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In a stark warning that has sent ripples through the global health community, Dame Kate Bingham, the woman behind the UK’s successful Covid vaccination rollout, has cautioned that a new, potentially more devastating pandemic is not just a possibility but a “probability”.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Dame Kate Bingham stated: “The next major pandemic is coming. It’s already on the horizon, and could be far worse – killing millions more people – than the last one.” She expressed grave concern over the lack of preparedness by the UK and other nations, stating that the world has done “very little to prepare for it”.
Bingham’s warning comes ahead of the publication of her new book, The Long Shot, which details how she managed the procurement of Covid vaccines for the UK in 2021. In her book, she calls for a “Global Pandemic Treaty” that would facilitate information sharing among scientists and clinicians to expedite the development of new vaccines.
While no specific virus is currently causing concern, Bingham emphasised that the unpredictability of the next threat should be the most alarming aspect for governments. “So far, scientists are aware of 25 virus families, each of them comprising hundreds or thousands of different viruses, any of which could evolve to cause a pandemic,” she said.
Following the Covid pandemic, the UK Government established the UK Health Security Agency, responsible for public health protection and infectious disease capability. However, Bingham’s warning suggests that more proactive measures are needed on a global scale.
Bingham also highlighted the financial repercussions of failing to prepare for future pandemics. She pointed out that the Covid pandemic had a staggering cost of $16 trillion in lost output and public health expenditure. “The monetary cost of inaction is seismic,” she warned.
According to Bingham, the increase in pandemics is not merely a “random patch of bad luck”. She cited globalisation, overpopulation in cities, and deforestation as key factors that have created “ideal conditions” for viruses to jump between species.
Bingham urged immediate action, stating that we need to develop “different prototype vaccines for every threatening virus family” that we are aware of. This would provide a “head start” in engineering vaccines to “target the very specific features of Disease X”, which she believes is “not impossible at all”.
Dame Kate Bingham’s warning serves as a sobering reminder of the vulnerabilities in our global health infrastructure. As the woman who successfully managed the UK’s Covid vaccination programme, her words carry significant weight. The question now is whether governments around the world will heed her advice and take the necessary steps to prepare for the next pandemic, which according to experts, is not a matter of “if,” but “when.”
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Health
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MILWAUKEE (WITI) — A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee astronomer has made a remarkable discovery. Some say it’s like “a diamond in the sky!” Dr. David Kaplan and his colleagues have discovered a dying star so old and so cold, it must be made out of a diamond!
Dr. Kaplan has the backing of NASA to continue his research on what basically constitutes “a diamond” in space — the size of Earth!
In the Physics Department at UWM, one thing often leads to another. That’s how Dr. Kaplan describes making the biggest discovery of his young career.
“It was sort of a thread — we started teasing and started pulling and started pulling. This is the first time we know it’s happening,” Dr. Kaplan said.
More than a year ago, Dr. Kaplan joined a team of scientists studying a “pulsar” — a very dense, highly magnetic dead star.
This pulsar was orbiting something else — expected to be a white dwarf — another kind of dead star.
“They’re not uncommon, but usually not this interesting,” Dr. Kaplan said.
But when they pointed their telescopes at it…it wasn’t there!
“We saw nothing. We were basically led to this conclusion: There is an object there. This object is not a nutron star. It has to be a white dwarf. We don’t see the white dwarf, and therefore, it must be really, really cold,” Dr. Kaplan said.
So if this object is so cold, it led Dr. Kaplan to believe it is made up of something very flashy: a giant, Earth-sized diamond.
“We think that it’s made up of 99.999 percent carbon and oxygen that has become so squeezed together — sort of the way a diamond is formed in the Earth,” Dr. Kaplan said.
Dr. Kaplan’s findings have been published in the Astrophysical Journal. It has earned him some coveted one-on-one time with the Hubble Telescope.
This will be Dr. Kaplan’s best chance at seeing this “diamond in the sky” for the first time.
“Then we can use those observations and tie them together with our models to figure out just what is going on,” Dr. Kaplan said.
Dr. Kaplan certainly wasn’t alone in this endeavor. Researchers from the United States and abroad have played roles in the eventual discovery of this diamond star.
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Science & Tech.
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The main observatory building and the South (large) Dome, home of the 36-inch James Lick telescope
|Location||San Jose, California, USA|
|Altitude||1,283 m (4,209 ft)|
|Weather||300 clear nights/year|
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA. The observatory is managed by the University of California Observatories, with headquarters on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus, where its scientific staff moved in the mid-1960s.
Lick Observatory is the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory.
The observatory, in a Classical Revival style structure, was constructed between 1876 and 1887, from a bequest from James Lick. In 1887 Lick's body was buried under the future site of the telescope, with a brass tablet bearing the inscription, "Here lies the body of James Lick".
Before construction could begin, a road to the site had to be built. All of the construction materials had to be brought to the site by horse and mule-drawn wagons, which could not negotiate a steep grade. To keep the grade below 6.5%, the road had to take a very winding and sinuous path, which the modern-day road (SR 130) still follows. Tradition maintains that this road has exactly 365 turns. (This is approximately correct, although uncertainty as to what should count as a turn makes precise verification impossible). Even those who do not normally suffer from motion-sickness find the road challenging. The road is closed when there is snow at Lick Observatory.
The 36-inch (91 cm) refracting telescope on Mt. Hamilton was Earth's largest refracting telescope during the period from when it saw first light on January 3, 1888, until the construction of Yerkes in 1897. Warner & Swasey designed and built the telescope, with the 36-inch lens done by Alvan Clark & Sons. In May 1888, the observatory was turned over to the Regents of the University of California, and it became the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory in the world. Edward Singleton Holden was the first director. The location provided excellent viewing performance due to lack of ambient light and pollution; additionally, the night air at the top of Mt. Hamilton is extremely calm, and the mountain peak is normally above the level of the low cloud cover that is often seen in the San Jose area. When low cloud cover is present below the peak, light pollution is cut to almost nothing.
On May 21, 1939, during a nighttime fog that engulfed the summit, a U.S. Army Air Force Northrop A-17 two-seater attack plane crashed into the main building. Due to a scientific meeting being held elsewhere, the only staff member present was Nicholas Mayall. Nothing caught fire and the two individuals in the building were unharmed. The pilot of the plane, Lt. Richard F. Lorenz, and passenger Private W. E. Scott were killed instantly. The telephone line was broken by the crash, so no help could be called for at first. Eventually help arrived together with numerous reporters and photographers, who kept arriving almost all night long. Evidence of their numbers could be seen the next day by the litter of flash bulbs carpeting the parking lot. The press widely covered the accident and many reports emphasized the luck in not losing a large cabinet of spectrograms which was knocked over by the crash coming through an astronomer's office window. Perhaps more notable was the lack of fire or damage to the 36-inch (0.91 m) Crossley reflector dome.
With the growth of San Jose, and the rest of Silicon Valley, light pollution became a problem for the observatory. In the 1970s, a site in the Santa Lucia Mountains at Junípero Serra Peak, southeast of Monterey, was evaluated for possible relocation of many of the telescopes. However, funding for the move was not available, and in 1980 San Jose began a program to reduce the effects of lighting, most notably replacing all streetlamps with low pressure sodium lamps. The result is that the Mount Hamilton site remains a viable location for a major working observatory. The International Astronomical Union named Asteroid 6216 San Jose to honor the city's efforts toward reducing light pollution.
In 2006, there were 23 families in residence, plus typically between two to ten visiting astronomers from the University of California campuses, who stay in dormitories while working at the observatory. The little town of Mount Hamilton atop the mountain has its own police and a post office, and until recently a one-room schoolhouse.
In 2008, there were 38 people residing on the mountain; the chef and commons dinner were decommissioned earlier in the year.
By 2013, with continuing budget and staff cuts there remain only a dozen residents and it is common for the observers to work from remote observing stations rather than make the drive, partly as a result of the business office raising the cost to stay in the dorms, the swimming pool has been removed.
The following astronomical objects were discovered at Lick Observatory:
Current[update] equipment and locations:
- the C. Donald Shane telescope 3 m (120-inch) reflector (Shane Dome, Tycho Brahe Peak)
- the Hamilton spectrometer.
- the Automated Planet Finder (2.4 meter) reflector (First light originally scheduled for 2006, the telescope came in 2013 finally into regular use.)
- the Anna L. Nickel 1 m (40-inch) reflector (North (small) Dome, Main Building)
- the Great Lick 0.9 m (36-inch) refractor (South Dome, Main Building, Observatory Peak)
- the Crossley 0.9 m (36-inch) reflector (Crossley Dome, Ptolemy Peak)
- the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT) 76 cm reflector (24-inch Dome, Kepler Peak)
- the 0.6 m (24-inch) Coudé Auxiliary Telescope (Inside of Shane Dome, South wall, Tycho Brahe Peak)
- the Tauchmann 0.5 m (22-inch) reflector (Tauchmann Dome atop the water tank, Huyghens Peak)
- the Carnegie 0.5 m (20-inch) twin refractor (Double Astrograph Dome, Tycho Brahe Peak)
- CCD Comet Camera 135 mm Nikon camera lens ("The Outhouse" Southwest of the Shane Dome, Tycho Brahe Peak)
- List of largest optical refracting telescopes
- William Wallace Campbell, director of Lick Observatory, 1900-1930
- Charles Dillon Perrine
- The Building of Lick Observatory
- "The Lick Observatory Completed (from San Francisco Alto May 22, 1888)". The New York Times. May 29, 1888. p. 5. ISSN 0362-4331. "Sometime this week the Trustees of the James Lick Estate will convey to the Board of Regents of the State University the Mount Hamilton Observatory."
- Mayall, Nicholas Ulrich (1970). "Nicholas U. Mayall". In Stone, Irving. There was light: Autobiography of a university: Berkeley, 1868-1968. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. pp. 117–8.
- "2 Die as Army Plane Hits Lick Observatory, Damaging Offices and Destroying Records". The New York Times (Late City ed.). Associated Press. May 22, 1939. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. "Lost in thick fog, an army attack plane crashed into Lick Astronomical Observatory of the University of California on Mount Hamilton tonight. Its two occupants were killed. They were Lieut. R. F. Lorenz, 25, of March Field, the pilot, and Private W. E. Scott, a passenger."
- Airplane Crash at the Lick Observatory
- The Lick Observatory A-17A
- UCSC, Lick Observatory designate asteroid for the city of San Jose
- Campbell, William Wallace (September 1902). "The Lick Observatory And Its Problems". Overland Monthly, and Out West Magazine XL (3): 321–. Retrieved 2009-08-15.
- Vasilevskis, S. and Osterbrock, D. E. (1989) "Charles Donald Shane" Biographical Memoirs, Volume 58 pp. 489–512, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, ISBN 0-309-03938-X
- Holden, Edward Singleton (1888). Hand-book of the Lick Observatory of the University of California.
- "Lick Observatory Edition". Mining and Scientific Press. June 23, 1888.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lick Observatory.|
|Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Lick Observatory.|
- Lick Observatory
- Lick Observatory Records Digital Archive
- The University of California Observatories
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Moderate reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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This page is under construction.
Table of Contents
There are three fundamental discrete symmetries in nature: charge conjugation C, which takes a particle and transforms it into an antiparticle; parity inversion P, which reverses the sign of all the coordinates; and time reversal T, which reverses the direction of time. It can be shown using very general arguments, that all theories must be invariant under the product of the three: CPT.
It was long thought that all theories of nature were also invariant under each of C, P, and T separately as well. That is, until 1957 when parity was found not to be a good symmetry of nature. Since CPT had to be invariant, the fall of parity conservation meant that either C, or T, or perhaps both had to be violated as well. It was soon found that C was violated.
Landau noticed, however, that CP seemed to be a good symmetry, and suggested that it, rather than C alone is the correct transformation to go from matter to antimatter. We can see this in the figure below. One of the carriers of the weak force, the W-, is known to decay into an electron and an electron anti-neutrino, where the spin of the electron is in the opposite direction to its momentum (we say it is in an anti-helicity state), and the spin of the anti-neutrino is in the direction of its momentum (we say it is in a helicity state). Under charge conjugation (C), the W- is transformed into a W+, the electron, to a positron, and the anti-neutrino into a neutrino, with the helicities unaffected. But such a decay of the W+ does not occur in nature! We do see it decaying into a positron and an electron neutrino, but not with same helicities as in the W- decay. That is, neutrinos with a positive helicity have never been seen in nature.
However, if we go one step further, and transform the illegal W+ decay using the parity (P) operation, then we find something very interesting. Parity changes the direction of the momentum vectors of the positron and neutrino, but it doesn't affect the spin or angular momentum of each. So it effectively changes the helicity of a particle. We end up with a positron of postive helicy and an electron neutrino of negative helicity. These neutrinos do exist in nature and such a decay of the W+ has indeed been observed. So it appears that parity violation is compensated by a failure of charged conservation and CP is the correct `mirror' that takes us from the world to the anti-world.
Cronin and Fitch's experiment showed that about one KL in 500 decays into two pions, the wrong CP state, rather than three pions. Hence CP is violated. To this day CP violation still has only been seen in the decay of the KL. (To be precise, in four decay modes of the KL.) And it is now known that the CP violation comes about through the mixing of KS and KL -- through the so-called box diagrams shown below -- and not directly in the weak decay of the KL. Hence we call this indirect CP violation. Direct CP violation should be present to some level in most weak decays if our standard model picture of CP violation is correct. To date however, there is no compelling evidence for direct CP violation and no evidence for CP violation outside of the decay of the KL. HyperCP addresses both of these issues.
In the Big Bang theory of the Universe, at early times (less than one microsecond) the Universe was a very hot plasma composed of equal amounts of quarks and anti-quarks, leptons and anti-leptons. That is, the net baryon number of the universe (the amount of matter minus the amount of anti-matter) was zero. After about a microsecond baryons and anti-baryons began to be formed as the Universe cooled down. The Universe was dense enough at this time, and until about one millisecond, that the baryons and anti-baryons should have almost all mutually annihilated, producing photons. What should have been left was a very small and equal number of baryons and anti-baryons, the total number divided by the number of photons being about 10-18. What we observe is quite different. There is no compelling evidence for any antimatter in the Universe (expect at accelerators such as Fermilab!) and the ratio of baryons to photons isn't 10-18, but about 10-10. That is, eight orders of magnitude too large! So the Big Bang almost produced an equal amount of matter and antimatter, but not quite: for every 10 billion anti-baryons, 10 billion and one baryons were produced.
What happened to cause this asymmetry between matter and anti-matter in the Universe. We only have one theory that has a chance of explaining the asymmetry, a theory due to Sakharov. There are three ingredients needed to generate such an asymmetry.
CP Violation in Hyperon Decays
What are Hyperons?Hyperons are baryons, that is, particles composed of three quarks, like the proton and neutron, that have one or more strange quarks. A Lambda hyperon is composed of an up, down and strange quark, and a Xi- hyperon is composed of a down and two strange quarks. They have relatively long lifetimes, and decay via the weak interaction as shown in the figure below.
The Xi- decays almost exclusively into a Lambda and a pi-, whereas the Lambda decays about two-thirds of the time into a proton and a pi-, and about one-third of the time into a neutron and a pio. When the Lambda decays into a proton and pi-, it is experimentally observed that the proton predominantly is found going off in the direction of the spin of the Lambda. That is the decay distribution is not isotropic. Hence, as shown in the figure below, the decay violates parity conservation. The same is true with the decay of the Xi-.
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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Home > Competitiveness > Education > Safely back to school after coronavirus closures
6th May 2020
System leaders around the world—at the federal, state, and district levels—are grappling with three important questions related to getting students safely back into the classroom:
here isn’t one right set of answers to these questions. Infection rates fluctuate across communities, as does capacity of healthcare systems; education systems vary in both structure and performance; and different communities have distinct cultural values that inform decision making. Significantly, leaders will be making decisions based on limited and rapidly changing epidemiological evidence and will therefore be forced to make difficult trade-offs to reopen schools. Once schools are deemed safe for in-person instruction, addressing re-enrollment, academic remediation, and possible viral resurgence will require new capabilities (see sidebar, “Post-pandemic capabilities for school systems”).
When to reopen
Although most primary and secondary schools worldwide remain closed, some countries (most notably Sweden) have stayed open as of publication. Others, including China, Denmark, Japan, and Norway, recently reopened their schools, and many European countries have announced plans to reopen in the coming weeks or months. In the United States, 43 states and Washington, DC, have ordered or recommended keeping in-person schooling closed for the rest of the academic year.1
As school-system leaders weigh possible timelines, they can consider four interlocking components of reopening: risks to public health, schools’ importance to economic activity, impacts on students’ learning and thriving, and safeguarding readiness.
Risks to public health
The most critical question is whether reopening schools will lead to a resurgence of infection among students, staff, and the broader community. The evidence here is still nascent. Children’s risk of contracting COVID-19 appears to be lower than that of adults. In China and the United States, the countries with the largest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, children represent 2 percent of cases.2 Emerging evidence also suggests that children are more likely to be asymptomatic, less likely to be hospitalized, and much less likely to die if they do develop COVID-19.3
Although the risk to students themselves appears relatively low, reopening schools will also expose teachers to risk—especially those who are older or immune-compromised—and might contribute to higher risk for the larger community. Children’s role in transmitting the novel coronavirus is still unclear, making it difficult to estimate the extent to which reopening schools might contribute to resurgence. Potentially relaxed confinement measures outside the education sector add to the uncertainty. Decision makers will therefore need to determine when to reopen schools in the context of reopening society at large.
Importance to economic activity
A major part of the sequencing puzzle is the importance of schooling in providing childcare. Workers with children under 15 years old in their household who have no alternate caregiver will likely need childcare before being able to return fully to work. The proportion of workers who cannot return to work without childcare varies significantly across countries—and even within them. In the United States, 16 percent of the workforce—representing 26.8 million workers—are dependent on childcare to work (exhibit). In Europe, where there is a higher proportion of dual-income families, thus fewer stay-at-home parents to provide childcare, 20 to 30 percent of the workforce are likely dependent upon preschools and schools to resume work.4
These numbers do not represent the full complexity of individual workers’ family situations or obligations. While some workers, especially those with older children and who can fulfill their work responsibilities remotely, may be able to return part-time, their productivity will likely suffer. Conversely, the situation is much more challenging for those with younger children and who also cannot work remotely. While some families may lean on older siblings to provide childcare, doing so could significantly impair learning for those students. Other families may ask grandparents to watch children, but this solution puts one of the most vulnerable populations in this pandemic at risk. Our estimates may also underestimate the magnitude of the challenge. The proportion of workers under the age of 55 requiring childcare is even greater, as younger workers are the ones most likely to have dependent children. This poses a challenge for countries that wish to bring back younger workers first and protect older workers by keeping them safely at home.5
Where a significant proportion of workers rely on schools for childcare, reopening schools (at least for younger children) might be a prerequisite to tapping into the full productive capacity of the workforce. However, if the majority of parents can work from home while fulfilling childcare responsibilities or can access alternative childcare, schools might be able to stay closed for longer.
Student learning and thriving
Every year, students in the United States lose a month’s worth of learning over the summer, with the sharpest learning declines in math, seen especially in low-income students.6 Some researchers suggest that despite systems’ best efforts with remote learning, school closures caused by COVID-19 could be even more damaging. One recent analysis projects that students could return in the fall having progressed only 70 percent of a grade in reading and less than 50 percent of a grade in math during the 2019–20 school year.7 If closures extend beyond the fall, this shortfall could be even greater, with negative consequences for individual students and society as a whole. If decision makers believe that their remote-learning offerings are effective and equitable enough to avoid learning shortfalls, then longer school closures may be feasible. However, an uneven rollout of remote learning represents lost learning for every day out of school.
Beyond academics, schools provide important social support, especially to vulnerable students. Indeed, 19 percent of reports of child abuse or neglect in the United States come through education personnel, and school closures have resulted in a steep drop in such reports.8 This change suggests that school closures have shut down support sources for victims of abuse and neglect at the very moment that they are most vulnerable. And although abuse may be less visible to staff during school closures, governments and nonprofits worldwide have recorded higher rates of domestic violence since shutdowns began. Reports of domestic violence increased more than 30 percent in France,9 50 percent in India,10 and 60 percent in Mexico.11 With such high stakes, systems that can consistently deliver remote student services—nutrition, safety, and mental-health support—can likely weather longer closures than those who cannot.
The final consideration to weigh is school systems’ ability to create and consistently follow effective health and safety measures to mitigate the risk of infection. School systems’ infrastructure, budget, supply chains, policies, and culture all contribute to their ability to operate safely after reopening. For instance, a school with unused classroom space and enough classroom aides could stagger schedules, space desks at least six feet apart, and facilitate more but smaller classes. Conversely, schools with strapped budgets, overworked teachers, and crowded classes will have less flexibility. Furthermore, equipping or retrofitting schools for optimal hygiene and sanitation won’t be effective if student behavior cannot or does not adhere to health and safety protocols.
If decision makers believe schools can realistically adopt health and safety protocols that can lower the risk of infection, schools can open earlier. However, if system leaders believe schools are unlikely to be able to limit transmission because they are, by definition, high-contact zones, then schools are likely to remain closed or to open later.
For whom to reopen
Reopening doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. Schools could selectively reopen, making it easier to keep student groups small and dispersed. Countries are taking varied approaches in deciding which students should return to school first. Denmark and Norway have prioritized reopening pre-primary and primary schools to address childcare for parents who need to return to work. Such an approach can be appealing to decision makers who believe young children are among the lowest-risk groups for both infection and transmission.
Other countries have prioritized students in important transitional years. For example, final-year students in Germany have returned to school to take their final examinations. Physical distancing is easier—and in fact typical—in examination halls, and older students are more likely than younger ones to follow health and safety protocols.
Alternatively, schools can consider identifying student segments with specific needs and reopening for them. For instance, low-income students, who are less likely to have reliable internet service and devices equipped to support remote learning and who are more likely to rely on school for nonacademic support, may gain academic and wellness benefits (including nutrition) from returning to school. Similarly, students with disabilities (especially ones that make remote learning particularly difficult) might be better served with educational specialists at school. Finally, the children of essential workers might return to school earlier since their parents may not have the option of staying home.
Just as it may be beneficial for some students to return to school, some teachers might be better served working from home. Teachers who are at a higher risk of developing COVID-19 can be identified in advance of school reopening and provide remote instruction to students who are also still at home.
These possibilities are uncharted for many school systems and may require adjustments in both logistics (especially for staffing) and mindsets. For instance, reopening schools for only some students may mean reframing or redefining truancy, especially if a significant number of families opt out of sending their children back to school due to safety concerns. As of publication, Australia’s Northern Territory is letting families opt out of sending children back to school.12 Such examples suggest that school systems may need to continue to offer some level of remote learning, even after most students are back in the classroom.
Health and safety measures to adopt
Like workplaces around the world, schools will need to adopt and enforce heightened health and sanitation protocols. However, schools will likely confront trade-offs between effectiveness and feasibility in implementing such measures.
Measures that can reduce viral spread may be less effective at providing childcare or optimizing learning. For example, alternating school days for different groups of students may facilitate physical distancing but may not fully meet parents’ childcare needs and may create inconsistent learning environments for students. Limited budgets, infrastructure, and supplies of critical health and safety equipment may further complicate these challenges. Most importantly, some measures that are appropriate for adults will be difficult if not impossible to enforce in a school setting, especially for younger students.
Each school system will therefore need to evaluate its health and safety measures to fit its resources and capabilities across four major categories: physical infrastructure, scheduling and staffing, transportation and food service, and health and behavioral policies. Some example health and safety considerations can illustrate how systems can consider feasibility in a school environment.
School infrastructure can facilitate both physical distancing and hygiene protocols. For instance, designated entrances and exits for different student cohorts, sectioned off common spaces, and floor markings to direct foot-traffic flows can help students and staff maintain distance. Similarly, portable hand-sanitizing stations at entrances and common areas can promote regular hygiene—and all of these changes may be made at a reasonable cost. However, permanent changes to the physical environment, such as no-touch bathrooms or upgraded ventilation, may be unrealistic for many school systems’ budgets—especially given the short time frames involved.
Outside of no-regrets decisions (such as canceling large gatherings), changes in scheduling and staffing are the most likely to affect student learning. For example, while staggered or part-time schedules can help reduce the number of people on campus at a given time, making it easier to maintain a safe distance, these schedules also reduce instructional time. An alternative approach is to divide students into cohorts—for example, by grade or floor—to reduce the level of contact among students and staff to only those within their cohort.13 Secondary schools, where students tend to go to subject-specialist teachers’ classrooms, could explore ways to keep consistent groups of students together and trade off some subject-specific learning for more safety.
Transportation and food service, which historically brought students and staff into close physical contact, can adapt to support the school community’s health and safety—though the cost could be high. Increasing the number of bus routes, for instance, or organizing routes by cohort would reduce proximity and exposure but would require more drivers, funding, and sanitization between routes. School systems may instead offer incentives for private transport, but parents may be logistically or financially unable to take their children to school. Food service will also become more complicated: even with pre-boxed lunches and staggered lunch times, full compliance with physical distancing and hygiene may not be attainable, especially for young children.
Finally, systems need to consider which behavioral policies and norms are enforceable during the school day. Temperature checks for anyone entering a school campus may be sensible, yet contactless thermometers are expensive and may be in short supply. Schools will therefore need to decide whether to require everyone to check their temperature at home daily or have school personnel administer checks using standard thermometers. Schools can set up quarantine facilities for students with fevers, but if insufficient coronavirus tests are available it will complicate decisions on when entire student cohorts (or even the entire school) should be sent home.
Consistently wearing masks might also be difficult, if not impossible, to enforce among students. However, frequent scheduled campuswide handwashing and sanitation can help keep the environment and hands relatively clean. Enhanced cleaning of surfaces after the school day can be another vital element of promoting hygiene. Training and frequent reinforcement can help staff, parents, students, and entire communities stay updated on important health and sanitation practices.
As school-system leaders consider a dizzying array of decisions, they will have to make difficult trade-offs using the best and most recent—but still incomplete—available evidence and the knowledge of their own resources and constraints. They will also have to involve parents, teachers, and students in the decision-making process.
As schools reopen under appropriate health and safety protocols, school leaders will then confront a new set of challenges, including reenrollment, remedial academic support, and possibly closing schools again in response to public-health needs. None of this work is easy, but the prize—students learning, parents working, and a virus in retreat—is worth fighting for.
About the author(s)
Jake Bryant is an associate partner in McKinsey’s Washington, DC, office, Emma Dorn is the global Education Practice manager in the Silicon Valley office, Stephen Hall is an associate partner in the Dubai office, and Frédéric Panier is a partner in the Brussels office.
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April is Prevention of Animal Cruelty Month. Help keep your furry pals safe by taking a look at this excellent ASPCA guide. It explains how to spot important cruelty warning signs. And remember that pet and animal safety isn’t just limited to one month of the year. Always be mindful of these warning signs.
First aid kits aren’t just for people. Cats and dogs need them too. April is Pet First Aid Awareness Month, which makes this the perfect time to make sure you have a well-stocked first aid kit ready for your furry pal in case of a medical emergency. The good news is that you don’t have to buy tons of special or expensive pet supplies to be prepared. Much of what you need can also be found in a regular first aid kit. You can even buy two of the same first aid kits for both your family and your pets, and designate one for each. Just remember to store them in separate areas too so you don’t accidentally mix them up. What exactly should your pet first aid kit consist of? Check out this helpful AVMA article from the American Veterinary Medical Association to find out exactly what you should keep in your dog or cat’s first aid kit.
Ever wonder what you would do if your pet had a medical emergency and you can’t get him to a vet immediately? It’s something that every responsible pet owner should think of just in case. In honor of April being Pet First Aid Awareness Month, check out this article on what to do for your pet in case of a medical emergency. It offers simple and helpful information on what to do if your dog or cat is choking, has stopped breathing or is injured.
Having trouble jogging with your dog? Sure, it’s a great idea to work out with your pet. It’s a way for you both to exercise and spend quality time together. But maybe you didn’t anticipate some minor setbacks, like your dog stopping to go to the bathroom every few minutes, taking frequent breaks to sniff everything or getting distracted by squirrels and birds. These constant stops and breaks takes can prevent you from getting the maximum benefit of continuous exercise. Not to worry, there are a few ways your can counter your pet’s natural inclination to get distracted on jogs.
- Practice. Before you begin any sort of jogging regimen with your pooch, take him on a few practice runs. You can even do this on regular dog walks. Keep a constant pace and don’t allow your dog to stop if he wants to smell something on the ground or if a squirrel suddenly runs in front of him and he pauses. Firmly grip the leash and gently tug it every time you notice him stopping. Your dog sees you as his leader and will follow your actions, so it’s important that you are consistent with this. The more you practice this, the more your dog will get used to walking without stopping. Once he gets the hang of doing this on your walks, transition to jogging and employ the same techniques.
- Have your dog use the bathroom before and after your run. You would think it’s impossible to eliminate bathroom breaks when outdoors with your pooch. But it’s not. You just have to plan carefully. Before you jog, let your dog out in the yard for a few minutes so he can do his business. Or you can take him for a short minutes-long walk so he can relieve himself. This should eliminate his constant stopping to use the bathroom while running. Then once you are finished jogging, let your dog use the bathroom again. This should take care of his bathroom breaks while ensuring that you get in some quality continuous cardio. Of course, if it’s an emergency, you should stop to let your dog relieve himself. But the more you make your dog go to the bathroom before and after jogging, the more he will become accustomed to it, which will result in more uninterrupted jogging sessions.
- Pay attention to how your dog reacts. Sure, most dogs are able to run continuously for several few minutes. But it’s necessary to make sure that he’s not over-exerting himself. So while you run, keep an eye on him. A lot of dogs have no problem keeping up as you jog, while others may struggle. If you want to jog continuously, be certain that your dog is able to handle it. Typically, it’s better to run with younger, more energetic dogs that are bred for such activity. Older dogs with health problems may not be able to handle such intense activity for a long period, and making them run non-stop for 30 minutes could be detrimental to their health. For instance, running for a half hour with a young husky is probably not going to be much of a problem, since they are bred to run long distances without stopping. But making an old basset hound run for that same amount of time could be harmful. Ideally you could run non-stop with your pooch for however long you want your workout to last, but if he can’t handle it, don’t do it. If that’s the case, save running for a different time and make dog walks more low-key.
Incorporating your dog into your exercise routine is a great idea, especially if you can do it in continuous sessions. Try these tips if you have a pooch that tends to get distracted when the two of your are out.
February is National Pet Dental Health Month, and we at properpet want to celebrate your furry pal’s dental health by offering a variety of quality and affordable dental products for dogs. We carry everything from pet-friendly toothpaste and brushes to breath freshener and chew bones. Every item in our selection is designed to improve the dental health of your pet. Plus, with our wide selection to choose from, you’re bound to find at least one dental product your little pal will love. So make your pet’s dental healthy a priority starting this month. Browse our selection of pet dental products to find exactly what he needs.
Fun outdoor activities can be hard to think of in the winter. With the recent snowfall, instead of cocooning up inside, take it as an opportunity to try new activities with your pooch in the snow. Below are a few fun games you can play with your canine pal. The next time you feel cabin fever creeping up on you or your dog, try these:
- Snowball fetch. You’re never too old for a snowball fight. Modify that favorite childhood game into playtime with your dog. Instead of a fight, make it into a game of fetch. And instead of using a regular ball or stick, make snowballs and toss them to your pooch. See if he retrieves it and brings it back to you. If not, no big deal. Just make more snowballs and keep throwing them until your pooch tires.
- Snow angels. It’s probably been ages since you’ve made a snow angel. Why not make some when it snows? Involve your dog too. Have him lie next to you in the snow while you make a snow angel. Of course, your pup probably won’t be able to make a snow angel, but as long as he’s rolling around on the ground and seems happy, it will still be fun.
- Snow surfing. Take a cue from these enthusiastic dogs from this video and slide along the snow. This works best in hilly areas with a lot of space. It’s a great activity for energetic dogs that love playing. Your dog may learn how to do it on his own or you may have to show him. Simply lie on your back or stomach and slide down, then coax your dog to follow.
It’s the new year and you know what that means: time for resolutions! It may sound strange to do them with your pets, but why not? They are an important part of your life, and it can be a good idea to incorporate them in your own resolutions. It serves as a way to hold yourself accountable to your resolutions, since you’re not only doing them for yourself, but for your furry pal too. Here are a few ways to include your dog in your resolution:
1. Exercise with your dog. Who hasn’t wanted to exercise more as part of a new year’s resolution at some point? Make it count this time by including your pet. Instead of going on leisurely dog walks with your pooch, jog with him. If you walk your dog multiple times a day, change one of those walks to a run. That way, you and your canine pal will squeeze in some quality exercise time.
2. Make healthier meal choices. If you’re like most people, eating can get a bit out of hand around the holidays. What better time to kick start a healthier meal plan than at the beginning of the new year? The best part is that you can do the same for your dog. When you make the switch to healthier food, start your dog on more nutritious food and treats. There are several healthful brands of dog food made with all-natural ingredients that are great for your pooch. If you are trying to eat less by implementing better portion control, do the same for your dog. Many dogs love to eat and will happily over-eat if you over-fill their dish. Consistently choose better food and smaller portions for you and your pet, and you both will be down a healthier path.
3. Take it easy. The days leading up to the holidays can be stressful. Take the new year as an opportunity to relax, especially with your pet. Sure, you’ll probably always be busy, but make it a point to regularly schedule time for yourself. Do it with your furry pal too. Make it a point to unwind each day by reading for a half-hour, taking a nap, watching TV or whatever your favorite relaxing activity is with your dog. While reading, have your pooch sit next to you and pet him. If you’re napping, let him lay on the couch with you and catch some Z’s. It’s a great to way de-stress while spending quality time with your pet.
New year’s resolutions don’t have to be complicated. These are just a few examples of simple, positive changes you can make that benefit both you and your dog. Try one or all of these and see how both your life and your relationship with your dog improve.
While salt on the street is super useful for melting snow and ice, it can also be harmful to our precious pets. It is important during the winter to take extra precautions to make sure our pets are not harmed. Even though our pets’ paws are tough enough for pavement, the salt can cause irritation and be uncomfortable for our furry friends. And even worse, if they ingest the salt it can lead to illnesses. According to Doctors Foster and Smith, small amounts can cause drooling and diarrhea, “while large amounts can cause excessive thirst, weakness or fainting due to low blood pressure, decreased muscle function and, in severe cases, seizures, coma and even death” (source). Doctors Foster and Smith suggest using a moist towel to clean off their paws, after walking on heavily-salted areas. In addition, use a salt-free ice melter on your walkways and driveways to help keep your pets safe during the winter. Happy Snowing!
To go along with our previous post about massaging your dog, here’s a link to a great video segment about pet massage. It explains the benefits of massaging your dog and includes some tips on how you can give your pooch a relaxing rubdown. This is a perfect way to give back to your adorable pup, who provides you with unconditional love.
Looking for ways to relax your feline pal? There’s no better method than petting him. Sure, you probably pet your cat every day, but there are specific areas you can focus on that will maximize his relaxation. So the next time your cat is in need of some friendly strokes, focus on one of these four areas:
1. Behind the ears
Nearly all cats love a good ear scratch. When your furry friend crawls into your lap or plops beside you, give the backs of his ears a little love. Use the tips of your fingers and start out with a light, gentle scratch at the base of his ears, then adjust to accommodate your cat’s preferences. Some like a firmer scratch while others prefer it lighter. Change your pressure after you notice the way he responds. If he is sitting still, is purring and his eyes look sleepy, he’s clearly enjoying it.
2. Under the chin
Another good spot is under the chin. Take your index finger and repeatedly stroke the bottom of his chin. Most cats enjoy being pet in this spot and will often purr. This is a great place to focus on because you can immediately tell if your cat likes it, since you’ll be able to feel him purr.
3. Between the eyes
An often neglected area is between the eyes. But it should be a go-to spot because most cats adore being pet there. Using one finger, gently stroke from the top of his nose up between his eyes to the top of his face. Do that repeatedly and watch as your kitty’s eyes slowly close in comfort. He’ll likely purr too.
4. Top of the tail
Some cats dislike being pet near their tails, but if you focus on the spot where the top of their tail meets the end of their body, it could turn into one of his favorite places to be scratched. Start by stroking the end of his body near the tail to relax him. Then scratch the very end where the top of his tail is. If your cat likes the way it feels, he will likely purr and stick his bottom up into the air, signifying for you to continue.
Every cat is different of course, so not all of these areas will be a hit. Just try them at various times and pay attention to how your cat reacts. Some cats will love all of these techniques while others will only like one or two. Anything works, as long as your cat is able to relax when you pet him.
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SERVICES > Surgical procedures
Cataract is a clouding of the eye's lens. When we look at something, light rays travel into our eye through the pupil and are focused through the lens onto the retina, a layer of light-sensitive cells at the back of the eye. The lens must be clear in order to focus light properly onto the retina. If the lens has become cloudy, this is called a cataract.
Cataracts can occur at any age but it is mostly common in older people due to lenses metabolic disorders. In younger people it usually the result of injuries, use of the medications, or the result of general or eye diseases.The degree of blurriness within the lens can vary. If blurring is not close to the centre of the lens you may not even be aware that a cataract is present.
Cataract Symptom Progression
- Painless cloudy, blurry or dim vision;
- More difficulty seeing at night or in low light;
- Sensitivity to light and glare;
- Seeing halos around lights;
- Faded or yellowed colors;
- The need for brighter light for reading and other activities;
- Frequent changes in eyeglass or contact lens prescription;
- Double vision within one eye.
Cataract is most frequently associated with aging. Diabetes, smoking, hereditary predispositions or long-term use of certain medicinal products may play a certain role.
If your vision is only slightly blurry, a change in your eyeglass prescription may be all you need for a while. However, after changing your eyeglass prescription, if you are still not able to see well enough to do the things you like or need to do, you should consider cataract surgery.
With cataract surgery, your eye's cloudy natural lens is removed and replaced with a clear artificial lens implant (called an intraocular lens, or IOL). Your ophthalmologist will discuss the cataract surgery procedure, preparation for and recovery after surgery, the benefits and possible complications of cataract surgery and other important information.
How is the procedure performed?
The surgery is part of outpatient care, which means that you will return home on the same day. Prior to the procedure we will perform control measurements, and after their completion you will have local anesthetic drops applied in your eye to ensure a completely painless procedure, and pupil widening drops.
The most common procedure used for removing cataracts is called phacoemulsification. A small incision is made in the side of the cornea (the front part of your eye), where your Eye M.D. inserts a tiny instrument that uses high-frequency ultrasound to break up the center of the cloudy lens and carefully suction it out.
After the cloudy lens has been removed, the surgeon will replace it with an intraocular lens (IOL). The procedure takes approximately 15 minutes and is completely painless.
Cataract surgery recovery
You will spend a short period of time resting in the outpatient recovery area before you are ready to go home. You will need to have someone drive you home.
Following your surgery, it is very important to put in the eye drops exactly as prescribed by your ophthalmologist to promote healing. You will also need to take care to protect your eye by wearing the eye shield whenever you sleep, and by wearing special wraparound sunglasses in bright light. Be sure not to rub your eye.
During the first week of your recovery, you must avoid strenuous activity such as exercise or bending and heavy lifting (including anything over 25 pounds). You will also need to avoid getting any water, dirt or dust in your eye, which can lead to infection.
Glasses are prescribed after a few weeks.
When will you go back to work depends on your profession and for this it is necessary to consult an ophthalmologist.
Cataract surgery risks and complications
As with any surgical procedure, there are risks associated with cataract surgery. Complications during cataract surgery are rare and occur in 1-2% of cases. They can be solved in most of the rimes with eye drops or other drugs, but it is not excluded the need for a subsequent intervention or surgery. The serious complications of cataract surgery, which can threaten vision include: corneal clouding, separation of the retina (retinal detachment) which results in about 1% of cases, severe internal bleeding in the eye (1-2 per 1000 cases), infection, endophthalmitis (1 in 1000 cases). Also is possible: changes in shape of the pupil, the iris damage, change in position of the eyelids, glaucoma, intraocular lens dislocation, pain or other unpleasant sensations in the eye. The postoperative complications include non-infectious inflammatory reaction, and swelling of the retina (cystoid macular oedema).
One of the most common cataract surgery complication is a posterior capsule opacity (also called posterior capsule opacification or PCO). In about 20 percent of patients, the posterior portion of the capsule becomes hazy some time during cataract surgery recovery or even months later, causing PCO. Posterior capsule opacification occurs because lens epithelial cells remaining after cataract surgery have grown on the capsule. Fortunately, a YAG laser can treat posterior capsule opacity safely, effectively and painlessly. This procedure, known as YAG laser capsulotomy, often can be performed in your doctor's office.
Risks of delays and cancellation of cataract surgery
Standard cataract is not urgent indication for surgery and it is planned depending on the degree of visual impairment and needs of each individual patient. However, in case of long delays it is possible that the surgery becomes complicated and risky due to hardening and full opacification of the lens. Rarely, it can happen that an untreated cataract causes glaucoma attack or very bad eye inflammation that can lead to permanent visual impairment.
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Ethernet cabling is a commonly used networking technology that comes in a variety of different types. In this blog post, we will be discussing the different types of Ethernet cable and their uses. Stay tuned for more information on Ethernet cables!
Table of Contents
Ethernet Cable Types and Speeds
Ethernet cables are used to connect devices on a Local Area Network (LAN). There are several types of Ethernet cables available, each with its own benefits and drawbacks. The most common types of Ethernet cables include:
Cat 5 cables are the most common type of Ethernet cable. They are made of four twisted pairs of copper wire and can support speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Cat 5e cables are an improved version of Cat 5 cables. They are made of four twisted pairs of copper wire and can support speeds up to 1000 Mbps.
