthorized access to computer systems and those who simply enjoy using computers and experimenting with their capabilities as innocent hobbyists.||”|
The earliest computer hackers often were individuals with sophisticated computer skills who simply enjoyed exploring programming and stretching their computer's capabilities. Hackers of this type still exist.
While remote cracking once required a fair amount of skill or computer knowledge, hackers can now download attack scripts from the Internet and launch them against victim sites. Thus, while attack tools have become more sophisticated, they have also become easier to use. Hackers cost companies billions of dollars per year.
Malicious hackers use their skills to write damaging code that propagates over the Internet or to break into private networks for malicious or criminal purposes. While many malicious hacker attacks rank as nuisances rather than being harmful, other hackers have moved into more damaging hostile or criminal activities, producing increasingly sophisticated malicious technologies and tools that proliferate across the Internet. Some of these hackers are taking advantage of their skills to earn money through information theft, identity theft, fraud, denial-of-service attacks (DoS), and extortion. The impact of hackers may expand even further if nation states and others, such as terrorist or organized criminal groups, hire the talent or exploit the hacker-developed technologies.
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the large majority of hackers do not have the requisite ability to threaten difficult targets such as critical U.S. networks. Nevertheless, the worldwide population of hackers poses a relatively high threat of an isolated or brief disruption causing serious damage.
Hackers generally can be divided into the following:
- Script kiddies
- Worm and virus writers
- Security researchers and white hat operators
- Professional hacker — black hat
- ↑ Information Security: Computer Hacker Information Available on the Internet, at 1.
- ↑ Hackers Wanted: An Examination of the Cybersecurity Labor Market, at 10 n.6.
- ↑ United States v. Riggs, 739 F. Supp. 414, 423 (N.D. Ill. 1990)(full-text).
- ↑ See Mark Baard, "Hackers Costing Enterprises Billions," SearchSecurity.com, Sept. 20, 2004.
See also Edit
- Blackhat hacker
- Computer Security: Hackers Penetrate DOD Computer Systems
- Dark-side hacker
- Gray-hat hacker
- Hacker tool
- Hacker culture
- Hackers, Fraudsters and Botnets: Tackling the Problem of Cyber Crime
- Information Security: Computer Hacker Information Available on the Internet
- Password cracker | <urn:uuid:d71d59e1-20e6-4d25-b9e2-3fdfcee9fc7a> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://itlaw.wikia.com/wiki/Hacker | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783402746.23/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155002-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.876927 | 626 | 3.15625 | 3 |
Intended audience: HTML authors (using editors or scripting), script developers (PHP, JSP, etc.), Web project managers, and anyone who needs an introduction to how to declare the character encoding of their HTML file.
How should I declare the encoding of my HTML file?
You should always specify the encoding used for an HTML or XML page. If you don't, you risk that characters in your content are incorrectly interpreted. This is not just an issue of human readability, increasingly machines need to understand your data too. A character encoding declaration is also needed to process non-ASCII characters entered by the user in forms, in URLs generated by scripts, and so forth. This article describes how to do this for an HTML file.
If you need to better understand what characters and character encodings are, see the article Character encodings for beginners. For information about declaring encodings for CSS style sheets, see CSS character encoding declarations.
Always declare the encoding of your document using a
meta element with a
charset attribute, or using the
content attributes (called a pragma directive). The declaration should fit completely within the first 1024 bytes at the start of the file, so it's best to put it immediately after the opening
It doesn't matter which you use, but it's easier to type the first one. It also doesn't matter whether you type
You should always use the UTF-8 character encoding. (Remember that this means you also need to save your content as UTF-8.) See what you should consider if you really cannot use UTF-8.
If you have access to the server settings, you should also consider whether it makes sense to use the HTTP header. Note however that, since the HTTP header has a higher precedence than the in-document
meta declarations, content authors should always take into account whether the character encoding is already declared in the HTTP header. If it is, the
meta element must be set to declare the same encoding.
You can detect any encodings sent by the HTTP header using the Internationalization Checker.
If you have a UTF-8 byte-order mark (BOM) at the start of your file then recent browser versions other than Internet Explorer 10 or 11 will use that to determine that the encoding of your page is UTF-8. It has a higher precedence than any other declaration, including the HTTP header.
You could skip the
meta encoding declaration if you have a BOM, but we recommend that you keep it, since it helps people looking at the source code to ascertain what the encoding of the page is.
Read more about the byte-order mark.
Use character encoding declarations in HTTP headers if it makes sense, and if you are able, for any type of content, but in conjunction with an in-document declaration.
Content authors should always ensure that HTTP declarations are consistent with the in-document declarations.
One advantage of using the HTTP header is that user agents can find the character encoding information sooner when it is sent in the HTTP header.
On the other hand, there are a number of potential disadvantages:
It may be difficult for content authors to change the encoding information for static files on the server – especially when dealing with an ISP. Authors will need knowledge of and access to the server settings.
Server settings may get out of synchronization with the document for one reason or another. This may happen, for example, if you rely on the server default, and that default is changed. This is a very bad situation, since the higher precedence of the HTTP information versus the in-document declaration may cause the document to become unreadable.
There are potential problems for both static and dynamic documents if they are not read from a server; for example, if they are saved to a location such as a CD or hard disk. In these cases any encoding information from an HTTP header is not available.
Similarly, if the character encoding is only declared in the HTTP header, this information is no longer available for files during editing, or when they are processed by such things as XSLT or scripts, or when they are sent for translation, etc.
If serving files via HTTP from a server, it is never a problem to send information about the character encoding of the document in the HTTP header, as long as that information is correct.
On the other hand, because of the disadvantages listed above we recommend that you should always declare the encoding information inside the document as well. An in-document declaration also helps developers, testers, or translation production managers who want to visually check the encoding of a document.
(Some people would argue that it is rarely appropriate to declare the encoding in the HTTP header if you are going to repeat it in the content of the document. In this case, they are proposing that the HTTP header say nothing about the document encoding. Note that this would usually mean taking action to disable any server defaults.)
XHTML5: An XHTML5 document is served as XML and has XML syntax. XML parsers do not recognise the encoding declarations in
meta elements. They only recognise the XML declaration. Here is an example:
The XML declaration is only required if the page is not being served as UTF-8 (or UTF-16), but it can be useful to include it so that developers, testers, or translation production managers can visually check the encoding of a document by looking at the source.
Polyglot markup: A page that uses polyglot markup uses a subset of HTML with XML syntax that can be parsed either by an HTML or an XML parser. It is described in Polyglot Markup: A robust profile of the HTML5 vocabulary.
Since a polyglot document must be in UTF-8, you don't need to, and indeed must not, use the XML declaration. On the other hand, if the file is to be read as HTML you will need to declare the encoding using a
meta element, the byte-order mark or the HTTP header.
Since a declaration in a
meta element will only be recognized by an HTML parser, if you use the approach with the
content attribute its value should start with
If you use the
meta element with a
charset attribute this is not something you need to consider.
The information in this section relates to things you should not normally need to know, but which are included here for completeness.
Using UTF-8 not only simplifies authoring of pages, it avoids unexpected results on form submission and URL encodings, which use the document's character encoding by default. If you really can't avoid using a non-UTF-8 character encoding you will need to choose from a limited set of encoding names to ensure maximum interoperability and the longest possible term of readability for your content.
Until recently the IANA registry was the place to find names for encodings. The IANA registry commonly includes multiple names for the same encoding. In this case you should use the name designated as 'preferred'.
The new Encoding specification now provides a list that has been tested against actual browser implementations. You can find the list in the table in the section called Encodings. It is best to use the names in the left column of that table.
Note, however, that the presence of a name in either of these sources doesn't necessarily mean that it is OK to use that encoding. Several of the encodings are problematic. If you really can't use UTF-8, you should carefully consider the advice in the article Choosing & applying a character encoding.
Do not invent your own encoding names preceded by
x-. This is a bad idea since it
HTML 4.01 doesn't specify the use of the
charset attribute with the
meta element, but any recent major browser will still detect it and use it, even if the page is declared to be HTML4 rather than HTML5. This section is only relevant if you have some other reason than serving to a browser for conforming to an older format of HTML. It describes any differences from the Answer section above.
For pages served as XML, see Working with polyglot and XML formats.
HTML4: As mentioned just above, you need to use the pragma directive for full conformance with HTML 4.01, rather than the
XHTML 1.x served as text/html: Also needs the pragma directive for full conformance with HTML 4.01, rather than the
charset attribute. You do not need to use the XML declaration, since the file is being served as HTML.
XHTML 1.x served as XML: Use the
encoding declaration of the XML declaration on the first line of the page. Ensure there is nothing before it, including spaces (although a byte-order mark is OK).
charsetattribute on a link
HTML5 deprecated the use of the
charset attribute on an
link element, so you should avoid using it. It originated in the HTML 4.01 specification for use with the
script elements and was supposed to indicate the encoding of the document you are linking to.
It was intended for use on an embedded link element like this:
The idea was that the browser would be able to apply the right encoding to the document it retrieves if no encoding is specified for the document in any other way.
There were always issues with the use of this attribute. Firstly, it is not well supported by major browsers. One reason not to support this attribute is that if browsers do so without special additional rules it would be an XSS attack vector. Secondly, it is hard to ensure that the information is correct at any given time. The author of the document pointed to may well change the encoding of the document without you knowing. If the author still hasn't specified the encoding of their document, you will now be asking the browser to apply an incorrect encoding. And thirdly, it shouldn't be necessary anyway if people follow the guidelines in this article and mark up their documents properly. That is a much better approach.
This way of indicating the encoding of a document has the lowest precedence (ie. if the encoding is declared in any other way, this will be ignored). This means that you couldn't use this to correct incorrect declarations either.
According to the results of a Google sample of several billion pages, less than 0.01% of pages on the Web are encoded in UTF-16. UTF-8 accounted for over 80% of all Web pages, if you include its subset, ASCII, and over 60% if you don't. You are strongly discouraged from using UTF-16 as your page encoding.
If, for some reason, you have no choice, here are some rules for declaring the encoding. They are different from those for other encodings.
The HTML5 specification forbids the use of the
meta element to declare UTF-16, because the values must be ASCII-compatible. Instead you should ensure that you always have a byte-order mark at the very start of a UTF-16 encoded file. In effect, this is the in-document declaration.
Furthermore, if your page is encoded as UTF-16, do not declare your file to be "UTF-16BE" or "UTF-16LE", use "UTF-16" only. The byte-order mark at the beginning of your file will indicate whether the encoding scheme is little-endian or big-endian. (This is because content explicitly encoded as, say, UTF-16BE should not use a byte-order mark; but HTML5 requires a byte-order mark for UTF-16 encoded pages.) | <urn:uuid:286f2bc1-060d-459b-8da1-e3173269096c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-html-encoding-declarations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395546.12/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00077-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905652 | 2,393 | 3.28125 | 3 |
The sacred history contained in the Bible is the most wonderful and the most instructive in the world. Nothing but our familiarity with it could prevent us from reading-it with breathless interest. While other histories narrate the sayings and actions of men only, in this, we hear God speaking with audible voice ; we see white-winged angels descending on messages of mercy; and we learn that God was manifest in flesh; that the soil of this earth has been pressed by more than mortal feet, and that eyes of uncreated intelligence have looked on its beauty and its misery. While other histories recount the struggles of mankind for political freedom, and their progress in civilisation, the Scriptures record the great battle which has been fought and won for the redemption of the immortal spirit of man. And while the world and time are the limits of other histories, in this is revealed to us the wonders of the land of spirits, and the glory of the kingdom of heaven. The benefits of historical teaching are generally acknowledged. We shall notice three uses of Bible history.
