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The Gospel of John begins by stating that God sent John the Baptist to identify Jesus Christ as the true Light and Savior. First Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth(John 975). One day while John was baptizing in the Jordan River, Jesus approached to be baptized. Once He was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from Heaven in the form of a dove and rested on Jesus. This sign told John that Jesus is the Son of God(John 977). Jesus performs many miracles and still there are people who don't believe in him. First He turned water into wine(John 977-988). Second, Jesus healed the sick son of a Capernaum government official on account of his faith(John 981). The fourth miracle accomplished by Jesus was healing a man that had been sick for 38 years. After He healed him physically, He healed him spiritually and told the man to roll up his sleeping mat and go home. Jewish leaders became angry with Jesus for instructing the man to carry his mat, since it was considered working on the Sabbath(John 982). Fifth, Jesus fed 5,000 people using five loaves of bread and two fish. Even after this last miracle, many followed Jesus, not because they believed in Him, but because He had fed them(John 983). Jesus' own brothers didn't believe in Him and made fun of Him saying, "Go where more people can see your miracles!" they scoffed. "You can't be famous when you hide like this! If you're so great, prove it to the world!"(John 984). The Pharisees convicted Jesus of blasphemy before He was even tried, because they said that Jesus couldn't be the Messiah, for He would have been born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, not of a carpenter in Nazareth(John 985). It is ironic that the very reason given that Jesus must not be the Messiah actually supports the fact that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah. At the last supper, Jesus tells Judas that he will betray Him and Peter that he will deny even knowing Him three times before the cock crowed the next morning(John 993). Jesus then tells His disciples that He's going away soon to a place they cannot follow, but that He'll return and send the Holy Spirit to help them. Jesus prays for Himself and later while He and his disciples are in a grove of olive trees, He is arrested(John 997). Pilate judges Jesus to be not guilty, but the Jews don't accept this, yelling, "Crucify Him!" Wishing not to cause trouble with the Jewish people or Caesar, he sent Jesus to be crucified(John 998). Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders, but boldly asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus' body down, which was granted(John 999). Nicodemus went with Joseph to use embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes on Jesus before wrapping Him and placing Him in a new tomb. Two days later, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early Sunday morning and found the stone rolled away from the entrance. She returned with Peter and John who saw and believed that Jesus had risen(John 1000). Jesus appears to His disciples and they receive the Holy Spirit. Thomas was the only one not present and so he couldn't believe it unless he could see Jesus himself. Eight days later, the disciples were together again, this time Thomas was present, and Jesus appeared to them. He offered to let Thomas place his finger in the nail wounds and hand in his side, but Thomas already believed from seeing. Later Jesus appeared to His disciples for the last time after Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, and John had been fishing all night with no luck and decided to go in. Jesus, from the shore, instructed them to cast their net on the right hand side, and when they did they couldn't draw the net in because of the weight of all the fish. As soon as Peter realized who had spoken to them from the shore, he swam to meet Jesus(John 1001). When the others arrived they dragged the net ashore and Peter counted 153...
Michigan Folksong Legacy Special Programs to Highlight Folklorist Alan Lomax’s Michigan Legacy Events Learn More In 1938, a young folk music collector named Alan Lomax—destined to become one of the legendary folklorists of the 20th century—came from Washington, DC to record Michigan’s richly varied folk music traditions for the Archive of American Folk-Song at the Library of Congress. Michigan in the 1930s was experiencing a golden age of folksong collecting, as local folklorists mined the trove of ballads remembered by aging lumbermen and Great Lakes schoonermen. In addition to the ballads of these north woods singers, Lomax recorded a vibrant mix of ethnic music from Detroit to the western Upper Peninsula. A series of commemorative activities will mark the 75th anniversary of Alan Lomax's historic documentation of music and folklore in Michigan-- and its lasting impact on our lives today. This includes innovative publications, public programming, performances, a traveling exhibition, community engagement, digital educational resources, and the return of copies of collections to their home communities. The Michigan State University Museum is coordinating two special programs that will travel to selected Michigan communities starting in September 2013. The multimedia performance event Folksongs from Michigan-i-o combines live performance with historic images, color movie footage, and recorded sound from the Great Depression. Some of these materials haven’t been heard or seen by the general public for more than seven decades. The traveling exhibition, Michigan Folksong Legacy: Grand Discoveries from the Great Depression, brings Alan Lomax’s 1938 field trip to life through words, song lyrics, photographs, and sound recordings. The exhibit explores this ground-breaking collection of Michigan folk music and what it reveals about Michigan history and culture. Ten interpretive banners explore themes such as Alan Lomax and Michigan folksong collecting in the 1930s; the geography of Lomax’s travels; the musical culture of lumberjacks, miners, and schoonermen (Great Lakes sailors); Michigan’s ethnic diversity and its reflection in Lomax’s field recordings; and the importance of the Lomax Michigan legacy today. Each panel contains a QR code that links to related sound recordings from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. These programs are made possible in part by a grant from Michigan Humanities Council, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; with additional support from the Michigan State University Museum and its the Great Lakes Traditions Endowment; the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress; the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures at the University of Wisconsin; the Association for Cultural Equity; and the Finlandia Foundation. Listen to a clip: "Once More A-Lumbering Go," sung by Carl Lathrup, St. Louis, Michigan, collected by Alan Lomax, 1938. Courtesy of Alan Lomax Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Listen to Brian Miller perform "Once More A-Lumbering Go," a lumberjack ballad learned from Lomax's 1938 field recording of lumberjack Carl Lathrop (St. Louis, Michigan). Listen to an interview about the project by Michigan Radio's Stateside host, Cynthia Canty, featuring Library of Congress Lomax curator Todd Harvey, and Michigan Folksong Legacy Program Coordinator Laurie Sommers -Sunday, August 11, 2013, Kick-off performances by Lee Murdock at the Great Lakes Folk Festival, E. Lansing, with two sets of Great Lakes ballads and songs collected by Alan Lomax and Ivan Walton -September 30-October 30, 2013, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression" exhibit at Park Library 3rd Floor exhibit space (CMU), Mt. Pleasant -November 1, 2013-January 5, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit at Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City -February 3-March 31, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit at Beaumier Heritage Center, Northern Michigan University, Marquette -February 22, 2014, Folksongs from "Michigan-I-O," featuring the Lumber Jakki, Jamrich Hall 103, Northern Michigan University, Marquette -April 3-May 12, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, first floor of Van Pelt and Opie Library, Michigan Technological University, Houghton -May 12-16, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock -May 15, 2014, "From Finland to Fulton to the Library of Congress: The Alan Lomax Recordings of Gusti Simila," a free lecture by Hilary Joy Virtanen (Assistant Professor of Finnish Studies, Finlandia University), 7 p.m., Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy Street, Hancock -May 19-26, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, Sulo and Aileen Maki Library, Finlandia University, Hancock -June 2-July 27, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, Beaver Island District Library -July 24, 2014, Folksongs from "Michigan-I-O," featuring guest musicians Glenn Hendrix and Barry Pischner, Beaver Island Community Center -July 30 -Sept. 26, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, Presque Isle Co. Historical Museum, Rogers City -August 15, 2014, Folksongs from "Michigan-I-O," featuring guest musicians Pan Franek, Zosia, and the Polka Towners, Rogers City Community Theater, 7:30 pm -Oct. 1-Dec. 5, 2014, Michigan Folksong Legacy: "Grand" Discoveries from the Great Depression exhibit, St. Ignace Public Library -Oct. 2, 2014, Folksongs from "Michigan-I-O," featuring Great Lakes ballads by Lee Murdock, St. Ignace Public Library, 7:30 pm Laurie Sommers, Michigan Lomax Program Coordinator More about the Michigan 1938 Project: In autumn 1938 the Library of Congress dispatched the Archive of American Folk Song’s Alan Lomax to make a folklife survey in northern Michigan. The resulting field work documented the diversity of ethnicity and cultural expression in the Upper Midwest. From August 2013 to November 2014 the American Folklife Center and its partners will mark the 75th anniversary of this historic field trip through a series of events and publications. This project will include innovative publications, public programming, and outreach, and will be administered by the American Folklife Center, the Association for Cultural Equity, and Michigan State University Museum. The other institutional partners also have related programming, available at the websites listed below: On September 30, 2013, the Library of Congress will launch a series of twenty-one podcasts. The series will highlight various aspects of Alan Lomax's 1938 Michigan recordings, especially the ethnic diversity of the musicians and collectors he documented. Individual podcasts will continue to be released until September 2014, and will focus on such topics as "Songs and Tales of the Michigan Lumberjacks," "The Cantor Fredrickson in Calumet," and "Joe Cloud, Ojibwe Fiddler." In 1938 the Library of Congress dispatched Alan Lomax—already a seasoned field worker at age 23—to complete a folklife survey of the Great Lakes region. He set off in a 1935 Plymouth Deluxe 4-door sedan, toting a Presto instantaneous disc recorder, a still camera, and a moving image camera. He returned almost three months later, having driven thousands of miles on barely paved roads, with a cache of 250 discs and 8 reels of film. These materials documented the diversity of ethnicity—Irish, Finnish, Serbian, Polish, German, Croatian, Canadian French, Hungarian, and more—in Michigan, as well as cultural expression among loggers and lake sailors. This innovative e-publication celebrates the 1938 field trip with a compelling narrative written by the Library's Lomax curator, Todd Harvey, and illustrated with original items from the trip, including audio and video clips, field notes, and telegrams. Together, these materials provide fascinating insights into both the region that Lomax called "the most fertile source" of American folklore, and the man who would become the most famous 20th century folklorist in America. Center for the Study of Upper Midwest Cultures, University of Wisconsin Folksongs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946, James P. Leary, ed., combines five compact disks, a DVD, and a book (University of Wisconsin Press, forthcoming 2014). “The CDs include 175 songs and tunes,” writes compiler Jim Leary, “culled from a larger corpus of nearly 2000 performances originally recorded in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota by three distinguished field workers involved with expanding the collections of what was then the Archive of American Folksong (and is now the American Folklife Center) at the Library of Congress. Only a few of these recordings have been issued previously in any format, and those which have are entirely in English, thus effectively ignoring the existence and remarkable performances of musicians and singers in twenty-five additional indigenous and immigrant languages. The CDs are arranged chronologically, commencing with Sidney Robertson Cowell’s work in Wisconsin and Minnesota in 1937 with lumberjack, Finnish, Scots Gaelic, and Serbian performers. The Wisconsin Lumberjacks, CD 2, focuses on an ensemble from Rice Lake that was recorded by both Cowell and Alan Lomax during subsequent National Folk Festivals in Chicago and Washington, DC, in 1937 and 1938. Lomax’s 1938 Michigan field recordings with lumberjack, Finnish, French Canadian, German, Irish, Lithuanian, Ojibwe, Polish, and Swedish performers make up CD 3. The even more diverse work of Helene Stratman-Thomas, undertaken throughout Wisconsin in 1940, 1941, and 1946, comprise CDs 4&5, encompassing the aforementioned peoples but also including African American, Austrian, Belgian, Cornish, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Ho-Chunk, Icelandic, Italian, Luxemburger, Norwegian, Oneida, Swiss, and Welsh performers. Painstakingly transferred from deteriorating original disks to digital formats, then subjected to noise reduction, equalization, and speed correction, these restored performances reveal a nearly lost sonic portrait of another America with clarity and power.” A key aspect of this project is to ensure that the Michigan communities of origin recorded by the Library of Congress possess copies of their cultural heritage. The Association for Cultural Equity (ACE) has as one of its core principals a repatriation and dissemination program, through which it returns Alan Lomax’s field recordings to their communities of origin. ACE has disseminated materials to 17 sites around the world, with more planned. ACE writes: “The digital revolution makes it possible for libraries and archives to work together both to safeguard intangible cultural heritage and circulate it widely. As a practitioner of cultural equity, ACE returns Alan Lomax’s field recordings, photographs, film, and other materials to the places and peoples from which it came. Alan Lomax was a pioneer in the dissemination and repatriation of cultural documentation, having deposited copies of several of his large collections in national archives at a time when tape and disk media made it difficult and expensive, and he unfailingly sent recordings to colleagues in the field. ACE donates copies of materials to appropriate repositories pertaining to the regions from which they were taken. The ACE Online Archive offers free online dissemination through multimedia collections of Lomax's preserved field trips and other work.” ACE and partners will identify numerous dissemination sites in Michigan and coordinate events, both electronically and in person. AFC will provide digital content and authoritative information about collections. Earthwork Music Collective Seeds Project in Northwest Michigan New, exciting uses of the Alan Lomax Michigan Collection are emerging! The Traverse City-based SEEDS non-profit has teamed up with Earthwork Collective musicians to provide after school programming involving the Alan Lomax 1938 Michigan Field recordings at select schools in Northwest Michigan, supported in part by Michigan Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants. This project involves both middle and high school students at six rural, underserved schools: Kalkaska, Fife Lake, Brethren, Suttons Bay, Frankfort and Benzonia. The project team has developed a plan to work with students at every site consistently from January-May, 2014, studying local history, exploring personal journeys, learning songs from the Lomax archives, and writing new material for a professional concert production that will go on a tour of local public venues across the Northwest Lower Peninsula. The tour dates/locations include the following: April 28th: Mills Community House, Benzonia April 30th: Suttons Bay High School Auditorium May 6th: Manistee High School Auditorium May 8th: Kalkaska High School Auditorium May 9th: City Opera House, Traverse City For more information contact Seth Bernard, firstname.lastname@example.org Beck, E.C. Songs of the Michigan Lumberjacks. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press, 1942. Beck, E.C., ed. Songs of the Michigan Lumberjacks [sound recording]. Library of Congress. AFS L56. 1959. Beck, E.C. They Knew Paul Bunyan. Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press. 1956. Cohen, Ronald D. ed. Alan Lomax Assistant in Charge, The Library of Congress Letters, 1935-1945. Jackson. University Press of Mississippi. 2011. Grimm, Joe, ed. Songquest, The Journals of Great Lakes Folklorist Ivan H. Walton. Detroit. Wayne State University Press, 2005. Jabbour, Alan, ed. American Fiddle Tunes [sound recording]. Library of Congress. AFS L62. 1971. Leary, James P. "Fieldwork Forgotten, Or Alan Lomax Goes North." Midwestern Folklore 2, no.26 (Fall 2001):5-20. Leary, James P. "The Discovery of Finnish American Folk Music." Scandinavian Studies 73, no. 3 (Fall 2001):475-492. Sommers, Laurie Kay. Beaver Island House Party. East Lansing. Michigan State University Press. 1996. Walton, Ivan H. and Joe Grimm, Windjammers, Songs of the Great Lakes Sailors. Detroit. Wayne State University Press, 2002. Writers’ Program [Michigan]. Michigan, A Guide to the Wolverine State. New York. Oxford University Press. 1941. This collaborative partnership marks the 75th anniversary of Alan Lomax's historic documentation of music and folklore in Michigan -- and its lasting impact on our lives today. The lead partners are: the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress (AFC); Michigan Traditional Arts Program of the Michigan State University Museum (MSUM); the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures, University of Wisconsin, and the Association for Cultural Equity (ACE). Funding support is being provided by Michigan Council for the Humanities ; Michigan State University Museum; the Great Lakes Traditions Endowment, MSUM; the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress; the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Culture, University of Wisconsin; the Association for Cultural Equity (ACE); and Finlandia Foundation.
Trade with mesopotamia ancient asazelo25324762 Trade , distant lands to trade., Transport During the Old Babylonian periodaboutB C merchants from southern Mesopotamia travelled to cities A full text lecture that discusses the civilization of ancient Sumer , Mesopotamia. Ancient Mesopotamia Laws military conquest justice civilization culture sun god Shamash Hammurabai. Trade with mesopotamia ancient. Ancient Mesopotamia were the first people to ever invent , fulfilled the primary., build sailboats The sailboats of ancient Mesopotamia were simple in design A history of ancient AkkadAkkadians) from its rise to fall including its kings, cities, contributions to civilization Main Akkadian Page., laws What do chariots, wheels have in common The ancient Sumerians invented them all Welcome to Sumer, Assyria, , collectively called Ancient., sailboats, Babylon The Ancient Mesopotamian , Egyptian World Systems Christopher Chase Dunn, Daniel Pasciuti, Alexis Alvarez Institute for Research on World Systems. The land of Mesopotamia did not have a lot of natural resources, at least they did not have the ones in demand during that time period So, to get the items they., Explore Ancient Mesopotamia Stories Games Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids Ancient Mesopotamia for Teachers Presentations about Ancient Mesopotamia. Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia cannot be described in the same way one would describe life in ancient Rome , sopotamia was never a single, unified. Ancient Mesopotamia Social Structure Social Structure social pyramid king farmers slaves traders. The Dilmun Civilization: An Important Location for Ancient Mythology , TradeRead the article on one page
According to the Wiki, the flower called Rhododendron (Greek ῥόδον rhódon "rose" and δένδρον déndron "tree") is a huge genus with 1,024 species, either evergreen or deciduous growing mainly in Asia but can also be found also in the Southern Highlands of the Appalachian Mountains of North America. During the trip, we were brought to see, not just wisteria, but also some Japanese azaleas, which is a sub-genera of the genus rhododendron. Like the wisteria, the Japanese azaleas originally came from China but they have been growing them for centuries. Traditionally, the Japanese divide the azaleas into two groups called respectively the Tsutsuji (ever green) and the Satsuki I (literally the 5th month of the lunar calendar). The Tsutsuji azaleas bloom one lunar cycle after the spring equinox whilst the Satsuki bloom two lunar cycles after the vernal equinox. This is an azalea park at Unsen We were so afraid that we wouldn't be able to to take any photos there because it had been raining all morning. It was a huge park and the azaleas grow all over the place. The size of their flower can vary between 1 to 5 inch. They can grow as hose-in-hose, semi-double or fully double flowers. The Satsuki can have overlapping lobes, narrow lobes, wide lobes. Theedges of their lobe can be flat or frilled. Their color may be white, pink, yellowish pink, red, reddish orange and purple and such colors may appear solid, striped, flaked, linear, as sectors or at the margins on a lighter background. The complete range of color patterns can appear on the same plant and be different each year! a huge plant full of flowers Their flowers appear in two huge canopies or in clumps or in layers, one above the other The azaleas can grow on the hillside, even on acidic soil. Simply unbelievable how thick their layers can be. Like some of the flowers such as lilies or the bauhinia, their stamens stick out a drop of water about to fall It was an eye-opening experience. Never ever have I seen so many azaleas at the same place my entire life.
The Media access layer is one of the layers of the OSI reference model. It is concerned with the access to the physical network medium. Devices that access this medium need to be identified. For this reason, many network technologies, amongst them Ethernet, use unique addresses to identify the network card, which is used to access the medium. These addresses are usually called the Media Access Control address or MAC address. Each device is assigned a MAC address by its manufacturer. The original Xerox Ethernet addressing scheme is still used to assign MAC addresses. It allows MAC addresses to be 48-bits long. So, there are 248 or 281,474,976,710,656 possible MAC addresses. References[change \| change source] - IEEE Std 802-2001. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE). 2002-02-07. p. 19. ISBN 0-7381-2941-0. http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/download/802-2001.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-08. "The universal administration of LAN MAC addresses began with the Xerox Corporation administering Block Identifiers (Block IDs) for Ethernet addresses."
Decoration of multi-walled carbon nanotubes by polymer wrapping and its application in MWCNT/polyethylene composites © Hsiao et al.; licensee Springer. 2012 Received: 13 December 2011 Accepted: 6 May 2012 Published: 6 May 2012 We dispersed the non-covalent functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with a polymer dispersant and obtained a powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs. The UV–vis absorption spectrum was used to investigate the optimal weight ratio of the CNTs and polymer dispersant. The powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs had improved the drawbacks of CNTs of being lightweight and difficult to process, and it can re-disperse in a solvent. Then, we blended the polymer-wrapped CNTs and polyethylene (PE) by melt-mixing and produced a conductive masterbatch and CNT/PE composites. The polymer-wrapped CNTs showed lower surface resistivity in composites than the raw CNTs. The scanning electron microscopy images also showed that the polymer-wrapped CNTs can disperse well in composites than the raw CNTs. KeywordsCNTs Polymer wrapping Composites Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), having excellent electrical and extraordinary mechanical properties, are suitable to serve as a conductive filler or a strengthening material in polymer composites; however, their chemical inertia and smooth surface result in their lack of solubility and poor compatibility with polymers. In addition, the CNTs have high aspect ratio and easily attract or tangle to each other due to the van der Waals force interaction. Furthermore, CNTs are inherently lightweight, occupy a lot of space, and are easily blown, thereby increasing the trouble in handling and the difficulty in processing and application. To obtain good dispersion of CNTs in polymers, we can prepare the CNT masterbatch by mixing CNTs and carriers first, and then the masterbatch are diluted with thermoplastics to produce the CNT/polymer composites. There are three kinds of methods to prepare the CNT masterbatch. The first method is so-called in situ polymerization method ‐: the monomers and CNTs are mixed well in a solution. Then, the monomers are polymerized, and therefore, the CNTs can disperse in the polymer polymerized from the monomers. However, this method usually needs the chemical modification of CNTs for well-dispersed CNTs in the solution, and it could damage the structure of CNTs and reduce their conductivity. The second method is the solution process ‐: the CNTs and the polymer solution are mixed well, and the CNT/polymer composites are obtained by re-precipitation or removing the solvent from the mixture. This method can easily disperse the CNTs in the polymer; however, it is not suitable for mass production due to its high cost, toxicity of the solvent, and solubility limitations of the polymer in the solvent. The third method is the melt-mixing [5, 8]: the CNTs and polymer are directly mixed at high temperature (usually above the glass transition temperature of the polymer) by mechanical mixing. The melt-mixing is also an easy way to produce the CNT masterbatch, but the CNTs are difficult to disperse well in the polymer. Non-covalent functionalization of CNTs by polymer wrapping is a feasible process to disperse CNTs in the solvent and that could not cause dramatic changes in the electronic properties of CNTs. It has been reported that a molecular structure containing functional groups can effectively absorb on the surface of CNTs and provide the dispersion of CNTs in a solution ‐. However, preparing the polymer-wrapped CNTs by in situ polymerization is not suitable to be used in CNT/polymer composites due to the residual catalysts and impurities ‐. The surface modification of CNTs with strong acids is usually used to improve the dispersion of CNTs in polar solvents (such as H2O, ethanol, and DMF), but that could also disrupt the sp2 structure and conjugation of the CNTs ‐. The CNTs functionalized with hydrophilic molecules can disperse in polar solvents, but they could not disperse well in less polar solvents (such as toluene and n-hexane) and have poor compatibility with aliphatic polymers ‐. In this study, we reported an easy way to disperse CNTs in solvent and polymer. The surface functionalization of CNTs with a polymer dispersant, containing both aromatic group and amine group, can disperse CNTs in less polar solvents. The powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs can also re-disperse in organic solvents and be easily used in producing the CNT/polyethylene (PE) composites by melt-mixing. Materials and instrumentations Surface resistivity was measured on a surface resistivity meter, which was our homemade equipment and calibrated against indium tin oxide on PET as reference samples. The ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) absorption spectra were recorded using a UV–vis spectrometer (SHIMADZU, Kyoto, Japan). The CNT/PE composites were prepared using a twin-screw extruder (MP-2015, APV, Houston, TX, USA). All other chemicals which were not specially mentioned were commercially available and used as supplied. We used the multi-walled carbon nanotubes purchased from Nanomaterial Store (OD, 10 to 30 nm; length, 10 to 30 μm; purity, 85 %; Fremont, CA, USA). The polymer dispersant, which was synthesized form the monomers of phenyl methacrylate and glycidyl methacrylate and followed by grafting with amine, had a weight-average molecular weight of about 10,000 and an amine value (mg KOH) of 14. Preparation of the polymer-wrapped CNTs The polymer dispersant, CNTs, and solvent were added to a reactor, and they were mixed by ultrasonic oscillation and mechanical stirring for 1 h to form the CNT suspension. After filtering the CNT suspension and collecting the sample, the sample was baked using an oven to obtain the powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs. Preparation of the CNT masterbatch and CNT/PE composites The powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs and PE were blended using a kneader first, and then blended using a twin-screw extruder to form the 10 wt.% CNT masterbatch. The CNT masterbatch was further diluted with PE using the kneader and twin-screw extruder to form the CNT/PE composites with various concentrations of CNTs. Results and discussions Dispersion of the powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs Decoration of CNTs by polymer wrapping is an easy way to disperse CNTs in solvent and polymer, and the powder of polymer-wrapped CNTs can re-disperse in a solvent. This technology also improves the drawbacks of CNTs of being lightweight and difficult to process. Depending on the concentration of CNTs in composites, they can meet electrical requirements such as anti-electrostatic property electrostatic discharge conductivity and electromagnetic interference The composites can be applied in an anti-electrostatic product, an electrostatic discharge product, an electromagnetic and radiation shield, and 3 C electronic equipment. We acknowledge the financial support from the Department of Industrial Technology of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan. 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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
With their treelike height, thin legs and awkward locomotion, giraffes are the epitome of the word "gangly." But do their sexual behaviors involve smoother actions than one would assume from their appearance? Like people, giraffes mate year-round, though there's some indication that breeding times correspond with periods of high food availability. The tall ungulates live in a so-called fission-fusion society, in which the size and the composition of herds continually shift — the social mammals use this ever-changing society to find mates. "The best way to describe it: Giraffes live in a permanent cocktail party," said Fred Bercovitch, a biologist at Kyoto University in Japan who has studied the reproductive and social behaviors of giraffes. "At a cocktail party, you'll see there are some people who are really social butterflies and spend a little bit of time mingling with a lot of people, and others who spend more time with fewer people." And then there are some that are on the lookout for a one-night stand. Similar to the way a person might walk around a party and chat with people to see who's interested, a male giraffe will move through a herd to find females that are receptive to mating, Bercovitch told Live Science. This sexual hunt involves the male prodding the rear ends of different females with his head. Some females will respond by spreading their legs and urinating, sparking a so-called flehmen response from the male — he will lift his upper lip, flare his nostrils and inhale. In addition to sniffing the urine, he may even taste it, taking in additional chemical cues to see if the female is ready to mate. [Most Mammals Take 21 Seconds to Pee] Female giraffes have a two-week estrous cycle, but are only fertile for a narrow window of fewer than four days during this period (this cycle will repeat until the female gets pregnant). Urine testing allows the male to find females in this fertile window, Bercovitch said. Once a male finds a fertile female, he "stands behind her and looks like a statue," Bercovitch said. The female may choose to walk off, possibly to feed, but the male will follow her to stand behind her again, often with an erection the entire time. To let her know he's ready to mate, he will occasionally tap her hind legs with his forelegs. Though males do fight over dominance and territory by viciously swinging their heads (and hornlike "ossicones") into each other's bodies, it's unknown if males fight over mates. "Nobody has found two big male bulls fighting and the winner goes over to the female," Bercovitch said. [See Cute Pictures of Baby Giraffes] It's unclear what qualities, if any, a female looks for in a mate. Given the narrow window available to get pregnant, a female may simply mate with any bull that has survived long enough to reach full adulthood, Bercovitch said. Whatever the case, the female has to cooperate for mating to occur — she has to delicately balance a mate that could weigh as much as 50 percent more than her, as he mounts her from behind. After successfully mounting a female, the male ejaculates almost immediately, typically in less than 2 seconds.
Lemons are among the world’s healthiest foods. Nothing can compare with the benefits that the almighty citrus fruit provide, and that’s a fact that’s backed up by some of the world’s most renowned research centers, including the American Heart Association (AHA). No matter where you live, and no matter what your eating traditions are, I’m ready to bet my bottom dollar that lemons are a part your must-have necessary ingredients. That’s mainly because this fruit appears in recipes from all over the world, whether you’re following the instructions of a Chinese Cookbook, Filipino Cookbook, or even a French Cookbook. What’s even better is that lemons can be consumed directly, as juice, or included in other desserts. You can basically include them whether you’re trying to use your Cookie Press, Donut Maker, or Crepe Maker. Here’s a bonus tip from a fellow citrus lover; add some lemon drops in your Tea or Coffee Mug whenever you make one with your Coffee Maker. Believe me, that will turn into a second nature in no time. I truly appreciate the wonders of this fantastic fruit, and that’s why I’m going to detail its benefits in this article. I will also answer a question that roams the heads beginner as well as advanced cooks; how much juice can you get out of one lemon? Some of the Fantastic Health Benefits of Lemons It’s a no-brainer that lemons are very healthy and provide a plethora of benefits, so here’s a list detailing some of the most popular ones. #1 – Detoxifying Properties If you’ve tasted a lemon before, you surely recognize its acidic, yet delicious, flavor. That very property allows the citrus fruit to dissolve toxins in our bodies, which result in a cleaner and more whole organism. Lemons also stimulate the liver, work on dissolving uric acid and clean our bowels since they increase peristalsis levels and improve digestive movements. In other words, if you have any constipation problems, lemons can help you get better. #2 – Antibacterial Properties This may sound exaggerated, but it’s the truth. Different studies done on the effects of the citrus fruit have found that lemon juice is able to kill bacteria, and can even beat numerous dangerous diseases, including malaria, diphtheria, and cholera. Maybe it is time to get your Juicer and Juicing Book. #3 – Alkalize Your Body Lemons are alkaline formers, which helps with controlling and restoring pH levels in the organism. #4 – Full of Vitamin C It’s a well-known fact that lemons are an indispensable source of Vitamin C. A healthy body needs specific daily doses of Vitamin C to keep the immune system healthy and functional, which makes consuming lemons regularly necessary for healthy day to day life. #5 – Provides Vitamin P Vitamin P isn’t as well-known as Vitamin C, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not as important. This vitamin helps with strengthening blood vessels, treating high blood pressure, and preventing internal bleeding, which means that it’s essential to cover your needs of it, mainly through lemons. #6 – Helps with Breathing Difficulties If you get a feeling that your lungs aren’t providing enough oxygen, lemons can help you feel relieved, so make sure to keep some at an arm’s reach, preferably in your Compact Refrigerator or Chest Freezer, all the time. It’s worth mentioning that even mountain climbers use lemons to avoid this kind of problems. #7 – Lemons Are the Only Anionic Fruits The Reams Biological Ionization Theory confirmed that lemons are the single anionic foods in the world, which makes them a critical source of energy. The negatively charged ions, also known as anions, coming from lemons can react with positively charged ions, known as cations, to produce decent amounts of energy inside our organism. That very energy can be utilized by the different body cells to maintain regular activity. Maybe you shouldn’t have skipped your chemistry classes after all. #8 – Rutin Rutin plays a considerable role in maintaining healthy eyes as it can relieve the different symptoms of eye disorders and can help you avoid diabetic retinopathy. #9 – Citric Acid Citric Acid is what you’d call a natural gallstone. It helps with dispersing calcium deposits and with kidney stones dissolving. #10 – Hair and Skin Benefits As you may have already noticed, a lot of face and hair masks and care products include lemons in their ingredients list. Lemon can help with dandruff and hair loss. Applying it to your scalp would fix your hair problems and make it look shiny and brighter. It also works wonders on treating eczema, insect bites and sunburns. Lemon juice can help your skin look clean, youthful, and free from acne and spots. #11 – Dental Care Lemon juice can relieve an acute toothache. It’s also a great way to eliminate gum problems and diseases. #12 – Lemons Help with Weight Loss If you’re struggling with weight loss, we highly recommend drinking warm lemonade, which is lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and Honey, every morning before breakfast. That magical mixture can work wonders on your body as it works on speeding up the metabolism and burning the fat cells. How Much Juice Is There in One Lemon? A lot of recipes demand the usage of lemon juice. To be honest, I personally believe that even when the recipe doesn’t require using lemon, you can add it on your own. The problem is, different recipes require different amounts of lemon juice, and most of them mention how many lemons you need, not how much fluid to include. How is that a problem, you ask? Because lemons come in a variety of sizes, which means that they don’t include the same amount of juice. After conducting some research through our old’ friend Google, I found some results that I’m going to share with you now so you can save some time. An average lemon weighs around 3.6 ounces, and in an attempt to discover how much juice one lemon provides, a cook I stumbled upon online did a simple, yet practical, test: After finding a medium-sized lemon, they squeezed all the zest and lemon juice in it, then they did some calculations and came to the following conclusion; The average lemon provides around two tbsp of juice and one tbsp of zest. One pound is equal to four or five lemons. By doing some simple math, there should be around 8 to 10 tbsp of juice in one pound of fruits. Now, this test is actually quite helpful. That’s because, in a theoretical situation where the recipe tells you to use bottled lemon juice that you don’t have in your kitchen, you can simply take a medium sized lemon and squeeze the juice out of it. If the recipe requires one tablespoon of lemon juice, just squeeze one half of a medium sized lemon. The calculations work the other way around as well, meaning that if you don’t have lemons, you can use bottled citric juice. For example, if a recipe from a Cookie Cookbook asks you to squeeze one lemon, simply add two tbsp of the lemon juice you already have. That tip can be beneficial, especially for people who want to avoid bottled lemon juice. Every cook knows that using fresh ingredients is always better while cooking. Of course, that doesn’t mean that bottled lemon juice isn’t healthy, but it’s better to use fresh lemons whenever you get the opportunity. Another thing that some people might be wondering about while purchasing citric fruits is the secret behind the color change that occurs over time. Lemons turn from green to yellow, and people think that it’s due to ripeness, but that’s not the case. The color change is related to temperature fluctuation. So just because the lemons you purchased are green, it doesn’t mean you can’t use them. How to Squeeze All the Juice Out of Your Lemons Now that you know how much juice one lemon can produce, what’s left for you to do is to make the lemonade. One question remains though; how can you effectively squeeze your lemons to get as much juice as possible out of them? Worry not, as we’re to the rescue again. Here are some tips regarding the matter so you can get the most out of your recently-purchased citric fruits: Using Elbow Grease Cut the lemon into two halves and squeeze it cut-side up, as simple as that! Using A Fork First, cut the lemon into two halves, then stab a fork into the and pressing it till you get all the juice out. Using a Spoon Similar to using a fork, you need to cut the lemon in half. But this time, when you stick the spoon into the center of the lemon, you need to make twisting movement to get the juice out. You can then squeeze what’s left of the fluid very easily. Using A Hand Juicer A hand juicer will make squeezing lemons a fun, easy activity that even kids could do. Using a Citrus Press Just like using a Hand Juicer, a Citrus Press makes it easier to squeeze lemons. Here’s a bonus tip; to make things even easier, you can microwave the lemons to warm them up a little bit before squeezing them. If I’m to choose the king of all veggies and fruits, I’d pick lemons every single time. Not only is it highly beneficial for the body, but the citric fruit is also delicious and can add a delightful, acidic taste to any meal or beverage. What’s even more convenient is that you can use every part of a lemon, which makes it an essential element in every kitchen. While you’re here, be sure to check out our kitchen product reviews!