Cat 6 cables are the newest type of Ethernet cable. They are made of four twisted pairs of copper wire and can support speeds up to 10 Gbps.
Cat 6a cables are an improved version of Cat 6 cables. They are made of four twisted pairs of copper wire and can support speeds up to 10 Gbps.
Cat 7 cables are the newest type of Ethernet cable. They are made of four shielded twisted pairs of copper wire and can support speeds up to 100 Gbps.
Another type of Ethernet cable is Cat 8, which uses fiber optic cables instead of copper wire. This allows it to support extremely high speeds of up to 40 Gbps.
When choosing an Ethernet cable, it is important to consider the speed and bandwidth requirements of your network.
- For most home networks, Cat 5 or Cat 5e cables will be sufficient.
- For businesses with high-speed networks, Cat 6 or Cat 6a cables may be necessary.
- For the highest speeds, Cat 7 cables are a good option.
- And for networks that require maximum bandwidth and signal integrity, shielded Cat 7a cables may be the best choice.
Whatever type of Ethernet cable you choose, it is important to make sure your devices are compatible with it and can support its speed and bandwidth requirements. With the right Ethernet cable in place, your network will run smoothly and efficiently for years to come!
Most Commonly Used Ethernet Cable in Networking
Out of all the various types of Ethernet cable available, Cat 5 is by far the most commonly used cable in networking. This is because it offers good performance at an affordable price, making it a great choice for both home and business networks.
If you are looking for a more high-performance option, however, some of the other types of Ethernet cables such as Cat 6 or Cat 7 may be a better choice. These cables offer higher speeds and bandwidth capabilities, allowing them to support faster and more complex networks.
To summarize, there are many different types of Ethernet cable available, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks. Whether you need a cable for your home or business network, there is sure to be an Ethernet cable that will meet your needs. So before you make your choice, be sure to carefully consider the speed and bandwidth requirements of your network in order to find the right cable for you!
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High treason, 106-year-old bottle of ginger beer: Ancaster dig reveals secrets from 1812
The site played a key role in the War of 1812
While preparing to build the brand new Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre workers and archeologists have discovered a key piece of Canadian history linked to high treason, the War of 1812 and a 100-year-old bottle of ginger beer.
"I've never seen anything like it," said archeologist Steve Brown.
He's working on the excavation on the site of what once was Ancaster Memorial Public School land on Wilson Street.
Before that it was the site of the Bloody Assize during the war of 1812, where 19 men were charged with high treason, and 15 were sentenced to death. They were found to have aided the enemy against their own neighbours.
Soon the site will become an arts centre, thanks to $3 million worth of provincial funding announced last November, with a 450-seat theatre, a separate studio theatre, a gallery and multiple rooms for art, theatre and dance.
But, all that will have to wait.
Despite all of this history, Brown knows that this dig can't go on forever. It's been 10 weeks already. He's hesitant to give a rock solid date or deadline. He says "I feel for the developer that we are not able to close, but until all of the material is out of the ground, we're kind of stuck."
This is the issue, Brown says, with archeological digs in urban areas, often there are many layers of history that need to be uncovered. "There's so much going on and so much randomness, it's very difficult to predict. The hard part about archeological digs is that they don't care about city budgets and timelines" he says.
The dig has uncovered two structures that were on Wilson Street: an apothecary and a tin shop. The apothecary dates back to 1857, and is extremely well-preserved for a structure that is older than Canada. It's "better than my basement" Brown says. The area surrounding the apothecary is littered with glass from medicine jars and pieces of tobacco pipes that would have been common back then.
Lauren Bederski, another worker on the site, has been keeping track of discoveries. That includes a perfectly preserved bottle of ginger beer. "The pilgrim, it was a 1912 ginger beer that was brewed in Hamilton" said Bederski.
Pilgrim & Co. was a brewing company in Hamilton that ran from 1848-1912. Some preserved bottles from the company have sold for as much as $700 online.
Archeologists also found a french drain system which drew water from both buildings on the main strip of Wilson as well as the sewer drains. Brown describes the drain as "a clue that potentially shows that the buildings were built by the same person" due to the interconnectedness between the drain, the buildings and the sewers.
The site is also attracting the attention of people living in the area.
"The residents have loved dropping by and learning a little bit about their history," Brown says. "We want to finish but the problem is that we just keep finding stuff."
When asked if there's any chance there's more to discover about the site, Brown said "I hope not. It's actually been a pleasant, if challenging, site with a lot of complexity and weirdness. It's cool."
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What is Montessori?
The basic idea in the Montessori philosophy of education is that all children carry unseen within themselves the person they will become. In order to develop their unique physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual powers to the fullest, they must have freedom; a freedom achieved through order and self-discipline.
The world of children is full of sights and sounds which initially appear chaotic. This changes as the children develop the skills necessary to classify and categorize their sensory input, so that they may create order. They learn through experience to distinguish among the sensory impressions that bombard them, and eventually mastery over themselves and the environment is achieved.
To aid the children in this momentous task, Dr. Montessori developed what she called the “prepared environment”, for it maintains a certain kind of order, a framework through which to view and evaluate sensory input. This environment allows children to develop at their own speed, according to their own capacities and natural interest, and exposes the children to the world environment, scaled to their size and broken down into their component parts. Children focus on how they do what they do and on their own growth and development rather than how they do what they do relative to others; they help one another to mutual achievement rather than competing amongst themselves. To introduce stress and competition at this age is to add a great impediment to the natural joy of discovery and the love of learning.
The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of may materials with which the child may work independently. Dr. Montessori emphasizes that the hand is the chief teacher of the children – they learn by doing. Children develop concentration and good working skills by fixing their attention on the task they are performing with their hands. Thus the environment is equipped with apparatus that the children may manipulate to discover many concepts that later can be applied to a variety of circumstances and situations. These materials often contain a control of error so that the child can understand and correct any errors in perception without adult intervention.
We recognize that the most valuable impulse toward learning is the self-motivation of the child. Through their natural tendencies for exploration, classification and discovery, children propel themselves toward greater learning. The teacher, or guide, prepares the environment, protects the individual so as to offer stimulation, excitement and direction when needed, but it is the children who learn to work and work to create themselves. The children are self-motivated; they work and complete their activities to their own satisfaction and level of perfection. The Montessori students are “free to learn” because they have developed an “inner discipline” from their exposure to the special nature of the classroom environment and the approach of the directing adults. One of the most important aspects of the environment that the children experience and learn about is one another. Through their daily interaction in this special setting, they develop a true sense of community and an understanding of the needs of each individual and how they are interrelated. They share a deep sense of care and concern of one another and learn how to solve their differences peaceably. They intuitively know that they are all linked, that they all have similar needs and feelings, and they act with mutual respect and responsibility.
The acquisition of these skills, the development of these patterns of learning, and the growth of self-confidence is an on-going process. It is also of utmost importance that the parents work hand-in-hand with the school, learning about the Montessori approach and implementing it in the home. This is the essence of Dr Montessori’s educational philosophy. Patterns of inner direction and concentration, exploration and discovery, and the joy of self-satisfaction from the completion of an interesting task are created as the foundation upon which the child can build. These stay with the children as they go onto higher learning and set a positive attitude toward the self. Thus the children are confident in their ability to acquire knowledge, solve problems, and cope with new information and experiences.
At The Ivy School we adhere to Dr. Montessori’s philosophy of education and to manifest it in all of our classrooms. To do this, it is essential that parents and teachers work together as the mutual educators of the children and agree to work toward the goals of this philosophy. Freedom of choice, independence of movement, cooperation vs. competition, peaceful problem solving skills, self-motivation and inner direction and community and world awareness and concern are cornerstones upon which all future work is constructed. We must be working together in both the home and the school environments to foster these building blocks.
Choosing a Montessori school for your child means making a commitment to living towards these ideals, making a commitment to education for peace, education for life.
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CC-MAIN-2017-30
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http://theivyschool.org/about-ivy/curriculum-2/what-is-montessori-2/
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Strong reasoning
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Education & Jobs
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Dallas Zoo partners with Kimberly-Clark Professional to keep nitrile gloves out of landfills
For staffers at the Dallas Zoo, nitrile gloves from Kimberly-Clark Professional help ensure quality and safety when they care and feed for more than 2,000 animals at the zoo. Through 's RightCycle Program, the zoo also has expanded the overall impact of its sustainability efforts by providing a safe, renewable way to dispose of these gloves.
The RightCycle Program works with universities, research and manufacturing facilities, zoos and a variety of other businesses to take hard-to-recycle products, such as used gloves, protective apparel and safety eyewear, and convert them into new consumer goods. For the Dallas Zoo, it estimates that it has been able to divert more than 1,000 pounds of gloves since starting the program in 2018 - roughly the weight of one of its female giraffes.
"When these gloves go to a landfill, they can be consumed by wildlife or they can wind up in our oceans and harm marine life," said Shannon College, a Dallas Zoo animal supervisor who runs the zoo's Green Team. "Our team members were really excited, and they immediately agreed to participate in the program. Anything we can do to reduce that impact is vitally important to us."
Keeping plastic waste out of the environment is an integral part of the zoo's commitment to create a better world for animals. That's why the zoo partnered with The RightCycle Program to recycle the nitrile gloves that it uses for animal care, cleaning and food preparation.
"Kimberly-Clark has a long relationship with the Dallas Zoo through our support of numerous conservation efforts and, of course, making products to help keep the Dallas Zoo staff and animals healthy and safe. But the real pride for us is to partner with the zoo on a program that provides such a tangible contribution to their mission to create a better world for animals," said Jennifer Shaffer, RightCycle Program manager for Kimberly-Clark Professional.
For the Dallas Zoo, participating in the program isn't just about recycling waste from its own facilities, it's also about modeling responsible environmental practices to inspire others.
"We enjoy being able to show our guests various ways to change their behavior," College said. "For example, a lot of our zoologists wear the gloves during animal encounters, and they say to guests, ‘This is one more way that that we're creating a better world for animals. We wear these gloves and we recycle them.'"
The program has been enthusiastically received by both zoo employees and visitors. In addition to telling visitors about The RightCycle Program, the zoo shows guests what happens to the gloves after they are recycled.
"We purchased plastic flowerpots to show how used gloves go to The RightCycle Program to be turned into plastic products like the ones guests see around the zoo, with plants that benefit local pollinators, and herbs that we use as scent enrichment activities for our animals," College said. "And our guests are super-impressed. They don't realize that glove recycling is an option. They appreciate the extra steps we take to make these changes, and see us at the forefront of a program that is redirecting a large volume of waste in such a utilized way."
The RightCycle Program is the first large-scale recycling initiative in the scientific and industrial products industries for non-hazardous laboratory gloves, single-use apparel and safety eyewear. The used products are transformed into flowerpots, shelving, lawn and garden furniture and other goods by U.S. manufacturers. Since 2011, the program has helped zoos, aquariums, universities, research facilities, and a range of businesses divert more than 830 tons of waste from landfills.
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CC-MAIN-2021-39
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https://www.recyclingproductnews.com/article/31646/dallas-zoo-partners-with-kimberly-clark-professional-to-keep-nitrile-gloves-out-of-landfills
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| 0.960034 | 769 | 2.671875 | 3 | 2.742286 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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Hypertension refers to high blood pressure. It is important because the risks of cardiovascular disease (mainly heart attack, heart failure, stroke and chronic kidney disease) increase in patients with hypertension. Indeed, it is the leading preventable cause of cardiovascular death. Unfortunately, hypertension typically does not produce symptoms and therefore the only way someone may know that they have the condition is to have the blood pressure measured. Blood pressure is recorded as systolic (upper level)/diastolic (lower level) of which the systolic is now considered the most important predictor of cardiovascular disease. Normal blood pressure is defined as an average value of systolic blood pressure below 130 mmHg. Borderline hypertension is 130 – 140 mmHg and established hypertension is above 140 mmHg. Blood pressure varies widely during the day, and in response to exercise, emotion and other factors. Therefore, the level of blood pressure cannot be safely established from a single measurement. It is better undertaken by repeated measurements in a doctor’s office or, ideally, by the subject themselves in their own home. Please see link to:
“Home blood pressure recording”
The most accurate measurement is an ambulatory blood pressure monitor (see patient information: Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor)
Borderline hypertension is not normally treated with medication, but is an important indication for lifestyle alterations. The following lifestyle factors are recognized as reversible causes of increased blood pressure and/or risk of cardiovascular disease: high salt intake, overweight and underactivity, prolonged stress and anxiety, more than one alcoholic drink and certain medications including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as motrin or ibuprofen. Please see link to: “Weight reduction”
High blood pressure is more frequent, and the risks more severe, in people who have other diseases that can affect the cardiovascular system. These includes: diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease. Therefore, in these subjects, the "normal" blood pressure goal is a systolic blood pressure below 130 mmHg in most cases.
If someone is unsure whether they have hypertension, they should consult their physician, have their blood pressure measured in the office, and if it is equivocal or high, invest in a home blood pressure recorder and record their own blood pressure once daily after two minutes of quiet sitting for a period of about two weeks, and bring the results to the physician. A good choice is an automated Omron upper arm cuff blood pressure monitor. The pharmacist can help to choose a cuff of the correct size for the upper arm.
More than 9 out of 10 subjects with hypertension do not have a defined, reversible cause for the condition. In them, the hypertension is likely a combination of inherited genes and a lifestyle in which the level of salt intake is much higher, and the level of activity much lower, than that to which our bodily system was evolved to utilize. This leads to increased salt and fluid in the blood stream which increases the blood pressure. Hence, the advice in pre-hypertensive subjects to reduce dietary salt, improve exercise and lower body weight.
About 1 in 10 or 20 subjects with hypertension have a defined cause ("secondary hypertension"). This may be a coincident condition such as diabetes mellitus or chronic kidney disease or an unrecognized problem that has raised the blood pressure. There may be a decrease in blood flow to the kidneys most usually caused by fibrous bands in younger women ("fibromuscular dysplasia of the renal arteries") or atherosclerotic hardening of the arteries in older subjects. This leads the kidney to secret hormones such as renin into the blood stream that elevate the blood pressure, thereby helping to perfuse the kidney down stream from the narrowed artery, but at the expense of hypertension in the rest of the body. Sometimes, this can be treated by angioplasty (dilation of the artery by a radiologist) but, unfortunately, the condition is usually detected too late for the hypertension to respond to renal artery angioplasty, and the hypertension then requires medication for its control.
Other patients may have a benign tumor of the adrenal gland, which oversecrets a hormone termed aldosterone. This hormone acts on the kidney to retain salt and water, and thereby to raise the blood pressure,and to increase the excretion of potassium, which leads to low serum potassium concentrations. This condition ("hyperaldosteronism"), if diagnosed, maybe treatable by a relatively simple laparoscopic surgical removal of the benign adrenal tumor, which usually improves, and sometimes cures, the hypertension.
The conduct and interpretation of many of these tests for secondary or severe hypertension, and the treatment of severe or drug resistant hypertension, is complex, and is best undertaken by physicians specializing in these conditions. The Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at Georgetown University Medical Center has a number of full time staff physicians with expertise in hypertension diagnosis and management, and experienced radiologists and surgeons who can undertake the interventions if they are required. Please see link to: “Secondary Hypertension”
The majority of patients with high blood pressure presently require lifelong therapy with lifestyle modification and medication. The first step is always to reduce dietary salt intake, improve exercise and correct obesity or under activity. Salt intake must be assessed from a 24 hour urine collection for salt because 3/4 of the salt that we eat is already added to the food before it reaches the table. Therefore, merely avoiding additional salt, or the most obviously salty foods, is often not successful in achieving an adequate reduction in dietary salt intake. Please see link to: “24 Hour Urine Collection”
The goal for salt intake in the general population should be not more than approximately 150 millimoles or milliequilvalents daily. This is the same as to 9 gm of salt or 4 gm of sodium daily (one gram is 1000 mg). For patients with high blood pressure, a lower goal of 100 millimoles or milliequivalents (equivalent to 2 gm of sodium or 2000 mg) is a goal which can be achieved, but requires very close attention to diet, reading the salt content of foods at the store and ideally the preparation of fresh food from original ingredients in the home rather than eating prepared food in fast food restaurant settings. Please see link to: “Dietary Salt Restriction”
Besides sodium and chloride (salt), other food ingredients affect blood pressure and cardiovascular health. A recent NIH study showed that a specific diet (termed the DASH diet) significantly reduced blood pressure in normal subjects and those with high blood pressure. This diet emphasizes foods with low salt, high potassium and to fiber content. It is based on five servings daily of fresh fruits and/or vegetables, with low fat diary products, white meat and fish, grains and cereals but minimal processed carbohydrates or red meat. Please see link to: “The Dash Diet Information”
Potassium is found in many of the foods recommended in the DASH diet. A high potassium intake generally is associated with lower blood pressure and better cardiovascular health. However, some patients with chronic kidney disease accumulate potassium in the body to a dangerous degree and must have a low potassium diet. In that setting, please see the link to: “Dietary Potassium Restriction”
Lifestyle modifications are usually insufficient to control hypertension. These patients then require additional therapy with medications.
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<urn:uuid:64303198-9da3-4b33-b664-b56a2f9ae07e>
|
CC-MAIN-2017-26
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https://hypertension.gumc.georgetown.edu/patientcare/hypertesion
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| 0.937123 | 1,520 | 3.609375 | 4 | 2.454157 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
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Health
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The Lingo all the Cool Kids are Using
Do you ever end a phone call conversation with your IT guy and feel like you had no idea what you just discussed? We’ve all been there. Or maybe you used some terms you may be familiar with, but you’re questioning if you used them correctly. Well here is a list of 10 commonly used terms (in IT) and definitions to help you feel like you fit it.
- The cloud- is a way to store all your files and access them from any device, anytime. It isn’t some mystery where it is, the files go through a wire and end up on a server in a warehouse far away. The company you pay (CSP) is who is responsible for its keeping. If you still can’t grasp the concept, now may be a time to watch the barely tolerable Cameron Diaz and Jason Segal film Sex Tape.
- CSP– Cloud Service Provider is the company you pay that provides cloud computing.They provide either Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) or Platform as a Service (PaaS) We’ll save an in-depth explanation of these for another time
- ISP– Internet Service Provider, for instance who do you pay for your internet?
- VoIP– Voice over Internet Protocol uses the internet as a means of making phone calls.You will never have overages beyond the cost of your internet while using VoIP, such companies like Vonage or OOMA offer this type of service
- DNS– Domain Name System, a service for accessing a computer by name instead of IP address
- IP address– Internet Protocol address, every computer connected to the internet has a unique identifying number, in other words don’t do anything illegal, you’ll get caught
- Firewall– A method of preventing unauthorized access to or from a particular network; firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or both
- Malware- These are malicious pieces of software designed to damage or do other harmful things to a computer, they include viruses, worms, Trojan horses and spyware
- Proxy- This refers to a special kind of server that functions as a link between something like a web browser and a real server. It intercepts request to the real server and fills it in. If it can’t, it’ll send it to the real server. This saves tons of time and is often used to serve hundreds or thousands of users at a time.
- DSL- Digital subscriber Line; an always on broadband connection over a phone line.
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<urn:uuid:1ff74219-05c7-4aa9-822d-899b07e525c0>
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CC-MAIN-2023-06
|
https://halomts.com/the-lingo-all-the-cool-kids-are-using/
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| 0.908997 | 544 | 2.515625 | 3 | 1.222203 | 1 |
Basic reasoning
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Software
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Meanwhile the Mongolia was pushing forward rapidly. On the 13th, Mocha, surrounded by its ruined walls where date-trees were growing, was sighted, and on the mountains beyond vast coffee-fields were seen. Passepartout was ravished to behold this celebrated place, and thought that, with its circular walls and dismantled fort, it looked like an immense coffee-cup and saucer.
The following night they passed through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which means in Arabic "The Bridge of Tears," and the next day they put in at Steamer Point, northwest of Aden harbor, to take in coal. This matter of fueling steamers is a serious one at such distances from the coal-mines. It costs the Peninsular Company some eight hundred thousand pounds a year. In these distant seas, coal is worth three or four pounds sterling a ton.
The Mongolia had still sixteen hundred and fifty miles to traverse before reaching Bombay, and was obliged to remain four hours at Steamer Point to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen, did not affect Phileas Fogg's program; besides, the Mongolia, instead of reaching Aden on the morning of the 15th, when she was due, arrived there on the evening of the 14th, a gain of fifteen hours.
Mr. Fogg and his servant went ashore at Aden to have the passport again visaed. Fix, unobserved, followed them. The visa procured, Mr. Fogg returned on board to resume his former habits; while Passepartout, according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population of Somanlis, Banyas, Parsees, Jews, Arabs and Europeans who comprise the twenty-five thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonder upon the fortifications which make this place the Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean, and the vast cisterns where the English engineers were still at work, two thousand years after the engineers of Solomon.
"Very curious, very curious," said Passepartout to himself, on returning to the steamer. "I see that it is by no means useless to travel, if a man wants to see something new."
At six P.M. the Mongolia slowly moved out of the roadstead, and was soon once more on the Indian Ocean. She had a hundred and sixty-eight hours in which to reach Bombay, and the sea was favorable, the wind being in the north-west, and all sails aiding the engine. The steamer rolled but little; the ladies, in fresh dresses, reappeared on deck; and the singing and dancing were resumed. The trip was being accomplished most successfully, and Passepartout was enchanted with the congenial companion which chance had secured him in the person of the delightful Fix.
On Sunday, October 20th, towards noon, they came in sight of the Indian coast. Two hours later the pilot came on board. A range of hills lay against the sky in the horizon, and soon the rows of palms which adorn Bombay came distinctly into view. The steamer entered the road formed by the islands in the bay, and at half-past four she hauled up at the quays of Bombay.
Phileas Fogg was in the act of finishing the thirty-third rubber of the voyage, and his partner and himself having, by a bold stroke, captured all thirteen of the tricks, concluded this fine campaign with a brilliant victory.
The Mongolia was due at Bombay on the 22nd; she arrived on the 20th. This was a gain to Phileas Fogg of two days since his departure from London, and he calmly entered the fact in the itinerary, in the column of gains.
In Which Passepartout Is Only Too Glad to Get off with the Loss of His Shoes
Everybody knows that the great reversed triangle of land, with its base in the north and its apex in the south, which is called India, embraces fourteen hundred thousand square miles, upon which is spread unequally a population of one hundred and eighty millions of souls. The British Crown exercises a real and despotic dominion over the larger portion of this vast country, and has a governor-general stationed at Calcutta, governors at Madras, Bombay and in Bengal, and a lieutenant-governor at Agra.
But British India, properly so called, only embraces seven hundred thousand square miles, and a population of from one hundred to one hundred and ten millions of inhabitants.
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<urn:uuid:090ffb1a-54bc-4582-b616-13b79b08e2ef>
|
CC-MAIN-2014-10
|
http://www.jules-verne.co.uk/around-the-world-in-80-days-jr-ed/ebook-page-17.asp
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394011064849/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091744-00011-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.976252 | 924 | 2.640625 | 3 | 2.694206 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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History
|
June 8, 2007 This has to be one of the most 'futuristic' developments we've seen in some time; a new U.S. patent has been awarded to a company that has plans for a safe, silent personal flight device using electromagnetic ion propulsion as its primary thrust generator and drawing its power wirelessly from earthbound inductive green power broadcast stations. California's Personal Flight Systems are taking a serious look at the future of personal flight, and the technology involved will leave you shaking your head.
It's been seven years now since the dawn of the new millennium, but it just doesn't feel like we're living in the future we were promised in the 1980s. There's no teleportation - fair enough, that still seems a bit far-fetched. No cure for cancer - well, at least they're making progress. There doesn't seem to be any good reason, though, why we can't have cheap, safe, fun commuter jetpacks to fly around with. It's been over 50 years since the first working prototype jetpack was flown by Bell Aerospace, and the few companies that actually have a working jetpack are using a modified version of the same design, and are unable to sustain flight beyond 30 or 40 seconds. C'mon science, where's my jetpack?
Thankfully we occasionally hear of efforts to rectify this gaping omission from the personal mobility sphere, and this latest one is worth a special mention, both because of who's behind it and because of the fascinating technology it leverages. Silicone Valley startup Personal Flight Systems (PFS) has recently been awarded the patent for personal flight using ion electronic air propulsion - a clean technology that has none of the dangerous explosive risks involved with combustion engines.
Ionic Air Propulsion The basic principle behind ion propulsion is to positively charge a fluid and then electromagnetically propel it to create thrust. It's a very efficient technique that NASA have been using to propel long-distance, unmanned space vehicles. While the amount of thrust it produces is quite small, it can be sustained over a long-term trip to provide a very effective cumulative acceleration that eventually far outweighs the much more powerful but fuel-hungry chemical rockets used for take-offs.
The PFS patent adds a few key elements to this well-established technology; most importantly a new design for the capacitative thrust plates that emit and receive the electrical charges, and a system that pre-conditions the air between and around the plates to maximize thrust. The company also plan to remove the heavy power pack from the vehicle and "broadcast" pulses of DC power to the vehicle from ground stations based on theories from Nikola Tesla, the famous inventor and physicist responsible for the AC power system in the early 20th century.
PFS claim their ion-propulsion personal flight vehicles will be safer than helicopters or rockets, with their massive moving parts and explosive gases respectively. Ion propulsion, however, carries its own set of risks - particularly an elevated risk of throat and lung cancer if an individual is to breathe in too much ionized air - although this can be mitigated through a number of techniques.
Interestingly, many of the vehicles described in the patent make use of chemical rockets to provide initial and additional thrust, thus re-introducing some of the safety risks the device seems keen to avoid. And the design of the devices, which in their personal flight form seem to look like a strap-in Segway with an umbrella attached, won't make them particularly portable.
Still, the end result appears to offer a safe, silent personal flight system that runs primarily on ground-based green power, and the fact that this new patent overwrote existing NASA patents in the field shows that the PFS solution is viewed as a serious innovation with real-world potential.
The Inventor PFS is a start-up by Scott Redmond, a San Francisco-based tech executive and self-described "venture solutionist." While nobody talks his abilities and achievements up quite like Redmond's own webpage ("superhero-like ability" is quite a statement!), he is unquestionably an overachiever.
His recent projects have been focused on green, sustainable and new energy, including sustainable and self-powered homes like his NowHouse demo home, various electric vehicles and hydrogen power patents. He's also been active in virtual reality and a host of other areas. Clearly a brilliant man, Redmond suffers from a strange form of dyslexia that leaves him unable to aurally process numbers, sequences, times or time spans. to overcome this obstacle he developed a visual system of mathematics he calls "organic math" which has clearly been more than sufficient for him.
We look forward to watching this project materialize.
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<urn:uuid:024c70e8-1bd4-4fcb-9943-00b2141b0895>
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CC-MAIN-2015-35
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http://www.gizmag.com/go/7413/
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-35/segments/1440646313806.98/warc/CC-MAIN-20150827033153-00145-ip-10-171-96-226.ec2.internal.warc.gz
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en
| 0.964033 | 958 | 2.5625 | 3 | 2.926413 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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How can a Scrum team work together during the discovery stage?
The discovery stage is a very important phase of every software development lifecycle, and it can significantly reduce its risks and costs. Yet it is often underrated and not taken care of seriously. Why is it worth giving it the attention it deserves and who should participate in it to make it even more beneficial? Let’s find out!
What is a discovery phase?
A discovery phase (also known as a scoping phase) is the first stage of the software development process. It aims at:
- getting to know the product and the end-user,
- clarifying the vision,
- setting the goals,
- deciding on business and technical requirements,
- identifying risks and coming up with a plan of how to prevent them from happening.
A discovery phase is usually run by Business Analyst and UX Designers who speak to stakeholders holding the domain knowledge, and together they decide on the shape and scope of the final solution. It helps establishing whether their vision is doable and feasible.
But given its huge importance for the final success of the whole project, it is crucial that the discovery phase is attended not by just a few people responsible for it, but also by all members of the development team. Let us explain to you why we believe such an approach is so beneficial.
Why should the discovery phase be attended by the whole development team?
When only a few members of the team take part in the discovery phase, it is much more difficult to “sell” the general vision and feel of the final product to the people who actually develop it, making it much trickier to achieve the result you are after.
The participation of the whole development team in the discovery phase is of paramount importance, and it has a massive impact on the following areas:
1. Deciding on goals
One of the very first activities linked to the discovery phase is deciding on its goals. Working closely together, the whole team should establish frequent checkpoints to make sure their work is heading into the right direction. Such an approach helps minimising risk of spending unproductive time that will not get anyone closer to the final goal.
To set the goals effectively, it is important to take into consideration all areas of work that need to be done during the development process. This cannot be done properly without the whole team taking part in it and sharing information on what their part of work consists of.
2. Information flow
With the discovery phase that gathers the whole team, information flow becomes much more effective, helping all members understand the big picture, business context and stakeholders’ perspective. When the whole team working on a software development project have access to good and thorough information they need, it allows them to better manage their time and not waste it on later catch-ups and knowledge transfer.
3. Team engagement
The participation of the whole team in the discovery phase has a massive impact on the success of the final project. Developers who take part in early stages of the process will be more aware of the business context of the application. During the development phase they will be more engaged because of their initial involvement, and they will make fewer mistakes – the whole team’s work and the right information flow will allow them to detect all bugs at earlier stages.
Such an attitude guarantees a better understanding of the reasons as to why the software is being created in the first place. Also, thanks to developers’ participation in every stage of the software development process, they can take part in creating the vision of the final solution instead of only gathering the requirements listed by someone else. On the other side, technical knowledge they have helps to build more reliable roadmap of the product.
4. Risk management
The whole team’s involvement in the discovery phase allows each member to identify and report any risks they come across during their work. Depending on their background, everyone may pay attention to different types of risks: developers will spot those related to the architecture or technical aspects, business analysts will be looking more closely at those linked to the business side or to the roadmap.
Detecting all the risks early on allows to find the right solutions early, helps avoiding them in future stages and contributes to the success of the final product.
5. Clear next steps
During the discovery phase, every activity needs to finish with a list of next steps. Each of them should have an assigned person responsible for it and a precise deadline. The true benefit of the whole team being involved in the discovery phase can be achieved only if all team members are aware of what happens next, what are their responsibilities and what exactly is expected from them.
6. Input for future activities
Conclusions and documents created during the discovery phase constitute a great input for the future activities related to continuous discovery – the ongoing process which aims at gathering feedback, identifying problems and making good decisions during the whole software development project – allowing for a more holistic and organised approach to the agile software development process. Such a thorough input is possible to get only with the whole team working closely together and being aware of all stages of the software development process.
How to get everyone involved?
Great news is, you don’t need to try hard to get everyone involved in the discovery phase. As it consists of many different activities such as research, ideation, user testing, creation/prototyping, validation, documenting and pre-refining, every role will find a great and meaningful task to do.
Developers for example should generate ideas, build prototypes (proofs of concept) and participate in all activities bringing technical perspective. Thanks to their involvement it will be easier to find gaps in the logic, identify potential problems that can arise in the future and propose better solutions.
Special engagement of the whole team is best visible in activities like ideas brainstorming, building the story mapping, prioritisation, and discovering non-functional requirements.
Engaging the whole team from the very first stage gives an incredible advantage in other phases of software development, making the team work closely together and perfectly understand where they are heading to and why.
This is exactly how we execute discovery phases for our clients. We know such an approach have long-lasting, extremely positive consequences and dramatically improve the end result of our work.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanna started her career in IT as a Quality Assurance Engineer and quickly discovered that she prefers working with real people to working with computers. Now, as a Senior Business Analyst, Joanna still strives to improve the quality of the projects by facilitating discovery workshops and managing software requirements.
In her spare time, fascinated by the possibilities offered by processing paper – she creates birthday cards and photo albums with the scrapbooking technique.
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<urn:uuid:e2aeca23-7825-4fcc-8bc2-ad48633f096c>
|
CC-MAIN-2023-50
|
https://www.future-processing.com/blog/how-can-a-scrum-team-work-together-during-the-discovery-stage/
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-50/segments/1700679099892.46/warc/CC-MAIN-20231128151412-20231128181412-00415.warc.gz
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en
| 0.950994 | 1,370 | 2.515625 | 3 | 2.789659 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Software Dev.
|
Government of Malaysia
Seal of the Government of Malaysia.
Ensign of the Government of Malaysia.
|Formed||16 September 1963|
|Headquarters||Putrajaya, FT, Malaysia|
|Minister responsible||Najib Razak, Prime Minister|
|Government executive||Ali Hamsa, Chief Secretary to the Government|
The Government of Malaysia refers to the Federal Government or national government authority based in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and the federal executive based in Putrajaya. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states operating within a constitutional monarchy under the Westminster parliamentary system and is categorised as a representative democracy. The federal government of Malaysia adheres to and is created by the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme law of the land.
The federal government adopts the principle of separation of powers and has three branches: executive, legislature and judiciary. The state governments in Malaysia also have their respective executive and legislative bodies. The judicial system in Malaysia is a federalised court system operating uniformly throughout the country.
The bicameral parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives or Dewan Rakyat (literally the "Chamber of the People") and the upper house, the Senate or Dewan Negara (literally the "Chamber of the Nation"). All seventy Senate members sit for three-year terms (to a maximum of two terms); twenty-six are elected by the thirteen state assemblies, and forty-four are appointed by the king based on the advice of the Prime Minister. The 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. The parliament follows a multi-party system and the governing body is elected through a first-past-the-post system. Parliament has a maximum mandate of five years by law. The king may dissolve parliament at any time and usually does so upon the advice of the Prime Minister.
Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the Lower House of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA), commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of Parliament and is responsible to that body. The Executive branch of the government consists of the Prime Minister as the head of the government, followed by the various ministers of the Cabinet.
The highest court in the judicial system is the Federal Court, followed by the Court of Appeal, and two High Courts, one for Peninsular Malaysia, and one for East Malaysia. The subordinate courts in each of these jurisdictions include Sessions Courts, Magistrates' Courts, and Courts for Children. Malaysia also has a Special Court to hear cases brought by or against all Royalty.
Head of government
The Prime Minister of Malaysia (Malay: Perdana Menteri Malaysia) is the indirectly elected head of government (executive) of Malaysia. He is officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the head of state, who in HM's judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat), the elected lower house of Parliament. He heads the Cabinet, whose members are appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong advice of the prime minister. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet shall be collectively responsible to Parliament. The Prime Minister's Department (sometimes referred to as the Prime Minister's Office) is the body and ministry in which the Prime Minister exercises its functions and powers.
Each state governments in Malaysia is created by the respective state constitutions. Each state has a unicameral state legislative chamber (Malay: Dewan Undangan Negeri) whose members are elected from single-member constituencies. State governments are led by Chief Ministers (Menteri Besar in Malay states or Ketua Menteri in states without hereditary rulers), who are state assembly members from the majority party in the Dewan Undangan Negeri. They advise their respective sultans or governors. In each of the states with a hereditary ruler, the Chief Minister is required to be a Malay, appointed by the Sultan upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
The local government or local authority (Malay: kerajaan tempatan or pihak berkuasa tempatan (PBT)) is the lowest level in the system of government in Malaysia—after federal and state. It has the power to collect taxes (in the form of assessment tax), to create laws and rules (in the form of by-laws) and to grant licenses and permits for any trade in its area of jurisdiction, in addition to providing basic amenities, collecting and managing waste and garbage as well as planning and developing the area under its jurisdiction. Local authorities in Malaysia are generally under the exclusive purview of the state governments and headed by a civil servant with the title Yang Di-Pertua (President). Local government areas and the boundaries is usually consistent with district boundaries but there are some places where the boundaries are not consistent and may overlap with adjoining districts especially in urbanised areas.
Unlike the federal and state governments, the local governments in Malaysia are not elected but appointed by the state government after local council elections were suspended by the federal government in 1965.
Military, police and other governmental bodies
The law of Malaysia is mainly based on the common law legal system. This was a direct result of the colonisation of Malaya, Sarawak, and North Borneo by Britain between the early 19th century to 1960s. The supreme law of the land—the Constitution of Malaysia—sets out the legal framework and rights of Malaysian citizens. Federal laws enacted by the Parliament of Malaysia apply throughout the country. There are also state laws enacted by the State Legislative Assemblies which applies in the particular state. The constitution of Malaysia also provides for a unique dual justice system—the secular laws (criminal and civil) and sharia laws.
Articles 73 to 79 of the Federal Constitution specifies the subject in which the federal and state government may legislate. Parliament has the exclusive power to make laws over matters falling under the Federal List (such as citizenship, defence, internal security, civil and criminal law, finance, trade, commerce and industry, education, labour, and tourism) whereas each State, through its Legislative Assembly, has legislative power over matters under the State List (such as land, local government, Syariah law and Syariah courts, State holidays and State public works). Parliament and State legislatures share the power to make laws over matters under the Concurrent List (such as water supplies and housing) but Article 75 provides that in the event of conflict, Federal law will prevail over State law.
Elections in Malaysia exist at two levels: national level and state level. National level elections are those for membership in the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of Parliament, while state level elections are for membership in the various State Legislative Assemblies. The head of the executive branch, the Prime Minister, is indirectly elected.
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Moderate reasoning
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Politics
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VectorsA vector, it's this :
It is an arrow. You can draw a vector if you know its length, its direction and its end (the end of the arrow). You can give it a name, for example call the vector above.
It is not useful to know where it comes from. They are all equal. The image B of a point A by the translation of vector , is the point which is at the end of the vector when the origin of the vector is point A.
A vector is kind of like an arrow indicating a movement. If you go up and on the right, at the end we have a slanted line. To add two vectors, you put one at the end of the other, the sum of these two vectors is then the vector coming from the origin of the first and arriving at the end of the second one.
You can multiply a vector by a number. If you multiply a vector by 3 you get a vector 3 times longer :
If you multiply a vector by a negative number it changes its direction, for example if you multiply by -2 :
You can also multiply two vectors by each other but to understand that, you have to understand the 10th Grade. It is the dot product.
Finally, you agree that 8 - 5 = 8 + (-5). To subtract two vectors, you add the first one with the opposite of the second one, that is to say the second one that you multiplied by (-1).
Coordinates of one pointWith two "perpendicular" vectors with the same origin and the same length, you can locate points in a plan thanks to coordinates.
To go from 0 to A, you must add twice the vector with 5 times the vector . We say that 2 is the abscissa of A and that 5 is the ordinate of A. We write: A(2;5), which reads "point A whose coordinates are 2, 5". This technique enables us to locate with numbers the position of all points of such a drawing.
Distance between 2 points in a frameIf A(2,5) and B(4,1), you can calculate the distance from A to B.
If you use Pythagoras' theorem, the result is :
In general, to calculate the distance between two points when you know their coordinates, if and , then :
You must learn this formula.
Coordinates of the middle of a segmentOtherwise, if you are asked to find the coordinates of the middle of a segment [AB], you must use the two formulas to find the abscissa and the ordinate of the middle M of the segment. You must calculate the mean of the coordinates of A and B :
Coordinates of a vectorThe coordinates of a vector are the numbers saying how much the vector will go towards the right and how much it will go upwards. To calculate the coordinates of a vector, you must use the formula :
Finally, letís come back to linear functions, we saw that they could be represented with a graph. Before skipping to ninth Grade, you must also know that if and are two point on the straight line representing the linear function, then the number is the slope of the linear function. You can also say that it is the slope of the straight line.
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Moderate reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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"I was there..."
by Richard Henry Dana
19th century merchant ship under sail.
Photo: San Francisco Maritime Museum
|An excerpt from Richard Henry Dana’s work “Two Years Before The Mast.” in which the author describes his first experiences entering San Francisco bay as a sailor on the Boston trading rig Alert. Dana’s retelling of he and his crew’s arrival includes arriving with hopes to trade hide and tallow up and down the coast with the natives as well as his experiences and opinions regarding traders from “Russian America.” Dana’s account is a useful tool in grasping the ideas regarding the physical landscape of the area at the time as well as Northern California’s early potential as a center for trade and migration.|
Richard Henry Dana (1815-1882) sailed into San Francisco Bay in December 1835. He was a sailor aboard the brig Alert which carried hide and tallow trade along the California Coast. The trading of animal hides and tallow (animal fat used to make candles, soap and lubricant) between the Indians and East Coast merchants was the dominant commercial activity along the California Coast from the 1820s to the 1840s. The Alert anchored in the bay for a three week period to gather supplies and to trade in hides as the missions of "San Jose, Santa Clara, and others, situated on large creeks or rivers which run into the bay, do a greater business in hides than any in California."
After returning to his hometown, Boston, Dana wrote about his travel experiences in "Two Years Before the Mast," a book which encountered great success and is still in print today. In this excerpt, Dana remembers meeting the crew of a Russian vessel, which came down to San Francisco Bay from Russian California to gather supplies of tallow and grain. Among other things, he also recalls spending two long, rainy nights in an open boat gathering wood on an island he and his mates called Wood Island, an island known today as Angel Island. The opening statement that Sir Francis Drake discovered the bay is erroneous and can be traced back to the common belief that San Francisco's Bay could be entered through Drakes Bay (the bay west of Point Reyes, discovered by Drake in 1579). The Bay of San Francisco was actually first sighted by Europeans during a land expedition led by Spanish explorer Gaspar de Portola in 1769.
This excerpt is valuable for its description of the natural landscape and the commercial activity of the San Francisco Bay Area at that period in time. Particularly noteworthy are also Dana's prophetic comments regarding the future of the region as the great metropolis of California. In Dana's 1835 assessment: "If California ever becomes a prosperous country, this bay will be the centre of its prosperity."
Friday, December 4th, after a passage of twenty days, we arrived at the mouth of the bay of San Francisco.