1. It supplies us "with practical moral lessons. These are deduced from the actions of men, and illustrate their characters, talents, passions, and temptations. The same object is attained by common history, but in an inferior degree. The characters of Scripture are the best or the worst that have appeared in the world; and their actions those which have had the greatest influence on the weal or woe of mankind. A familiar acquaintance with the Bible, by the light which it sheds upon humanity, affords, indeed, many of the benefits, without the peril, of a personal experience of the world.
2. It awakens the reader's moral sympathies, by interesting him in the actions of those whose history it records. As we learn politeness less by direct maxims than by associating with good company; so, the refinements of morality are best taught by example. There are a thousand niceties, and delicate traits of good feeling, which cannot be reduced to rule. For instance, we have a beautiful illustration of generous feeling in the life of David—"And David," we are told, "longed, and said, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem!" but when his warriors brought it, "he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord and he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this; is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives?" How touching, also, and how full of meaning, the brief sentence in the gospel of John, "Jesus wept!"
The Bible excels all other histories in moral power. Not to speak of the example of minor characters, such as Abraham, Daniel, and Paul, what a mighty influence must the daily exhibition of the character of the Lord Jesus have on the susceptible mind of a child! Here we see a perfection not enthroned in unapproachable splendour, nor displaying itself in acts of regal power, but appearing in the weakness of infancy, in the docility of childhood, and the wisdom of manhood; we behold it exemplified in a patience which no reproaches could ruffle, in a purity on which temptation could bring no stain, and a self-sacrificing devotedness before which the heroism of the holiest men waxes dim. Converse with such society is the meetest preparation for heaven.
The sympathy which is excited by the perusal of history may be turned to a very practical account. When a direct charge is made against an individual, he stands on his defence; but he is thrown off his guard in reading a story, and approves or condemns in another what he might very reluctantly admit as true of himself. He is thus prepared for a more personal appeal. When Nathan related the parable of the ewe-lamb to David, we are informed, "His anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that has done this thing shall surely die." With what tremendous power must Nathan's accusation, "Thou art the man," have followed this decision!
3. But Bible history occupies ground distinct from all other history, in that it is the foundation of the Christian's faith. Upon it rest all the hopes of the believer. He reads the history of the old world, of the children of Israel, and of Jesus Christ, not only for their moral lessons and examples, but to assure himself that God is love, and that through Christ the world is redeemed. In the four gospels, in particular, we have a deep personal interest; they are the history of our Saviour. In the life of the Saviour, we see him drinking a cup of sorrow which we might have drained to the dregs; and in his death, we behold the atonement for our sins.
Let us now turn to the mode of teaching Bible history. We shall begin with noticing one or two of the less important and preliminary topics which require to be taught.
1. Miscellaneous subjects. These lie on the surface of the history, and have been referred to already in the chapter on Explanation. They comprise such things as social customs, diet, dress, dwellings, climate, division of time, natural history, and the like. The information communicated on these subjects should be select rather than copious, as they occupy a very subordinate place in religious teaching.
2. Geography. It is necessary to have a correct idea of the position of different countries and towns, before a narrative can be properly understood. We have found a knowledge of the geography of Palestine to be extremely limited in our Sabbath-schools. Children, otherwise intelligent, will frequently commit the most egregious blunders about towns, rivers, hills, and countries. We think, were every scholar furnished with a small map, and were he required to bring it to school with him, so as to refer to it in every difficulty in the lesson, a better knowledge of geography would soon be diffused. Geography might also form one of the subjects taught at a week-evening class. The names of the principal places in the gospels are but few, and could soon be learned.
It is the most expeditious mode of teaching geography to select one or two important places as centres, by which the position of the less important places are to be described. Thus, in order to teach the geography of Jerusalem and its neighbourhood, we should first describe Jerusalem itself, its appearance, and situation, so that the children could never confound it with anything else. From this, as a fixed and familiar point, we could then bid them cast their eyes to Gethsemane, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Mount of Olives, Bethphage, and Bethany. We might then proceed to the Lake of Tiberias, and make it a second centre, from which to describe the towns round its coast and neighbourhood.
3. Chronology. A knowledge of chronology is very useful to the student of the Bible; without some knowledge of it, history will be a chaos. We have found children who were pretty familiar with the lives of Abraham and Paul apart, unable to tell us whether 10 years, or 100 years, or 1000 years, had elapsed between the periods in which they lived. One mode of teaching chronology, to be found in the biographical catechisms, is to give the scholars a mere dry list of names, dates, and facts, to commit to memory. This we regard as inflicting needless toil on the learner. If pains were taken to fix upon the memory the dates of each event in the current lesson of the day; if these events are connected, as they ought to be, with what preceded and succeeded them; and if frequent revision is made of the information thus taught, —we believe a good knowledge of chronology may be very easily communicated.
One reason why a bare outline of events is difficult to remember, is, that it excites no interest. When we read that Abram was called out- of Mesopotamia; that he then went to Palestine, and afterwards to Egypt; we read a succession of hare facts which address no feeling or passion of our nature; and as they excite no interest at the moment, they are not likely to be treasured up in the memory.
A second reason why outlines are so difficult to remember is, that they give us no leading thoughts on which to suspend the rest. They are a dead level of dry facts like a dictionary, and are destitute of colour, life, and proportion. The name of a town occupies as much space as the most important adventure; and mention is made with the same passionless calmness of a martyr and a murderer, a marriage and a death, a patriot and a tyrant.
The shortest method, therefore, of teaching chronology, is to select the more remarkable events; discuss them at length ; and then, with these as piers, bridge over the gaps between with the less important particulars.
That this is the more natural and efficient plan may be proved by an example. Let us suppose that a person, otherwise intelligent, were to peruse the history of Abraham for the first time, and at the end of a month, let us say, were to be questioned to ascertain how much of it he remembered. What would be the nature or amount of his knowledge? We believe that what he remembered best would be the more striking incidents; while the general outline of the history would be indistinct, at least the incidents would help to the outline, rather than the outline to the particulars. Thus he would probably recollect the call of Abram, and his arrival in Canaan; but he might forget where he pitched his tent, and the names of the different wells he dug. He might remember the generosity of Abram in giving Lot the choice of the land, and how he rescued Lot from the hands of the four kings; but many of the minor, incidents, which are necessary to the continuity. of the narrative, would be very faintly recalled. The stories of Hagar and Ishmael, of Abraham entertaining three angels, of the destruction of Sodom, and the offering up of Isaac, would all be distinctly remembered ; but such events as the strife between the herdsmen of Abimelech and Abram about a well, would be almost fox-gotten. In short, the more interesting passages alone would stand out from the waters of oblivion which had rolled over the lesser details. The separate pictures, and not the outlines, are what remain imprinted on the memory. Do we not learn from this experiment what the natural order of teaching is? and that we should give the memory, in the first place, the charge of those things which it is most disposed to keep?
This principle holds good in a single lesson. In order to make a child remember the order of events, we should not first drill him into a knowledge of the bare outline of the lesson; but first fasten his attention upon what is most striking in it, and afterwards run over the outline.
This principle should also be applied to Bible History as a whole. A selection of the principal characters and events recorded in it should be the first course of lessons; a more extensive selection should form a second course; and so on till the whole was exhausted. This principle is the same as that on which our modern school-maps are constructed, where only the chief towns, hills, or rivers are filled in, a more minute map being reserved for future use.
A knowledge of chronology must not be confounded with a knowledge of history. A person may run glibly over the names of all the judges and kings of Israel, the length of their reigns, and the dates of their deaths, and be very ignorant of the real history of the Jews. True history is not a narrative of events, but of causes and consequences, of reasons and motives; facts are but the vessels in which these are contained.
An undue importance is sometimes attached by teachers to some minute particular in a lesson, as that Gaius was called "mine host," that Quartus was "a brother," or that in the miracle at Cana there were six waterpots of stone, and that each of them contained two or tbree firkins apiece. It is useful to know these things, but let us not give them undue importance.
4. The narrative. The historical incidents should be described in a lively and pictorial manner. The more real-looking we make our description, we make it the more true. An inventory of names and events is not a narrative. We require to infuse life into it in order to make it a history. Let the lesson, for example, be on 1 Kings xviii. 20-40. Here, after asking a few preliminary questions about Ahab, Elijah, Israel, and Carmel, we might address an intelligent class in this way:—
"Now let us imagine the scene: It is a day of unclouded splendour; not a solitary speck bedims the sky; wherever the eye turns, whether westward, over the waters of the Mediterranean, or northward, to the snowy cliffs of Lebanon, or towards the distant lake of Galilee and the Jordan, there is no appearance of rain. The sun pours its burning rays on the fainting people ; not a breath of air fans their brows; the sea sleeps in waveless beauty at the foot of Carmel; and on its summit are gathered, with anxious hearts, the thousands of Israel."
The scenery of a country should not occupy much attention; for, even though it could be accurately described, teachers are not landscape but historical painters.
The following is an agreeable specimen of historical narrative; it is for very young children:—
"One day, when David was watching over his sheep, a lion that was hungry came up to his field in search of food. Creeping softly along, like a cat when she sees a mouse, he suddenly gave a terrible leap, and seized upon a lamb. I am afraid the lamb had strayed too far away from the shepherd and his flock, as some boys and girls are apt to do from the kind care of their parents, and the good advice and direction of a merciful Saviour. David saw it, and running after the lion, struck him with his staff. The lion dropped the lamb, and growling with rage, turned towards David. His mane rose upon his head and neck; his eyes flashed like fire; and he gnashed his teeth. He was going to spring upon David and tear him in pieces. But God helped David to defend himself against the lion. After he had killed the lion, he took up the lamb very carefully, and carried it back to its mother. David knew very well who it was that delivered him out of the jaws of the lion ; and when he told about it, he did not forget to tell who it was who gave him strength and courage."— (Mrs Hooker.)