\|Type of Structure:\|\|coordinated project\| \|Regional Scope:\|\|continental in the area: Europe\| \|Duration :\|\|0 to present\| \|Contact Address:\|\|no office contact defined\| General information and objectivesSpace Weather originates mainly in solar activity and affects the interplanetary space and planetary magnetospheres, ionospheres and atmospheres. It can affect ground and space technological systems as well as humans in space. Extreme space weather conditions have economical consequences and may threaten safety and security of the technological infrastructures.
You have likely heard the advice that keeping your brain active can help ward off Alzheimer’s disease. A study by researchers at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center finds that playing games, going to museums and doing other mentally stimulating activities can delay the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. However, if dementia does develop, it progresses more rapidly in those who had previously maintained a healthy active lifestyle. Neuropsychologist and lead author Robert Wilson, PhD, theorizes that mentally stimulating activities may somehow enhance the brain’s ability to function relatively normally despite the buildup of lesions in the brain associated with dementia, but the benefit of mental activities can no longer compensate after the pathologic burden exceeds some threshold. “So we think by the time that cognitively active people begin to show symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, they actually have more pathology in their brains than do affected people who were less cognitively active. As a result, they decline faster. That is, the benefit of delaying the initial appearance of symptoms comes at the cost of more rapid dementia progression,” Wilson said. The study is published in the September 1, 2010, online issue of Neurology. Read the complete news release. Endear supports the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center (RADC) at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center is one of 29 Alzheimer’s disease research centers across the country designated and funded by the National Institute on Aging. They provide a full spectrum of services in the diagnosis and care of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Endear provides a direct donation link to the Rush University Medical Center to aid in their research efforts. The link goes directly to Rush and they receive 100% of the donations made. Please help further Alzheimer’s research by making a donation here: http://rush.convio.net/endear
Pronunciation: [reh-bluh-SHOHN deuh SAH-vwah] This uncooked, washed rind French cows'-milk cheese has a couple of explanations for the derivation of its name. One relates to reblocher reblessa, which means "to steal" in a local dialect. Both point to the late Middle Ages, when farmers used milk to pay rent and/or taxes. When tax collectors or landlords arrived, the farmer would pretend to milk the cows until they were dry and pay up. After the officials had left, the farmer would remilk the supposedly dry cows. This second milking had a higher butterfat content, which produced rich, creamy cheeses. Reblochon has a creamy-soft texture that becomes oozy as the cheese ripens. The flavor is rich, complex and savory. Reblochon has a beige to reddish-orange rind with velvety white mold and an ivory interior. It's sold in 8½-ounce to 1¼-pound wheels. Reblochon is made from raw milk, and if it's ripened for less than 60 days it is not currently allowed into the United States. The imported version, Fromage de Savoie, is made with pasteurized milk and not considered as good. See also cheese. From The Food Lover's Companion, Fourth edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. Copyright © 2007, 2001, 1995, 1990 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc.
A retail store sells merchandise for $100 plus HST of $113. How much should the store record as revenue? Explain why. If any part of the $113 is not included in revenue, how is it accounted for? Answer to relevant QuestionsWhy do gains and losses arise when an entity redeems its bonds before they mature? How are the gains and losses calculated? Entities that use future income tax accounting show two components of the income tax expense: the current expense and the future expense. Explain these two components.Why would recording an "interest-free" loan at its face value result in the overstatement of net income for the borrower? Identify and explain the criteria that IFRS provide to assist in the classification of leases. What are the problems and benefits of providing preparers of the financial statements with these criteria? Distinguish the future income tax method of accounting for income taxes from the taxes payable method. Post your question
How do I access the NFS folder? Using NFS Servers – You can find an icon for NFS Servers on the Entire Network screen from Network Neighborhood. When you access it, you see a list of all the NFS servers on your local subnet. If the NFS server you need is part of your local subnet, you can browse its file system and map its folders to network drives. Where are NFS files stored? Every filesystem being exported to remote users via NFS, as well as the access rights relating to those filesystems, is located in the /etc/exports file. How do I find my NFS address? Steps. Next, run ‘netstat -an \| grep 2049’ to display a list of NFS connections. Look for the connection that matches one of the NFS server IP from nfslookup. This is the NFS server IP that the client is using and will be the IP you need to use for tracing if necessary. Right-click on the new folder and select Properties. On the ‘Properties’ window, select the ‘NFS Sharing’ tab. Select the ‘Manage NFS Sharing…’ button. In the NFS Advanced Sharing widget, check the ‘Share this folder’ checkbox, then select Permissions. What is NFS folder? Network File Sharing (NFS) is a protocol that allows you to share directories and files with other Linux clients over a network. Shared directories are typically created on a file server, running the NFS server component. Users add files to them, which are then shared with other users who have access to the folder. How do I open an NFS file? So to open an NSF file, open a Notes database as you normally would. - Click “File,” then “Database,” then “Open” to bring up the Open Database dialog box. - Select the server where the database resides from the Server list. … - Navigate to the name of the database you want from the Database list, and click “Open.” Is NFS a file system? NFS, or Network File System, was designed in 1984 by Sun Microsystems. This distributed file system protocol allows a user on a client computer to access files over a network in the same way they would access a local storage file. Because it is an open standard, anyone can implement the protocol. Are NFS files stored? NFS is an Internet Standard, client/server protocol developed in 1984 by Sun Microsystems to support shared, originally stateless, (file) data access to LAN-attached network storage. As such, NFS enables a client to view, store, and update files on a remote computer as if they were locally stored. How do I find my NFS server IP address? NFS server virtual IP address - Gather the network adapters of the nodes, for example using ifconfig and select the ones which should be used by NFS clients to access data through the NFS server. - Get a free IP address and the corresponding netmask from your network administrator. How do I know if I have NFS? To verify that NFS is running on each computer: - AIX® operating systems: Type the following command on each computer: lssrc -g nfs The Status field for NFS processes should indicate active . … - Linux® operating systems: Type the following command on each computer: showmount -e hostname. What port does NFS run on? It runs on Port 111 for both TCP and UDP protocols. Network File System (NFS): Mount an NFS Share on Windows - Make sure that the NFS Client is installed. Open a Powershell command prompt. Run the appropriate command for your situation: … - Mount the share using the following command, after making the required modifications: mount -o anon nfs.share.server.name:/share-name X: How do I access a folder? 1Choose Start→Computer. 2Double-click an item to open it. 3If the file or folder that you want is stored within another folder, double-click the folder or a series of folders until you locate it.
The demantoid is one of the most brilliant gemstones that exist, yet until recently it was little known except among collectors and gemstone lovers. Strictly speaking it is a green garnet, or rather the star of the green garnets. Not without reason does it bear a name which means ‘diamond-like’. The name comes from the Dutch and makes reference to the outstanding quality of this gem, its incomparable brilliance and fire. Some gemstone lovers claim that a demantoid will continue to glow even in the shade. The demantoid belongs to the large gemstone family of the garnets, and is actually a variety of the garnet mineral andradite. But it is more than that: it is the most expensive kind of garnet and one of the most precious of all gemstones. It is highly esteemed on account of its rarity coupled with that incredible luminosity. For the latter, at least, there is a plausible explanation: the demantoid has an extremely high refraction (refractive index 1.880 to 1.889). Yet its high dispersion is also remarkable, in other words its ability to split the light which comes in through the facets and break it down into all the colours of the rainbow. The demantoid is a master of this, and does it even better than the diamond. The spectrum of its colours includes many shades of green, from a slightly yellowish green to a brownish green with a golden glow. Particularly precious is a deep emerald green, though this only occurs very rarely indeed. It is not only fine and unusual, but the specimens are also mostly small, large ones being extremely rare. Once cut, only a few stones weigh more than two carats, and most of them hardly exceed one. And even if you come across one set in a piece of jewellery, it is always likely to be a small stone. Favourite stone of Russia’s star jeweller There have been a good many beautiful gems which appeared like shooting-stars in the fascinating world of gemstones and vanished from the scene again after only a short time. That indeed is probably what would have happened to the demantoid … if a goatherd had not happened to be going about his business one day in Namibia. But more of that in a moment. After its discovery in 1868 in Russia’s Ural mountains, the demantoid rapidly proceeded to become a much desired gemstone. Comet-like, it scintillated among the finest jeweller’s workshops in Paris, New York and St. Petersburg. First and foremost, Russia’s star jeweller Carl Fabergé adored it for its tremendous brilliance and loved to incorporate it in his precious objects. But with the chaos of the First World War, the green star began to fade rapidly. Now, it made only rare appearances in the gemstone trade, and when it did so it was mostly incorporated in an item of second-hand jewellery, or among remnant stocks from the places where it had originally been found in the Urals. Occasionally demantoids were found in other parts of the world, for example in the Congo, or in Korea in 1975, but the quality of these stones was such that they were suitable for collectors’ use only. The situation changed quite suddenly in the middle of the 1990s, when a new seam bearing gemstones was discovered in Namibia. Demantoid was among them. The story of that discovery reads like a thriller. It is set in the southern Damara country near the Spitzkoppe, as the ‘Matterhorn of Africa’ is also known. The vast, steppe-like country surrenders to the scorching African sun. Far away on the horizon, the ‘black mountains’ lie blurred in the bluish haze. It’s a dry, hard country. Yet for a long, long time it had held an unknown treasure: gemstones! Millions of years before, liquid magma had shot up from the bowels of the Earth and solidified shortly before it reached the surface. In the course of time, the wind and the elements removed the surface strata until finally only the distinctive granite mountain, the Spitzkoppe, was left. And the gemstones, that is. No-one had an inkling of their existence until in December 1996, quite by chance, a wandering goatherd found a number of crystal-like objects which seemed to him worthy of attention. When he had shown them around a bit in a nearby village, the attention of experts was drawn to the find, and they quickly realised what a treasure was being presented to them. Meanwhile, the Namibian government has issued concessions for gemstone mines. The rare gemstones are carefully quarried by hand from the parent rock. Care is taken to ensure that as little as possible of the precious raw material is lost. Why the horsetail influences the value of a demantoid Demantoids from Namibia come in shades from a vivacious light green to an intense blue-green. They have a striking brilliance. Thanks to their hardness of just under 7 on the Mohs scale, they are well suited to being used in jewellery. However, they do lack one feature by which the true demantoid had always been able to be identified through the microscope: ‘horsetail inclusions’. These golden brown crystal threads of chrysotile, mostly appearing to radiate out from the centre of the stone, had previously occurred in almost all demantoids. But – more’s the pity – they were missing in the relatively inclusion-free gems from Namibia. These horsetail inclusions were not only typical of the demantoid; they could even increase its value if they were pronounced. That may sound surprising, since as a rule inclusions, which can impair the transparency of a gemstone, are not a welcome sight. But with the demantoid’s ‘horsetail inclusions’ it is a different matter. A beautiful, well formed inclusion can increase the value of the gemstone considerably, a good many collectors being prepared to pay a higher price. If you are offered a demantoid, it is definitely a good idea to have a look at it through the gemstone microscope. If the stone comes from Russia, you may be able to see these fine, fibrous wisps whose resemblance to the tail of a horse is unmistakable. If that is the case, you have a definite pointer to its origin. At the same time, this ‘fingerprint of Nature’ shows you that you are holding one of the rarest and most valuable gemstones in your hand. This rarity will also make itself felt in the price, since a demantoid from Russia will be valued much more highly than a green garnet from Namibia, however brilliant the latter may be.
La Farge, one of the most innovative and versatile artists of the nineteenth century, achieved renown as a painter in oils and watercolors, an illustrator, a muralist, and a designer of stained-glass windows. Among the first to incorporate opalescent glass and other unconventional materials, his windows were unprecedented. This one is the first of a series of at least seven that La Farge created between 1880 and 1909, all based on the theme of peonies in the wind, adapted from Chinese and Japanese handscrolls and porcelains. It was installed in the Newport residence of Henry Gurdon Marquand, president of the Metropolitan Museum from 1889 to 1902. Marking: marked in panels at border: JOHN LA FARGE PATnd 1880 / JN. LA FARGE APATd. 1880 / J. La Farge / Pat / 1880 Henry Gurdon Marquand, New York and Newport, Rhode Island, 1881–died 1902; sale, American Art Association, New York, 23–30 Jan. 1903, no. 947a; Mrs. George Theodore (Jeanette Dwight) Bliss, New York, 1903–died 1917; Susan Dwight Bliss, New York, 1917–1930 Artist: John La Farge (American, New York 1835–1910 Providence, Rhode Island)Date: ca. 1881–82Medium: Watercolor and graphite on heavy white paper mounted on tan cardboardAccession: 2001.378On view in:Not on view Artist: John La Farge (American, New York 1835–1910 Providence, Rhode Island)Date: 1909Medium: Graphite, fixative layer, on off-white wove paper, laid down on pulpboardAccession: 45.56On view in:Not on view
Safe from prying eyes Objective evaluation of opacity of clothing and technical textiles Textiles are meant to maintain decency in many areas of life. On the other hand a certain level of transparency is actually wanted for materials used for clothing, curtains, scaffold sheeting or exhibition stand elements. The scientists at the Hohenstein institutes offer support to clothing manufacturers, builders, architects and exhibition stand constructors for the selection of textiles which meet the individual requirements for opacity or transparency. They have developed an objective measuring method for classifying the opacity or transparency of textiles. The new test methods can be used for technical textiles as well as for textiles for the clothing industry. Determining opacity allows manufacturers targeted optimisation of their products and minimisation of complaints. A corresponding label on the product also provides them with the option to make it easier for their customers to select suitable products for different areas of use. White or coloured clothing textiles such as blouses, T-shirts and work clothing are tested while dry, bathing textiles while wet and dry, and then classified as “opaque” (“pass”) or “transparent” (“fail”). The measurements take into account two different skin types and three contrasting colours to simulate undergarments. The result is determined on the basis of the so-called “worst case”. For clothing this is e.g. white underwear and a dark skin type. The labels “opaque” or “not opaque” are not sufficient for technical textiles for exhibition stand construction, textile advertising objects, decorative fabrics, curtain fabrics etc. because a certain transparency is often required from these textiles. Therefore a separate evaluation scale was developed for this group of textiles, describing the level of transparency in 5 stages. This scale extends from very transparent, transparent and slightly transparent to nearly opaque and completely opaque.
Theodore Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States. President Roosevelt attended office from 1901 to 1909. His tenure is marked by the construction of the Panama Canal in 1904. President Theodore Roosevelt was the first United States President to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. Theodore Roosevelt was born on 27th October, 1858 in New York city. His father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. was a wealthy businessman trading in plate-glass and hardware. Theodore was a sickly child and underwent home schooling in place of attending a regular primary and secondary learning institution. the offshoot of home schooling was his lifelong interest in zoology.Theodore Roosevelt matriculated from Harvard College in 1876. He enrolled at Columbia Law School in 1880. Roosevelt left midway from the course in 1881. Theodore Roosevelt chose to contest the elections for New York Assemblyman the same year. He ran as a Republican Party candidate and became a New York state legislator. Theodore Roosevelt was appointed President of the New York City Police Commissioners in 1895. His tenure in the New York police department was marked by widespread work reforms. Roosevelt also pioneered the induction of ethnic minorities and women into the police payroll. Theodore Roosevelt became the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1897. the appointment was approved by the incumbent US President, William McKinley. Roosevelt is credited with the victory of the United States over Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898. He also participated in the war as a prominent member of the First U.S Volunteer Cavalry Regiment. the regiment is famous in American history by its nickname- 'Rough Riders'. Theodore Roosevelt became governor of New York in 1898. He was elected on a Republican Party ticket. He became the US vice president under President William McKinley on 4th March, 1901. Roosevelt was to continue his position until 14th September, 1901. President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th United States President after the assassination of William McKinley on 6th September, 1901. He formally ascended the presidential post on the 14th of September, 1901. He continued his presidency after a convincing win in the 1904 US election. President Theodore Roosevelt's term is marked by widespread and progressive reforms of the United States economy. Roosevelt implemented a 9 hour workday for miners. He also helped to pass the Hepburn Act in 1906. the Hepburn Act curtailed the abnormal and illegal use of railway transport passes. the Pure Food and Drug Act also came into application the same year. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major champion of ecological conservation. the first American National Bird Preserve was founded by Roosevelt during his tenure. the Badlands National Park was also set up by him. The Antiquities Act of 1906 enabled successive US Presidents to nominate national monuments with presidential proclamation. President Roosevelt is known in history as the person who made possible the construction of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal connected the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans the canal shortened the total distance by a staggering 8,000 miles. Construction of the canal began in 1904. The Panama Canal became operational from 1914. Nobel Peace Prize President Theodore Roosevelt catalyzed a satisfactory ending to the Russo Japanese War of 1904-1905. He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his efforts. He also sent the US army to restore law and order in Philippines in 1902. President Roosevelt also sent the United States navy to circumnavigate the world in 1907. This flotilla of ships is known in history as the Great White Fleet. President Roosevelt was the first US premier to invite an African American, Booker T. Washington as a White House guest in 1901. He is also the first American president to ride an aircraft and military submarine. Theodore Roosevelt is the first United States President well-versed in judo combat techniques. Theodore Roosevelt's term as United States President ended on 4th March, 1909. He undertook an expedition through dense Brazilian forests in from 1913 to 1914. The experiences of this expedition is excellently documented through his book 'Through the Brazilian Wilderness'. The trip was part sponsored by the American Museum of National History. Theodore Roosevelt died due to heart problems on 6th January, 1919. He is buried in Youngs Memorial Cemetery at Oyster Bay, New York. His sculpted image is found on Mount Rushmore. Last Updated on: September 29th, 2017
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2000.06.07 Florence Dupont, The Invention of Literature: From Greek Intoxication to the Latin Book (Trans. Janet Lloyd). Baltimore and London: John Hopkins University Press, 1999. Pp. xi, 287. ISBN 0-8018-5864-X. Reviewed by Donka D. Markus Word count: 3780 words Florence Dupont is already known to scholars on this continent, primarily from her article "Recitatio and the reorganization of the space of public discourse" (1997). L'acteur roi (1985) and La vie quotidienne du citoyen romain (1989) are among her frequently cited works. The Invention of Literature is a disappointing book whether or not one wants to dwell on the details (cf. D. Feeney's review in the Apr. 28 issue of TLS). The disappointments are naturally more numerous if one chooses a detailed approach, as I have done in this review. Published in French in 1994, The Invention ... has a somewhat misleading title, because it actually demonstrates how literature was NOT invented in antiquity and how the "reading-writing pair was unable to accede to a culturally autonomous existence" (247). According to D. only the ideology of literary culture was invented (98). The argument of the book rests on a projected consensus about what literature is, a consensus that does not actually exist. The field of defining literature as an institution and the search for what literature is and does has been steadily growing since the seventies: Dubois (1978), Hernadi (1978), Eagleton (1983), Lambropoulos (1988) are just a few of the names engaged in this exploration. D.'s only frame of reference in this regard is B. Cerquilini (1989), to whom she owes the realization that literature in the modern sense is a value term and therefore, historically and ideologically conditioned and that it is a construct of the turn of the eighteenth century. In addition, she formulates her own criteria for what makes literature, namely the existence of a sizeable audience which reads for pleasure and the existence of interpretive readings or aesthetic and polysemic hermeneutics as used today (169). She is right to resist projecting modern theoretical constructs onto the ancients, but goes too far in viewing the various phases of the progression from orality to literacy as a steady process of decline. The book examines closely three ancient texts: Anacreon's Cleobulus poem, Catullus 50 and Apuleius' Metamorphoses, and argues for their unreadability. That is, they are unreadable within the protocols of modern literary institutions, but they are accessible (as she tries to show) to reconstruction with the tools of literary pragmatics (Mainguenaus and Recanti), cultural anthropology (Calame, Cerquilini, Goody, Svenbro) and the understanding of oral poetry (Nagy and Zumthor). Therefore, her method of analysis, informed by pragmatics and cultural anthropology does not consist of reading the text but in reconstructing the event of which it was a part, or in reconstructing the fictional speech act which it tries to imitate. D. has a clear agenda: she seeks to undermine the aetiological fantasy of "Western civilization" as "the cradle for the arts and literature" and sets out to rediscover the otherness of the ancients that would lead to the rediscovery of ourselves in all our "repressed diversity"(2). She sees herself as part of the project of demystifying the "Greek miracle" started by Jean Pierre Vernant and Pierre Vidal-Naquet. She sets out to show that the mainstream association of oral = primitive and written = civilized cannot be justified within the frame of reference of the ancients themselves. The minority popular cultures of today are heirs to the living, oral version of Greek and Roman culture as much as our literary culture is heir to the culture of books and libraries that originated in antiquity. Since modern culture is witnessing a comeback on the part of orality, the recovering of our oral origins can help us "project ourselves forward to the future by acknowledging that "the deficiency, if any, is not on the side of orality and traditional poetry, but rather on that of writing and the poetry of books" (16), which are deprived of the voices and bodies that gave birth to them. A note on the use of terminology is needed for the reader who has access only to the translation. D. uses a communicative model for 'the literary' and is equally interested in both sides of the communicative process. For describing the source of the communicative act, she uses énonciation rendered into English with 'speech act', of which the statement (énoncé) is a part. She is also interested in the recipient, user, interpreter of the signs recorded in writing. Who used the texts under examination and how are questions that drive the argument of the book forward. According to D., a public that enjoyed reading as a recreational activity is not among the users of the texts. Instead, she sees writing and reading as social performances fulfilling the following functions: 1. To create archives of knowledge through collection, categorization and compilation. 2. To preserve books as funerary monuments to the great men who wrote them 3. To serve as models for the few scholars, orators, poets, storytellers who wished to imitate them. 4. In Rome, to build social ties through the institution of recitatio. For D. each new reading, as it constitutes a new speech act for the same statement, proposes a new pragmatic meaning. Texts not created for readers do not convey meaning but action and are best understood through the reconstruction of their original speech act with the methods of pragmatics and cultural anthropology and via the remake or staging, which recreates the original event. The real, contextualized speech act implied in the production constitutes the moment when the statement lived and served the purpose of mythical exploration. The second, fictional speech act implied in the reception recontextualizes the statement, which has been decontextualized in the writing. The second speech act is not necessarily a literary reading but a commemoration of the original event, a citation. So, Virgil's references to Homer were intended as citations (13). According to D., one cannot speak of intertextuality in connection with ancient texts, for intertextuality is a procedure not only of writing but also of reading (13). D.'s views in this regard will sound extremely simplistic to those who have invested some thought in the distinctions between the Alexandrian footnote (Ross 1975), the reference (Thomas 1986), the allusion, self-annotation and intertextuality (Hinds 1998). To complete the methodological framework used by D, a metaphor borrowed from thermodynamics plays a key function in the way in which she conceives of cultural developments. On one side she sees 'hot culture', which consists of the wine and the kisses that enflame Roman drinkers at the commissatio. It is associated with orality, live events, speech acts, recomposition, pragmatic meaning and thrives when it is not mainstream but marginal. Cold culture, on the other hand, incorporates tombstones, monuments, books, or a group of friends attending a public reading; it tends to become institutionalized, written. The central thesis of the book is that "hot culture" cools and degenerates into the cold culture of writing and monuments in a down-spiraling process of cultural entropy. The reduction of complex phenomena to this mechanical model accounts for many of D.'s absurd conclusions. Part One: The Culture of Intoxication: Singing with nothing to say It is a feature of the book throughout that it abounds in tenuous rhetorical generalizations which, while aiming to correct an extreme, themselves fall into the opposite extreme. For instance, "This Western literary view of Greek lyric constitutes one of those famous 'appropriations of orality' by writing that are among the greatest cultural crimes of our civilization."(22) Some examples of this crime (various translations of the Cleobulus poem) are collected in an appendix at the end of the book. In this chapter, D. does not promise a reading of Anacreon's Cleobulus poem because the text was not intended for a literary reading. Instead, she offers to reconstruct the lyric event of which it constitutes a trace so as to recover its "pragmatic meaning" (22), an endeavor which "will lead us to discover ... that the texts today published as 'Greek Lyric Poetry' are, in truth, unreadable ... If the reader does derive some meaning from them, it will be one that he has himself implanted there." 1. The Song for Cleobulus. D. takes this poem as an archaeologist would pick up a shard of pottery and attempts to restore its place within the rituals accompanying the symposion and to relate it to other banquet songs of the same type(28). She concludes that Anacreon's Song for Cleobulus is part of the proposis at a Dionysiac symposion, representing the words that accompanied a ritual gesture of offering a cup to a fellow symposiast in a first act of symbolic sharing. Of course, the greatest problem with this hypothesis (which this explanation must remain) is the fact that the poem contains not even a hint of the performative propino, not even a distant equivalent of it. If the poem is a performative, why is its key performative formula absent? The suggestion that the "gesture of supplication is simultaneously the gesture of the drinker offering the cup to Cleobulus"(38) is not convincing. According to D., as a gesture of politeness and a religious act the poem is empty of any semantic content that can be isolated from the context and therefore cannot be "read" or claimed by literature. Song in a symposion embodies for D. the highest degree of "hot culture." It conveys not meaning, but action, cannot be read but can be imagined, and the description of the flamenco comes to the aid of the reader's imagination. The chapter concludes with a vivid description of the setting in which the gypsy flamenco was performed originally: D. sees in the divine rapture in which the fiesta culminates a parallel to the Dionysiac ecstasy of the symposion. The line of reasoning is entirely hypothetical and the reader is left with conjectures that are not rooted in any kind of evidence. 2. The Invention of Anacreon This seems to be the most important chapter in the book, as it is the most extensive. Its conceptual framework is largely based on a simplified version of Pindar's Homer of G. Nagy. The chapter explores how the Dionysiac intoxication at the banquet, best represented in Anacreon's poetry, starts cooling through the transfer of Dionysus to the institutionalized theater. The theater for D. is a cold institution because "Athenian imperialism set up the plays of some poets as models, fixing the text once and for all and reperforming the 'classics'". This made the history of Athenian theatre into a 'politically organized cultural degradation' (82). Other stages of entropic decline include the performance of poetry at festivals and competitions; at the symposium, where the participants cite great authors; in the schools, which trained free citizens how to contribute to the symposium; and, finally, the lowest point of this decline is the canonization and monumentalization of all these speech-acts in the Alexandrian library. Anacreon made his way to the shelves of the library because he represented a paradigmatic experience of intoxication through wine, love and song within the Dionysiac symposium with which most Greeks identified. As a result, he acquired a biography, became an author, under whose name further Anacreontic speech acts (the Anacreontic vases and the Anacreontics) were generated. For D., the Anacreontics represent a model for how the genuine poems of Anacreon originated as well. Still, Anacreon, even if "invented" in antiquity, did not become a literary figure then but only a musical genre, catalogued by Aristarchus. The philological activity, including the Alexandrian literature created in the library, did not benefit a reading public, which according to D. did not exist. It benefited solely book professionals, commentators, philologists, professors, poets, librarians and editors. Of course, one cannot help but ask oneself what the papyrological finds of literary texts in villages or military camps mean for D. (For a catalogue of literary papyri, see the Leuven Database of Ancient Books, Leuven, 1998.) Some of the activities surrounding the editing and explication of earlier authors must have benefited a broader circle of readers. In a brief subchapter (p. 61-63) D. introduces the distinction between Real Speech Acts and Fictitious Speech Acts. It seems that the distinction is very important for her core thesis since she suggests that the "origin of literature lies not in writing, but in the switch from real speech acts that produced statements to fictitious ones." One wishes that she had developed, unpacked and illustrated the concept in a more explicit way. "Fictitious speech act" is defined on p. 13 in an obscure fashion, made a little clearer on p. 62 where the competition and festival is a real speech act that accommodates lyric and epic poetry, while the Homeric banquet is a fictitious speech act for epic. The term is not explicitly used until later, when she briefly discusses the philosophical banquet as a kind of fictitious speech act (162). The reader is left to fill the gaps and holes in this construct on his/her own. Part Two: The culture of the kiss: Speaking with nothing to say When moving to the analysis of Roman culture, Dupont works again only with generalizations, e.g. that 'Rome unlike Greece, did not make record of its oral practices and kept its live practices separate from its monumental practices. Rome committed to writing only artificial poetry which was never part of events,' a statement which clearly conflicts with the case of the Carmen Saeculare, to the performance of which an inscription attests (Dessau 5050). 3. The Games of Catullus The text for analysis is Catullus 50, a poem in which the speech act has completely effaced the statement because not a word of the songs exchanged at the banquet between the two friends has been transmitted in the poem. Anacreon's Cleobulus song at least preserves the statement (the address to the beloved), while Catullus 50 transmits only the memory of the event and the absence of the beloved in a written statement, which involves the fiction of two real scriptural practices, the letter and the epigram. Lines 14-17 evoke the fiction of a letter while lines 18-21 evoke the fiction of an epigram. If this chapter was designed to prove that Catullus' poem was unreadable, the argument is very weak and unconvincing. If "the poem that we possess here and have now read was from the start preserved in a book, published under the name of Catullus" (126), why is this not a readable piece of literature? In a footnote (20, p. 126) D. notes that books did have some lectores, ending the chapter with the weak statement that the poem was only meant to testify to "the epigrammatic productivity of the Romans and that it was a museum piece and expected to be received as such." (127) 4. Kisses in the Greek Manner and Roman Cuisine Only the last part of this chapter contributes substantially to the main argument of the book: the invention of literature. The first part is devoted to the analysis of the specific features of the Roman commissatio. D. draws upon a mixed selection of banquet lyrics in order to argue for the kiss as a civilized, asexual gesture of exchanging breaths, converted into an end in itself in the context of the commissatio. This discussion of the pleasurable commissatio is not fully integrated into the main argument but serves only as a background to the discussion of the learned commissatio which celebrates the monuments of the official culture by citing them. D. analyses "an episode in the invention of Roman literature", a banquet described in Aulus Gellius 19.9, where the participants do not sing banquet songs themselves but listen to a performance of Anacreon and Sappho by slaves and instead of engaging in the ritual of conviviality display their academic skill by commenting on the qualities of the lyrics. The concert fulfills the role of a ceremonial that confirms the group's image of its own identity, as leisure devoted to the sophisticated pleasures of love, wine and poetry was regarded as a criterion of civilization. The poetic performances at Trimalchio's banquet in Petronius with their imitative and inept quality confirm the impression that citing Greek and Latin poetry at banquets was a way of affirming one's cultural and social identity. But this celebration of fixed texts does not bring about the birth of literature as an institution because "books played an important part in Rome but did not provide pleasure from words" (164). Roman readers admired style or absorbed knowledge but did not engage in interpretive reading or an aesthetic and polysemic hermeneutics such as we use today, which is what makes something written down function as a text."(169). To define literature around something as intangible as the presence or absence of reading for pleasure is quite absurd, to say the least. 5. The Golden Ass Stories. This is the first chapter of two within the third and last part of the book, entitled The Story Culture: Books that were not for reading. The chapter simply continues the theme of unreadability, which in the case of Apuleius' Metamorphoses D. supports with the conjecture that stories were part of the living, oral culture. But then she has to confront and answer the question: if the stories in the Golden Ass were not meant for a public that reads for pleasure, what was the purpose of writing them down? Stories served the purpose of the exploration of cultural margins and as a compendium that provided storytellers with material that they could then reuse, thus they were there to create orality out of writing. Of course, this (as D. herself admits) is nothing but a hypothesis (216), which conveniently fits into her overall concept of cultural entropy. She rightly points out the cultural inferiority attributed to storytelling in contrast to the Dionysiac intoxication through analysis of Ovid, Metam. 4.4-56, a passage which highlights the important distinction between singing and speaking (p.185ff). However, she omits the opportunity to relate this distinction to an emerging notion of literature, as has been done, for instance, by Habinek (1998). It is also not clear how the case of Scheherazade contributes to the understanding of the story-telling practices in Graeco-Roman antiquity. 6. Writing Sandwiched between Two Voices The title of this chapter fits well only the story-culture discussed in ch. 5. The chapter contains an interesting discussion of the institution of recitatio, which manifests the reverse relationship between writing and orality to that of stories: it is an oral gesture sandwiched between two kinds of writing. D's discussion of the recitatio is illuminating, but it inconveniently does not dovetail with her general thesis. The recitatio is part of a social system of gift-giving and gift-receiving, but it is also an important part of the pre-publication process (Horace, Ars Poetica 435-8) and fulfils the goal of improving upon the written work, as many of Pliny the Younger's letters attest. Why would Roman writers meticulously polish their work and elicit feed-back on work in progress, if they did not expect to be read? Ancient writers were not only concerned with being monumentalized, but also with being internalized. Statius, for instance, without resorting to any of the metaphors used by his predecessors, plainly expresses his worry whether his epic is going to be READ after he dies (Durabisne procul dominoque legere superstes, Thebaid XII, 810). It is again a tenuous generalization that comes to the aid in salvaging D.'s theoretical construct: D. postulates that after the recitatio the public never read those books, thus producing a literature without readers. "The Romans did not like literature, except when they themselves had written it" (243). Perhaps she comes up with this conclusion by observing her own attitude to literature. A number of technical features make the book difficult to read. The table of contents does not include the subchapters, which are included in the French edition. There is also no comprehensive bibliography to complement the extensive annotated endnotes. The index consists only of proper names (mostly ancient and some modern) and does not include key-words, which is a must for a book containing such a large number of technical terms. It is also unfortunate that the original for the majority of the Greek texts is not included. Where it is, as in the case of the Bathyllus poem on p.72, it is full of errors in the breathings and the final sigmas. Misprints occur also in the Latin text: on p. 110 for poterus read poturus. In a few instances the translator confuses the names of ancient authors, e.g. at the end of the subchapter on Kisses, Breath and Wine, p.134 For Catulus read Catullus; for Petronius in the last paragraph on p. 165, read Seneca; for Stacius on p. 232 read Statius. Also, the source of some quotations is not clearly marked, e.g. the note to Catullus 50 on p. 271, when the poem is first introduced, omits to mention the number of the poem. It is unfortunate that in some cases the translations of the Greek and Latin texts are made from a French translation, e.g. the quotes from Achilles Tatius and Heliodorus in ch. 5, n. 8&9. Nevertheless, the overall quality of the translation is lucid and precise. In her zeal to discover the otherness of the ancients and to draw simplistic dichotomies between oral-written and "hot" - "cold", D. goes to the extreme of excluding all similarities. She concludes that "ancient writing was a statement in quest of a speech act," and that "writing was fated to draw attention endlessly to the absence of orality" (248). What about the fact that fictional, feigned orality is often inscribed in works ranging from 16th century prose to the modern novel as well, although these works were created within the framework of a literary institution in the modern sense of the word (see Goetsch 1985 and further bibliography)? The poor organization and the amount of unsupported generalizations make this book a frustrating reading experience. Perhaps the exploration of the limits of bad scholarly writing was among the points that D. wanted to make. Dubois, J. (1978) L'institution de la literature. Paris. Dupont, F. (1997) "Recitatio and the reorganization of the space of public discourse," in: Th. Habinek, A. Schiesaro, edd. The Roman Cultural Revolution, Cambridge. Eagleton, T. (1983) Literary Theory: An Introduction, Blackwell. Goetsch, P. (1985) "Fingierte Mündlichkeit in der Erzählkunst entwickelter Schriftkulturen," Poetica 17, 202-218. Habinek, Th.(1998) "Singing, Speaking, Making, Writing: Classical Alternatives to Literature and Literary Studies," in: Stanford Humanities Review 6.1(1998): 65-75. Hernadi, P. ed. (1978) What is Literature? Bloomington, IN. Hinds, S. (1998) Allusion and Intertext: Dynamics of Appropriation in Roman Poetry, Cambridge University Press. Lambropoulos, V. (1988) Literature as National Institution, Princeton University Press. Ross, D. (1975) Backgrounds to Augustan Poetry: Gallus, Elegy and Rome. Cambridge. Thomas, R.(1986) "Virgil's Georgics and the art of reference," HSCP 90: 171-98.