Our place of destination had been Monterey, but as we were to the northward of it when the wind hauled a-head, we made a fair wind for San Francisco. This large bay, which lies in latitude 37 deg. 58', was discovered by Sir Francis Drake, and by him represented to be (as indeed it is) a magnificent bay, containing several good harbors, great depth of water, and surrounded by a fertile and finely wooded country. About thirty miles from the mouth of the bay, and on the south-east side, is a high point, upon which the presidio is built. Behind this, is the harbor in which trading vessels anchor, and near it, the mission of San Francisco, and a newly begun settlement, mostly of Yankee Californians, called Yerba Buena, which promises well.
Here, at anchor, and the only vessel, was a brig under Russian colors, from Asitka, in Russian America, which had come down to winter, and to take in a supply of tallow and grain, great quantities of which latter article are raised in the missions at the head of the bay. The second day after our arrival, we went on board the brig, it being Sunday, as a matter of curiosity; and there was enough there to gratify it. Though no larger than the Pilgrim, she had five or six officers, and a crew of between twenty and thirty; and such a stupid and greasy-looking set, I certainly never saw before. Although it was quite comfortable weather, and we had nothing on but straw hats, shirts, and duck trowsers, and were barefooted, they had, every man of them, doublesoled boots, coming up to the knees, and well greased; thick woolen trowsers, frocks, waistcoats, pea-jackets, woolen caps, and everything in true Nova Zembla rig; and in the warmest days they made no change. The clothing of one of these men would weigh nearly as much as that of half our crew. They had brutish faces, looked like the antipodes of sailors, and apparently dealt in nothing but grease. They lived upon grease; eat it, drank it, slept in the midst of it, and their clothes were covered with it. To a Russian, grease is the greatest luxury. They looked with greedy eyes upon the tallow-bags as they were taken into the vessel, and, no doubt, would have eaten one up whole, had not the officer kept watch over it. The grease seemed actually coming through their pores, and out in their hair, and on their faces. It seems as if it were this saturation which makes them stand cold and rain so well. If they were to go into a warm climate, they would all die of the scurvy.
The vessel was no better than the crew. Everything was in the oldest and most inconvenient fashion possible; running trusses on the yards, and large hawser cables, coiled all over the decks, and served and parcelled in all directions. The topmasts, top-gallant masts and studding-sail booms were nearly black for want of scraping, and the decks would have turned the stomach of a man-of-war's-man. The galley was down in the forecastle; and there the crew lived, in the midst of the steam and grease of the cooking, in a place as hot as an oven, and as dirty as a piggy. Five minutes in the forecastle was enough for us, and we were glad to get into the open air. We made some trade with them, buying Indian curiosities, of which they had a great number; such as bead-work, feathers of birds, fur moccasins, etc. I purchased a large robe, made of the skins of some animals, dried and sewed nicely together, and covered all over on the outside with thick downy feathers, taken from the breasts of various birds, and arranged with their different colors, so as to make a brilliant show.
A few days after our arrival, the rainy season set in, and, for three weeks, it rained almost every hour, without cessation. This was bad for our trade, for the collecting of hides is managed differently in this port from what it is in any other on the coast. The mission of San Francisco near the anchorage, has no trade at all, but those of San Jose, Santa Clara, and others, situated on large creeks or rivers which run into the bay, and distant between fifteen and forty miles from the anchorage, do a greater business in hides than any in California. Large boats, manned by Indians, and capable of carrying nearly a thousand hides apiece, are attached to the missions, and sent down to the vessels with hides, to bring away goods in return. Some of the crews of the vessels are obliged to go and come in the boats, to look out for the hides and goods. These are favorite expeditions with the sailors, in fine weather; but now to be gone three or four days, in open boats, in constant rain, without any shelter, and with cold food, was hard service. Two of our men went up to Santa Clara in one of these boats, and were gone three days, during all which time they had a constant rain, and did not sleep a wink, but passed three long nights, walking fore and aft the boat, in the open air. When they got on board, they were completely exhausted, and took a watch below of twelve hours. All the hides, too, that came down in the boats, were soaked with water, and unfit to put below, so that we were obliged to trice them up to dry, in the intervals of sunshine or wind, upon all parts of the vessel. We got up tricing-lines from the jib-boom-end to each arm of the fore yard, and thence to the main and cross-jack yard-arms. Between the tops, too, and the mast-heads, from the fore to the main swifters, and thence to the mizen rigging, and in all directions athwartships, tricing-lines were run, and strung with hides. The head stays and guys, and the spritsail-yard, were lined, and, having still more, we got out the swinging booms, and strung them and the forward and after guys, with hides. The rail, fore and aft, the windlass, capstan, the sides of the ship, and every vacant place on deck, were covered with wet hides, on the least sign of an interval for drying. Our ship was nothing but a mass of hides, from the cat-harpins to the water's edge, and from the jib-boom-end to the taffrail.
One cold, rainy evening, about eight o'clock, I received orders to get ready to start for San Jose at four the next morning, in one of these Indian boats, with four days' provisions. I got my oil-cloth clothes, south-wester, and thick boots all ready, and turned into my hammock early, determined to get some sleep in advance, as the boat was to be alongside before daybreak. I slept on till all hands were called in the morning; for, fortunately for me, the Indians, intentionally, or from mistaking their orders, had gone off alone in the night, and were far out of sight. Thus I escaped three or four days of very uncomfortable service.
Four of our men, a few days afterwards, went up in one of the quarter-boats to Santa Clara, to carry the agent, and remained out all night in a drenching rain, in the small boat, where there was not room for them to turn round; the agent having gone up to the mission and left the men to their fate, making no provision for their accommodation, and not even sending them anything to eat. After this, they had to pull thirty miles, and when they got on board, were so stiff that they could not come up the gangway ladder. This filled up the measure of the agent's unpopularity, and never after this could he get anything done by any of the crew; and many a delay and vexation, and many a good ducking in the surf, did he get to pay up old scores, or "square the yards with the bloody quill-driver."
--Richard Henry Dana'
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Strong reasoning
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History
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Early 19th-century houses are similar to those of the 18th century, but with some new features. For instance, the outside walls are nearly always covered with plaster and painted. Some houses have big bay windows, and some have a glazed door leading from a ground-floor room into the garden or from an upper room on to a balcony. The'roofs of the smaller houses are low-pitched and have very deep eaves. Those of larger houses are low or even flat, and are hidden by parapets.
We say that houses of this kind are in the `Regency' style because when some of them were built the king, George III, was ill, and his son, who later became George IV, was acting as Regent.
One of the most famous Regency architects was John Nash. He is best known for the fine streets and terraces which he designed for London. We can still see some of them, or parts of them-Carlton House Terrace, for instance, which overlooks the Mall, and the rows of houses which we still call the Nash terraces around- Regent's Park. Building of a very different kind which he designed for the Prince Regent is the Pavilion at Brighton.
There are large numbers of typical i 8th- and early 19thcentury houses in such seaside towns as Brighton and Weymouth. Such places were growing fast at that time because people were becoming interested in sea-bathing and seaside holidays. There are a great many, too, at Cheltenham and other spas, where people went to `take the waters' for their health, and in London suburbs such as Brixton, which were villages outside the city a hundred and fifty years ago.
But in the factory and mining-towns of the north and midlands there are hundreds of houses of a very different kind. Manufacturers were beginning to use more and more machinery to produce goods which had before been made by hand, so large numbers of people had to be compressed into areas in which coal for driving the machines was easy to get. Rows and rows of dull, box-like, uncomfortable little houses, packed close together in alleys and courts, were built for them to live in.
Many people hated the new industrial towns, and that caused them to take a great deal of interest in buildings which had survived from earlier times, particularly the Middle Ages. Even during the i 8th century wealthy men had sometimes had a sham Gothic ruin built in their parks, or had decorated a room in what they thought was the Gothic manner. Now, in Queen Victoria's time, architects began to design new mansions in a mock Gothic style, with turrets and gables, battlements and pointed windows, for their well-to-do clients.
In all our big cities, too, there are public and commercial buildings which were erected in the 19th century in an imitation Gothic style. In London the most important example is the Palace of Westminster (the Houses of Parliament), which was rebuilt between 1840 and 186o, after the original Gothic building had been burnt down. Then there are the Prudential Assurance Company's office in Holborn, and the Law Courts in the Strand.
Soon small dwelling houses, also, were being built in a cheaper version of the same style. We can see thousands of them all over Britain, some standing alone and some in terraces.
The `Gothic revival' did not appeal to everyone. Many architects, in opposition to it, erected buildings that were even more strictly Classical than those of the previous two centuries had been. Government offices, such as the Home Office, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office in Whitehall, London, are examples of 19th-century Renaissance architecture.
In some towns public buildings were erected which, on the outside, were almost exact reproductions of Greek and Roman buildings.
The `battle of the styles' as it is sometimes called, continued for a long time. Some architects designed in both Gothic and Classic, or a mixture of both, according to what their clients wanted. But all buildings had to have the characteristics of some style of the past. ATo one attempted to design something new with a character of its own which really expressed the 19th century.
As time went on people tended to build public and government buildings in the Classic style and churches and schools in the Gothic.
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en
| 0.990265 | 902 | 2.890625 | 3 | 2.642546 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Art & Design
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On March 1st, 2016, American astronaut Scott Kelly returned to Earth after spending a total of 340 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As part of NASA’s goal to send astronauts on long-duration space flights to Mars and beyond, this record-setting stay in space was designed to test the limit of human endurance in a microgravity environment.
Also known as the Twin Study, this experiment consisted of Kelly spending nearly a year in space while his identical twin (Mark Kelly) remained on Earth. Since Kelly’s return, the two have been subjected to medical tests to see what long-term effects microgravity has had of Scott’s Kelly’s physique. The final results of this test, which were just released, reveal that Scott has experienced changes at the genetic level.
The study was conducted by NASA’s Human Research Program, and the preliminary findings were released at their Investigator’s Workshop on the week of January 23rd, 2017. According to these findings, Scott Kelly showed indications of inflammation, changes in his telomeres and telomerase (parts of the chromosonal system related to aging), a decrease in bone density and gastrointestinal changes – all of which were expected.
As NASA reported in their preliminary findings:
“By measuring large numbers of metabolites, cytokines, and proteins, researchers learned that spaceflight is associated with oxygen deprivation stress, increased inflammation, and dramatic nutrient shifts that affect gene expression… After returning to Earth, Scott started the process of readapting to Earth’s gravity. Most of the biological changes he experienced in space quickly returned to nearly his preflight status. Some changes returned to baseline within hours or days of landing, while a few persisted after six months.”
At the same time, the study took into account possible genomic and cognitive changes between the two brothers. These findings were recently clarified by NASA, which indicated that 93% of Scott Kelly’s genes returned to normal after he returned to Earth while the remaining 7% points were missing. These were attributed to “longer-term changes in genes related to his immune system, DNA repair, bone formation networks, hypoxia, and hypercapnia.”
In other words, in addition to the well-documented effects of microgravity – such as muscle atrophy, bone density loss and loss of eyesight – Scott Kelly also experienced health effect caused by a deficiency in the amount of oxygen that was able to make it to his tissues, an excess of CO2 in his tissues, and long-term effects in how his body is able to maintain and repair itself.
At the same time, the report indicated that Scott Kelly experienced no significant changes when it came to cognitive performance. The preliminary findings touched on this, indicating that Scott showed a slight decrease in speed and accuracy when undergoing cognitive performance testing compared to his brother. This decrease was more pronounced when he first landed, but was attributed to readjustment to Earth’s gravity.
Mathias Basner – a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who was in charge of conducting the tests – also found no real difference in cognition between 6 month and 12 month missions. This is especially important since typical stays aboard the ISS last six months, whereas long term missions to Mars would take 150-300 days – depending on the alignment of the planets and the speed of the spacecraft.
A two way trip to Mars, as well as the time spent in Mars lower-gravity environment (37.6 % that of Earth’s), could take multiple years. As such, the Twin Study was intrinsic to NASA’s efforts to prepare for its proposed “Journey to Mars“, which is expected to take place sometime in the 2030s. These and other studies being conducted aboard the ISS seek to determine what the long-term effects on astronaut health will be, and how they can be mitigated.
The NASA Twin Study was the result of a partnership between 10 individual investigations, 12 colleges and universities, NASA’s biomedical labs and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute Consortium.
Scott Kelly’s stay in space and the Twin Study will also be the subject of a PBS documentary titled “Beyond a Year in Space“. Be sure to check out the teaser trailer here:
People who plan and conduct space missions never tire of telling us how hard it is to do things in space.
Our next big goal is getting humans to Mars, and establishing a colony there. There are a multitude of technical and engineering hurdles to be overcome, but we think we can do it.
But the other side of the coin is the physiological hurdles to be overcome. Those may prove to be much more challenging to deal with. NASA’s twins study is poised to add an enormous amount of data to our growing body of knowledge on the effects of space travel on human beings.
Astronaut twins Scott and Mark Kelly are the basis of NASA’s study. Scott spent a year in space, returning to Earth on March 1st 2016, after spending 340 days aboard the ISS. Mark, himself a retired astronaut, remained on Earth during Scott’s year in space, providing a baseline for studying the effects on the human body of such a prolonged period of time away from Earth.
In February of 2016, NASA released preliminary results of the study. Now, the team studying the results of the twins study has started integrating the data. The way they’re doing this sets it apart from other studies.
“No one has ever looked this deeply at a human subject and profiled them in this detail.” – Tejaswini Mishra, Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine.
Typically, individual studies are released to appropriate journals more or less one at a time. But in the twins study, the data will be integrated and summarized before individual papers are published on separate themes. The idea is that taken together, their impact on our understanding of prolonged time in space will be much greater.
“The beauty of this study is when integrating rich data sets of physiological, neurobehavioral and molecular information, one can draw correlations and see patterns,” said Tejaswini Mishra, Ph.D., research fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine, who is creating the integrated database, recording results and looking for correlations. “No one has ever looked this deeply at a human subject and profiled them in this detail. Most researchers combine maybe two to three types of data but this study is one of the few that is collecting many different types of data and an unprecedented amount of information.”
“Each investigation within the study complements the other.” – Brinda Rana, Ph.D., U of C, San Diego School of Medicine
Mike Snyder, Ph.D, is the head of a team of people at Stanford that will work to synthesize the data. There are roughly three steps in the overall process:
Individual researchers in areas like cognition, biochemistry, and immunology will analyze and compile their data then share their results with the Stanford team.
The Stanford team will then further integrate those results into larger data sets.
Those larger data sets will then be reviewed and analyzed to confirm and modify the initial findings.
“There are a lot of firsts with this study and that makes it exciting,” said Brinda Rana, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry, University of California San Diego School of Medicine. “A comparative study with one twin in space and one on Earth has never been done before. Each investigation within the study complements the other.”
NASA compares the twins study, and the new integrated method of handling all the results, to conducting a symphony. Each study is like an instrument, and instead of each one playing a solo, they will be added into a greater whole. The team at Stanford is like the conductor. If you’ve ever listened to an orchestra, you know how powerful that can be.
“The human systems in the body are all intertwined which is why we should view the data in a holistic way,” said Scott M. Smith, Ph.D., NASA manager for nutritional biochemistry at the Johnson Space Center. He conducts biochemical profiles on astronauts and his research is targeted to specific metabolites, end products of various biological pathways and processes.
“It is a more comprehensive way to conduct research.” – Chris Mason, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of Physiology and Biophysics Weill Cornell Medicine
Chris Mason Ph.D., at Weill Cornell Medicine said, “Both the universe and the human body are complicated systems and we are studying something hard to see. It’s like having a new flashlight that illuminates the previously dark gears of molecular interactions. It is a more comprehensive way to conduct research.”
Scientists involved with the twins study are very clearly excited about this new approach. Having twin astronauts is an extraordinary opportunity, and will advance our understanding of spaceflight on human physiology enormously.
“There is no doubt, the learnings from integrating our data will be priceless,” said Emmanuel Mignot, M.D., Ph.D., director of Center for Sleep Science and Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. He studies the immune system and is enthusiastic to study specific immune cell populations because many of the other immune studies focus only on general factors.
A summary of the early results should be out by early 2018, or possible late 2017. Individual papers on more detailed themes will follow shortly.
These dark, narrow, 100 meter-long streaks called recurring slope lineae flowing downhill on Mars are inferred to have been formed by contemporary flowing water. Recently, planetary scientists detected hydrated salts on these slopes at Hale crater, corroborating their original hypothesis that the streaks are indeed formed by liquid water. The blue color seen upslope of the dark streaks are thought not to be related to their formation, but instead are from the presence of the mineral pyroxene. The image is produced by draping an orthorectified (Infrared-Red-Blue/Green(IRB)) false color image (ESP_030570_1440) on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the same site produced by High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (University of Arizona). Vertical exaggeration is 1.5. Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
NASA and Mars planetary scientists announced today (Sept. 28) that salty “liquid water flows intermittently” across multiple spots on the surface of today’s Mars – trumpeting a major scientific discovery with far reaching implications regarding the search for life beyond Earth and bolstering the chances for the possible existence of present day Martian microbes.
Utilizing spectroscopic measurements and imaging gathered by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), researchers found the first strong evidence confirming that briny water flows on the Red Planet today along dark streaks moving downhill on crater slopes and mountain sides, during warmer seasons.
“Mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past. Today we announce that under certain circumstances, liquid water has been found on Mars,” said Jim Green, NASA Planetary Science Director at NASA Headquarters, at a media briefing held today, Sept 28.
“When you look at Earth, water is an essential ingredient. Everywhere we go where there’s liquid water, whether its deep in the Earth or in the arid regions, we find life. This is tremendously exciting.”
“We haven’t been able to answer the question – does life exist beyond Earth? But following the water is a critical element of that. We now have great opportunities to be in the right locations on Mars to thoroughly investigate that,” Green elaborated.
“Water! Strong evidence that liquid water flows on present-day Mars,” NASA officials tweeted about the discovery.
The evidence comes in the form of the detection of mysterious dark streaks, as long as 100 meters, showing signatures of hydrated salt minerals periodically flowing in liquid water down steep slopes on the Red Planet that “appear to ebb and flow over time.”
The source of the water is likely from the shallow subsurface or possibly absorbed from the atmosphere.
Water is a key prerequisite for the formation and evolution of life as we know it. So the new finding significantly bolsters the chances that present day extant life could exist on the Red Planet.
“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
“This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”
“This increases the chance that life could exist on Mars today,” noted Grunsfeld.
The data were gathered by and the conclusions are based on using two scientific instruments – the high resolution imaging spectrometer on MRO known as High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), as well as MRO’s mineral mapping Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM).
The mysterious dark streaks of downhill flows are known as recurring slope lineae (RSL).
They were first detected in 2010 at dozens of sites on the sun facing slopes of deep craters by Lujendra Ojha, then a University of Arizona undergraduate student.
The new finding is highly significant because until today’s announcement, there was no strong evidence that liquid water could actually exist on the Martian surface because the atmospheric pressure was thought to be far too low – its less than one percent of Earth’s.
The flow of water is occasional and not permanent, seasonally variable and dependent on having just the right mix of atmospheric, temperature and surface conditions with salt deposits on Mars.
Portions of Mars were covered with an ocean of water billions of years ago when the planet was far warmer and more hospitable to life. But it underwent a dramatic climate change some 3 billion years ago and lost most of that water.
The RSL with flowing water appear in at least three different locations on Mars – including Hale crater, Horowitz crater and Palikir crater – when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius). They appear during warm seasons, fade in cooler seasons and disappear during colder times.
Pure surface water ice would simply sublimate and evaporate away as the temperature rises. Mixing in surface salts lowers the melting point of ice, thereby allowing the water to potentially liquefy on Mars surface for a certain period of time rather than sublimating rapidly away.
“These are dark streaks that form in late spring, grow through the summer and then disappear in the fall,” said Michael Meyer lead scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters, at the media briefing.
Years of painstaking effort and laboratory work was required to verify and corroborate the finding of flowing liquid water.
“It took multiple spacecraft over several years to solve this mystery, and now we know there is liquid water on the surface of this cold, desert planet,” said Meyer. “It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future.”
Along with the media announcement, the researchers published their findings today in a refereed scientific paper in the Sept. 28 issue of Nature Geoscience.
“We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks,” said Lujendra Ojha, now at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, and lead author of the Sept. 28 publication in Nature Geoscience.
The scientists “interpret the spectral signatures as caused by hydrated minerals called perchlorates.”
Ojha said the chemical signatures from CRISM were most consistent with the detection of mixtures of magnesium perchlorate, magnesium chlorate and sodium perchlorate, based on lab experiments.
“Some perchlorates have been shown to keep liquids from freezing even when conditions are as cold as minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 70 Celsius).”
Perchlorates have previously been detected in Martian soil by two of NASA’s surface missions – the Phoenix lander and the Curiosity rover. There is also some evidence that NASA’s Viking missions in the 1970s measured signatures of these salts.
On Earth concentration of perchlorates are found in deserts.
This also marks the first time perchlorates have been identified from Mars orbit.
So NASA astronaut Mark Kelly exclaimed that he was also super excited about the findings, from his perch serving as Commander aboard the International Space Station (ISS), where he is a member of the first ever “1 Year ISS Mission Crew” aimed at learning how the human body will adapt to the long term missions required to send astronauts to Mars and back.
“One reason why NASA’s discovery of liquid water on #Mars is so exciting: we know anywhere there’s water on Earth, there’s some form of life,” Kelly tweeted today from on board the ISS, upon hearing today’s news.
The discovery of liquid water on Mars could also be a boon to future astronauts who could use it as a natural resource to ‘live off the land’ for sustenance and to make rocket fuel.
“If going to Mars on my Year In Space, I’d arrive soon to find water! H20 > rocket fuel, which means I could find my way back home too!,” Kelly wrote on his Facebook page.
“When most people talk about water on Mars, they’re usually talking about ancient water or frozen water,” Ojha explained.
“Now we know there’s more to the story. This is the first spectral detection that unambiguously supports our liquid water-formation hypotheses for RSL.”
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
The first ever ‘One-Year Mission’ to the International Space Station (ISS) started with a bang today, March 27, with the spectacular night time launch of the Russian/American crew from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 3:42 p.m. EDT Friday (1:42 a.m., March 28 in Baikonur and culminated with a flawless docking this evening.
NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonauts Mikhail Kornienko and Gennady Padalka launched aboard a Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft to the International Space Station precisely on time today on the Expedition 43 mission.
The crew rocketed to orbit from the same pad as Russia’s Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.
Kelly and Kornienko will spend about a year living and working aboard the space station on the marathon mission. Padalka will remain on board for six months.
The goal is to use the massive orbiting outpost to provide critical knowledge to NASA and researchers hoping to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to long-duration spaceflight and the harsh environment of space.
The pathfinding mission is about double the normal time of most expeditions to the Earth orbiting space station, which normally last four to six months.
The one-year mission is among the first concrete steps to start fulfilling NASA’s “Journey to Mars” objective of sending “Humans to Mars” in the 2030s.
“Scott Kelly’s mission is critical to advancing the administration’s plan to send humans on a journey to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in a statement.
“We’ll gain new, detailed insights on the ways long-duration spaceflight affects the human body.”
This evening the three man international crew successfully rendezvous and docked at the ISS at the Poisk module at 9:33 p.m. EDT – just four orbits and six hours after liftoff.
‘Contact and capture confirmed, 1 year crew has arrived,’ said the NASA launch commentator Don Huot. “The one-year crew has arrived.”
“Soyuz is firmly attached to the ISS.”
Docking took place about 253 kilometers off the western coast of Colombia, South America approximately 5 hours and 51 minutes after today’s flawless launch from Baikonur.
The crews are scheduled to open the hatches between the Soyuz and ISS at about 11:15 p.m. EDT/315 GMT this evening after conducting pressure, leak and safety checks.
The arrival of Kelly, Kornienko and Padalka returns the massive orbiting outpost to its full six person crew complement.
The trio joins the current three person station crew comprising Expedition 43 commander Terry Virts of NASA, as well as flight engineers Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) and Anton Shkaplerov of Roscosmos, who have been aboard the complex since November 2014.
“Welcome aboard #Soyuz TMA-16M with Genna, Scott, and Misha- we just had a succesful docking,” tweeted Virts this evening post docking.
The 1 Year mission will provide baseline knowledge to NASA and its station partners – Roscosmos, ESA, CSA, JAXA – on how to prepare to send humans on lengthy deep space missions to Mars and other destinations in our Solar System.
A round-trip journey to Mars is likely to last three years or more! So we must determine how humans and their interactions can withstand the rigors of very long trips in space, completely independent of Earth.
Astronaut Scott Kelly will become the first American to live and work aboard the orbiting laboratory for a year-long mission and set a new American duration record.
Scott Kelly and Russian Cosmonauts Kornienko and Padalka are all veteran space fliers.
They have been in training for over two years since being selected in Nov. 2012.
No American has ever spent anywhere near a year in space. Four Russian cosmonauts – Valery Polyakov, Sergei Avdeyev, Vladimir Titov and Musa Manarov – conducted long duration stays of about a year or more in space aboard the Mir Space Station in the 1980s and 1990s.
Kelly and Kornienko will stay aboard the ISS until March 3, 2016, when they return to Earth on the Soyuz TMA-18M after 342 days in space. Kelly’s combined total of 522 days in space, will enable him to surpass current U.S. record holder Mike Fincke’s mark of 382 days.
Padalka will return in September after a six month stint, making him the world’s most experienced spaceflyer with a combined five mission total of 878 days in space.
They will conduct hundreds of science experiments focusing on at least 7 broad areas of investigation including medical, psychological and biomedical challenges faced by astronauts during long-duration space flight, as well as the long term effects of weightlessness and space radiation on the human body.
Another very unique science aspect of the mission involves comparative medical studies with Kelly’s identical twin brother, former NASA astronaut and shuttle commander Mark Kelly.
“They will participate in a number of comparative genetic studies, including the collection of blood samples as well as psychological and physical tests. This research will compare data from the genetically identical Kelly brothers to identify any subtle changes caused by spaceflight,” says NASA.
Scott Kelly is a veteran NASA Space Shuttle commander who has previously flown to space three times aboard both the Shuttle and Soyuz. He also served as a space station commander during a previous six-month stay onboard.
Good luck and Godspeed to Kelly, Kornienko and Padalka – starting humanity on the road to Mars !!
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and planetary science and human spaceflight news.
When planning for long-duration space travel, many people would think along the lines of not forgetting a towel or something of that nature. But we on Earth who are spoiled by the astounding pictures beamed from space must realize that even astronauts can get tired of looking at the same few walls for months at a time.
Scott Kelly is going to spend a year in space in 2015, and he highlighted boredom as one of the things he will need to fight against during his time on the International Space Station.
“There are things I will do a little bit differently with regards to pacing myself. You wouldn’t think this is true, but you do have to kind of stay entertained over that kind of period,” said Scott Kelly in a NASA interview late last week, which you can watch above.
“No matter how exciting that kind of things is, no matter how beautiful the Earth is, when you’re doing it for a year there is still the factor of trying to keep yourself engaged and interested.”
Kelly also highlighted some of the training challenges he will face being that he will be up there twice as long as the typical six-month space station mission. While it won’t take twice as long to do emergency training, he is required to do it with twice as many astronauts/cosmonauts because he will be working with four crews in space.
He also will train with two different Soyuz spacecraft commanders (which will add “complexity”, he noted) and have twice as much science to perform. That includes several “twin” studies where scientists will compare Kelly and his identical brother Mark, a four-time shuttle flyer who retired from the program in 2011.
Another lesson learned from his last six-month flight in 2010? “I know what I want to bring this time that I didn’t have last time,” Kelly said, although he didn’t elaborate on what those items are.
Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will begin their mission just under one year from now.
Identical twin astronauts, one headed to space for a year and the other happily at home. Imagine just how excited health researchers are by the prospect of this situation which yes, is happening for real. Scott Kelly is preparing to blast off on a lengthy mission to the International Space Station in 2015 while his retired twin, Mark, will serve as a control.
The 50-year-old men will do a suite of experiments before, during and after the mission to see how much (if at all) Scott’s body changes from his brother in the long term. This ranges from examining their DNA, to their vision, and even changes in the gut.
“These will not be 10 individual studies,” stated Craig Kundrot of NASA’s human research program at the Johnson Space Center. “The real power comes in combining them to form an integrated picture of all levels from biomolecular to psychological. We’ll be studying the entire astronaut.”
One experiment will examine telomeres, which NASA says are “molecular caps” that sit on the ends of human DNA. As the theory goes, these telomeres are affected in space by cosmic rays (high-energy particles originating from outside the solar system) — which could speed up the aging process. If Scott’s telomeres change after the mission, this could help determine if space is linked to rapid aging.
Another experiment asks how the immune system alters. “We already know that the human immune system changes in space. It’s not as strong as it is on the ground,” said Kundrot. “In one of the experiments, Mark and Scott will be given identical flu vaccines, and we will study how their immune systems react.”
Then there are experiments looking at gut bacteria that help digestion, seeking out how human vision changes, and even a phenomenon known as “space fog” — how some astronauts find themselves losing alertness in orbit.
Although the twins have inherent fascination for researchers and sociologists, the Kellys themselves have emphasized that to them, having an identical counterpart is something that always was.
“You know, a lot of times people would ask, ‘So what’s it like to be a twin?’ and … the response I would usually give is, ‘Well, what’s it like not to be a twin?’ I mean, it’s just, it is,” Mark added, to which Scott responded, “It’s more like … he’s my brother but we just happen to have the same birthday, to me.”
Scott will leave Earth with Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko in 2015 for the first one-year mission in space since a handful of lengthy stays on the former Russian space station, Mir, in the 1990s. Scott will serve as Expedition 43/44 flight engineer and have the distinction of commanding two space station missions, Expedition 45 and 46. (He also commanded Expedition 26 in 2010.)
Clocks are ticking down as the countdown enters the final phase before Monday morning’s liftoff (May 16) scheduled for 8:56 a.m. EDT from Pad 39 A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Endeavour was unveiled for blastoff earlier today as a protective cocoon like structure was pulled away from the shuttle stack. The Rotating Service Structure (RSS) was retracted from around the orbiter starting at 11:45 a.m. over about 45 minutes and under a gorgeous blue sky. See my photo album
In a lucky break, expected thunderstorms that could have delayed the retraction and launch preparations actually passed through the area overnight, much earlier than expected.
Shuttle managers will gather at 11 p.m. tonight for a critical meeting and decision to give the “Go-No Go” directive to load the External Fuel Tank with supercold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen fuel that powers the shuttle main engines for the eight and one half minute climb to orbit. The tanking process is scheduled to begin at 11:36 p.m.
There are no technical issues at this time that would prevent a launch. The weather outlook remains at “70 Percent GO”.
The goal of Endeavour and her all veteran six man crew is to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station. The $2 Billion AMS is a state of the art particle physics detector that will search for dark matter, dark energy and antimatter and seek to determine how the Universe was born and evolved.
The 134 mission is set to last 16 days and will feature the final 4 spacewalks of the space shuttle program.
The crew will wake up at 12 a.m. Monday. They depart for the launch pad shortly after 5 a.m.
Launch coverage begins on NASA TV tonight at 11:30 P.M. shortly before fueling commences:
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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Bio-based plastics from sustainable resources such as biomass are the best alternative to petroleum-based polymers because they provide solutions for reducing the general dependency on oil availability and environmental concerns about the use of common petroleum-based plastics. One bio-based plastic that has become an attractive alternative to petroleum-based polymers because of its physical properties (high stiffness, reasonable strength, excellent flavor and aroma barrier) and favorable degradation characteristics is poly(lactic acid) (PLA), a plastic that comes from fermented plant starch such as corn and sugar beets. Despite these attractive properties, PLA has relatively few commercial applications, concentrating mainly in textile and specialty biomedical niches such as sutures and drug delivery devices. Additionally, it is being used as a commodity polymer for packaging food and consumer goods where the physical properties of PLA make it suitable for manufacture of rigid containers and bottles. However, the widespread applicability of PLA in flexible sheets and films is limited because of its poor water and oxygen barrier properties, brittleness, lower impact resistance at room temperature, and narrow processing window. PLA has a very low melt strength as compared to other plastics currently in the market, making it difficult to melt-process. Additionally, the use of PLA films to package water and/or oxygen sensitive food products is avoided because of its poor barrier properties that can significantly shorten the products shelf life. All these factors greatly limit its applicability. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to overcome these difficulties in order to broaden the range of PLA commercial applications. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) have been shown to improve the barrier properties of polymer films. However, most of the research reported in the literature used solvent casting techniques (a batch process) instead of melt-processing (a continuous process). Melt-processing is industrially viable for processing many types of packaging materials, such as films, sheets, bottles or containers that are often melt-blown or molded. Essentially, no research has been reported on the barrier properties of melt-processed PLA and CNC nanocomposite materials. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the barrier properties of melt-processed PLA-CNC nanocomposites. The effects of CNC content and types on the water vapor, oxygen, and carbon dioxide transmission rates of extrusion-blown PLA/CNC films recorded at various temperatures and relative humidities were examined. Experimental results indicate that the addition of CNCs into PLA matrix through a melt processing approach improves the barrier properties of PLA due to the tortuosity effect induced by the nanoparticles. This implies that novel bio-based composites with improved barrier properties suitable for packaging applications could be developed by combining CNCs with poly(lactic) acid (PLA).
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Biotech, Biomaterials and Biomedical: TechConnect Briefs 2016
Published: May 22, 2016
Pages: 1 - 4
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Personal & Home Care, Food & Agriculture
Topics: Personal & Home Care, Food & Agriculture
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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POWER PLAY | Cheap electricity, a changing climate This is part of a series exploring how the world’s hunger for cheap electricity is complicating efforts to combat climate change.
ROTTERDAM — In this traffic-packed Dutch city, electric cars jostle for space at charging stations. The oldest exhaust-spewing vehicles will soon be banned from the city center. Thanks to generous tax incentives, the share of electric vehicles has grown faster in the Netherlands than in nearly any other country in the world.
But behind the green growth is a filthy secret: In a nation famous for its windmills, electricity is coming from a far dirtier source. Three new coal-fired power plants, including two here on the Rotterdam harbor, are supplying much of the power to fuel the Netherlands’ electric-car boom.
As the world tries to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and combat climate change, policymakers have pinned hopes on electric cars, whose range and convenience are quickly improving. Alongside the boom has come a surging demand for power to charge the vehicles, which can consume as much electricity in a single charge as the average refrigerator does in a month and a half.
The global shift to electric cars has a clear climate benefit in regions that get most of their power from clean sources, such as California or Norway. But in areas supplied by dirtier power, like China, India and even the Netherlands, which is on track to miss ambitious emissions targets set for 2020, the electric-car jump has slimmer payoffs. In some cases, it could even worsen the overall climate impact of driving, experts say.
The dilemma highlights the crucial importance of clean electricity in global goals to slash greenhouse-gas emissions, the focus of a December summit in Paris. Cutting transportation-
related emissions can help — but not if pollution is simply shifted from the tailpipes of cars to the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants, which generate 40 percent of the world’s electricity.
Amid revelations that Volkswagen faked the emissions of its supposedly clean diesel cars, even more hopes have been pinned on electric vehicles. Global sales are expected to more than double over the next decade.
“The overall emissions of electricity generation in Europe still haven’t gone down,” said Luc Werring, the former principal adviser to the European Commission on energy issues. “If you drive your car on mixed electricity, then you’re not reducing carbon as much as you’d expect.”
Driving electric cars, he said, “is not as positive as some would like.”
In Rotterdam, city leaders have been searching for ways to cut the smog that has long plagued the gridlocked center, where skyscrapers jostle with low, postwar office blocks. Generous Dutch tax incentives have cut the cost of electric vehicles, and the high cost of gasoline — nearly $7 a gallon — has also spurred more people to buy the cars, making the country second only to Norway in terms of percentage of electric vehicles on the road. Four percent of all cars sold in the Netherlands last year were electric.
And starting next year, Rotterdam will ban from its city center all gasoline cars built before mid-1992 and diesels built before 2001.
Drivers say they appreciate knowing that they’re doing something positive for the environment, even as they contend with having to adopt a new driving style.
“You get more relaxed. You don’t want to push down too hard because that will really drain your battery,” said Paul van den Hurk, an electric-vehicle consultant who drives a Nissan Leaf, an electric car with a range of about 85 miles. “You can listen to the music on your stereo because you don’t hear the roar of your engine.”
In many ways, the Netherlands could be an ideal home for electric cars: The country is densely populated and smaller than West Virginia. The best vehicles can now cross the nation on a single charge. Tesla, the California-based manufacturer of high-end electric cars, has made the Netherlands its European beachhead, opening a new factory in the central city of Tilburg in September, where vehicles are assembled for the company’s growing European market.
For now, the plant is putting out 90 vehicles a day, whose prices can run well over $100,000, but it could triple that production rate. In a high-profile endorsement, 200 of the taxis that serve Amsterdam’s airport are now Teslas, and the city wants to convert its entire taxi fleet to electric within the next decade.
But for all the efforts both locally and nationally, the Netherlands will blow past its 2020 emissions targets, the result of the new coal-fired power plants and delays in expanding wind power. Two of the new coal-fired plants are in Rotterdam’s port, where their tall smokestacks belch exhaust across the city.
“People say we are Joe Windmill, but we missed the boat in developing wind energy,” said Jacques de Jong, a former Dutch energy regulator who is now a senior fellow at the Hague-based Clingendael International Energy Program. Dutch authorities are scrambling to catch up, but they face stiff resistance from local residents who dismiss the windmills as unsightly.
Rotterdam’s grid operator says that it faces a challenge with the increase in electric cars, even as it encourages their use. Household electricity demand will rise as the vehicles spread. The amount of electricity the vehicles will need will increase by 50 percent by 2023, according to government projections, although it is still just a fraction of the overall consumption of the country.
Electricity generated from renewable sources is increasing in the Netherlands, but with overall demand for electricity rising, the percentage of coal-generated electricity is staying stubbornly high. Coal provided 29 percent of the country’s electricity last year, and it spiked even higher this year. Dutch government forecasts expect coal to provide about the same amount of electricity in 2030 as it did in 2014.
Amid a surge in U.S. coal exports, the dirtiest fuel is so cheap that it is upending European attempts to switch to cleaner sources of electricity.
“There was a discussion going on to shut down the coal generators, and that’s over. The coal price is too low,” said Marko Kruithof, the manager of sustainability and innovation at Stedin, the grid operator for Rotterdam and much of the region surrounding it.
In Rotterdam, Stedin has helped build thousands of charging points for electric cars. A charge-up for a Tesla costs about $20, and that gives it a 250-mile range. It’s much cheaper than driving a gasoline-powered car.
Proponents believe electric cars are on the verge of a breakthrough that would significantly reduce their cost while extending their range. Chevrolet, Nissan and other manufacturers say they will soon roll out cars that could travel up to 200 miles on a single charge, the distance that many analysts believe is necessary to broaden their appeal beyond a niche market. Tesla, whose cars already exceed that range, plans in 2017 to start producing a model aimed at the mass market that would cost $35,000.
Advocates think that because the vehicles store energy in their batteries, they could one day play a useful role in smoothing out the surges in the grid caused by the increased use of wind and solar energy, which provide electricity only when the sun shines or the wind blows. But those clean-
electricity sources will need to grow simultaneously for the climate impact to be positive.
“In electric vehicles, you cannot decouple the car from the electricity generation,” said Paul Nieuwenhuis, co-director of the Electric Vehicle Center of Excellence at Cardiff University. “If we don’t manage the demand, we would need to build more power stations to deal with it.”
In the United States, where a natural gas boom has helped push down emissions from the power sector, the potential climate benefits of electric cars vary widely depending on the cleanliness of the electricity mix.
In coal-fired Colorado, a gasoline car with fuel economy better than 35 miles per gallon will be better for emissions than the average electric car, according to calculations from the Union of Concerned Scientists. In hydropowered Upstate New York, in contrast, the same gas car would need to achieve 135 miles per gallon. In the Washington region, the figure stands between 63 and 68 miles per gallon.
On average in the United States, at least in major markets, electric cars would offer an improvement on carbon emissions, said Nic Lutsey, program director at the International Council on Clean Transportation. “It seems that on the whole, the carbon footprint will only get better,” he said, because efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas production in electric power plants are moving forward more rapidly than electric-car production.
But environmentalists look at other regions with mixed feelings. The biggest market in the world is China. Sales of electric cars nearly tripled there between January and August compared with a year earlier, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Chinese leaders have embraced electric cars as a way of cleaning up cities that have some of the worst air quality in the world. But the Chinese electricity market is heavily dependent on coal; the pollution is simply being taken from the centers of cities and moved to their outskirts.
Amid the mixed picture for electric cars, some environmentalists say that money spent on them might be better directed elsewhere.
“The economics do not make sense to push more electric vehicles onto the market” to improve the climate, said John DeCicco, a professor at the University of Michigan Energy Institute. He said that attention might be better focused on making conventional combustion engines more efficient.
“There’s a movement toward cleaner energy, but it’s not there yet,” said Hugo de Bruijn, a sustainable mobility adviser in Rotterdam. “From an energy perspective, it’s not ideal.”
This article has been updated to reflect newer figures comparing the emissions of gasoline-powered cars and electric cars in various parts of the United States, as compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Read more from this series:
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Strong reasoning
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Transportation
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On Friday, August 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the coast of Texas. Within a week, the Houston area was subjected to an estimated 24.5 trillion gallons of rain, submerging 30 percent of Harris County. The storm itself was a lethal combination of competing weather systems, bringing the storm to a standstill over the coast of Texas, and triggering a 1-in-1,000 year flood.i To be clear, any city, no matter how well-prepared, would have been overwhelmed by Harvey, but it was Houston’s old and aging infrastructure that left it uniquely exposed.