Our next example is in a higher style :—
A Walk to Calvary. "Look at the cross in the middle. You see the man hanging on it. He has a meek, loving face. His look is not in the least like that of a criminal. There is no trace of strong bad passions on his features. Though he is dying between two very bad men, he is a good man—the best of men—the only perfectly good man that ever lived in this world. Look at him; who is he? Your Maker. Look again; who is that? Your Saviour. Look once more at the middle cross; who is it? The Judge of all men. It is God the Son, who made, died for, and will judge, the world. Why is he there? What are his crimes? For what bad deeds is he suffering? For no crimes nor bad deeds of his own doing. He is altogether without sin. Why then does he hang on that cross? Because you, dear children, are guilty and wicked. He is dying of his own good will, in order to save you from hell. Look again; who is he? The Son of God, beloved by the Father. Why does the Father let him hang there, with big nails through his body, with his limbs out of joint, with sore burning thirst in his throat, and with people mocking him? Because he loves the world, and gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes on him may not perish, but have everlasting life. Look again; who is he? The Saviour worshipped by all the holy angels. Why do the angels let him hang there? They are strong beings, able to kill the soldiers, and take Christ down from the cross. Why do they not? Because they know that you and I must suffer, if Christ does not suffer death, and that it is his will to bear the punishment of our sins."—(Murray.)
For the sake of convenience, our illustrations of this head have been given in the shape of addresses. It is not necessary to adopt this plan in practice.
5. The moral character of the narrative. Children ought to be taught to compare characters and actions with Scripture. They should be able to give a distinct account of the true nature of every transaction of which they read, and of the reasons why they esteem it good or bad. A holy example should be compared with the law of God, or the life of Jesus, to shew its conformity to the Divine standard; and sin should be detected in all its disguises and specious appearances, and exposed to the light.
Example—Mark xiv. 66-72.—When the children have read the passage, we should illustrate the nature and aggravation of Peter's sin, by detailing the privileges which he possessed, and the laws which he violated, in this manner:—(1.) He denied his Lord, and Jesus had said, "He that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels." (2.) He denied Christ, though he was an apostle; and "to whom much is given, of them much shall be required." (3.) He had solemnly sworn not to desert Jesus; and "it is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay;" and (4.) He had been plainly warned of his danger; "He that knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes."
Or, again, if our lesson were Peter's obedience to the call of Christ, recorded in Matt. iv. 18—in order to instruct the class in the moral character of the passage, we should illustrate in detail the qualities which make the obedience of Peter remarkable; as that he left his all; he left his all cheerfully; he left it immediately; and he left his all for Christ. An examination of Scripture history in this manner, will quicken the moral faculties of the children, teach them the boundaries of right and wrong, and give them decided opinions with regard to the good or the evil of the world.
The teacher should endeavour to illustrate the character of the actions by appropriate Scripture references. Thus, were Stephen's dying prayer our lesson, we might illustrate its noble spirit by a reference to our Lord's words, "Pray for them which despitefully use you;" and by our Lord's example, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Or if the lesson were on Luke xiii. 13, we might justly contrast the conduct of the woman mentioned here, who, on being restored to health, glorified God, with the conduct of the nine lepers who, on being cured, went away without once thanking Christ for their deliverance.
In depicting the characters of individuals, we should endeavour to be impartial. There is a certain traditionary character attached to the persons mentioned in Scripture which is not always just. Gallio, who "cared for none of these things," is sometimes mistaken for a sample of a man perfectly indifferent to religion; a more exact scrutiny may modify this judgment. We are not warranted from the cautious while cheering expressions regarding Abijah, that "in him is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel," to affirm that he was possessed of every excellence ; nor need we, from Esau's criminal slighting of the birthright, pourtray him as a monster of wickedness.
We should be careful to describe the character and attributes of God in accordance with Scripture analogy. Let us beware of representing God as a just God only, and a terrible. His goodness in man's creation, in his constant provision for our happiness, and in the gift of his Son, ought to have a prominent place in our instructions. But it is equally an error to teach only that "God is love," God "the righteous governor" is to be described, as well as God "the merciful Father."
In depicting character, let us suit ourselves to the capacities of our scholars. Children's minds are tender; but they are not refined, and their susceptibilities have a limited range. A child will understand how great the love of Christ was in dying for sinners, much earlier than he will appreciate his humiliation in becoming man; and he will see the kindness of Jesus in committing Mary to the care of the beloved disciple, much easier than the wonderful considerateness of the bequest, amid his own dying agonies. Much, therefore, which may add to the beauty of a discourse for adults, must be omitted in a lesson for children.
6. The last step in teaching Bible history is to draw suitable lessons from it for the instruction of the children. From the particulars of a narrative, we ascend to general principles, and from events to their causes. Thus, from the flood, we learn the holiness of God; from the return of the Jews to their own land, we learn His faithfulness; and from the cross, His love. In the repeated lapses of the Israelites into idolatry, we see an illustration of man's depravity; from Elijah's ascension into heaven, we learn the immortality of the soul; and from Peter's acceptance by Jesus, the value of repentance. These lessons it is the teacher's duty to disengage from the narrative.
We do not think the principle on which lessons ought to be drawn from the Bible has been always very well understood. Some think it enough that the inference (so called) be just in itself though it may have little to do with the passage. Others catch at the words of a lesson, overlooking the connexion, and make every passage prove anything, as in the case of the Roman Catholic, who inferred from the words, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat," the duty of killing heretics.
Now, it should be recollected that a teacher's sole business, in drawing lessons, is to discover what the passage before him really does teach. He is not an inventor, but a discoverer, and will find ample room for his talents in the profundities of divine history. We think the same natural principle on which inferences are deduced from any common history or incident, ought to be applied to the Bible. We shall give an example :—
"In the year 628, while this country was in a great measure under the dominion of heathenism, some Christian missionaries appeared at the court of King Edwin, and besought a favourable reception to their doctrines. A council of the chiefs was held, to deliberate on the new faith. After much consultation, a warrior rose and said:—
"'Thou must recollect, O king, a thing which happens in the days of winter. When thou art seated at table with thy captains and thy men-at-arms; when a good fire is blazing—when it is warm in thy hall, but rains, storms, and snows are without; then comes a little bird, and darts across the hall, flying in at one door and out at the other. The instant of this transit is sweet to him, for then he feels neither rain nor hurricane; but that instant is short—the bird is gone in the twinkling of an eye—and from winter he passes forth to winter again. Such, to me, seems the life of men on this earth; such its momentary course, compared with the length of time that precedes and follows it.'"
On reading this anecdote, we naturally begin to reflect on its different parts. It presents us with a lively picture of the condition of our own country twelve hundred years ago, in many respects similar to that of the South Sea Islanders, when visited by Williams.
We are painfully struck with the ignorance of our heathen ancestors as to a future state. We feel interested in the old warrior, who has so beautifully illustrated his own feelings; and we ought gratefully to reflect on the wondrous privileges which have been granted to ourselves. These, and similar reflections or inferences, spontaneously present themselves to every mind, on the passage being read.
Now, our inferences from the Bible ought to be equally unforced. They should not be pressed into or out of a passage, but should grow from it as naturally as fruit from the boughs of a tree. Thus, when Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises to God in the prison, we are taught, by their experience, that religion is capable of producing peace of mind in the most adverse circumstances. The saying of Judah, "We are verily guilty concerning our brother," teaches us the power of a guilty conscience. The destruction of the cities of the plain teaches us that God is just. All these lessons are truths already existing in their respective narratives, which the teacher has only to uncover to view.
But some teachers, as we have seen, desert this mode of dednction as too meagre in its results. With them, lessons are "counted, not weighed," and are estimated by their ingenuity rather than by their truth. Every passage is tortured for lessons; and the more far-fetched the lessons are, like certain curiosities, they are reckoned the more valuable.
Besides the error above mentioned, there are two others akin to it;—first, an excessive spiritualising of Scripture; and, secondly, an over-fondness for typology.
Those who spiritualise the Bible, when they have a historical passage, will pass quickly over the narrative and its lessons, to convert the narrative into a sort of parable.
Example—Luke xviii. 35-43.—Here there would be taught as the principal lessons—(1.) The natural blindness of the human heart. (2.) The cry of an awakened sinner—"Jesus, have mercy on me." (3.) The opposition of the world—"They rebuked him." (4.) Christ's invitation—"He commanded him to be brought." (5.) Christ's mercy—"He said unto him, Receive thy sight." (Lastly,) His example—"He followed him, glorifying God." That such teaching may be very useful, and that several parts of this narrative may be advantageously used as an illustration of certain steps in the salvation of a sinner, is not to be questioned. But nothing can be more evident than that the above six lessons are not the natural growth of the passage; and that, in teaching them, we are not teaching what it was written for. Let us always endeavour to ascertain what the Spirit of God designed us to teach.
The other, error consists in an over-fondness for types. Every incident in the Old Testament is regarded as a type by the lovers of typology. The bondage of Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, the forty years' sojourn in the wilderness, the minutest fringe or embroidery on the garments of the priests, are reckoned types. Now, we are not going to enter upon an examination of this difficult subject at present. That there are types, is undoubted ; we would only caution teachers to be sure, before fixing on any observance or event as a type, that they clearly know the meaning they attach to the word type, and that they have good evidence for their belief.
In concluding these observations on inferences, we would remind teachers that they should consider the wants and ages of their children; for a lesson useful to an adult may be thrown away upon a child. Thus, Paul replied to the magistrate by whom he had been imprisoned —"They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay, verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out." From this we may point out to a man how, in becoming a Christian, he does not lose the privilege of defending his rights as a citizen; but any such reflection addressed to children would be entirely wasted.
We have seen that, in teaching Bible history, the great subjects which ought to engage the mind of a class, are the story and its moral. It may be asked, What proportion ought to be given to each? Our only answer is, follow the example of Scripture. The teacher should be like a microscope, through which, when a tiny little flower is examined, the beauties seen by the naked eye are enlarged, .and at the same time many more, before invisible, are brought to view.
A teacher is sometimes in danger of attempting to teach too many lessons from an interesting narrative. He is cumbered with his wealth, and, in his anxiety to bring out all the riches of the passage, he fails to leave a distinct impression of any one truth. On the other hand, he is also sometimes in danger of dwelling too long on a lesson. Wherever a narrative is fully detailed, as is the case with the history of Joseph, and the sacrifice of Elijah on Mount Carmel, a whole chapter may be taken at a time. The remark applies to any passage of Scripture. The sentence, "Quench not the Spirit," may be sufficient for a good lesson; but the description of Christian love in 1 Cor. xiii. 4-7, being so much expanded already, must be taught more summarily.
Some teachers find it difficult to know how and when to introduce the doctrine of salvation by Christ into an Old Testament narrative. They feel it should be done, and therefore append at the close a few statements on the subject, which may have little to do with the previous instructions. Cecil remarks on this practice, "If a preacher cannot so feel and think as to bend all subjects naturally and gracefully to Christ, he must seek his remedy in selecting such as are more evangelical."