Derive provides the menu items S actor to simplify expressions in which special functions like trigonometric functions, logarithm, and exponential occur. Derive is very precise in checking whether transformations of formulae are valid or not on the domain of computation. If necessary, you have to issue ariable command and restrict the domain of a variable. For functions with simplification rules in two directions such as the rule you also have to specify the direction via the M anage menu item. Examples show best what can be achieved. Let us consider the transformation in both directions. It is only valid when is real or complex and is nonnegative (or with the roles of and interchanged). Derive refuses to do the transformation unless the necessary condition is satisfied. So, let us first issue ariable command and specify a nonnegative number. Next, we issue the M command to control the direction of simplification and choose the 1: x :epsilon Real [0,inf) 2: Logarithm := ExpandThe expression 3: LN(x y)is now S 4: LN(x) + LN(y)The Collectoption in the M ogarithmmenu must be chosen to S implifyin the opposite direction and combine sum of logarithms into the logarithm of a product. 5: Logarithm := Collect 6: LN(x y)In order to illustrate that Derive only does those simplifications about which it is sure that the transformations are valid, we enter under the above circumstances the following sum of logarithms. 7: LN(x) + LN(y) + LN(z)Simplification only partly combines logarithms. 8: LN(x y) + LN(z)You can get the simplification 9: LN(x z) + LN(y)by choosing in the M rderingcommand the , , order of variables. Trigonometric simplification is another highlight of Derive. Use the M rigonometry menu and choose the direction of simplification and the preference of simplification of powers of sines or cosines. Auto option can be chosen when you leave it up to Derive to make a heuristic choice. For example, in the Auto mode, Derive simplifies 2 2 10: COS(x) + 2 SIN(x)into 2 11: SIN(x) + 1But if you prefer cosines over sines, you select M Toward: Cosinesand get 12: Trigpower := Cosines 2 13: 2 - COS(x)When you enter 14: SIN(x + y)and select M 15: Trigonometry := Expandthen simplification yields 16: COS(x) SIN(y) + SIN(x) COS(y)On its turn, choosing the Collectdirection, gives back the original expression upon simplification.
Earle Ovington meant well. “It is a peculiar fact, but nevertheless true that a man seems to think that he is able, or competent rather, to design an aeroplane, whether he knows anything about the principles underlying aerodynamics or not,” he wrote in the October 1912 issue of Aeronautics. His advice was simple: “You should lay a firm foundation before you attempt to enter practical work.” Ovington could speak with authority. He was once an assistant to Thomas Edison, and had learned to fly at Louis Blériot’s school in France. “If by writing this article I can save just one misguided inventor from the certain failure which is awaiting him,” he wrote, “I will consider that my time has not been spent in vain.” From This Story Ovington had reason to be concerned. For every Wilbur Wright, Glenn Curtiss, or Alberto Santos-Dumont, there were plenty of Lyman Gilmores (more about him soon). Many would-be airplane inventors had visions that far surpassed their engineering competence. Fate caught others faster than their luck could hold. Some actually did the hard work and flew—but only into dead ends. They all possessed insatiable curiosity, imagination, and persistence—almost all of the ingredients needed for success. The Unrealized Visionaries Aeronautical innovation is ultimately collaborative. But some pioneers held fast to their own theories, resulting in grand claims backed by few accomplishments. The sometime gold prospector was the archetypal old man of the mountain: scraggly beard, long hair, and wizened face. Driven by a vision, he flew in the hills near Grass Valley, California—if you believed him. According to Gilmore, his inspiration came from a poem he’d read as a high school student: It spoke of “robbing from the eagle his eagle’s secret.” In 1894, Gilmore claimed to have built a glider with an 18-foot wingspan and to have flown in it down a hill, towed by a horse. If true, it would have been a remarkable achievement. But there’s no evidence of Gilmore’s glider other than his word and the shaky recollections of his family. How could Gilmore have learned what he needed to create a glider while isolated in California’s gold mining country? It’s possible he could have read Progress in Flying Machines, published that year by French-born American engineer and aviation enthusiast Octave Chanute, or a newspaper article on German glider expert Otto Lilienthal. Whatever the case, Gilmore wanted to fly something. In 1898, he produced a drawing depicting a powered monoplane and had it signed by witnesses. In 1902, he claimed a successful powered flight. Between 1905 and 1907, he opened the Lyman Gilmore Aerodrome in Grass Valley and began selling stock in the first of several aircraft companies he founded based on his 1898 design. Newspaper stories from 1909 describe a failed attempt to fly at the California State Fair. In 1912, Gilmore revealed a two-person monoplane by driving the machine around his field for hours until it fell over. But again, there is no evidence of a Gilmore machine in the air. There is evidence that he built them: A film, shot sometime in the 1930s, shows a giant monoplane with a torpedo-shaped fuselage in Gilmore’s barn. It looks vaguely like his 1898 design. The propeller swings listlessly. The wings are tattered. We see Gilmore and his brother up close, in rumpled clothes and with long hair and beards, sweeping clouds of dust from the fuselage and displaying page after page of blueprints. Finally, they clamber up a ladder with one of two dogs, get inside the airplane, and stare out from the windows. The airplane was ambitious: a passenger-carrying tractor monoplane. But Gilmore was not the first to have the idea. Alphonse Pénaud and William Henson (to name two) pre-dated him by decades. Although Gilmore clearly built something, created an airfield, and forayed into business, he never ventured beyond his own aeronautic back yard. When he finally flew in 1924, he was a passenger. In 1935, a fire destroyed his barn and any proof of flight it might have contained. He died in 1951. Other than his grandiose aeronautical dreams, Lyman Gilmore was a modest man. His ideas never hurt anyone. The same could not be said of William Christmas. No one tells this story better than William Christmas himself. Writing to the U.S. Air Force’s General Carl Spaatz on September 25, 1947, Christmas laid out his credentials. “My basic discoveries and inventions has [sic] made the aviation industry what it is today.” He claimed sole credit for the aileron, “the most important invention in aviation,” among 400 other inventions. After declaring that “the present design of planes is ALL WRONG,” he finally got to his request, which was to be commissioned by the Air Force “to design the FASTEST PLANE in the world.” His justification was that he’d done it before, in 1918, with the Christmas Bullet. (He did not reveal that each time it had flown, the pilot had been killed.)
is nothing sacred? The rising demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world’s largest coal-fired power stations, a leading environmental scientist warned yesterday. As a driver of global warming, nitrogen trifluoride is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, yet no one knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by the industry, said Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine. Writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, Prather and a colleague, Juno Hsu, state that this year’s production of the gas is equivalent to 67m tonnes of carbon dioxide, meaning it has “a potential greenhouse impact larger than that of the industrialised nations’ emissions of PFCs or SF6, or even that of the world’s largest coal-fired power plants”. The Guardian, 3 Jul 2008 see also – Say what? — gReader Pro
Is your wipe really flushable? No, it is not. Wipes should never be flushed. This is true even if the packaging says that they can be. Consumers have been led to believe that flushable wipes are safe for our wastewater treatment infrastructure, that they won’t clog our toilets, or that they easily disperse in water like toilet tissue. But the fact is, wipes do not easily disintegrate in the plumbing, putting your home at risk of sewage back-ups or causing wastewater treatment equipment to fail. According to the Association of the Non-Woven Fabrics Industry (INDA), the term flushable started being used in the 1980s when the paper industry began to market standard latex-bonded, air-laid wet wipes, deeming them as flushable because of their small size. These wipes were considered flushable as long as the size was small enough to transit through the toilet and wastewater system. Due to the lack of clarity on the word flushability or what was considered flushable, many manufacturers and consumers felt unclear; not knowing when flushing was considered an appropriate disposal mechanism. As a result, companies used their own definitions and methods to determine what constituted their product as a flushable wipe. It wasn’t until these flushable wipes started to clog municipal wastewater systems that the need for regulation was identified. Both the INDA and its European counterpart (EDANA) have put regulations in place for flushable wipes to be made of non-woven fabrics that are truly flushable. In summer of 2009, INDA and EDANA published their flushability guidelines known as the Guidance Document for Assessing the Flushability of Nonwoven Consumer Products. What’s a flushable wipe? What deems a product as a truly flushable wipe? It should easily disintegrate when flushed. A Consumerreport.org video demonstrates what happens to a flushable wipe when it’s put through a disintegration test to simulate the process of flushing. The report reveals regular tissue easily disintegrates within eight seconds, but the flushable wipe doesn’t even begin to break up after 30 minutes. This alone is enough to cause problems for your plumbing and municipal wastewater treatment infrastructure. A truly flushable wipe would be more like toilet tissue: dispersible and easily breaking up. INDA guidelines define a product as flushable if it: - clears toilets and properly maintained drainage pipe systems under expected product usage conditions - is compatible with existing wastewater conveyance, treatment, reuse and disposal systems - becomes unrecognizable in a reasonable period of time and is safe in the natural receiving environments so-called “flushable” wipes clogging a water treatment plant screen in Kingston We’re not there yet Unfortunately, the packaging and fabrics industries just haven’t caught up with these guidelines. Until they do, please help protect health and safety, your basement, and wastewater treatment infrastructure: Never flush wipes of any kind.
Don’t forget our feathered friends this winter! Setting Up Your “Bird Café” (adapted from RSPB website) What to feed What not to feed How to feed - a hanging plastic feeder with feeding ports and perches for sunflower hearts for (mainly) finches, tits and sparrows - a hanging mesh feeder with peanuts for (mainly) tits - a hanging mesh feeder with fat balls for (mainly) tits and sparrows. The next step up is a nyger seed feeder for goldfinches (although they love sunflower hearts too), a ground feeder or bird table with an oat/fruit/fatty nibbles mix for robins and blackbirds. Where to feed Place the feeders high enough so they are out of reach of ground predators like cats. They should be a couple of metres away from thick cover like bushes, so that small birds can beat a hasty retreat from aerial predators such as sparrowhawks. If you don’t get any visitors, try a different location. Move the feeders to different locations over the course of a year so that you don’t get a build-up of debris underneath. Keeping it healthy - Make sure the foods are kept in rodent-proof storage bins - Clean your feeders. Unhygienic feeding stations can quickly transmit diseases between birds, so clean your feeders and bird tables regularly. Wash them down with a mild disinfectant and hot water, rinsing them fully and drying them out before filling them back up with food - Clear up under your feeders – you don’t want a problem with rodents at night.
Good debt is debt that benefits a person or business to carry. Such good debts demonstrate both the creditworthiness and the responsibility of a borrower. They also create a good base to build on in the future. There are many examples of good debt, which stands in contrast to bad debt. Good debts are typically those debts that are taken on to acquire an item or investment that only grows in value with time. Examples of this include things like real estate loans, schooling loans, home mortgages, business debt, and passive income investments. Each of these items could provide a significant and real advantage with time. Real estate could increase in value and be resold for profits. Higher education commonly leads to greater amounts of earnings. Loans on homes are commonly wonderful for building credit and provide properties that serve as excellent collateral. Loans for businesses may result in profits earned from trade and sales. It is important to note that cars and other items are not included in these lists. This is simply because they lose value the moment that they are purchased and driven away. Bad debts in contrast are those that result in higher interest rates and considerable deprecation of the items purchased with time. Goods that are for short time frame use and bought on credit are commonly considered to be bad debts. Since the item’s life span will only decline with time, and the interest rates are typically high, no benefit is derived from purchasing these things with debt. A great number of such purchases rapidly decline in value, even after one use. A significant benefit to good debts lies in the increase in cash flow that they commonly create. Properly structured good debts lead to tax advantages, to the ability to invest in still more assets that can produce cash, and to higher credit scores as well. Good debts that are paid on time furthermore build up a good financial base for the future. Good debts create cash flow, which stands in contrast to bad debts that do not. Investments that produce passive income are among the best good debts. For example, purchasing an apartment building using debt will result in both income revenue and substantial tax deductions. This proves to be good debt, since although you are borrowing money, you are receiving passive income and gaining the ability to depreciate assets that can actually appreciate with time. On top of this, you are allowed to live there while you accrue all of these other benefits. When considering a good debt, you should make certain that the income that the investment will provide is high enough to make the investment and the accompanying debt worth while. A number of experts offer advice on this. They suggest that not tying up in excess of twenty percent of your overall value in debt is a better practice. Higher debt levels than this can sound off warning bells with banks and other lenders.
If a table contains nested records, it means that there is a multi-level tree of related records. In this blogpost you may read how the multi-level tree of related records can be configured. Let’s assume that within your database you need to register and calculate energy consumption of engines containing modules and submodules. The structure would look like a multi-level tree including the following levels: Engine(Parent)->Modules(Children)->SubModules(Grandchildren). The number of levels may be unlimited. The goal is to calculate the total energy consumption from the lowest level to the highest. Besides, if the highest-level record is deleted, all the related records will be deleted automatically. You may order a free trial of the pre-built “Example: Multi-Level Tree” database to review the setup described below. This example contains a single table “Engines”. You may see this table structure on the screenshot: The multi-level tree has three levels: Engine->Modules->SubModules. Building such a tree takes the following steps: 1. First, you need a single-reference column in the “Engines” table, while the table should refer to itself. One record is related to another the way a child is related to a parent. Each parent can be related to many children, while each child can be related to one parent. Let’s name this reference column “Parent”. In our example one Engine can be related to many Modules, while each Module can be related to many SubModules. The “Parent” single-reference column settings are shown on the screenshot below: 2. You should also create the “Old Parent” single-reference column. This column participates in workflow actions making records recounting. It is needed as an auxiliary column, therefore the “Old Parent” reference column should be hidden on the form and removed from views. 3. In our example every engine or module or submodule has an energy consumption value, which is kept in the “Energy Consumption” column. You would also need to calculate the energy consumption of related lower levels (Modules and SubModultes) and store this value within the Parent record, in the “Consumption of Lower Levels” numeric column. Also, the “Need Recalculate” checkbox column should be created as it will be used for the assignments added to the workflow actions. You may see these three columns in the column list of the “Engines” table: 4. Moreover, in the relation built by the “Parent” reference column you would need to add two auxiliary columns that will be used in workflow actions. Firstly, lets create the “Count Consumption of Lower Levels” summary column. It summarizes Energy Consumption values stored in related lower level records. Secondly, you should add a RecordSet column, let’s name it “Lower Levels Recordset”. This column displays internal record IDs of related lower level records. 5. The last column that is obligatory to be created is the “Total Energy Consumption” formula-numeric column. 6. Now you can configure workflow triggers of the Record Change type. The main advantage is that these triggers work as a cascade due to the “Execute Triggers” option activated in the workflow actions stored in these triggers. Therefore, if an Energy Consumption value is added or changed in a record of a lower level (for example in SubModule), the system recalculates the total energy consumption in higher levels, such as “Module” and “Engine” records in our example. 7. The first trigger is “Add/Edit Trigger”. It includes three actions of the Update Record type: If a Parent value is changed in a record, the “Recalculate Parent” action initiates the request to recalculate the Energy Consumption for the Parent record. Therefore, the “true” value is set in the “Need Recalculate” checkbox column. The second action “Recalculate Old Parent” initiates the request to recalculate Energy Consumption for the Old Parent record. Please note that the “Execute Triggers” option is active in both of the above-mentioned actions. The third action is the “Update Old Parent” action. It is needed to update the Old Parent value by the Parent value after all recalculations had been made. 8. The “Recalculate Trigger” includes both the “Recalculate Children” action and the existing “Recalculate Parent” action described above. The first “Recalculate Children” action assigns the “Count Consumption of Lower Levels” summary column value to the “Consumption of Lower Levels” numeric column. Also, it sets “Need Recalculate” checkbox value to “false”. This last assignment is needed to stop the related details recalculation if such a recalculation is finished. The settings of the “Recalculate Children” action are displayed on the following screenshot: The second action is the “Recalculate Parent” action which is also used in the “Add/Edit Trigger”. This action is needed to initiate the recalculation of records on higher levels. 9. “Delete Trigger” allows to delete all Children records when a Parent record is deleted. There are three actions in this trigger: The first action is the “Delete Children ” action. It allows to delete related details listed in the “Lower Levels Recordset” column when a Parent record is deleted. “Execute Triggers” option is active in this action. The second “Clear Parent” action is needed to clear a Parent value within deleted records. It allows to exclude deleted record from recalculation of the energy consumption value within the Parent record. Deleted record may be restored from the Recycle Bin, however, a restored record will not be related to any Parent automatically since its Parent field is empty. The third “Recalculate old Parent” action is an existing action that also participates in the “Add/Edit Trigger” described in the item # 7. Due to this action the deletion is repeated from the lowest level to the highest. 10. If you would like to review the described setup, please try the “Example: Multi-Level Tree” template from the database library.
Parascience has so far failed to produce a single repeatable finding and, until it does, will continue to be viewed as an incoherent collection of belief systems steeped in fantasy, illusion and error. Originally appeared in Nature Vol. 320, 13 March 1986, pp. 119-124. Many factors of a psychological nature foster paranormal beliefs and make them a common feature of human thinking and behaviour. Our cultural traditions are steeped in religion and magic, many features of which lend themselves to belief in supernatural agencies. Scientific thinking is a recent departure in human history and scientific ideas have had little time to affect the magical thinking from which science itself evolved. Sociologist D. O’Keefe argues that paranormal research has evolved from within the traditions of magic which themselves evolved from religion51. The current occult revival is seen as a reaction to the excessive rationalism which many perceive in science. O’Keefe argues that religion created the ‘cloud-cuckoo land’ in which magic, and thence the paranormal, can flourish. Yet scientists are often ill-prepared to provide the necessary counterbalancing rational account of the paranormal. Against this background of magi co-religious entrenchment, there are some extra psychological processes that make paranormal beliefs an inevitable characteristic of human consciousness and thinking. A mental image is a quasi-perceptual experience in the absence of an objective stimulus. There are huge individual differences in the reported vividness and controllability of images. In Western cultures 1-5% of the population appears regularly to experience fantasies which seem as real as actual events even though they are entirely fictional52. Such individuals often experience vivid, uncontrollable ‘eidetic’ images of almost hallucinatory quality53, are highly suggestible and can be easily hypnotized52. They report more putatively paranormal experiences, such as telepathy, precognition, ghosts and out-of-the-body experiences. While mental imagery has a large number of practical uses in thinking, memory and problem solving, it can also occur in altered states of consciousness in which the normal level of lucidity is no longer present53. Research conducted a century ago by E. Gurney and F. W. H. Myers described 27 cases of ‘spirit communication’ from deceased persons54. Eighteen of the apparitions occurred in sleep-related states normally associated with highly vivid and autonomous images which are easily mistaken for reality. The remaining cases occurred in subjects who were fully awake and these could easily have been structural eidetic images stimulated by thought-processes of the daydreaming kind53. H. Sidgwick noted that 9.9% of 17,000 subjects had experienced at least one vivid visual, auditory or tactile image of a living being or object while completely awake55. The appearance of ghosts is shaped by cultural expectancies and beliefs about what a ghost should look like56. Mental images can be easily misinterpreted in terms of pre-existing beliefs57. Otherwise known as mental set, expectancy provides the framework within which we organize new experience. Human cognition is not a simple copying process but entails a constructive striving or ‘effort after meaning’. What we experience is often more a confirmation of belief than a matter of plain fact. Beliefs are not automatically updated by the best evidence available, but have an active life of their own and fight tenaciously for their own survival. They tell us what to read, what to listen to, who to trust and how to rationalize contrary information4,5,57. Selective exposure protects beliefs from more dramatic forms of contradiction. When the mentalist U. Geller visited the city of Dunedin in New Zealand there were seven different opportunities to obtain information abut his alleged psychic abilities: four media interviews, two newspaper stories and one stage performance. Of 17 subjects who, before Geller’s visit, were already ‘believers’ 15 selected three or more of the available exposures. Of 20 ‘non-believers’, only 10 selected as many as three exposures (X2(1) = 6.13; P<0.02). A further problem is that when we are exposed to relevant information, our opinion revisions are often less than optimal, and we act like conservative Bayesians58, with a confirmation bias59. In a recent ‘ESP’ demonstration to a class of 226 psychology students, presented as an exercise in observation, I performed five mentalists’s tricks consisting of: (I) correctly naming a colour written out of sight; (2) correctly transmitting a colour name to a volunteer who, like me, had not previously seen it; (3) helping a volunteer correctly to read messages sealed inside envelopes or to appear to transmit messages to me; (4) producing bent keys which I had not previously touched; and (5) moving or stopping the hands of a watch in a mysterious manner. Although at no time did I claim to be psychic, 90% of the class stated that I had demonstrated psychic ability. When the results from subjects who had previously been classified as ‘believers’ and ‘sceptics’ were analysed separately, 79% of believers thought at least three of the five effects were psychic compared with only 43% of sceptics (P < 0.001). Naturally, we often encounter information that is unexpected or ambiguous. In such instances, there is a second line of defence: the data can be selectively perceived or even misperceived so that they still appear to support our beliefs by ‘subjective validation’4. One illustration of this powerful cognitive defence in the context of ESP research is the strong conviction that one has successfully viewed a complex target site by ESP in a remote-viewing experiment even when one is completely wrong (Fig. 2). There are many now-classic examples of subjective validation: the prophecies of the Delphic Oracle and Nostradamus60, the discovery of N-rays61, phlogiston, Vulcan, the canals on Mars, flying saucers, Freud’s interpretation of dreams, prejudice, faith-healing, the placebo effect, bone pointing and the ‘evil eye’. Beliefs of all kinds tend to be self-perpetuating. Psi phenomena consist of an experience, image or thought matched by some other similar experience, image or thought. Collections of such coincidences have been published by A. Koestler62, L. Rhine,63 and others based on the assumption that odd-matches of events cannot occur purely by chance. Probability theory shows that an event which is improbable over a short run can become highly probable over the long run. If five coins are tossed all at once on a single occasion the probability of obtaining five heads is 2 -5 or approximately 0.03. If the coin tossing is repeated 100 times the probability of five heads somewhere in the series is approximately 0.96. The principle of the long run is easy to grasp in simple situations but much less visible in the more chaotic world of spontaneous human experience. Calculation shows how easily Koestler could obtain his 40-plus odd-match anecdotes. Assuming that in an ordinary day a person can recall 100 distinct events, there are 100C2 or 4,950 pairs of events per day. Odd-matches can be remembered for years, perhaps 10 yr or 3,650 days. If Koestler knew 1,000 people, he could draw upon a total pool of 4,950 x 3,650 x 1,000, or more than 18 x 109 pairs of events. That Koestler obtained 40 striking odd-matches seems hardly surprising. Koestler’s fallacy (see ref. 4) is certainly not unique to him, although he was one of a small group of analysts who wanted to make a scientific revolution out of it. The fallacy is widespread and several biases contribute to it. First, we notice and remember odd-matches. Second, we do not notice non-matches. This triggers the short-run illusion that makes the oddmatch seem improbable. Third, we are normally poor estimators of probabilities, especially for combinations of events. Another class of psychic-looking experiences is generated by invisible chains of cause and effect which bias the probabilities away from chance levels. Failure to randomize target stimuli properly in ESP experiments is a good example of this. Thus, Tart reported a successful ESP experiment in which his subjects learned to score above chance in guessing which of 10 digits was displayed by an apparatus in another room following the presentation of feedback)4. The random number generator mistakenly avoided using the same digit twice in succession, a bias which is matched by the pervasive ‘gambler’s fallacy’. When Tart removed this bias, the ‘ESP’ also disappeared65. Another unseen factor, used by illusionists, is the ‘population stereotype’. The performer ‘sends a message to the audience, saying “I am thinking of a number between 1 and 50, both digits are odd, and different“. Controlled experiments show that the most common response for the 1-50 problem is 37, which accounts for 30-35% of all responses, and the second most common response is 35 (20- 25%)4. If the performer always says he had been thinking of 35 and then changed his mind to 37, at least 50% of the audience will be thinking of the ‘correct’ number. Human beings never behave randomly. Our experiences contain many culturally shared elements such that particular items are associated with particular verbal contexts. This causes associative networks to be set up and a tendency towards nonrandom, stereotypical responses even when there is freedom to choose. Other unnoticed causes of putatively psychic effects include subliminal and non-verbal sensory cues66 which may lead to common thought patterns in different people, presenting the illusion of telepathy. The ‘Will to Believe’ What factors differentiate believer from sceptic? Psychologists down the ages have puzzled over the question of what motivates different world-views and the so-called will to believe. Research conducted by J. Waugh used Kelly’s personal construct theory. In this framework67, people vary in the quality and extent of their investigatory procedures so that, while some may be working to establish an ordered and meaningful world which is not highly predictable or readily explained, others may be content that they already have all the necessary explanatory constructs. In Kelly’s theory, each individual deals with the world in terms of a hierarchial system of constructs with which people, objects and events are compared, contrasted and predicted. Core constructs have relatively superordinate positions and a large range of convenience while peripheral constructs are relatively subordinate and more easily altered. Waugh compared the personal construct systems of sceptics and believers in the paranormal using a belief questionnaire. Ten subordinate and ten superordinate67constructs were generated using standard procedures and each subject’s constructs were tested for their relative resistance to change and the number of implications entailed by changing the subject’s preferred pole on the 20 constructs and 10 paranormal beliefs (Fig. 3). Believers’ core constructs were significantly more resistant to change and there was a parallel difference in the number of implications resulting from changes at the superordinate level. Compared with sceptics, believers seem to possess much tighter construct systems in which any change at the core level implies a significantly greater upheaval or threat. Waugh also found that believers had significantly higher neuroticism scores than sceptics (see also ref. 68). These data are congruent with those reported by Zusne and Jones57 who found that believers are less flexible than sceptics when confronted with disconfirming evidence. Content analyses of believers’ construct systems indicate the presence of spiritual, non-materialist constructs at superordinate level. Such core constructs are not easily shaken because they are closed off from empirical considerations and appear to be impermeable to rational persuasion. Hence the feeling of futility experienced in trying to hold rational discussion between believer and sceptic; one could well be arguing about the existence of God. Belief in the paranormal is metaphysical and therefore not subject to the constraints of empirically based science. Parascience has all the qualities of a magical system while wearing the mantle of science. Until any significant discoveries are made, science can justifiably ignore it, but it is important to say why: parascience is a pseudo-scientific system of untestable beliefs steeped in illusion, error and fraud. I thank Jerry Andrus, Bob Audley, Ray Hyman, A. R. Jonckheere, Peter McKellar, J. 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Flu in the air Germs tiny enough to pass through surgical masks may cause half of all cases By Stephen Ornes, 13:22 PM June 13, 2013 It’s easy to catch the flu. Just breathe. Tiny, germ-laden particles in the air may cause half or more of all cases of the respiratory infection. And that is a surprise, scientists now report. Until now, researchers thought large particles — the type that can’t stay airborne long after being expelled by a cough or sneeze — spread most cases of influenza. Tiny particles that can float in the air for hours to days are known as aerosols. Researchers knew that germy aerosols might spread flu... Source URL: https://student.societyforscience.org/article/flu-air
Then: May 20, 1861 The Confederate Congress votes to move the capital from Montgomery, Ala. to Richmond, Va. Barely 100 miles from Washington, it will become a focal point of the Union war effort. Now: May 1, 2007 The former capitol of the Confederacy, which still houses the oldest legislative body in North America, reopens after a three-year restoration project.
There’s no question that we still have a long way to go in the fight against Alzheimer‘s. But, with more celebrities speaking out about the disease and media attention from videos like the one below, we could be well on our way to raising awareness and erasing the stigma that often comes with a dementia diagnosis. Raising Alzheimer’s Awareness By Sharing Facts Alzheimer’s disease is officially the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and may be the third leading cause of death. It is incurable, for the most part untreatable, and it does not discriminate. Nearly 36 million people worldwide and over 5.2 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, and the numbers are growing. Only 1 in 4 people with Alzheimer’s has officially been diagnosed with the disease. These facts may be shocking, considering Alzheimer’s is one of the least talked about diseases, due to its strong stigma. But, the latest video from the Alzheimer’s Association shares new statistics and is a huge step in raising awareness about the disease. Recent Alzheimer’s statistics tell us: - Someone in the United States develops Alzheimer’s every 67 seconds. - 1 in 3 seniors dies with some type of dementia. - Alzheimer’s and other dementias are the top cause for disabilities later in life. - If a cure is not found by 2050, more than 13 million Americans will have the disease. By sharing this video, we can raise awareness and hopefully eradicate the stigma that comes with the disease, if not the disease itself. What did you think about the most recent Alzheimer’s video? Did it show anything about the disease that you weren’t already aware of? Share your stories in the comments below. - Celebrities Who Have Been Touched by Alzheimer’s - 2014 Alzheimer’s Statistics - A New Facebook App Fights The Alzheimer’s Stigma
10 Steps to Emotional Competence and Efficacy A condensed RAGE excerpt 1. DEVELOP SELF-AWARENESS: you can take stock of your default anger settings. Are you expressive or a ruminator? Do you simmer or explode? Do you cry or calmly assert yourself? Are you diverting your anger? Do you even admit to yourself that you are mad about something or at someone close to you? What are you scared to say, even to yourself? You might tend toward getting angry quickly, known as trait anger, or you might be a person who is slower to anger even when provoked, known as state anger. 2. DISTINGUISH THE THREE AS: ANGER, ASSERTIVENESS, AND AGGRESSION: Anger, assertiveness, and aggression are frequently and unhelpfully lumped together, particularly when the person who is being assertive, angry, or aggressive is a girl or woman. All three are, however, related by the word no, and a simple, unapologetic, declarative no is not a word that girls and women are taught to embrace. 3. THINK ABOUT LIKEABILITY AND BE BRAVE enough to stop pleasing people. In many environments, all you have to do to be castigated as an angry woman is to say something out loud, so you might as well say exactly what’s bothering you and get on with it. This means that, usually, you have to come to terms with not always being liked. Your anger and assertiveness will make some people unhappy, uncomfortable, sensitive, cautious. There is discomfort though in the understanding and demand that comes with anger. 4. TAKE (DELIBERATE) CARE: A lot of anger comes from the demand so nurturing. It is possible to take care of others, however, without being careless with yourself. Care with purpose. Understand that this includes taking care of your own health and wellbeing. Learn to say no and to say no unapologetically. 5. CULTIVATE BODY CONFIDENCE: Consciously balance how your body looks with your body’s health and competence, meaning health and functioning as opposed to attractiveness. Self-objectification, cultivated in women particularly, makes it harder to feel anger or do anything about it. It makes you more vulnerable to threat and assault. It contributes to low self-esteem, self-silencing, and a heightened likelihood of self-harm, anxiety, and depression. 6. TAKE YOUR ANGER TO WORK: Anger is often part of the average workday, and occupational status directly affects how we feel and express our anger. Navigating anger, frustration, and resentment when their expression puts your livelihood at risk is difficult and complex. Because of the realities of workplace hierarchies and the legitimate fear of retaliation, many of us, even if we are aware of our anger, stay silent. We then tend to, in turn, punch down, taking out our ire on loved ones at home or on subordinates. The steps to healthier responses and expressions of anger is the same at work as it is at home: awareness, making meaning of what you feel, engaging the people around you and strategizing to effect change. 7. CULTIVATE DIVERSE COMMUNITIES AND HOLD INSTITUTIONS ACCOUNTABLE: Anger can feel very isolating, but, in fact, it is an emotion that demands communication and conversation. It also finds strength in community. Finding communities that validate and share your anger creates powerful opportunities for effective collective social action. For those communities to be truly effective, however, they should be diverse and inclusive. In these settings, anger is often a source of energy, joy, humor, and resistance. 8. CHALLENGE BINARIES: Binaries make up the male-female structure of the world. They mark the differences between home and work, personal and professional, private and political, and emotional and rational, to name only a few. In terms of anger, context often governs how you feel and express it, and for women, one of the foremost regulators of our expression is how we are supposed to act in public versus in private. For the most part, these binaries lack nuance and impose harsh limitations on human expression and behaviors. 9. LEARN TO TRUST WOMEN: Anger is related to our cultural notions of authority and power, both of which are enmeshed with ideals of masculinity. Studies show that most of us grow up to distrust women who claim authority or expertise or who express anger righteously or politically. 10. ACCEPT A WILL TO POWER: Women are just as motivated by the desire for power as men; it’s just that our cultural ideas about power don’t associate it with femininity. If you are a girl or woman, chances are you have grown up unwittingly associating ideas about power with masculinity. Our primary roles as caretakers make the idea of power, associated as it often is with masculine behaviors like competition, conflicting. Power is, for example, associated in implicit bias studies with domination and not nurturing. Powerlessness is, on the other hand, implied in femininity. Interrogate why.