The “Bayou City” of Houston sits precariously on old swamp land, at sea level, just 40 miles from the coastline. A web of bayous dissects the city’s center, which is surrounded by miles of impervious concrete. Due to the city’s location and topography, it has a long history of massive floods. Recent floods in 2015 and 2016 caused $1 billion in damages from flooding 16,000 buildings, and in 2001, Tropical Storm Allison caused 22 deaths and $5 billion in flood damage. A lack of both zoning regulationsii and regional coordination have increased the area’s susceptibility to flood damage by allowing extremely rapid expansion, including atop dangerous floodplains. As the city has doubled in population over the last 30 years, so has the number of highways, roads, parking lots, and buildings, with minimal attempts at environmental mitigation. With unrestrained development, the sprawl of concrete crept further and further out, covering over previously absorbent land. The city’s current flood management infrastructure of canals, ditches, and retention ponds are nearly a century old, and designed for small scale flood prevention. This combination of smothering layers of concrete, insufficient infrastructure, and a flood-prone location, has left the city highly vulnerable to catastrophic storms.
As Texas mourns the loss of life, aids those who have been displaced, and secures dangerous chemical plants, questions will naturally turn towards preventing this disaster from happening again. Climate change is increasing the occurrence of severe weather events. Hurricane Harvey is Houston’s third major flood in the past three years. If Harvey is a glimpse into the future of weather, Houston and cities around the world will need to develop more resilient infrastructure for stormwater management. Several cities in the United States have started to develop innovative solutions to both mitigate the damage from regularly occurring storms and help lower the impact of a cataclysmic deluge.
To properly manage stormwater, cities must first solve the concrete problem. Traditional city infrastructure primarily relies on storm drains to prevent flooding. When storms occur, the rainwater pools on concrete surfaces until it reaches a storm drain, where it is ushered through a series of tunnels, potentially a treatment and filter system, and discharged into a nearby body of water. This discharge can cause severe environmental problems, as the water pulls grime, pollutants, and trash from the street and flushes it downstream. And, as seen in Houston, when concrete is all there is, this system can also be easily overwhelmed by large rain events. Federal law requires cities to manage stormwater to minimize pollutants being carried into waterways; this provides an opportunity to design systems that can also withstand record-setting storms.
To mitigate both the pollution (as required by the federal stormwater regulations) and minimize the risk of flooding, cities have begun to develop a suite of “green” and “gray” infrastructure solutions, from gardens to mega-construction projects. On the mega side, North Dakota and Minnesota are building a $2.2 billion flood diversion project with the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent flooding in the Fargo-Moorhead area by redirecting flood water through 30 miles of channels. Also in the Midwest, in compliance with federal requirements on restricting combined sewer overflows, Chicago is currently constructing the $4 billion Deep Tunnel, also known by its bureaucratic name, the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan, or TARP. When completed in 2029, Deep Tunnel will connect 109 miles of tunnel with three massive reservoirs that can contain a combined 20.6 billion gallons of water.
Smaller scale solutions can also effectively mitigate the concrete problem. In parallel to the Deep Tunnel, Chicago has joined Philadelphia and others in installing permeable pavement that allows rain water to be absorbed, rather than being redirected to storm drains. Alleys, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots all represent opportunities to install porous surfaces to reduce the risk of flooding. Additionally, low-cost and low-impact solutions like parks, bioswales, and green rooftops can use nature to our advantage by absorbing water and acting as natural filters. Philadelphia has gone as far as implementing a pair of incentive programs that provide grants to homeowners and businesses to construct stormwater retrofits. To pay for such efforts, Washington, D.C., has created an innovative financing tool by issuing the nation’s first environmental impact bond, which will finance the development of a series of permeable pavement projects, raingardens, and rain barrel systems.
A crucial step of the recovery from Hurricane Harvey must include similar preventive measures, at both the mega and micro scale. Houston’s topography and location guarantee that more floods will occur, but the Harris County Flood Control District currently only spends $100 million per year, a pittance compared to the projected $26 billion needed to widen the bayous, which is only part of a robust long-term flood control plan. However, even with a dramatic investment in stormwater management, completely avoiding damage from storms the size of Hurricane Harvey is not realistic. Even Chicago’s massive Deep Tunnel storage system would have been overrun by the trillions of gallons of rain. But by combining a full suite of these green and gray infrastructure solutions, cities can prevent damage from smaller storms and lessen the impact of disastrous ones.
iThe 100-year, 500-year, and 1,000-year flood categories are actually misleading metrics that are based on probability, which is changing with the climate. Vox’s Dara Lind provides a detailed explanation of the metric here.
iiZoning policy is a delicate balance for urban planners. Strict zoning regulations can stifle development and drive up housing costs, leading to flood-susceptible sprawl, while in their absence, overdevelopment can occur, which may neglect environmental protections and create development within dangerous flood plains.
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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You planted your tomatoes and potatoes, and they started out just fine. At some point in the season, however, they developed large, irregularly shaped, greasy gray spots or even soft rot. These are symptoms of late blight, a serious plant affliction that led to the Irish Potato Famine. Although plants infected with late blight tend to die quickly, you will probably be able to salvage some tomatoes and potatoes before the plants are gone. Are they safe to eat? Can you still store them? Should you risk replanting next year? Here are some answers.
Late blight is a fungus-like disease that can impact both tomatoes and potatoes. While it typically occurs late in the season (as its name implies), it can strike at any time. Not only does the pathogen destroy the fruits of the plant it infects, but it can also spread very quickly and widely. Late blight can overwinter, meaning that even after a cold frost it can still return the following year if the plants and soil containing the pathogen are not removed. Because it is carried by spores, late blight can travel long distances. If you do determine that your plants have been infected, it's a good idea to contact your Cooperative Extension Service to let them know. There's a good chance that your infection came from another local source, or that your plants' infection will affect others.
Saving Affected Foods to Eat
If you managed to salvage some tomatoes or potatoes before your plants succumbed to late blight, they are probably safe to eat. Plant diseases don’t affect people. According to Meg McGrath, Assoc. Professor in Plant Pathology at Cornell University, “Parts with symptoms likely do not pose a health risk when consumed either, but they do not look appetizing and will have an off-flavor. However, no published scientific study on this specific issue was found to confirm this conclusion, therefore consumers need to make their own decision on food safety.” Many frugal gardeners simply cut off the affected portions and enjoy the rest.
One interesting note McGrath makes is that the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning says you shouldn’t use diseased tomatoes for canning because it can raise the pH of otherwise acidic tomatoes high enough to allow bacteria or other spoilers to grow. It can also affect the flavor, so choose only your freshest, healthiest tomatoes to preserve.
Tomato diseases like to stick around from year to year, but late blight needs living tissue to survive. Drying, saving and using seeds from tomatoes infected with late blight is fine. However, it’s still smart to plant your tomatoes in a different section of your garden and to clean up all affected foliage and leftover fruits in the fall. Throw them away, don’t compost.
Potatoes are another story. Since potatoes are still alive when you store them, they could harbor the disease. Eat and enjoy your potatoes this winter. Growing underground, their taste is probably unaffected. Just be sure you don’t leave any potatoes in the garden over winter and start with fresh seed potatoes in the spring.
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Moderate reasoning
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Home & Hobbies
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It’s generally accepted that Jack Kerouac created the term ‘Beat Generation‘ in a 1948 conversation with novelist John Clellon Holmes, who went on to write a New York Times article about it, ‘This Is The Beat Generation.’ This is true, but it doesn’t explain what the term ‘Beat’ actually meant.
In fact the original word meant nothing more than ‘bad’ or ‘ruined’ or ‘spent.’ We all use the word this way. When somebody is trying to get one last hit out of a bowl of weed and there’s nothing but ashes left, you say ‘Don’t bother, it’s beat.’ Or when you’re tired: ‘I’m beat.’ There’s beaten-down, beaten-up and beaten-out. The connotation is defeat, resignation, disappointment.
That kind of beatness is what Kerouac was describing in himself and his friends, bright young Americans who’d come of age during the Second World War but couldn’t fit in as clean-cut soldiers or complacent young businessmen. They were ‘beat’ because they didn’t believe in straight jobs and had to struggle to survive, living in dirty apartments, selling drugs or committing crimes for food money, hitchhiking across the country because they couldn’t stay still without getting bored. The phrase ‘Beat Generation’ was meant to echo Ernest Hemingway’s description of his own crowd (which came of age during the First World War) as the ‘Lost Generation,’ a phrase Hemingway picked up from an off-hand remark made by Gertrude Stein.
But the term ‘beat’ has a second meaning: ‘beatific’ or sacred and holy. Kerouac, a devout Catholic, explained many times that by describing his generation as beat he was trying to capture the secret holiness of the downtrodden. In fact, this is probably the most central theme in Kerouac’s work (think of the saintly hobos and lonely truck drivers of ‘On The Road‘ and ‘The Dharma Bums‘).
On April 2, 1958, after the ‘Beat Craze’ had influenced a flood of alienated young men and women to converge on the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote a column in which he created the term ‘Beatnik.’ The ‘nik’ suffix evoked Yiddish slang (“nudnik”, etc.) but was actually borrowed from ‘Sputnik,’ a satellite that had just been launched by the Soviet Union, striking fear into the hearts of many Communist-fearing Americans.
‘Beatnik’ was a perjorative term, of course. Maynard Krebs on the ‘Dobie Gillis Show’ was a beatnik, but he was never Beat.
While ‘Beat’ connoted hobos and exhausted proletarians, the term ‘Hip’ came from ‘Hipster,’ which referred to the fancy-dressing, drug-and-drink-addled sex-fiend characters that hung around Times Square at night. Kerouac and Neal Cassady and William S. Burroughs were all fascinated with hipsters, and they even included a true degenerate hipster in their crowd, Burroughs’ junkie friend Herbert Huncke, who appears as Hassel in ‘On The Road’ and Herman in ‘Junky.’ Allen Ginsberg tips his hat to ‘angel-headed hipsters’ in his poem ‘Howl.’ It seems there were two ways to be beat in this era: the country-mouse beatnik could be a hobo, hopping freight cars and sleeping in parks, but the city-mouse beatnik had to play the part of hipster to survive.
I don’t know the derivation of the term ‘Hipster’ (hey, what am I, fucking William Safire over here?), but I could make a totally uninformed guess that it originally referred to hip flasks — that is, that a ‘hipster’ carried liquor on his hip instead of hidden in his boot like a ‘bootlegger.’ I may be totally wrong here, though. I’ve also heard that ‘hip’ started with ‘hep,’ which would mean that my hip flask theory is wrong, and I have no idea where ‘hep’ came from. I’ve heard that Ken Kesey has a theory that the word came from Chinese opium smokers who reclined on their hips while they smoked. I’ve also heard that the word comes from West Africa via the Gullah dialect spoken in the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. A hipicat denotes a person attuned to his environment, literally with ‘eyes open.’ Somebody else emailed me that it comes from the military-march utterance “Hup!” as in “Hup-two-three-four,” but I don’t get what the connection would be here.
In any case, ‘hip’ turned to ‘hippie’ just as ‘beat’ had turned to ‘beatnik.’ I’m sure there’s a lot more to be said about these etymological matters — please contribute any ideas or knowledge you may have.
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Strong reasoning
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Literature
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The tools of politics have been greatly changed by technology during the last decade. How people communicate has changed dramatically as well, with email and cell phones, Blackberrys, iPhones and all else.
But even with the election of Barack Obama as POTUS -- a moderate-center-liberal Democrat -- the power centers of politics in the USA has not really been changed by the Internet. It is still Democrats and Republicans.
Fifty years from now will the discussions in political science classes be: Why has the Digital Age and the Internet failed to produce any great change in Democracy?
Or: Why was it watershed for better Democracy in the United States (and/or other nations)?
There are also those who assert that Democracy will loose out ---and is loosing out--- to the Globalization of the Government and Corporate Techno-Powers. Seeing the distribution of academic and political information, news and views on the Web as dominated by a few mega-corporations some believe the question political-science students will be asked on exams is: “Why and how has the Internet changed democracy for the worst?”
Richard Davis, a Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University, in his book The Web of Politics rightly points out that “each innovation in mass communications” instead of creating new power centers, has simply reinforced the existing Government and media power structures. Davis highlights how the hope of television as a positive force of democratization was torpedoed by the enactment of the of the Equal Time Provision (ETP) by Congress during the 1950’s. Because the ETP required broadcasters to give “equal access” for free time, but not equal access for paid time, broadcasters limited the amount of free time they allowed to be accessed. With their money Republican and Democratic campaigns could easily buy political advertisements, but smaller third-parties who generally lack substantial funds became all but locked out of television till today. Even high profile third-party candidates such as Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader could not directly debate with Democrat Al Gore and Republican George Bush during the 2000 presidential election, nor could they get their campaigns the broadcast publicity needed to make a serious run. The ETP instead of adding to the diversity of public discourse has just galvanized the status quo with American television politics becoming dominated by Democrats and Republicans.
A similar situation is developing with the Internet. Democrats and Republicans are co-opting the Internet into an overall political strategy and are doing with the Web as they did with television in dominating the election campaign dialogue of the medium. Cyber-space has of yet to cause a mushrooming of alternative political parties and candidates in the United States.
Nor have the sources of mass news consumption been changed by the Internet age. The most trafficked Internet news sites are dominated by the same broadcast and print media giants that have ruled the airwaves and news-stands for the past generation. According to Jupiter Media Metrix a website ratings group, the September 2001 -- which as you see are basically unchanged now in 2009--- ratings of Internet news sites showed the top 10 to be:
5] New York Times.com
8] Slate.com (which is a division MSNBC)
So as of today in 2009 -- and as in 2002 when this just above was first posted ---the Digital Internet Age has not produced any major change in the sources of news and views nor a diversification of electoral and political issue discourse in the Untied States, and as you shall read throughout this blog , in my humble opinion, the Internet does not at all seem poised to facilitate the forming of any major new political parties in the USA anytime in the near future.
So as to our question as to whether the Digital Age is good or bad for American democracy; it as of now seems to be a big sum zero impact.
For while the Political Spheres that make up the USA's body politic have incorperated the Internet & Digital Technologies into them, they are still basically the same political ball they were ten or twenty or even thirty years ago.
Now, though , if President Barak Obama can use the internet to harness the power of the people, to help forward his agenda, then we will see what will be the "Obama-TechonoPolitical Impact" on politics in the USA.
Because when the POTUS has a Blackberry --that won't leave his hands--- we are now in a whole new TechnoPolitical world.
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Strong reasoning
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Politics
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Four Ways to Read the Book of Revelation
The book of Revelation can be difficult to understand, and Christians disagree on how to interpret the visions presented in its pages. In this brief clip, R.C. Sproul summarizes four of the leading approaches to interpreting the last book of the Bible.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to enjoy trustworthy Bible teaching each week.
The four basic approaches to the book of Revelation—and these are not the only approaches—but the four basic ones that compete with each other for acceptance are what we would call the “preterist” view, the second is the “futurist” view, the third is the “historicist” view and the fourth is the “idealist” view. Now these represent four clearly distinctive approaches to interpreting the last book of the New Testament. And briefly, the differences are these. The preterist view interprets the book of Revelation as basically already having been already fulfilled in the past. It interprets the book of Revelation as dealing substantively with events that were near at hand and took place within the confines of the first century, most chiefly the destruction of Jerusalem in seventy AD with the dispersion of the Jews into all of the world. The futurist view sees the book of Revelation as a blueprint for a series of events that will precede the future return of Jesus. And so, for the most part, the futurists believe that the things that are recorded for us in the book of Revelation have not yet taken place, at least from chapter six thorough the rest of the book. The historicist view, or the “historical chronology” view teaches that the book of Revelation starts with that its immediate concern in the first century with the local churches that had been established. But beginning at chapter six and going through the rest of the book, what we see is a pattern of a description of events that take place at various periods through world history, so that you have a schematic approach to the whole of church history. And the fourth approach is the idealist view, which sees that the book is basically symbolic, and it talks about periods of conflict and resolution that take place all the time in the history of the church, and the book is not designed to give us a chronology of specific events that will take place at specific times, but rather to communicate the fundamental message of the triumph of the gospel and of Christ’s kingdom in times of conflict and persecution. So, you can imagine how one approaches the book of Revelation in one of these systems that will give a significantly different understanding of the message of the book.
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Strong reasoning
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Religion
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Greensboro Montessori School partners with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to use Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Growth assessments. MAP Growth is a computer-adaptive test for measuring individual student achievement and growth in math, reading, and language usage.
We've chosen MAP Growth because it is a student-centric approach to standardized testing. Unlike paper and pencil tests, where all students are asked the same questions and spend a fixed amount of time taking the test, MAP Growth is an adaptive test. That means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions. At the end of each test, teachers are able to determine what individual students know and are ready to learn next.
Unlike traditional standardized tests, MAP Growth testing is administered twice a year, enabling us to measure our students' individual growth over time. Teachers may also use test results to further inform instruction, personalize learning, and monitor student growth.
While we are not a test-driven school, we know test taking is a practical life skill students need in preparation for high school and college. MAP Growth tests are one form of assessment we use, in conjunction with other methodologies of formative and summative assessment given throughout the school year.
About MAP Growth
No. As a computer-adaptive assessment, MAP Growth will provide questions to test the upper limits of your child's skills. Every student will miss questions. The MAP Growth guides suggest that students should expect to miss 40-60% of their questions.
There is no particular score for which students should aim. Instead, your child's individual MAP Growth Report will contain a RIT score. This score represents their achievement level at the time they took the test. As a partner in your child's education, we are less concerned one-time scores and will focus more attention on students' growth measures between assessments.
During MAP Growth
After MAP Growth
Preparing for MAP Growth Assessments
There is nothing families need "to do" in preparation for a MAP Growth test. We encourage families to follow the child – provide the level of support they need to feel successful. This could vary between treating an assessment day like any normal school day to practicing questions on a sample to get comfortable with the format, to talking with your child about the practical life skill of testing (i.e., tests are part of education and you should do your best, and you should not worry or stress over tests).
If you'd like to provide a strong framework for your child before and during a test, we have these tips:
The Night Before
- Relax and have fun.
- Enjoy a healthy snack an hour before bedtime.
- Get a good night's sleep.
The Morning of the Test
- Fill up on healthy, complex carbs and protein.
- Arrive at school on time.
- Connect with a friend or teacher if you have pretest jitters.
During the Test
- Take three deep breaths.
- If you don't know the answer, give your best guess and move on.
As they do every spring, Greensboro Montessori School's Junior High students recently engaged in their final Great Debate of the year in history. Students addressed and argued both sides of two debates. The first questioned whether the purposes of government are best served by an authoritarian approach. The second questioned whether the primary role of a government should be to meet the needs of its people. The debates provide Junior High students the opportunity to argue in a logical and clearly defined manner.
While The Great Debates are usually hosted in the classroom, this year's final debates were argued virtually through Google Hangouts. 57 participants, including students from both Junior High and Upper Elementary, attended the event, deepening their understanding of many forms of government and economic systems, including authoritarian, capitalist, communist, and socialist.
How the Debates Work
Teams of two or three students are given their topic in advance, but they do not learn which side they are on, for or against, until the morning of the debate. As a result, they must analyze and evaluate both sides and research and compile points and examples supporting both arguments. Each student writes two formal position papers, one for each side of the argument. This helps them broaden their thinking and mental flexibility.
The debates follow a modified version of standard debate procedure, with an opening argument, sometimes shared by two teammates; time for preparation of rebuttal; and then closing arguments and rebuttal, by the remaining member of the team. Faculty members observe, discuss and provide extensive oral feedback to the teams about the debate.
How Topics are Selected
The topics of the debates are drawn from subject matter the students have discussed in history classes during the preceding several weeks. Students are encouraged to go beyond the class discussions in gathering information and building their arguments.
The process allows students to go beyond what they have learned and apply it to larger questions, to develop their reasoning and ability to build and support logical arguments, and to gain confidence and develop greater precision in presenting their thoughts persuasively.
How We Learn
As Junior High students move into and through adolescence, it’s imperative they receive authentic support for their burgeoning philosophical questioning, curiosity in the world around them, and deep desire for belonging within their peer group. Greensboro Montessori School honors these needs through the concept of valorization, which is a pillar of our Junior High curriculum.
Valorization is the process of understanding you are a strong and worthy person. It is the process of self-actualization and fulfillment. It is not about surviving hours of arbitrary homework or memorizing facts for the next test. It’s about completing meaningful work, unleashing academic excellence, and solving real-world problems.
The Great Debates are just one example of how Greensboro Montessori School students experience valorization by developing self-worth, skills, and courage through purpose-filled work. Learn more about how we build valorization through our science curriculum in our recent blog about Trout in the (Indoor, Outdoor, and Virtual) Classroom.
If you are interested in learning more about Greensboro Montessori School's student-centered Upper School serving motivated learners in fourth to ninth grades, we encourage you to schedule a virtual information session. We welcome an opportunity to meet you, learn more about your family, and explore Greensboro Montessori School could partner with your family.
After a long day away from our children, we parents are eager to hear all the details about how they have spent their time. However, so often our queries of “What did you do today?” are met with the same predictable response: “Nothing.” For children, distilling the many details and experiences of a full day at school into an anecdote or two is a tall order. What tools can we use to get them talking about their learning?
Through the Vidigami private photo sharing platform, you get to see moments of your child’s day at school. Viewing photos of your child engaged with Montessori materials can inspire great conversations. Children, especially those younger than five, are not yet able to summarize and describe the many things they experience over the course of a full and stimulating school day. However, photos offer visual cues that trigger a child’s memories and invite them to comment on specific materials and activities. There are many different ways to talk about these photos with your child, and we've provided some suggestions, which focus on your child's intrinsic motivation. Enjoy these special conversations as you allow them to teach you what they are learning at school.
- Ask your child to tell you about the photo. You may learn what they see in the classroom, or what they remember about the moment, and it may be much more than meets the eye.
- Say what you see without judgement. “I notice you are in the classroom.” “Do you know the name of that work?” “There are a lot of colors in your drawing.”
- Speak about their efforts instead of praising their product. “You really look like you are concentrating.” “Is that the first time you have done that work?” “I see your smile. What did you like about that work?” “Are you building with those blocks?”
Listening to your child talk about the photos and speaking without judgement encourages your child's intrinsic motivation – it allows them to continue to work for their own sake, rather than for any praise from adults. As Montessori teachers, we get to witness this intrinsic motivation every day. It looks different at each age grouping and is a critical element to Montessori education. Many elements of the method foster intrinsic motivation without reward and judgement, such as control of error in the materials, allowing for repetition, assessment through observation, and relying on peers as sources of feedback and inspiration. Teachers try never to interrupt a concentrating child or judge their work. Instead, they seek opportunities for meaningful conversations before or after a student's work cycle.
As Montessori observed children, she saw time and time again the intrinsic motivation in the child to work through repetition for long, uninterrupted periods of time. In a book that examines Montessori’s relevance to today’s educational practices, "The Science Behind the Genius," Angeline Lillard refers to several current research studies confirming that rewards and punishments not only negatively impact intrinsic motivation, but also how a student performs on the task. Traditional reward methods used in most schools may actually hinder a child’s performance. Given the opportunity, children are capable of learning to take personal responsibility for their actions.
“Like others I had believed that it was necessary to encourage a child by means of some exterior reward that would flatter his baser sentiments … in order to foster in him a spirit of work and of peace. And I was astonished when I learned that a child who is permitted to educate himself really gives up these lower instincts.” – Dr. Maria Montessori
As a Montessori school, we believe deeply in educating the whole child: their academic, psychological, critical-thinking, moral, and social-emotional selves. In addition to the academic lessons and works your children are engaged in daily, our teachers and staff are also guiding your child through other very important lessons to help them with their moral and social-emotional development. For example, teachers give explicit lessons related to grace and courtesy, facilitate discussions at the peace table, and encourage collaborative work and play daily.
And, it turns out, research from our School confirms that we are doing this pretty well …
The Gratitude Project
We recently worked with Professor Jonathan Tudge and his team from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro ("UNCG") to study the development of gratitude as a virtue. As a virtue, gratitude goes beyond a positive feeling when something good happens. Virtuous gratitude is a disposition to act gratefully when someone else does something nice for you. Dr. Tudge explained it to me this way: “Saying 'thank you' is polite, but hardly a virtue. What makes gratitude a virtue is when beneficiaries of good deeds or significant help want to do something back for their benefactor if they have the chance to do so. That first act of generosity, followed by grateful reciprocity, leads to building or strengthening connections among people.”
In previous cross-cultural research, Dr. Tudge and his team found that most children develop this type of gratitude between the ages of 9 and 13, although the age differed depending on the cultural context. In their study, children in the United States developed virtuous gratitude at later ages than other cultures. Keeping this in mind, Dr. Tudge decided to target a new intervention designed to encourage the development of gratitude within adolescents.
Dr. Tudge and his team came to our School to explore this intervention. After working with our Upper School students, they stumbled upon a ‘good’ problem with their research: far more Greensboro Montessori School students exhibited virtuous gratitude than they expected. Our Upper Elementary and Junior High students expressed gratitude at much higher rates (67%) than did children in non-Montessori settings in the United States (46%). In addition, our students were almost twice as likely to express autonomous moral obligation (79%) than were children in non-Montessori schools (44%). Defined originally by Jean Piaget, autonomous moral obligation is a decision-making framework whereby moral decisions are made based on intrinsic motivations to do the right thing.
Dr. Tudge and his team were puzzled by these anomalous findings. Why did our students score higher than other American children, even when compared to other well-regarded private schools in the Greensboro area? And how are these findings related to Montessori pedagogy and culture?
Gratitude in the Montessori Classroom
In our discussions with Dr. Tudge, we discussed the way Montessori teachers prepare the environment to communicate honor, respect, and gratitude to the child. We also described the ways in which our teachers model gratitude and respect when they speak and interact with their students. In time, this becomes our students' definition of "how it's supposed to be.” In addition, we delineated how our grace and courtesy curriculum creates both a framework for community interactions and a schoolwide culture of character.
In collaboration with Dr. Tudge and his team, I presented the results from our Upper School students’ involvement with Dr. Tudge's gratitude study at the Association for Moral Education’s annual conference in Seattle, Washington.
In the presentation, we hypothesized that our students' high rates of gratitude could be due to several specific tenets of Montessori philosophy:
- Specific lessons about grace and courtesy provide explicit guidance on character development from a young age.
- Daily practice of grace and courtesy increase opportunities for proximal processes related to virtue development.
- Mixed age groupings of children may expose younger children to older children are further along in virtue development.
- Peer interactions encouraged from toddlerhood may increase opportunities for the development of mutual respect.
Dr. Tudge and his team also did some work with our Lower Elementary students. Tudge’s team again noted that so many of even these younger children (aged 6 to 9) expressed virtuous gratitude. Dr. Tudge reflected: “We think that this must say something about the character-based focus of the general Montessori curriculum, because a far greater proportion of Greensboro Montessori School children expressed gratitude than elsewhere.”
Character Education at Greensboro Montessori School
Overall, the results suggest that a Montessori environment is conducive to developing virtuous gratitude and autonomous moral obligation. These results – while surprising and interesting to the UNCG team and other researchers and educators at the Association for Moral Education conference – are not really that surprising to us. Focusing on strong character education is a key tenet of Greensboro Montessori School. A deep respect towards classmates and other people is so integral to our culture that it's not that surprising our Elementary and Junior High students authentically take their sense of gratitude to a level beyond just saying “thank you.”
If you were lucky enough to be at Greensboro Montessori School last Thursday night, or with us via the livestream, you were treated to quite a show! Simply put: our fourth, fifth, and sixth graders' 17th annual Fare Faire production, “Back to Families Feudal,” was fantastic: high-quality, well-researched, technically sound, aesthetically powerful, and laugh-out-loud funny.
Fare Faire is a rite of passage for Upper Elementary students at Greensboro Montessori School. This annual theatrical production integrates students’ language arts, history, and performing arts curriculum. As students learn about the medieval historical period, they also read related literature and work together to bring a story to life on stage. The name, “Fare Faire,” is a creative play on words which highlights the communal meal Upper Elementary students and their families enjoy before the student-led performance - this year the potluck dinner of years' past gave way for a sweeter dessert feast.
And with all this work, all this project-based learning, all this technical and logistical demand of putting on a 31-person theatrical production, I have to ask: where were the teachers? I barely saw them all night.
I heard Cathy Moses and Tessa Kirkpatrick may have been backstage to reassure a few worried students or help with a tricky transition; and I saw Jonathan McLean and John Archambault lingering over at the light and sound board, and even once saw them each use the spotlight, but I think it was only because the sixth grader running the sound board told them what to do. The rest of the time, I saw the teachers pretty much relaxing and enjoying the show, sometimes just leaning against the bleachers or even sitting in the audience. When I complimented them on the show, they said, “Yes, the students did a great job.” While I cannot underscore the intense, long, and passionate hard work the faculty have put in over the past three weeks, one thing was crystal clear Thursday night: the teachers were not in charge of this show. The students were.
In my 20 years of independent school education, I’ve seen plenty of wonderful “student-led” productions. But not until our very own Fare Faire, have I seen a show so incredibly run by the students. When we walked into the Gym, it was a student decorations manager who had transformed the space into a medieval stage; where there was a line forgotten, it was a student director who whispered a line; when there was a costume glitch, it was the student costume manager who responded; whenever someone missed a cue to come on stage, there was a student stage manager giving them a gentle shove onto the stage; or when one of the mics crackled, it was the student sound manager who adjusted the board settings.
Sixth graders have the opportunity to step into leadership roles for the production. Stella and Mahinda were the directors. Leila the stage and decorations manager. Whitley was in charge of costumes, while she and Stella also worked with Jillian Crone to spearhead marketing for the show. Andrew was in charge of sound and lights, while Mohamed was in charge of microphones. Dalia was in charge of props, and Kylee in charge of photography. Leading their fourth and fifth grade peers in producing Fare Faire is a capstone experience for these students. They had been preparing for that responsibility and honor all throughout the first two years of their three-year cycle.
Our three-year Upper Elementary program has always delivered a strong and unique learning experience for our students. Building on the Montessori skills and foundations that have been developed throughout the Primary and Lower Elementary divisions, our fourth through sixth graders are empowered to come into their own as they transition to the Upper School. They take responsibility for their learning in real-life applications; they develop all the academic and social-emotional skills they need to thrive in life; and they learn who they are and how they will step into the world. It is a critical time in the students’ development. And it is big work.
And that big work is guided by a group of inspired and hard-working “teacher-guide-people,” as the faculty sometimes call themselves. Each subject matter experts themselves, they know that so much of the Montessori approach is correctly and carefully setting up the prepared learning environment to guide the students to their own success. With most traditional schools, and even some great schools that try to be more innovative, the model is teachers as the "sage on the stage," filling students with facts and information; not at our school. It is teachers as guides, teachers as inspirers, teachers as coaches, and teachers as expert listeners, researchers, and observers to see what each and every student uniquely needs.
So, where are the teachers?
They are there, every single step of the way, knowing how to both nurture and challenge, knowing how to inspire and empower students to do the work themselves, and knowing when to step back and let the students take ownership and responsibility for their own work, for their own success, and for their own theatrical production, as was the case during the simply fantastic Fare Faire production on a recent and chilly Thursday night in January.
Dr. Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, 1950, and again in 1951. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, becoming the youngest man to receive the honor at the time. They were both influenced in their work for peace by Mahatma Gandhi. In the 1930’s Maria Montessori met Mahatma Gandhi while she was living in India, and Gandhi gave a speech to Montessori teachers in training in London in 1931. There he said of her work, “You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children.” While Dr. King did not meet Gandhi in person, he referred to him as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.”
These three peacemakers have been great influencers across cultures. Dr. Montessori established educational training programs that have led to thousands of schools all around the world. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. organized peaceful protests that changed civil rights laws in the United States and inspired future peaceful protest around the world. They all changed the world through peaceful efforts.
At Greensboro Montessori School, we implement the peace curriculum at every age level - from guiding toddlers to self calm to teaching peaceful conflict resolution in our preschool and elementary classrooms, to visiting the United Nations in Junior High. We seek to provide experiences for children to understand and access the peace within themselves, to relate with other people, cultures, and the environment, and to embrace the complexity of humankind. When children are given opportunities to practice peace within themselves, they will be able to share it with others and seek it out in the world.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.” These peacemakers have influenced generations. And inspired by their work, Greensboro Montessori School is educating the next generation of peacemakers and innovators.
Springtime is always joyful in Greensboro Montessori School's organic gardens. Winter buds swell and burst, capturing the eyes and hearts of community members, no matter their age! Flowers of all kinds call to us and to our pollinator friends, and sooner than we realize, we reach the height of the season.
This year brought a colder and wetter forecast than in the past. We’ve still yet to harvest our first sugar snap peas, but the strawberries and spinach are out with a vengeance! We continue to enjoy the lushness all the early rain and cool weather brought, even as temperatures rise. Here’s a brief update from our spring adventures!
Primary and Lower Elementary have enjoyed plenty of weeding, watering, planting, and tasting. We just finished a week full of strawberry spinach salads, with a bit of fennel and spring onions thrown in for fun! (Check out the recipe below if you’re interested in trying this at home.) In Upper Elementary, we celebrated the conclusion of our Student Climate Change Summit art exhibition with a persimmon-ginger-honey ice-cream party! Everyone agreed it was fun to make and even better to taste!
Thanks to everyone who attended our Spring Community Garden Workday in the Primary Garden. Together, with roughly 20 volunteers from our school community (ranging in age from 18 months to 70 years old!), we had a blast and accomplished a swath of projects:
- A group of students and dads built a blackberry trellis.
- Sara Stratton supervised several painting projects: our new fence, sink, and picnic tables got all glammed up in a matter of minutes!
- Another dad mixed concrete, which every child who came to the workday used to make a decorative stepping stone.
- Nearly everyone weeded, watered, snacked, swept, and generally left the space looking wonderful for the students, faculty, administration, and all the special guests we welcome in the spring!
What else have we been up to in the organic gardens this spring? We have been incredibly blessed with the generosity of The Fund for GMS. You may have noticed several new Adirondack chairs, benches, swinging benches, outdoor sinks, and chalkboards in all three of our organic gardens. We also have a new Lower Elementary toolshed coming soon. The students have relished in these new additions to their outdoor classrooms, and we couldn’t be more grateful to have such gifts shared with us from within our school community. Thank you, for your continued support of environmental education at Greensboro Montessori School. From all of us on your environmental education teaching team, Happy Spring!
Strawberry Spinach Salad
For the salad:
- 1 pound fresh spinach, washed and spun
- 1 pound fresh strawberries, washed and dried
- 2-3 spring onions, optional
- 2-3 leaves fennel, minced
For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 pinch cinnamon
About the Author
Eliza Hudson is Greensboro Montessori School's lead environmental educator. Eliza holds her bachelor's degree in biology from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind. She has built and tended school gardens, taught hands-on cooking lessons and connected local farms to school programs working for FoodCorps. Prior to joining Greensboro Montessori School in 2014, Eliza was a classroom and after-school assistant at the Richmond Friends School, a farm intern at a family-owned farm in Ohio, and served as assistant director at a summer day camp in an urban community garden in Durham.
Greensboro Montessori School has taught environmental education since 1995 and has been permaculture gardening on its campus since 1997.
Dr. Maria Montessori was a big fan of field trips. In her words, it was important for students to take “outings” or to “go out.” In 1948, Dr. Montessori wrote: “The outing whose aim is neither purely that of personal hygiene nor that of a practical order, but which makes an experience live, will make the child conscious of realities … When the child goes out, it is the world itself that offers itself to him. Let us take the child out to show him real things instead of making objects which represent ideas and closing them up in cupboards.” Hence, the Montessori phrase of “going out” was born.
At Greensboro Montessori School, we take the Montessori tradition of “going out” to heart, as our students take academically aligned, overnight field trips beginning in Lower Elementary. Where lessons in the classroom are a springboard to learning, Montessori outings provide the experiences necessary to move concepts from the abstract to the concrete – to let students apply and expand their knowledge in the world around them.
As our students progress from Toddler to Junior High, they learn the rites of passage, including the field trips, which will greet them along the way. Read about all our adventures, or jump to the grade which interests you most!
Second and Third Grade: Students enjoy their first overnight outing in second grade. Together, with their third-grade peers, these students rotate annual trips between Earthshine Discovery Center in the Nantahala National Forest in western North Carolina and the Sound to Sea program along the North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. Students spend two days and three nights building upon their lessons in biology, botany, environmental studies, geography, and physical science.
Fourth and Fifth Grade: Fourth and fifth graders rotate between annual field trips to North Carolina’s Outer Banks and Colonial Williamsburg every spring. When at the North Carolina coast, our students experience the region’s rich marine biology and storied history. Students visit national landmarks like Roanoke Island, the first settlement of English colonists, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk. In the words of the National Parks Service, Kitty Hawk is the site where Wilbur and Orville Wright “experimented with flight in the early 1900s, and finally succeed[ed] on a cold winter day with the world's first controlled, sustained, powered, heavier-than-air flight.”
When visiting Williamsburg, students immerse themselves in the history of the American Revolution and explore, as Colonial Williamsburg puts it, “the political, cultural, and educational center of what was then the largest, most populous, and most influential of the American colonies. It was here that the fundamental concepts of our republic — responsible leadership, a sense of public service, self-government, and individual liberty — were nurtured under the leadership of patriots such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and Peyton Randolph.”
Sixth Grade: Sixth-grade students head to our nation’s capital, where they visit multiple Smithsonian museums, (including the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Air and Space Museum), the National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery, and the National Gallery of Art and Sculpture Garden. Students expand upon their knowledge of national government and civics, while practicing grace and courtesy in a metropolitan city center. Dr. Montessori writes: “A child enclosed within limits however vast remains incapable of realizing his full value and will not succeed in adapting himself to the outer world. For him to progress rapidly, his practical and social lives must be intimately blended with his cultural environment.”
Seventh Grade: Greensboro Montessori School’s seventh graders head west to Tuscon, Arizona, where their years of environmental science studies take center stage in this week-long trip. In addition to hiking Kitt Peak, students spend time at the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2, a state-of-the-art scientific facility. The mission of Biosphere 2 “is to serve as a center for research, outreach, teaching and life-long learning about Earth, its living systems, and its place in the universe; to catalyze interdisciplinary thinking and understanding about Earth and its future; to be an adaptive tool for Earth education and outreach to industry, government, and the public; and to distill issues related to Earth systems planning and management for use by policymakers, students and the public.”
Eighth Grade: Greensboro Montessori School’s eighth graders enjoy an authentic immersion experience in Costa Rica. Our students stay with the Costa Rican families of students from The Summit School, our sister school in Coronado, Costa Rica which is very close to the capital city of San José. Together, our students and the Ticos (a colloquial term for natives of Costa Rica) go everywhere together. They visit volcanoes, complete high ropes courses, and sail through the rainforest canopy on zip lines. They travel to the Caribbean Coast where they walk the beach at night looking for turtle eggs to bury in a nearby protected hatchery. Then, they travel to the Pacific side to snorkel and explore rain forests and animal sanctuaries. They also spend a day in downtown San José learning about Costa Rican history, art, and government. With every visit to Costa Rica, our students return with their eyes a little wider and their lives a little richer as they have their first experience actually living in another culture.
Ninth Grade: An important element of our ninth-grade curriculum is the completion of a year-long capstone project that challenges each student to apply their skills to an area of personal interest that will improve and enhance their world. Similar to a thesis or senior project, the capstone project provides a framework for demonstrating leadership and advanced application of critical thinking skills. To further extend their learning, the students are challenged to design a custom end-of-year outing to include research opportunities for each of their individual capstone projects. In collaboration with a faculty advisor, a past ninth grade class settled on an itinerary traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest. Their route took them to explore tidal pools, tour museums in Seattle, visit a military base in Tacoma, and interview refugees in Vancouver.
Greensboro Montessori School's Junior High student council members usually plan three dance parties a year, one each in the fall, winter, and spring. Whether an upcoming dance is your child's first or they have attended these kinds of functions before, we have some details to help you plan ahead.
When: Greensboro Montessori School dances are on a Friday night from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Dances are hosted in Greensboro Montessori School's Gymnasium
Who: Attendance is limited to currently enrolled students in grades six through nine. In general, students may not bring guests from other schools. In some instances, Greensboro Montessori School has invited other independent schools in the Independent School League to attend dances, but this is the exception to the rule.
Attire: Students may choose to dress up or wear regular clothing. Attire must follow Greensboro Montessori School's dress code. We ask all attendees to wear soft-soled shoes that will not scuff or leave marks on the gym floor.
Chaperones: All dances are chaperoned by faculty and staff from Greensboro Montessori School. On the night of the dance, parents may drop-off their child at the Gymnasium entrance at 7 p.m. and return at 9:30 p.m. when the dance is over. The School always provides the name and cell phone number of at least one chaperone in a personal email to parents.
Cell phones: Students are permitted to bring cell phones to dances.
Entrance Fee: Students pay $5 cash at the door to attend dances.
Music: All Greensboro Montessori School dances have a DJ who is a current student. They develop a playlist based on student requests and submit this playlist for review by their faculty advisor. The faculty advisor reviews the list for content and language and approves only those songs which are age appropriate.
What do you love in the world and think is worth preserving?
Upper Elementary students wrestled with this important question during their class project for the Green and White Bash silent auction. My daughter, Stella, is a student in the Upper Elementary classroom, and I was privileged to assist the children in transforming two blank puzzles into a lively mixed media college. Since the Bash’s theme was “sustaining our future” through the funding of student scholarships and staff professional development, I thought it would be fitting for the class project to address this idea of sustainability. So, I asked each student to design a single puzzle piece that identified their own personal junction of love and preservation. All the pieces joined together to form a single, unified collage.