Perhaps a remedy may be found, however, in an easier way. If we only recollect that all good examples are for imitation, all bad examples for warning, all precepts to be obeyed, and all promises to be received, and that no good example can be fully imitated, no precept heartily obeyed, and no promises cordially received, without the help of Christ, we shall see that there is a direct road to the cross of Jesus from all parts of the Bible, the Old Testament as well as the New; and thus, whatever our lesson be, Ave shall teach that the road to heaven lies past the cross of Christ, and that to it we must come for direction through all the rest of the way. | <urn:uuid:2415d141-88fe-4523-ba28-86be647c4ec3> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.electricscotland.com/bible/sabbath_school08.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972657 | 6,475 | 2.796875 | 3 |
South Africa’s Boer Fighters In The Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902 Part II
Editor’s Note: Deetlefs du Toit of South Africa continues his in-depth examination of Boer Fighters in the Anglo-Boer Wars in this second part of his article. As in Part I of his article, du Toit provides more detailed information to enhance and expand upon ARMCHAIR GENERAL print magazine’s GREAT WARRIORS and LEADER articles in the July 2012 issue. South Africa’s Boers were mainly farmers who were descendants of the region’s original Dutch settlers. However, when Imperial Britain invaded their country in the late-19th century, the Boers took up arms to defend their homes and families and fiercely oppose British imperialism during two major conflicts: the First Boer War (1880-81) and Second Boer War (1899-1902).
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SCORCED EARTH AND CONCENTRATION CAMPS
After suffering severe setbacks fighting the Boers in direct combat (see Part I of this article), the British eventually changed their strategy to one targeting the Boers means of subsistence and support by adopting a ruthless scorched earth policy. When the entire ZAR and Orange Free State were destroyed in a scorched earth campaign by the British – killing all livestock and burning the lands and farmsteads – the only source of Boer resupply became the enemy. More than 50,000 farms were destroyed. The elderly, women and children that had up to then lived on the farms, were forcefully removed under terrible circumstances and placed in “concentration” camps in which many died from disease, starvation and appalling conditions.
A British woman, Emily Hobhouse, was instrumental in the efforts by a section of the British public who became aware of the true conditions in the concentration camps to alleviate the suffering. She is considered as the greatest female hero in Afrikaner history, although not an Afrikaner herself. She is honored by being buried at the monument (Vrouemonument in Bloemfontein) to the women and children who died in the concentration camps. Many native Africans were also put into concentration camps by British forces and they experienced similar suffering.
Living Off the British: Since the logistical and resupply basis of the Boer Kommando system was the farmsteads (as the British had occupied the Boer towns), once the farmsteads were destroyed Boers were forced to capture supplies from the British (called "Khakies" by their Boer opponents, the name referring to the British uniforms’ Khaki color). Frequent Boer raids on supply trains and depots were mounted, and gradually more and more Boers were armed with Lee-Metford rifles and ate British “Bully Beef” (tinned meat rations) or whatever British stocks could offer. In the British colonies of Cape Colony and Natal, the people were British subjects, and regardless of their language (Afrikaans or English) or race (European or African) the British army could not destroy their farmsteads and farms. This made the very large Cape Colony a tempting target and convenient base of supplies for Boer Kommandos. The Natal colony, however, was not suitable for Kommando raids since it was sandwiched between the kingdom of Zululand and the Drakensberg mountain escarpment, profound barriers to mounted operations. A few passes and access routes existed between the Boer republics and Natal that could easily be blocked by a few British battalions, and would result in the Boer raiders there being cut off. Ammunition, firearms, horses and basically all means to wage war were acquired from captured British columns or enemy logistical bases in almost every town and village.
“FRONTIER” CONDITIONS BRED TOUGH MEN AND HARDY HORSES
Although not militaristic by nature, a lifetime spent living on the African veld under extremely adverse conditions made Boers tough, hardy, independent and inured to the hardships that they faced on campaigns during the war. Long hunting trips by horse and sometimes cart, and frequent overnight work in the saddle tending to cattle and hunting down predators in all weather and terrain conditions made the Boers tough. Isolation on farms far from towns bred innovation and developed independent skills, much like all frontier people all over the world. Many Boer townsfolk were equally tough, hardy and independent.
Boer Horses: South Africa’s “frontier” environment and severe conditions required that the Boers’ horses be exceptionally hardy. The type of horses were called "Boerperd" (literally farmer’s horse), nowadays a breed but in those days the same mixture of types that one would have found on an American Civil War battlefield, although with one principal type dominating. Heavier horses like plough horses or cart horses were not used. These larger work horses were obviously not fast enough to propel Boer Kommandos nimbly across the veld and their larger size made them too heavily dependent on fodder. Although the Boers had a variety of mixed breeds, one principal type dominated — a mix of English Thoroughbred and Arabians (numerous in South Africa at the time of the war) and nowadays known as Anglo- Arab. Many English Thoroughbreds had been brought to South Africa after the British takeover of the Cape Colony in 1805-06, while quite a few Arabians were acquired from trade with the Middle East and North Africa. The English Thoroughbred of that time was actually quite tough and when bred with the Arabian resulted in a horse with long endurance. The resulting mixed breed was fast, nimble, strong with good endurance and was used for riding, hunting, sport and light farm work.
Of course, everything was used that could carry a man reasonably well, but what became known as the Anglo-Arab horse breed proved the most useful and popular. However, it took quite some investigation into the numbers of different horse breeds that came into South Africa over the centuries as well as poring over contemporary surviving descriptions for researchers to derive the breed’s bloodlines. But, it is now generally accepted that mainly English Thoroughbred and Arabian blood were in the veins of the average "Boerperd" at the time of the Boer war. My grandfather, who lived in the time when horses were being replaced by automobiles, was full of praise for the Thoroughbred- Arab breed — so by that time it must have been the first choice. Speed, power and endurance were valued and that breed had them all.
A Horse Named “Very Nice”: Captured British horses were carefully selected. General Wynand Malan once relieved a British officer of his horse which, according to Malan, was a first class horse. Malan promptly named it “Very Nice.” One can presume that was likely the General’s comment to the British officer when Malan took possession of it. “Very Nice” served Malan well and outpaced many a pursuing British “posse,” as well as catching many a hapless “Khaki” trying to escape capture. Unfortunately, and like countless other horses caught up in the fighting, “Very Nice” did not survive the war as Malan did.
THE DANIE THERON VERKENNERSKORPS [RECONNAISANCE CORPS]
Undoubtedly, the Danie Theron Verkennerskorps was the best Kommando of all the Boer forces. The unit was under the leadership of Captain (later Kommandant) Danie Theron, the founder of the unit, until his death on Gatsrant outside Krugersdorp. All members were volunteers and selection criteria was strict. The purpose of this unit was to act as a reconnaissance screen for the larger Kommandos. They frequently fought skirmishes with British forces trying to capture or trap the larger Kommandos, such as the one led by the legendary General Christiaan de Wet. De Wet was never captured by the British, and was considered by his British opponents to be the greatest Boer guerrilla commander of the war.
Soon called Theron Verkennerskorps, or TVK, the unit grew in numbers, especially from “Cape Rebel” volunteers, and became the backbone of many Kommandos that executed numerous successful operations. Eventually, however Theron’s corps broke up into smaller units as the war progressed, and even the larger Kommandos became smaller as the fighting dragged on. Some of these units were commanded by very able and brave officers who led from the front and later rose to the rank of Kommandant or General, such as Wynand Malan, Manie Maritz, Gideon Scheepers and others.
“JOINERS,” BRITAIN’S AFRICAN TROOPS AND CAPE REBELS
Both the British and the Boers augmented their fighting forces or “recruited” individuals or groups to surreptitiously aid their respective causes with local civilian residents or from the native African population that had not yet been directly involved in the war.
“Joiners”: Boers who became spies and informers for the British were derisively called “Joiners” (since they had “joined” the British) by loyal Boers. Their motivation for betraying their fellow Boers varied: some wanted British pay; some benefitted by being given farms confiscated by the British from Boer fighters; others were out to settle old scores against personal enemies fighting in Boer ranks; many did so out of desperation to save their families (women and children) from certain death in British concentration camps where thousands were dying. Whatever their motivation, their British service resulted in “Joiners” being despised and shunned after the war, including the prohibition for Boer women marrying into “Joiner” families. Although some “Joiners” moved to larger towns and cities in an effort to get “lost in the crowd,” most “Joiners” carried the traitor stigma for the rest of their lives.
Britain’s Native African Troops: Considered especially outrageous by Boers was the British use of native African troops (serving for pay or other inducements), particularly due to the manner in which Britain used the Africans. To preserve British troop strength for the “fighting war,” the British typically used their native African troops behind the lines to round up Boer families (as well as rounding up many native Africans working for Boers or simply “caught in the middle” of the war) and transport them to the squalid concentration camps in which thousands of women and children – Boers and native Africans alike – died or suffered terrible hardship. During these forcible round ups of civilians, numerous outrages and frequent instances of brutality by African troops occurred – including many contemporary accounts of “molestation” of Boer women (“molestation” being the Victorian era code word for rape and sexual abuse). Inevitably, this bred an enduring legacy of ill-feeling and resentment between Boers and native Africans that only exacerbated already strained race relations.
Cape Rebels: While the British used “Joiners” and native African troops to support their operations, the Boers proved adept at recruiting “British subjects” to aid their cause, in particular Boer residents of Britain’s Cape Colony. However, since Boers living in the British Cape Colony were technically British subjects, those that helped Boer fighters were considered traitors by the British. When caught, these “Cape Rebels” could be shot by firing squad or hanged. Many did pay the ultimate price; but many more were never caught or managed to keep their true identity and anti-British activities secret. The “Cape Rebels” were invaluable for supporting Boer raids into the Cape Colony, serving as guides, contacts, messengers, couriers and as combat volunteers.
Both Generals Malan and Maritz considered the “Cape Rebel” Boers amongst their bravest and best soldiers. Most of them were young and willingly subjected themselves to the officers’ discipline. They came from almost all of the towns in the Cape Colony, so the raiding Kommandos were kept well informed of the areas they were operating in and knew which farmers and people could be trusted.
INTELLIGENCE NETWORK IN THE CAPE COLONY
The Boers had a very good intelligence network, absolutely vital during the Anglo-Boer War’s guerrilla warfare phase. Farms in the Cape Colony were an important source of information, food, shelter and even replacement horses. Many horses were “loaned” and later returned on the next excursion, replaced by a fresh set of horses.
Many non-combatant Boer farmers and their families in the Cape Colony had to play a double role. There are many examples of these Cape Colony Boers, caught in the middle between warring Brit & Boer, feeding the British and British collaborators with “reliable” information about Boer forces in the area – of course leaving out essential details. Thus, these Boer secret supporters could aid the Kommandos while avoiding being targeted by the British. As apparently “loyal” British subjects, the Cape Colony Boers could claim that they were “forced” by the Kommandos to feed them and to give up their horses “at gun point.” As long as they “reported” these activities (usually a day too late for the British to do anything about it) there was little proof that they were being disloyal or acting contrary to British interests.
The African native population living on farms and in settlements was in many cases either intimidated or bought by the British to report on Boer movements. This presented the Boers with a major problem since the information provided could lead to Boer Kommandos being cornered. African natives caught by the Boers spying for the British were frequently shot out of hand, as it was considered that “this was not their war” and they should stay out of it.