By Jean-Paul Benowitz During September we celebrate Labor Day. The U.S. Congress unanimously voted to make Labor Day a national holiday and President Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) signed it into law six days after the end of the Pullman Strike on 11 May 1894. The Pullman Strike was a nationwide railroad strike which pitted the American Railway Union (ARU) against the Pullman Car Company (1862-1987). As we celebrate labor this month, let us consider a major employer in Elizabethtown's history, The Buch Manufacturing Company. Addison Buch and Jonathan B. Buch were members of the Church of the Brethren from Manheim. The Buch families settled in Elizabethtown after the Civil War (1861-1865). Addison Buch was a member of the board of trustees when the Elizabethtown Church of the Brethren was established in 1902. Addison Buch and his wife Marie deeded the land for the establishment of the Elizabethtown Mennonite Church in 1905. Addison Buch and his sons Royer S. and J. Harvey purchased the Benjamin Groff farm to establish the campus of Elizabethtown College for the Church of the Brethren in 1899. J. Harvey Buch established the College Heights Development Company which sold real estate around the college campus including the building of the Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church in 1909. J. Harvey Buch was instrumental in persuading the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania to the build the Masonic Village in Elizabethtown in 1910. Buch Manufacturing Company was established in 1870 at the intersection of South Market Street and College Avenue (to the east) with Bainbridge Road (to the west). The sketch posted above illustrates the factory on the west side of South Market Street (the former location of J. F. Binkley Roller Mill). Jonathan B. Buch established the Buch Carriage Factory and next door Addison Buch (along with Benjamin G. Groff and T. W. Nissley) created a foundry and machine shop where they manufactured agricultural implements. The foundry was powered by a steam engine and was one of the largest foundries in Lancaster County. Buch's steam powered foundry played an important role in the Buch Carriage Factory and the Anchor Spring Wagon Works, created in 1896 by Johnathan Buch's son-in-law, Hiram H. Nissley who was married to Laura Buch. In 1876 the foundry was destroyed by fire and immediately rebuilt. In 1890 the name was changed to A. Buch & Sons Agricultural Implements Works and Novelties when J. Harvey and Royer S. joined their father in the business. In 1900 the company built a new factory on South Market Street opposite Cherry Street. At this time the company began to specialize in the production of wheelbarrows and steel lawn swings. The Buch Eagle lawn swing won bronze awards at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904 and Tercentennial Exposition at Jamestown, Virginia in 1907. In 1953 Jesse Lane and Associates of Lancaster bought all the Buch Manufacturing common stock. In 1959 the company was sold to Dura Corporation of Detroit, Michigan. In 1960 Dura Corporation made the Buch Company a subsidiary of Moto-Mower, Inc. in Richmond, Indiana and closed the Elizabethtown plant the same year. In 1968 R & R Electronics, subcontractors for AMP: Aircraft Marine Products (1941) moved to the Buch plant. Harry Reese and Charles Roland created R & R Electronics in 1954. This company specialized in making parts for bombs and under water mines used in the Vietnam War (1946-1975). In 1971 the firm was incorporated as R&R Metal Finishing. Today the Buch Manufacturing plant is gone but Buch agricultural equipment, lawn swings, and wheelbarrows are highly collectible among local antique enthusiasts. The Buch family legacy of civic engagement and the development of Elizabethtown is still evident in our community. Text by Jean-Paul Benowitz, Historian, Elizabethtown College Director of Student Transition Programs & Assistant Director of Academic Advising. Illustrations by Shanise Marshall, Elizabethtown College Class of 2015, History major with a Fine Arts-Art History and Religious Studies minors.
Summary: A substitute teacher is a person who teaches class in a school in the absence of the regular teacher. Substitute teachers have no permanent or full-time jobs; they just fill in for teachers who are not able to attend class due to various reasons. Their lesson plan may often slightly differ from the regular teachers, but substitute teachers usually stick to the plan based on the level they are teaching. With the same tasks as the regular teacher, a substitute teacher can give assignments and quizzes, look after the safety of students, enforce discipline in class and monitor students during recess periods. Duties: The substitute teacher needs to follow the regular lesson plan of the absent teacher; she meets with the principal and staff regarding any questions and concerns about the lesson plan or rules and regulations of the school. The substitute teacher complies with all building procedures and schedules; prepares and submits a summary her work; updates the regular teacher of situations or problems encountered; adheres to school and administrative procedures; implements effective pupil handling; maintains high standards of education; provides guidance and advise to students, shows interest in a student’s progress; and encourages critical-thinking, analytical and creativity skills. Substitute teachers also work with other teachers; update records and promptly submit reports; respect personal privacy and maintain confidentiality regarding her students and consult with parents. A substitute teacher does not leave students unsupervised; monitors behavior of students and reports to the principal any flagrant issues or problems; reports evidence of suspected child abuse to authorities and supervises non-classroom activities and when assigned. Education and Training Requirements: A bachelor’s degree is required in any course is required for substitute teachers. Some may hold master’s degrees in teaching or education. A bachelor’s degree, background check and an evaluation are needed to be a certified substitute teacher. Knowledge and Skills Requirements: A substitute teacher needs to be patient, kind and fair to her students. A good sense of humor helps a lot especially when dealing with teens. She needs to be flexible and consistent to the needs and personality of the student. Working Conditions: Working conditions vary per school since the substitute teacher doesn’t have a regular school to teach. Generally the teacher works in the classroom on a well lighted quiet and comfortable environment. On duty, she follows a regular work schedule. She sometimes attends meetings and cooperates with other teachers on special occasions. Salary: A substitute teacher makes $38,000 annually on average. Factors like size of company, location, nature of the industry, benefits and experience may cause salaries to vary considerably amongst substitute teachers.
As mentioned in our opening summary, India has become the country with the fourth-highest number of deaths linked to COVID-19 in the world. Its fatalities jumped by 942 on Thursday, taking its total to 47,033. The rise in deaths pushed India’s toll past that of the UK, which had recorded 46,791 fatalities to date, according to data collated by Johns Hopkins University. The UK toll was revised down further on Wednesday to 41,329 due to a new method of counting being introduced. India also recorded its biggest single-day spike in cases with 66,999 new infections on Thursday, pushing the total to nearly 2.4 million. Experts say the virus has been spreading rapidly within communities across India. Because India is such a densely populated country, tracing the chain of transmission is difficult, they say. India brought in Covid-19 restrictions in March. It stopped all international flights and entered a strict lockdown that lasted nearly two months. But the restrictions came at a devastating economic and human cost, and after India reopened at the end of June and testing increased, case numbers soared. Many states are continuing to enforce lockdowns in specific areas as clusters of the virus emerge.
On average, 8,600 wildfires burn 2.5 million hectares in Canada each year, often threatening communities and resulting in the evacuation of residents and sometimes the loss of homes. With the growth of residential, recreational and industrial development in forested areas, the risk for communities is likely to increase. Wildfire management agencies, communities, homeowners and others all have a role to play in reducing the risk. Most wildfire management agency resources are focused on fire suppression. However, there is an increasing emphasis on reducing the threat to communities before a wildfire. This requires an understanding not only of the biophysical risk, but also of the social aspects of wildfire risk management. Understanding the social aspects of wildfire management can help in the development of communication strategies, products, wildfire mitigation programs and policies, and in collaborating with the public, Aboriginal communities and stakeholders. Researchers at the Canadian Forest Service are involved in a number of projects examining the social aspects of wildfire management. Examining public perceptions of wildfire risk and mitigation actions Homeowners and communities can reduce the threat from wildfires long before a wildfire begins. For example, they can keep trees thinned and branches trimmed around homes and other structures, use fire-resistant materials in home construction (such as metal roofing), reduce fuels around communities by thinning forests, and create fire breaks. Researchers at the Canadian Forest Service’s Northern Forestry Centre (NoFC) are collaborating with researchers at the University of Alberta to examine public perceptions of wildfire risk and the factors that influence communities and homeowners in taking action to reduce the threat to their properties and their support for fuel modifications on public lands. Studies of citizens and communities in Alberta and British Columbia found that the public tends to frame risk differently from the way wildfire managers do, often including factors such as aesthetics and “naturalness” in their judgments of risk. Although most citizens have taken many mitigation actions, several factors may prevent them from doing more, such as cost, perceived effectiveness, and feeling that the threat is not great enough to warrant more action. Working with disproportionately affected Aboriginal communities Many Aboriginal communities may be at particular risk, because they are located in remote areas of forests that burn frequently. Thousands of Aboriginal people are evacuated each year as a result of wildfire. Research is underway to examine some of the unique characteristics of Aboriginal communities that influence their wildfire mitigation efforts. Some Aboriginal communities have had long associations with wildfire, ranging from traditional burning practices to modern-day firefighting. These experiences, cultural factors and the communal nature of land and home ownership are some of the unique factors that can influence support for mitigation action in Aboriginal communities. The Aboriginal Wildfire Evacuation (AWE) Partnership is bringing together researchers from the NoFC and the University of Alberta, along with 10 federal and provincial agency partners and six First Nations communities in northern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario that have experienced wildfire evacuations in the recent past. Over the next three years, the researchers will explore how Aboriginal people are affected by wildfire evacuations and the partners will develop recommendations to improve future evacuations. Developing effective wildfire management programs through collaboration and partnership Collaboration between management agencies, communities, homeowners and other stakeholders is key to reducing wildfire fuels and developing community protection plans. Citizen trust in management agencies is a significant factor in gaining public support for management activities such as prescribed burning or thinning the forest. NoFC researchers are working with their counterparts in the United States and Australia to examine the role of collaboration and partnerships in developing effective wildfire management programs. Using workshops with agency staff, community leaders and others in all three countries, the research team is identifying specific actions and common factors that build trust and foster support for wildfire management. The team is developing a guide that can be used by management agencies and communities to help build enduring partnerships for managing wildfire risk. Canadian Forest Service key contact Amy Christianson, Fire Social Scientist - Complexity of homeowner wildfire risk mitigation: an integration of hazard theories - Implementation of wildfire risk management by local governments in Alberta, Canada - Comparison of homeowner response to wildfire risk among towns with and without wildfire management - An examination of the influence of hazard experience on wildfire risk perceptions and adoption of mitigation measures - Date Modified:
Gdansk Television was founded in the late 50s and in 1958 the first TV signal emissions test was broadcasted the liberation of Gdańsk suburbs from German occupation took place on 26th March 1945 one of the towers of St. Mary's Basilica has a different shade of green than the others because it was the only one to survive the wartime destruction istnieją przypuszczenia, iż Brama Mariacka powstała już w ostatniej ćwierci XV w., a nie po 1457r. Baltic amber is a fossil resin of coniferous trees which live at east 40 million years ago care for the poor in former Gdańsk was regulated by the Act of 1525 and 1551 Schleswig-Holstein battleship that started the II World War in 1939, was built in Gdańsk in 1908 over 2000 companies from Gdańsk sell amber to all the continent s of the world Monument to the Fallen Shipyard Workers, in the form of three, 42 meters high, connected crosses, was unveiled in the 10th anniversary of the tragic ... the song of Gdańsk, written by Wiktor Gomulicki, is a poem, a kind of literary monument to Gdańsk
Summer Fire Season Whilst Point Cook is situated in an urban environment, we are surrounded by a vast area of grassland, which could easily become a potentially dangerous grass fire. We only have to think back to at the start of this year and the grass fires we saw in Little River and our own backyard of Featherbook. Are you ready? Do you know your risks? Check out http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/am-I-at-risk/ and learn about the risks of fire, fire behaviour and grassfires near cities and towns. Don't forget you can access warnings and fire information from Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/cfavic Twitter - https://twitter.com/CFA_Updates VIC Emergencies - www.emergency.vic.gov.au The Victorian Bushfire Information Line - 1800 240 667 VicEmergency App and allow push notifications for messages on Fire Danger Ratings and Total Fire Bans Local ABC radio stations, UGFM – Radio Murrindindi, Stereo 974, Plenty Valley FM and commercial radio stations across Victoria and SkyNews television. Stay informed & Stay safe. Fires in the Home CFA attends more than 2000 house fires every year. There are more than 4,500 house fires every year in Victoria. The most common causes of fire are: - Unattended cooking - Electrical faults: faulty appliances, faulty wiring - Home heating: fixed and portable heaters, open fires and wood heaters Read more in the Fires in the home section of the CFA website.
In North Carolina, common-law arson is the willful and malicious burning of the dwelling house of another person. A dwelling house may be “burned” without being completely consumed or even materially damaged. “Burning” is sufficient if any part of the dwelling house is consumed, however small. Under the common-law definition of arson, a “dwelling house” means an inhabited house. A person “inhabits” a house for purposes of arson if that person dwells, lives, resides, stays, or rests at the house. Mobile homes, manufactured-type houses, and recreational trailer homes can be considered “dwelling houses” if they are inhabited. A person can be convicted of arson without burning a victim’s actual dwelling house. Arson may be established if the burning takes place anywhere within the “curtilage” of the dwelling house. “Curtilage” is defined as including the yard around the dwelling house as well as the nearby area occupied by barns and other outbuildings. In addition, the house must be the dwelling house “of another.” A house is the dwelling house “of another” if someone other than the arson defendant lives there. To sum up common-law arson in North Carolina, a person is guilty if they (a) willfully and maliciously (b) burn (c) the dwelling house (or areas within the home’s curtilage) (d) of another person.How is arson categorized and punished? Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-58, there are two degrees of arson as defined at the common law. If the dwelling house burned was occupied at the time of the burning, then the offense is arson in the first degree. Arson in the first degree is punishable as a Class D felony. If the dwelling house burned was unoccupied at the time of the burning, then the offense is arson in the second degree. Arson in the second degree is punishable as a Class G felony. The difference in punishment based on whether or not the dwelling house is occupied comes from the recognition that the purpose of common law arson is to protect against danger to those who may be inside the house. Wantonly and willfully burning an uninhabited house also carries stiff penalties in North Carolina. Although burning an uninhabited house is not technically considered arson because the house is not a “dwelling,” this offense is still punishable as a Class F felony.Can a dwelling house be “occupied” for purposes of arson in the first degree by an individual who is deceased? Yes. North Carolina courts have ruled that a defendant can be found guilty of arson in the first degree when the only occupant of the dwelling house is a person who is deceased. This applies to situations in which an individual in a dwelling house is killed and the house is then burned shortly thereafter. Although the dwelling house is only occupied by a person who is deceased at the time of the burning, the burning may constitute arson in the first degree when the killing of the victim and the burning of the dwelling house are so joined by time and circumstances as to be part of one continuous circumstance.Under North Carolina law, is burning churches, schools, and government buildings considered arson? No. In North Carolina, a willful and malicious burning is only considered arson if the building burned is the “dwelling house” of another person. Because churches, schools, and government buildings are not “dwelling houses,” they do not fit within the definition of common-law arson. However, these burnings still carry severe penalties. Wantonly and willfully burning a church is punishable as a Class E felony, while wantonly and willfully burning schoolhouses and government buildings (e.g., the State Capitol, the Legislative Building, the Justice Building, buildings owned or occupied by the State or any county, city or town, etc.) is punishable as a Class F felony.What if a first responder is seriously injured as a result of the burning? Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-69.3, if a person commits arson and a firefighter or emergency medical technician suffers serious bodily injury while responding to the burning, the person who committed the arson may be guilty of a Class E felony.What should you do after being charged with arson? The best thing you can do after being charged with arson is to contact one of the experienced criminal defense attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC. Our experienced criminal defense attorneys are fighting on behalf of North Carolina defendants in courtrooms across Mecklenburg County and the greater Charlotte region almost every day. We will fight for you, giving your case the individual attention that it deserves, and doing everything we can to ensure that you have the best possible outcome. Call (704) 370-2828 to speak with someone at Arnold & Smith, PLLC today.
A study finds that an old drug is as effective as newer drugs in lowering blood pressure and reducing the risk of heart disease. It is estimated that millions of people around the world suffer from high blood pressure, a condition in which the heart works harder than it should to pump blood through the arteries. High blood pressure can lead to a fatal heart attack. For years, experts have debated which drugs are best for reducing high blood pressure, the newer ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers, or old standby drugs known as diuretics. Known as water pills, diuretics remove salt and water in the blood stream so there's less pressure on the arteries leading away the heart. Both calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors open up constricted arteries through different mechanisms. Researchers set out to answer the question by comparing diuretics to the newer drugs in a six year, nationwide study of more than 33,000 patients with at least one risk factor for coronary heart disease. Dr. Paul Welton of Tulane University Health Sciences Center participated in the multicenter trial. "The major finding of our study was that none of the newer drugs to lower blood pressure seem to be particularly better than the traditional diuretic in preventing against heart attacks," Dr. Welton said. The results of the study are published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. In a commentary in the Journal, Dr. Lawrence Appel of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, said it appears the most effective therapy is also the least expensive because diuretics have been around for a long time. "The cost per pill is roughly one to three cents per pill in contrast to a dollar or more per pill for some of the more expensive medicines that are currently available," Dr. Appel said. Dr. Appel adds the results of the study may encourage doctors to prescribe diuretics more often for their patients with hypertension. But then again maybe not, since he says the drugs are no longer aggressively made and promoted by large pharmaceutical companies.
Although cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is usually a rare cancer, in northeast Thailand it kills 20 000 or more people every year. The prognosis is very poor owing to late stage diagnosis, with palliative treatment often representing the only option. In this area of predominantly rural Thailand, CCA is associated with infection with the liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, which is classified as a group 1 carcinogen. Up to 6 million Thais are infected with this fluke. The Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) was initiated in 2014 with the aim of detecting early stage CCA, allowing curative surgery, by using ultrasound (US) screening of prospectively 500 000 at risk individuals. In order to assess the massive number of radiological images, a teleconsultation system was set-up. This allows US images to be sent to a dedicated server where they can be viewed by an expert radiologist who then provides a provisional diagnosis, recommending more advanced diagnostic techniques (CT and MRI) for suspected cases. To date, 250 000 people have been screened, and 2000 cases of CCA diagnosed. This innovative information transfer procedure will also be made available to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, where O. viverrini infection is also common. - teleconsultation ultrasonography This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Statistics from Altmetric.com Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly malignant epithelial tumour of the biliary system. It is the second most common primary liver cancer worldwide after hepatocellular carcinoma.1 CCA is the most common liver cancer in northeast Thailand2,3 where the highest incidence worldwide is significantly correlated with the presence of the liver fluke Opisthorchis viverrini, which is classified as a group 1 carcinogen.4 Infection with this trematode occurs when raw or undercooked fish is consumed, something common in the traditional nutrition pattern of this part of Thailand.5 If untreated, O. viverrini can survive for years in humans where it progressively accumulates in the biliary system, leading to a chronic inflammatory response and eventually periductal fibrosis (PDF). This facilitates the development of CCA.6 PDF has been documented in the non-tumorous area of the liver parenchyma in patients with CCA.7,8 In addition to the liver fluke, other risk factors include primary sclerosing cholangitis, biliary duct cysts, hepatolithiasis, toxins, inflammatory bowel disease, hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, cirrhosis, obesity, alcohol consumption, smoking and a genetic predisposition 1. Once the disease manifests, surgery is the only hope for cure.9,10 To achieve a better survival outcome, focus should centre on the detection of patients with early stage cancer followed by radical surgery.11 CCA arises in the intrahepatic duct or the extrahepatic duct epithelium. The tumour is classified based on its anatomical location as intrahepatic CCA if it occurs at or above the level of second order branches of the bile duct or extrahepatic (E-CCA) if it occurs below the level of second order branches of the bile duct down through the distal part of the common bile duct. E-CCA is further divided into perihilar (P-CCA) if it occurs above the level of cystic duct junction and distal (D-CCA) if it occurs below the level of cystic duct junction.12 Based on its morphology, CCA is classified into three types by the Liver Cancer Study Group of Japan.13 Mass-forming CCA (MF-CCA) originates in the mucosa of the duct and appears as mass lesion. Periductal infiltrating CCA (PI-CCA) in which the tumour originates in the mucosa and involves the submucosa and serosa of the duct wall. Intraductal CCA (ID-CCA) in which the tumour originates in the mucosa of the bile duct along which it spreads. The tumour may be small in size intraductally and may be associated with mucin formation.14 Combinations of these types are possible as the growth of PI-CCA may lead to invasion of the liver parenchyma. According to its anatomical location and tumour morphology, clinical presentation may also vary, including a non-specific clinical presentation in the early stages of the disease. For patients presenting in the advance stage of the disease, the prognosis is very poor.15,16 Using ultrasonography, CCA may appear as liver mass (MF-CCA) and bile duct dilatation (PI-CCA and ID-CCA) caused by biliary obstruction or by mucin production by the tumour. This technique represents the most effective means of screening, as no definite tumour marker is available for reliable tumour screening or surveillance. It allows an acceptable initial imaging modality for liver and hepatobiliary diseases.17 It is non-invasive, readily available, repeatable and portable. It also has high sensitivity for the detection of liver mass18,19 and is accurate for the detection of bile duct dilatation.17 It can be used for the detection of parenchymal liver disease,19 and a recent report shows its potential role in the detection of PDF in an endemic area for CCA by which the carcinoma can be detected in situ.7 The main disadvantage of ultrasonography is that it is operator dependent.7,17-19 The reliability of the examination is directly related to the operator’s experience; therefore, training and the availability of an expert for consultation are of critical importance. The CASCAP study The risk group of CCA in the northeast Thai endemic area of O. viverrini is estimated to be approximately 21 million from 20 provinces covering an area of approximately 160 000 km2. Ultrasonography is the critical screening method used by the Cholangiocarcinoma Screening and Care Program (CASCAP) of the Medical Faculty of Khon Kaen University in northeast Thailand20 21. This study has initial funding for 4 years starting 2014. The aims of surveillance and screening for CCA by CASCAP are the following: (1) detection of PDF with close follow-up by ultrasonography and (2) detection of liver mass or bile duct dilatation or a combination of these to be considered for immediate additional diagnostic investigation. This will provide increased primary prevention for tumours by allowing early estimates of individual risk of developing CCA and facilitate the early diagnosis of the disease at a time when resection is still a treatment option. The process for patient transfer to a proper management scheme after diagnosis has been negotiated with the Thai Ministry of Health. In order to reach as many of the at risk population as possible, without requiring extensive travel to a diagnostic hospital facility, a training course based at Khon Kaen University Hospital was established in order to increase the number of doctors and general practitioners who can perform ultrasound (US) examinations in rural northeast Thailand. The 2-day training course for CCA surveillance includes both theoretical and practical aspects with emphasis on PDF and CCA detection. The first day of training provides the trainees with an overview of CCA imaging: gallbladder and biliary tree diseases and normal sonographic findings of the hepatobiliary system, US imaging of other organs including the pancreas, kidney and spleen and US features of hepatobiliary diseases such as liver mass and parenchymal liver diseases. The second day is devoted to hands-on US practising. This is being carried out with the aim of establishing online consultation and diagnosis of ultrasonographic images (figure 1). Online consultation assists less experienced medical workers with interpreting the ultrasonographic findings. The expert and rural health worker can then communicate for the proper management of each patient via an online software application. For patients with PDF, a follow-up US is recommended, and if there is a mass lesion or dilatation of the bile duct, the expert radiologist will confirm the finding via online consultation and aid in making a decision on further diagnostic measures. This online consultation, called CASCAP MD KKU Solution (figure 2), is part of a larger scheme called CASCAP Tools that is located at http://www.cascap.in.th. This solution system comprises an application installed in a workstation computer connected to the US machine (Hitachi Aloka, Japan), software at the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) server and a web application in CASCAP Tools. The application at the workstation is to manage the digital communication in medicine (DICOM) file using an electronic imaging format to be stored systematically in PACS. The CASCAP MD KKU Solution performs the following tasks: (1) It sets up the US machine with DICOM so that it can store the images according to the designated worklist; (2) The workstation retrieves the worklist, which lists the risk group to be screened. This has been prepared by the local health workers using CASCAP Tools. This is then used to generate the worklist for the US machine; (3) Medical workers perform the US examination; (4) The workstation receives the US images and reports to CASCAP Tools via a virtual private network (VPN); (5) The PACS server archives all images for long-term use, as well as allowing a radiologist to open the DICOM images for online consultation and (6) The radiologist provides online consultation and verification of the diagnosis. CASCAP Tools is accessible to public and private hospitals, as well as to other health facilities, for their own use free of charge. To be able to download CASCAP Tools, the system administrator will be verified and requested to sign an agreement according to Thai regulations. Once activated, the administrator can then add members to the system including data managers, physicians who will provide services in ultrasonography and other healthcare personnel. On logging into the system with user identification and password, the healthcare personnel can enrol risk groups to receive ultrasonography for CCA screening using a unique identification, the 13-digit Thai citizen identification number (CID) and the hospital code forming an 18-digit personal identification (PID) number. This can be done anywhere, at any time prior to or at the same time as the ultrasonographic examination. At the appointment date for ultrasonography, the healthcare worker only needs to enter the PID into the ultrasonography device before performing the examination. The healthcare worker can then store each image, followed by entering information regarding the diagnosis. All of this information will be transferred to the CASCAP server located at a secured location and operated by the programmers of the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation of Thailand. Between 5 and 15 ultrasonographic images are stored for each individual per examination. Each image is stored in DICOM format with a size of less than 300 KB per image. Based on this image size, the current CASCAP Tools server can accommodate data for the whole country with a population size of 67 million for more than 5 years. The DICOM file can also be viewed on most computer screens without any loss of image quality, hence, allowing validation of the diagnosis at any computer that is connected to the Internet. The system also allows each diagnosis to be made by a radiologist. This enhances quality assurance of the diagnosis, as well as promoting continuing medical education efficiently. Most importantly, there are tools to help suspected cases of CCA to receive appropriate care and management. All securely stored data can be retrieved and viewed by authorised health personnel responsible for the healthcare services using the CID. Thus, all participating institutions, no matter where they are, can recognise and provide medical care to the same client or patient when appropriate. By using the CID, it is possible to detect and track changes in the ultrasonographic findings with time. This will facilitate the early detection of CCA, which is critical for the success in combating this usually fatal disease. Three years after the launch of CASCAP Tools, there were more than 549 800 individuals enrolled in the risk group for further screening. More than 282 800 have received an ultrasonography examination, and there are more than 3270 healthcare facilities that have activated CASCAP Tools. All of these were done on a voluntary basis. Teleconsultation provides a means for screening by physicians in consultation with expert radiologists, thus allowing treatment and curative surgery if necessary, in a usually fatal disease. Teleconsultation is not confined by country borders, and this service can be provided throughout the Greater Mekong Subregion where CCA is common and 90 million people are at risk22, including populations in poorly accessible county areas, without the need for the patient to be transported to a major hospital for screening. We thank Professor Trevor N Petney for editing the MS via the KKU Publication Clinic, Thailand. Contributors NC, VL, JS, WL, PY, BT and NK contributed to the study design, writing and revision of the paper. Funding This work was supported by Khon Kaen University through the CASCAP project, the National Research Council of Thailand through the Thailand Grand Challenges: Fluke Free Thailand project, the Health Systems Research Institute, Cholangiocarcinoma Research Institute and Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation of Thailand. Competing interests None declared. Patient consent Obtained. Ethics approval Khon Kaen University Ethics Committee. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
PACIFIC NORTHWEST: The Incredible Shrinking Glaciers.IT FEELS AS IF A GIANT MEAT LOCKER HAS SWUNG OPEN, sending a cold, yet thin, wind blowing down In mathematics, blowing down is a type of geometric modification in algebraic geometry. It is the inverse operation of blowing up. On an algebraic surface, blowing down a curve lying on the surface is a typical effect of a birational transformation. South Cascade Glacier South Cascade Glacier is a large alpine glacier in the North Cascades of Washington, USA. It is bordered on the east by 8,261-foot (2,518 m) Sentinel Peak, and is about 17 miles (27 km) north of Glacier Peak in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. just outside North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park, 504,781 acres (204,436 hectares), N Washington. Located in the Cascade Range, the park has outstanding alpine scenery, including high jagged peaks, glaciers, icefalls, hanging valleys, and mountain lakes in high glacial cirques. in northern Washington. The sun glares. Everything is white. The expanse of snow acts like a big reflecting basin. Bob Krimmel, a scientist in a broad-brimmed hat and gloves, is initially winded by the altitude change, but spends much of the day trudging through brush to get to this spot--the longest-studied glacier in the northern Cascade mountains, the nation's most heavily glaciated gla·ci·ate tr.v. gla·ci·at·ed, gla·ci·at·ing, gla·ci·ates a. To cover with ice or a glacier. b. To subject to or affect by glacial action. 2. To freeze. area outside of Alaska. So much snow. And yet ... The glacier is shrinking. "It's very easy to see the glacier is much, much smaller," Krimmel says later, back at his office at U.S. Geological Survey (USGS USGS United States Geological Survey (US Department of the Interior) ). Seated at a computer, he looks at the side-by-side images--a photo taken in 1928 and another 60 years later. "In the last century, it's retreated about 1.2 miles," says Krimmel, a research hydrologist hy·drol·o·gy The scientific study of the properties, distribution, and effects of water on the earth's surface, in the soil and underlying rocks, and in the atmosphere. and the glacier's leading researcher. "Right now, it's about 1.5 miles long. It's lost about half of its length and half its volume." South Cascade Glacier has become the poster child for global climate change in the Pacific Northwest, contends Jon Riedel, glacier researcher for North Cascades National Park. It is thinning so much, Riedel points out, that since 1953 it has lost the equivalent of 72 feet of water in thickness off its surface. It isn't the only case of the incredible shrinking glacier. In this icy high country, 46 of the 47 Cascade glaciers observed by Nichols College researcher Mauri Pelto were found to be retreating. Riedel, meanwhile, personally backpacks several miles to monitor four glaciers; he notices the lower-elevation, smaller glaciers on the west side of the Cascades are shrinking, a pattern also found farther south. This melting promises to change the very image of the Northwest. Montana's Glacier National Park Glacier National Park, United States Glacier National Park, 1,013,572 acres (410,497 hectares), NW Mont.; est. 1910. Straddling the Continental Divide, the park contains some of the most beautiful primitive wilderness in the Rocky Mts. in 30 years may need to be renamed "the park formerly known as Glacier," as Seattle-based Northwest Environment Watch research director John C. Ryan puts it. A hundred of its 150 glaciers have vanished, and the pace is hastening. At white-capped Mount Rainier--that looming symbol of the Northwest (and a local beer label)--the vast majority of its glaciers are receding, says Andrew Fountain, researcher and Portland State University geology professor. "They don't recede re·cede 1 intr.v. re·ced·ed, re·ced·ing, re·cedes 1. To move back or away from a limit, point, or mark: waited for the floodwaters to recede. 2. because they're getting colder, you know what I'm saying?" Fountain says. Whatever the ultimate cause, he says: "That's global climate change--right there." Suffice it to say that scientists in the Pacific Northwest are seeing signs that the climate is changing, from melting glaciers to rising temperatures. While none can definitively tie this to a human-caused, long-term shift in the climate, many believe that the changes are consistent with that. Even cautious, middle-of-the-road climate scientist Philip Mote of the University of Washington wants to "underscore" that waiting for proof before taking concrete steps to combat climate change "would not be a prudent course." "We are seeing things that never happened before to our knowledge," says Elliott North, of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute in Redmond, Washington. "These things are consistent in what we would expect in a world that is warming. It would be, in many cases, surprising if this weren't human-caused. "When you think of the state of Washington, do you think of marlin or yellowfin tuna? No. Well, starting several years ago, people started catching marlin, which we think of as tropical and subtropical sub·trop·i·cal Of, relating to, or being the geographic areas adjacent to the Tropics. of the region lying between the tropics and temperate lands , and yellowfin tuna off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. That is extremely peculiar," says North, adding that while El Nino was the oft-cited culprit, a warming climate is making El Nino more severe, more common, and longer lasting. Melting glaciers are concrete signs that things are changing, but aren't the only harbingers. Hikers long have enjoyed picnicking in meadows of heather at Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park (rānēr`, rə–), 235,625 acres (95,395 hectares), SW Wash., in the Cascade Range; est. 1899. The area is dominated by Mt. Rainier, a volcanic peak 14,410 ft (4,392 m) high. , yet that, too, is in flux. As temperatures rise (the 1990s were warmer than the 1980s, and the 1980s warmer than the 1970s, says Mote), trees are filling in the park's subalpine sub·al·pine 1. Of or relating to regions at or near the foot of the Alps. 2. Of, relating to, inhabiting, or growing in mountainous regions just below the timberline. Adj. 1. meadows. The trees are taking advantage of a longer growing season--eight to 10 weeks, compared to six to eight, says David Peterson, a USGS researcher and forest ecology professor at the University of Washington. "Why do people go to Paradise? To see the flowers," Peterson says. "And the flowers are starting to disappear." Expect more change as temperatures rise faster than they have in 10,000 years--a predicted two degrees F by 2020 or 4.5 degrees by 2050, according to climate models at the University of Washington. "For the last 100 years, the Pacific Northwest has been warming and having increased rainfall. These trends are accelerating now," says Richard Gammon, a University of Washington scientist. This spells trouble for the region's "white gold," as the mountain snowpack snow·pack An area of naturally formed, packed snow that usually melts during the warmer months. 1. has been called, and for anyone dependent on the cool, clear water that rushes down glacier-fed streams in hot July and August. Global climate change threatens to eliminate half the Northwest's snowpack, according to one estimate. Glaciers are "frozen freshwater reservoirs which release water during the drier summer months," Richard S. Williams Jr. of USGS wrote in a report. "They are of considerable economic importance in the irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. of crops and to the generation of hydroelectric power." More trouble is expected. Here are some scientific-based future scenarios for the Pacific Northwest, according to Patrick Mazza of Olympia-based Climate Solutions, a project of the nonprofit Earth Island Institute The Earth Island Institute was founded in 1982 by environmentalist David Brower. It organizes and encourages activism around environmental issues and provides public education. Funding comes from individual members and supporting organizations. : Droughts coming twice as frequently by 2020. Forests retreating from the eastern Cascades in Oregon and Washington, replaced by grasslands. Ski seasons shortened since snow will be at higher elevations. More frequent, destructive floods and mudslides. Rainier winters. More hot days in summer. And fewer salmon. After all, "climate change," according to a report by Canada's David Suzuki Foundation The David Suzuki Foundation is an environmental organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a non-profit organization that is incorporated in both Canada and the United States, and is funded by over 40,000 donors. , "is seen as one of the causes of a dramatic drop in Pacific salmon populations along the west coast of North America." Richard Gammon is considered Dr. Doom by some. He remembers sockeye salmon sockeye salmon or red salmon Food fish (Oncorhynchus nerka) of the North Pacific that constitutes almost 20% of the commercial fishery of Pacific salmon. It weighs about 6 lbs (3 kg) and lacks distinct spots on the body. swimming in a Seattle stream now too warm for the vanished fish. He recalls putting studded tires on his car in winter, but, thanks to newfound warmer winters in Seattle, he hasn't had to for several years. "When I see a dying madrona tree in Seattle, I think `global climate change,'" says Gammon, a University of Washington scientist who believes the local tree is sensitive to the changing climate. It may be tempting to write off Gammon as an alarmist a·larm·ist A person who needlessly alarms or attempts to alarm others, as by inventing or spreading false or exaggerated rumors of impending danger or catastrophe. , except for his credentials. He helped author the original United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change “IPCC” redirects here. For other uses, see IPCC (disambiguation). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment report in 1990 and has reviewed the two successors. To him, nothing short of the Pacific Northwest's culture is at risk. "If we like cedars, if we like orcas, and bald eagles and salmon--all those things are at risk. When the salmon go, the eagles will go, and the orcas will, too," Gammon cautions. "The Yakima nation said: `When the salmon are gone, we're gone.'" CONTACT: Climate Solutions, (360)352-1763, www.climatesolutions.org; Northwest Environment Watch, (206)447-1880, www.northwestwatch.org. SALLY DENEEN is a Seattle-based freelance writer.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and Eleventh Stack are celebrating Black History Month by highlighting books, music and movies by African American Artists. We also have a ton of great events and programs for children, teens and adults. You can view all of our Black History Month posts here. The Sisters are Alright is not only the title of this book; it’s an affirmation. I think that this book should be for everyone to read, not just black women. This book paints a portrait of how society views the black woman versus how we actually are. It also gives an inside look into the struggles that black women face every day. Also, the book gives varying viewpoints throughout, so it’s not one sided. I love how the book is divided into separate subjects like beauty, marriage, sex, health, etc. One quote that stuck out to me was from Jamyla, a woman the author interviewed for this book. Jamyla said, “My political feeling is that it very serious work to love yourself as a black person in America.” I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. This reminds me of the Black Lives Matter movement and the backlash that it received not long after it was formed. It left some people asking, “What about all lives?” Even when we love and accept ourselves it’s a problem. In the beauty section, Harris discusses the natural hair movement and how black women had to create their own websites and products because mainstream media and big businesses weren’t marketing to women of color. Another part that stuck out to me was in the sex section of the book, where Harris mentions a time when FOX News anchor Bill O’Reilly blasted Beyoncé for her video & song “Partition” because of its sexual content and because she’s supposed to be a role model to young girls. O’Reilly said, “Teenage girls look up to Beyoncé, particularly girls of color. Why would she do it when she knows the devastation that unwanted pregnancies…fractured families…why would Beyoncé do that?” This quote angered me on multiple levels, because when a black woman embraces her sexuality she gets slammed, ridiculed, even chastised for her behavior, but when stars like Amy Schumer or Madona (who is mentioned in the book) do the exact same thing they are praised and applauded for being so bold and unapologetic. It’s not fair. Why applaud one and criticize another for doing the exact same thing? Another thing, on the song in question Beyoncé is singing about having consensual sex with her husband not a random hookup. Even if she was singing about a random hookup, so what? Like she said herself, she’s a grown woman. There were a lot of relatable parts of this book for me. One was a quote from the marriage section. Harris said, “And if you trust the what’s-wrong-with-black-women-and-why-won’t-anyone-marry-them industrial complex, black women may not be pretty or chaste enough to merit wifedom.” I can relate to this because I’ve never been in a relationship before, and I sometimes feel like in society’s eyes that something is wrong with me. Looking on the Internet sometimes is so upsetting because I constantly see black women as the butt of jokes or being downed just to praise non-black women. So, sometimes in the back of my mind when I see a cute guy I think, “I wonder if he even likes black women?” Another part that I related to was in the anger section where Harris said, “Black women do get angry. Everyone does, but the angry black woman stereotype denies them their warranted rage.” I can definitely relate to this because in just about every facet of my life I feel like I have to control my emotions for fear of being perceived as an angry black woman. Even in situations where my anger would be justified. It’s hard to deal with. This brings me to another point about black women always having to wear a face of control and not only that but strength. One quote in the strength section said, “Ultimately, the ‘strong black woman’ stereotype is an albatross at odds with African American women’s very survival.” This quote is very true because once again I always feel like I have to put on a face and be strong even when I want to break down. It’s like black women aren’t allowed to show any emotion. We’re multi-faceted people and deserve to be seen as such. The ending of the book reminds black women that we aren’t perfect and that we aren’t supposed to be. “We have facets like diamonds. The trouble is the people who refuse to see us sparkling.”