The project turned out to be both intellectually and artistically challenging for the class. Some of the students needed clarification on the question and took extra care to reflect on the conceptual differences among sustainability, preservation, and conservation. Others thought of multiple ideas and found it hard to choose a single focus for their piece. They would sit in thoughtful silence, rifle through magazines for inspiration, or simply run off to do something else, planning to return later. For other children, the process was easier and they settled into their work instantly. Regardless of how quickly their work progressed, it was humbling to witness the moment when each child’s idea clicked into place. You could sense the wave of clarity and purpose wash over them as they set themselves to task. They would sift through the huge pile of assorted collage papers and magazines and dig through buttons, cork, sequins, pom pom balls, threads, beads, and other odds and ends to find the perfect color, texture, or imagery to convey their idea.
The students’ approaches to composition varied as dramatically as their themes. Some enjoyed working very flat, while others preferred a more 3D composition. Some students chose clipped images and text, while others wanted to incorporate their own drawings. Some designed beautiful miniature scenes of forests and picnics, while others worked more conceptually and built up layers of interest. Each piece was transformed into a unique and carefully crafted work of art.
After the last student finished, I packed up all of the supplies and took everything home to (literally) put the pieces together. As I assembled the individual pieces into a finished collage, I was amazed by how well the variety of themes and designs worked together. Thirty-seven distinct responses to a single question had morphed into a microcosm of our beautiful, crazy modern world. Elements of nature (birds, oceans, trees) wove through interpretations of social life (family, friends, holidays) and modern living (technology, medicine, Disney). The Upper Elementary class project about sustainability had become an ecosystem of gratitude and hope for the future, where nature merges seamlessly with people, technology, and traditions: very much like a day at Greensboro Montessori School!
About the Author
Gina Pruette is a parent and regular substitute teacher at Greensboro Montessori School. In addition to her commitment to the School, Gina is an active volunteer within the greater Piedmont Triad community where she leverages her expertise in marketing and events planning, fundraising, and tech solutions to further the missions of various nonprofit organizations. Gina recently completed Racial Equity Training through the Racial Equity Institute to strengthen work with diverse populations, and she holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Pennsylvania.
Greensboro Montessori School's mission is to nurture children to be creative, eager learners as they discover their full potential and become responsible, global citizens.
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Police sketch created with DNA technology is potentially useless or even misleading, says scientist
'We know very little about the genetic variants that determine the shape of the face or features'
Calgary police hired a U.S. biotech company to create a picture of a woman using only her DNA, but a scientist says the evidence behind the technology to create the image simply isn't there.
On Christmas Eve, a newborn girl was found in a parking lot in the northwest Calgary neighbourhood of Bowness.
Police said it's not yet known whether the child was already dead when it was placed in a dumpster.
Evidence at the scene suggested the mother might have been in medical distress, but police have since run out of leads to try and track her down.
Parabon NanoLabs, the Virginia-based company that created an image of what the baby's mother could look like, used DNA phenotyping to create a composite sketch through a program it calls Snapshot.
The genetic evidence was collected at the crime scene, extracted to create a DNA profile, and then that genotype data was analyzed to produce a report that included the woman's likely hair colour, eye colour, skin colour, face shape and ancestry, among other traits.
Those features crafted from statistical models that correlate genes with physical traits, were then used to create a composite image.
Parabon created images of what the woman might look like at age 18 and 25, since her actual age is still unknown.
I think the evidence is not there to support the use of this technique.- Benedikt Hallgrímsson, biological anthropologist and evolutionary biologist at the University of Calgary
Benedikt Hallgrímsson, a biological anthropologist and evolutionary biologist who studies the significance of phenotypic variation and variability at the University of Calgary, said he wouldn't recommend phenotyping be used as a regular technique by law enforcement.
"I think the evidence is not there to support the use of this technique. If you were to poll experts in the field, people who work in this area, there are very few who believe that this is feasible," Hallgrímsson said Thursday.
Hallgrímsson said the risk of these composite images is "twofold." First, the image might lead to someone being falsely accused of a crime. Second, the actual suspect might not look anything like the picture and could be overlooked.
"It's dangerous to oversell science. It's dangerous to tell people that science can do something that it can't do, because when it becomes clear that it's not capable of doing that then it undercuts faith in science."
In an interview with CBC Calgary News at 6, Ellen Greytak, the director of bioinformatics at Parabon, said the composite is meant to be a general snapshot of what the person may look like, not a photo-realistic image.
Once the program has created a shape of the face, forensic artists then fill in the eyes nose, mouth and other features as best as possible.
One real challenge they face, said Greytak, is knowing how old the person is.
"Because that's not written in your DNA sequence, you have the same DNA sequence when you're born through the rest of your life," she said.
To mitigate that, the face created is of a young adult with a normal body weight and artists can work to age them if needed, or make them look younger.
Lab charges $3,600 for each profile
The lab's turnaround time is approximately 45 days from the day it receives its sample. It charges $3,600 US for each profile, which includes the lab work, analysis, report and composite, a Parabon representative said in an email.
On its website, Parabon said that it currently only provides the service to law enforcement agencies.
There have yet to be any studies of Snapshot's effectiveness published in a peer-reviewed journal.
The Parabon representative told CBC News that a scientific paper on Snapshot is forthcoming, and pointed to a recent paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that demonstrated that phenotype predictions can be used to identify individuals.
However, that paper's conclusions have been criticized by some members of the genetic science community, including one of the paper's co-authors who told Nature that the paper "misrepresents" his findings, and tweeted that the predictions weren't accurate.
Incase you missed <a href="https://twitter.com/JCVenter?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JCVenter</a>'s scaremongering that he can predict faces from the genome. Sure he can. They're awful predictions though. <a href="https://t.co/oO3OdjjQlB">pic.twitter.com/oO3OdjjQlB</a>—@piper_jason
Snapshot predicted that the Calgary mother is likely of northern European or native North American descent.
Any services trying to pinpoint ancestry through DNA — from Snapshot to companies like 23andMe — rely on markers gathered from large databases like Stanford's Human Genome Diversity Project and The International Genome Sample Resource.
Ancestry services like 23andMe and AncestryDNA have received criticism for having smaller numbers of people of First Nations or Asian heritage in their databases compared to European populations, which has led to less certainty or specificity when pinpointing the heritage of someone of, for example, Inuit descent, as opposed to someone whose ancestors are from Ireland.
For example, AncestryDNA's reference population includes 232 samples from Scandinavian people, 432 from Eastern European people and just 131 from Native Americans — which include First Nations people to people of Mexican ancestry.
"If the evidence for this kind of prediction is not good, then you would question the use of public funds to pay a company to provide you with information that is not just potentially useless but even potentially misleading," Hallgrímsson said.
The company states on its website that Snapshot has been used in hundreds of cases around the world. It lists eight cases that have been released publicly where the technology was used and it led to arrests. In two of those cases, the suspect was found guilty. The others are still before the courts.
Hallgrímsson said the genetic markers that determine facial features are "extraordinarily complex," and that if he had to put a number on it, he would estimate that scientists could predict skin colour with 25 per cent accuracy — and that the precision of predicting a person's face shape would likely be much lower.
"We know very little about the genetic variants that determine the shape of the face or features like the shape of your nose or the shape of your cheeks or the height of your face, or the width," he said.
Image is simply an approximation: police
On Thursday, police reminded Calgarians that the composite image is simply an approximation.
"We want to remind citizens that the image shared is not a photograph, but a scientific approximation of what the mother may look like," police said in a Facebook post.
Calgary police also said that they have received questions about why they haven't shared information or a composite of the baby's father. Police said that as they don't have the father's DNA, they can't complete a phenotype for him as they did for the mother.
Police said since releasing the image, they have received approximately 30 tips.
- MORE ALBERTA NEWS | America's most wanted deadbeat dad arrested in Calgary area
- MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Mother pondered suicide after 'harassing' during vicious custody battle with millionaire ex, trial hears
With files from Anis Heydari
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Published on February 23, 2014
ABOUT THE HCG DIET
The program is a HCG dietary regimen created by Dr. ATW Simeons. The program consists of two factors: the combination of a specific low calorie diet and a certain dose of a hormone that occurs naturally in humans. Read more about Dieta HCG en Espanol - ComprarHCG.com
The HCG program has 3 phases that can be completed in just 30 days. Average weight loss show 1 to 2 pounds per day. Certain restrictions and rules that the person should follow for best results. This diet is not for everyone. There are certain contraindications in which a person should not take the hormone.
THE HORMONE Human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG is a hormone composed of 244 amino acids. Small traces of the hormone found in men and women, but large quantities are produced by pregnant women. After the embryo has attached to the uterine wall, HCG is what feeds the embryo body releasing abnormal fat.
Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, HCG is the reason why poor countries with a population hungry still be reproduce. If not for the hormone HCG, the embryo will not get enough nutrition to grow. This calorie nutrition comes from the abnormal fat stored in the body.
In clinical studies in the 1950s, Dr. ATW Simeons, a British endocrinologist, pioneered the theory of using HCG to help obese people lose weight and abnormal fat. Dr. Simeons found that patients lost fat instead of muscle when used HCG as an adjunct to a low calorie diet.
Blood tests or urine are conducted to find the HCG. Scientists extracted the hormone to distribute in various forms of administration. This may be by injection, tablets, granules, but most popular are the drops.
HOW IT WORKS During exercise or restriction of food intake, the body consumes normal fat reserves. The body can not access the abnormal fat accumulations. The HCG hormone releases abnormal fat deposits and makes it available for consumption by the body. By using stored fat instead of normal fat, you will see an increase in reducing pounds faster.
Patients in the HCG program can lose an average of one pound per day. Because the HCG hormone makes the abnormal fat available, the body begins to use fat as a source of energy, like food. Patients need to reduce food to 500 calories per day, however, hunger is not noticed because 3,500 calories are consumed each day by the body. Results: Patients lost an average of 30 pounds in 30 days while using the hormone HCG.
THE 500 CALORIE DIET The very low calorie diet (VLCD) begins the second phase of the HCG. At this stage the patient will lose most of its weight. The average results for a normal patient is 1-2 pounds (half kilo) per day. The VLCD is limited to only 500 calories, a quarter of calories that a normal person should eat every day.
If you try to eat only 500 calories a day can lose weight, but lose it where you do not want. You will lose structural fat and muscle mass. In addition, you will be tired and hungry. How long do you think that will last?
LAST PHASE The maintenance phase is the 3 week period after you finish your drops. Dr. Simeons describes some rules here: • must weigh yourself every day • must remain within 2 pounds of weight that the last day of taking the drops • you can not eat sugars and starches (which are carbohydrates minus fiber)
It is very important to eat lots of protein during this period, around 400 grams per day of actual meat. If you go over 2 pounds, you should immediately make a day of steak (this is explained in the protocol). We want to make clear that this 3 week period is crucial for the success of the diet. The process is explained in Pounds and Inches. More info on Comprar HCG - Dieta de la Hormona. http://www.comprarhcg.com/
Belief comes through hearing. In order to have belief, we must listen, but we also...
Presentation held at the Etsy Team Captain Summit in Berlin, March 14-16, 2014
Download hack tool @ http://dragoncity.cooldownloadz.com
An how-to build an inexpensive Arduino Board for 5 USD.
step by step guide on how small businesses can start payroll software in -mid-year.
CLC Trendspotting - The Technologies of Makerspaces, presented by Edward Iglesias ...
The First and Only Authority on HCG Diet Plans and Protocols, Foods and Recipes, Drops and Injections.
In molecular biology, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone produced by the syncytiotrophoblast, a portion of the placenta following implantation.
Home of HCG Triumph HCG diet drops. Also provides free-of-charge diet coaching, HCG diet plans and a large selection of supporting products to insure your ...
hcgdiet.com offers the hcg diet. Hcg has become a very popular calories restriction diet. Human chorionic gonadotropin is natural in the human body. Many ...
About HCG Diet What is HCG? HCG is the abbreviated name for Human Chorionic Gondadotropin, which is a special peptide hormone produced in the body.
Anne Hild - Die hCG-Diät: Das geheime Wissen der Reichen, Schönen & Prominenten jetzt kaufen. 282 Kundrezensionen und 4.3 Sterne. Gesunde Küche ...
hCG-Diaet.com befasst sich mit der neuen hCG Diät nach Dr. Simeon. Mit der hCG Diät werden unter Einnahme des hCG und unter Einhaltung eines bestimmten
Is the hCG diet plan truly a miracle weight-loss program? Here are five things you need to know about the controversial hCG diet.
Can taking HCG help you lose weight? Read the review and find out the truth about HCG.
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Moderate reasoning
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Health
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This is nothing short of stunning: Two spacecraft on nearly opposite sides of the solar system both took pictures of the Earth at nearly the same time, showing our entire planet as not much more than a smeared flash of slightly overexposed light.
The picture above is from the Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn. On July 19, at a distance of 1.4 billion kilometers (900 million miles) from Earth, it took the above image (actually a combination of three pictures taken with a red, green, and blue filter to mimic a “natural light” photo). Cassini was on the far side of Saturn, looking back toward the inner solar system. From that vantage, Saturn blocks the Sun and looks dark (except for an arc of light scattered through its upper atmosphere), and we see the rings translucently, light from the distant Sun penetrating and shining through. The Earth is just under the main rings, a scintillation of blue above Saturn’s ghostly E-ring.
There’s more than just the Earth, too. The Moon is visible in the zoomed shot:
These images from Cassini are only one part of a massive 33-picture mosaic that will show all of Saturn and its rings in full color; that image will be released soon. Stay tuned for that, because it will be magnificent.
Also on July 19, from only 50 million kilometers (30 million miles) from the Sun, the Messenger spacecraft orbiting Mercury took a fantastic shot of our home world and its moon:
The arrow indicates the pair. At the bottom in the middle is a zoomed version. On the left is a computer simulation of Messenger’s view of Earth at the time, and on the right the Moon. Messenger took this image just one day before the 44th anniversary of the first landing of humans on the Moon, and as a tip-of-the-hat the Apollo landing sites are indicated.
Even as I write this I am in awe of these images. The things I see in them are overwhelming. Think on this:
- Every human being who ever lived, in all of history, is contained in those images.
- The farthest any human being has ever traveled—every explorer who has climbed to a mountaintop, or dived to the deepest trench—is contained in those images. The farthest we humans have ever explored, to just beyond our own Moon—more than three days worth of travel at very high speed—is just a few pixels in these pictures.
- The Earth itself is a mere pixel here. Even in the zoomed Cassini picture, the Earth is barely larger than a single pixel in size.
Messenger took its image as part of a campaign to look for any natural satellites of Mercury. It is specially designed to withstand the much higher temperatures in the solar system near the Sun. Cassini, on the other hand, is so far from the Sun it had to be built to withstand the frigid environment of the outer solar system. Yet both spacecraft are doing essentially the same mission: extend our reach, our senses, to other worlds in our solar system, and to add to our knowledge and understanding of the Universe in which we live.
And yet the legacy of these images may be the smallness, the shining insignificance and singular beauty of our planet hanging in the depths of space. Context matters. We send our robot proxies into the terrible vastness, and when they turn them around to look back at us we see ourselves for who and what we really are. We’re part of that Universe, and it’s an outstanding achievement even being able to acknowledge that.
[Update (July 24, 2013 at 03:30 UTC): I meant to link to Carl Sagan's essay "Reflections on a Mote of Dust", commonly called "Pale Blue Dot", in the item about all humans being in that photo, but it got past me when I posted this article. I was reminded when Wil Wheaton tweeted a link to this post, so I added the link above. My apologies.]
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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An exculsive SARG article written by Sam Shonleben [email protected] (June 2009)
Dedicated to the memory of Julia Wycherley for her tireless encouragement
The Reptiles: Why They Don’t Exist
Question: When is a Reptile not a Reptile?
Reptile enthusiasts have an instinctive idea of what a reptile is. It is a snake, a lizard, a tuatara, and so on. Where does this ‘idea’ of what we know as a ‘reptile’ come from? Human beings have a desire to compartmentalise and classify things, perhaps in order to make more sense of them, and nature is no exception. The scientific field that deals with the organisation of life is called Systematics.
One of the earliest and most famous Systematists was the Swede Carolus Linnaeus. His ‘Systema Naturae’ ordered nature in a hierarchical system based on Man as the pinnacle of Gods creation, thus having dominion over all other living things. Organisms were ranked in groups: Species (Linnaeus having invented the binomial system of giving species generic (Genus) and specific (Species) names) within Genera, Genera within orders, orders within classes and classes within kingdoms. With the publication of his ‘Origin of Species’ Charles Darwin (happy 200th birthday!) emphasised the need for a classification system “that must be strictly genealogical in order to be natural” and therefore be based on evolutionary relationships. However, problems arise when we try to use a classification based on creationism to order organisms based on their evolutionary relationships. Here I will use the example of the ‘Reptiles’ in order to highlight this.
As SARG members will know, the Reptiles are grouped together in one of Linnaeus’ hierarchical groups as the ‘Class Reptilia’. What is the basis for this grouping, and does it reflect evolutionary relationships (= phylogeny)? Reptiles were grouped as such based on characteristics that made them superior to the amphibians, locating a place for them in the creationist hierarchy of life. In fact, when one searches for characteristics that merit their grouping as a Class on their own, it is anything but straightforward. Most textbooks give a definition of the ‘Class Reptilia’ as vertebrates with impermeable scaly skin, internal fertilisation and amniotic eggs – features raising them above the amphibian on the ladder of creation. The problem, as the reader will have noted, is that this doesn’t define snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises, crocodilians, and tuataras in their own separate group. Birds lay eggs, so do monotreme mammals, and both have internal fertilisation. It is this confusion that has led some Systematists to render this grouping as obsolete, as it has little to say about evolution.
Darwin knew that Classification should have its basis in phylogeny, but it wasn’t until the German entomologist Willi Hennig published his work in the mid 1960’s that systematists had a method by which to do this. Cladistics is the search for relatedness among species by assembling them into groups composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants (= monophyletic group). If, within a group there is inherited variation for a particular characteristic, then there will be organisms possessing this characteristic in its ancestral state, and organisms possessing this characteristic from more recent transformations. The former can tell us nothing about evolutionary relationships within the group, just like the features of the Class Reptilia that deem them ‘higher’ than amphibians. The latter, however, are the result of unique evolutionary events and will be shared by related organisms. These shared, derived characters (= synapomorphies) will indicate a relationship between organisms that form a monophyletic group.
The quest for monophyletic groups using synapomorphies is the reason why the Class Reptilia and the term ‘Reptile’ are not supported by systematists. The Reptiles do not possess any synapomorphies to justify their grouping. They exist as the superiors of the Amphibia and the ancestors of the Birds and Mammals. The Class Reptilia can be said to be ‘paraphyletic’: Its members are more closely related to members outside the group than to members within it. Cladistics has also defined the birds as being more related to Dromaeosaurid Theropod Dinosaurs than to anything else, and Crocodilians as evolutionarily closer to birds than to any other reptile (see diagram).
So what does one do in this situation? Cladists have proposed a new method of classification that abolishes the hierarchical groupings of Linnaeus, and names organisms according to their monophyletic groups. In my mind this is desirable, as this classification has its basis in evolutionary relationships. But the clade (= successive monophyletic group) name for birds and reptiles is ‘Sauropsida’. It is not practical for us to just drop whatever name we have previously been using for these organisms. We should just bear in mind where these names have come from and what they actually mean and represent when we talk about such organisms. Often, cladists obtain a monophyletic group with topography (tree) that differs to another obtained by someone working with the same organisms. So there are often several trees, all interpreting evolutionary relationships differently! The reptile/bird tree I have shown you here is widely accepted. But that doesn’t mean that it is the true story of evolutionary relationships of these organisms. Indeed, no one can ever know the truth, and each tree represents a ‘best guess’ hypothesis of relationships, nothing more. I personally find it comforting that life in all its complexity doesn’t lend itself easily to compartmentalisation.
Answer: When it’s a Bird! Diagram:
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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How do you know whether you or someone you know has BDD? Psychiatric diagnoses—including BDD—are made primarily by asking questions to determine if an individual “meets the criteria” for the disorder, as determined by the DSM-5. There are as yet no blood tests, brain-scanning techniques, or other tools sufficient to diagnose psychiatric disorders, although such tools are being developed.
How BDD is Diagnosed
A mental health professional — preferably a BDD specialist — will look for the following in order to make a diagnosis of BDD:
Preoccupation with appearance: People with BDD are preoccupied with one or more aspects of their physical appearance, believing that these body areas look ugly, abnormal, deformed, or disfigured. People with BDD obsess about the disliked body areas for at least an hour a day.
Insight Regarding BDD Beliefs: Most people with BDD are mostly convinced or completely convinced that they look ugly or abnormal, even though other people don’t see them this way.
Repetitive Compulsive Behaviors: BDD preoccupations fuel repetitive compulsive behaviors that are intended to fix, hide, inspect, or obtain reassurance about the disliked body parts. On average, these behaviors consume from 3–8 hours a day. They are usually difficult to control or stop. These behaviors may include the following:
- Camouflaging (trying to hide or cover up the disliked body areas)
- Comparing (comparing the disliked features to those of other people)
- Mirror checking
- Excessive grooming
- Reassurance seeking/questioning of others
- Skin picking
- Changing clothes frequently
- Excessive tanning
- Excessive exercising or weight lifting
- Excessive shopping
- Seeking cosmetic surgery, dermatologic treatment, or other cosmetic procedures
- Social anxiety and avoidance
These preoccupations with appearance and repetitive compulsive behaviors get in the way of day-to-day functioning and the ability of the person to engage in valued life activities such as working, going to school, or spending time with family/friends.
A Self-Test for BDD
The BDD Questionnaire (BDDQ) is a “self-test” that an individual fills out him/herself. Only a trained mental health professional can diagnose BDD, but this test may serve as a helpful guide for whether you should seek help. You may consider bringing your responses on this test with you to your visit with a therapist or psychiatrist to discuss the results and what they mean.
BDD Questionnaire (BDDQ)
This questionnaire assesses concerns about physical appearance. Please read each question carefully and select the answer that best describes your experience.
1. Are you worried about how you look? Examples of areas of concern include: your skin (for example, acne, scars, wrinkles, paleness, redness); hair; the shape or size of your nose, mouth, jaw, lips, stomach, hips, etc.; or defects of your hands, genitals, breasts, or any other body part. Yes / No
If yes: Do you think about your appearance problems a lot and wish you could think about them less? Yes / No
|NOTE: If you answered “No” to either of the above questions, you are finished with this questionnaire. Otherwise continue.|
2. Is your main concern with how you look that you aren’t thin enough or that you might get too fat? Yes / No
3. How has this problem with how you look affected your life?
- Has it often upset you a lot? Yes / No
- Has it often gotten in the way of doing things with friends, dating, your relationships with people, or your social activities? Yes / No
- Has it caused you any problems with school, work, or other activities? Yes / No
- Are there things you avoid because of how you look? Yes / No
4. On an average day, how much time do you usually spend thinking about how you look? (Add up all the time you spend in total in a day)
- a. Less than 1 hour a day
- b. 1-3 hours a day
- c. More than 3 hours a day
|You’re likely to have BDD if you give the following answers on the BDDQ:
By Katharine Phillips, MD
- American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. ↩
- This questionnaire was adapted from the BDDQ for adolescents as it appears in The Broken Mirror: Understanding and Treating Body Dysmorphic Disorder by Katharine A. Phillips (Oxford University Press, 2005). The BDDQ is copyrighted and cannot be modified without permission. For more information about the BDDQ and other assessments for BDD, please visit: http://www.rhodeislandhospital.org/services/body-dysmorphic-disorder-program/questionnaires.html ↩
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Moderate reasoning
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Health
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The Chronicle of Ken Muir
Knights and their service
It was King William’s grandfather, David I, who initiated the practice of settling the land of Scotland with knights in the Norman fashion. Most of the landed knights were either Norman or Anglo-Norman and they were given the right to rule and develop a piece of land in exchange for certain services. The vast majority of settled knights in Scotland are located in the south in lands that once belonged to one of several native British or Anglian kingdoms.
ANGLO-NORMAN KNIGHTS IN SCOTLAND:
Knights were landholders, mainly Anglo-Norman but some more strictly Norman and a few were native Gaelic, who were given land in (mostly) southern Scotland in exchange for the Knight’s Service, Homage, and Fealty. They were required to build a castle (motte) and form part of a cavalry. They also provided troops on a 40 day basis in the form of himself and his esquires, with horses, arms, and armour for all. William could muster about 300 such knights and several thousand foot troops. Sometimes a knight was permitted to pay silver in lieu of providing the military service. Native lords who were granted knighthood on the west coast provided Galley Service instead of Knight’s service.
RIGHTS IN EXCHANGE FOR A KNIGHT’S SERVICE
Typical Rights in exchange for one knight of service were:
- Right to have the only Mill
- Right to control the pannage in the woods of the estate
- Exclusive deer hunting rights
- Sole entitlement to keep hawks and take the eggs of birds of prey
UNITS OF LAND:
The Davoch (Gaelic) or Ounceland (Anglo) was the main unit of land, though the exact size seems to have varied.
The Davoch was divided into 4 Ceathrabh (Quarterlands) or 20 Pheighinn (Pennylands).
Rarely, the Pheighin might be further divided into two Leathpheighinn (Halfpennylands) or four Fairdeann (Farthinglands).
REGIONS AND LANGUAGES IN SOUTHERN SCOTLAND
SOME CURRENT LANDED KNIGHTS OF SCOTLAND:
- Robert Avenel, Lord of Eskdale and Abercorn, Justiciar of Lothian. His three sons are Gervase, Vincent, and Robert, and his daughter is Isabelle.
- Richard Comyn, a knight in the service of William with lands in Lothian, Northallerton, and Richmond. He is married to Hextilda of Tynedale. His sons are William (another knight), and Odo (a priest), and Simon. His daughters are Idonea, Ada, and Christien.
- Robert de Brus, le Meschin (the Cadet), second Lord of Annandale since 1142. He is married to Euphemia de Crosebi, daughter of Sir Adam de Crosebi of Aumale. They have five children: Robert, William, Bernard, Agatha, and Euphemia. The de Brus family holds Annandale in exchange for 10 knights service.
- Phillip de Colville has lands near Roxburgh and has been part of the court since Mael Coluim IV was king.
- Roger de Minto, sheriff of Dunfres since 1165
- Simon de Morville, son of Hugh de Morville and brother of the current lord of Cunningham and Constable of Scotland, Richard de Morville. He holds lands at Kirkoswald, Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria (through his wife, Ada de Engaine), and on the west coast of Cunningham where he has built Crags Castle. His son, also named Hugh, has been given lands in Galloway.
- Symon de Ramesie in Midlothian
- Philip de Valonges of Panmure in Angus and Benvie in the Carse of Gowrie. He was previously the Lord Chamberlain, a role now held by Walter de Barclay.
- Simon Fraser of Keith in East Lothian.
- Domnall mac Dunegal, Lord of Upper Niddsdale which lies to the north of Desnes Ioan. He is one of the few Gaelic knights of the group.
- Radulf mac Dunegal, Lord of Lower Niddsdale which lies to east of Galloway is Domnall’s brother. His wife is Bethoc. Radulf has recently died without issue and his lands have reverted to William of Scotland. Radulf’s lands west of the river Nidd are now held by Uchtred of Galloway in feu, but William still holds the lands east of the Nidd, including the castle and toun of Dunfres, as part of his demesnes.
- Hugh Sansmanche (‘Sleeveless Hugh’) holds the lands of Morton in Niddsdale by right of Radulf after he married one of his daughters.
- Thom Rymour de Ercildoune with lands in Arcioldun (Dun Airchil) in Lothian.
- Baldwin de Biggar is one of several Flemish knights holding lands near Biggar and Craufurd.
- See also The Officers of Scotland
The element ‘fitz’ in a Norman name is related to the french ‘Fils’ or latin ‘Filius’ and means ‘son of’. The element ‘de’ indicates a place of origin. Other names make reference to the person’s appearance (e.g. le Bel – ‘the handsome’), circumstances (such as birth date, e.g. Holiday) or career (‘Baxter’ – a baker, or ‘Cuparius’, a cooper).
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Strong reasoning
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History
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("Both into One")
|Established||January 23, 1789|
|Location||Washington, D.C., 20057 USA
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university, located in Washington, DC's Georgetown neighborhood. Father John Carroll founded the school in 1789, though its roots extend back to 1634. While the school struggled financially in its early years, Georgetown expanded into a branched university after the U.S. Civil War under the leadership of university president Patrick Francis Healy. Georgetown is both the oldest Roman Catholic and oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Its religious heritage is defining for Georgetown's identity, but has at times been controversial.
Georgetown's three urban campuses feature traditional collegiate architecture and layout, but prize their green spaces and environmental commitment. The main campus is known for Healy Hall, designated a National Historic Landmark. Academically, Georgetown is divided into four undergraduate schools and four graduate schools, with nationally recognized programs and faculty in international relations, law, and medicine.
The student body is noted for its pluralism and political activism, as well as its sizable international contingent. Campus groups include the nation's oldest student dramatic society and the largest student corporation. The Georgetown athletics teams are nicknamed "the Hoyas," made famous by their men's basketball team, which leads the Big East Conference with seven tournament championships. Georgetown's most notable alumni, such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton, served in various levels of government in the United States and abroad.
Mission and reputation
Jesuit settlers from England founded the Province of Maryland in 1634. However, the 1646 defeat of the Royalists in the English Civil War led to stringent laws against Catholic education and the extradition of known Jesuits from the colony. During the greater part of the Maryland colonial period, Jesuits continued to conduct Catholic schools clandestinely. It was not until after the American Revolution in 1776 that long-term plans to establish a permanent Catholic institution for education in America were realized.
Following the revolution, Pope Pius VI appointed John Carroll, a Maryland Jesuit, as the first head of the Catholic Church in America, although the suppression of the Jesuit order was still in effect. Carroll saw the need for education among America's Catholic citizens and accordingly sought to establish a university to meet this need.
The founding of Georgetown University took place on two main dates, 1634 and 1789. Until 1851, the school used 1788, the start of construction on the Old South building, as its founding date. In that year a copy-edit in the college catalog began mis-labeling the construction as beginning in 1789. This was discovered in preparation for the centennial celebration in 1889, at which point rather than correct the annual, the date of Georgetown's "foundation" was fixed to the date 1789-01-23.
Carroll orchestrated the early development of a new university, and on January 23, 1789 obtained the property on Dahlgren Quadrangle was built. Instruction at the school began on November 22, 1791 with future Congressman William Gaston as its first student.
In its early years, Georgetown College suffered from considerable financial strain, relying on private sources of funding and the limited profits from local Jesuit-owned lands. The Maryland Society of Jesus was restored in 1805 and given supervision of the school, which bolstered confidence in the college. The United States Congress issued Georgetown the first federal university charter in 1815, which allowed it to confer degrees. The college's first two graduates were awarded the degree of bachelor of arts two years later in 1817. In 1844, the school received a corporate charter, under the name "The President and Directors of Georgetown College," affording the growing school additional legal rights. In response to the demand for a local option for Catholic students, the Medical School was founded in 1851.
The U.S. Civil War greatly affected Georgetown as 1,141 students and alumni enlisted and the Union Army commandeered university buildings. By the time of President Abraham Lincoln's May 1861 visit to campus, 1,400 troops were stationed in temporary quarters there. Due to the number of lives lost, enrollment levels remained low until well after the war was over. Only seven students graduated in 1869, down from over 300 in the prior decade.
At its founding in 1876, the Georgetown College Boat Club, the school's rowing team, adopted blue, used for Union uniforms, and gray, used for Confederate uniforms, as its colors to signify the peaceful unity among students. Subsequently, the school adopted blue and gray as its official colors.
Enrollment did not recover from the war until the presidency of the Patrick Francis Healy (1873–1881). The first acknowledged head of an American university of African descent, Healy is credited with reforming the undergraduate curriculum, lengthening the medical and law programs, and creating the Alumni Association.
After the founding of the Law Department in 1870, Healy and his successors sought to bind the professional schools into a university, and focus on higher education. The School of Medicine added a dental school in 1901 and the undergraduate School of Nursing in 1903. Georgetown Preparatory School relocated from campus in 1919 and fully separated from the University in 1927. The School of Foreign Service (SFS) was founded in 1919 by Edmund A. Walsh, to prepare students for leadership in foreign commerce and diplomacy. The School of Business Administration was created out of the SFS in 1957, and in 1999 was renamed the McDonough School of Business in honor of alumnus Robert E. McDonough. These news schools have called for new construction, and since completion of Healy Hall in 1879, Georgetown has added 54 buildings on their main campus.
Besides expansion of the University, Georgetown also aimed to expand their student body. The School of Nursing has admitted female students since its founding, and most of the university was made available on a limited basis by 1952. With the College of Arts and Sciences welcoming its first female students in the 1969–1970 academic year, Georgetown became fully coeducational. Georgetown ended its bicentennial year of 1989 by electing Leo J. O'Donovan as president. He subsequently launched the Third Century Campaign to build the school's endowment. In December 2003, Georgetown completed the campaign, joining only a handful of universities worldwide to raise at least $1 billion for financial aid, academic chair endowment, and new capital projects.
Georgetown University has three campuses in Washington, D.C.: the undergraduate campus, the Medical Center, and the Law Center. The undergraduate campus and Medical Center together form the main campus. Georgetown also operates a facility in Doha, Qatar, and villas in Alanya, Turkey, and Fiesole, Italy. In their campus layout, Georgetown's administrators consistently used the traditional quadrangle design.
Georgetown University's undergraduate campus and medical school campus are situated on an elevated site above the Potomac River, overlooking northern Virginia. The main gates, known as the Healy Gates, are located at the intersection of 37th and O Streets, NW. The medical school is on a property adjacent to the northwestern part of the undergraduate campus on Reservoir Road, and is integrated with Georgetown University Hospital. Georgetown Visitation, a private Roman Catholic high school, is on land adjoining the main campus. Most buildings employ collegiate Gothic architecture and Georgian brick architecture. Campus green areas include fountains, a cemetery, large clusters of flowers, groves of trees, and open quadrangles. The main campus has traditionally centered on Dahlgren Quadrangle, although Red Square has replaced it as the focus of student life. Healy Hall, built in Flemish Romanesque style from 1877 to 1879, is the architectural gem of Georgetown's campus, and is a National Historic Landmark. Both Healy Hall and the Georgetown University Astronomical Observatory, built in 1844, are listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places. In late 2003, the school completed the Southwest Quadrangle Project, and brought a new 907-bed student dorm, an expansive dining hall, an underground parking facility, and new Jesuit Residence to the campus. The school's first performing arts center, named for Royden B. Davis, was completed in November 2005, while longer-term projects include a self-contained business school campus, construction of a unified sciences center, and expanded athletic facilities.
Law Center campus
The Law Center campus is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood on New Jersey Avenue, near Union Station. Most second- and third-year students, as well as some first-year students, live off-campus. The "Campus Completion Project," finished in 2005, saw the addition of the Hotung International Building and the Sport and Fitness Center.
Georgetown University is a self described "student-centered research university" considered by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education to have "very high research activity." As of 2007, Georgetown's libraries hold 2,435,298 items in seven buildings, with most in Lauinger Library. Additionally, the Law School campus includes the nation's fifth largest law library. Georgetown faculty conduct research in hundreds of subjects, but have priorities in the fields of religion, ethics, science, public policy, and cancer medicine. In 2006, researchers at Georgetown's Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center developed the breakthrough HPV vaccine for cervical cancer.
In December 1979, the Marquesa Margaret Rockefeller de Larrain, granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, gifted the Villa Le Balze to Georgetown University. The Villa is in Fiesole, Italy, on a hill above the city of Florence. The Villa is used year-round for study abroad programs focused on specialized interdisciplinary study of Italian culture and civilization. The main facility for the McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies was donated to Georgetown in 1989 by alumnus and former United States Ambassador to Turkey George C. McGhee. The school is in the town of Alanya, Turkey within the Seljuq-era Alanya Castle, on the Mediterranean Sea. The Center operates study-abroad programs each spring semester, concentrating on Turkish language, architectural history, and Islamic studies. In 2002, the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development presented the School of Foreign Service with the resources and space to open a facility in the new Education City in Doha, Qatar. SFS-Qatar opened in 2005 as a liberal arts and international affairs undergraduate school for regional students.
Georgetown University offers undergraduate degrees in 48 majors in the four undergraduate schools, as well as the opportunity for students to design their own individualized courses of study. All majors in the College are open as minors to students in the College, the School of Nursing and Health Studies, and the School of Business. Students in the School of Foreign Service cannot receive minors, but can complete certificates instead. Georgetown offers many opportunities to study abroad, and 58.7 percent of the undergraduate student body spends time at an overseas school.
Master's and doctoral programs are offered through the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Law Center, the School of Medicine, the Public Policy Institute, and the School of Continuing Studies. The McDonough School of Business and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service both offer masters programs.
Almost all undergraduates attend full-timewith 72 percent, living on-campus in several dormitories and apartment complexes. The remainder live off-campus, mostly in the Georgetown, Burleith, and Foxhall neighborhoods. All students in the Medical School live off-campus, most in the surrounding neighborhoods, with some in Dupont Circle and elsewhere through the region.
Georgetown University has 172 registered student organizations that cover a variety of interests: student government, club sports, media and publications, performing arts, religion, and volunteer and service. The Georgetown University Student Association is the student government organization for undergraduates. There are also student representatives within the schools, to the Board of Directors, and, since 1996, to the Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commission. New Student Orientation is the sponsored student organization responsible for planning and executing the annual pre-orientation and orientation of freshmen and transfer students. Georgetown's Army ROTC unit, the Hoya Battalion, is the oldest military unit native to the District of Columbia.
Georgetown's student organizations include one of the nation's oldest debating clubs, the Philodemic Society, and the oldest running dramatic society, the Mask & Bauble Society. The Georgetown Chimes, founded in 1946, is the University's oldest and only all-male singing group. Other a cappella groups on campus include the coed Phantoms, the coed Superfood, the all-female GraceNotes, the all-female international group Harmony, and the service-focused Georgetown Saxatones. The D.C. A cappella Festival has been held on Georgetown's campus since its inception in 1990.
In addition to student organizations and clubs, Georgetown University is home to the nation’s largest entirely student-owned and -operated corporation, Students of Georgetown, Inc. Known as "The Corp," the business sees gross revenues of roughly $3.3 million a year. Founded in 1972, The Corp operates three coffee shops, two grocery stores, and a DVD rental service. It also runs biannual book sales, box storage, and airport shuttles for students. The Georgetown University Student Investment Fund is one of a few undergraduate-run investment funds in the United States, and hosted CNBC's Jim Cramer to tape Mad Money in September 2006
Georgetown University has several student-run newspapers. The Hoya is the University's oldest newspaper. It has been in print since 1920, and, since 1987, is published twice weekly. The Georgetown Voice, known for its weekly cover stories, is a newsmagazine that split from The Hoya to focus more attention on citywide and national issues. The Georgetown Independent is a monthly "journal of news, commentary and the arts." The Georgetown Academy targets more conservative readers on campus and the Georgetown Federalist, founded in 2006, purports to bring a "conservative and libertarian" viewpoint to campus. The Georgetown Heckler is a humor magazine founded on the Internet in 2003 by Georgetown students, releasing its first print issue in 2007.
The University has a campus-wide television station, GUTV, which began broadcasting in 1999. The station hosts an annual student film festival in April for campus filmmakers. WGTB, Georgetown's radio station, is available as a webcast and on 92.3 FM in certain dormitories. The station was founded in 1946, and broadcast on 90.1 FM from 1960 to 1979, when president Timothy S. Healy gave away the frequency to the University of the District of Columbia because of WGTB's far left political orientation.
Georgetown University student organizations include a diverse array of groups focused on social justice issues, including organizations run through both Student Affairs and the Center for Social Justice. Oriented against gender violence, Take Back the Night coordinates an annual rally and march to protest against rape and other forms of violence against women. Georgetown Solidarity Committee is a workers' rights organization whose successes include ending use of sweatshops in producing Georgetown-logoed apparel, and garnering pay raises for both university cleaning staff and police. Georgetown has many additional groups representing national, ethnic, and linguistic interests. In 2006, MEChA de Georgetown, which works to improve Chicano recruitment and involvement, brought together a broad coalition of groups as "GU Students United Against Racism" to protest the perceived racism during a paid speaking event by Chris Simcox, leader of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps. Georgetown's student body is particularly active in politics; groups based on local, national, and international issues are popular, and free speech is generally respected. The reproductive rights organization H*yas for Choice is not officially recognized by the University, prompting the asterisk in "hoyas." While not financially supported by the school (its positions on abortion are in opposition to University policy), the organization is permitted to meet and table in university spaces. The issue contributes to Georgetown's 'red light' status on free speech under the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education rating system.
Although Jesuit schools are not obliged to disassociate from Greek systems, Georgetown University does not officially recognize or fund fraternities, sororities, or secret societies among the student body. Despite this, Greek organizations persist on campus. Additionally, Georgetown University students are affiliated, in some cases, with fraternities at other nearby universities and colleges.
Active fraternities at Georgetown include Delta Phi Epsilon, a professional foreign service fraternity; Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity; Alpha Phi Omega, a national community service fraternity; Alpha Epsilon Pi; and Sigma Phi Epsilon. Delta Phi Epsilon was founded at Georgetown in 1920, and members of their Alpha Chapter include Jesuits and several deans of the School of Foreign Service. The Delta Phi Epsilon foreign service sorority, founded in 1973, is the only sorority active at Georgetown. Georgetown's chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi, affiliated with the campus Hillel, was established in 2002. Sigma Phi Epsilon chartered its chapter as a general social fraternity in 2007.