THE BOERS’ FOREIGN VOLUNTEERS
Many foreigners, including Irish, Scots, French, Germans, Swedes, Russians and many other nationalities, fought on the Boer side during the war. A substantial number of these foreign volunteers came from among the large foreign population living and working in the “Rand” (Witwatersrand where gold was discovered and subsequently drew many foreigners to work the mines and support the industries arising around them). However, a large number of foreign volunteers also came directly from their native countries to join the Boer cause.
BLOCKHOUSES, BARBED WIRE AND RAILWAYS
Eventually, British forces fighting the war numbered more than 500,000 and this large force allowed the British to establish numerous garrisons and strong points at key locations. Typically, the British would erect sturdy “blockhouses” of various descriptions and types of construction on the outskirts as well as inside of all the towns occupied by the British. They were placed to mutually protect one another and were built sturdily enough to withstand the fire of the small arms with which Boer Kommandos were armed.
Since British trains were frequently attacked and railways were often blown up by Boer raiders, railway lines were also covered by blockhouses over the complete length of the line and erected within shooting range of one another — usually about 400 to 800 meters apart, depending on the topography of the area. Additionally, strategic passes, railway bridges over rivers and dry riverbeds along railway lines, and important roads were protected by substantial blockhouses. These blockhouses were really small forts of three to four stories high and garrisoned by up to a platoon of British troops.
Railway lines divided the countryside into sectors and were heavily protected by barbed wire between the blockhouses. Barbed wire entanglements were anchored horizontally 6-12 inches from the ground to provide a barrier against horses. These barbed wire entanglements often were more troublesome than the blockhouses themselves.
Both Generals Manie Maritz and Wynand Malan wrote that they frequently attacked blockhouses successfully and occupied towns for short periods. Accurate Boer covering fire was aimed at the blockhouses’ small shooting ports — resulting in head shots or wounds from ricochets inside the blockhouses — while Boer assault teams stormed the blockhouses using home-made “bombs” made from dynamite to get the enemy out or to surrender.
BRITISH TACTICS CHANGE
With their overwhelming advantage in numbers, it is not surprising that the envelopment became the favorite British maneuver after the hard lessons they had learned from their foolhardy charges into the barrels of the Boers’ Mausers. This was countered by the outnumbered Boers by extremely rapid and accurate rifle fire into the vanguard of these enveloping wings for as long as possible. Then, the Boers would fall back and repeat the process.
At the end of the day, the Boers would vanish into the night and the British would have suffered a disproportionate number of casualties.
LUCK, BLUFF, UNIFORMS AND NARROW ESCAPES
Boer eyewitness accounts are filled with stories of incredible luck, incidents of bluffing themselves out of a sticky situation or bluffing the British into a tight spot.
Daring Horse Stealing Raid: In one daring raid in broad daylight, Wynand Malan and a few riders proceeding at a walking pace, rounded up approximately 200 unsaddled British horses while the British were resting under the trees after lunch time. Apparently Malan and his men were not recognized as Kommando members and were mistaken for collaborators or British riders, not expecting Boers to be so cheeky as to do such a thing.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving: Apparently, the British had trouble recognizing Boer riders when they acted “British,” like riding into a British patrol encampment while talking English to each other. Many Boers were fluent in English, and some Kommandos even had Irish and Scottish volunteers with them. Such a British patrol would then be held up at point blank range by a few Boers and the British troops’ weapons, horses and uniforms taken.
In the war’s final two years, Boers wore such a mix of private clothing (their original “going to war” attire) and captured British uniforms (practical replacements for Boer clothing “used up” in hard campaigning), that the British frequently mistook Boers for their own “colonial troops” or for British collaborators, as they were dressed the same. The “uniforms” confusion was further prompted by the dress adopted by British troops as the war dragged on. The British realized that the practical broad-brimmed hats worn by the Boers were much better protection in the sunbaked veld than the hot and cumbersome pith helmets they were issued. Therefore, the British khaki uniform jacket was the single visible item of clothing that distinguished combatants at a distance (apart from smaller accoutrements, such as ammunition bandoliers). However, since the Boers frequently wore British khaki jackets, there are some reports of captured “Boers wearing khaki” being shot for wearing “British uniforms.”
Narrow Escape: Stories abound about narrow escapes — of horses shot from under their riders more than once in a single day for example — but none seems as incredible as the narrow escape from what seemed certain death of General Wynand Malan. Late in the war as General Jan Smuts and others were at peace talks taking place in the north, Malan and his Kommando were raiding in the eastern part of Cape Colony 1,000 kilometers to the south. A few days before the end of the war, while fighting in an ambush his Kommando had sprung on British troops, Malan was shot cleanly through the chest from armpit to armpit. The bullet passed just above his heart yet missed all vital arteries and other vessels. His shoulders and arms were not hit at all, indicating that his arms must have been raised holding a rifle in the shooting position while his raised arms exposed his armpits on both sides. Heavily wounded but remaining conscious, Malan was removed from the battlefield and later brought to the British for medical treatment. The British doctor who treated Malan was astounded. He considered Malan the luckiest man of the whole war, as the doctor had never seen a man not killed instantly or die within a few moments after a shot through that part of the body. Yet, incredibly, after a few weeks Malan was back on his feet.
The peace – the Treaty of Vereeniging — was signed on May 31, 1902, thus ending the Second Anglo-Boer War with a British victory. However, Malan was not sent to a POW camp.
AN UNFORTUNATE BOER WAR LEGACY
In addition to Imperial Britain defeating the independent Boer republics and adding southern Africa to its global empire, the 1899-1902 Boer War had unintended and dire political consequences for the future of South Africa. Before the war, the different racial groups throughout the entire region lived separately in more or less their own lands — these consisted of the two Boer republics, the two British colonies and various native African kingdoms. At that point, there were some treaties in place between groups, but the situation was far from ideal and many differences among the races existed.
Unfortunately, during the Boer War – fought between what were essentially two European nations, Boer and British — native African volunteers and mercenaries were pulled into this conflict, largely on the side of the British who had greater powers of persuasion and much more money to foot the bill. During and after the war this led to great animosity between Boers and native Africans, a fact that has been frequently overlooked by historians. Additionally, the increase in mining and industrialization made the situation worse and fomented even more Boer resentment by prompting a huge migration of African labor. After the Boer War, in 1910 all the lands within the boundaries of South Africa were thrown together — the “eggs became scrambled,” so to speak, in a unitary state of four provinces with various African tribal trust lands created within these provinces. Once scrambled, the omelet could not be unscrambled.
In the political dispensation that followed in the wake of the establishment of The Union of South Africa on May 31, 1910 the native African population was left out of the political arena completely (although the mixed-race group in Cape Colony was included, as it had been before). The large native African majority, however, was simply a political dilemma for which neither Boer nor Brit had an answer. The 1913 Land Act was another mistake that made an unfortunate situation even worse.
The rest is history and the official policy of Apartheid – strict segregation of the races – established in 1948 was a misguided effort by Afrikaners, as a minority in a unitary state who had lost their independence during the Anglo-Boer war, to regain it sometime in the future. Afrikaners at that time argued that this could not be done by giving the vote to another majority.
Independence from Britain eventually came, again on the symbolic date of May 31, this time in 1961. But, the Apartheid system – essentially a legacy of the Boer War — was kept in place. However, the injustices of such a system could not endure indefinitely. The world changed and so, eventually, did South Africa. However, one is left to ponder how the Afrikaner’s history would have been different if there had been no Anglo-Boer war, and what policies might have evolved that would have ensured independence for all of the inhabitants of a small nation.
About the Author: Deetlefs du Toit, MP, of Paarl, South Africa, has been a member of the South African parliament since 2009, serving on the committees for Public Accounts, Agriculture/Fisheries/Forestry, and Public Service & Administration. An Afrikaner, he grew up on a vineyard farm, graduated from Stellenbosch University (political science and business management & administration) and served in the South African Defence Force (SADF) in which he was a marksman and participated in various tactical deployments. His interests include shooting sports (target, black powder and military shooting), equestrian sports, mountaineering and swimming. He is an avid student of military history and of international political and economic affairs. | <urn:uuid:023090f5-ace4-446f-90d3-c76da771044e> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.armchairgeneral.com/south-africas-boer-fighters-in-the-anglo-boer-war-1899-1902-part-ii.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00131-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980621 | 5,198 | 3.359375 | 3 |
A NASA study reported by Daily Tech has come to an "amazing" conclusion that is sure to cause depression among Al Gore and much of the mainstream media: the sun heats the earth. Yes, as astounding as that sounds, the NASA study has found that solar activity is the real culprit of any global warming. Sorry, Heidi Cullen. Here are some of the details of the NASA study:
Report indicates solar cycle has been impacting Earth since the Industrial Revolution
Some researchers believe that the solar cycle influences global climate changes. They attribute recent warming trends to cyclic variation. Skeptics, though, argue that there's little hard evidence of a solar hand in recent climate changes.
May we now call those skeptics "solar warming deniers?"
Now, a new research report from a surprising source may help to lay this skepticism to rest. A study from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland looking at climate data over the past century has concluded that solar variation has made a significant impact on the Earth's climate. The report concludes that evidence for climate changes based on solar radiation can be traced back as far as the Industrial Revolution.
Hmm... So the more solar radiation the warmer the earth. Your humble correspondent needs to take some time to absorb this amazing concept.
Past research has shown that the sun goes through eleven year cycles. At the cycle's peak, solar activity occurring near sunspots is particularly intense, basking the Earth in solar heat. According to Robert Cahalan, a climatologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, "Right now, we are in between major ice ages, in a period that has been called the Holocene."
Which means we will ultimately be facing Global Cooling.
Thomas Woods, solar scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder concludes, "The fluctuations in the solar cycle impacts Earth's global temperature by about 0.1 degree Celsius, slightly hotter during solar maximum and cooler during solar minimum. The sun is currently at its minimum, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2012."
According to the study, during periods of solar quiet, 1,361 watts per square meter of solar energy reaches Earth's outermost atmosphere. Periods of more intense activity brought 1.3 watts per square meter (0.1 percent) more energy.
While the NASA study acknowledged the sun's influence on warming and cooling patterns, it then went badly off the tracks. Ignoring its own evidence, it returned to an argument that man had replaced the sun as the cause current warming patterns. Like many studies, this conclusion was based less on hard data and more on questionable correlations and inaccurate modeling techniques.
Also based on wishful thinking. Paging Al Gore!
The inconvertible fact, here is that even NASA's own study acknowledges that solar variation has caused climate change in the past. And even the study's members, mostly ardent supports of AGW theory, acknowledge that the sun may play a significant role in future climate changes.
I'll believe that acknowledgment when I see this report featured on the Huffington Post Green News page which chonicles every tiny aspect of the environment...except the most obvious about the sun heating the earth. | <urn:uuid:8266becd-fbe4-40b8-aba7-6e608ed85941> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://newsbusters.org/node/29029 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783393146.70/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154953-00112-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945494 | 648 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Most rocks that you find in your yard, in creeks or streams, or elsewhere in nature pose no problems for use in the aquarium. Those few that may cause problems can be identified by applying a few simple procedures or observations.