Sophene (Armenian: Ծոփք Tsopkh, Ancient Greek: Σωφηνή, translit. Sōphēnē or Armenian: Չորրորդ Հայք, English: Fourth Armenia) was a province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia and of the Roman Empire, located in the south-west of the kingdom. The region lies in what is now southeastern Turkey. \|Province of the ancient kingdom of Armenia\| \|Western Armenian dialect).\| \|Capital\|\|Carcathiocerta, later Arshamashat\| \|•\|\|Artaxias I declaring himself independent\|\|189 BC\| \|•\|\|Included in the province of Armenia\|\|530 AD. Area = 350 000 Km 2\| The region that was to become Sophene was part of the kingdom of Ararat (Urartu) in the 8th-7th centuries BC. After unifying the region with his kingdom in the early 8th century BC, king Argishtis I of Urartu resettled many of its inhabitants in his newly built city of Erebuni (modern day Armenian capital Yerevan). Around 600 BC, Sophene became part of the newly emerged ancient Armenian Kingdom of the Orontids. This dynasty acted as satraps of Armenia firstly under Median Empire, later under Persian Empire. After Alexander the Great's campaigns in 330s BC and the subsequent collapse of the Achaemenid Empire, Sophene remained part of the newly independent kingdom of Greater Armenia. In the early 3rd century BC, at the instigation of the Seleucid Empire, which was trying to weaken the Armenian kingdom, Sophene, split from Greater Armenia, forming the Kingdom of Sophene. The kingdom was ruled by a branch of the Armenian royal dynasty of Orontids. Sophene later split from the Sophene-Commagene kingdom as well, forming an independent kingdom. Commagene was part of Sophene at this time. Around 200 BC, in his attempt to finally subjugate Armenia, Seleucid king Antiochus III conquered both Greater Armenia and Sophene, installing Armenian generals Artaxias I and Zariadres as governors-strategoi in the respective kingdoms. Following Antiochus' defeat by the Romans at the battle of Magnesia in 190 BC, both Zareh and Artashes declared themselves independent kings. Zareh and his descendants ruled the kingdom of Sophene until it was reunified with Greater Armenia by Tigranes the Great in the 80s BC. Pompey gave Sophene to Tigranes, after defeating his father Tigranes the Great. Sophene later become part of the Roman Empire, and was made into a province of the Roman Empire. The capital was Amida (modern Diyarbakır). Around 54, the province was ruled by Sohaemus of Emesa. - The History of Rome By Theodor Mommsen, William Purdie Dickson. - Anania Shirakatsi, Geography. - Richardson, Peter, Univ of South Carolina Press, 1996, p. 96. - Swain, Simon, Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism, and Power in the Greek World, Ad 50-250, Oxford University Press, 1996, p. 304. - Joshua, The Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite, Liverpool University Press, 2001, p. 54. - Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
(Katya on the importance of fostering a sense of community in the classroom.) I don’t know about you, but my school experience was a fairly individualistic one. Grades were always a reflection on your ability and your knowledge, and there is a lot of value in giving children a sense of responsibility about their own success. However, I am supremely glad to have gone to a University that encourages teamwork. It’s a skill I needed to develop, and I feel like it has been crucial to my development in the last few years. Steve Wheeler talks about the ways online groups work together, and why a social aspect is key in getting children to participate in online learning exercises. It’s a very interesting read, as well as the articles he links, because they underline a truth which is one of the foundations of DoodleMaths (and indeed, many of the recent posts on this blog.) Namely, that play supports and enhances learning. Playing with friends and teamwork have quite a bit in common. In fact, the only difference is the context in which the words are being used – “play” implies a seemingly pointless activity, while “teamwork” is something that you usually do in the office, if that. However, both activities involve more than one person engaging in an activity to achieve a common goal, and in both cases, there are certain group dynamics at hand. As we grow older, we start hearing words like “leader” and “mediator”, and businesses spend thousands of pounds on getting their employees trained to work better together; when we’re kids, though, we’re bossy, or meek, or come up with ideas that work for everyone, and those things come about more or less organically. So why don’t we take advantage of naturally arising group dynamics and have kids work together more in class projects? Why not nurture good practices about working together as a team? Perhaps you can find students that are more advanced in your subject and have them help out their friends? Or maybe have students work on exercises in small groups to encourage knowledge sharing? Not only does this take away the edge of competition (and have some feel bad about not ‘getting it’ straight off the bat,) you are creating an opportunity to help your students build effective relationships beyond simple friendship. And if you need any more proof, check out this article about where the value of a school lies. Try it out – who knows, 15 years from now, you might be saving your students’ employers a lot of money on training.
Submitted to: Book Chapter Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: August 27, 2007 Publication Date: N/A Technical Abstract: Soil temperature is a critical factor in the germination and early growth of many crops including corn, cotton, small grains, and vegetable crops. Soil temperature strongly influences the rate of critical biological reactions in the soil such as the rates of nitrification and microbial respiration. Therefore, soil temperature measurements are useful in many contexts. Measuring soil temperature involves the following steps: 1) define the objective, 2) select the site, 3) choose measurement depths, times, and replications, 3) design data acquisition system, and 4) implement plan and maintain site.
20 December 2013 Around the world, cities are searching for sustainable ways to transport residents quickly, efficiently, and safely throughout their streets. One such solution is bus rapid transit (BRT), which is already widely implemented in both the developed and developing worlds. New research shows that BRT can reduce travel time by millions of hours for commuters worldwide. For instance, BRT users in Istanbul, Turkey, can save 28 days per year by shifting from other transport modes to BRT. Commuters in Johannesburg, South Africa, meanwhile, can save an estimated 73 million hours between 2007 and 2026. That’s the equivalent of more than 9 million eight-hour work-days. BRT is a city-based, high-speed bus transit system in which buses travel on dedicated routes. A new report from EMBARQ, Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts of Bus Rapid Transit Systems,examines global evidence as well as four in-depth case studies of BRT systems in Bogotá, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Istanbul, Turkey. It concludes that BRT improves quality of life in cities in at least four key ways: saving travel time, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and local air pollutant emissions, improving traffic safety, and increasing physical activity. Travel time savings Dedicated bus lanes separate BRT buses from mixed traffic, allowing them to travel more quickly through a city. Pre-paid boarding and level platforms – reminiscent of a metro station rather than the traditional bus stop – speed up passenger boarding, while traffic signal management that prioritizes BRT buses and high-frequency bus service minimizes waiting times. These features have a significantly positive impact in cities where BRT systems operate. In Johannesburg, BRT users save an average of 13 minutes each way during their daily commute. In Istanbul the savings are even greater – the typical Metrobüs passenger saves 52 minutes per day. Mexico City stands to save US$141 million in regained economic productivity as a result of travel time reductions from Metrobús Line 3. In terms of quality of life, travel time savings is perhaps the most important benefit of BRT systems: it allows passengers more time to live, not commute. GHG and local air pollutant emissions reductions BRT reduces the overall amount of vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) in a city by shifting commuters to high-capacity buses that can carry up to 160 passengers at a time. Fewer vehicles transporting the same amount of passengers reduces traffic congestion, and presents the opportunity to replace older, more polluting vehicles. The incorporation of modern fuel efficiency technologies into BRT buses and better driver training can also contribute to lower fuel consumption and emissions. These cleaner vehicle and fuel technologies lower the concentration of ambient air pollution citywide and inside BRT vehicles. Passenger exposure to air pollution at stations or inside buses is further reduced by shorter travel times, meaning cities have a major opportunity to reduce local air pollutants by implementing BRT systems. For example, Metrobús Line 3 in Mexico City is poised to eliminate more than 2,000 days of lost work (due to illness), four new cases of chronic bronchitis, and two deaths per year, saving the city an estimated US$ 4.5 million. Traffic safety improvements Implementing BRT systems contributes to reductions in traffic crashes and fatalities in a few key ways. First, an overall reduction in VKT results in fewer drivers on the road and a safer transport environment for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike. Second, dedicated bus lanes reduce interaction between buses and other vehicles, minimizing the risk for traffic crashes. Finally, BRT can change bus drivers’ behavior by reducing on-the-road competition with other vehicles and providing opportunities to improve driver training. The case of Latin America showcases BRT’s safety benefits: streets with BRT systems saw an average 40 percent reduction in fatalities and injuries. Further evidence suggests that BRT and other forms of sustainable transport are an under-acknowledged component of traffic safety planning, with an enormous potential to reduce traffic crashes and save lives. Increased physical activity BRT systems also increase physical activity for passengers, thanks to the spacing of BRT terminals, which tend to require longer walking distances than private vehicles and other motorized modes of transport. Despite the distance, shorter overall travel times make BRT worth the walk, with passengers across the world consistently moving through the city faster even with more time spent getting to terminals. Mexico City’s Metrobús passengers walk an average of 2.75 minutes more per day than before the city implemented its BRT system. Users of Beijing’s BRT system have added 8.5 minutes of daily walking as a result of the BRT. Because the World Health Organization recommends adults aged 18-64 do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity throughout the week, BRT passengers already have a jump start on a healthy lifestyle just from their daily commute. Scaling up BRT globally As a growing transport solution in both developed and developing countries, BRT and busway systems already have a combined daily ridership of more than 29 million people in 163 cities around the world as of October 2013. An additional 143 BRT systems are currently being implemented or expanded. This new analysis supports the global scaling up of BRT systems, in addition to offering recommendations for policymakers, technical experts, and financing bodies to maximize the benefits of BRT. As a safer, cleaner, and more efficient mode of transport that gives people more time for their personal lives, BRT is a smart solution to cities’ urban transport challenges. For more on the benefits of BRT, check out this newly released video, which takes an on-the-ground look at BRT systems in Mexico City and Istanbul.
We aren’t picking on Football, this is just a very clear example of what Second Impact Syndrome is, and just how much damage is being done from multiple head impacts. Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is the damage happening to the brain in athletes where head impact is a constant. This story, from CNN, is a startling wake up call…have a read and understand a little more about, and then if you have time, try to find the CNN television report (Big Hits, Broken Dreams) by Dr. Sanjay Gupta (aired originally 1/28/12 on CNN). (CNN) — For 17-year-old Nathan Stiles, his senior year was supposed to be the best yet. He was a straight-A student and homecoming king at Spring Hill, Kansas, High School, and was the Broncos’ star running back. He was a starter on the varsity basketball team and loved to sing at church. He was the son any mother dreamed of having. His mom, Connie, recalls, “He was an athlete, but school was important. His grades, his teachers and just having a family … he had his priorities right.” The final game of his senior year turned out to be the final game of his life. Nathan died playing the game he loved, football. His autopsy would reveal he died of second-impact syndrome, when a player is hit again before the brain has had a chance to heal from an initial concussion. But it would turn out that those repetitive hits Nathan took on the field would also make him the youngest reported case of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). It’s a degenerative disease found in football players and other athletes in contact sports who get repeated hits to their heads. Nathan Stiles was a straight-A student, homecoming king, and the Spring Hill Bronco’s star running back. The day after homecoming, Nathan complained of headaches. But nothing unusual, until five days later, when his mom received a call from his athletics trainer. “Nathan’s telling me he’s still having headaches. You need to go take him to the emergency room.'” And so Connie did. Nathan had a CT scan and the doctors reported a clean bill of health. Yet, to be on the safe side, doctors kept him out of play for three weeks. Kansas is one of 34 states that require a player to be cleared by a health care professional before they return to play. In addition, Kansas also requires that players and their parents sign a waiver acknowledging the risks of concussions. When Connie and Nathan returned to the doctor’s office three weeks later, Connie remembers Nathan turning to her and asking “Now, Mom, are you OK with this?” She didn’t want him to, but it was hard for her to say no. “You know, it’s his choice,” she said. His first game back, Connie remembers him getting hit. “I saw him kind of get stunned. But he walks out and tells Ron, ‘Oh I’ve never felt better, that was the best game, I never felt so good.'” He even took his ACTs the following day and had no complaints. The headaches that had bothered Nathan several weeks before were gone, or at least appeared so to his parents. The following week was the final game of his career. Nathan intercepted the ball and sprinted toward the end zone. Touchdown. “If you would watch him run, he had a flow about him that was just beautiful. I mean it looked so graceful,” remembers his dad, Ron. But right before halftime, his parents noticed Nathan was acting strangely. “I watched him walk off the field, and I said, ‘He’s walking funny.’ I mean, I know that kid so well,” said Connie. Her phone rang. It was someone on the bench by Nathan. “Get over here. Something’s wrong,” she heard. By the time Ron and Connie made it to the bench, it was too late. Nathan had collapsed on the sidelines. His mother rushed to his side, trying to get him to wake up. “Come on buddy, it’s your mama, come on!” she urged. But instead of waking up, Nathan began seizuring. He was airlifted to The University of Kansas Medical Center, some 50 miles away, and rushed into surgery. Four hours later, the doctors came out to tell Ron and Connie they stopped the bleeding in his brain, but Nathan’s lungs and heart were too weak to go on. By 4 a.m. the following morning, Nathan was off life support. Nathan’s autopsy revealed he died from multiple hits to the head, also known as second impact syndrome. As Ron and Connie tried to determine what was next, Ron received a call he never expected. “You know when you get a telephone call after your son dies saying they want your son’s brain, sometimes that’s a hard call to get.” On the other end of the line was Chris Nowinski, one of the co-directors of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. The center works with the VA Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy (CSTE) Brain Bank, and together they work to understand what those hard hits on the field are doing to the brain, by looking inside the brain. Nowinski spends his time tracking football and sport related deaths and having to make the difficult calls to their families. “I have called hundred of families within 48 hours of their loved ones dying, and it’s never easy.” Instead he focuses on the fact that the bank’s work will protect families in the future. “I hate every call we make, but you know, I honestly, I have to prep and think of the positives that come out of it.” The Brain Bank is the world’s largest collection of athlete brains. Since its inception in 2008, the bank has documented more than 50 cases of CTE. Much of that work is in the hands of Dr. Ann McKee, the bank’s director and neuropathologist. She actually dissects the brain to track the trauma, and what she’s finding in the brains of some players in their 40s and 50s is astonishing. “You expect a pristine brain. I saw a brain that was riddled with tau proteins. I was stunned at how similar that brain was to the boxers who lived into their 70s,” she said. Tau proteins are the same type of proteins found in brains of Alzheimer’s patients. But to see the same type of damage in 17-year-old Nathan Stiles’ brain was something that surprised even McKee. It’s the youngest case she’s documented, and for her that was a call to action. “It tells you that we’ve really got to protect our kids,” she said. “It’s not just car seats and seatbelts, but it’s making sure that when they go out to play sports that we take proper precaution and we give them proper advice.” And that means making sure that athletes take the time to recover from concussions, and making sure they aren’t playing symptomatic, while having headaches or memory problems. For Ron and Connie Stiles, the findings and the warnings were too late to save their son. But Ron knows that Nathan’s legacy will live on as researchers learn more about concussions and how to treat them.
Henry Gray (18251861). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918. olecranon, accompanied by the ulnar nerve, and ends under the Flexor carpi ulnaris by anastomosing with the posterior ulnar recurrent, and inferior ulnar collateral. It sometimes sends a branch in front of the medial epicondyle, to anastomose with the anterior ulnar recurrent. 4. The inferior ulnar collateral artery (a. collateralis ulnaris inferior; anastomotica magna artery) arises about 5 cm. above the elbow. It passes medialward upon the Brachialis, and piercing the medial intermuscular septum, winds around the back of the humerus between the Triceps brachii and the bone, forming, by its junction with the profunda brachii, an arch above the olecranon fossa. As the vessel lies on the Brachialis, it gives off branches which ascend to join the superior ulnar collateral: others descend in front of the medial epicondyle, to anastomose with the anterior ulnar recurrent. Behind the medial epicondyle a branch anastomoses with the superior ulnar collateral and posterior ulnar recurrent arteries. 5. The muscular branches (rami musculares) three or four in number, are distributed to the Coracobrachialis, Biceps brachii, and Brachialis. The Anastomosis Around the Elbow-joint (Fig. 526).The vessels engaged in this anastomosis may be conveniently divided into those situated in front of and those behind the medial and lateral epicondyles of the humerus. The branches anastomosing in front of the medial epicondyle are: the anterior branch of the inferior ulnar collateral, the anterior ulnar recurrent, and the anterior branch of the superior ulnar collateral. Those behind the medial epicondyle are: the inferior ulnar collateral, the posterior ulnar recurrent, and the posterior branch of the superior ulnar collateral. The branches anastomosing in front of the lateral epicondyle are: the radial recurrent and the terminal part of the profunda brachii. Those behind the lateral epicondyle (perhaps more properly described as being situated between the lateral epicondyle and the olecranon) are: the inferior ulnar collateral, the interosseous recurrent, and the radial collateral branch of the profunda brachii. There is also an arch of anastomosis above the olecranon, formed by the interosseous recurrent joining with the inferior ulnar collateral and posterior ulnar recurrent (Fig. 529). 4b. 3. The Radial Artery The radial artery(Fig. 527) appears, from its direction, to be the continuation of the brachial, but it is smaller in caliber than the ulnar. It commences at the bifurcation of the brachial, just below the bend of the elbow, and passes along the radial side of the forearm to the wrist. It then winds backward, around the lateral side of the carpus, beneath the tendons of the Abductor pollicis longus and Extensores pollicis longus and brevis to the upper end of the space between the metacarpal bones of the thumb and index finger. Finally it passes forward between the two heads of the first Interosseous dorsalis, into the palm of the hand, where it crosses the metacarpal bones and at the ulnar side of the hand unites with the deep volar branch of the ulnar artery to form the deep volar arch. The radial artery therefore consists of three portions, one in the forearm, a second at the back of the wrist, and a third in the hand. Relations.(a) In the forearm the artery extends from the neck of the radius to the forepart of the styloid process, being placed to the medial side of the body of the bone above, and in front of it below. Its upper part is overlapped by the fleshy belly of the Brachioradialis; the rest of the artery is superficial, being covered by the integument and the superficial and deep fasciæ. In its course downward, it lies upon the tendon of the Biceps brachii, the Supinator, the Pronator teres, the radial origin of the Flexor digitorum sublimis, the Flexor pollicis longus, the Pronator quadratus, and the lower end of the radius. In the upper third of its course it lies between the Brachioradialis and the Pronator teres; in the lower two-thirds, between the tendons of the Brachioradialis and Flexor carpi radialis. The superficial branch of the radial nerve is close to the lateral side of the artery in the middle third of its course; and some filaments of the lateral antibrachial cutaneous nerve run along the lower part of the artery as it winds around the wrist. The vessel is accompanied by a pair of venæ comitantes throughout its whole course.
Intermittent fasting, in which individuals fast on consecutive or alternate days, has been reported to facilitate weight loss and improve cardiovascular risk. This review evaluates the various approaches to intermittent fasting and examines the advantages and limitations for use of this approach in the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Intermittent fasting can be undertaken in several ways but the basic format alternates days of ‘normal’ calorie consumption with days when calorie consumption is severely restricted. This can either be done on an alternating day basis, or more recently a 5:2 strategy has been developed (Figure 1), where 2 days each week are classed as ‘fasting days’ (with <600 calories consumed for men, <500 for women). Importantly, this type of intermittent fasting has been shown to be similarly effective or more effective than continuous modest calorie restriction with regard to weight loss, improved insulin sensitivity and other health biomarkers.1,21 Obesity comprises multiple genetic, metabolic and behavioural abnormalities that complicate treatment. Most pharmaceutical therapies that promote weight loss have been discontinued, and at the time of writing the only licensed anti-obesity drug on the UK market is orlistat.1 Increasing numbers of obese individuals are undergoing bariatric surgery, but this remains a restricted minority treatment.36 The mainstay of treatment for obesity therefore remains lifestyle intervention based around dietary changes37⇓⇓-40 which generally form the first step in any weight loss programme. Intermittent fasting is known to be useful in the treatment of intractable obesity,41 and morbidly obese individuals.42 Original treatment regimens were based upon intermittent starving as opposed to restricting calories43,44 a harsh regime that must have challenged adherence. Despite the seemingly strict nature of the fasting days intermittent fasting has a generally good adherence record and can cause significant reductions in body weight in individuals with obesity,45-46 suggesting that this is a clinically relevant therapeutic approach. “Intermittent fasting: a dietary intervention for prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease?
- Resources for Journalists - Join us EU-Forest is a high-resolution tree occurrence dataset for Europe EU-Forest greatly extends the publicly available information on the distribution of European tree species by adding almost half a million of tree occurrences derived from National Forest Inventories for 21 countries in Europe. The improvement is not only concerning the number of occurrences but also the taxonomy including more than 200 tree species. The reliability of the dataset is ensured by the fact that all surveys have been carried out by trained professional staff using standard protocols. This dataset was originally designed to provide European decision-makers with high-quality forest data, the authors believe that the great improvement in forest occurrences, taxonomy and spatial coverage will most likely benefit several disciplines. The data is openly downloadable, the academic paper that has been produced with this data can be read here.
World Heritage Sites: A Complete Guide to 878 UNESCO World Heritage Sites Firefly Books, 2009 - Architecture - 832 pages Updated for 2010, this guide fully describes every official UNESCO World Heritage site. In 1959, UNESCO launched an international campaign to safeguard the world's most important sites, which led to the first World Heritage List. In clear text that highlights all the fascinating facts, this revised edition of World Heritage Sites details all 890 properties, including the 13 new sites added in 2009. Covering 148 countries, the World Heritage List has proved to be a valuable tool in the battle to preserve much of the world's cultural and natural heritage. Its strict criteria result in only the world's most spectacular and extraordinary sites making it onto the list, including: The new sites added to this edition are: Featuring gorgeous photographs and updated maps, World Heritage Sites is uniquely comprehensive. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded in 1945 with the ambitious goal to build peace in the minds of men and women through education, social and natural science, culture and communication. What people are saying - Write a review World Heritage sites mapped by continent World Heritage sites descriptions locations and photographs 4 other sections not shown
We aim to enable children to become familiar with a range of information technologies and to use their skills for a variety of educational purposes. Currently children have opportunities to word process, use desk top publishing, incorporate graphics, use and create data bases, explore adventure games and use floor robots etc alongside using a variety of programs to support their learning in other areas of the curriculum. New curriculum (Sept 2014) The new curriculum for Computing is very exciting it encompasses all that we have been teaching currently alongside acknowledging that in our fast moving digital world children are often way ahead of some adults and we need to be teaching in more depth about computers. Therefore the new curriculum has been split into three distinct areas. - Computer Science (CS) the understanding of how computers work, how to create simple programs advancing to algorithms and understanding computer networks.< - Information Technology (IT), using technology to create digital content, using software, collecting data, supporting learning etc. - Digital Literacy (DL) which includes how to use the internet safely, how to keep information private, safety and respect when using the internet, being discerning about digital content and what is acceptable and what is not. Online subscription resources in school include Espresso, Education City; Lingoscope alongside other programs which are not web based but are available on the network for teaching and learning in school. Web based homework, competitions and activities are available to children to access from home i.e. Education City, Matheletics and Sumdog. Teachers also regularly update the school website with web links to specific topic work and core subject work to enhance children’s learning at home. We have a computer suite with 29 work stations connected to the printer/copier and a smart board for presentations and teaching purposes. All computers are networked and a robust wireless system has recently been fitted in the school giving access to the internet and school network for children, teachers and administration staff. Computers are well used throughout the school by children of all ages in class and through regular sessions in the computer suite. Each class has an interactive white board for teaching and learning purposes connected to the teachers PC and also most classes have an additional PC for children to use. Individual laptops are available for use in class by some children who have specific SEN.
You’re never too out of shape to start to improve, but you CAN be too out of shape to start a particular fitness program. A great example of “too much for a beginner” is CrossFit. CrossFit is a style of exercise that involves maximum effort, high-intensity intervals, and a wide variety of technically difficult moves. Everyone in the class does the same workout, so nothing is tailored to your workout skills or level of physical conditioning. As a concept, there’s nothing wrong with this style of exercise, as long as you are - in good enough shape to be able to do that much high-intensity work, and - technically skilled enough to safely perform all the olympic lifts, jumps, muscle-ups, and other high-end exercise moves that are required for the Workout Of the Day. So CrossFit is clearly NOT for beginners. Is it a great workout? Yess! But it will crush someone who isn’t ready for it. Overtraining injuries can happen easily. And if you’re tackling exercises that are beyond your physical skill to execute well, you’re setting yourself up for trouble. The best way for an out-of-shape person to begin improving their physical conditioning is to get consistent with some of the basics: - Simple movement (like walking or yoga) if you haven’t been doing anything. - Basic strength training utilizing the fundamental movements like squats, rows, planks, and overhead presses. Assuming you’re not ready for this kind of aggressive workout, here is a better choice for beginners: Simple weight training circuit for beginners Your first week, perform one set of 8-12 repetitions of each of these six fundamental strength training exercises: Begin standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width, with the toes turned slightly outwards. Brace your spine. Hold your chest up and shift your weight back onto your heels. Simultaneously push your hips backwards (as if you’re going to sit down in a chair) and begin to bend your knees. As you squat down deeper, try to control the amount of forward movement of your shin. Keep your back nice and flat as you lean forwards. Continue to lower yourself until either: your thighs are parallel (or almost parallel) to the floor, until your heels begin to lift off the floor, or until you cannot keep your spine from rounding or flexing forward. Make sure your ankles do not collapse in or out. Keep your knees aligned over your ankles. While maintaining your back, chest, and head-up position, exhale and extend the hips and knees by pushing your feet into the floor through your heels. The hips and torso need to rise together while keeping the heels flat on the floor. Your knees need to stay aligned over your ankles. Continue standing until you reach the starting position. Inhale on the way down, and exhale on the way back up. After your first week, increase your workload to two sets of each exercise. For this exercise, you’ll need some kind of resistance — either exercise tubing, a row pin-selector machine, or a cable machine with a handle for rows. Sit or stand up tall with good posture, holding the handles in your hand. Your arms will begin in front of you. Initiate the move by starting to pull your shoulder blades together. At the same time, pull your elbows back behind you. At the end of the move, your shoulder blades should be fully retracted — but not shrugged! — and your elbows pulled back behind you. Do not allow the front part of your shoulder (the head of the humerus) to dump forwards. Reverse the move by controlling the return to the starting position. Plank (core stabilization) The purpose of the plank exercise is to use the abdominals to maintain the correct shape of the spine. Holding yourself up on your forearms and toes only, contract your abs so that your lower spine does not sag down. Overhead Press (Shoulder Press) For some more variations of basic strength exercises, see 6 Exercises You Should Be Doing. Don’t try to tackle too much at once! Going from zero exercise to “I’m going to the gym every morning” is too much. Two 30-minute bouts each week can get you started. Once that becomes normal and comfortable, take on a third day. If you’d like to get some advice from a professional personal trainer, contact Basics and Beyond to discuss what you’re working towards. If you feel like you’re too out of shape to exercise, we are ready to help you set up the perfect program to get you started safely!
If you know a student who loves stargazing and is fascinated by space, this is the mini course for them! The Astronomer STEM Challenge is a self-guided distance learning mini course for teens to learn what an astronomer does, and test drive the career through fun online activities. Delivered in interactive e-book format, including: 1. interactive online astronomer career exploration resources (including virtual job shadow, downloadable info sheet in English and Spanish, and try it activity) 2. short quiz with answer key 3. How to Use a Telescope Guide with interactive online resources and activity 4. SkyView Scavenger Hunt (similar version available here; this purchase is for the expanded 12 slide googleslide presentation version) 5. Astronomy in Action Challenge with student friendly directions and project rubric (1 page googledoc) 6. optional online group for students to post projects 7. links to additional resources to explore careers in astronomy All activities are designed to be completed independently using only simple materials and online resources, taking at least 3 hours for students to complete – a fun distance learning activity! Directly aligned with NGSS MS-ESS1-3. Grades: 6-10 / Total Pages: 22 / PDF document / available on Teachers Pay Teachers
the orbit fifteen degrees along the ecliptic—would not leave the group such a compact train as we found it in 1866. If this result is at all possible, it is because the total action is scattered over so many centuries. But it seems more probable that the fragments are parting more rapidly from the comet than we have assumed, and that long before the complete ring is formed the groups become so scattered that we do not recognize them, or else are turned away so as not to cross the earth's orbit. Comets by their strange behavior and wondrous trains have given to timid and superstitious men more apprehensions than have any other heavenly bodies. They have been the occasion of an immense amount of vague and wild and worthless speculation by men who knew a very little science. They have furnished a hundred as yet unanswered problems which have puzzled the wisest. A world without water, with a strange and variable envelope which takes the place of an atmosphere, a world that travels repeatedly out into the cold and back to the sun, and slowly goes to pieces in the repeated process, has conditions so strange to our experience, and so impossible to reproduce by experiment, that our physics can not as yet explain it. Yet we may confidently look forward to the answer of many of these problems in the future. Of those strange bodies, the comets, we shall have far greater means of study than of any other bodies in the heavens. The comets alone give us specimens to handle and analyze. Comets may be studied, like the planets, by the use of the telescope, the polariscope, and the spectroscope. The utmost refinements of physical astronomy may be applied to both. But the cometary worlds will be also compelled, through those meteorite fragments with their included gases and peculiar minerals, to give up some additional secrets of their own life and of the physics of space to the blow-pipe, the microscope, the test-tube, and the crucible. WE may define history as the narration of events in their causal relations. Nowhere does this definition find more instructive application than in the evolution of education. We see here, and with unmistakable plainness, the effect of distinctive contributions from the sides of our common nature. The stages in the history of education are natural growths; each movement in the unfolding was a necessity. Our present paper will consider many facts which, by themselves, would appear so unnatural, so out of relation to modern
Tilt-A-Whirl rides at amusement parks spin in circles while swinging up and down at the same time. These movements slosh water (and other fluids) around really well, which you may have learned from getting sick after riding one. Ocean currents are kind of like a Tilt-A-Whirl. They move ocean water around the planet and up to the surface then down to the ocean floor. This dizzying water ride is made up of two systems: surface currents and deep ocean currents. The first type of ocean current happens at the surface of the water. The spinning of the Earth and the trade winds causes these surface currents. At the equator, winds tend to blow toward the west, and close to the poles winds tend to blow toward the east. These winds move across the surface of the ocean, pulling the water along with it. But when land gets in the way of these currents, they have to change course. In the Northern Hemisphere, the water turns to the right, and in the Southern Hemisphere it turns to the left. These currents form giant loop-de-loops, or gyres, spinning the ocean’s water around in circles. Surface currents form 5 major ocean gyres between the continents. These gyres are named for the ocean basins, or sections of the ocean, that they form in: two each in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (one north and one south), and one in the Indian Ocean. The second type of ocean current moves water from the top of the ocean to the bottom. These currents move much slower compared to surface currents, and instead of starting at the equator they start at the poles. If you drop an ice cube into a very still glass of juice, you can watch from the side as the cold water near the ice grows heavy and sinks to the bottom of the glass. The same thing happens in the ocean near the poles – cold water near sea ice becomes heavier and starts to drop to the bottom of the ocean. As this dense water sinks, it allows more water to move in, cool, and sink to the bottom behind it. When cold water plunges to the ocean floor, it starts a giant slow motion current along the bottom of the ocean. Unlike the fast, isolated surface gyres, this deep ocean current travels all over the planet into every ocean basin. Eventually this cold water warms and is pushed to the surface where it starts the cycle again. Following this deep ocean current would be like riding a roller coaster that takes a thousand years from start to finish. This roller coaster-like global conveyor belt connects the top and bottom of the ocean, which can be like two completely different worlds. Instead of thinking about the open ocean biome horizontally (from left to right), many scientists characterize this biome vertically (from top to bottom). This is because the open ocean is incredibly deep – over 2 miles deep in some areas. The environment changes quickly as you dive deeper and deeper into the open ocean. The top section of the open ocean only goes down as far as you can see. This isn’t because the water is too murky, but because deeper down there is no light. Most sunlight can only reach down to about 500 ft (200 m), and all light disappears below 3,280 ft (1,000 m). Unlike in deeper water, in this zone (the epipelagic zone), algae can use sunlight to grow and animals can use their eyes to hunt. Light isn’t the only factor that changes as you dive into the deep ocean. The further down you go, the saltier it gets. As you dive down, there is also less oxygen, the temperature drops, and water pressure increases, making life very hard. If you tried to dive this far under the ocean, you would be crushed, so it’s hard to believe that any animals can survive this far down. But many animals survive in this eternal darkness, along with fierce-looking fish specially adapted to this harsh environment, including some sharks. This area is called the aphotic (or no-light) zone. Every night some of these fish and some invertebrates swim up into the more productive epipelagic zone where there is more food. Additional images via Wikimedia Commons. Robert Wildermuth. (2014, November 18). Anatomy of the Open Ocean. ASU - Ask A Biologist. Retrieved March 29, 2020 from https://askabiologist.asu.edu/fr/anatomy-open-ocean Robert Wildermuth. "Anatomy of the Open Ocean". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 18 November, 2014. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/fr/anatomy-open-ocean Robert Wildermuth. "Anatomy of the Open Ocean". ASU - Ask A Biologist. 18 Nov 2014. ASU - Ask A Biologist, Web. 29 Mar 2020. https://askabiologist.asu.edu/fr/anatomy-open-ocean The vessel shown in front here, the Trieste, was the first vehicle to make it to the deepest part of the ocean, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.