Annual events on campus celebrate Georgetown traditions, culture, alumni, sports, and politics. In late April, Georgetown University celebrates Georgetown Day. Besides the full-day carnival, the day rewards the best professor of the year with the Dorothy Brown Award, as voted by students. Every year since 2002, Traditions Day has focused attention in early November on the two centuries of Georgetown history.
Homecoming coincides with a home football game, and festivities such as tailgating and a formal dance are sponsored by the Alumni Association to draw past graduates back to campus. The largest planned sports related celebration is the first basketball practice of the season. Dubbed Midnight Madness, this event introduces the men's and women's basketball teams shortly after midnight on the first day the teams are allowed by NCAA rules to formally practice together. In 2008, Georgetown will again play host to a first round division of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.
Georgetown University hosts notable speakers each year, largely because of the success of the Georgetown Lecture Fund and the Office of Communications. These are frequently important heads of state who visit Georgetown while in the capital, as well as scholars, authors, U.S. politicians, and religious leaders. The Office of the President hosts numerous symposia on religious topics, such as Nostra Ætate and the Building Bridges Seminar.
Georgetown fields 27 varsity teams and 20 club teams. The varsity teams participate in the NCAA's Division I. The school generally competes in the Big East Conference, although the football team competes in the Division I FCS Patriot League, the men's lacrosse team in Eastern College Athletic Conference, and the rowing teams in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges. Georgetown University graduates over 90 percent of its student athletes. U.S. News and World Report listed Georgetown's athletics program among the 20 best in the nation.
The school's teams are called "Hoyas," a name whose origin is uncertain. Sometime after 1866, students well versed in classical languages invented the mixed Greek and Latin chant of "hoya saxa," translating roughly as "what (or such) rocks." The baseball team was founded 1870, and football in 1874, and the chant likely refers to one of these teams. Shortly after its founding in 1920, students requested that Georgetown's newspaper take the name The Hoya rather than The Hilltopper. By 1928, campus sports writers began to refer to teams as the "Hoyas" rather than as the "Hilltoppers." The name was picked up in the local publications, and became official shortly after. The mascot of Georgetown athletics programs is Jack the Bulldog and the school fight song is There Goes Old Georgetown.
The men's basketball team is particularly noteworthy as it won the NCAA championship in 1984 under coach John Thompson and continues to be a perennial favorite in the NCAA tournament. Besides basketball, Georgetown is nationally successful in rugby, rowing, sailing, lacrosse, and track and field.
Georgetown's alumni include numerous public figures, of whom many have served in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Besides numerous members of the senior diplomatic corps, ten heads of state are alumni, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton. In the legal profession, alumni include a current Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Antonin Scalia, and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Edward Douglass White. Of schools with less than 15,000 graduates annually, Georgetown produces more Peace Corps volunteers than any other private university. Georgetown graduates have served at the head of diverse institutions, both in the public and private sector, and have headed military organizations on both the national and international level.
- ↑ From the Epistle to the Ephesians 2:14. See official explanation. Other translations available.
- ↑ William Coleman Nevils. Miniatures of Georgetown: Tercentennial Causeries. (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1934)
- ↑ E.I. Devitt Georgetown University Catholic Encyclopedia 1909. Robert Appleton Company. accessdate 2007-07-10
- ↑ Paul R. O'Neill and Paul K. Williams. Georgetown University. (Arcadia, 2003. ISBN 0738515094)
- ↑ The first University building accessdate 2007-02-26 About Georgetown
- ↑ William Gaston and Georgetown Bicentennial Exhibit Georgetown University. November 11, 2000. accessdate 2007-07-03
- ↑ O'Neill and Williams
- ↑ Robert Emmett Curran Georgetown: A Brief History Undergraduate Bulletin Georgetown University. July 7, 2007 accessdate 2007-08-27
- ↑ The Federal Charter About Georgetown accessdate 2007-03-06
- ↑ O'Neill and Williams, 7
- ↑ Ibid., 36
- ↑ Ibid., 39
- ↑ About Georgetown The Civil War. accessdate 2007-04-26
- ↑ About Georgetown The School of Foreign Service accessdate 2007-04-26
- ↑ John Fedynsky and Taylor Kushner OIP provides study abroad options. September 25, 2000. accessdate 2007-07-08 The Georgetown Independent
- ↑ Library Resident Program. www.ll.georgetown.edu. 2007. accessdate 2007-07-09
- ↑ Courses Offered in Spring 2008 Georgetown University. McGhee Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies. June 7, 2007. accessdate 2007-07-26
- ↑ Robert Heberle |title= SFS to Establish Qatar Campus. The Hoya May 20, 2005. accessdate 2007-08-04
- ↑ Studying International AffairsGeorgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar accessdate 2007-07-26
- ↑ http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/directory/brief/drextras_1445_brief.php Extracurriculars]America's Best Colleges 2008 US News & World Report 2007 accessdate 2007-07-11
- ↑ Student Organizations accessdate 2007-04-19. explore.georgetown.edu.
- ↑ Adam Giblin Support Your Neighborhood, Vote in D.C.. The Hoya October 1, 2002. 2007-07-03
- ↑ HOYA Battalion and the Washington Consortium The HOYA Battalion. 2005. accessdate 2007-03-02
- ↑ Michael Bayer A capella abounds at DCAF . The Georgetown Independent. November 5, 2003. accessdate 2007-08-19
- ↑ History of The Corp 2005. accessdate 2007-03-10. The Corp
- ↑ Emily Solis-CohenCorp Surplus Falls Far Short of Previous Year’s. January 19, 2007 The Hoya accessdate 2007-07-09
- ↑ Josh Zumbrun How Georgetown Found a Different Voice. The Hoya accessdate 2007-07-03. January 14, 2005
- ↑ Stephen Santulli The Right's Fight to Write. The Hoya November 7, 2006. accessdate 2007-05-02
- ↑ Alicia Chen Giving Your Vision A Voice The Hoya March 17, 2006. accessdate= 2007-08-19
- ↑ Liam Dillon Finding a Place for Campus Radio. www.georgetownvoice.com. October 17, 2002 accessdate 2007-08-19
- ↑ Keenan Steiner Students protest ‘Minutemen’ leader The Georgetown Voice November 2, 2006. accessdate 2007-03-04
- ↑ Anne K. Walters Gimme an 'O'! The Chronicle of Higher Education May 12, 2006. archivedate 2007-08-25
- ↑ Washington, Vanessa, "Weakly Greek", The Hoya, April 21, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ↑ Singh, Suma, "Greek Life: Alive and Well At Georgetown", The Hoya, September 19, 2000. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
- ↑ Frequently Asked Questions. Delta Phi Epsilon (November 22, 2006). Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ↑ Sorority. Delta Phi Epsilon (April 16, 2007). Retrieved 2007-08-16.
- ↑ Glick, Michael, "AEPi Fosters Greek and Jewish Life", The Hoya, October 29, 2002. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
- ↑ Haviland, Erica, "SigEp Receives National Charter", The Hoya, April 27, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
- ↑ [http://www3.georgetown.edu/admin/provost/GeorgetownDay/about.html About Georgetown Day. accessdate 2007-07-27
- ↑ Nostra Ætate Office of the President. Georgetown University 2007 accessdate 2007-04-09
- ↑ Teams. Club Sports. Georgetown University (April 30, 2007). Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ↑ Freshman-Cohort Graduation Rates (PDF). 2006 NCAA Report on the Federal Graduation-Rates Data (2000). Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ↑ Park, Ji-Hye, "Athlete Graduation Rates Outpace National Average in NCAA Study", The Hoya, November 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ↑ Witkin, Gordon and Jodi Schneider (March 10, 2002). Why they're not just about winning and losing anymore. U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ↑ O'Neill, Paul R. and Paul K. Williams (2003). Georgetown University. Arcadia, 54, 62. ISBN 0-7385-1509-4.
- ↑ What's A Hoya?. HoyaSaxa.com (August 17, 2005). Retrieved 2007-04-30.
- ↑ Mendoza, Moises, "Experience, Leadership and Vision Propel Hoya Crew to National Prominence", The Hoya, May 20, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- ↑ Wood, Julie, "Coed Sailing Captures National Championship", The Hoya, August 24, 2001. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
- ↑ Georgetown Men's Lacrosse Moves Up to No. 4 in National Rankings. Georgetown University Official Athletic Site (April 24, 2007). Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ↑ Jammet, Nicolas, "Georgetown's Track Program Quietly Dominates", The Hoya, November 23, 2004. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
- ↑ Well-known Georgetown Alumni Georgetown University. Georgetown Facts. February 1, 2006. accessdate= 2007-07-18
- ↑ Georgetown University alumni About Georgetown 2007. accessdate 2007-07-24
- ↑ About The Hoya. The Hoya accessdate 2007-08-27
- ↑ Edward Douglass White. www.supremecourthistory.org June 16, 2004. accessdate 2007-07-18
- ↑ Jon Shoup-Mendizabal Glory Days. The Hoya January 23, 2004. accessdate 2007-08-27
- Carrier, Thomas. Historic Georgetown: A Walking Tour. Arcadia Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0738502391
- Curran, Robert. The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University 1789-1889. Georgetown University Press. 1993. ISBN 0878404856
- McFadden, William C. Georgetown at Two Hundred: Faculty Reflections on the University's Future. Georgetown University Press, 1990. ISBN 978-0878405039
- Nevils, William Coleman. Miniatures of Georgetown: Tercentennial Causeries. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1934. . 1–25
- O'Neill, Paul. Georgetown University. Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0738515094
- Richmond, Derek, et. al. Georgetown University DC 2007. College Prowler, 2006. ISBN 1427400660
- The First 125 Years: An Illustrated History of the Georgetown University Law Center. Georgetown University Law Center, 1995. ISBN 096491820X
All links Retrieved December 23, 2007.
- Georgetown University official site
- Official Athletics website
- The Hoya
- The Georgetown Voice
- Campus Map
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Deuteronomy and the covenant treaty form
DEUTERONOMY 1 International treaties drafted between suzerains' (overlords) and vassals (subject peoples) during the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries B.C. closely parallel the structure of the book of Deuteronomy.2 The best-preserved examples of these treaties come from the Hittites, but treaties from Mesopotamia, Syria and Egypt demonstrate that a similar form was commonly used. The suzerain-vassal form of treaty also defined the relationship of God (suzerain) to his people (vassals), as evidenced in the overall form, as well as the content, of Deuteronomy. The Hittite treaties of the fourteenth through thirteenth centuries B.C. differ somewhat from later Assyrian treaties of the eighth through seventh centuries B.C. In these later treaties the historical prologue and the blessings disappear, a greater emphasis is placed on the curses and the order of elements is more variable.
Deuteronomy's closer connection to the earlier treaties confirms that this book was written during the Mosaic period, not in Israel's late monarchic period (late seventh century B.c.), as many scholars contend.3 Furthermore, Deuteronomy's close correspondence of form to these earlier treaties strongly suggests that the book should be considered an essential literary unit rather than a later composite of materials from various sources.
DEUTERONOMY 2. Centered beyond the Euphrates River in the Kharbur Valley of northern Mesopotamia, the kingdom of Mitanni encompassed a league of Indo-European Hurrian states. It became the most powerful kingdom in Mesopotamia and Syria during much of the fifteenth through fourteenth centuries B.C., the probable time frame for the Israelite exodus and conquest. Although Mitanni is never mentioned in the Bible, its economic and cultural influence unquestionably affected the perspectives and lifestyles of the Biblical world during the latter half of the second millennium B.C. And this kingdom's documented customs and social conditions enhance the credibility corresponding Biblical accounts of events during this period.
The details of Mitanni's history have for the most part been lost with the onrush of time, but a basic outline is clear. Tensions with Egypt to the south colored Mitanni's early years, but these stresses were eclipsed by Mitannian expansion during the latter half of the fifteenth century B.C. A dynastic marriage between Mitanni and Egypt around the turn of the ensuing century brought peace to the region, as well as thriving commerce, industry and arts.
But this harmony was shattered when northern neighbors, the Hittites under the leadership of King Suppiluliuma, began to subjugate a number of Mitanni's vassal states to the west. Seeing Mitanni's political situation in turmoil, the eastern kingdom of Assyria took advantage of her deteriorating circumstances to descend upon Mitanni, capturing her capital and ending Mitannian domination. Retaining little influence or power after this defeat, Mitanni still survived as a kingdom at least into the mind-thirteenth century B.C.
The Date of Deuteronomy
DEUTERONOMY 3 Until the nineteenth century most Biblical scholars simply assumed that Deuteronomy was written during
the days of Moses, its Biblically acknowledged author. The book is presented as an address from Moses' mouth, so its authorship and approximate date of origin were seen as self-evident.
Certain features of Deuteronomy, however, seem incompatible with Mosaic authorship. An obvious issue is that someone
other than Moses must have written the account of Moses' death and Joshua's assumption of leadership (34:5-12). On the other hand, it is important to realize that the central issue is not whether Moses wrote Deuteronomy precisely as it now reads, but whether he actually gave the speeches contained in the book. Thus it would be quite possible to accept that someone else
wrote about Moses' death and still not deny that the speeches are authentically Mosaic.
Some scholars, however, have questioned the entire notion of a Mosaic origin for Deuteronomy. Many of them contend
instead for a seventh-century B.C. date for its writing, associated with the reign of the reformer king Josiah. Such theologians/historians argue that the "Book of the Law"that was"found" during a renovation of the temple in Josiah's day (2Ki 22:8) was in fact Deuteronomy—but that the work itself was a pious fraud written by Josiah's officials to legitimize the king's reforms.
Critical to the argument either way is the comparison of Deuteronomy to other ancient Near Eastern "suzerain-vassal treaties."2 Because Deuteronomy is also a treaty (covenant) between a suzerain (God) and a vassal (Israel), it most likely dates to the time of the particular treaties it most closely resembles. Some scholars argue that Deuteronomy parallels fourteenth-century B.C. Hittite treaties (suggesting a traditional, fourteenth-century date for Dt as well), while others view it as more similar to the later, seventh-century B.C. Neo-Assyrian treaties. Incidental points have variously been used to support both sides of this argument:
Scholars supporting a later date point out that the order of the curses in Deuteronomy 27 and the Neo-Assyrian treaties dating from Esarhaddon's day are similar.
Deuteronomy and the Neo-Assyrian treaties share such phrases as "to go after" ("to fear" and "to listen to the voice of."
But historians supporting an earlier date point out that Hittite treaties included a historical prologue like Deuteronomy, a feature lacking in their Neo-Assyrian counterparts.
Deuteronomy and the Hittite treaties both use the word "love" to indicate the sovereign's fidelity to the vassal, but such usage is absent in the later, Neo-Assyrian treaties (where love is only commanded of the vassal). An identical, dual use of "love" appears among the Amarna letters, fourteenth-century B.C. correspondence between Egypt and its vassals and allies in Syria-Palestine.
Most significantly, the overall structure of Deuteronomy more closely follows the structure of Hittite (fourteenth century B.C.) the Neo-Assyrian (seventh century B.C.) treaties.
Another issue related to the dating of Deuteronomy is its similarity to the so-called "Deuteronomistic" texts of other Biblical books. Some scholars contend that several other Old Testament books reflect a theological perspective similar to that of Deuteronomy, citing this as the reason this particular viewpoint has been dubbed Deuteronomistic. Many of these other Biblical texts date from the eighth to sixth centuries B.C. (e.g., Jer, Hos and portions of Sa and Ki). Based on this reasoning, such scholars argue that Deuteronomy was written during this time, when "Deuteronomistic" theology was in its ascendancy. Yet a strong case can be made that books like Hosea allude to a Deuteronomistic brand of theology that already existed—in the book of Deuteronomy.
The theological problem posed by the projected "late date" for Deuteronomy is significant. If the book is indeed a "pious fraud"written during the reign of Josiah, it is difficult to imagine how it could still be regarded as authoritative Scripture. Overall, arguments for dating Deuteronomy to the second millennium B.C., as well as for believing its speeches to be authentic and written by Moses, remain strong.
Ramoth (in) Gilead
DEUTERONOMY 4 Ramoth in Gilead, one of three cities of refuge set apart for the Transjordanian tribes, was apportioned to the tribe of Gad (Dt 4:43; Job 20:8; 21:38; 1Ch 6:80) and later given as a Levitical city to the sons of Merari (Jos 21:34-38). As a city of refuge, Ramoth was no doubt easily accessible, perhaps located along the King's Highway (Nu 20:17; 21:22; Dt 2:27). This city became a focus of conflict between Syria and the northern kingdom of the divided Israel during the reigns of Ahab, Joram and Jehu (874-814 B.C.).
The Hebrew Ramoth "heights" or "knolls." Gilead is an elevated region extending between Heshbon and Bashan, divided by the Jabbok River and heavily wooded during the Biblical period. The status of Ramoth in Gilead during the period of the conquest in not directly indicated, but other cities in the same region are referred to as havvoth ("tent-villages"; Nu 32:41; 1Ki 4:13). Perhaps Ramoth at this stage of its history was an unfortified population center.
The site of Ramoth in Gilead has not been firmly identified, but the location most commonly accepted, Tell Ramith, seems too far north to be a part of the inheritance of the tribe of Gad. Paul Lapp's excavations of the site during the 1940s revealed iron Age II fortifications (1000-800 B.C.) and the bedrock level there dates from the period of salomon. Other site suggestions include locations south of the Jabbok River. If Ramoth in Gilead was essentially a tent village during the conquest period, there is little hope that surviving archaeological remains will be sufficient to make identification certain.
Lesser Known People of the Old Testament
DEUTERONOMY 7 At the time of the conquest, the population of Syria-Palestine was a mixture of various ethnic elements., Seven people groups, however, are mentioned repeatedly:
Hittites: The Hittite Empire, centered at Hattusus (Boghazkoey, Turkey), extended to Hamath and Qadesh in Syria, but isolated groups were located in central Judah. Several patriarchs encountered Hittites: See, for example, Genesis 23, 26-34 and 2 Samuel 11:3. Those Hittites not exterminated during Joshua's conquest maintained separate status until Solomon consigned them to forced labor (2Ch 8:7-8), and they eventually blended in with the people of Israel.
Girgashites: Not much is known of this group, though the name grgsh is mentioned in Ugaritic texts.They probably lived east of the Sea of Galilee.
Amorites: A people called Amurru controlled portions of Syria and Babylon, but "Amorite"is used in the Bible as a broad ethnic label, referring to the general population of the Holy Land (e.g., Ge 15:16). As such, the term is essentially interchangeable with "Canaanite." It often refers, however, to the population of the hills (e.g., Nu 13:29) and is used specifically of two kings in the Transjordan, Sihon and 0g,2 who were conquered under Moses' leadership (Nu 21:21-31).0ther Amorite centers were Ai, Hebron, Jarmuth, Jerusalem, Eglon and the region of Lebanon.
Canaanites: The term "Canaanite" is often used generically of the population of the Holy Land (e.g., Ge 10:18; Jdg 4:23-24) or"the land of Canaan." Elsewhere its usage is limited to the population of the coastal regions, including southern Syria, and specifically to inhabitants of the valleys and plains, including the Jordan Valley (e.g., Jos 5:1; 11:3). "Canaanite" later came to mean "mer-chant" —the principal occupation of these coastal peoples (e.g., Job 41:6; Eze 17:4).
Perizzites: Located mainly in the hill country of Judah, Ephraim and Manasseh, the Perizzites were associated with the Jebusites (Jos 11:3)."Perizzites" may have meant"inhabitants of peasant villages."
Hivites: These people were located in the Lebanon region"from Mount Baal-Hermon to Lebo Hamath" (Jdg 3:3). "Hivite" may mean "tent-dweller" and refer to Bedouins.
Jebusites: This clan lived mainly in Jerusalem (called Jebus in some texts; e.g., Jdg 19:10-11) and the surrounding hills.The Jebusites maintained limited independence at least until the time of King David,who captured Jerusalem (2Sa 5:6-9) and later purchased the temple mound from a Jebusite,3 Araunah (25a 24:18-25).
The Laws of Eshnunna
DEUTERONOMY 9 Eshnunna,which lay east of Babylon, was for a brief period around 1800 B.C. a dominant city in Mesopotamia, and a code of laws has been discovered from this civilization. Judging from the fragments that remain of the laws' superscription, it appears that King Dadusha, successor of Naram-Sin (founder of the dynasty), issued this law code for his city. It is the earliest example of an Akkadian law code discovered to date and anticipates in form and content its successor, the much more famous Code of Hammurabi (who conquered Eshnunna in c. 1766 B.c.).
The code of Eshnunna is fairly short but covers a wide range of topics, including price controls for products like barley and wool and regulations involving theft, the status of slaves, marital relations, crimes of violence, and vicious animals. It includes, for example, laws concerning a dangerous ox and the liability of its owner, which are closely paralleled in Exodus 21:28-32.
The Eshnunna law code is significant for Biblical studies. It reconfirms that the Bible did not spring into existence in isolation from its larger cultural and political milieu, as well as reinforces that a code of laws similar to those we find in the Bible could have existed as early as the time of Moses (some historians have argued that the bulk of Israel's laws were very late, coming into existence long after Moses' day).
It is striking, however,that while the superscription to the Eshnunna code celebrates the military prowess and worthiness of King Dadusha, Deuteronomy 9 focuses on the weakness and unworthiness of Israel, thereby emphasizing God's grace.
The Treaty of Suppiluliumas
DEUTERONOMY 11 For much of the second half of the second millennium B.C., the dominant power in central Anatolia' (modern Turkey) was the Hittite' Empire. Among the greatest Hittite kings was Suppiluliumas I, who reigned from approximately 1380-1346 B.C. Suppiluliumas extended Hittite power to the southeast into Syria, where he struggled for supremacy against Egypt, Assyria and Mitanni. Aziru, king of the Syrian state of Amurru, recognizing that Hittite power was on the rise, broke his treaty with Egypt and submitted to Suppiluliumas.
One Hittite and six Akkadian copies of a treaty between Suppiluliumas and Aziru exist; all are fragmentary, but by comparing them scholars have been able to reconstruct a fairly complete version.The treaty required that Aziru submit to and support Suppiluliumas, who in turn was to protect Aziru.This covenant is broadly similar in outline to Deuteronomy, which is also a treaty between a suzerain (Yahweh) and a vassal (Israel). This treaty, therefore, provides a specific point of comparison to the covenant text that we call Deuteronomy.
The Suppiluliumas treaty begins with a preamble and a statement about the main objective of the treaty—that Aziru offer uncompromised devotion to Suppiluliumas (cf. Dt 1:1-5 and chs.5-6).The historical background follows (cf. 1:6 — 4:49). The treaty then delineates specific stipulations relating to military and extradition obligations (cf. chs. 7 —26). At that point the Suppiluliumas treaty calls on all gods and goddesses as witnesses and pronounces both curses for disobedience and blessings for obedience. Deuteronomy 27-30 also pronounces curses and blessings, but 30:19 calls upon heaven and Earth, not on lesser gods, as witnesses. The importance of these parallels can hardly be overstated. As pointed out in the more general article "The Date of Deuteronomy" on page 259, they indicate once again that Deuteronomy is remarkably similar in form and content to second millennium B.C. Hittite treaties and should for that-reason most likely be dated early rather than late.They also help us to understand the literary context for Deuteronomy.
DEUTERONOMY 12 Hammurabi (also called Hammurapi) was the sixth king of the first dynasty of Babylon. Reigning in approximately the eighteenth century B.C., he was a vigorous and successful, but not a spectacular king. However, because of the universal fame of the Law Code of Hammurabi, and especially because of the large stele (inscribed stone monument) of that name now housed in the Louvre in Paris, he is without question the most recognized figure of Mesopotamian history.
Hammurabi began his royal career ruling over a city (Babylon) that was but one of many vying for power at the time in Mesopotamia. Through cunning diplomacy and force of arms, however, Hammurabi defeated first his main rival to the south, Rim-sin of Larsa,and then his challenger to the north, Zimri-lim of Mari. The empire Hammurabi put together, however, collapsed after his death. The era of Hammurabi was in some respects quite literate. In addition to the famous law code, diplomatic and personal correspondence has survived from his court, providing us a picture of the man himself. He appears to have been somewhat harsh and arbitrary, though not altogether tyrannical. His law code was not original to him but followed a pattern that had already been set in Mesopotamian society. Some scholars have noted that the laws of Hammurabi do not appear to have been the basis for day-to-day adjudication in his time but instead were probably exemplary.
Setting up steles with the king's laws inscribed on them, moreover, served to remind the people of Hammurabi's authority over all his domain. Some have suggested that Hammurabi was in fact the Biblical Amraphel from Shinar (Ge 14:1,9), but few espouse this view today. Although Hammurabi's laws remind us that legal texts did exist in the early second millennium B.C. (contrary to those who date the Biblical books of the law to the late first millennium—a later date), there does not appear to be any direct connection between Hammurabi and the Bible.
DEUTERONOMY 16 Pentecost, Greek for "fiftieth," refers in the Old Testament to the Israelite Feast of Weeks—so called because it took place in the spring seven weeks, or 50 days (counting inclusively), after the beginning of the grain harvest (Lev 23:15; Dt 16:9-10).' The Greek name appears also in the Apocryphal works of Tobit (2:1) and 2 Maccabees (12:32),2 as well as in the writings of the ancient Jewish historian Josephus (Antiquities,310.6) and in the New Testament (Ac 2:1; 20:16; 1Co 16:8). The actual mention of 50 days comes from Leviticus 23:16.
Pentecost is one of three major Israelite festivals at which all males were required to appear before the Lord at the central sanctuary to make an offering (Dt 16:16; the other two are the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles).The Feast of Weeks came at the close of the period of grain harvests, ending with the wheat harvest, which took place in the spring.3
Although verse 12 enjoined the Israelites to reflect at the time of this feast upon their slavery in Egypt, there is no other connection made between the festival and any important events in Israel's history, in contrast to Passover, and Tabernacles. In all probability the Old Testament Pentecost commemoration retained thanksgiving for the harvest as its primary focus. The main stipulations of verses 10-11 were to make a freewill offering to God and to conduct communal celebration in all the villages of Israel. Both of these elements are naturally linked to harvest time, with the offering being a means of thanking God for the harvest and the celebration a common element of harvest time remembrances in ancient agrarian societies (cf. Ru 3:7; Isa 9:3).
Christians naturally question the link between Old Testament Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. But already in the Old Testament there was a link between the agricultural blessings of rain and a good harvest and the spiritual blessings of the outpouring of the Spirit. This is especially clear in Joel,where a promise of rain and a good harvest (Joel 2:21-27) is immediately followed by a promise of the pouring out of the Spirit (Joel 2:28-32). In light of this connection, it makes sense that the gift of the Spirit is associated for Christians with Pentecost, an agricultural thanksgiving holiday.
DEUTERONOMY 18 Deuteronomy 18:9 — 14 prohibited the Israelites from making use of diviners and sorcerers, who engaged in activities God regarded as detestable practices of the nations. Many ancient peoples, however, regarded divination, the attempt to find and interpret omens from the gods, as a science handed down from heaven. In fact, an enormous amount of Akkadian literature was devoted to cataloging particular signs and their meanings.
A few of the numerous means of divination practiced in Old Testament times were the reading of animal entrails (extispicy), the observation of patterns in oil dropped onto water (lecanomancy) and dream interpretation (oneiromancy). The extrabiblical omen texts assigned specific meanings to possible outcomes with regard to each sign. For example:
If a drop of oil spilled on water split in two, a sick individual would die or an army would fail to return from battle.
If a person dreamed about a dog ripping his or her clothing, that individual was in for a financial loss.
A black cat in someone's house was a sign of good fortune.
Magical texts also provided incantations useful in specific situations (e.g., there was an incantation to cure sick livestock).
In the Bible such natural events are never regarded as omens. There are no incantations for practicing magic or for counteracting evil portents. Although both Joseph and Daniel interpreted dreams based upon God's leading, no code for oneiromancy may be found iii Scripture. Rather, interpretation comes from God (Ge 40:8) and relates only to specific situations. God did provide Israel with a mysterious form of casting lots in the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:29 — 30; 1Sa 14:36-41), but the lack of any Biblical description or explanation of these tools seems significant. It would appear that the texts do not intend for the reader to focus on or attempt to replicate these items.
The Hittite Laws
DEUTERONOMY 21 Many historians date Biblical law texts to fairly late in Israel's history. Explicitly or implicitly, they view regulations such as those spelled out in Exodus or Deuteronomy as too complex and advanced to stem from such a "primitive" period as that of Moses and Joshua. As already discussed in "The Middle Assyrian Laws" and "The Laws of Eshnunna", however, the discoveries of lengthy and detailed law codes from the ancient Near East would seem to belie this notion.
The Hittite laws have come to us in two versions, the first from the Old Kingdom period (c. 1600-1400 B.c.) and the second from the Middle Kingdom and Empire periods (c. 1400-1200). The second iteration parallels the first, being similar in order and content. Hittite laws deal with many of the same issues as their Biblical counterparts: quarrels resulting in maiming or unintended homicide (Ex 21:12-27); marriages and dowries (Ex 22:16-17); theft, especially of animals (Ex 22:1-15); and incest and bes-tiality (Lev 18).
Of course, the specific stipulations of Biblical and Hittite laws are often quite different. For example,the Hittite New Kingdom law IV states that if a murdered man was found on another's property, the owner was to forfeit his house, property and 6,040 shekels of silver. If the corpse was located in an open field, a village within 3 miles (4.8 km) of the victim was to pay the fee. In Deuteronomy 211 —9, on the other hand, if the body of a murder victim was discovered in an open field,the elders of the nearest village were to make a sacrifice and swear that they had no knowledge of the crime's perpetrator(s).This would purge the village of any culpability, and no fee was involved.
Once again, Hittite laws reveal that lengthy, complex law codes could and did exist in the mid-second millennium B.C., the implication being that Exodus and Deuteronomy may indeed be dated to this earlier period.
Ancient near eastern versus
Israelite laws and law collections
Ancient Near East
Law: Amoral and mean to insure the smooth running of society; offenses of the law were considered as offenses against civilization.
Law Collections: Propagandistic report to deity; a theoretical development of some of the forms justice might take.
Law: Meant to be a guide to godlikeness; offenses of the law were considered offenses against God.
Law Collections: Development of the forms morality or holiness would take; civil law tied to moral absolutes.
Prostitution in the Ancient World
DEUTERONOMY 23 Prostitution was known throughout the ancient world. While some who practiced the trade worked independently, others (such as slaves) were forced into it. In Mesopotamia it was actually possible to adopt a girl and then hire her out as a prostitute.
There is considerable controversy over the so-called temple prostitute. Herodotus (Histories, 1.1991 recorded that every Babylonian woman was required to prostitute herself at least once in the temple of Ishtar, but the reliability of this claim is disputed.' Most scholars agree that "sacred prostitution" was part of the ritual of the fertility cult, but some argue against this claim, suggesting that women sometimes prostituted themselves to obtain money to pay a vow or that temples simply used whore-dom as a source of income.
In the Greco-Roman world prostitution was also associated with the temples of Aphrodite (especially at Corinth, according to the ancient Greek historian Strabo), but the nature of this prostitution is uncertain.2 It is unlikely, however,that temples used such women only as sources of income with no religious link to the function of the temple itself; the promiscuous act was probably regarded as some kind of sacred rite, even as it catered to the lusts of the people.The weight of evidence suggests that "sacred prostitution" was real.
Biblical texts provide evidence for temple prostitution. The practice is associated with pagan worship in Hosea 4:14, a passage that condemns men who had encounters with the sacred prostitutes at the shrines and who offered sacrifices there. Prostitution is often used in the Old Testament as a metaphor for idolatry (Ex 34:15-16; Lev 17:7),which may strengthen the connection between temple prostitution and the idolatrous practices of other peoples. Prostitution or harlotry in any form was forbidden to the Israelites (Lev 19:29; Dt 23:17).
The Care of Widows and Orphan in the Bible
DEUTERONOMY 24 In Old Testament laws God commanded the Israelites not to "take advantage of a widow or an orphan" (Ex 22:22). In fact, Psalm 68:5 describes God himself as "a father to the fatherless, a defender of widows." Israelite farmers were instructed to leave some grain unharvested so that Levites, widows, orphans and foreigners could glean the leftovers in their fields and eat (Dt 24:17-22). In addition, the tithes of every third year were to provide for widows, orphans, aliens and priests (26:12 — 13). Hebrews, who themselves had been aliens and slaves in Egypt, were never to pervert the justice due to widows, orphans or foreigners (24:17-18). In fact, one of the reasons God stipulated for allowing Israel and Judah to fall before Assyria and Babylon was his people's failure in their obligation to "defend the cause of the fatherless" and "plead the case of the widow" (Isa 1:17).
In the New Testament the widow of Zarephath' (Lk 4:24-26; cf 1Ki 17:7-24) and the widowed prophetess Anna (Lk 2:36-38) are cited as examples of faith, and an impoverished widow was held up by Jesus as a model of generosity (Lk 21:2-4). In one of Jesus' parables a widow provided a clear example of the innocent being easy prey for the unjust and indifferent (Lk 18:3-5). Jesus demonstrated mercy toward the widow at Nain (Lk 7:12-13) and refused to leave his own disciples"as orphans"with relation to his own coming departure from Earth (in 14:18). A Jewish widow had the right to expect financial maintenance from her husband's heirs. Yet Jesus went so far as to accuse religious scribes of stealing widows' properties (Mk 12:40; Lk 20:47).
The early church continued God's concern for such otherwise destitute women. Needy widows were fed (Ac 6:1-3), and the disciple Dorcas of her own accord sewed clothing especially for them (Ac 9:39). A ministerial order of widows was begun for the purpose of prayer (1Ti 5:3-10), and James, Jesus' brother, defined true worship as that demonstrated by visitation of distressed orphans and widows (Jas 1:27).
Joshua's altar on Mount Ebal
DEUTERONOMY 27 Both Deuteronomy 27:1-18 and Joshua 8:30-35 describe the, altar the Israelites constructed on Mount Ebal ("Map 2") after entering Canaan) A structure discovered on Mount Ebal in 1980 offers tantalizing parallels to the Biblical description of Joshua's altar. Constructed of unworked stones (in the state in which they were originally found), this rectangular structure, roughly 29 feet (9 m) long by 23 feet (7 m) wide, is filled with layers of ash, animal bones, potsherds and stones. Fragments of lime plaster were discovered in the immediate vicinity (cf. Dt 27:2, 4; Jos 8:30 — 31). In front of the installation a sloping wall divides two stone-paved courtyards, forming a ramp that ascends to the altar (cf. Ex 20:26). A low stone wall encloses the entire site, covering an area of 11,500 square feet (1,070 sq m). Based upon the pottery and associated finds at this open-air cult site, excavators have dated it to the early Iron Age,2 approximately 1200 B.C. (a date significantly later than the conquest).
While it is possible that this is Joshua's altar, a number of indicators suggest that it is not:
The current dating of the site does not fit with Biblical chronology, which suggests an earlier,fourteenth century (c.1400 B.c.) date for Joshua and the conquest. Late Bronze Age pottery, possibly dating to the fourteenth century B.C., was unearthed at the site, but the main phase, during which the ramped structure was built, appears definitely to date to the later Iron I period.
Likewise, Biblical sources mention only cattle, sheep, goats, doves and pigeons as valid sacrifices. Remains of these were found, but bones of other species were present as well, especially those of fallow deer.
It is possible that the Iron I structure was constructed on the site of Joshua's earlier-altar. The locations of ancient sacred sites tended to persist over time. Although the general tradition of the site's holiness may have been preserved, worship practices may have become heterodox (nontraditional or deviant) if foreign elements had at some point been introduced (such as offering animals other than those prescribed in the Biblical text).
DEUTERONOMY 29 Surprisingly little is known of Moab, a neighbor and frequent enemy of Israel.The information we have can be summarized succinctly:
Moab proper (see Ge 19:30-38 for origins of Moab) lay between the deep gorges of the Arnon River in the north (Nu 21:13) and the Zered River in the south ("Map 4"). Moabite territory also included the"plains of Moab,"situated in the Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea (cf. Nu 22:1; Dt 34:1).
Numerous Biblical events related to Moab are connected to yet another area, the table-land north of the Arnon. This fertile agricultural zone was highly contested and regularly changed hands (Nu 21:21-32; Jdg 11:14 — 27). Thus, with few exceptions (cf. Ruth), Moabites and Israelites remained in almost steady conflict over the land (Nu 22-24; Jer 48).
Moabite History and Culture:
Moabites were closely related to the Israelites, as attested by the Biblical account linking Moab to Lot (Ge 19:37). The Moabite language was similar to Biblical Hebrew.
Moabite territory was known and recognized from the time of Moses (Nu 21:10-20; Dt 2:9-19). The Moabite king at the time of the conquest was Balak (Nu 22-24).
A Moabite ruler, Eglon, oppressed Israel during the Judges period (Jdg 3:12-30).
Moabite territory was at times under Israelite control (2Sa 8:2), but the inhabitants were known to rebel and break free of Israelite influence (2Ki 1:1;3:4-27).
Archaeological evidence suggests that Moab was dominated by Assyria during the eighth century B.C. Moab was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar around 582 B.C., after which it ceased to exist as an identifiable entity.' The land was subsequently occupied by other peoples, such as the Nabatean Arabs.
The Moabite national god was Chemosh, but the people were thoroughly polytheistic.
Archaeology and Moab: There is evidence of an increase in Moabite settlement during the Iron 12 period (1200 — 1000 B.c.), particularly in the form of small fortified farmsteads. However, it is difficult to make precise historical connections to the Moabites or to Israelite settlements in Transjordan (Nu 21:21-35; 32; Dt 2-3; Jos 13).
In contrast, the Mesha Inscription from the ninth century B.C. provides clear information about the wars between Israel and Moab (cf. 2Ki 3). This inscription attests to the regional importance of Moab during Israel's monarchy and is the most significant archaeological artifact discovered to date from Moab.
Assyrian, and possibly Egyptian, texts also mention Moab.
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Last year, I penned a kind of shortened Cambridge Shorter History account of St Wulstan, whose feast we keep today, (see here). An earlier account of his role in ending the slave trade between Bristol and Ireland drew derision from some whose focus is Black Slavery, while more serious attempts to assess his character and activity appear to have bored my readers more than somewhat. So, is St Wulstan, who died in 1095, irrelevant to today — one of those musty old medieval male saints who belong in stained glass windows and are not part of the living faith of anyone nowadays? That depends.
We can make a case for considering Wulstan to be very modern indeed, principally by ignoring his historical context and seizing on aspects of his life that appeal to us. Take that interest in the slave trade, for example. It resonates with all who are concerned about the evils of human trafficking and exploitation. Or take his extraordinary ability to maintain his position under William the Conqueror. That surely provides food for thought among those who do not see their national identity being crushed out of existence by association with others. It even has something to say about our current preoccupations with Christian unity and liturgical observance, for Wulstan found a way of adopting and advancing Lanfranc’s reforms while making Worcester a centre of Old English culture and piety.
The difficulty only really comes when we have to take seriously the intellectual and spiritual world Wulstan inhabited and the way in which that affected his thoughts and actions. Even if we would describe ourselves as religious, those long unseen hours of prayer, those daily distributions of alms to the poor, those foot-washings, they are a world away from our usual experience. I don’t mean that we do not pray, or that we do not give alms; but the way in which we do those things has changed. The way in which we live has changed. More and more things clamour for our attention. Even in a monastery, we have to spend time on matters that would never have troubled Wulstan or his contemporaries. The world we inhabit is larger, noisier and apparently much more complex. So, where does that leave us?
I think it leaves us confronting something we may find uncongenial: the reality of a sanctity that, at one level, baffles and bewilders yet, at another, rings true. Wulstan was a saint and it is as such that he has a claim on us today. It is in his holiness, in his closeness to God, and in his activity as intercessor on our behalf that we find his relevance. It doesn’t matter that he comes from a different age or context from the one with which we are familiar. He is part of that great Communion of Saints that embraces the whole of creation. As such, he is very close to us even now. We can rejoice in his closeness and learn from him. St Wulstan, pray for us!
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Although shoulder joint replacement is less common than knee or hip replacement, it is just as successful in relieving joint pain.
If nonsurgical treatments like medications and activity changes are no longer helpful for relieving pain, you may want to consider shoulder joint replacement surgery. Joint replacement surgery is a safe and effective procedure to relieve pain and help you resume everyday activities.
Whether you have just begun exploring treatment options or have already decided to have shoulder joint replacement surgery, this article will help you understand more about this valuable procedure.
Your shoulder is made up of three bones: your upper arm bone (humerus), your shoulder blade (scapula), and your collarbone (clavicle). The shoulder is a ball-and-socket joint: The ball, or head, of your upper arm bone fits into a shallow socket in your shoulder blade. This socket is called the glenoid.
The surfaces of the bones where they touch are covered with articular cartilage, a smooth substance that protects the bones and enables them to move easily. A thin, smooth tissue called synovial membrane covers all remaining surfaces inside the shoulder joint. In a healthy shoulder, this membrane makes a small amount of fluid that lubricates the cartilage and eliminates almost any friction in your shoulder.
The muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder provide stability and support.
All of these structures allow the shoulder to rotate through a greater range of motion than any other joint in the body.
Several conditions can cause shoulder pain and disability, and lead patients to consider shoulder joint replacement surgery.
1. Osteoarthritis (Degenerative Joint Disease) Osteoarthritis is an age-related wear-and-tear type of arthritis. It usually occurs in people 50 years of age and older, but may occur in younger people, too. The cartilage that cushions the bones of the shoulder softens and wears away. The bones then rub against one another. Over time, the shoulder joint slowly becomes stiff and painful. Unfortunately, there is no way to prevent the development of osteoarthritis. It is a common reason people have shoulder replacement surgery.