First, the rock must be water-resistant. If it has a tendency to crumble or flake underwater then it will make a mess in your tank eventually. This is easily ascertained. Hose the rock down while scrubbing it with a stiff brush to dislodge all loose surface material. Put it in a bucket of water and leave overnight. The next day give it another vigorous scrubbing. If it continues to shed a significant amount of particles, it is probably unsuitable for your aquarium.
Shale, the softer relative of slate, can sometimes present an unusual problem. Some shales contain a high percentage of organic matter. Even if they are hard enough not to crumble underwater, such shales can release hydrocarbons (petroleum) into water which will collect as an oily scum on the surface. Clearly, you do not want oil-shale in your tank. Most shale does not present this problem, but it is worth bearing in mind when you inspect water that rocks have been soaking in.
Besides being water-resistant, we must be wary of rock that may alter the water chemistry in an undesirable manner.
Can I use limestone rock?
Perhaps the most common concern is the effect that carbonate rocks (limestone, coral, calcareous sandstone, Texas Holey Rock, etc.) may have by raising the pH and hardness of the tank water. If you have an African rift lake cichlid tank this is clearly a benefit, rather than a concern.
In practice, the power of limestone rocks to significantly raise the pH in an aquarium appears to be rather limited. This can be attested by many African rift lake cichlid aquarists who have found that simply having limestone rocks in their tank will not buffer the water up to the levels they may desire.
This means that if you have a tank running at pH 7 with any of the myriad fish that are happy at a near neutral pH such as tetras, corys, many South American cichlids, kribs, gouramis, rasboras, danios, etc etc. then carbonate rocks are not an automatic no-no, as is often suggested. In most cases, such rocks may cause the pH to drift up a few decimal points but it will normally remain within the acceptable range for such fish. You can easily check this by putting such rocks in your tank and testing the pH at weekly intervals. If you find it is moving up steadily and reaching undesirable levels for the species, just remove it. It will not have harmed your fish in the meantime.
On the other hand, if you run a tank with acidic soft-water conditions at pH 6.5 or below for certain species, then you clearly do not want to introduce anything that will tend to move the pH or hardness upwards. In such cases all carbonate rocks should be strictly avoided.
How do you identify carbonate rocks? The short answer is the acid test. It is often suggested that dropping vinegar on the rock and seeing if it fizzes will identify a carbonate. This works in some cases, but not all. Vinegar is too weak an acid to provide a reliable test for carbonate. You should use dilute hydrochloric acid, like field geologists do, to determine carbonate. Dilute HCl., sometimes called Muriatic acid in hardware or pool-supply stores is an infallible indicator of carbonate rocks. Put a drop or two on the rock and if it has carbonate content, it will fizz like soda pop. Dilute HCl is corrosive so you should wear gloves and eye protection as you would do when working with ammonia, bleach, or other such chemicals.
What about heavy metals?
Apart from the effects of carbonate rocks on pH and hardness, the other main concern about rocks is-will they introduce heavy-metal pollutants into the tank?
The short answer here is that it is very unlikely. However, there are certain basic precautions to be observed.
Never collect rocks for your tank from old mine dumps or from watercourses immediately downstream from such dumps or old mines. You can often find pretty mineral specimens in such places, but they are not for your tank.
Heavy metals (lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, etc etc and even iron) are toxic for fish, inverts, and mammals, including us, when they reach certain-enormously varying-concentrations. In the case of fish, such metals are primarily dangerous in their free ionic form in the water where they are available for uptake by the fish metabolism.
In the form of compounds, such as oxides, they are inert and not free for metabolic uptake. For example water conditioners which 'detoxify' heavy metals actually bind them into compounds which cannot be absorbed by the fish
In water of neutral or alkaline pH heavy metals normally remain locked into such compounds and remain inert.
Acidic water (pH less than 7) on the other hand activates these metals and renders them potentially dangerous.
Iron, the commonest of all metals, is normally present in nature in the form if iron oxide, i.e. rust. It follows that if you have rocks containing iron, betrayed by rusty streaks and patches, it will not normally present a chemical problem for your fish since the rust, iron oxide, is inert, However, if there is enough rusty material it will discolor your water, so rocks that are heavily 'rusted' should not be used. A few patches or spots of rust here and there on rocks is not a problem.
If you consider that the rotor of every pump motor in your tank is a cylinder of pure ferrite (magnetic iron powder sintered with strontium, barium, etc.) rotating at high speed on a steel spindle in constant contact with the water and at a temperature above the tank ambient (i.e. perfect conditions for chemical reactions) you can see that there is little need to worry about a few rust stains on rocks.
You may have heard about the problem of iron toxicity for wild fish, particularly in northern North America and Scandinavia. Without going into too much detail, the problem is mainly related to the activation of iron toxicity by low pH water during Spring snow melt and runoff, conditions you will not have in your tank-but see below.
Unless you collect rocks from around old or current mining operations you are unlikely to find specimens that contain significant amounts of any other heavy metals. If you do, consider staking a claim!
Beware of fool's gold
There is one important exception-iron pyrite or fool's gold. This
mineral is iron sulphide (FeS2) and can be found in rocks as varying
as limestones, sandstones, shales/slates, or quartz. It is common
in mine residues but it can be found almost anywhere.
The potential dangers of pyrite are threefold:
1. It has a strong acidifying effect, i.e.
it drops the pH.
2. In addition to iron it sometimes contains small quantities
of other more dangerous heavy metals such as lead, zinc, and
3. Because it acidifies the water it can 'unlock' heavy metals
into their toxic free-ionic forms.
The chemistry is as follows. Oxygen (and natural bacteria) in the water oxidize the sulphide component of pyrite to sulphate (i.e. sulphuric acid). The low pH acidic water produced then activates the iron and any other heavy metals present. Thus it is a triple whammy.
Pyrite is the active agent in the notorious acid-mine-drainage (AMD). AMD is just as likely to arise from coal mines as from metal mines. This is because pyrite is often present in the shales and sandstones that surround the coal seams as well as in the coal itself.
Pyrite is easy to recognize. It has a brassy yellow metallic luster and often forms cubical crystals with sharp edges (you may need to look at it with a magnifying glass to identify these edges if the rock has been tumbled around in a stream
It usually occurs as spots or streaks on the surface of the rock. If the specimen is weathered, i.e. has been exposed to rainwater or stream water, there will sometimes be a halo of rust around the pyrite crystals.. This is because the sulphide is gradually converted to oxide by the weathering processes. Here is a case where 'rusty' rocks are definitely not harmless. However, the residual presence of brassy flakes of pyrite will be an obvious warning in such circumstances.
Above is a picture of a rock with a lot of pyrite mineralization. Note the brassy metallic luster (fool's gold), the sharp edges of the pyrite crystals, and the incipient iron oxide (rust) discoloration round some of the pyrite.
You would obviously reject this rock out of hand--or keep it on a shelf as a mineral specimen. Pyrite crystals in rocks such as limestone or slates may be less spectacular, but they are still obvious.
Clearly you should never put any rock with visible pyrite into your tank.
In conclusion, observe the common sense approaches above and
you will never have to worry about placing a rock into your aquarium | <urn:uuid:0c8b4a65-a28c-4d9d-80ab-7735a28f7bef> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/rock_metals.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783403823.74/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624155003-00164-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94381 | 1,994 | 3.125 | 3 |
Khabur River is the largest perennial tributary to
the Euphrates in Syrian
territory. Although the Khabur originates in Turkey, the
karstic springs around Ra's al-'Ayn are the river's main source of water.
important wadis join the Khabur north of Al-Hasakah, together creating what is known as the Khabur
Triangle, or Upper Khabur area.
From north to south, annual
rainfall in the Khabur basin decreases from over 400 mm to less
than 200 mm, making the river a vital water source for agriculture
throughout history. The Khabur joins the Euphrates near the town
The course of the Khabur can be divided in two distinct zones: the
Upper Khabur area or Khabur Triangle north of Al-Hasakah, and the
Middle and Lower Khabur between Al-Hasakah and Busayrah.
The tributaries to the Khabur are listed from east to west. Most of
only carry water for part of the
- Wadi Radd
- Wadi Khnezir
- Wadi Jarrah
- Wadi Jaghjagh
- Wadi Khanzir
- Wadi Avedji
In Sumerian mythology
Habur is equivalent to the River Styx
. Important ancient
sites such as Tell
Leilan (ancient Shekhna) and Urkesh, have been
excavated in the Khabur river basin.
It has given its name
to a distinctive painted ware found in northern Mesopotamia
and Syria in the
early 2nd millennium BCE, called Khabur ware. The region of the
Khabur River is also associated with the rise of the kingdom of the
that flourished c.1500-1300 BC. In
classical times the river was known as Chaboras
Books of Kings and The First Book of Chronicles in the
Old Testament recount that Tiglath-Pileser III who ruled 745–727 BC
as King of Assyria, captured
Israelites from east of the Jordan.
portion of these captives were deported to the banks of the Chebar.
of Kings further relates how Israelite
captives from Samaria were then
settled near Gozan (Tell
Halaf) on the Chebar river's banks by Shalmaneser V who reigned from 727 to 722 BC,
as son and successor of Tiglath-Pileser III, (2 Kings 17:6,
After the Babylonians rose to dominance in the early
6th century, the Judaean priest and prophet Ezekiel
proclaims to have been "by the river Chebar
among the exiles...in the land of the Chaldeans
", when "the heavens were opened and I saw
visions of God" (Ezek.1:1,3).
cuneiform inscriptions excavated at Nippur have however
thrown doubt on the identification of this ancient River Chebar (or
Kebar) with the present day Khabur River (Nahr el-Khabur).
The latter's location in northern Mesopotamia
is also believed to be
irreconcilable with Ezekiel
's residence in
. One of Babylonia's grand canals,
Naru Kabari, is now favoured, which may be identified with modern
Modern Khabur River Valley
The Khabur River Project, begun in the 1960s, involved the
construction of a series of dams
. The Khabur Valley, which now has about four
million acres (16,000 km²) of farmland, is Syria's main
-cultivation area. The northeastern part
is also the center for Syria's oil production. | <urn:uuid:541b72e1-740e-4127-af8c-bc947c9b2618> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://maps.thefullwiki.org/Khabur_River | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395620.56/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00049-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915313 | 812 | 3.84375 | 4 |
Obesity and chronic liver disease can be triggered by a family of proteins that alter populations of microbes in the stomach, a discovery that suggests the condition may be infectious, Yale scientists report. The study, in the advance online publication of Nature, expands on earlier Yale research that showed how similar microbial imbalances caused by the same family of proteins increases the risk of intestinal diseases such as colitis.
The Yale scientists’ most extraordinary finding, they said, was that the altered intestinal environment that led to obesity and liver disease was infectious among the community of mice. “When healthy mice were co-housed with mice that had altered gut microbes, the healthy mice also developed a susceptibility for development of liver disease and obesity,” said senior author Richard A. Flavell, professor of immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.
The proteins in question are called inflammasomes. They are responsible for launching the immune system’s inflammatory response. Inflammasomes act as sensors and regulators of the microbial environment of the intestines.