ビジネス英語における understatement について Understatement in Business English Mitsuo Nakamura（Kansai University） Previous literature on understatement differs in a certain important aspect: some researchers maintain that understatement is typically observed in British English, but others point out that it is commonly observed in American English, too. These different views lead to the following research question: “Is understatement typically observed more in British English than in American English?” In order to answer this question, the author conducted corpus-based research on 16 understatement expressions, which have been regarded as such in previous literature. The research, which utilizes GloWbE, a general English corpus comprised of 1.9 billion words, indicated that most of the understatement expressions examined are used in British English rather than in American English. It is hoped that the research will shed some light on understatement, a linguistic or rhetorical device that may help Japanese business people to write more polite messages when needed.
Triac Switching Waveform When used in power applications, a Triac switches during both the positive and negative half cycles( voltage waveform is shown in yellow in the applet below). The resulting current waveform is shown in red. The even coefficients of the spectrum are shown on the left and the odd coefficients to the right. With a gain of 1, vertical range for the spectrum is from +1 to -1. Waveform has unit amplitude. It is assumed here that switching occurs at the same point on positive and negative half cycles. In practice this may not be the case. The applet shows the value of the spectral component at ndb as a ratio of the component at n = 1. If the Fundamental is at 50Hz then ndb from 10,000 to 30,000 corresponds roughly to the AM band. The attenuation in this range is ~ -87 to -97dB. If the fundamental is ~ 100V then the component at ndb is still ~ 3mV. Depending on the radiation characteristics of the circuit and the current in the circuit, this is still large enough to affect an AM receiver. When activated the following gif image show how the applet should appear. Return to main page Return to page index COPYRIGHT © 1996 Cuthbert Nyack.
FLEXIBILITY AND STRETCHING THEORY “Stretching” Theory Stretching is commonly promoted as a method to improve performance in various sports and recreational activities. Many of the most recent studies however have concluded that the benefits of stretching may not be seen without proper techniques and timing (8, 9). No matter the theory on “How” or “When” to stretch, there are industry standards that dictate the general Range of Motion (ROM) that should be expected. Attached is a chart that can be used as a tool to evaluate and grade overall flexibility. Pre-exercise stretching focuses on short-term adaptations prior to participating in an activity, whereas flexibility training focuses on long-term adaptations associated with a stretching program designed to improve range of motion. Even though both approaches attempt to increase the range of motion at a joint, the physiological responses in the musculoskeletal system are different. These differences impact musculoskeletal system force production capabilities, but the biggest concerns arise when stretching precedes activities requiring strength or power. Yamaguchi and Ishii (3) identified a tendency for losses in power production when athletes included this technique in their warm-up. It has also been found that sprint performances were much slower following passive static stretching (1, 2). Interestingly, Young and Elliot (4) attributed this to an ineffective eccentric phase during the stretch shortening cycle because of a loss in elastic energy. Their conclusion was based on the finding of no loss in force production following static stretching (4). The primary debate in Sports Performance and Personal Training is along the lines of the effect of Pre-Exercise/Performance warm-up and stretching. The majority of research in the field is of the theory that Passive/Static Stretching prior to activity has detrimental effects on performance – but contradictory schools of thought do exist.
\|Centuries:\|\|12th century – 13th century – 14th century\| \|Decades:\|\|1230s 1240s 1250s – 1260s – 1270s 1280s 1290s\| \|Years:\|\|1259 1260 1261 – 1262 – 1263 1264 1265\| Events[change \| change source] - King Mindaugas of Lithuania renounces Christianity, returning to his pagan roots and reverting to Grand Duke of Lithuania. - The Icelandic Commonwealth enters into a treaty establishing a union with Norway and acknowledges Norwegian King Haakon IV as its ruler. - Strasbourg becomes an Imperial Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. - King Henry III of England obtains a papal bull releasing him from the Provisions of Oxford, preceding the Second Barons' War, a civil war started in 1263. - King Mengrai of the Lannathai kingdom in present-day Thailand founds the city of Chiang Rai as the kingdom's first capital. - Adam de la Halle writes the first operetta, "Le Jeu de la Feuillee". - Richard of Chichester is canonized as a saint; he is best known for writing the prayer later adapted into the song Day by Day in the musical Godspell. Births[change \| change source] - July 2 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (died 1312) - Ladislaus IV of Hungary (died 1290) - Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester (died 1326) Deaths[change \| change source] - July 15 – Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, English soldier (born 1222) - Aegidius of Assisi, companion of Saint Francis of Assisi - Shinran Shonin, Japanese founder of the Jodo Shinshu branch of Pure Land Buddhism - Matilda II of Boulogne, Queen of Portugal, spouse of King Afonso III of Portugal (born 1202)
Fiber to the home (FTTH) is the delivery of a communications signal over optical fiber from the operator’s switching equipment all the way to a home or business, thereby replacing existing copper infrastructure such as telephone wires and coaxial cable. Fiber to the home is a relatively new and fast growing method of providing vastly higher bandwidth to consumers and businesses, and thereby enabling more robust video, internet and voice services. Connecting homes directly to fiber optic cable enables enormous improvements in the bandwidth that can be provided to consumers. Current fiber optic technology can provide two-way transmission speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second. Further, as DSL providers are struggling to squeeze increments of higher bandwidth out of their technologies, ongoing improvements in fiber optic equipment are constantly increasing available bandwidth without having to change the fiber. That’s why fiber networks are said to be “future proof." Fiber-optic technology is the future-proof way to get Internet, TV and home phone service in a residence or business. And with FiberCast fiber-optic Internet, download speeds can reach up to 1 Gbps. Fiber-optic communication uses fiber-optic cable networks to provide superior Internet, TV and home phone services to those provided by traditional copper-wire networks. Fiber-optic Internet providers and subscribers alike benefit from the technologically advanced and superior quality of fiber-optic communication systems, like the FiberCast network. Expanded access to high speed Internet generates major economic growth and rapid job creation. High speed connections accelerate business development by providing new opportunities for innovation, expansion, and e-commerce. Connected communities create wealth and opportunity by attracting businesses that want to locate in areas with a strong broadband presence. In the new global economy, access to broadband has become as essential to individual and community economic prosperity as electricity and roads. From rural to urban areas and everywhere in between, all people stand to benefit economically from a national high speed Internet network. During FTTH Connect 2015 conference, the Fiber to the Home (FTTH) Council Americas released a white paper finding that access to fiber may increase a home's value by up to 3.1 percent. Using the National Broadband Map and a nationwide sample of real estate prices from 2011 to 2013, the study's authors investigated the relationship between fiber-delivered Internet services and housing prices. The boost to the value of a typical home -- $5,437 -- is roughly equivalent to adding a fireplace, half of a bathroom or a quarter of a swimming pool to the home. The study adds to a growing list of others showcasing the consumer benefits from widespread access to fiber broadband Internet. There have been a number of studies linking broadband networks and new investments in such networks to improved economic performance. And the speed and reliability fiber provides offer further benefits. Most recently, in 2014, the FTTH Council released a study finding higher per capita GDP in communities where gigabit Internet was available. Infrastructure investment, job creation, entrepreneurship, and companies relocating or expanding to your city are all manifestations of this growth. Today's study found that, for homes where 1 gigabit-per-second broadband was available, transaction prices were over 7 percent higher than homes located where the highest speed available is 25 Mbps or lower.
Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is an infection of the female reproductive organs, according to Mayo Clinic. It occurs when sexually transmitted bacteria spreads from the vagina to the uterus and the fallopian tubes or ovaries. There are many different signs of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). WebMD discusses a few: Pain in your lower belly and pelvis Heavy discharge from your vagina with an unpleasant odor Bleeding between periods Pain during sex Fever and chills Pain or difficulty when peeing According to WebMD, PID can cause problems such as struggling to get pregnant and pain that stays with you. There are also other serious signs that can put someone in danger, such as: Severe pain in your lower belly Signs of shock, like fainting Fever higher than 101F Who gets it? According to Office on Women’s Health from the US Government, PID affects about 5% of women in the United States. Your risk for PID is higher if you: Have had an STI Have had PID before Are 15 to 24 years old, when PID is most common in women Have more than one sex partner or have a partner who has multiple sexual partners You may not be able to prevent PID, states the Office on Women’s Health since it is not always caused by an STI. Sometimes, normal bacteria in your vagina can travel up to your reproductive organs and cause PID. But, there are ways in lowering the risk of PID such as: Using condoms: Condoms are the best way to prevent STIs when you have sex. Other methods of birth control, like birth control pills, shots, implants, or diaphragms, will not protect you from STIs. Get tested: Be sure you and your partner are tested for STIs. Talk to each other about the test results before you have sex. Do not abuse alcohol or drugs: Drinking too much alcohol or using drugs increases risky behavior and may put you at risk of sexual assault and possible exposure to STIs. Limit your number of sex partners: Your risk of getting STIs goes up with the number of partners you have
“I was near Inwood-on-the-Hudson when I noticed a tiny speck in the air far up the Hudson. It was coming like the Twentieth Century Limited, and I knew right away that it was Curtiss. On it came, all the time getting bigger and bigger, and off Riverdale I begun to hear the whirring of propellers. I just stood there on the bluff and looked and wondered. I could not move.” -Description of Isham Park landing. (New York Times, May 30, 1910) On December 17, 1903 Orville Wright took to the skies above the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. He and his brother Wilbur conducted their experimental flight tests in total secrecy. While obsessed with flight, the Brothers Wright were equally concerned with securing their patents. The Wright brothers had true cause for concern. Fast on their heels was another American inventor and business competitor named Glenn Hammond Curtiss. A true modern hero, Curtiss blazed into the 20th century atop a roaring motorcycle. Traveling 136-miles per hour on a bike of his own design, Curtiss not only set a world record but earned the title, “the fastest man alive.“ Once Curtiss took to the skies no one could keep him on the ground–not the Wright Brothers and their army of lawyers, not the nay-sayers, not even the laws of physics. Treated like a crown prince in Europe, Curtiss couldn’t sell a single airplane in the United States without paying royalties to the Wrights who owned every conceivable copyright concerning manned flight. But while Orville and Wilbur had the courts on their side, Curtiss’ airplanes could out fly and out maneuver any machine the Wrights put in the air. In fact, the Wright’s planes were quickly becoming obsolete. Then, in the spring of 1910, Curtiss showed the Wrights and the rest of the world who really owned the skies. Incredibly, Inwood would play a starring role in the early history of aviation… The Pulitzer Challenge In the early morning hours of May 29th, 1910, Curtiss set out to do the unthinkable. For a purse of $10,000, offered by New York World publisher Joseph Pulitzer, Curtiss would attempt to fly from Albany to Manhattan. Pulitzer’s rules were simple if not insane: Curtiss was allowed two stops to refuel and the entire distance of more than 150 miles had to be completed in less than twenty-four hours. Curtiss was the only pilot in the world to agree to Pulitzer’s terms. That morning more than 100,000 spectators gathered along Curtiss’ Hudson River flight path to witness one of the greatest spectacles of their day. At 7:02 am Curtiss and his Albany Flyer were airborne. Donning goggles, a cork life vest and rubberized waders, Curtiss kept pace with the news train. On-board the locomotive, his wife Lena hung out a window cheering her husband on while waiving a handkerchief. “It was like a real race and I enjoyed the contest more than anything else during the flight,” Curtiss later recalled. Eighty-seven miles into his trip, Curtiss landed his Albany Flyer in an open field near Poughkeepsie where he borrowed oil and gas from curious motorists before taking back to the air. Shortly after his second takeoff dangerous wind currents just south of Storm King Mountain nearly tossed the aviator from his plane. “My heart was in my mouth. I thought it was all over,” Curtiss recalled. Regaining control of the airplane, Curtiss found himself in the homestretch. The Manhattan skyline was just visible on the horizon. Then disaster struck. Curtiss’ aircraft was leaking oil. He needed to put down before his engine froze up. But where? Scanning the ground below, Curtiss looked for a large patch of green in northern Manhattan he had scouted out while planning his flight. Veering east from the Hudson, Curtiss put down in Inwood, on a stretch of land owned by the family of the late financier and leather merchant William B. Isham. At 10:42 am, Isham’s daughter Flora and her husband, Minturn Post Collins, were reading about the flight in the Sunday paper when they heard a motor running behind the house. Heading out back to investigate, Collins immediately realized he was standing face to face with the aviator he had read so much about in the morning news. “I am certainly delighted to be the first to congratulate you on arriving in city limits, and am glad you picked our backyard as a place to land,” Collins told Curtiss. All business, Curtiss responded, “Thank you, but what’s worrying me now is oil and gasoline. Have you any that you can spare?” “It was grand,” Collins later told reporters. “…And that’s the best word I can think of to describe it. Imagine yourself seated on your veranda with no thought of an airship in your mind, and then suddenly wake up and see one of the finest machines in the world coming down in your backyard. It was simply perfect in every respect, and although it was all over in less than a minute it was a sight that I shall never forget. Curtiss was so modest about it all, too, and when I congratulated him he did not seem to realize that he had accomplished one of the greatest aerial feats in the world’s history.” Collins gave Curtiss some gas and sent a servant down the hill to a nearby boathouse to fetch some oil. While this was being done, Curtiss phoned the newspapers to let them know that while he had landed within city limits, he still planned on flying to his final destination on Governor’s Island as planned. When Curtiss returned an enormous crowd surrounded his plane. It seemed that the whole world had descended on Inwood to catch a glimpse of the great aviation pioneer and his magnificent contraption. The Kingsbridge police station quickly dispatched a horse drawn wagon full of officers to the Isham estate to help maintain order. Sergeant Edsall, who witnessed Curtiss’ plane pass the Spuyten Duyvil said, “It was the finest sight I have ever seen. No bird ever flew with more grace than did Curtiss as he came down. I was near Inwood-on-the-Hudson when I noticed a tiny speck in the air far up the Hudson. It was coming like the Twentieth Century Limited, and I knew right away that it was Curtiss. On it came, all the time getting bigger and bigger, and off Riverdale I begun to hear the whirring of propellers. I just stood there on the bluff and looked and wondered. I could not move.” Realizing Curtiss was going in for a landing, Sergeant Edsall sprinted up the hill to the Isham property. “As I reached the top of the hill I saw Curtiss jump out of the machine and shake hands with Mr. Collins,” Edsall later told the New York Times. “I knew that people from everywhere would head for the Isham place, and I sent in a call for reserves from Kingsbridge, and, say, did you ever see people spring up from everywhere as they did here in this, one of the most sparsely settled parts of New York?” Another takeoff was going to prove tricky business. In addition to the crowd of onlookers, Curtiss realized he had flown into a cul-de-sac. His only option, a dangerous one, was to roll down the hill then steer his airplane past the unforgiving walls of the Spuyten Duyvil as he gained altitude. Technically he didn’t have to continue at all. Pulitzer’s rules only specified he land in city limits. For this sportsmanlike act he would earn the respect and admiration of New Yorkers for years to come. At 11:42 Curtiss took off from the Isham lawn and once again headed west for the Hudson River. A fleet of automobiles attempted to chase the plane down Riverside Drive, but could not keep up. All along the west side spectators took to the shoreline, piers and ferries struggling to catch a glimpse of Curtiss as he ventured south, circled the Statue of Liberty, then landed on Governor’s Island at almost exactly the stroke of noon. Total flying time: Two hours and fifty-one minutes. Average speed: Fifty-two miles per hour. While he would become an international hero, opening the door for commercial flight, air-mail and a host of other modern applications, Curtiss provided a sober insight into the future of aviation. He told reporters that during his flight two thoughts had occupied his mind. One was the need for landing fields and the second was the airplane’s potential as a weapon of war. “All the great battles of the future will be fought in the air,” Curtiss stated. “I have demonstrated that it is easy to fly over cities and fortifications. It would be perfectly practical to drop enough dynamite or picric acid down on West Point or a city like New York and destroy it utterly.” At a later award ceremony, presenter/publisher Charles Mann said, “Three names will always be associated with the history of the river—that of Hudson, the explorer; that of Robert Fulton, the introducer of river navigation; and that of Glenn H. Curtiss, the birdman.” Curtiss died in Buffalo, New York in 1930 following complications from an appendectomy. His company, the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company, later merged with that of the Wright brothers to become the Cyrtiss-Wright Corporation. The company exists to this very day. As for the $10,000 check… Curtiss gave it to his wife who told reporters she’d likely spend the money on an automobile. Back in Inwood, Flora and Julia Isham wound up preserving a piece of aviation history, though likely not for that reason. In 1912 the Isham women donated their land, the site of Curtiss’ landing, to the City of New York for the creation of Isham Park.
Mar 2, 2016 This is a wide-ranging talk about addiction and today’s youth and teens. Dr. Horvath, SMART’s President, interviews Dr. Stanton Peele on what is needed in society, in public policy, for parents, and for those in the caring and justice professions, to better help our young people. For young adults, we want to show you the power of making your own choices and having solid resources for decision-making readily available, so you can assess what’s best for you and live lives of freedom and power. How do we know if our children are in trouble or not? How does support fit into the picture of addiction? How does treatment and support for teens and young people differ from that for adults? What about social media, smartphones, video/games? How can we incorporate sensible, helpful, empowering approaches into our homes and our parenting? Dr. Peele has turned his attention over the years to a number of areas in the field of addiction. In 2007, he described that while “addiction can be especially debilitating for the young, young people are more likely than not to outgrow it. The way out of addiction is to develop a range of skills and engage fully in life.” Stanton Peele has been in the vanguard of advocating for science-based addiction policy, treatment recovery approaches for over 40 years. (His breakthrough book Love and Addiction, was published in 1975!) His views have gone from highly controversial to widely accepted, and we are grateful for his continuous efforts to provide context and facts, always facts, to his examination of addiction. He wrote Addiction-Proof Your Child in 2007 and most recently wrote: Recover! An Empowering Program to Help You Stop Thinking Like an Addict and Reclaim Your Life. His Life Process Program is available online. SMART Recovery depends on your donations! Please visit SMART Recovery or Click the Donate button below.
An infection in the upper airway of the respiratory system leads to a condition known as Croup Cough. The area around the vocal cords and windpipe is swollen due to which it leads to cough and other such symptoms. This disease usually occurs in children of age below 5 years. Does croup fever occur in croup cough disease? Is there always a fever with croup? During Croup, a bacterial or viral infection occurs in the upper respiratory tract due to which the body temperature rises. The croup fever would range from 100-103.F. When the child experiences fever, the chances of spreading the infection would be high. In the beginning, a child may have cold symptoms such as a stuffy or runny nose and fever. But, having fever is not necessary in Croup. Some kids don’t have any fever at all in croup. As the upper airways become irritated and inflamed, the voice may become hoarse and a child develops the barking cough. The symptoms worsen in the night usually. What medication should be provided in croup fever? Specific non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen can be provided to the child, which could reduce the fever and also decrease pain in the throat. Do steroids help cure croup fever? Steriods are recommended for croup cough but these do not work against fever. These steroids work against other symptoms such as cough and breathlessness experienced by the child. How long does the fever last in croup disease? The child may suffer from a mild fever for about 3 days. Other symptoms of croup cough disease though may last longer for about a week, depending upon the severity of infection. Is croup fever a major cause to worry? Fever during croup is a common symptom which can be easily treated by some antipyretic drug. But if the fever reaches 104.F or if it lasts for more than 3 days then you should immediately consult a doctor or visit a hospital. It may then be a sign of worry. If your child has croup, the symptoms are likely to be worse at night and better during the day. Sometimes, symptoms can become better when your child is exposed to cool air. Most cases of croup are mild and go away on their own when treated with home remedies, still some children may develop more severe symptoms and need immediate medical attention. Such more severe symptoms are: - Difficulty in breathing or stridor when your child is sleeping - Bluish discoloration of fingernails or around a child’s mouth - Lethargy, laziness - Difficulties in swallowing Contact a child doctor if you notice any of these symptoms in your child. The earlier they are treated, the better it is.
Each year the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) makes recommendations about who should get the influenza vaccine. The focus of the flu shot campaign among healthy people has been on people aged 65 and older, because they have been considered to be at the highest risk for flu-related complications and hospitalization. However, it turns out that children under age 2 (and possibly age 4) are at equally high risk! For the first time, on April 12, 2002, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) urges all healthy children age 6 to 23 months to get the get the flu vaccine. Because the vaccine has not been licensed for children under 6 months, it recommends that household contacts of these babies be vaccinated for their protection. There will not be a public education campaign this year about this major change in thought, but you can read the original document at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5103a1.htm
Open - AI OpenAI the artificial intelligence research laboratory backed by Elon Musk has released a neural network called DALL·E that creates images from text captions for a wide range of concepts expressible in natural language. DALLE is able to create plausible images for a great variety of sentences that explore the compositional structure of language. DALLE is a 12-billion parameter version of GPT-3 trained to generate images from text descriptions, using a dataset of text–image pairs. OPEN AI research team has found that it has a diverse set of capabilities, including creating anthropo-morphized versions of animals and objects, combining unrelated concepts in plausible ways, rendering text, and applying transformations to existing images. This algorithm can turn by it's head Design work. Find more information on the OPEN AI website HURU School course in Artificial Intelligence will introduce you to algorithms such as DALL·E
Australia is home to some of the most singular creatures alive today, but a new piece of outdoor art pays homage to an organism that last inhabited the continent 65 million years ago. As the Townsville Bulletin reports, an etching of a prehistoric ammonite has appeared in a barren field in Queensland. Ammonites are the ancestors of the cephalopods that currently populate the world’s oceans. They had sharp beaks, dexterous tentacles, and spiraling shells that could grow more than 3 feet in diameter. The inland sea where the ammonites once thrived has since dried up, leaving only fossils as evidence of their existence. The newly plowed dirt mural acts as a larger-than-life reminder of the ancient animals. To make a drawing big enough to be seen from space, mathematician David Kennedy plotted the image into a path consisting of more than 600 “way points.” Then, using a former World War II airfield as his canvas, the property’s owner Rob Ievers plowed the massive 1230-foot-by-820-foot artwork into the ground with his tractor. The project was funded by Soil Science Australia, an organization that uses soil art to raise awareness of the importance of farming. The sketch doubles as a paleotourist attraction for the local area, which is home to Australia's "dinosaur trail" of museums and other fossil-related attractions. But to see the craftsmanship in all its glory, visitors will need to find a way to view it from above. [h/t Townsville Bulletin]
- PRAIRIE DOG BIOLOGY - PRAIRIE DOG DENS - PRAIRIE DOG TOWNS - PRAIRIE DOG NATURAL PREDATORS - PRAIRIE DOG PROBLEMS - PRAIRIE DOG DISEASE - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL REPELLENT - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LIQUID REPELLENT - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LIVE TRAPS - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LEGHOLD TRAPS - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL SNARES - PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL KILL TRAPS - CONTACT US Prairie dogs are small animals which inhabit the flat lands of central and western North America. There are several species on the continent; the most popular being the black-tailed and the white-tailed. The other species in the same region include the Gunnisons and the threatened species, the Utah and the Mexican. These animals live in colonies generally known as “towns” and these towns can extend for several thousand miles! Needless to say, populations can and do reach numbers which put a strain on local vegetation. Because of this and other problems associated with large populations of prairie dogs, one must be careful when they start to colonize on your property. It is suggested that you keep their numbers in check otherwise you can quickly be confronted with a population that becomes quite large. Related articles: CHIPMUNKS GOPHERS GROUND SQUIRRELS MOLES SHREWS SQUIRRELS VOLES Other Information: PEST ARTICLES PRAIRIE DOG BIOLOGY * Prairie dogs are small animals, generally around 1-2 lbs, which have short strong legs designed for digging. Black tailed dogs can grow up over 4 lbs but are generally in the 2-3 lb size. White tailed dogs can grow almost as large but are most commonly around 1-3 lbs. Prairie dogs will create towns which can cover thousands of miles and include several million animals. Large colonies like these are not common anymore due to the use of toxicants which were introduced in the mid 1900’s. During those times the programs implemented had a dramatic impact. As much as 98% of the population in treated areas were killed off and in some areas none were left. As concerns rose about the impact complete elimination might have, restrictions were put in place. The Mexican and the Utah species were then labeled as a threatened species. This labeling protected them from being hunted, shot, trapped and poisoned. Natural predators like badgers, weasels and black footed ferrets were forced to find other food supplies; most adopted well but others like the ferrets had a hard time adjusting. Black footed ferrets soon became endangered as well due to lack of food. However, all species began a strong comeback in the 70’s which has continued through the millineum. At this time prairie dogs are ever increasing and with this population increase they are coming in conflict with man more and more. PRAIRIE DOG DENS * Prairie dogs prefer open land with low vegetation. This allows them to survive predatory feeding. They will avoid tall grass and woodlands preferring low grasslands with little water. Prairie dogs will eat a lot during any one day. Most will consume their body weight in grass. They will also eat seeds, many species of grass, flowers, roots and insects. PRAIRIE DOG TOWNS * Prairie dogs live in towns which are broken down into coteries. A coterie usually has a male, several females and their offspring. Their towns will have 30-50 borrow entrances which usually have mounds that are on average 2 feet tall by 10 feet wide. These mounds serve as a lookout station and help to keep water out of their burrows during floods. Prairie dogs are most active during the day. During summer they will feed in the morning and afternoon, leaving the surface during the hottest time to seek the cool of their dens. Though some hibernate during the winter, most are active year round and will surface even when snow has accumulated. Most prairie dogs will live 5-8 years on average. They are able to reproduce in their second year. Most litters will arrive as early as January but generally in February and March. Litters will have 4-8 pups which will emerge from their dens in early summer usually 3-4 months after they are born. PRAIRIE DOG NATURAL PREDATORS * Prairie dogs, like gophers, attract many predatory animals. This list includes badgers, weasels, ferrets, coyotes, bobcats, hawks and fox. Snakes like young dogs as well. Vacant burrows will attract a host of animals all looking for a good place to live. Rabbits, rodents, reptiles, insects and several species of birds all like to be around prairie dog towns. PRAIRIE DOG PROBLEMS * Prairie dogs become a problem when their populations and towns get large. Their continual feeding will deplete local vegetation much needed by livestock and other plains feeding animals. As prairie dogs clear local food they will spread to new areas settling where food is readily available. This has long been one of the main problems associated with prairie dog activity; ranchers and farmers have a long history of combating the prairie dog over land use. Prairie dog burrows lend to rapid soil erosion as well. When coupled with big reductions in vegetation the landscape can rapidly change once they start living in any one area. Furthermore, burrows present a danger to livestock. Their holes can readily trip and injure unsuspecting animals or damage farm equipment. PRAIRIE DOG DISEASE * Prairie dogs have been found to carry many types of bacteria including plague. This alone is reason to keep their numbers minimized around people. Furthermore, abandoned burrows become homes to rattlesnakes and many poisonous insects – including black widow spiders – which only increases the likelihood of injury around mounds and burrows. It is advised that any activity around your home be addressed as soon as possible. Don’t let them multiply or get established close to where you intend on farming or using any land for recreation. This tends to happen since prairie dogs are perceived as cute and harmless. Don’t let their looks deceive you; two or three will quickly become 10 and 20. Soon your turf will be destroyed and erosion will begin to take its toll. In the end you will have to remove the prairie dogs in order to stop the destruction and since it is so much easier to deal with the first few don’t wait. If you have children in the area you really must act sooner than later since they are more susceptible to disease and insect bites than adults. PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL REPELLENT * Once you have some activity which needs to be addressed, you have several control options which can be employed. The level of control will depend a lot on the level of activity. If you have some mounds and burrows coming close to your property you may consider the use of some repellents. These may do good at keeping prairie dogs off your land. The first repellent to try is COYOTE URINE. Prairie dogs know this smell and tend to stay away from areas if they smell it. The best way to apply it is to use 2-4 ounces right on the turf close to mounds or burrows when you first find them. Prairie dogs are constantly looking for food and know the risks associated with foraging. If they smell fresh coyote urine they will try to move in an opposite direction attempting to minimize the risk of having to come face to face with a coyote. The use of coyote urine is particularly helpful if you have fields or lots of land adjacent to yours which are not being treated. By placing urine along the property line you can create a “fence” which will keep the dogs out and away. Try to make applications close to the mounds and then again close to your property. This insures they will move away in the right direction and not onto your land. If you want to get the urine to last longer, protect them with REPELLENT GUARDS. These plastic stations are staked in the ground and shelter the urine from the rain and sun. This will allow the scent to last longer – as much as 2-3 times as long! They will pay for themselves in a few months with the savings you will get from using less urine. PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LIQUID REPELLENT * If you have prairie dogs coming onto your property and want to stop them from chewing on or eating certain plants, use ROPEL LIQUID. It is a bad tasting liquid which can be sprayed onto any plant or non-living object. It is odorless, dries quickly and will stop any animal from chewing on treated surfaces. It comes in handy if you have a prairie dog which has found something in your yard which it finds tasty. Treat it once or twice a month to make sure they will stay away. PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LIVE TRAPS * Though coyote urine and Ropel may work to stop new dogs from moving in or chewing, they may choose to stay if food supplies are limited or if they have been living in the area a long time. This territorial behavior is a strong trait which might be stronger than the repellents. If you try Urine and/or Ropel but the dogs persist, you will have to do some trapping. The two best traps to use are the LT5518RD or the LT7824. Both of these can be set close to where they have mounds or where you have seen activity. Prairie dogs are easy to trap. Use a large supply of whatever they have been eating. This is usually one of the types of grass which is growing around their mounds. Place some PRAIRIE DOG LURE on the trip pan of the trap if they are having a hard time finding it. The lure is a mix of grasses which has a strong smell sure to get their attention. You still need to fill the back of the trap with grass since this is what they really want. Prairie Dog Bait: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/lure/prairie-bait-8-oz If you have a lot of dogs to catch, use several traps. The latest design of these live traps can be used without any bait. The LT111236BD has a unique design which works by placing it directly over the prairie dog entrance/exit holes on their mounds. It has a sealed front with a cage all the way around so that the door can open inside the cage. The second unique feature of the trap is that the bottom of the front section is open. This will allow the trap to be placed directly over any hole. As the dogs exit they will be inside the trap. They can’t exit the front of the trap since it will be closed. They have no choice but to head toward the back of the trap and along the way they will have to hit the trip pan causing the trap door to close tight. You don’t have to bait this trap to get it to work; placing it over their dens is all that is needed. When using this trap be ready to do some dog removal. It is not unusual to catch several a day and they generally don’t grow afraid of it since it is not killing any which are caught. Once caught you can either relocate or destroy the animal as needed. PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL LEGHOLD TRAPS * If cage trapping is not desirable you can opt to use a leghold trap. There have been several used over the years and the most common are the Coil and Long Spring leghold trap. Either of these will work when placed around their dens. If you prefer the coil, either the COIL # 1 or the COIL # 1.75 will usually be big enough. When using a Long Spring, go with a LS # 1 or a LS # 11. The concept is that the target animal will come out of it’s den and step on the trap which needs to be concealed with either a light cover of dust, dirt, plants, etc. Every trapper will use their own preference of disguising the device and the natural curiosity of prarie dogs is sometimes all that is needed to get them caught. Coil # 1.75: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/coil/coil-1-75 Long Spring #1: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/long-spring/long-spring-1 Long Spring 11: http://www.bugspraycart.com/traps/long-spring/long-spring-11 PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL SNARES * Another type that works well on prairie dogs is Snares. Either the Light or Medium SNARE will be plenty strong. This is the use of cabling which has a locking mechanism designed to move in one direction. One end of the snare – which is usually about 4-5 feet long – has an anchor loop designed to affix the snare to something like a stake, log or heavy object. The other end of the snare is looped with the locking mechanism at the end. The loop is set over the entrance/exit hole and as the animal moves out or in they will slide their head through the snare. When set right, the snare will tighten over the animals neck and shoulders thus keeping it from escaping back down it’s den. This type of trap is the least expensive to use but the most difficult to work with and is only recommended to use if you have experience with them in the field. Don’t waste your time with them if you are trying this for your first time. Once trapped you will have to remove the animal and reset as needed. Most animals trapped this way need to be destroyed so there is an added step you need to consider. PRAIRIE DOG CONTROL KILL TRAPS * Kill traps are probably the most effective trap that can be used when relocation is out of the question. Known as Bodygrip traps, this design is both easy to use and very effective. For prairie dogs, the most common sizes used are the BG 110, BG 120, BG 160 and in some cases, the larger BG 220. Placed over their dens prairie dogs will fall victim to it’s lethal grip over and over again. Simply set the trap over the den and stake it so you won’t loose it to predators or a dog that tries to die down it’s den. Be sure to check them daily; most good sets will get their target within a short period of time. If you are having a problem getting the target you will have to add more sets. In general, it is very hard to have too many sets. The more you have the quicker you will reduce their numbers. CONTACT US * Give us a call if you need further help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open Monday through Thursday, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. On Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM and on Saturday, 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time). Email questions here: http://www.bugspray.com/about-us/contact-us Order online and get a 5% discount! We ship fast with 99.9% of all orders shipping within 1 business day!! Learn more about BUGSPRAY.COM and why it’s never been easier or safer to do your own pest control. Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. 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The US Department of Energy encourages homeowners to keep their thermostats at 78 degrees when they’re home. The guidelines come from Energy Star, a government-backed program to promote energy efficiency. The program suggests different settings to automate at various times: 78 degrees when you wake up and 82 degrees when you’re sleeping. Energy Star says homeowners can save about $180 a year with a properly-set programmable thermostat. - Set your thermostat as high as comfortably possible in the summer. The smaller the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be. - Keep your house warmer than normal when you are away, and lower the thermostat setting to 78°F (26°C) only when you are at home and need cooling. A programmable thermostat can make it easy to set back your temperature. - Find out how to operate your thermostat for maximum energy savings. - Or see ENERGY STAR’s guidelines for programmable thermostats. - Avoid setting your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when you turn on your air conditioner. It will not cool your home any faster and could result in excessive cooling and unnecessary expense.