2. Rheumatoid Arthritis This is a disease in which the synovial membrane that surrounds the joint becomes inflamed and thickened. This chronic inflammation can damage the cartilage and eventually cause cartilage loss, pain, and stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of a group of disorders termed inflammatory arthritis.
3. Failed Previous Shoulder Replacement Surgery Although uncommon, some shoulder replacements fail, most often because of implant loosening, wear, infection, and dislocation. When this occurs, a second joint replacement surgery — called a revision surgery — may be necessary.
The decision to have shoulder replacement surgery should be a cooperative one between you, your family, your family physician, and your orthopaedic surgeon.
There are several reasons why your doctor may recommend shoulder replacement surgery. People who benefit from surgery often have:
1. Severe shoulder pain that interferes with everyday activities, such as reaching into a cabinet, dressing, toileting, and washing.
2. Moderate to severe pain while resting. This pain may be severe enough to prevent a good night's sleep.
3. Loss of motion and/or weakness in the shoulder.
4. Failure to substantially improve with other treatments such as anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections, and/or physical therapy.
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what is a data scientist?
Data scientists play an integral role in how modern businesses deal with customers, vendors, and even internal processes. With the wealth of data available to a typical business, the number of insights available is practically limitless. Still, those insights are not easily detected, which is where your job as a data scientist comes in.
You are responsible for collecting huge amounts of data and transforming it into something practical. You help solve business-related problems using your expertise to develop data-driven techniques. You aim to stay on top of the latest techniques and tools in this fast-developing area of business and technology.
You will use many of the expected technical skills and some unexpected ones. For example, deep learning and machine learning are vital to making practical use of large amounts of data. You are also responsible for data preparation, which is converting raw data into a format that is more accessible to people who are not data scientists.
Do you think working as a data scientist would suit your mentality and skillset? If so, keep reading to find out how to get into this line of work.view jobs
average salary of a data scientist
According to Payscale, the average salary of a data scientist in India is between ₹346,000 and ₹2,000,000 per year, with an average of ₹874,000. More experienced data scientists will typically command salaries at the higher end of that range, but your industry and the employer will impact the potential money you can make. Data scientists earn high salaries because employers recognise the importance and monetary value of what they do.
factors that affect data scientist's pay
The primary factor affecting your salary as a data scientist will be your qualifications and experience level. Data science is still relatively new, particularly in India, so employers place a great deal of faith in the qualifications and experience of data scientists. You are unlikely to be hired in this role without a bachelor's degree in data science.
Another important factor is the location of your employer. The types of companies that need these roles tend to be in or around big cities, making them more lucrative locations for data scientists than smaller towns.
types of data scientist
There are several types of data scientists, each with a unique set of skills and responsibilities. The field is increasingly breaking down into smaller subcategories, but some of the main data scientist roles include:
- machine learning scientists: in this speciality, you work with artificial intelligence to create algorithms that analyse immense quantities of data with machine-like speed to produce human-like insights.
- digital analytics consultants: this area of data science requires some marketing and business skills. You are responsible for collecting data from company webpages and filtering and processing that data as needed.
- data engineers: in this role, you are responsible for creating the digital infrastructure used to analyse and process data in a manner that fits the organisation's requirements.
- software programming analysts: programmers who can use various programming languages (such as Python) typically perform these roles. Your job is to automate various tasks and streamline the process.
- business analytics practitioners: as a business analytics practitioner, you focus on the aspects of data science concerned with things like ROI (return on investment) that directly impact the organisation's success.
- statistician: statisticians are found in many fields, but the role of a statistician within data science is important. In this role, you provide an organisation with reliable indicators of progress.
working as a data scientist
Your liking for statistics and complex problem-solving are amply satisfied in your work as a data scientist. You not only address technical challenges but also meet important business requirements. Your work is varied and sometimes intense, analysing large data sets and providing readable information and insights for other team members or departments.
education and skills
Given the relatively new nature of this role in India, getting into a position requires academic qualifications such as:
- bachelor's degree or certifications: ideally, you have a bachelor's degree in data science, though that may not be essential if you plan to expand your education by, for instance, getting a master's. An undergraduate degree should be considered a minimum requirement for getting hired as a data scientist.
- master's degree or equivalent: around a third of all data scientists in India have a master's degree. If you plan to go down this route, you can start to expand your skill sets, such as getting a degree in computer studies or economics.
- doctorate: getting a PhD is not essential for a role as a data scientist, but it will help you move higher up the pay range more quickly.
skills and competencies
Beyond qualifications, there are also various skills and competencies that a data scientist would benefit from. These include:
- problem-solving skills: big data analysis can often feel like a series of problems that need solving. An aptitude for solving problems will make this aspect of the role easier.
- technical abilities: a range of technical skills help you succeed as a data scientist, regardless of your speciality. For example, a level of coding ability will always be necessary, even if you are not working as a software programming analyst.
- industry-related knowledge: while data science is quite a transferable skill, it will be necessary to know your industry well enough to know which trends are useful.
FAQs about working as a data scientist
FAQs about working as an data scientist:
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Moderate reasoning
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Ruins of a Late Roman desert fortress, that was converted to a Byzantine monastery.
* Site of the month Mar 2018 *
Khirbet Kilya (also: Kilia) is a ruin of a Roman fortress, which was later converted to a Byzantine monastery. It is adjacent to the modern Rimonim community in the Judea desert.
The 20 Dunam complex includes 2 interconnected square structures, dated to the 4-5th century AD (Late Roman) on the north side, and a 6th century AD (Byzantine monastery) extension on the south side.
The community of Rimmonim is located along the Allon road (highway #458), above the Judean desert east of Jericho.
The ruins of Kh. Kilya, in the south east side of the community, are at an altitude of 656m above sea level. The deep valley on its north side (Wadi el-Wahitah), which flows down to the Jordan valley, is 150m below the ruins – a steep descent.
A Biblical map is below, with a red marker indicating the location of the site, is shown here. The map provides some suggestions to the Biblical places, but not all of them are fully identified. The site overlooks the mountains above the Jordan valley, north of Jericho, an area is marked as the “valley of Achor”.
Area around the site (red dot in the center) – from Canaanite to the Persian period (based on Bible Mapper 3.0)
Valley of Achor
The Judean desert stretches to the east of the place, descending to the Jordan rift north of Jericho. According to Biblical scholars, this area is the Biblical valley of Achor.
The valley of Achor is mentioned in relation to the aftermath of the the fall of Jericho. Achan son of Zerah stole loot from Jericho, against God’s commandment. God’s anger led to the loss of the first attack on Ai, the next city that the Israelites attacked. Achan was punished by stoning in order to gain victory over Ai. The place of stoning was then named the valley of Achor (Hebrew for “trouble”).
(Joshua 7:24-26): And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones.
And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day”.
Stoning of Ahan- Drawing by Gustav Dore (French artist, 1832-1883)
One of the early Biblical scholars who identified the place to the north of Jericho was Eusebius Pamphili (better known as Eusebius of Caesarea). A 4th Century Greek historian of the Church, Eusebius wrote in his book “Onomasticon” about the valley:
“The valley called Achor [in Hebrew emecachor which means valley of confusion or violence because of the confusion or violence in Israel] where they stoned Achor (Achan), who stole what was under ban from whom Achor is named. It lies north of Jericho and is even now the name by those nearby”.
In 1877 the area north of Jericho was a candidate for an agriculture village drafted by Joel Moshe Salomon. He named the project as “Petah Tikva” (Hebrew for “door of hope”), inspired by Hosea’s prophecy to turn the valley of Achor into a fertile place (Hosea 2:15): And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope” . The land was purchased, but the project was nullified by the Sultan as too many foreigners were behind the project. Salomon moved it to a place east of Jaffa and decided to retain the name. The agriculture settlement that grew into the large modern city of Petah Tikva.
Late Roman period (4th-5th century AD)
A fortress was constructed in Kh. Kilya at the end of the 4th century or beginning of the 5th century. Its primary purpose was to protect the road from the hill country to the Jordan valley, in a sector facing Jericho.
The square 2-level structure measured 20.7m long and its walls were 1.3m thick. Together with another Roman tower across the Wady el-Wahitah valley (named “el Qasr”), these fortifications defended the eastern front at this section, and also provided a view of the Roman road above Wady Taiyibeh connecting the mountain area down to Jericho.
Y. Magen, who excavated the site, observed (“Late Roman fortresses and towers”, pp. 206-207) that the late Roman fortresses in Samaria and Judea had common features. They were located on hilltops and above riverbeds, in commanding position of Roman roads but not adjacent to them. They were not found near towns, nor near agriculture land. They were built of high quality materials and workmanship. These fortresses were not built in purpose of handling siege, so their plan lacked protruding towers. Their primary function was a security base – hosting soldiers who patrolled the frontier, and guarded the main roads.
Byzantine period (6th-7th century AD)
At the end of the 5th century the fortress was abandoned, and was then rebuilt and converted to a monastery. This transition of the structure shares the fate of other Roman fortresses in Samaria and Judea (for example, Kh. Deir Sam’an and Kh. Deir Qal’a). During the conversion the structure was made fit to serve the new residents, by adding a chapel, agriculture installations, and additional rooms.
The surge of the Christian monks in the Judean desert during the Byzantine period created a thorough change in the number of settlements located in this harsh desert landscape. About 60 (!) monasteries were established during this period in the desert, and between 10,000 to 30,000 monks were living there.
The monastery in Kh. Kilya was founded in the 6th century, after the Roman fortress was converted to a ‘coenobium’ type monastery. The Coenobium (pronounced Coi-Noi-Bee-Yum) was a communal monastery, where a number of structures were surrounded by a wall and the monks lived there in a commune. The monks lodged inside the compound and followed a strict daily schedule.
This word is based on the Greek words Koinos (common) and Bios (Life). The emphasis of this form is the community life, in contrast with the solitary living of the hermits which was too lonely and often led to mental breakdown. It was larger, more disciplined than the Laura (another type of monastery), and followed a daily schedule. For many hermits, it was the first station before wandering to the desert or joining a Laura.
The monastery was deserted during the Early Muslim period (638-1099).
Ottoman period – PEF survey (19th century AD)
The area around the site was examined in the Palestine Exploration Foundation (PEF) survey (1866-1877) by Wilson, Conder and Kitchener. The site was reported in Sheet 15 (Volume 2 p. 395) merely as “a modern ruined house”, as they failed to identify the antiquity of the site.
A section of their map is seen here. The ruined Kilia is situated above the deep gorge of Wady Dar el Jerir (Arabic for: valley of the house of el Jerir; name of a great Arabic poet). Across this valley is a site named el Kusr (Arabic for “the castle”) – the ruins of a Byzantine monastery.
Part of Map Sheet 15 of Survey of Western Palestine, by Conder and Kitchener, 1872-1877.
(Published 1880, reprinted by LifeintheHolyLand.com)
A Roman road is located 2km to the south on the south side of Wady et Taiyibeh (Arabic: the goodly valley, named after the Arab village 3km to the west). This desert path later became known as “Tariq abu George” – a road connecting the Ramallah and Jerusalem to Jericho, which was paved by the Jordanian Army in 1948, named after one of their Irish engineers. The road is still in use.
In 1967 the area was conquered from the Jordanians by the Israeli army. In 1977 a Nahal settlement was founded near the ruins. Nahal is a paramilitary Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) program that combines the military service with agriculture activity, and has established dozens of bases that were eventually turned into civilian communities.
In 1980 a civilian community was established in the premises of the Nahal settlement, settled by the first 25 families. The community was named after the rock of Rimmon (Hebrew for: Pomegranate), where the men of Benjamin took refuge. This event took place when the tribesmen of Israel rose against the Benjamites who refused to deliver up the men of Gibeah after they abused of a Levite’s concubine while lodging in Gibeah (Judges 20 47): “But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months”. About 4km to the west is the Arab village of Rummon, which may have preserved the ancient name of Rimmon.
An archaeological excavation was conducted in the site by a team headed by Y. Magen, the staff officer of Archaeology in Judea and Samaria. Their findings are the source of information on the site.
(a) Aerial Views
Ruins of a Roman fortress, converted to a Byzantine monastery, are located in the Rimonim community in Samaria.
The 20 Dunam complex of Kh. Kilya includes 2 interconnected square structures, dated to the 4-5th century AD (Late Roman, on the north side) and 6th century AD (Byzantine monastery, on the south side).
This aerial view is from the north side of the ruins. On the east (left) side of the ruins is the deep gorge of Wady Dar el-Jerir (also Wahitah) – 150m below the ruins.
Click on the photos to view in higher resolution…
The next aerial view is from the south side:
A closer look on the ruins is next. The area covers approximately 20 dunams in size.
(b) Entrance to the monastery
The following sections are arranged from south to north.
The entrance to the complex of the fortified Byzantine monastery was on the south side, as indicated by a yellow square on the illustration.
The photo below shows the entrance to the outer courtyard from the southern side.
(c) Outer courtyard
A large paved courtyard was located beyond the entrance to the monastery complex. Around it are a number of rooms. This was part of the coenobium-type monastery, where the monks resided in the rooms and were part of a monastic community.
The courtyard and rooms were added in the second phase of construction, during the 6th century, when the Roman fortress was converted from a military post to a community of desert monks.
Another view, from the north side of the courtyard:
(d) Monastery rooms
Around the large courtyard are a number of rooms – the residence of the monks.
Rooms on the east side:
Rooms on the west side:
(e) The Fortress
The northern section of the Byzantine monastery started as a Late Roman period fortress. It was built around the end of forth century or beginning of the fifth century AD. This was one of the Roman military outposts that guarded the frontier.
The fortress is square, 20.70m long, and surrounded by a 1.3m thick wall built of large, well made ashlars (finely dressed stones). Their external side has marginal drafting and prominent or flat bosses. The inner side was coated with a wide white plaster layer.
The plan of the fortress is a central courtyard surrounded by 8 rooms – 3 on the west, 3 on the east, 2 on the north side. A large water cistern is located in the center of the courtyard.
This aerial view was captured from the north side.
The fortress was two or three stories high. Only the north west room, seen here from its outer side, survived to a higher level.
Entrance to the Fortress:
The entrance to the fortress was in the center of the south wall. It is marked here with a yellow square.
The entrance was was equipped with a rolling stone, that sealed the entrance during trouble times. The rolling stone was added during the second phase of building, when the fortress was converted to a monastery in the 6th century.
The use of rolling stones is common in other desert monasteries and fortresses, as it added more security to the remote posts. The remote monasteries were a target of attacks by Saracens, and extra protection was required.
Another view of the entrance, from the inner side, is seen in the next photo. Notice the large stone slabs that were used for the pavement of the inner courtyard.
(f) Inside the south western room of the fortress
The only standing room is located on the south western side of the fortress (marked by a yellow square).
The door into the room was on the corner of the wall. A massive lintel stood above the entrance.
The following photo is the inner side of the entrance. Ethan, almost 2m tall, examines the arch that supported the inner wall.
Another view of the inner side is below. Beams were inserted into holes along the top side of the walls. They were used to support the ceilings which were made of wooden planks.
(g) Inner courtyard of the fortress
In the center of the fortress was a courtyard, which was surrounded by rooms. It is indicated by a yellow square on the illustration.
On the east side of the courtyard, seen here in this photo, was a portico. A staircase (seen in the center) led up to the second floor, where a chapel was built during the second building phase (6th century). The pillars in the center of the courtyard were the bases of massive arches that supported the second level and the chapel.
One of the elements in the courtyard is the base of a column.
(h) North eastern room
The north east room is indicated by a yellow square on the illustration.
Above this room was a chapel which was added in the 6th century. It was supported by massive arches that were added in the courtyard and in the rooms.
The following photo shows the north eastern room, as seen from the northern room. The entrances to the rooms were on the corners, as can be seen here where Ethan is standing (endlessly talking to his cell phone…).
The floor on the rooms were paved with white mosaic stones.
Doorposts were fitted with bolt sockets. One of these sockets is seen on the door post here on the left side.
(i) Northern room
The location of the northern room of the fortress is indicated on the illustration as a yellow square.
The northern room was rebuilt in the 6th century, during the second phase of the construction when the fortress was converted to a monastery.
The floor was paved with white mosaics.
Burial troughs and a cist tomb were cut into the floor. They served as a crypt.
A fragment of a stone with a cross lies on the floor.
(j) Eastern room
The south side of the eastern room is shown here.
(j) Western rooms
The location of the north western corner room is indicated here as a yellow square.
The photo below shows a view of the corner room as seen from the adjacent room.
A closer view:
Another stone carved with a cross was unearthed here.
(k) Eli’s lookout
A memorial observation balcony is located on the east side of the community, dedicated to Eli Asayag. Eli, one of the founders of the community, died in 2002 from a bite of a rare poisonous snake (Atractaspis engaddensis).
From the observation platform are great views of the desert area, facing Jericho, the Jordan rift valley, and the mountains of Moab beyond it. Notice the road that crosses the mountains below. This is “Tariq abu George” – a road connecting the Ramallah and Jerusalem to Jericho, which was paved by the Jordanian Army in 1948. It followed the track of the Roman road. This commanding position of the road, and the region around it, is why this location was selected for the fortress.
An engraved metal plate shows a panoramic map of the sites around the area.
Pressing the buttons on the plate is a taped message describing the history of the area in Hebrew and English. You can listen to description. Click here to run it.
(l) Western area
To the west of Rimmonim is the Allon road (highway #458), crossing from north to south along the eastern side of the hills. An open area between the community and the road is used for grazing.
Fly over the site with this YouTube video.
Etymology – behind the name:
* Names of the site:
Rimmonim – Hebrew: Pomegrantes. The community is named after the rock of Rimmon (Pomegranate) where the men of Benjamin took refuge (Judges 20 47): “But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months”.
Kilya, Kilia – PEF dictionary suggested: “hilly ground”.
Links and references:
* External links:
- Rimmonim – community home page (Hebrew)
- Judea and Samaria Researches and Discoveries – Y. Magen 2008 (kh. Kilya, pp. 178-183)
* Biblewalks sites:
- Byzantine monks – info on desert monastic life
- Drone Aerial views – collection of Biblical sites from the air
- BibleWalks Youtube channel
- Allon road – sites along the eastern side of Judea and Samaria
BibleWalks.com – dreaming in the Bible Lands
This page was last updated on Aug 26, 2017
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Strong reasoning
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The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: Mar 17, 2016
Researchers demonstrate the first electrochemical reaction based on hydride ions in an oxide-based solid-state cell for next-gen batteries
(Nanowerk News) Ionic transport has been studied extensively over the years for energy devices such as fuel cells and batteries using Li+, H+, Ag+, Cu+, F–, and O2–. Yet as Genki Kobayashi and Ryoji Kanno point out in a recent report (Science, "Pure H– conduction in oxyhydrides"), hydride ions (H-) may be particularly useful for high-energy-density storage devices. Using an oxyhydride solid state cell they have now demonstrated pure H- conduction in an oxide for the first time.
Metal hydrides tend to have an inflexible lattice, which makes H– transport difficult, so the researchers turned to oxyhydrides where oxygen and hydrogen share the same lattice sites. Another challenge is the high electron-donating properties of H-, which means that the electrons will dissociate from the H- to produce protons and electrons, giving rise to electron rather than hydride-ion transport. As a result the team sought a system containing cations that were more electron-donating than the H-.
Crystal structure of La2-x-ySrx+yLiH1-x+yO3-y (x = 0, y = 0, 1, 2) (click on image to enlarge)
Kobayashi and Kanno collaborated with colleagues from the Institute for Molecular Science, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Kyoto University and High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Japan. They examined how the structure of their oxyhydride compounds changed with composition and synthesis conditions. They also studied characteristics of the electronic structure that suggested an ionic Li-H bond in the compound, namely the existence of H– in the oxides.
They then used La2LiHO3 in an orthorhombic structural phase (o-La2LiHO3) as an electrolyte in a cell with titanium anode and titanium hydride cathodes. Phase changes at the electrodes by the discharge were consistent with a Ti-H phase diagram suggesting hydride-ion transport.
They conclude: “The present success in the construction of an all-solid-state electrochemical cell exhibiting H- diffusion confirms not only the capability of the oxyhydride to act as an H– solid electrolyte but also the possibility of developing electrochemical solid devices based on H- conduction.”
Batteries and fuel cells
Batteries and fuel cells are electrochemical devices. In lithium ion batteries, for example, lithium ions move from a positive to a negative electrode during use, and back again during charging. They are now used ubiquitously for energy storage in mobile devices but improvements to the energy density, performance and environmental sustainability of these batteries is still sought to extend their use to other devices, such as cars. The ions move between electrodes through an electrolyte. Solid-state electrolytes have safety and stability advantages over liquids as they are less prone to leak and short circuit.
In other types of electrochemical device different types of ion move back and forth, such as positive hydrogen ions in fuel cells. The charge and size of the ions affects its transport.
Ions are described by the number of additional (negative ions) or absent (positive ions) electrons in the outside or ‘valence’ electronic orbital. Oxygen readily accepts electrons to form doubly negative ions (O2-). As a result when an ion is oxidised it loses electrons, increasing the positivity of its oxidation state. When an ion is reduced, it accepts electrons, reducing the positivity of its electron valence state.
In batteries atoms can be oxidised to form positive ions that are attracted to the negative electrode where they are reduced or vice versa. These reduction and oxidation reactions are described as redox reactions.
Although hydride-ion conduction has not been used in batteries, there are potential advantages for using these ions. They are similar in size to oxide and fluoride ions and have strong reducing properties. The standard redox potential of H-/H2 is -2.3 V - close to Mg/Mg2+ (-2.4 V) which has already attracted interest for batteries. Hydride ion conductors may therefore be applied in energy storage or conversion devices with high energy densities.
Oxyhydrides for hydride-ion conduction
To overcome some of the challenges inhibiting hydride-ion conduction—hydride-ion diffusion in oxide crystal lattices and the high tendency for hydride-ion dissociation to electrons and protons—the researchers studied oxyhydrides that have structures similar to K2NiF4. These included La2LiHO3 (x = y = 0), Sr2LiH3O (x = 0, y = 2), La2-xSrxLiH1-xO3 (0 <= x <= 1, y = 0), and La1-xSr1+xLiH2-xO2 (0 <= x <= 1, y = 1).
They found that La2LiHO3 exists in two chemical phases—orthorhombic (o) and tetragonal (t) depending on the ratio of the starting chemicals and synthesis conditions. Studies of the conductivity of the compounds showed that the compound compositions that led to more vacancies were more conductive, indicating a relationship between vacancies and ionic diffusion. They also showed that the conductivity could be increased by increasing the number of vacancies.
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Science & Tech.
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Based on a review of 40 studies of variable quality, we found that certified tropical forests can overall be better for the environment than forests managed conventionally. But there wasn’t enough evidence to say if certified tropical forests are better than, the same as, or worse than conventionally managed tropical forests when it comes to people. We also found that profits and other economic benefits can be hard to come by for certified logging companies working in tropical forests. This is part of a special Mongabay series on “Conservation Effectiveness”.
By Zuzana Burivalova and Shreya Dasgupta
Tropical timber has earned a bad reputation.
When we think of timber from lush, tropical forests, it conjures up images of valuable old-growth trees pillaged by logging companies and illegal timber mafias, ignoring the plight of wildlife and local communities.
But tropical timber does not have to be bad, some experts say.
Tropical wood forms an integral part of many of our daily-use products, like furniture, toilet paper, flooring, construction, and packaging material. And this important resource can be harvested from forests responsibly and sustainably, experts say, ensuring that we meet our future wood needs while conserving forests.
“When you speak about tropical forests with anybody, my mom or whoever, it’s always corruption, it’s always blood, it’s always stealing, it’s always dirty. Nobody wants tropical timber anymore,” Paolo Cerutti, a senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) who has been working on sustainable forest management in sub-Saharan Africa, told Mongabay. “But that is bad because we can harvest the forest in a way that is clean and proper and sustainable.”
It is this need for “clean” timber that gave birth to the Forest Stewardship Council(FSC) — a voluntary, worldwide certification program formed in 1993 by a group of environmentalists, indigenous groups, human rights organizations, and timber users and traders. The FSC, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, hopes to change the way forests are managed.
What is the Forest Stewardship Council?
The FSC is a certification program that works by laying down a series of standards to guide logging companies. If these standards are diligently followed, the FSC says that the companies will see better economic returns for their products while also being good for the environment, workers, and local communities.
The FSC logo — a green checkmark and tree — aims to assure consumers that the certified wood products have been tracked throughout their supply chains and are guaranteed to come from responsibly managed forests independently monitored by credible third party auditors.
“In the tropics, where illegal harvest and degradation are widespread, FSC represents the single-best tool that exists today to conserve tropical forests while also offering economic opportunities to the myriad landowners, especially communities and smallholders, working responsibly in those regions,” Corey Brinkema, president of FSC-US, told Mongabay.
Today, there are more than 50 certification schemes relating to the management of forests, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Of these, the FSC is the fastest growing scheme in terms of certified area added annually.
Between 2012 and 2017, nearly 50 million hectares (123.5 million acres) of forest — an area roughly the size of Sweden — was newly certified by the FSC. As of September 2017, about 198 million hectares (489 million acres) of forests are being managed according to FSC standards across 84 countries. The bulk of these FSC-certified forests (about 83 percent) lie in Europe and North America. The tropics — Asia, Africa, and Latin America — account for 16 percent of FSC-certified areas.
FSC certification is not only expanding rapidly, but is also one of the most respected forest certification schemes out there.
The international conservation NGO World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a founding member of FSC, considers the certification program to be “the best certification system to ensure environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of forests.”
Catharine Grant of Greenpeace, another environmental NGO that is a founding member of the FSC, told Mongabay: “A 100 percent FSC-certified forest management system is the only system that has stringent social and environmental requirements when implemented correctly.”
But is FSC certification really effective? Has the certification scheme delivered the promises it set out to realize? To find some answers, we reviewed 40 studies that looked at the impacts of forest certification and talked to six experts (both independent researchers and experts within the FSC).
State of science on FSC certification
The scientific literature on FSC certification’s impacts is currently poor.
Very few studies directly measure the effectiveness of FSC certification. And many of these are biased by design or lack methodological rigor to prove causation. Very few make appropriate comparisons — simply comparing an FSC-certified forest with a non-certified forest, or comparing a forest before and after certification, is not enough to tell us if the changes we see are truly because of certification. The changes could be due to other factors that may have come into play since the forest was certified. Such studies can still show that certification was associated with various outcomes, but not that certification truly caused them. So the findings of these studies must be interpreted accordingly, as we have done.
For example, a reduced deforestation rate in an FSC-certified forest compared to a non-certified forest could be because of a number of reasons: it could be due to logging operation changes brought about by certification, due to the forest’s remote location, or simply because the logging company was already relatively environmentally friendly and may have had eco-friendly logging practices in place even without certification.
“This inability to demonstrate the extent to which changes on the ground have been due to FSC certification adoption is a major weakness,” Claudia Romero, a researcher at the University of Florida, told Mongabay.
Then there is the problem of connecting the dots. There are individual case studies on FSC spread across continents. But it is nearly impossible to average their results and come up with a unified conclusion about the effectiveness of certification.
“And that’s a big problem,” Cerutti said. “It is very difficult to come up with a clear, generalizable message that can cover at least a continent or an entire sub-region.”
Time is another shortcoming. Almost all the studies we reviewed have looked at FSC certification’s impacts over short time scales of one to five years. But certification’s intended impacts are multiple — higher profits, better resources for local communities, improved habitat for wildlife — and could show up in a certified forest only after several years of assiduously implementing FSC’s standards. Even though the FSC has been around for nearly 25 years, we found no studies that had looked at the long-term impacts of FSC certification.
How we reviewed available evidence
To build our evidence base, we targeted studies that specifically compared two different forest management regimes: certified forests with non-certified, conventionally logged forests in the tropics. We could find only 13 studies that fit our criteria. So we also included 27 studies that compared the effects of managing a forest under Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) standards with those of managing a forest conventionally. According to several scientific studies and communication with a number of experts, most FSC-certified forests appear to use RIL (a set of logging guidelines that experts believe leads to much lower damage in timber concessions).
FSC certification can be thought of as a toolbox with multiple tools for reducing environmental degradation. RIL is one of these tools. RIL is also currently one of the only tools that has been widely studied, and even so the studies are sparse. Here we have investigated the effects of both FSC certification, and RIL, arguably its most important and best-studied tool.
Overall, out of the several hundred studies we reviewed, we selected 40 of the most relevant peer-reviewed scientific studies focusing on FSC certification or RIL in tropical forests. These studies were highly variable in how they were conducted — they followed different methodologies, measured different outcomes in a variety of ways, and had different sample sizes, for example. So we could only consistently extract information on whether certification or RIL was better than, the same as, or worse than conventional forest management. Moreover, only a minority of studies could suggest causation; whereas the majority could only demonstrate a correlation between the forest management regime and outcomes. (These differences are reflected in the infographic below, through the “Select type of evidence” menu option.)
Is forest certification better for the environment?
Yes, mostly. In general, forests under FSC certification or RIL seem to be better for the environment than a conventionally managed ones.
Logging changes a tropical forest in many ways: as individual trees are extracted, tree cover can decrease; logging not only removes standing stocks of trees but also often damages surrounding, non-target trees; loggers have to build road networks to haul wood out, which can fragment forests; these road networks can make illegal hunting or logging easier; and with increased disturbance in the forests, species of wild animals and plants can disappear.
Tropical forests logged according to FSC or RIL standards seem to perform better on many of the above outcomes.
In an RIL-managed forest, ground or soil disturbance due to the use heavy machinery is likely to be lower, for example, allowing greater forest regeneration in the future. These forests also tend to have fewer roads and trails, have lower damage to non-target trees, and store more carbon in their tree biomass (because of careful logging and fewer damaged trees).
These forests have lower loss of canopy than conventionally logged concessions (tropical forest canopies, or the network of tree crowns, are home to rich biodiversity and influence the amount of light that penetrates into the forests and also affects the micro-climates inside). Tropical forests managed under RIL guidelines also tend to have more animal and plant species. One meta-analysis of 41 studies found that RIL-managed forests had smaller changes in numbers of bird, arthropod, and mammal (especially bat) species than conventionally logged ones.
However, very few studies could point to whether certification actually caused these positive outcomes. Instead, the positive changes seen in certified forests could be due to preexisting conditions, or because responsible forest managers may be more likely to try to get FSC-certified in the first place.
These positive changes could also be due to improved harvesting techniques under FSC or RIL management, experts say.
For instance, FSC certification and RIL guidelines require that loggers map and create an inventory of trees in the concession, harvest only specific timber tree species and not cut indiscriminately. Under these management regimes, logging crews tend to be better trained, taking care to plan and minimize collateral damage of non-targeted, neighboring trees. Crews are also expected to carefully plan roads and trails to minimize ground disturbance by heavy equipment. Lower overall disturbance could be slowing down loss of biodiversity.
These changes look encouraging. But one of the key motivations behind creating the FSC was to stem tropical deforestation. The evidence is sparse on that. Only a handful of studies have looked at whether certification is associated with reduced deforestation, and the results are mixed and unclear.
A recent study in Mexico, for example, compared 64 FSC-certified forest units with non-certified ones and found no difference in deforestation rates. This could either mean that FSC certification has not reduced deforestation, or, as the researchers point out, they were unable to measure the potential impacts of certification on forest loss.
Another study in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, found that forests that were FSC-certified had slightly lower deforestation rates compared to non-certified timber concessions between 2000 and 2008. But certified forests also had more “holes” in the canopy (or greater degradation) created by small clearings within the forests. A few other studies have found only minor reductions in deforestation rates in certified forests.
Furthermore, while these studies tell us how certification may affect deforestation rates over short time spans, there is no research to tell us the fate of certified forests over the long run.
For example, a certified logging company could continue to preserve a forest as a forest and keep managing it well. Or it could give up its concession’s lease and sell it off to another company planning to bring in a more profitable industry like an oil palm plantation. Or it could simply give up its certificate and fall back to environmentally harmful logging practices.
For other environmental outcomes of certification — like changes in illegal hunting and other environmental crimes — we found few to no studies.
This bias towards measuring certain outcomes while ignoring others could simply be because some environmental outcomes are easier to measure. Tree cover and canopy loss can be measured relatively accurately using satellite imagery, and animal species diversity can be monitored using well-established population monitoring techniques. Outcomes like illegal logging, however, can be trickier to quantify.
Despite these shortcomings, the available evidence shows that FSC-certification or logging under RIL guidelines does offer several environmental benefits compared to conventional logging. However, we still can’t say whether these improvements are enough to make the forests truly sustainable.
“If by sustainable you mean that if we go back to the forest in 30 years, will there still be timber that can be harvested and will make a profit for the logging company, for the people around the concession, and for the government in terms of tax? The answer is yes,” Cerutti said. “But will the forest have the same commercial species of trees then as you have now, I don’t think we can answer that. And if there is a change, it could be because of logging or it could be because of other factors we don’t yet understand completely.”
The scientific evidence on tropical forest certification
Is certified forest management really better than conventional logging for the environment, people, and logging companies’ bottom lines?
Use the drop down menus to select data from your country of choice or to view data for a particular type of evidence. Click on the name of an outcome (such as animal diversity, or deforestation and degradation) to display data specific to it. Click on a square to see what evidence the outcome is based on. Data visualization by GreenInfo Network. Database last updated in August 2017. Download data here.
Is forest certification better for people?
There is just not enough evidence to say.
FSC certification claims to be socially beneficial. And social benefits are important because the conventional timber logging industry has long been associated with human rights violations.
Take, for example, the recent Tokyo 2020 scandal. In April this year, the international NGO Global Witness published a report claiming that much of the plywood being used in the building of Tokyo’s new Olympic Stadium had come from Shin Yang, an Indonesia-based logging company embroiled in a more than three-decades-long conflict with the Penan indigenous community in Malaysian Borneo.
Or consider the recent report by the Integrated Action Network to Combat Slavery, which found that workers at logging camps in the state of Pará in Brazil were working in slave-labor-like conditions that included forced work, debt bondage, isolation, exhausting working hours, and life-threatening activities.
One of FSC’s primary goals is to change the way logging companies work with communities living in and around forests. Its certification guidelines mandate that companies improve their employees’ living and working conditions, provide workers and local communities with better infrastructure and safety, increase their access to resources, reduce conflicts with communities, and improve the communities’ livelihoods, among other benefits.
But overall, we were unable to say if a certified tropical forest is better than, the same as, or worse than a conventionally managed forest when it comes to people.
This is largely because we could find only six studies that had looked into how the well-being of workers and local communities had changed in an FSC-certified (four studies) or RIL-managed (two studies) forest, and these studies’ results were mixed.
One study published in 2016 by Cerutti and his colleagues found mostly positive changes with certification in Cameroon, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo in Africa.
Certified concessions had better access to essential services like water supplies, housing, electricity, waste management, and medical facilities when compared to non-certified forests, for instance. They also had more robust procedures in place to control and verify the use of safety equipment as well as health and life insurance. Workers in certified concessions were also able to purchase basic amenities at the local mini-markets at more affordable prices than those in non-certified concessions.
Some results were negative or mixed: the workforce in both certified and non-certified forests was heavily imbalanced in favor of men, with women mostly employed as cooks or housekeepers. There was also no significant difference in how the communities practiced shifting cultivation, hunted wildlife, or collected non-timber forest products between certified and non-certified concessions.
Another study, focused on Kalimantan, Indonesia, found mixed results when it came to social benefits. People living in villages within certified logging concessions seemed to have better health (fewer cases of acute respiratory illness and malnutrition) than those in non-certified forests, for example, but there was no evidence that infrastructure or other facilities improved with certification. This could be because “infrastructure takes time to put in place,” the authors wrote in the paper published in PlosOne.
Despite conflict between logging companies and communities being a major area of concern, only two studies touched upon it. While both studies found that certification improved communication between the companies and communities, there was no evidence that certification helped resolve or reduce conflict in any way. Moreover, none of the studies we reviewed tried to find out if certified concessions had lower incidences of land grabbing or were better at resolving land tenure issues. (Lack of recognition of land rights is a key driver of conflicts between communities and logging companies.)
But some of these conflicts may simply be too big for the FSC to resolve alone, experts say, especially in countries with corruption or weak law enforcement. Governments may not recognize land rights of communities, for example, Catharine Grant of Greenpeace said, or governments and logging companies may collude and share vested interests.
In fact, in areas dogged by high levels of corruption and poor governance, even certified logging companies can get entangled in human rights violations.
In 2013, FSC removed the certification of Danzer, a Swiss-German timber group, after receiving accusations that its subsidiary SIFORCO had been involved in human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo. SIFORCO had allegedly called the police and military in May 2011 to subdue protests by local communities. People were reportedly beaten up and abused, and their properties destroyed in the ensuing conflict.
Certification can even lead to an increase in conflict between people and the logging company, Cerutti said, because certified companies tend to enforce the law more strictly than non-certified ones. Some of these laws can result in lower tolerance towards peoples’ customary practices, such as collecting non-timber forest products or hunting wildlife, especially when the law makes these practices illegal.
In such instances, there is a greater chance that peace will be maintained in non-certified forest management units, Cerutti wrote in a longer report of his findings from the Congo basin, since they are not as stringent about enforcing the national law.
Then again, strict enforcement of laws in certified forests could lead to positive changes in the long run, but we found no evidence to show that.
The FSC has also been improving measures to deal with defaulting companies, Marion Karmann, program manager of monitoring and evaluation at FSC, told Mongabay.
In the case of Danzer, for instance, the FSC set out a list of conditions that the company had to fulfill if it wanted to be certified again. These conditions includedbuilding schools and medical clinics for the Yalisika community in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and developing procedures to prevent conflict with the community. In 2014, FSC renewed its association with Danzer.
“Danzer has worked tirelessly to develop a robust conflict management system” based on FSC’s guidelines, Kim Cartensen, Director General of FSC, wrote in a blogpost in 2015. “We believe Danzer has now set a new benchmark that could, and indeed should, be followed by all certified logging companies operating in difficult places like the Congo Basin,”
In 2011, FSC also established a Permanent Indigenous Peoples’ Committee consisting of elected indigenous representatives from all over the world, which advises the board on how best to help safeguard their interests, Karmann added.
These mechanisms sound like a step in the right direction. But with the current available scientific evidence, we cannot say whether these are, or will be, effective.
Is forest certification profitable for logging companies?
When FSC certification was initially conceived, it was touted as a market mechanism that would bring price premiums for the logging companies’ “green” products. The idea was that consumers would be willing to pay a higher price or give preference to these “more sustainable” wood products while boycotting others.
But the four studies that looked at whether FSC certification has helped products fetch higher prices found that price premiums — when they exist — vary quite a bit.
In one study, for example, researchers found that the prices of certified wood products made from sandbox trees (Hura crepitans) were higher than the prices of the same products made from non-certified sandbox trees. But certified products made from other trees like amburana (Amburana cearensis) fetched lower prices than non-certified products of the same species. This study looked only at export prices for 2000 and 2001, so the researchers couldn’t say whether the price premiums they found would last.
The remaining three studies, too, found that the price premiums of certified timber products over non-certified products varied a lot, depending on the product type, the timber tree species, and time.
Another argument in favor of FSC certification is that it gives certified companies access to newer, possibly more environmentally aware, and lucrative buyers. However, only two studies looked at whether forest certification affected companies’ access to markets. Their results were positive — certification did help some companies gain access to newer markets or retain markets that they would have lost without certification. But not all companies in the two studies were able to benefit from the improved market access. One reason for this, the researchers write, is that some companies’ production volumes might be too low for them to export their timber to the more lucrative international markets. But the benefits could accrue in the long run, they add.
Moreover, in countries where large volumes of illegally harvested, cheap timber continue to flood the domestic market, certified companies struggle to sell their premium products. It has become nearly impossible for Precious Woods, a Swiss-based timber company with certified logging concessions in Brazil and Gabon to sell its logs in Brazilian markets, said Ernst Brugger, former chairman of Precious Woods’ board of directors. “This is because we are much too costly and there is a lot of illegal logging that brings down the price of timber. So all of our Brazilian timber is being sold internationally [Europe, U.S. and Asia] where there are markets that pay a certain premium.”
Even when consumers are willing to pay a premium for certified wood products, this does not always translate to higher profits. This is likely because acquiring and holding onto an FSC certificate, or even adhering to RIL standards, is expensive.
Expenses can include modifying harvesting methods, inventorying tree species within the concession, acquiring new equipment and safety gear, training workers, giving them higher salaries, building infrastructure or conflict-resolution institutions for the workers and local communities, establishing monitoring systems, and conducting audits.
These certification or RIL-related expenses can reduce or cancel out profits, most studies found.
The lack of profits may seem discouraging, but experts say that certification could eventually lead to higher or sustained profits in the long-term.
One reason for the high costs is that many certified concessions are still streamlining and optimizing their operations, Cerutti said. “So operations that took three months and an ‘x’ amount of money in the past, will now take one month and half of the money,” he said. “I believe that the investment that the companies make over 5 or 10 years to get certified will be spread out and earn them a profit later.”
Karmann told Mongabay that FSC is aware of these economic challenges and is continuously striving to seek “general and context specific solutions to overcome them.” Diversifying sources of revenue and promotional efforts to encourage consumption of FSC-certified timber may help companies improve their profitability, Karmann added.
“Even though consumers clearly favour sustainable production in market surveys, they are not willing to pay [a] higher price,” a Precious Woods brochure notes. “It requires more public marketing efforts by Precious Woods, but also by non-profit organizations to steer consumer behaviour in a more positive direction. Support from national governments is undoubtedly desirable, if not essential.”
However, experts agree that the interplay of potential benefits and costs of certification is complex and still little understood.