The Yale team found that a deficiency in components of two particular inflammasomes in mice resulted in the development of an altered microbial community associated with increased bacteria. This determined the severity of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and obesity in the mice.
NAFLD is the result of metabolic syndrome, a collection of disorders that includes obesity and diabetes, and is the leading cause of chronic liver disease in the western world. It is estimated that up to 30 million people suffer from NAFLD in the United States alone. Twenty percent of people with NAFLD develop chronic liver inflammation, placing them at risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer, but the causes have been unclear.
The next step, Flavell said, is extending this research to humans and to identify more precisely the bacteria involved in the progression to liver disease. “We found, in mice, that targeted antibiotic treatment brought the microbial composition back to normal, and thus eased the liver disease. Our hope is that our findings may eventually lead to a treatment for humans.”
The researchers who led this project in Flavell’s laboratory are Jorge Henao-Mejia, Eran Elinav, and Chengcheng Jin. Other participating researchers were Liming Hao, Wajahat Z. Mehal, Till Strowig, Christoph A. Thaiss, Stephanie C. Eisenbarth, Michael J. Jurczak, Joao-Paulo Camporez, and Gerald I. Shulman of Yale; Andrew L. Kau and Jeffrey I. Gordon of Washington University School of Medicine; and Hal M. Hoffman of the University of California at San Diego.
The study was supported by grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States-Israel Binational Foundation, the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America, the National Institutes of Health, a VA Merit Award, and the Claire and Emmanuel G. Rosenblatt Award from the American Physicians for Medicine in Israel Foundation. Postdoctoral fellowships were provided by The Cancer Research Institute, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
For more information on Flavell’s research, visit his website. | <urn:uuid:9d33a0d8-1210-41de-a865-c800225472eb> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://news.yale.edu/2012/02/01/straight-gut-microbes-can-cause-obesity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395613.65/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00072-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938162 | 674 | 3.15625 | 3 |
January 27, 2011
Almost 26 Million Americans Have Diabetes
The number of diabetics in the United States has grown to almost 26 million, an increase of 10 percent since 2008, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), whom expressed concern about the negative trend.
In addition, nearly 79 million US adults have prediabetes -- a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes raises a person's risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The CDC said that 35 percent of adults 20 and older in the US fall into the pre-diabetic category.Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Americans of all ages, and 11.3 percent of adults aged 20 and older, according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011. About 27 percent of those with diabetes -- 7 million Americans -- do not know they have the disease.
"These distressing numbers show how important it is to prevent type 2 diabetes and to help those who have diabetes," Ann Albright, director of the CDC's diabetes translation division, said in a statement.
"We know that a structured lifestyle program that includes losing weight and increasing physical activity can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes," Albright added.
Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90 to 95 percent of all cases. The condition arises when the body gradually loses its ability to produce and use insulin to regulate sugar levels in the blood.
The CDC warned last year that one in three American adults could be diabetic by 2050 if the current trends do not change.
Risk factors for adult diabetes include aging, obesity, heredity, being diabetic during pregnancy, sedentary living, and race or ethnicity. Black Americans, Hispanics, Amerindians, indigenous Alaskans and Pacific islanders are the most predisposed to adult diabetes.
The CDC is working on the National Diabetes Prevention Program, as stated in the Affordable Care Act. This program, based on the NIH-led Diabetes Prevention Program research study, is aimed at helping people reduce their risk for developing type 2 diabetes.
The National Diabetes Fact Sheet estimates are drawn up from a variety of sources, including CDC surveys, the Indian Health Service National Patient Information Reporting System, the U.S. Renal Data System of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Census Bureau, and published studies.
It was prepared in collaboration with a number of agencies within the US Department of Health and Human Services and other federal agencies, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the American Diabetes Association, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
Currently, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the US. People with diabetes are more likely to suffer from complications such as heart attacks, strokes, high blood pressure, kidney failure, blindness and amputations of limbs.
The annual cost of diabetes is $174 billion, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses.
On the Net:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Statement
- National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2011
- National Diabetes Prevention Program | <urn:uuid:2d70af34-cde5-4ac7-868d-712c307944ab> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1986081/almost_26_million_americans_have_diabetes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396029.85/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00158-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919358 | 629 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Malawi Index 2006
Malawi Main Index
Malawi Introduction - 2006
SOURCE: 2006 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Established in 1891, the British protectorate of Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi in 1964. After three decades of one-party rule under President Hastings Kamuzu BANDA the country held multiparty elections in 1994, under a provisional constitution which came into full effect the following year. Current President Bingu wa MUTHARIKA, elected in May 2004 after a failed attempt by the previous president to amend the constitution to permit another term, has struggled to assert his authority against his predecessor, who still leads their shared political party. MUTHARIKA's anti-corruption efforts have led to several high-level arrests and one prominent conviction. Increasing corruption, population growth, increasing pressure on agricultural lands, and the spread of HIV/AIDS pose major problems for the country.
NOTE: The information regarding Malawi on this page is re-published from the 2006 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Malawi Introduction 2006 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Malawi Introduction 2006 should be addressed to the CIA. | <urn:uuid:4186faf7-561e-4e43-8a3c-c2fa8ba25ca0> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.theodora.com/wfb2006/malawi/malawi_introduction.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783399425.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154959-00027-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897823 | 252 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Your Waistline Expands
"Some research has suggested that sleep restriction over many years may affect metabolism, increasing the risk of obesity and type-2 diabetes," says Siobhan Banks, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. In fact, a 2007 Canadian study found that people who sleep only 5 or 6 hours a night increase their likelihood of being overweight by 69 percent, compared with those who habitually sleep 7 or 8 hours.
You Get Sicker
University of Chicago researchers found that antibodies in sleep-deprived people who'd received a vaccine were about 50 percent weaker than those in well-rested people. Wake up early for that flu shot and it may not protect you so well. Harvard researchers also found that blood levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of heart-disease risk, can spike if you skip the sheets for just a few hours.
Your Cancer Risk Rises
During sleep your body produces melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle. Interrupt sleep and you interrupt melatonin synthesis, which can be a problem. A 2007 University of Texas study review concluded that not only does melatonin detoxify harmful, cancer-causing free radicals, but in doing so it actually creates more antioxidants. Melatonin may also boost the effectiveness of vitamin C, another antioxidant. A good snooze could goose your morning OJ's potency. | <urn:uuid:dbb50197-5c64-4d14-b965-03157a7519e2> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.menshealth.com/health/insomnia-problems | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783396106.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154956-00029-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939678 | 289 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Hazardous Waste Treatment
From the archives of the Enforcement and Compliance Listserv for Hazardous Waste Generators
August 28, 2006
In the federal regulations that Missouri adopts by reference, 40 CFR 260.10 defines treatment as "any method, technique, or process, including neutralization, designed to change the physical, chemical, or biological character or composition of any hazardous waste so as to neutralize such waste, or so as to recover energy or material resources from the waste, or so as to render such waste non-hazardous, or less hazardous; safer to transport, store, or dispose of; or amenable for recovery, amenable for storage, or reduced in volume." Therefore, most forms of hazardous waste treatment require a permit. You should thoroughly review the hazardous waste laws and regulations regarding treatment if your business decides to treat its own waste. As a generator, you should assume that your waste type and method of treatment require a permit until you verify that it does not require a permit. Below are the most common forms of treatment that do not require a permit, as long as the waste is generated on-site. No waste may be accepted from other generators. As always, if you have a unique or highly complex situation, please contact the department for assistance.
Elementary Neutralization - If you are dealing with a waste that is only classified as hazardous because it is corrosive (i.e. the pH is less than or equal to 2 or greater than or equal to 12.5) then you can use elementary neutralization to treat the waste without obtaining a permit. Again elementary neutralization can only be used on waste that is hazardous exclusively because of its corrosivity (it is not a listed hazardous waste and does not exhibit any other hazardous characteristic) AND must be performed in a tank, tank system, container, transport vehicle or vessel as defined in 40 CFR Section 260.10.
Wastewater Treatment - The treatment of wastewater generated on-site is not subject to a hazardous waste permit if it is conducted in a unit that meets the definition of Wastewater Treatment Unit (WWTU).
The WWTU must:
1. Be part of a wastewater treatment facility that is subject to the Clean Water Act; and
2. Be managing hazardous wastewater or hazardous wastewater treatment sludge; and
3. Meet the definition of tank or tank system as defined in Section 260.10
For more details, please see 40 CFR 260.10.
Totally Enclosed Treatment Facility - A Totally Enclosed Treatment Facility that is directly connected to production equipment is not subject to acquiring a hazardous waste permit. The totally enclosed treatment facility requires two things, that the facility for the treatment of hazardous waste is directly connected to the industrial production process AND is constructed and operated in a manner which prevents the release of any hazardous waste into the environment during treatment. Please note that if there are ANY releases, measured or reasonably possible (including leaks, escaping vapors or other fugitive emissions), this treatment DOES require a permit. Again, see 40 CFR 260.10 for more details.
90/180/270 day Accumulation Units - Generators may treat their own waste in approved accumulation units as long as there is no thermal treatment of the waste and the requirements for accumulation units are followed. This means no treatment by burning, heating, or evaporation of wastes. Approved containers for Large Quantity Generators (LQGs) include tanks, containers, drip pads, and containment buildings. Small quantity generators (SQGs) can only use tanks and containers, unless the SQG adheres to LQG requirements (including only accumulating hazardous waste 90 days). As with any accumulation unit in storage, the container must remain closed unless adding or removing waste and the unit cannot be kept open while mixing or reacting the contents. These requirements prevent generators from using passive evaporation to treat hazardous waste. A hazardous waste generator that treats their own waste in accumulation units must develop and follow a written Waste Analysis Plan that describes the procedures they used to meet treatment standards for the waste. Again, a generator may only treat their own waste and must not accept waste from off-site. As always, LQGs may accumulate hazardous waste for up to 90 days, SQGs can accumulate hazardous waste for 180 days or 270 days if their treatment facility is over 200 miles away. Please contact the department before treating hazardous waste in accumulation units.
Some waste-management activities that meet the definition of treatment are allowed to occur without a permit, but are governed by the Missouri regulations for Resource Recovery found in 10 CSR 25-9.020. Also see Resource Recovery for more information.
Details are important when determining if a permit is required for a specific treatment. Even if a hazardous waste permit is not required, other environmental permits may be needed. A water pollution permit may be required from the department or from your local sewer authority, or some other type of permit may be required. As mentioned earlier, it is usually a good idea to assume that any treatment of hazardous waste requires a permit until you have discussed it with the personnel in your local Regional Office that are familiar with your operations. Regional Office staff may be able to give you a quick answer or conduct a site visit in order to make the determination.
If you would like to unsubscribe to the e-newsletter, please visit DNR Enforcement and Compliance Assistance Newsletter Generators Subscription. If you know of anyone else who would like to be added to this listserv, they can visit DNR Enforcement and Compliance Assistance Newsletter Generators Subscription to sign up.