This week, folks across the nation have come together with family and friends to celebrate America’s independence – and millions are enjoying the great outdoors. That’s why this is an appropriate time to remember that we must protect America’s natural treasures for generations to come. A changing climate poses new threats to this goal – from an increased risk of severe wildfire, to more intense storms, to worse problems from invasive pests. Last week, President Obama outlined a Climate Action Plan to responsibly cut carbon pollution, slow the effects of climate change and put us on track to a cleaner environment. We’ve already started making progress toward these goals. Carbon pollution from the energy sector fell to the lowest level in two decades last year, thanks in part to renewable energy from rural America. But we can and must do more. The President’s plan will apply new efficiency standards for energy creation. It will expand permits for renewable energy, like wind and solar, on public lands – while supporting the creation of biofuel across the countryside. It also calls for partnership with the auto industry to develop cleaner vehicles that will save folks money. Even with these steps, we know that climate change can’t be reversed overnight. That’s why the President’s plan will help America prepare for the impacts of a changing climate. For us at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that includes helping farmers, ranchers and producers adapt to new challenges and create modern solutions. In recent weeks, USDA has announced the creation of seven new “regional climate hubs” to provide farmers and ranchers with regionally-appropriate information to adapt to climate change. To help researchers and scientists, we’ve opened up data from the largest soil carbon survey ever undertaken, the Rapid Carbon Assessment. And through our online “COMET-FARM” tool, farmers and ranchers can see how conservation practices can help their operation, while protecting the environment. Additional information about all of these efforts is available at www.usda.gov/climatesolutions. Rural Americans have a long history of innovation, and a strong commitment to conservation. These efforts are more important than ever as we face the challenges posed by a changing climate. At USDA, we’ll support producers in adapting to new threats, while helping rural America innovate to lead the world against this modern challenge. The audio version of this column is available on the July 2 USDA Radio Newsline.
Dr Joanna Batstone, Vice President and Lab Director at IBM Research Australia, says that the potential of data has an enormous reach. Beyond its business and manufacturing functions, it has the potential to save lives and have real societal impact and value. Even now, the use of data is making enormous differences to people’s lives around the world. For example, when the Ebola virus broke out in Sierra Leone, there was the ability to leverage real-time data to pin-point where supplies were running low, and to do topographical heat-maps in order to ascertain where the most help was needed. This program saved hundreds of lives, yet we are just at the very beginning of what we can do with data. In order to really understand the true potential of data, Batstone states that we need to be thinking about cognitive systems. A cognitive system has three parts: They can learn at scale (interpret data) They reason with purpose They interact with humans naturally (in that we want to use a natural technique – by voice, by text, very intuitively.) If you apply these parts to medicine, you would train a system to learn by experience, and recognise patterns. IBM have partnered with skin cancer clinics to look at how systems can differentiate between the different types of skin lesions. By building in abilities to determine, shape and dimensions, you will have a system that would have the same features of a skilled dermatologist. Dr Batstone argues that if they can bring together these values (deep-learning, discovery, large-scale mathematics and fact-checking) with that of humanity (compassion, intuition, design and value judgements,) then there is the potential to truly transform the world.
A proposal to expand the Pennsylvania Turnpike would put irreplaceable historic structures and a Class A Wild Trout Stream at risk of irreparable harm from flooding because it fails to include a proper stormwater management plan. Valley Forge National Historical Park connects millions of visitors each year to our nation’s Revolutionary War history and to a landscape rich with diverse plants and animals. During the winter of 1777-78, General George Washington built 13 ragtag state militias into a coordinated Continental Army here, ultimately triumphing over Great Britain, the world’s largest military power at the time. This cherished national park tells stories of individual and collective sacrifices in the quest for our nation’s freedom. Now, a proposed project to expand 6 miles of the Pennsylvania Turnpike next to the park could cause irreparable harm to this historic place. In July 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a key permit to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to widen this toll road near Valley Creek, the stream that winds through the western side of the historical park. The Pennsylvania Turnpike is already one of the largest paved areas in the Valley Creek watershed; the current proposal would add more than 17 paved acres to the area, replacing natural water filters such as trees and grass with hard asphalt. NPCA formally opposes this decision for several reasons. The expansion proposal would worsen flooding along Valley Creek, potentially causing irreparable harm to historic structures such as Washington’s Continental Army Headquarters and the Knox Covered Bridge. Increased stormwater runoff would also threaten visitor activities such as trout fishing and trail running. The commonwealth of Pennsylvania classifies Valley Creek as an Exceptional Value Waterway and Class A Wild Trout Stream. Hot, polluted runoff degrades the cold, clean water the trout need to thrive. Allowing the Pennsylvania Turnpike widening project to move forward without comprehensive runoff controls would severely exacerbate an already harmful flooding threat. Valley Forge is hallowed ground. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission should work to protect the commonwealth’s proud heritage, not cut corners in ways that would harm a cherished national park. Valley Forge National Historical Park represents an exceptional part of America’s history, and it deserves exceptional protections. Are you a frequent visitor to Valley Forge National Historical Park? If so, we want to hear from you. Please contact Amanda John at firstname.lastname@example.org to share your experience and learn about more ways that you can be involved. More than 2,300 Spoke Up for Valley Forge National park advocates took action and urged Pennsylvania officials to protect George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge from a proposed highway expansion. Get Action Alerts Want national parks in your inbox? Sign up for NPCA email updates to receive news, features, and opportunities to make a difference! You can unsubscribe at any time.
REMEMBER that children think and grieve differently than adults. EXPRESS your own feelings openly and appropriately. Communicate openly and honestly. NEVER LIE. ANSWER all of your children’s questions and concerns with honest, simple ALLOW your children to express feelings in their own ways and at their own MAINTAIN routines and consistency as much as possible. KEEP DISCIPLINE fair, reasonable, and age-appropriate. DO NOT CHANGE THE RULES. Set limits and keep them. BALANCE discussion of the past with awareness of the present. SHOW your children how important they are. SET ASIDE TIME to have one-to-one, uninterrupted interactions with each child. REMEMBER that grieving children may act out because of feelings of insecurity or abandonment, to provoke punishment/limit-setting, to externalize their grief feelings, or to protect themselves from future losses. BE PATIENT! Family Healing Activities Make a family scrapbook of photos, drawings, and mementos that memorialize your lost loved one. make lists of his/her talents, characteristics, favorite things. Be sure to include blank pages for adding memories as time goes by. Plant a tree or plant in memory of the lost loved one. Watch it grow. Have picnics around it. Tie ribbons on it. Nurture and care for it. Do relaxation exercises as a family. Breathe deeply, visualize your body relaxing. Take a peaceful imaginary trip using visualization. Write a book about your family’s experience with loss. Encourage children to dictate, write, and/or illustrate. Protect it with a good cover and share it with Instead of a book, your family may choose to dictate your story onto a tape or videotape recorder. Tell stories, sing songs, share feelings. Watch or listen to it later as a family. Create a “worry box” for the family. Encourage each member to write or draw feelings of guilt, regret, fear, or worry and place them into the box. Imagine being released from the feelings as the enter the box. Imagine being released from the feelings as they enter the box. bur the box and papers in a fireplace or fire pit. Set aside a place of remembrance in your home with photos, mementos, etc. Allow children to add “gifts” such as flowers, drawings, poems, or letters. Provide supervised times for candle-lighting, prayers, or discussion of feelings and Volunteer as a family for a charity or cause that was meaningful to your lost loved one. (Examples: beach clean-up, senior citizen’s center, soup kitchen.)
Puerto Rico Could Remain Without Power for Six Months In the aftermath of both Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the entire island of Puerto Rico and all its 3.5 million citizens could live without power for months. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is unable to bring power back to the island on its own. The government agency is bankrupt and reviled in Puerto Rico, due to a combination of mismanagement, neglect and an infrastructure that dates back to the 1970s. And although the U.S. Energy Department will work alongside PREPA, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said that Puerto Ricans could remain without power for four to six months. Tourism — which adds an estimated $4 billion to Puerto Rico’s economy — is on hold until the island resolves its electrical issues. “The safety and security of everyone on the island, including all of our visitors, is our biggest priority in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria,” José Izquierdo, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said in a statement. “We’re working closely with other state and federal government agencies and collaborating with our industry partners to identify immediate needs across the island.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in Puerto Rico, delivering emergency supplies, including food, water and blankets, to citizens. The White House issued major disaster declarations for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Federal funding will help cover temporary housing, home repairs and low-cost loans for repairing uninsured property. PREPA was already working to re-establish power for one million customers after Hurricane Irma when Hurricane Maria devastated the entire power system. The only places with electricity are running via generator. However these establishments — including hospitals around the island — could soon run out of fuel. “We came together not long ago to help our Caribbean neighbors post-Irma, and it is this generosity, the hospitality of our people, and the beauty of our island that are at the essence of the Puerto Rican spirit and what will get us through these challenging times,” Izquierdo said.
Deleting a data or transaction log file removes the file from the database. You cannot remove a file from the database unless the file has no existing data or transaction log information; the file must be completely empty before it can be removed. To empty a data file by moving data from the data file to other files in the same filegroup, use the DBCC SHRINKFILE statement and specify the EMPTYFILE clause. Because the Database Engine no longer allows data to be placed on the file after the shrink operation, the empty file can be removed by using the ALTER DATABASE statement or SQL Server Management Studio. You cannot move transaction log data from one log file to another to empty a transaction log file. To remove inactive transactions from a transaction log file, the transaction log must be truncated or backed up. When the transaction log file no longer contains any active or inactive transactions, the log file can be removed from the database. For more information, see Managing the Transaction Log. Steps to Remove Data File -- Empty the data file DBCC SHRINKFILE (Test1data, EMPTYFILE) -- Backup the Database / Transaction Log so the file can be cleared out completely BACKUP DATABASE AdventureWorks2008R2 TO DISK = '\\backupshare\AdventureWorks2008R2.bak' -- Backup the Database / Transaction Log so the file can be cleared out completely BACKUP LOG AdventureWorks2008R2 TO DISK = '\\backupshare\LOG_AdventureWorks2008R2_0600.bak' -- Remove the data file from the database ALTER DATABASE AdventureWorks2008R2 REMOVE FILE Test1data
Home fires not only put you and your family at risk, but also your pets. According to the United States Fire Administration (NFPA), an estimated 500,000 pets are affected annually by fires. Moreover, pets are responsible for starting 1,000 fires each year. Below are essential tips on keeping your pets safe from fire: Preventing Your Pets from Starting a Fire Get rid of stove knobs. A stove or cook top is the most common cause of fires started by pets. If your dog is tall enough to counter surf, remove the stove knobs or protect them when you leave the kitchen. Put out open flames. Pets such as dogs are naturally curious and might be drawn to open flames from candles, cooking appliances, and even fireplaces. By investigating an open flame, they might hurt themselves or start a fire. Make sure to extinguish open flames in the rooms where you allow your pets Use flameless candles. Some pets can easily knock down candles when agitated or running, so it’s a good idea to replace natural candles with flameless ones. These types of candles use a light bulb that are much less likely to be a fire hazard. Always supervise your pets when real candles are used. Secure the fireplace. Even if you have a mesh metal screen in front of your fireplace, a small spark or coal can get through it and land on the carpet or your pet’s hair. Don’t allow your pets to stay in front of the fireplace. For increased safety, upgrade your wood-burning fireplace to an enclosed gas fireplace. Keeping Your Pets Safe in Case of a Fire Include your pets in your fire escape plan and practice your escape routes with them. Provide a pet door for them so they can escape a fire quickly. If you need to confine your pets, keep them in a room or area near an entry. Make sure your dog wears a collar and keep him/her near entrances when away from home. Keep leashes at the ready in case firefighters need to rescue your dog. Attach a static cling with the number of pets inside your house to a front window. This information helps firefighters locate your pets faster. If you keep pets or livestock outside the home, clear the brush, bushes, or other vegetation that might catch fire around the housing and pens where the animals live. During winter, outdoor animals are exposed to great risks if a snowstorm occurs. Find out how to protect your pets during snowstorms here. Learn more emergency preparedness tips for your pets in this article. For professional fire damage repair or smoke remediation, contact your local PuroClean office. Known as the “Paramedics of Property Damage®,” PuroClean provides fire and smoke damage remediation, water damage remediation, flood water removal, mold removal, and biohazard cleanup to commercial and residential customers. Founded in 2001, PuroClean has a comprehensive network of more than 300 franchise offices across North America. PuroClean technicians are thoroughly screened, insured, and trained in utilizing the latest in mitigation technology and procedures, while operating under a strict code of ethics. Each PuroClean office is independently owned and operated. For franchise information, visit www.purocleanfranchise.com.
Portland's Flatiron Building sits on land once owned by the city's founder, and its angular shape is due to the city's 20th century response to an economic and population boom. Many American cities, such as New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, have flatiron buildings of their own, but Portland's is a bit smaller. Nonetheless, it's location and shape speak volumes about the city's history. Portland's Flatiron Building is one of many that own that name throughout the country, although it is much smaller than most others. Designed by Fred Manson White, the building was completed in 1917 and mainly served the automotive industry for most of its history. The Flatiron Building sits on land once owned by Captain Joun Couch, considered the founder of Portland. His decision in 1844 to forgo Oregon City and instead settle in Portland and open a store, helped propel Portland to regional urban supremacy over aspiring, rival cities in Oregon. Though Couch contributed to making Portland relevant, the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition helped turn Portland into a true metropolis, spurring a new era of economic and population growth -- the city's population tripled by the 1920s from the late 19th century. As Portland grew, urban planning commenced. Portland's leaders took inspiration from the popular "City Beautiful Plan" that many cities embraced during the early part of the 20th century. For Portland, that included creating a street system that followed the grid pattern, which proved significant towards the eventual construction of the Flat Iron building. The grid (or gridiron) pattern resulted in rectangular city blocks. Thus most of the buildings conform to that shape and are either square or rectangular. However, the addition of a few streets that run diagonally resulted in a few non-rectangular shapes, including triangular corners. The FlatIron Building demonstrates that difference. The Flatiron Building is rather diminutive but no less important than other cities' flatiron buildings that exist in angular city-block locations, or the other four flatiron structures that arose in Portland. All told, the building long served Portland as a commercial property, and then in more modern days, the home of radio stations and various service industries. But, it sits on the land that Couch settled, providing Portland with the potential to succeed as an urban community, and its shape demonstrates the urban planning associated with Portland's move towards a bonafide urban metropolis during the early part of the 20th century. Gaston, Joseph. The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912. Vol. 1. Chicago. S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1912. MacColl, E. Kimbark. Merchants, Money and Power: The Portland Establishment 1843-1913. Portland, Oreg., 1988. Tess, John M. Nomination Form. National Register of HIstoric Places. February 13, 1989. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/b6b85f6e-24bb-401d-91b5-0fc50f67db3a/.
Goselynd History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms Goselynd is one of the many new names that came to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Goselynd comes from the Germanic given name Gozzelin, which is a diminutive that translates as the little god. The surname Goselynd was formed in the vernacular or regional naming tradition, which is the oldest and most pervasive type of patronymic surname. According to this custom, names were originally composed of vocabulary elements from the local language. Vernacular names were widespread throughout Normandy. Accordingly, many typical English and French names are in fact, originally of Germanic origin and often have cognates in other European countries. Early Origins of the Goselynd family The surname Goselynd was first found in Jersey where the earliest on record was Robert Gosselin who was made Governor of the fortress of Mont Orgueil after saving the fort from the French. However, Cheshire may be an early origin of the family too, as Henry Goseling was listed there in the Assize Rolls for 1260. Years later, Robert Goseling and Maud Gosselyng were both listed in the Subsidy Rolls for Cheshire in 1327. "Gosling is, no doubt, often a late development of Goslin." "A family of Norman origin who have long resided in Guernsey. They claim descent from Robert Gosselin, who for eminent services in the rescue of Mont Orgueil from the French in 1339, is said to have been made governor of that fortress, and to have received from Edward III. a grant of the arms now borne by his descendants." Early History of the Goselynd family This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Goselynd research. Another 46 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1529, 1603, 1229, 1566, 1626, 1619, 1626, 1614, 1621, 1693, 1758, 1693, 1632, 1704, 1632, 1696, 1777, 1733, 1678 and 1679 are included under the topic Early Goselynd History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Goselynd Spelling Variations Multitudes of spelling variations are a hallmark of Anglo Norman names. Most of these names evolved in the 11th and 12th century, in the time after the Normans introduced their own Norman French language into a country where Old and Middle English had no spelling rules and the languages of the court were French and Latin. To make matters worse, medieval scribes spelled words according to sound, so names frequently appeared differently in the various documents in which they were recorded. The name was spelled Gosselin, Goselin, Goselyn, Goslin, Gosline, Gosling, Gosslyn, Gossling, Gosselyn and many more. Early Notables of the Goselynd family (pre 1700) Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Joscelyn or Josselin (1529-1603), Latin secretary to Archbishop Parker and Anglo-Saxon scholar, third surviving son of Sir Thomas Josselin of Hyde Hall, Hertfordshire, and High Roding, Essex, a direct descendant from Sir Thomas Jocelyn, who was knighted in 1229, and belonged to an ancient family of Brittany. John Gostlin or Gostlyn MD (c. 1566-1626), was an English academic and physician, Master of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge from 1619 till his death in 1626 and Regius Professor of Physic. Also a politician, he was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, Devon (1614-1621.) Another 140 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Goselynd Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Goselynd family to Ireland Some of the Goselynd family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible. Migration of the Goselynd family Because of this political and religious unrest within English society, many people decided to immigrate to the colonies. Families left for Ireland, North America, and Australia in enormous numbers, traveling at high cost in extremely inhospitable conditions. The New World in particular was a desirable destination, but the long voyage caused many to arrive sick and starving. Those who made it, though, were welcomed by opportunities far greater than they had known at home in England. Many of these families went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Goselynd or a variant listed above: William Gosselin settled in Barbados in 1635; Andreas and Barbara Gosselin settled in Charles Town in 1766; Edward Gosselin arrived in New York in 1821.. - Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X) - Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print. - Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
The most visible and discomfort creating symptoms of goitre are: - Enlarged Thyroid - Tightness in throat - Trouble in breathing - Voice changes and produces wheezing sound - Swollen face - Windpipe torture - Heartbeat fluctuates - Fragile nails and dry hair - Weight imbalance - Problem in sleeping - Infrequent bowel movements - Pain in muscles and weakness - Common cold Goiter is caused by diet fluctuation, physical dysfunctioning and genetic defects. Some causes are shown below: - LESS INTAKE OF IODINE One of the primary and frequently seen causes is an iodine deficiency in people which drags them in the thyromegaly condition. There are two hormones present in the thyroid - L-Thyroxine or tetraiodothyronine commonly known as T4 hormone. - L- Triiodothyronine or T3 hormone For both these hormones, the requirement of iodine is very necessary. The main source of iodine is sea salt and secondary sources are seaweed, shrimp and dairy products. Many people who live far from coastal areas are prompt to this and it is not wrong to say that 30-35% of people take less iodine. - HASHIMOTO’S THYROIDITIS: Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis is a broad name for Hashimoto’s disease. This is an autoimmune disease and it makes every possible attempt to damage the thyroid gland. - HEREDITARY FACTORS: In 5-10% of people, goitre happens because of family history so genes can cause thyromegaly to some extent. - PREGNANCY: Though this cause is uncommon comparatively it is still responsible for goitre when HCG i.e. Human chorionic gonadotropin increases in pregnant women which increases the swelling of the thyroid gland and it can cause goitre in females also. - MEDICINES: Lithium, Perchlorate, Interleukin, Sulfonylureas. All these medicines can give a rise to thyroid diseases and goitre, so if you are taking then stop and take the doctor’s advice at this point. - GRAVE’S DISEASE: When thyroxine spreads, antibodies of grave’s disease patients fight against the thyroid gland. More about Treatment The thyroid gland is considered to be very important when it comes to generating hormones, balancing the metabolic rate of the heart, to support bone and in brain growth. The thyroid gland is nestled just beneath Adam's apple, its shape resembles the butterfly. When enough iodine is not provided to the body, disturbances begin in the neck part which results in thyromegaly, it can occur either by excess use of iodine or very less consumption of iodine. Thyromegaly or goitre can affect one or multiple areas of the gland, depending upon its severity. Goitre condition is also known as thyromegaly. When the swelling happens, sudden enlargement in the thyroid gland occurs. Mostly forms due to hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. Normal thyroid hormone levels can also sometimes cause thyromegaly. If not treated initially, abnormal growth can convert goitre into malignant tumour or cancer. Around 20% of the world's population is suffering from goitres. More than 250 million people are suffering from various kinds of thyroid gland disease. Goitre or Thyromegaly is rarely seen in the UK, US and Western European people and more in Asian and African countries. Goitre is often seen in females than males, as per 2019 report, around 230,000 deaths of females and only 70,000 deaths of males happened because of thyromegaly. - What Is an Endemic Goiter? Another name for endemic goitre is a multinodular goitre. Mostly results due to hypothyroidism (less thyroid hormone level). Less iodine intake can lead a person to an endemic goitre. It is usually seen in people who are living in hilly areas ( such as the Himalayas or Alps). - What Is Thyromegaly (Goiter) Treatment? On the basis of the size of the goitre, patient’s age, your existing diseases, symptoms and cause doctor’s makes a list of treatments. Such as: - Medicine really helps to shrink the goitre naturally. - For the initial stage - Doctors usually recommend aspirin or corticosteroids. - In extreme stage - Methimazole and propylthiouracil - Opt for radioactive iodine - Typically given orally this is the best treatment as it vanishes the unnecessary thyroid cells in one go. - Surgery: When you are intolerant to medicines and other tried and tested treatments that don’t work and to control the size of the goitre is becoming an issue, the only effective option is surgery. Such as Total Thyroidectomy and close to total thyroidectomy are reliable methods. This is very beneficial but for pregnant women or women who are in their lactation period surgery is not a good option. When doctors have doubts regarding a particular cell or tissue which are responsible for the enlargement of the thyroid gland they give a sample to the laboratory to detect cancer or any other complications. Biopsy, medications and radioactive therapy are very efficient if you are looking for goitre treatment without surgery. Top Doctors For Endemic Goiter Treatment Choose specialists in a country - More Countries Top Hospitals For Endemic Goiter Treatment Choose hospitals in a country - More Countries
Good Question: Where Do Weeds Come From? MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – If flowers are friends to homeowners, then weeds must be enemies. The theory is that dandelions, chickweeds, thistle and Creeping Charlie steal water and sun from our precious bluegrass. But how did Creeping Charlie and his buddies get here in the first place? Roger Becker is a professor of agronomy and plant genetics at the University of Minnesota. And if weeds have a friend, he would be it. “A lot of our weeds come from our family backgrounds. So in our case a lot of Europeans settled in this part of the country and they brought their weeds with them,” said Becker. Centuries ago, when immigrants brought hay and other goods to America, weed seeds traveled along from Europe and Asia. Creeping Charlie was even considered decorative at one point and planted on purpose. Other weeds got help from Mother Nature. “Weeds are good at disseminating, meaning they move,” he said. They can move by wind, water, and in the winter time weeds will blow across the snow and ice cover. Because blue grass also isn’t native to Minnesota, weeds have no problem taking over if allowed. Most weeds are aggressive and can take over a lawn. Becker said different weeds adapt to different habitats. And there is a weed for every occasion. “I tell people that really get worried about weeds to just learn to embrace them because weeds are always going to be there. You can manage them, but you’re not going to get rid of them,” said Becker Experts say there are really two ways to manage weeds: You can pull them out by hand, or you can use a treatment that involves the chemical 2, 4-D. If mixed with water correctly, 2,4-D will kill weeds but not grass. If mixed incorrectly, you can kill your grass too.
A virtual environment is a medium of learning where learners go through courses, study materials and learning aids through an online medium. It can be browser-based or a virtual training session through Zoom. Virtual learning offers activities, interactions, and resources within a course structure and provides different levels of assessment. Given this context, learners can access learning materials through peer-to-peer collaboration networks such as forums. As social learning is a continuous process of learning from other people within and outside the organization, it can be integrated into virtual learning through various means. At the present virtual learning also happens through social technologies like blogs, wikis, discussion forums, messaging tools, conferencing tools, subject-matter directories, and videos. Organizations are increasingly using social learning in their training methodologies for improved learning retention, increased learner engagement, and reduced training costs. The 70:20:10 Learning Framework In traditional classroom training, most learners recall only 10% of what they have learned after 72 hours. Such lack of knowledge retention can harm the business of your organization. For example, a salesperson may face trouble recalling the knowledge learned at the appropriate time the next week, which could cost them a sale. As per this methodology, about 70% of learning happens through on-the-job training and practical experiences, 20% through interaction with peers and colleagues, and just 10% in a traditional, instructor-led classroom training environment. Why Social Learning? Social learning helps employees with enhanced retention of knowledge, which is the primary goal of any training program. Social learning encourages learning in a working environment and allows learners to apply their knowledge to work. They can learn from peers, senior employees, or experts within the organizations. People learn from real-life scenarios/examples and by direct experiences. Research studies also indicate that social learning methods deliver a better ROI (almost 75:1 ratio) when compared to traditional classroom training. Here are a few strategies on how to enhance virtual learning with the help of social learning. Enhance Learner Engagement A virtual learning environment allows you to manage the learning activities by using various means such as an LMS for learner administrations, learning platforms, and virtual instructor sessions. In social learning, employees can either start or take part in a discussion, training or coach others as and when a situation arises. This type of freedom to engage in their learning will directly impact increased engagement in their work. As part of social learning, provide a network of mentors and peers, where information is created and distributed easily to employees. Thus, employees can obtain more practical knowledge and make better decisions through increased engagement with others. Collaborate Proactively With Learners Communication and collaboration among the participants with emails, chat, wikis, blogs, etc., are other key components of a virtual learning environment. Social learning is collaborative in its approach, happens in real-time, and has a direct relation to an employee’s work. Learning can happen anytime, anywhere, and by using any device. Organizations that support social learning need to have learning environments that foster conversation, discussion, and collaboration between learners across the organization. Social learning involves knowledge sharing in a joint effort between peers, and between peers and facilitators. It promotes high-level thinking, good relationships, oral and written communication, self-management, responsibility, and leadership skills. Encourage Peer Learning Peer learning is a great way in which learners learn from each other. Participants connected can observe and learn from others, helping each other in the virtual session. Learners can directly learn from seniors and experts who have been in similar situations. In peer learning, learners receive more time for individualized learning, and interactions between employees promote active learning. Learners get a chance to reinforce their learning by instructing others. Also, learners feel more comfortable and open when interacting with their peers. For companies, peer learning is a financially efficient alternative to hiring trainers or instructors. Research studies indicate that peer learning activities yield more benefits to the organization, such as enhanced team-building spirit, more supportive relationships, greater psychological well-being, and improved communication skills. Thus, organizations should encourage peer learning to achieve greater productivity. Add Simulations And Gamification Elements Simulations and gamification help facilitators turn their virtual learning into a more interactive experience. Simulations can turn virtual learning sessions into more interesting and fun learning sessions. Mock trials and digital simulations are great ways to enhance a virtual learning session and engage the participants more. Gamification involves turning an activity into a competitive game for the learners. You can take learning concepts, assignments, and activities and convert them into interesting games. The facilitator can announce badges and rewards for winners and create that unique spark that attracts the learners’ interest. Gamification and simulations allow learners to observe real-life scenarios and examples.
Democracy in Indonesia can be defined as government of general public assemblies, freedom of speech, right to assemble and freedom of religion or belief. It is also known as independent political system, multi-party state, multiparty election, proportional representation and multipurpose system. It is characterized by strong constitutional commitment to principles of social unity and economic development, with a strong sense of community and a low tolerance for diversity. The concept of democracy in Indonesia evolved through centuries of struggle between western and Islamic influences. Nowadays Indonesia faces various challenges to preserving its multicultural and tolerant values. In Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, it is characterized by multipurpose government, inclusive of a vibrant democracy, rule of law and freedom of assembly. It is made up of more than seventeen thousand islands, which include Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and other parts of Borneo and New Guinea. Indonesia has a unique system of government established through constitutional means with a head administrative council and an independent legislature. There are separate chambers for the formulation of laws and resolutions, and a separate supreme court with limited power and authority. Under the constitution approved in Jakarta,the supreme body called the Cabinet,which is comprised of the head of state and members of the legislature, has the power to make laws concerning the affairs of the state and control all executive and judicial powers. The constitution also spells out the main organs of government including the prime minister, ministers, cabinet members, local governments, national associations, and non-profit organizations. It also states the procedures for elections and lists the powers that the governor has in times of crises. The democratic form of government in Indonesia emphasizes respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and guarantees the rights of the people in general. The evolution of democracy in Indonesia began after Sukarno was deposed and replaced by Anwar Sadat, who was elected in January 1945 on the basis of a military junta which had been formed from the ranks of the armed forces. Sukarno’s immediate replacement as president was General Muhammad Egeddedji, who was based in Java. He set about drafting a new constitution for a new government which included elements from Sukarno’s original constitution drafted during World War ll. The new constitution included elements of Suharto’s PPR and emphasized a secular state. A military junta known as the Kompas regiments were put in charge of executing the new constitution. General Egeddedji was also made a vice president of the republic after Sukarno was relieved of all her powers. After Egeddedji was made a vice president, General Humayun was made a general and later prime minister. Under the leadership of President Muhammad Egeddedji, a period of rapid economic development began in Indonesia. The first decade of the new century saw political stability established as the political parties began to form coalitions to compete for national power. The main political parties, with the help of the United States, pursued economic expansion programs, nationalizing many industries and introducing a new constitutional system based on representative form of parliament. Political parties in Indonesia today still participate in multiparty democracy, vowing to continue to work for the welfare of the Indonesian people. democracy in indonesia is threatened by armed groups which have been given a base from which to carry out terrorist activities. International terrorists who are disenchanted by the conduct of the current regime in Indonesia can turn against the country and carry out attacks against civilians. Many analysts believe that the existence of a stable democracy in Indonesia is highly threatened due to the presence of a small number of transnational terrorist organizations in the country, which continue to clash between their fighters and the Indonesian security forces. These groups could destabilize the balance of power between the people and the government, leading to coups and increased instability in Indonesia.
Sedge hat of Ecchu FukuokaEtchu Fukuoka Sedge Hats It was old and, with sewing shade which began in the 1400s, Kaga feudal clan produced in the Edo era and spread in the whole country by having recommended. By production technology that we made use of high quality sedge grass in, we are used as tools such as awning, rain-cover by farming or traditional event, festival of various parts of Japan. Sedge hat weaving started way back in the 1400s and spread throughout the entire country during the Edo Period when its production was promoted in the Kaga domain. Production techniques using high-quality sedge enabled these hats to be used as sunshades and rain hats for farming, and as paraphernalia for traditional events, festivals, and other occasions throughout Japan. \|Industrial art object name\|\|Sedge hat of Ecchu Fukuoka\| \|Classification of industrial art object\|\|Other Crafts\| \|Main production area\|\|Toyama / Takaoka-shi, Tonami-shi, Oyabe-shi, Nanto-shi\| \|The designation date\|\|November 30, 2017\| ■local production associations Sedge hat promotion society of Ecchu Fukuoka 255-1, Fukuokamachishimomino, Takaoka-shi, Toyama welcome Fukuoka
Teaching students to think critically about social support and to apply it to their personal and professional lives can be challenging. This activity facilitates deeper learning about the communication processes involved with social support as well as the implications of social support. Instructors are given specific scenes from a recent television series; the scenes depict some complexities of providing social support. These scenes prompt a lively discussion as well as a critical reflection about what makes social support effective and the consequences of ineffective social support for coping, identity, and relational closeness. Instructors are provided with a lesson plan (that can be utilized for one 75-minute class period or for two class periods) and materials which facilitate this critical reflection and discussion. Richards, Sharlene T. and Carmack, Heather J. "Utilizing the Television Series Chasing Life to Develop a Deeper Understanding about the Complexities of Providing Social Support," Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD: Vol. 4 , Article 6. Available at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/discoursejournal/vol4/iss1/6
LAST week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios v. Grokster, a case that has important implications for the future of online innovation. Grokster makes software that enables Internet users to share computer files on peer-to-peer networks. The technology has been used to distribute many kinds of content, including copyrighted digital music. MGM and other entertainment companies want to hold Grokster liable for the copyright infringement that occurs when users download copyrighted music without paying for it. Grokster argues that there are many legitimate uses for its technology and that it is not responsible for those who use it to violate copyrights. This is just the latest installment of a longstanding battle between technology companies and copyright holders. It is useful to look at the history of some of these past innovations in trying to understand what policies may be appropriate today. In the early 1900's, the disruptive technology was player pianos. Manufacturers of player piano rolls purchased a single copy of the sheet music of a song, hired someone to record the music and then sold these mechanical reproductions to consumers. The songwriters held that this was copyright infringement, while the piano roll manufacturers pointed out that they had paid the appropriate copyright fees when they purchased the sheet music.Continue reading the main story In 1908, the Supreme Court found in favor of the piano roll manufacturers, but practically invited Congress to consider new legislation on the issue. Congress responded with the Copyright Act of 1909, which created a new form of intellectual property, mechanical reproduction rights. The new law required piano roll manufacturers to pay songwriters a fee for each song. Subsequently, mechanical reproduction fees have been extended to new technologies like phonographs, audio tapes, CD's and online streaming digital music. In the 1908 case, songwriters did not try to ban player piano technology. They clearly recognized that the additional distribution of their songs was potentially advantageous. Their goal was simply to get a fair share of the proceeds from the piano roll sales. Another directly relevant Supreme Court decision is Sony v. Universal City Studios, a 1984 case involving the use of video recorders in the home. The film studios argued that Sony should be liable for copyright infringement since its video recorders could be used to copy movies and television programs illegally. The Supreme Court held that Sony was not liable since the VCR technology had "substantial noninfringing uses." This phrase has since become the legal test of whether liability can be imposed. Under this doctrine, a company that sells a technology whose only use is to violate copyright could potentially be liable for infringement, but as long as there are substantial noninfringing uses there would be no liability. The studios lost the Sony case, but it forced them to take the home video market seriously. Their first instinct was to set a $50 to $60 price for videocassettes. But by choosing a high price, they stimulated the development of the video rental market, giving users inexpensive access to movies. On the other hand, the availability of rentals stimulated the demand for VCR's. As VCR prices declined, more people bought them and the video rental industry flourished, creating a new, rapidly growing outlet for studio productions. In the late 1980's Disney began to experiment with lower prices for videos, hoping to bypass the rental stores and sell directly to home users. Disney's 1987 video release of "Lady and the Tramp" was priced at $29.95 and sold over 3.2 million copies, making it the best-selling video as of that date. Its record was soon eclipsed by "E.T.," which sold 14 million copies at $19.95 apiece. These examples convinced Hollywood that if it priced its product low enough it could successfully compete with the rental market. When DVD technology came along in 1996, Hollywood understood that pricing under $20 was critical. DVD technology has been hugely successful because the prices of the players and discs have continued to decline, making it highly affordable and widely used. The critical lesson from the history of the VCR is this: If consumers have ways to share content, either via rental markets or via the Internet, you will have to set low prices to induce them to buy. But low prices may well stimulate enough volume to make up for the lost revenue. Apple's iTunes, with its 99-cent price for songs, has driven this lesson home, but there are those who argue that prices should be even lower. In 2004, RealNetworks experimented with charging 49 cents for digital songs and sold more than three million downloads in a three-week period. The chief executive of RealNetworks, Rob Glaser, says that "the pricing that will result in the biggest overall market for music will involve some kind of tiered pricing," with "new mainstream songs for 99 cents retail, and up-and-coming artists and back catalog artists at a lower price." It is worth observing that this is similar to the pricing strategy used in the video industry in the 1980's: a high price for the videos that were likely to be viewed only once, making them natural candidates for the rental market, and a low price for videos that warranted repeat viewing, making them candidates for purchase. So what should the policy be for new technologies like Grokster? I advocate the Pizza Principle: If you want everybody to get as big a slice as possible, you first have to figure out how to bake as big a pie as possible. Once you have a nice big pie, you can let people fight over how they slice it up. With respect to technology, the Sony decision got it right: encourage technologies that create more total value. Then, let companies fight to find business models that deliver that value to consumers. They can be awfully creative when they are forced to be. Economic Scene Hal R. Varian is a professor of business, economics and information management at the University of California, Berkeley.Continue reading the main story
It is a special treat to find a poem that is not only appealing as a bit of poetry, but is able to call to mind strong images of places and people and/or a particular time in history. Emily Lawless, a writer and poet born in 19th-century Ireland, was one such poet who was able to bring history alive with her poetry. Out of What Began: A History of Irish Poetry in English shares a few snippets of her writings including a poem entitled Afterward (which was originally published in The Inalienable Heritage in 1914). According to the book, in this little poem she expresses beautifully "the poet's role as bringing to life the voices of the past". by Emily Lawless Out of the dusk of slow-accomplished Time, Out of the shadows, out of the long past, Lifting that past up on thy haughty rhyme, Wakening those silenced voices, heard at last; Fierce with the tumults of eight hundred years, Loud with their cries of echoing strife and scorn; Soft with their woes; child of their hopes and fears, Poet we look for, come; awake! Be born! Emily Lawless brings a strong image alive in her poem entitled Honor's Grave (also originally published in The Inalienable Heritage). This poem conjures up pictures for me of what the lives of my women ancestors might have been like. After reading her words, I can't help but feel the desire to go and visit their graves to pay my respects to them in the places where "very soundly doth they sleep". Honor's GraveLastly, one more poem to share with you on this, Poem in Your Pocket Day 2008. by Emily Lawless Tender soul of womanhood, All her silent suffering past, Pious, pitiful, and good, Safe at last; Sheltered from the rough wind's blast. Veiling mists, which come and go, With transparent fingers mark Where she lies. Remote and low, Hark! Oh hark! What voice whispers through the dark? Very soundly doth she sleep, Though around the blown-sand flies, Though above the storm-clouds sweep The burdened skies. She hears nothing where she lies. Ancient cross, misused and grey, Ancient cross, with broken arms, Hold her, shield her night and day, Safe from harms; Shield her by thy sovereign charms. Tiny snail-shells, pencilled, pale, In the sands about her lie; Tiny grass-tufts, thin and frail, Gather round her tenderly. Ave Maria! mother mild, Mary, unto whom she prayed, Shield thy loving-hearted child, Shield the spot where she is laid. by John Boyle O'Reilly Those we love truly never die, Though year by year the sad memorial wreath, A ring of flowers, types of life and death, Are laid upon their graves. For death the pure life saves, And life all pure is love; and love can reach From heaven to earth, and nobler lessons teach Than those by mortals read. Well blest is he who has a dear one dead: A friend he has whose face will never change - A dear communion that will not grow strange; The anchor of a love is death. The blessed sweetness of a loving breath Will reach our cheek all fresh through weary years. For her who died long since, ah! waste not tears, She's thine unto the end. Thank God for one dear friend, With face still radiant with the light of truth, Whose love comes laden with the scent of youth, Through twenty years of death.