If you need further assistance, please email or contact the Department of Natural Resources' Hazardous Waste Program at 573-751-2032 or 800-361-4827.
Return to listserv topics at DNR Hazardous Waste Generator Archive. | <urn:uuid:03793fbd-e789-4ac3-bb6b-22ddcfeab17c> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://dnr.mo.gov/env/hwp/enf/treatment.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395548.53/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00021-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917144 | 1,185 | 2.609375 | 3 |
What is scalp psoriasis?
Psoriasis is a common skin condition, characterised by red scaly thickened patches (plaques). It ofen affects the scalp. Scalp psoriasis may occur in isolation or with any other form of psoriasis.
The back of the head is a common site for psoriasis, but multiple discrete areas of the scalp or the whole scalp may be affected. Scalp psoriasis is characterised by thick silvery-white scale over well-defined red thickened skin. Psoriasis may extend slightly beyond the hairline (facial psoriasis).
Scalp psoriasis, even though often adequately camouflaged by the hair, is often a source of social embarrassment due to flaking of the scale and severe 'dandruff'. Scalp psoriasis may not cause any symptoms at all, or may be extremely itchy. It tends to be a chronic problem, lasting many years, although it often fluctuates in severity and extent.
In very severe cases there may be some temporary mild localised hair loss, but scalp psoriasis does not cause permanent balding.
© Dr Ph Abimelec – dermatologue
Pityriasis amiantacea is characterised by thick, yellow-white scales densely coating the scalp skin and adhering to the hairs as they exit the scalp. The scales are arranged in an overlapping manner like tiles on a roof or flakes of asbestos, hence the name. The underlying scalp skin may appear normal, aside from the scale, or may be reddened or scaly. Pityriasis amiantacea is often present without any obvious underlying cause, but may be associated with psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis or lichen simplex (another form of dermatitis).
Psoriatic hair loss
Most patients with scalp psoriasis do not lose hair despite thick plaques. However, hair loss and localised bald patches (alopecia) can occur.
- Psoriatic alopecia often affects psoriatic plaques (ie red, scaly, thickened skin)
- Scratching, combing, pulling off scale can contribute by pulling out clumps of hair
- The hair usually completely regrows after a period of time
- Scarring alopecia due to psoriasis is rare
- Generalised hair shedding can occur (telogen effluvium)
- Psoriasis may be associated with other autoimmune diseases including alopecia areata
- Treatment might lead to hair loss, for example due to the oral retinoid acitretin or biologics
Diffuse non-scarring alopecia
Diffuse non-scarring alopecia
Alopecia areata on adalimumab
Scalp psoriasis requires slightly different regimes from psoriasis affecting the skin elsewhere. This is due to hair, which makes application of many topical products difficult and protects the scalp from the effects of ultraviolet light. Unfortunately, many scalp treatments for scalp psoriasis are messy and smelly. Most treatments will need to be used regularly for several weeks before a benefit is seen.
Special medicated shampoos can be purchased from the chemist.
- Coal tar shampoos are suitable for most patients with scalp psoriasis.
- Ketoconazole, ciclopirox, zinc pyrithione and other antifungal shampoos are effective for dandruff and seborrhoeic dermatitis. They have varying effect in sebopsoriasis and psoriasis.
The shampoos work best if rubbed into the scalp well, and left in for 5 or 10 minutes and then reapplied. They are safe for daily use but may irritate if applied more than twice weekly. If you dislike the smell of coal tar, try shampooing again with a favourite brand, and use a conditioner.
More severe cases require leave-on scalp applications.
- Alcohol-based, foam, gel or lotion forms of topical steroid and calcipotriol can reduce redness and itch but they don't lift scale very well. Use topical steroids intermittently; overuse results in more extensive and severe psoriasis.
- Salicylic acid and coal tar creams work much better, but are messy. Coconut oil compound ointment is a combination of coal tar, salicylic acid and sulphur and seems particularly effective. Leave on for at least an hour and shampoo off later. Most people rub the cream into the plaques at night and wash it off in the morning.
- Dithranol may be effective but is difficult to use and may be messy as it stains hair and fabrics.
Use the scalp preparation daily at first then as the condition improves, reduce the frequency. Unfortunately in many cases the scale soon builds up again, so the creams may have to be applied regularly to keep the scalp clear. Topical steroids are best used only 2-3 times weekly, long term to avoid complications.
Cutting hair short helps control scalp psoriasis, probably by making the treatments easier to apply, but is not appealing to everyone.
Phototherapy is effective for chronic plaque psoriasis but difficult to deliver to the scalp. Special targeted devices and UVB combs have been devised, and appear very helpful. In some cases prolonged clearance has resulted from a course of treatment.
Systemic agents may be justified for a few patients with severe scalp psoriasis that has failed to respond to treatments described above. These include acitretin, methotrexate, ciclosporin and biologic agents.
- Topical treatments for scalp psoriasis. CME RB, Brown BC, Griffiths CE. Drugs. 2008;68(16):2293-302. doi: 10.2165/0003495-200868160-00003. Medline.
- Chan CS, Van Voorhees AS, Lebwohl MG, Korman NJ, Young M, Bebo BF Jr, Kalb RE, Hsu S.Treatment of severe scalp psoriasis: From the Medical Board of the National Psoriasis Foundation. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2009 Jun;60(6):962-71. Medline.
- George SM, Taylor MR, Farrant PB. Psoriatic alopecia. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2015 Jul 23. doi: 10.1111/ced.12715. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 26202646.
On DermNet NZ:
- Diagnosis of scalp rashes
- General information about psoriasis
- Facial psoriasis
- Chronic plaque psoriasis
- Flexural psoriasis
- Guttate psoriasis
- Palmoplantar psoriasis
- Nail psoriasis
- Palmoplantar pustulosis
- Paediatric psoriasis. Psoriasis in children
- Pustular psoriasis
- Erythrodermic psoriasis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Treatment of psoriasis
- Scalp psoriasis – The Psoriasis Association (UK)
- Scalp psoriasis – National Psoriasis Foundation (US)
- Psoriasis – Dr Ph Abimelec patient pamphlet (French)
- MyPsoriasis.co.nz – Information for New Zealand patients with psorasis and psoriatic arthritis, sponsored by AbbVie
Books about skin diseases:
See the DermNet NZ bookstore | <urn:uuid:8e9ce7f8-4568-4c5a-b886-01b64af9c880> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.dermnetnz.org/scaly/scalp-psoriasis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783395992.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154955-00033-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.888045 | 1,586 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Earlier this week, the Moon passed directly in front of the Sun to create a solar eclipse … but only if you were in a very specific place on the planet at the right time. The Moon’s shadow on the Earth is small, so if you weren’t on the eclipse path, you saw a partial eclipse, or none at all.
… unless you weren’t on the Earth in the first place. The DSCOVR satellite is 1.5 million kilometers away from our planet, between the Earth and Sun. It looks back at us to provide a stunning and scientifically important four megapixel natural-color view of the world. It had just about the best seat in the house to view the entire event:
Holy wow. Thirteen images taken over the duration of the eclipse were assembled to create that animation. The Moon’s shadow is the dark spot that moves from left to right. The eclipse took place over the Pacific, and you can see China, Australia, and more under the clouds.
One thing I love about this is that it shows how a solar eclipse is a local event; it only happens where the shadow falls on the Earth, and because the Moon is smaller than Earth and far away, the shadow is small. If you’re on the wrong spot on the Earth, you miss it.
The motions here fascinate me, too. The Earth is rotating left to right (west to east). The Moon is moving in the same direction, off-frame, as it orbits the Earth. It moves around us at about 1 km/sec, so its ground track (the speed it moves across the ground) is actually faster than the Earth’s rotation (which at a maximum is about 0.5 km/sec; there’s a lot of detail here I’m skipping to make the point). So the shadow moves left to right as well, outpacing the surface below it.
And all this is seen from a satellite that appears stationary but isn’t. DSCOVR is in what’s called a halo orbit around the L1 point. This point is in between the Earth and Sun, where the gravitational balance of the Earth and Sun is equal, when you also account for the centripetal acceleration (or centrifugal force if you prefer) of the satellite’s orbit. The point is, all the forces balance and the satellite stays near that spot in space.
Kinda. It actually orbits the L1 point (I refer you to an article at the Planetary Society for more on that), moving around it. If DSCOVR were exactly in the L1 point, then the Earth, Moon, and Sun and satellite would have all been in a line, and you would have seen the Moon pass over the Earth in the animation. But DSCOVR was off that line a bit, so you don’t see the Moon, just the shadow.
This can get a little head-scratchy because of all the angles. For example, it’s possible that from DSCOVR’s viewpoint it does see the Moon pass in front of (what we call transiting) Earth, but there’s no eclipse! That happened in August of 2015:
Amazing. Next year, on Aug. 21, there will be a total solar eclipse that passes right across the U.S. I’m hoping this will be my very first one I’ll ever see; I’ve never been in the right place at the right time. I’ll be writing a lot more about that as the time approaches.
I’ll be on the Earth’s surface when that happens, and I hope we’ll also get images from space by DSCOVR. But you can also be in between: A few lucky people were on an Alaska Air flight which diverted a bit to fly into the path of this last eclipse, and passengers got to see it from the air. The result is, well, see for yourself, in a video that is as delightful in the reactions you hear as the view is stunning. | <urn:uuid:0f9c49f6-96f5-49a4-8564-00046d5376e4> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/03/11/dscovr_satellite_sees_total_eclipse_from_space.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783398873.39/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154958-00047-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956104 | 860 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Challenges to Achieving Reductions and Efficiencies
T-NSIAD-96-238: Published: Sep 11, 1996. Publicly Released: Sep 11, 1996.
- Full Report:
GAO discussed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) efforts to reduce key areas of its infrastructure. GAO noted that: (1) since fiscal year (FY) 1993, NASA budget and staffing levels have decreased sharply, and NASA has reduced, restructured, or cancelled some of its programs and projects; (2) NASA plans to eliminate $4 billion worth of its facilities by the end of FY 2000, but planned facilities reductions will not meet NASA goals or yield substantial cost reductions; (3) NASA has had problems in evaluating some cost-reduction opportunities because it has not thoroughly evaluated potential options, limited the scope of consideration for consolidating aircraft operations, performed questionable initial cost-reduction studies, made inappropriate closure recommendations, and substantially overstated cost-reduction estimates; (4) environmental cleanup costs could affect future facility disposition efforts; (5) recent NASA efforts to share facilities with the Department of Defense have not yet been very productive; (6) NASA lacks a formal system for tracking and reporting on the status of recommendations related to infrastructure reductions; and (7) although NASA has made limited progress in reducing its infrastructure, an independent process may ultimately be needed to overcome sensitivity and cost issues. | <urn:uuid:1bf8430b-aa4d-4a52-a50c-dfee8a5bf405> | CC-MAIN-2016-26 | http://www.gao.gov/products/T-NSIAD-96-238 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-26/segments/1466783397749.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160624154957-00003-ip-10-164-35-72.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942724 | 292 | 2.71875 | 3 |
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