Last week I mentioned how we have a student working on the MEGAstick, a solid-state joystick specially designed for the MEGA65, but also backward compatible with the C64 etc. In response to that, Daniël from the Netherlands kindly offered to help, because it turns out that the 1351 is not as simple as it first seems. I already knew that it worked by sending mouse position information as analog signals to the paddle (POT) inputs on the joystick ports. What I didn't know, was that the 1351 uses carnal knowledge about how the SID chip scans the analogue inputs. The SID drains the POT inputs for 256 clock cycles to pull the voltage down, and then counts for up to 255 clock cycles until the voltage reaches a threshold. The higher the resistance, the longer it takes, and the higher the reading in the POT registers. The 1351 uses this to know when the SID chip is about to start counting, and then outputs a 5V pulse for a length of time proportional to the movement of the mouse since the last sample. This lets the SID read the movement quite accurately, with only a couple of niggley problems, mostly because the 1351 has an internal 1MHz clock which doesn't exactly match the C64's 0.98 - 1.02MHz PAL/NTSC clock speeds. Daniël used an oscilloscope connected to a real C64 to verify that the POT lines are easy to read from the joystick port in this way, with a clearly identifiable edge when the SID starts draining the lines. First step, connect analog inputs of C64 joystick port to an oscilloscope. Then connect the digital oscilloscope to the laptop and take a look ... And the result was indeed very nice: The pulse train is very clear, so we should be able to find some way to do this. What Daniël also worked out is that the voltage peaks at only around 1.2V, which is unfortunately lower than the logic level trigger of an Arduino, which is what we are using for the joystick controller: For that we need about 3V. Fortunately, there is another possible option, which is to use an analogue comparator in the PIC chip on the Arduino, to compare the POT lines to a ~1.2V reference voltage, and generate an interrupt from that. This is what Daniël is currently looking into. Meanwhile, our student is getting ready to work on implementing a continuous auto-calibration mode for when the MEGAstick is acting as a normal digital joystick. However, what this also told is is that if we want a real 1351 or a MEGAstick to work as a mouse on the MEGA65, we need to add a mechanism that drains the pot lines in a similar way to how this works on the C64. We will need to tweak the MEGA65 PCB to implement this.
As this is a blog on being a Critical Thinker, let me start elaborating what I mean by this term. Instead of re-inventing the wheel, I am posting one of my own articles on the topic, which was first published by The Assam Tribune, May 24 2013, titled, The Skill of Thinking. Systematically organizing one's thinking is the first and most crucial step in thinking better. This is something that can be easily taught and learned. For the last fifteen years, I have been teaching the skill of Thinking. I can just hear you, my reader, say, “Thinking? Why do you need to teach thinking”? Why indeed? Thinking is an activity innate in human beings, like eating. What is there to be taught about thinking? A child who instinctively knows how to eat, needs to be taught the systematics of eating --- what to eat and what not to, how to eat what, protocols of eating and so on. Similarly, our capacity to think needs systematic honing to make us effective and productive thinkers. Thinking is so much a part of us, that we do it automatically. Just as we are not aware of when we first started eating, we are also not aware of when we first started to think. Again, just like our food habits, without our knowledge, our thinking too gets influenced by our surroundings, our culture, our authority figures, our peers, our media and our experiences. We start developing our own world view by looking at the world through the lenses provided by our societies' views, without our ever realizing it. This is a part of what is called socialization in anthropology and sociology --- the unconscious process by which we learn our own culture. As we get socialized into a society, we also imbibe its way of thinking, which then becomes second nature to us. It is because of this process that anything that is alien to our way of thinking seems unimaginable. For example, in its Edible Insect Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has been endorsing eating insects as the new environmentally friendly and nutritious weapon to fight hunger. But how easy will it be to implement it is another question. In many world views, including ours, eating insects is disgusting. For most of us, chomping into a grasshopper or a cricket, no matter how tasty or it is supposed to be, is unthinkable. Everything we think and believe comes to us through the prism of our world view. Hence anything that is outside our world view seems to be wrong, and things that come within that view seems to be the right thing to do. Our world view also determines our perspective on things. Our thoughts, opinions, on an issue come out of our perspective on the situation. Most of the time, our perspective is so taken-for-granted and ingrained in us that we are not even aware of it. It becomes the only real way to understand a situation. We are not even aware of how we think and the basis of the decisions that we make. Most of the time, our thinking is uncritical; we take whatever we see and hear around us at face value, interpreted through the perspective provided by our world view. We often act on the unconscious assumption that only one view is right. This is not generally the case --- each view comes from a particular perspective of looking at an issue. Each of these perspectives come out of beliefs, values, agendas and interests. We just need to look at any controversial point being debated in the media to see that each issue will have multiple perspectives on it. However, we cannot also assume each of these views are correct. Thinking skills provides us with the tools to critically evaluate these myriad perspectives and glean our our own balanced opinion from them. The word critical often has a negative connotation. In the context of thinking skills, this is not necessarily so. A critical thinker is someone who is able to use his or her own thinking process to clarify ideas, solve problems, make informed decisions and communicate ideas. Though we are born with the power to think, our innate thinking capability needs to be channelized into thinking reasonably, logically and systematically. Critical Thinking, which constitute a key dimension of thinking skills, provide the techniques by which we can heighten our innate capacity to think, and sharpen the skills that we already have. The first step in doing this is to question our own thinking, identify our world view and dig into the roots of how we know what we know. This is a skill that is very easily taught. It enable us to identify the biases, prejudices, assumptions that any world view, including our own, can have. These skills are needed in whatever we do, no matter what stage of life we are at. These skills help students study better and more efficiently, connect textbook material to the professional world, and communicate effectively. These are skills tested in many college entrance tests. For professionals and others, these skills enable deeper analysis and understanding of facts and information as well as convey one's ideas convincingly. This in turn brings in better problem solving, decision making and inter-personal well being, among other things.
Welcome to the Brown University Quaternary Environments web site that features the terrestrial component of Earth Systems History Research at Brown. Quaternary environmental research encompasses the mapping and analysis of the vegetation and climate history in North America since the last glacial maximum 21,000 years ago. It also involves the study of coastal processes and sea level rise that accompanied glacial retreat and continue today. All of these studies illustrate the environmental changes within New England that affected humans who have lived here since late-glacial times. Recent research has featured the study of changing late Quaternary water levels in New England lakes. Research on these topics is therefore divided into four main headings: Vegetation Dynamics, Paleoclimates, Coastal Studies, and Geoarchaeology. Tom Webb currently directs this research program that includes research staff, graduate students, and undergraduates (see People). Several books and research articles describe the breadth of research in Quaternary Environments that Brown researchers have accomplished during the last 28 years (see Publications). \|Visit our Vegetation Dynamics web page and try out our enhanced interactive pollen viewer, version 3.2. The viewer lets you observe how taxon distributions and associations have changed during the last 21,000 years. What were the major vegetational responses to warming and cooling after the last "ice age"?\| NEMPID database (James W. Bradley, editor, version 1.1, April, 2001), fr: Newby et al., QSR 24 (2005), click here Paleo-Calib or here Paleo-Data.xls. The NEMPID began in 1994 as part of the exhibition, "Origins and Ancestors: Investigation New England's Paleo Indians" (curated by J. Bradley with A. Spiess and P. Newby as guest curators) at the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology, Andover, MA. Generous contributions have made NEMPID possible, in particular, R. Boivert (New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources), D. Dincauze (UMASS, Amherst), R. Funk (NY State Archaeologist, emeritus), N. Hamilton (U. of Southern ME), B. Jones (Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center), S. Loring (Arctic Studies Program, Smithsonian Institute), J. Petersen, (U. of VT), A. Spiess (ME Historic Preservation Commission) and R. Will (Arc Inc.). Coring at Echo Lake, North Conway, NH Pollen Identification Research Research Publications People Facilities Related Links Brown University This site is best viewed with screen resolution set to 800 x 600. If you have any suggestions or observations concerning the Quaternary Environments web site, please send an e-mail to web author Phil Leduc or to Professor Tom Webb. Last updated: September, 2002. Click here to view a log of the changes made to the QE web site.
The Quantitative hCG Pregnancy Blood Test Difference Frequently Asked Questions What is Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG)? Also sometimes referred to as beta-hCG, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a hormone made by cells in the placenta after a fertilized egg attaches itself to a woman’s uterine wall. How do hCG tests in blood compare to urine pregnancy tests? A blood test can measure the exact amount of hCG that’s produced during pregnancy, while urine tests typically only determine whether any amount of hCG is present and aren’t as sensitive.1 A blood test can detect pregnancy before a woman has even missed her period—as early as six to eight days after conception)2—while a urine test may only yield accurate results after the first day of a missed period. What is a quantitative test? A quantitative hCG test measures the specific level of hCG in the blood, and a numerical value is provided with the result.3 This reading can tell you and your doctor how far along you are in your pregnancy, give an early warning about some possible complications of pregnancy and monitor declining hCG levels before or after a miscarriage. Conversely, a qualitative hCG test (blood or urine) simply checks to see whether hCG is present or not. Labcorp OnDemand’s quantitative hCG blood test can detect small levels of hCG earlier than either a urine test or a qualitative blood test. Can I take a quantitative hCG blood test multiple times to track changes in my hCG levels? Why would I want to? hCG levels ramp up quickly in the early weeks of pregnancy. The range for women in their third week of pregnancy is 6 to 71 mIU/mL, compared to 10 to 750 mIU/mL in the fourth week and 217 to 7,138 mIU/mL in the fifth week. Levels continue rising from there until they peak between the eighth and 11th week of pregnancy and then decline and level off. 4 A quantitative hCG blood test can provide an accurate read-out week by week (or even day by day). When taking multiple tests over the course of several days, you and your doctor can detect if your levels are increasing or decreasing. This can help determine if a chemical pregnancy (i.e., early pregnancy loss occurring shortly after implantation), ectopic pregnancy (i.e., non-viable pregnancy in the fallopian tubes or elsewhere outside the uterus) or a miscarriage has occurred. A urine test, on the other hand, only determines whether hCG is present in urine in any detectable amount. Is a doctor visit required for a quantitative hCG blood test? No. The process is quick, private and easy when you get a pregnancy blood test from Labcorp OnDemand. You can purchase and schedule your test online without consulting a doctor. How early can I tell if I’m pregnant? You can take a quantitative hCG blood test like the one from Labcorp OnDemand for trustworthy results as early as six to eight days after conception. A urine test may only yield accurate results two weeks or more after conception—or after the first day of a missed period.5 You can take a quantitative hCG blood test like the one from Labcorp OnDemand for trustworthy results as early as six to eight days after conception. A urine test may only yield accurate results two weeks or more after conception—-or after the first day of a missed period. 1 “Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) Blood Test.” Healthline. healthline.com/health/hcg-blood-test-quantitative 2 “HCG blood test -- quantitative.” UCSF Health. ucsfhealth.org/medical-tests/hcg-blood-test---quantitative 3 “Pregnancy Tests.” WomensHealth.gov. womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/pregnancy-tests 4 “What is HCG?” American Pregnancy Association. americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/hcg-levels/ 5 “Pregnancy Tests—Urine and Blood.” American Pregnancy Association. americanpregnancy.org/getting-pregnant/understanding-pregnancy-tests/
During the late 1800’s, in an effort to assimilate the Native Americans of the time into white culture the United States government passed several bills requiring the five civilized tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole) to accept specific land allotments as well as register for what was called the “Dawes Rolls”. This was supposed to be a way to determine real Indians from fake ones. They set up tents on Indian territory and had their field clerks register natives only using oral testimony and some written records to determine who were real Indians. This less than effective screening process allowed white men looking to get their hands on a piece of guaranteed land to strike a deal, paying the commissioners five dollars under the table to be placed on the Dawes Rolls. This helped coin the term “5 dollar Indian”. At the time, because of their distrust for the United States government, a lot of full-blooded Indians didn’t even bother registering on the Dawes rolls, which systematically shut them out from any future benefits. So, don’t be surprised when you go to your favorite casino (most of which are on Indian reservations) and find one of the owners who says he is part “Cherokee.” In actuality, he’s nothing more than a five-dollar Indian.
The Howrah Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Hooghly River in West Bengal, India. Commissioned in 1943, the bridge was originally named the New Howrah Bridge, because it links the city of Howrah to its twin city, Kolkata (Calcutta). On 14 June 1965 it was renamed Rabindra Setu, after the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore who was the first Indian and Asian Nobel laureate. However it is still popularly known as the Howrah Bridge. The bridge is one of the four on the Hooghly River and is a famous symbol of Kolkata and West Bengal. The other bridges are the Vidyasagar Setu (popularly called the Second Hooghly Bridge), the Vivekananda Setu and the newly built Nivedita Setu. Apart from bearing the stormy weather of the Bay of Bengal region, it successfully bears the weight of a daily traffic of approximately 100,000 vehicles and possibly more than 150,000 pedestrians, easily making it the busiest cantilever bridge in the world. The third longest cantilever bridge at the time of its construction, it is currently the sixth longest bridge of its type in the world.
Built to protect and entertain royalty, ancient castles naturally possess a lasting beauty. But unlike the gated compounds of yesteryear, modern travelers can now step inside their historic gates. This British estate is still home sweet home to the current Duke of Northumberland, but it's also stood in for two fictional forts: Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter movies and Brancaster Castle in Downton Abbey. Walk up the ramparts (alongside Asian elephants!) to take in the carved panels and mirrored ceilings of this sandstone palace. While a 2003 earthquake caused large parts of the mud-brick compound to collapse, the UNESCO World Heritage site is slowly being restored. If you haven't already heard of the Blarney Stone, Irish legend claims that kissing the rock grants instant eloquence. The Islamic fort housed Egyptian rulers for 700 years, but its three mosques and several palaces are now open to visitors. Originally built in the 17th century, the Moorish castle underwent a colorful makeover in the 1800s. The regal interior now features intricate wall-carvings and tiled floors, but it's sadly been abandoned for over two decades. With distinctive French Renaissance architecture, this noble residence is perhaps the world's most recognizable chateau. The Loire Valley estate served as a hunting lodge for French kings starting in the 16th century. Perched atop Castle Rock, the famous Scottish fort has withstood 26 sieges throughout its 1,100-year history. The feudal-era complex is also called Shirasagijo, or "White Heron Castle," because it's said to resemble the bird taking flight. Austrian prince-bishops lived in this mountaintop fortress beginning in 1077, expanding the formidable walls for the next 500 years. Tourists can trek up the steep footpath (or take a much more convenient funicular) to reach the peak. Kremlin literally means "fortress inside a city," and the Russian capital's compound is the perfect example. The stone walls encircle a whopping five palaces and four cathedrals, not to mention the presidential residence. Built on flat land, Matsumoto previously used an extensive system of walls and moats for defense. But the building's unusual paint job is its most famous feature — the black exterior has earned the nickname "Crow Castle." Divine intervention supposedly led to the construction of this commune atop a rocky islet. Pilgrims originally could only walk out to the monastery at low tide, but modern tourists can take advantage of a recently-built bridge. Holding the title of the largest ancient castle in the world, Prague Castle occupies more than 17 hilltop acres overlooking the Bohemian city. Bavaria's Ludwing II commissioned his palatial retreat after he lost sovereignty to Germany, earning him the nickname of the "Fairytale King." Fittingly, the romantic architecture inspired Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle decades later. Built out onto a lake, the manmade island boasts famous gardens just as dreamy as the views. Schwerin is also known as the "Neuschwanstein of the North." It's the world's oldest and largest inhabited castle, hosting its first British monarch back in 1121 and serving as Queen Elizabeth II's favorite "weekend home" today.
- Posted August 8, 2013 by August 8 - National Frozen Custard Day Was this this holiday created by a food organization? Our research couldn't find the answer to that question - This holiday is referred to as a "National" day. However, we did not find any congressional records or presidential proclamations for this day. Even though we didn't, this is still a holiday that is publicized to celebrate. So have fun with it and celebrate it! What is Frozen Custard? "Frozen custard is a cold dessert similar to ice cream, made with eggs in addition to cream and sugar. It typically contains 10% butterfat and 1.4% egg yolk. One claim traces its invention to Coney Island in 1919 " "In some areas on the East Coast, "frozen custard" or "custard" has become used as a synonym for soft serve by people born since the early 1950's."
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 March 2022 This chapter revisits Wang Gi’s measures in the summer of 1356 with attention to two points. First, what do they reveal about the Goryeo–Yuan alliance? Second, and inversely, how does attention to the broader developments of Chinggisid rule in East Asia offer insight into Wang Gi’s actions? As was true in previous chapters, this chapter argues that only through close attention to developments in the Yuan dynasty is it possible to fully appreciate the perceptions, motivations, and strategies of Wang Gi and Toghan-Temür. For this reason, the chapter includes more detail of local events in Yuan territories than is commonly found in histories of Goryeo–Yuan relations.
Could a person who is paralyzed and unable to speak, like physicist Stephen Hawking, use a brain implant to carry on a conversation? That’s the goal of an expanding research effort at U.S. universities, which over the last five years has proved that recording devices placed under the skull can capture brain activity associated with speaking. While results are preliminary, Edward Chang, a neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, says he is working toward building a wireless brain-machine interface that could translate brain signals directly into audible speech using a voice synthesizer. The effort to create a speech prosthetic builds on success at experiments in which paralyzed volunteers have used brain implants to manipulate robotic limbs using their thoughts (see “The Thought Experiment”). That technology works because scientists are able to roughly interpret the firing of neurons inside the brain’s motor cortex and map it to arm or leg movements. Chang’s team is now trying to do the same for speech. It’s a trickier task, in part because complex language is unique to humans and the technology can’t easily be tested in animals. At UCSF, Chang has been carrying out speech experiments in connection with brain surgeries he performs on patients with epilepsy. A sheet of electrodes placed under the patients’ skulls records electrical activity from the surface of the brain. Patients wear the device, known as an electrocorticography array, for several days so that doctors can locate the exact source of seizures. Chang has taken advantage of the opportunity to study brain activity as these patients speak or listen to speech. In a paper in Nature last year, he and his colleagues described how they used the electrode array to map patterns of electrical activity in an area of the brain called the ventral sensory motor cortex as subjects pronounced sounds like “bah,” “dee,” and “goo.” “There are several brain regions involved in vocalization, but we believe [this one] is important for the learned, voluntary control of speech,” Chang says. The idea is to record the electrical activity in the motor cortex that causes speech-related movements of the lips, tongue, and vocal cords. By mathematically analyzing these patterns, Chang says, his team showed that “many key phonetic features” can be detected. One of the most terrifying consequences of diseases like ALS is that as paralysis spreads, people lose not only the ability to move, but also the faculty of speech. Some ALS patients use devices that make use of residual movement to communicate. In Hawking’s case, he uses software that lets him very slowly spell words by twitching his cheek. Other patients use eye trackers to operate a computer mouse. The idea of using a brain-machine interface to achieve near-conversational speech has been proposed before, most notably by Neural Signals, a company that since the 1980s has been testing technology that uses a single electrode to record from directly inside the brains of people with “locked-in” syndrome. In 2009, the company described efforts to decode speech from a 25-year-old paralyzed man who is unable to move or speak at all (see “A Prosthesis for Speech”). Another study, published this year by Marc Slutzky at Northwestern University, made an attempt to decode signals from the motor cortex as patients read aloud words containing all of the 39 English phonemes (consonant and vowel sounds that make up speech). The team identified phonemes with an average accuracy of 36 percent. The study used the same types of surface electrodes that Chang used. Slutzky says that while that accuracy may seem low, it was achieved with a relatively small sample of words spoken in a limited amount of time. “We expect to achieve much better decoding in the future,” he says. Speech recognition software might also help guess which words people are attempting to say, scientists say.
ON THIS PAGE: You will find some basic information about this disease and the parts of the body it may affect. This is the first page of Cancer.Net’s Guide to Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors. To see other pages, use the menu on the side of your screen. Think of that menu as a roadmap to this full guide. The gastrointestinal (GI or digestive) tract includes the esophagus, stomach, gallbladder, liver, small intestine, colon, rectum, anus, and lining of the gut. The GI tract plays a central role in digesting food and liquid and in processing waste. When food is swallowed, it is pushed down a muscular tube called the esophagus and enters the stomach. The muscles in the stomach mix the food and release gastric juices that help break down and digest the food. The food then moves into the small intestine, or small bowel, for further digestion before entering the large intestine. The large intestine helps remove waste from the body. The colon makes up the first five to six feet of the large intestine, and the rectum makes up the last six inches, ending at the anus. About gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) A tumor begins when normal cells change and grow uncontrollably. A tumor can be cancerous or benign. A cancerous tumor is malignant, meaning it can invade other tissues and spread to other parts of the body. A benign tumor means the tumor will not spread. A tumor can start in any part of the GI tract, and there are several different types of GI tumors, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). GISTs are different from other more common types of GI tumors because of the type of tissue in which they start. GISTs belong to a group of cancers called soft tissue sarcoma . Soft tissue sarcomas develop in the tissues that support and connect the body, and the sarcoma cells resemble the cells that hold the body together, including fat cells, muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, blood vessels, or lymph vessels. Originally, GISTs were thought to be either muscle or nerve tumors, but modern research has shown that GISTs begin in “pacemaker” cells found in the walls of the GI tract, called interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). These cells send signals to the GI tract to help move food and liquid through the digestive system. It is important to note that all GISTs can be cancerous. Sometimes it may be difficult for the doctor to tell immediately whether a GIST is likely to come back after being surgically removed. As a result, the doctor will look at many factors to determine the best treatment, including the size of the tumor, whether it has already spread, how many dividing cells there are, its genetic makeup, and the tumor’s location. More information about these factors and GIST treatment options are outlined in other sections of this guide. Looking for More of an Overview? If you would like additional introductory information, view this short video led by an ASCO expert in sarcoma that provides basic information and areas of research. Please note this link will take you to another section on Cancer.Net. To continue reading this guide, use the menu on the side of your screen to select another section.
TRANSLATION: painted wall HABITAT: coastal areas; encountered on dark streets and alleys APPEARANCE: Little is known about the true appearance of nurikabe because these yokai are usually said to be invisible. During the Edo period, however, artists began to illustrate this creature, giving it an appearance somewhere between a grotesque, fantastic beast and a flat, white wall. Modern representations of the nurikabe depict it as a plain, gray, bipedal wall with vague face-like features. BEHAVIOR: Nurikabe appear mysteriously on roads late at night. As a traveler is walking, right before his or her eyes, an enormous, invisible wall materializes and blocks the way. There is no way to slip around this yokai; it extends itself as far as to the left and right as one might try to go. There is no way over it either, nor can it be knocked down. However, it is said that if one taps it near the ground with a stick, it will vanish, allowing the traveler to continue on his or her way. ORIGIN: The true nature of the nurikabe is surrounded in mystery. Based on its name, it seems to be related to other household spirits known as tsukimogami. It has also been suggested that the nurikabe is simply another manifestation of a shape-shifting itachi or tanuki. Mischievous tanuki are said to enlarge their magical scrotums into an invisible wall in order to play pranks on unsuspecting humans.
Monday, February 15, 2016 The First Four Today is the day that some of us get to stay home from work or school because -- presidents. Given the impracticality of giving people the day off for both George Washington's birthday and Abraham Lincoln's birthday, the holiday bureau, or whomever makes these decisions, combined them into a single "President's Day" holiday. To be honest, I don't think too many of us sit around pondering past presidents all day. No doubt we're too busy resisting the urge to take advantage of the great sale prices at our local Buick dealership. But it is worth a ponder, especially when the question of who will be the next president looms so large on our consciousness. It seems reasonable on President's Day to look at the question of the next president within the framework of past presidents, good and bad. Who were the best presidents? Why are they favored and what characteristics did Is it Teddy Roosevelt's muscular leadership style? Wilson's idealism, the dichotomy of an unwavering belief in world peace contained within the frame of an unapologetic racist? Is it Kennedy's particular blend of inspiration, pragmatism and a history scrubbed clean by tragedy? Although they all brought unique qualities to the office, so much of what it means to be president can be found among the first few. Consider that the "father of the Constitution," James Madison, conceived of the presidency mostly as a kind of clerkship, carrying out the wishes of the legislature, which he, veteran of many state legislatures that he was, considered to be the supreme representation of the will of the people. But almost from the beginning, the chief executive's post captured the imagination of the electorate and the post, for better or worse, has come to epitomize the America of each president's time. Ray Raphael convincingly argues in his book "Founding Myths" that this should not be so. American history is so much more than a list of presidents, he writes. The United States came about, Raphael says, not just because of the actions of great men, but, more importantly, by the collected actions of thousands of unnamed patriots. Raphael writes that those leaders whose names now echo through the history books, sometimes falsely, were merely following the trends of history and the will of a people bent of self-governing; and that the study of American history these days suffers from a kind of "presidential chic." He is essentially right, but its hard to write a history of everybody. Regardless of the arguments to the contrary presidents have, from the beginning, symbolized their times and the nation they led, for better or worse. And when it comes to making the most of symbolism, few compare to our first president. George Washington may not have been the most lettered of the founders, but his Ben Franklin once quipped that left to their own devices a roomful of men would inevitably elect the tallest of them as their leader. This was certainly true of Washington. But luckily for us, this was his particular genius and he more than any other understood that everything he did would be precedent-setting -- everything from policy to protocol. Few people held in awe by their contemporaries felt the weight of that responsibility more keenly and, as a result, considered every action a careful balance between preserving the prestige he required to lead the country, and what was best for that country in the long-term. Consider that when Washington set out to visit every state, he was would usually Today, that action might be seen as craven. But at the time, it was necessary to cement a disparate and far-flung people into having some kind of national identity. As Madison said: "The Presidency alone unites the conjectures of the public." But Americans tire of heroes and by the time he walked away from power -- making him the "greatest man in the world," according to King George III, his former enemy -- he was being pilloried on the highly partisan press of the day, much like any other politician. If Washington was the example of everything we say we want in a president, his successor was the opposite. Poor, brilliant, flawed, insecure, proud, patriotic John Adams. Just as we had never had a president, we had never had a second president and Bad decision. Their loyalty was to Washington and Adams, a prickly patriot not well-suited to inspiring comrades to personal loyalty, was not well served by the decision. Ever the paradox, the steadfast patriot who took on airs, Adams oversaw perhaps the worst and best actions a president has ever taken. He allowed himself to be talked into signing the alien and sedition act, jailing those who wrote ill of the government; a more anti-American law it would be hard to imagine. But while he was manipulated at home by his own party, and a temperament ill-suited to the constant criticism inherent in the office, he refused to be manipulated by the conniving French. For the good of the country, he fulfilled the wishes of his political enemies -- Thomas Jefferson and James Madison -- and kept the nation out of war with France, something the self-confirmed Anglohile considered to be the greatest achievement of his one-term presidency. His political enemy Alexander Hamilton maneuvered to provide Jefferson the votes he needed in the House of Representatives to break the electoral tie because Hamilton would rather have the country in the hands of an honorable man with whom he fervently disagreed, than a candidate from his own state he considered to be unscrupulous. But it was Jefferson's successor, and legislative right hand, who was the first truly modern president. By the time Madison took office, political parties or "factions" as the politicians of the day called them, had taken firm hold of the American political system, never to be dislodged. Years of making deals in the trenches of the Virginia Legislature and in the House of Representatives and Senate had prepared Madison for the inescapable facts of American politics, that compromise is necessary to get things done. He was willing enough to do it, to risk his reputation both to history and his own "faction," for the good of the country. History has been kind of Madison, and rightly so. But compromise, his signature skill as a founder, has lately fallen on hard times. Public education undermined, our history re-written, compromise is now viewed not as the result of reasonable accommodation among reasonable people, but a weakness that shames the nation, particularly by some of those now running for the presidency. There is a fine line to be walked in leading such a large, powerful and diverse country. Absolutism is not leadership, and compromise is not weakness, it is a necessity. Let's all hope we can elect a president who recognizes this.
A new citizen science project has provided a unique glimpse into the biodiversity present on the human body through a bit of navel gazing. Or, rather, a bit of navel sequencing. The project got a set of volunteers to run a cotton swab through their belly buttons, and then looked at all the bacterial species growing there. The results suggest that the belly button is a diverse environment, and the communities living there respond to the habits of their host. Notably, a few species that were discovered for the first time on human skin were found in an individual who hadn't bathed in a few years. The results are the product of the Belly Button Biodiversity project, which has two goals. One is scientific, in that it's trying to sample the biodiversity of a unique habitat on the human skin. The human body houses more bacterial cells than it has human cells, and we've only recently developed the technology to get a more complete picture of the organisms living there. Given that the ecosystems in places like the skin and gut influence human health, a better understanding seems long overdue. But the project is also an example of what's been termed citizen science, where the public itself participates in producing scientific results. In this case, the public got to swab itself, see what grew out of the cultures, and continued to be informed of further results as the work progressed. For the data in the new paper, they obtained samples from groups already interested in science: people who visited a science museum during Darwin Day festivities, and science communicators who attended the ScienceOnline meeting last year. (I was one of the attendees; although I did not have my navel sampled, I know several people who did.) The engagement with the public didn't end there: "Citizens participated in this study not only in sampling but also in hypothesis generation (via twitter and online comments) and data visualization and were provided with images of bacterial cultures of their samples." To get a full sampling of the bacteria present, instead of just those that grew on culture dishes, some of the swabs were used to prepare DNA for sequencing. After adding a short DNA sequence (called a barcode) to identify the donor, the DNA from 60 individuals was amplified by PCR, with the PCR being designed to pick up ribosomal RNA genes. The results were sequenced in a single run of 454 sequencing machine. The results were analyzed in terms of "phylotypes," or groups of identical sequences. These probably represent either a single species or a group of closely related ones. (As the authors note, "bacterial species definitions are vague," anyway.) In all the belly buttons combined, there were a total of 2,368 phylotypes. It wasn't really the total that was interesting, though; rather, the distribution of the phylotypes was. Of that total, nearly 2,200 were present on less than 10 percent of the people sampled, and most of these showed up on only a single individual. In other words, in terms of species, most belly buttons looked quite different from each other. And there was no sign that diversity was tailing off, either, which suggests we'll keep finding more species as we sample more people. Further testifying to the diversity, there was no phylotype that showed up on everyone sampled. In fact, only eight phylotypes were found in more than two-thirds of the people sampled. These, however, tended to be the most common bacteria in the navel, and they tended to be closely related from an evolutionary perspective. So, there do seem to be at least some commonalities between people. One of the more amusing discoveries was that, for the first time, they found a few examples of Archaea living on human skin. These organisms are called extremophiles, since they tend to live in very harsh environments. And, well, these seemed to fit the bill: "Two of these three phylotypes were from an individual who self-reported not having showered or bathed for several years." As best as I could tell, he must have attended the Darwin Day celebration. The results suggest that we've barely scratched the surface (or poked the belly button?) of the communities living in this environment. A bit more work will likely discover additional phylotypes, and allow the authors to test various models of ecological behavior. And it just might get a few more people engaged with science in the process.