This lack of insight occurs because it is very hard for researchers and other people evaluating the impacts of certification to access confidential business information, according to Romero. “So I suspect it will take a more concerted effort from the part of researchers to properly engage firms into these sorts of analyses to try to better understand what incentives, both positive and negative, to put in place,” she said. “At the end of the day, firms act on self-interest and as long as the costs, not only economic and financial but also other perceived costs to the firms, remain higher than the range of benefits, certification adoption will not be mainstreamed.”
Despite the rapid expansion of FSC certification over the past 20-plus years, we found only limited rigorous science investigating its effects.
What little research there is suggests that FSC-certified and RIL-managed forests are better for the environment than conventionally managed forests for several outcomes. But for one of certification’s primary environmental goals — reducing deforestation — the evidence is currently poor. It is also important to remember that not all FSC certified concessions use RIL practices, so there is a measure of uncertainty in these conclusions.
The handful of studies looking at the impacts of certification on workers and local communities are limited in terms of the geographical areas they cover and the outcomes they focus on. So even though a few studies do show some social benefits, there is not enough evidence yet to show that FSC certified forests are indeed good for people.
Profits for logging companies also seem hard to come by, or at least they may take a long time to materialize. And while certified or “sustainably” harvested timber can fetch higher prices compared to timber from non-certified, conventionally managed forests, this premium seems to vary a lot.
The available research is also heavily biased towards Asia (19 studies), as well as Central and South America (18 studies), while Africa remains poorly understood (seven studies).
Forest certification, like any other conservation strategy, works in complex, continually changing contexts. Companies have varied backgrounds and they operate in varied settings with a range of logistical, social, and business challenges. This is where evidence can be helpful.
Good science can help tease out the conditions that make forest certification succeed or fail. It can point out areas that lack data and need further study.
“Scientific evidence can help inform FSC’s policy and other decision makers about where the strengths, weaknesses and potentials of the certification scheme are,” Karmann said.
A solid evidence base can also help companies and certificate holders make credible promotional claims for their products, which can then help consumers make the right choice, she added.
For consumers, choices are plenty. So an FSC logo with science backing its sustainability claims could be the key to steering consumers towards certified products.
(Note: Some of these results have already been published as a scientific review in the journal Conservation Letters. Here, we take a fresh look at the evidence, updating it with findings from some of the latest studies.)
(This article was originally published on Mongabay – an environmental science and conservation news and information site. You can read the original article here. Feature Image of FSC certified timber by Zuzana Burivalova.)
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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Islam, Force and Violence
Posted by avideditor on January 24, 2011
It seems the Jihadis get there ideas from more then a radical interoperation.
In a perused weekly, a picture depicting a posing bin Laden has caught your correspondent’s attention. The man is shown with his crutch, which is a Kalashnikov. Properly so. Without the philosophical and theological arguments that the gun supports, the ideas of the movement would not score on the free market place of ideas. The struggle to implement heaven on earth according to the taste of the Prophet, would be unlikely to succeed if its best supporting claim would be discarded. At this juncture, through an association, another “impossible” comes to mind. A system with bin Laden’s preferences as its basic guideline would have never developed his essential Kalashnikov. Swords are slightly out of date since the time of last-ditch banzai attacks on tropical islands. Therefore, that assault rifle is the precondition of the global attention the Prophet’s warrior now commands. Oddly, to have it he had to import it. That from a culture whose most outstanding fundamental spiritual products, which are its driving force, he consciously condemns and rejects.
Where a Moslem majority controls the government, that institution is likely to be used to enforce a religion-derived agenda. When this is the case, the practice is not an aberration of the faith or of the local idea of good government. The fusion of church and state is a central element of the Islamic concept of governance. For this reason, the laicism of politics is much harder to achieve than in societies with another tradition. This includes the Christian one. Regardless of subsequent and ultimately failed attempts to merge state and church, already Christ is on record of advocating the need to separate the affairs of man from the realm of God.
In fact, in the context of Mohammedanism, a separation is only achievable if the church’ rights and role are curtailed. In practice, the maintenance of the division requires the suppression of the organization of the faithful –as the past practice of Ataturk’s Turkey shows. Accordingly, the massive physical stress put upon religious minorities and the killing of Christians is, without massive outside pressure, unlikely to treated as a matter for government intervention. Naturally, the same crimes against Muslims, not to mention lesser matters that they classify as offenses, would cause an international outcry. Here one may wonder why democracies, and especially why Christian-influenced democracies, do not protest vigorously. Responding to a given action according to the “culture” of its source implies a judgment. It is that the political culture of Muslims is of a special kind. Therefore, from their societies one cannot expect behavior that meets advanced democratic standards. If you think that, you should have the courage to call the phenomena by its name. Tolerance for a reprehensible act in one instance, and proscribing it in another because of the background of the perpetrator, applies different, higher or lower standards and these reflect the quality of the deed’s originator. In this case, such a procedure implies that one of the parties to the comparison not only differs from the other but is, to that same extent, also inferior to the other party.
This entry was posted on January 24, 2011 at 4:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Tagged: Dhimmi, Dhimmitude, Islam, Islam force and violence, Islamic, Islamic lies, Islamic violence, Islamist, jihad, Jihadis, muslim, sharia, taqiyya, terrorist, [tags Jihadi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
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Strong reasoning
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Religion
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Women report bad reactions to clinical drug trials more frequently than men, and, as a result, the National Institutes of Health [NIH] aims to completely reform the biomedical testing process.
An NPR article reveals that biomedical testing has long been skewed toward male subjects from its earliest stages. Eighty percent of studies are performed exclusively on male mice, according to Dr. Janine Clayton, director of the Office of Research on Women's Health at the NIH.
Until the 1990s, researchers also tested mostly on human men out of fear that experimental drugs could cause complications for women if they became pregnant, according to NPR.
Because some drugs haven’t been thoroughly tested on women, they may experience adverse reactions or different effects entirely.
"Men and women respond to medications differently,” Clayton told NPR.
In guidelines released in 1994, Congress and the NIH recommended that women and minorities be included in human clinical trials. According to NPR, women now participate in more NIH trials than men.
A new NIH policy that started Jan. 25 requires researchers to consider both sexes from the preclinical stage, and to study both “male and female biology,” according to Clayton.
From the article:
It's not as if people are ignoring female animals because they're chauvinists. Some researchers say females have been excluded from studies because their hormone cycles can confound the experiments, though the actual variability that the estrous cycle introduces is debatable.
NPR notes that sometimes the opposite occurs: Male animals have to be caged separately due to fighting, which creates an unreasonable expense and can affect results, so females are used.
Even if labs do use both sexes, the data are usually not filtered separately and any sex-based discrepancies are lost.
It’s imperative not to overlook the animals’ social situations, either.
According to NPR:
[I]n most cases it's pretty straightforward to do a male-female comparison. But there's a danger in assuming that a difference noticed between male and female animals stems from a difference in their basic biology.
At the University of California-Los Angeles, focusing studies on female animals led to a breakthrough. Researchers realized that multiple sclerosis progressed differently in female animals, which led to the idea that pregnancy hormones can relieve symptoms, according to NPR.
At McGill University in Canada, researchers discovered that pain is transmitted in male and female mice differently.
From the article:
If the same is true in people, that difference could have big implications for a class of painkillers meant to work by blocking the cells that are more active in men.
“The prediction would be those drugs simply won’t work at all in women. It's not that they’ll work better in women and worse in men. It’s that they won’t work in women period,” Jeff Mogil of McGill told NPR.
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Strong reasoning
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Health
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Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac (Shlomo Yitzhaki), known as Rashi (based on an acronym of his Hebrew initials), is one of the most influential Jewish commentators in history. He was born in Troyes, Champagne, in northern France, in 1040.
At age 17, Rashi received an education in the yeshiva of Rabbi Yaakov ben Yakar in Worms, where the “Rashi Chapel” was built years after his death (this chapel was subsequently destroyed during the German occupation in World War II, and rebuilt in 1950). At age 25, he returned to Troyes, where he became a rabbi. Since rabbis were not yet paid officials at this point in time, Rashi also worked with his family in the local vineyards. In 1070, he founded a yeshiva where he taught many disciples, some of whom would also go on to become prominent Jewish scholars. In 1096, Rashi witnessed the massacre of friends and family members at the hands of Crusaders en route to the Holy Land. He died in 1105 in Troyes.
Rashi’s Major Works
Rashi’s best-known works are his comprehensive commentaries on the Bible and the Babylonian Talmud. All editions of the Talmud published since the 1520s have included Rashi’s commentary in the margins. His commentaries on the Bible have become a foundational element of Jewish education to this day; they are often taught side by side with the Torah when students begin learning in yeshivas and Jewish day schools. Rashi’s commentaries on the Bible are based on the Masoretic text, a version of the Bible compiled by scholars between the seventh and 10th centuries, in which they clarified pronunciation by establishing a vowel notation system. In preparing the Masoretic version, the scholars also tallied the number of times particular words appeared, presumably in an effort to determine those words’ significance.
Rashi’s Signature Style
Rashi’s commentaries combine an explanatory style that elucidates the simple meaning of the text (known as pshat) and an interpretive style that elaborates further (known as drash). He collects, distills and weaves in classical rabbinic interpretations, while adding his own perspectives. There is some debate about Rashi’s accessibility to the general reader. Because his language is clear and concise, his work is often characterized as intended for the masses. However, his conciseness assumes that the reader has some foundational knowledge and that he therefore did not have to explain everything in detail.
Rashi is known for his clarity of style, his conciseness, and his ability to shed light on obscure ideas. Writing primarily in Hebrew, he occasionally coined his own terms in his commentaries. He also frequently translated Hebrew terms into French, writing the French in Hebrew script (these terms were known as la’azim), as a way to instruct his French-speaking audience, especially on subjects that impacted daily life, such as Shabbat observance, the laws of kashrut and relations with non-Jews.
Rashi’s writings and his methods of interpreting texts spread rapidly and influenced all successive rabbinic commentaries. Thanks to his many disciples who shared his work, his writings and his approach to text study quickly came into use in Jewish communities all over France, and during his lifetime spread to northern Europe. Within a century his work spread farther to other countries. In fact, the world’s first printed book in Hebrew was Rashi’s commentary on the Bible, printed in Reggio, Italy, in 1475.
Among Rashi’s disciples were his family members, who became well-known Talmudists in their own rights. His sons-in-law Samuel ben Meir, known as the Rashbam and Isaac ben Meir, known as Ribam, along with his grandson Jacob ben Meir, known as Rabbenu Tam, all transmitted and expanded upon Rashi’s teachings. Building on Rashi’s approach, Rabbeinu Tam’s Sefer Ha-Yashar (Book of the Just) introduced a new form of interpretation that became associated with the literature of Tosafot, Hebrew for “additions.” The literature of the Tosafot analyzes a text from many angles, raises objections to arguments and offers possible solutions. This differs from Rashi’s style of presenting clear and simple explanations for textual questions.
Much other Jewish scholarship was directly influenced by Rashi’s work, including the Sefer Ha-Pardes (Book of Paradise), which presents responsa by Rashi’s contemporaries and disciples; the Sefer Ha-Orah (Book of Light), which was compiled from works in the 12th and 14th centuries; the Sefer Issur Ve-Heter (Book of Things Prohibited and Permitted); and the Mahzor Vitry, which includes legal rules and responsa. In addition, Rashi’s commentaries spawned over 300 “super-commentaries” (commentaries on his commentary).
Rashi’s influence extended beyond the Jewish community. The biblical commentaries of Franciscan monk Nicholas de Lyra, born in 1292, depended heavily on Rashi’s work; de Lyra’s work later influenced Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. Rashi’s commentary on the Bible was translated into Latin by Christian scholars in the 17th and 18th centuries, and was translated into German in 1838.
Though his work is not considered to be philosophically original, unlike the work of someone like Maimonides, Rashi has exerted the widest influence of any other Jewish commentator on subsequent Jewish literature and remains a fixture in Jewish learning to this day.
Pronounced: MAKH-zore, Origin: Hebrew, literally “cycle” the mahzor is the special prayer book for the High Holidays, containing all the liturgy for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Pronounced: TALL-mud, Origin: Hebrew, the set of teachings and commentaries on the Torah that form the basis for Jewish law. Comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, it contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis from different periods in Jewish history.
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.
Pronounced: YAH-kove or YAH-ah-kove, Origin: Hebrew, Jacob, one of the Torah’s three patriarchs.
Pronounced: yuh-SHEE-vuh or yeh-shee-VAH, Origin: Hebrew, a traditional religious school, where students mainly study Jewish texts.
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Strong reasoning
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Paper made from wood starts usually starts as wood chips, bark or shavings left over from sawmill operations.
Paper made from wood usually starts as wood chips, bark or shavings left over from sawmill operations. The material is sorted according to size and moved to the pulping operation where it will be turned into pulp for making paper.
In the pulping stage, the individual wood fibers must be separated from one another. This can be accomplished using one or more pulping techniques. The type of paper being made determines which pulping process is used. The finished pulp looks like a mushy, watery solution. But if you look at it under a microscope, you will see that the individual wood fibers have all been separated.
Now it’s time to make paper out of our pulp. That mainly means getting the water out of the wood-fiber soup, since this papermaking stock is about 99% water. The first area in which this takes place is called the wet end of the papermaking machine.
First, papermakers spray the stock onto a long, wide screen, called a wire. Immediately, water begins to drain out the bottom of the wire. This water is collected so that it can be reused over and over again. Eventually, this byproduct of the pulping process, known as pulping liquor, will be collected and recycled into energy.
Meanwhile, the pulp fibers are caught on the top side of the wire, and begin to bond together in a very thin mat. The fiber mat remaining on the wire is then squeezed between felt-covered press rollers to absorb more of the water.
Even when this wet end work is over, the pulpy stuff on the wire is still about 60% water. But now it’s time for the dry end.
In the dry end, huge metal cylinders are heated by filling them with steam. The wet paper, which can be up to 30 feet wide, passes through these hot rollers – sometimes dozens of them, and often in three to five groups. Heating and drying the wet sheet seals the fibers closer and closer together, turning them gradually from pulp into paper.
Then a part of the paper machine called the calender – big, heavy cast iron rollers – press the drying paper smooth and uniform in thickness. Sometimes the paper is coated, often with fine clay, to make it glossier and easier to print on.
A bit more drying, then the paper is rolled onto a big spool or reel, ready for a thousand uses.
|
<urn:uuid:a12830f5-12dd-448c-8376-9d1bfb9fc66b>
|
CC-MAIN-2020-24
|
https://www.nwpulpandpaper.org/copy-of-history-4
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347396089.30/warc/CC-MAIN-20200528104652-20200528134652-00578.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.95336 | 521 | 3.828125 | 4 | 1.697065 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Industrial
|
So today we are going to go through the example of visualizing geospatial data in a form of heatmap, straight from csv file. Our main goal is to discover the purpose of tools used in this simple, but very valuable use case.
Why would we want that particular dataset? In example: if you would consider buying a house in that area, it would be great to be aware which parts of the city are the safest for you children! 🙂
First tool we are going to use is Azure Notebooks. It is Azure-powered, Software as a Service version of Jupyter Notebook. To put it`s purpose in simple words – it allows you to easily write, run (in the cloud) and share your python code directly in the browser!
Not much to explain here, but it is worth mentioning that in this article we are going to use Python 3.6.
Pandas is something I have known about for a while, but recently I had a chance to put it into work for our client at HugeServices and I have to admit, this is my discovery of the year. If it comes to data science, I have used in example numpy, but pandas in on another level.
What does it exatly help us with? According to the official page: “pandas is an open source, BSD-licensed library providing high-performance, easy-to-use data structures and data analysis tools for the Python programming language”.
The most basic thinking to know about pandas is what are Series and DataFrames – I strongly recommend you to learn that. In example here.
Azure Notebooks configuration
- Go to Azure Notebooks Portal
- Login with your Microsoft Account
- Click on
- Fill-up the creation dialog and hit
- Click on
Newbutton and select
Notebookfrom the dropdown list
Notebook Name, select
Python 3.6and hit
- Open a newly created notebook
- A view like below should appear
- Fill-up first cell with the code below
import numpy as np import pandas as pd import folium from folium.plugins import HeatMap # Read the data from the remote resource as DataFrame df = pd.read_csv('https://data.townofcary.org/api/v2/catalog/datasets/crime-mapping/exports/csv', sep=';', usecols=['lat', 'lon']) # Remove all rows with missing values df = df.dropna(axis = 0, how ='any') # Display first 5 rows of the DataFrame df.head()
runand you should be able to see the top 5 rows of the DataFrame
- Fill up the newly created cell (visible under the first cell, after invoking the run action) with the following code and hit
# Calculate approximated center point for our map view center = [np.mean(df.lat.values), np.mean(df.lon.values)] # Setup our map map = folium.Map(location=center, zoom_start=12) # Setup our heatmap layer heatMap = HeatMap(zip(df.lat.values, df.lon.values), min_opacity=0.1, max_val=5, radius=5, blur=15, max_zoom=1) # Adds the headmap to the map and returns the map itself so this will be displayed as a result map.add_child(heatMap)
- After this step a map view should appear
If everything went ok, you should be able to see an interactive map with a heatmap on top of it.
There is a lot of geospatial data to be visualized out there. I hope this way of doing it will appear useful for you. I highly encourage you to share your story in the comments section on what kind of data you have visualized and what did you conclude from it.
P.S. this tutorial can be realized using just Jupyter Notebook instead of Azure Notebooks as well. To setup the environment on your own machine, I highly recommend Anaconda. Anyway, our choice here is Azure Notebooks, since it is easier/faster to start with (i.e. pandas and folium dependencies are already preinstalled for us).
|
<urn:uuid:cc652148-bdef-4f03-8c99-c37e9ec319e9>
|
CC-MAIN-2020-24
|
https://www.chroscielski.pl/visualize-geospatial-data-with-azure-notebooks-python-pandas-and-folium/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2020-24/segments/1590347411862.59/warc/CC-MAIN-20200531053947-20200531083947-00271.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.877096 | 915 | 2.59375 | 3 | 2.135761 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Software Dev.
|
The reasons why smoking is dangerous and unadvisable are vast. It is important that smokers learn to avoid the practice because it slowly affects their health negatively and may lead to death eventually. Majority of the systems in the human body are affected by continuous smoking of cigarettes and other drugs. Usually, smoking involves inhaling of puffs of smokes of such things as tobacco and other drugs which have some effects on an individual. The person may be doing this as he seeks pleasure, relaxation and other means to satisfy his addiction. Smoking is not a practice to encourage and as we shall see, it affects the lives of persons negatively.
Smoking affects the digestive system. ...view middle of the document...
The heart is overworked. High levels of smoking in the body result into increased heart rate. This increases the number of times the heart beats within a minute. This may cause the overstretching of the heart muscles as it tries to pump blood. As a result the heart may beat too fast. Smoking may also raise the cholesterol levels in the body. This goes and surrounds the muscles of the heart making it hard for the walls to pump blood. Such complications may affect the general performance of the body a great deal. Too much smoking leads to a lot of tar being inhaled into the body. This is a chemical component of cigarettes and other drugs that are consumed by smoking. The tar goes to the blood vessels and clogs them. This results into blood flowing with difficulty. This may further result into hypertension which is very fatal in humans. This becomes more serious in individuals who are stressed up.
The brain is also damaged due to smoking. The brain is what contains the central nervous system. The CNS performs the role of controlling all the activities of the body. The brain thus is alive and relies on blood for it physiological processes such as excretion and oxygen supply. When blood circulation is affected blood cannot flow towards the brain as is supposed to be. This may lead to brain damage. Smoking of such things as bhang is even worse since it has a direct effect on the brain and may actually cause it to shrink. This may result into the individual forgetting thing very easily. The affected person may further invite minor accidents such as injuries and cuts due to he or she forgetting too fast.
The blood vessels are also affected. Smoking results in blood flowing very fast within the human body. This in turn may cause the blood vessel to rapture as it tries to pass. The condition is known as hypertension. It may result into cardiac arrest or even stroke. This is where the heart lacks enough supply of blood. It may therefore as a result become undersupplied with enough oxygen and nutrients. This may cause disastrous and seven fatal effects on the smoker. Stroke may also be caused by the clogging of blood vessels with tar. This prevents enough supply of oxygen to the heart.
The Immune system is also affected when one becomes an active smoker. The immune system refers to the system that responds towards protecting the body against disease causing antigens. Stress weakens the immune system of a person. This makes a person susceptible to diseases very easily. The platelets are also affected resulting in wounds healing too slowly (Arnetz, 1996 pg 278)
The mental health of a human being is also affected when a person indulges in too much smoking. Hormones create tension and anxiety in a person. This may result into depression, headaches or other problems....
|
<urn:uuid:dc541e29-8a2b-4c54-8100-cd27d895c5cc>
|
CC-MAIN-2019-26
|
https://www.avroarrow.org/essay/smoking-199
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2019-26/segments/1560627998913.66/warc/CC-MAIN-20190619043625-20190619065625-00245.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.967329 | 699 | 3.28125 | 3 | 2.02766 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Health
|
Constipation among toddlers is not that uncommon an occurrence. This ailment causes the child to experience difficult and often painful passage of dry and hard stools. When toddlers are constipated they generally experience irregular bowel movements. In addition to this, they may also try to control their bowel movements in order to avoid the pain. This then prolongs the condition which only makes the situation even worse. Due to this reason, it is important for parents to exercise an adequate amount of care when their toddler or child is constipated.
Some of the reasons behind constipation among children are a diet that is low in fiber, a reduced intake of water, consumption of a lot of solid foods, and an excessive intake of milk, particularly cow’s milk and milk products.
Symptoms that your toddler may be constipated include a slow down in his or her bowel movements, discomfort or pain during a bowel movement, hardened or inflamed stomach, hard stools, and a swollen belly. This condition however can be treated with a few simple home remedies. First and foremost increase their intake of water and fluids. Vegetable soups and fruit juices should be incorporated into their diet. This will be beneficial as it will also increase their fiber intake. Make the child drink a lot of water; this will keep dehydration and bay, while also promoting regularity in bowel movements. Toddler constipation treatment also involves increasing the quantity of fiber in their food. Foods that are rich in fiber such as bran and fiber should be incorporated into their diet. Encourage your child to consume more fruits like grapes, apricots, apples and pears. Do not feed your child bananas, as they generally have a tendency of aggravating constipation.
Lower the consumption of constipating foods. Cooked carrots, cheese, yogurt and milk are known to induce constipation and hence should their intake should be reduced until the child is no longer constipated. Toddler constipation remedies also include feeding the child vegetables such as green beans, squash, peas and carrots. You can either chop them into fine pieces or mash them into a paste so as to prevent any accidental choking. In case they refuse to eat fruits, then substitute the fruits with juices. Massage the child’s abdomen with a few drops of warm coconut oil. This will help in gaining relief from any pain and discomfort. Increase their physical activity by thirty minutes a day. This is because exercise is known to reduce as well as prevent constipation.
|
<urn:uuid:199b772a-7384-40e6-84ab-b00cbb2aaa3a>
|
CC-MAIN-2015-06
|
http://www.pregnancy-baby-care.com/toddler-constipation.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-06/segments/1422120394037.54/warc/CC-MAIN-20150124172634-00070-ip-10-180-212-252.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.975288 | 507 | 2.78125 | 3 | 1.632977 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Health
|
Every year, millions of people make a special effort to decorate their homes or other locations for certain seasonal events, annual parties or unique occasions such as an anniversary or wedding. Traditional decorations are usually plastic or paper-based products which have detrimental effects on the environment and lead to a lot of waste, once the occasion you are celebrating finishes.
However, various authorities and businesses are starting to tackle this problem by introducing stricter rules on the materials used in these types of products. Many businesses are moving towards creating their decorations and party accessories from recycled materials. This is why it’s important to check the origins and materials used to create your decorations, before making this kind of purchase.
Homeowners can take more responsibility too. In many cases, you can create your own decorations easily. You could even get younger members of the family involved and make the event more enjoyable and inclusive. Once the party is over, make sure you either store away your decorations safely for use in the future or discard them in a responsible way.
Gifts and Cards
It’s important to put some thought into the type of gift you give someone special. It should be something they really want, but it should also be a product that’s organic or made from recycled materials. Clothing, toys, ornaments and almost every gift imaginable are now being manufactured with the health of our planet in mind.
In the past, birthday cards, Christmas cards and a range of other cards were always given to family members and friends, which wasted hundreds of tons of paper each year. Thankfully, this trend is changing and a wide selection of affordable e cards are now available to purchase on the internet from the likes of www.eco2greetings.com who also plant 10 trees for each e card sent.
Food and Drink
Eating and drinking organic food and drink kills two birds with the one stone. First of all, eating and drinking healthier alternatives is good for your health and secondly, it is good for the earth’s well-being.
Checking the source of all of the food you and your guests will be eating is important. Buying local food, that does not contain pesticides or antibiotics should be your main goal. You could even consider going one step further by growing your own organic food and producing your own drinks. This can be more rewarding than purchasing everything from someone else.
Billions of dollars are spent every year on party supplies, food, drink and gifts for special occasions. The manufacturing practices and production of these products, often leaves a lot to be desired. The tips above will ensure that each special occasion you celebrate will have less of an impact on our earth and everyone will still have a great time.
|
<urn:uuid:f6d496d8-72d7-458e-9efe-94fc7c23a7e3>
|
CC-MAIN-2017-22
|
http://ecolonomics.org/environmentally-friendly-ways-to-celebrate-a-special-occasion/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2017-22/segments/1495463608676.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20170526184113-20170526204113-00418.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.96511 | 550 | 2.515625 | 3 | 1.963488 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Home & Hobbies
|
🕑 Reading time: 1 minute
- Terms and Definitions in Soil Engineering
- Volumetric Relationships of Soil
- 1. Void Ratio
- 2. Porosity
- 3. Degree of saturation
- 4. Percentage air voids
- 5. Air content
- 6. Water content
- Volume Mass Relationship of Soils
- 7. Bulk Mass Density of Soil
- 8. Dry Mass Density
- 9. Saturated Mass Density
- 10. Submerged Mass Density
- 11. Mass Density of Solids
- Volume-Weight Relationships of Soils
- 12. Specific Gravity of Solids
- Basic Soil Relationships
Terms and Definitions in Soil EngineeringVarious definitions of terms used in Geotechnical Soil Engineering are presented.
Volumetric Relationships of Soil
1. Void RatioVoid ratio is the volume of voids to the volume of solids. It is denoted by ‘e’.
e=Vv/VsIt is expressed as a decimal.
2. PorosityIt is defined as the ratio of volume of voids to the total volume. It is denoted by ‘n’.
n=Vv/VIt is generally expressed as a percentage
1/n= 1+ (1/e) = (1+e)/e
n=e/ (1+e) --> (a)
1/e= (1/n)-1= (1-n)/n
e=n/ (1-n) --> (b)In equations (a) and (b), the porosity should be expressed as a ratio and not percentage.
3. Degree of saturationThe degree of saturation is the ratio of the volume of water to the volume of voids. It is denoted by ‘S’.
S=Vw/VvThe degree of saturation generally expressed as a percentage. It is equal to zero when the soil is absolutely dry and 100% when the soil is fully saturated.
4. Percentage air voidsIt is the ratio of volume of air to the total volume.
na= Va/VIt is also expressed as a percentage.
5. Air contentAir content is defined as the ratio of the volume of air to the volume of voids
6. Water contentThe water content (w) is defined as the ratio of the mass of water to the mass of solids
w= Mw/MsIt is also known as the moisture content (m). It is expressed as a percentage but used as a decimal in computation.
Volume Mass Relationship of Soils
7. Bulk Mass Density of SoilThe bulk mass density (?) is defined as the total mass (M) per unit volume (V)
8. Dry Mass DensityThe dry mass density (?d) is defined as the mass of solids per unit total volume
9. Saturated Mass DensityThe saturated mass density (?sat) is the bulk density of the soil when it is fully saturated
10. Submerged Mass DensityWhen the soil exists below water, it is in a submerged condition. The submerged mass density (?') of the soil is defined as the submerged mass per unit total volume.
11. Mass Density of SolidsThe mass density of solids (?s) is equal to the ratio of the mass of solids to the volume of solids ?s=Ms/Vs
Volume-Weight Relationships of Soils
- BULK UNIT WEIGHT (?)= W/V
- DRY UNIT WEIGHT (?d) = Ws/V
- SATURATED UNIT WEIGHT (?sat) = Wsat/V
- SUBMERGED UNIT WEIGHT (?sub or ?') = Wsub/V
- UNIT WEIGHT OF SOIL SOLIDS (?s) = Ws/Vs
12. Specific Gravity of SolidsThe specific gravity of soil particles (G) is defined as the ratio of the mass of a given volume of solids to the mass of an equal volume of water at 4° C.
G = ?s/?wThe mass density of water ?w at 4°C is 1gm/ml, 1000 kg/m3 or 1 Mg/m3
Basic Soil Relationships
|Sl No||Relationship in mass density||Relationship in unit weight|
|1||n = e/(1+e)||n = e/(1+e)|
|2||e = n/(1-n)||e = n/(1-n)|
|3||na = n ac||na = n ac|
|4||?= (G+Se)?w/(1+e)||?= (G+Se) ? w/(1+e)|
|5||?d = G?w/(1+e)||?d = G ? w/(1+e)|
|6||?sat = (G+e)?w/(1+e)||?sat = (G+e) ? w/(1+e)|
|7||?' = (G-1)?w/(1+e)||?' = (G-1) ? w/(1+e)|
|8||e = wG/s||e = wG/s|
|9||?d = ?/(1+w)||?d = ?/(1+w)|
|10||?d = (1-na)G ?w/(1+wG)||?d = (1-na)G ? w/(1+wG)|
|
<urn:uuid:6eb5a3d2-d56c-422e-9876-b39454ab47e7>
|
CC-MAIN-2023-06
|
https://theconstructor.org/geotechnical/definitions-geotechnical-soil-engineering/1234/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2023-06/segments/1674764499966.43/warc/CC-MAIN-20230209112510-20230209142510-00596.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.867362 | 1,260 | 3.515625 | 4 | 1.978897 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Science & Tech.
|
Not so long ago there was a huge debate around whether water filters were necessary. There were those that assumed concerns over water quality were a clever marketing strategy by water filter manufacturers and suppliers.
However, research and scientific evidence confirm that the water coming out of your faucet is not necessarily the same quality as the water dispatched by the treatment works. This is true across the globe.
Water filters are becoming seen as an essential way to ensure you’re drinking high-quality water. The new debate is regarding which type of water filter is better.
You should note that all water filters strive to remove the debris, bacteria, and other contaminants that are picked up by the water as it flows through underground pipes. The question is how successful are reverse osmosis filters and alkaline ones?
If you purchase a reverse osmosis water filter from a reputable seller you’ll be able to remove all particles from your water. Or at least anything bigger than 0.0001 of a micron. That’s all the bacteria, minerals, and pollutants in the water.
Don’t forget, many pollutants and contaminants can be picked up as the water flows through the pipes between the treatment center and your home. It’s these you need to be most concerned with.
The reverse osmosis filter works with electricity, pushing the water through the inbuilt filter. It effectively goes against the natural flow of nature and eliminates all the minerals and other contaminants.
Of course, for many people, this is an issue as some minerals are good, and even essential for the human body. Fortunately, modern reverse osmosis filters allowing you to add back specific minerals, ensuring you get high-quality and nutritional water.
In contrast, the alkaline filter changes the acidity of the water, making it less acidic and more alkaline. This gives it a higher pH level than tap water. The idea is that its alkalinity will help to neutralize acids in your bloodstream.
There have been claims regarding the powers of alkaline water, such as its ability to reduce bone loss as you age, or that it can prevent diseases such as cancer and heart disease.
However, there is no credible evidence to back up these claims, making them great marketing ploys but little else.
The bottom line is that the alkaline filter isn’t going to increase your water consumption and is highly unlikely to change the pH balance in your body.
Which Is Better- RO or Alkaline
Reverse osmosis offers a concrete benefit, the removal of minerals and small toxins from the water. Coupled with a secondary remineralization system, reverse osmosis can clean your water and ensure it has a healthy level of minerals.
In contrast, alkaline water filters have very little, if anything to offer. Utilizing an alkaline water filter may make you feel healthier, but it’s unlikely to have any significant impact on your health. The same cannot be said for reverse osmosis filters which are adept at removing contaminants.
|
<urn:uuid:7e11682d-fb0f-482d-ad5d-90666462fe45>
|
CC-MAIN-2021-39
|
https://www.alltheragefaces.com/how-to-choose-between-ro-filters-or-alkaline-filters/
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2021-39/segments/1631780057973.90/warc/CC-MAIN-20210926205414-20210926235414-00340.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.956553 | 628 | 2.59375 | 3 | 2.78855 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
|
Health
|
Although a Burger King Whopper with cheese gives you an impressive supply of protein, iron and other minerals, its high amount of fat, cholesterol and sodium makes it an unhealthy food that poses a danger to your cardiovascular health. Eating it on a regular basis could easily cause you to gain excess body fat, suffer from blocked arteries and develop high blood pressure.
Protein, Fiber and Minerals
A Burger King Whopper with cheese provides 35 grams of protein and 3.2 grams of fiber. It is also rich in minerals, giving you 259 milligrams of calcium, 6 milligrams of iron, 57 milligrams of magnesium, 357 milligrams of phosphorus, 534 milligrams of potassium and 5 milligrams of zinc. This equates to about 10 percent of your recommended daily intake for potassium, 20 to 25 percent for calcium and magnesium, 50 to 75 percent for phosphorus and zinc and 100 percent for iron.
One Whopper with cheese has 790 calories, nearly half the number of calories the average person takes in each day. Eating this food regularly increases your likelihood of taking in more calories than you burn and could easily result in weight gain. With 48.44 grams of fat, a Whopper gives you 436 calories from lipids, bringing its fat content to 55 percent of its total calories. To maintain a healthy diet, the Institute of Medicine recommends that 45 to 65 percent of your calories come from carbohydrates, 10 to 35 percent from protein and fewer than 30 percent from fat, so a Whopper, with its fat content alone representing 20 to 25 percent of the average person's total caloric intake, contains an unhealthy abundance of fat that can cause weight gain and cardiovascular disease.
If you have high cholesterol, Burger King Whoppers pose a danger to your health. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends taking in fewer than 200 milligrams of cholesterol per day. Each Whopper has more than half of that, with 114 milligrams. When you eat high-cholesterol foods regularly, the cholesterol combines with calcium, fat and other substances to form plaque, which build up inside your arteries, potentially causing a blockage that can result in a heart attack or stroke.
Excessive sodium disrupts your body's water balance and raises your blood pressure, putting you at risk for serious cardiovascular problems. The Institute of Medicine recommends you keep your sodium intake below 2.3 grams a day to protect your heart, but a Burger King Whopper contains more than 60 percent of this, with 1.4 grams. If you eat a large order of french fries with it, your sodium intake increases to more than 2.1 milligrams of sodium in one meal.
- Institute of Medicine: Dietary Reference Intakes -- Macronutrients
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: Your Guide to Lowering Cholesterol with Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes
- Institute of Medicine Food and Nutrition Board: Dietary Reference Intakes: Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride and Sulfate
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Burger King, Whopper, With Cheese
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Burger King, French Fries
- Mario Tama/Getty Images News/Getty Images
|
<urn:uuid:6bc8c8f1-a45e-4b69-ba54-7235b4f97694>
|
CC-MAIN-2016-40
|
http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/burger-king-whoppers-healthy-5386.html
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-40/segments/1474738662507.79/warc/CC-MAIN-20160924173742-00280-ip-10-143-35-109.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.894264 | 657 | 2.8125 | 3 | 1.601672 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
|
Health
|
Location: Vegetable Crops Research Unit
Project Number: 3655-21220-003-00
Start Date: Oct 01, 2013
End Date: Sep 30, 2018
Objective 1: Next-generation sequencing technology will be used to characterize the cranberry genome. The resultant data will be used to discover and mine molecular markers such as SSRs and SNPs. We will then develop high-resolution genetic maps using the developed markers based on several available half-sib F1 mapping populations. Phenotyping will involve collecting data on yield-related traits and other horticultural measurements, including total fruit weight, percent rotten fruit, average berry weight, and fruit quality parameters. These traits will be localized in the linkage map described above. Information derived from the high resolution cranberry linkage map with yield-related will be used to plan strategic crosses. Objective 2: Prior to creating cranberry hybrids, horticultural, genetic, and genomic information will be carefully considered to ensure that strategic crosses are accomplished. A microsatellite marker based fingerprinting assay will be developed for the true-to-type verification of the cranberry cultivars. We will also characterize known cranberry diversity from the breeding programs and collections and samples sent in by growers. Pedigree information will be evaluated in the light of marker information to determine the most likely genotypes or genetic pools associated with each named cultivar and their associated horticultural performance. A series of cranberry hybrids with complementary genetic pools will be created and evaluated. Objective 3: The temperature-specific development rates and degree-day (DD) accumulations associated with cranberry fruitworm (CFW) and Sparganothis fruitworm (SFW) will be determined. Larval growth rates will be measured over a wide range of controlled temperatures. Growth rates will be plotted against temperature, and models will be fit to the dynamic. From these models, the lower and upper development thresholds will be isolated. The thresholds will then be used to generate degree-day (DD) accumulations that can be linked to discrete biological events, such as flight initiation in the field, adult lifespan, ovipositional period, and egg-hatch periods. DD accumulations represent key developmental benchmarks, helping to optimize pest management in the cranberry system. Objective 4: novel insect pest management approaches will be investigated. Two primary tactics will be explored within the cranberry system: pheromone-based mating disruption and trophic position measurement. In partnership with private industry, as well as Wisconsin cranberry growers, the first ever 3-species mating disruption program will be deployed at large scales within commercial marshes. Population suppression of the target pests will be assayed and compared with conventional pest management approaches. Studies of arthropod trophic position will be conducted using stable isotopic analysis of amino acids. Trophic position estimation will reveal the lifetime trophic tendencies of carnivorous species, thereby providing empirical evidence as to which species are actually beneficial for cranberry production.
|
<urn:uuid:1dbd0845-fb6b-42b5-b013-5b0a2643547a>
|
CC-MAIN-2014-10
|
http://ars.usda.gov/research/projects/projects.htm?accn_no=425451
|
s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2014-10/segments/1394011163856/warc/CC-MAIN-20140305091923-00069-ip-10-183-142-35.ec2.internal.warc.gz
|
en
| 0.903085 | 610 | 2.921875 | 3 | 2.955595 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
|
Science & Tech.
|
Posted: March 2017
When we talk about reversing alarms, 360 vehicle camera systems and object detection systems, most of us instantly picture them fitted to an HGV. But such systems can help on a wide range of vehicles working in a number of sectors – not least in farming.
As a fundamental industry in the UK, with more than 70% of the country’s land given over to the sector, farming employs 400,000 people and contributes £10.7 billion to the economy.
Tractors and related vehicles are a key element within the sector that allow farmers to do their job quicker and easier. As with any large vehicle, however, farmyard machinery can present its own set of difficulties when it comes to driving and manoeuvring, with bigger blind spots and tricky sight lines to contend with.
Here, we explore how camera monitor systems can help keep agricultural vehicles, and the farmyard, safer.
Despite great advances in health and safety, sadly there is still a large number of people who die annually while working in farming, forestry and fishing.
The latest government figures reveal that 29 people died in these industries in 2015/16. The majority of fatalities were people who were self-employed (17) with 10 employed and two people who were “non-employed”.
Out of these 29 fatalities, the highest number of people were killed by farm vehicles. These deaths accounted for seven fatalities – more than those killed by a fall from height, contact with machinery or animals.
Wider figures, covering the five years previous to 2015/16, show 30 workers in farming, forestry and fishing were killed after being struck by a moving vehicle – a stark reminder of the dangers that can be present on farmyards and sites.
The same figures also revealed that farm workers are aware of the risks vehicles can present. In a study of workplaces in agriculture, forestry and fishing with five or more employees, 78% of those examined listed vehicles as a risk, putting them second to machines or tools with 80%.
Risk assessments are an important way of identifying and acting on potential dangers in the workplace, and in farming they are carried out regularly.
A government survey showed an estimated 92% of farming, fishing and forestry workplaces with five or more employees regularly carry out risk assessments – in line with other industries.
The industry is also highly regulated by the Health and Safety Executive with numbers for 2014/15 revealing a total of 177 improvement notices and 58 prohibition notices being issued in the sector. This was an increase on the 224 notices issued in the previous year.
How camera systems can help
Giving drivers wider viewing angles and beaming images of the area around their vehicle directly into the cab, camera systems can help eliminate dangerous blind spots, prevent costly vehicle damage and ultimately save lives.
Our Backeye360 system provides a real-time 360-degree view around the vehicle and can help with low speed manoeuvrability – ideal for farmyard locations.
Side view camera systems can also help when using bulky machinery, such as harvesters. When fitted with varying attachments these vehicles can become much wider and longer, making driver visibility harder, and increasing the potential for blind spots.
We supply a range of side-view cameras that can be fitted on any area of the vehicle and can include flush mounts or eyeball systems with adjustable lens positions. These systems are also helpful when towing as they cover the nearside of the trailer/hitch/equipment being towed.
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The IQ Fallacy
A Three Part Series
Through most of the 20th century, those little numbers have been used both to take away needed assistance and to take away hope. Yet such was not their original intent.
Part I: "Natural" Hierarchies
The nineteenth century can be seen as a time when the Western world was finally forced to come to terms with the diversity of life on earth. Centuries of European exploration -- and colonization -- had piled up dazzling and baffling evidence of a great variety of cultures and people. The bombshell of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) supplied the further challenge of orienting mankind's great diversity within nature's great diversity (yes, "mankind" -- but more about that later).
This challenge was posed to a society which was acutely hierarchical in structure. Moreover, much of its scientific efforts were still in the "natural history" stage -- that is, concerned with describing and categorizing natural phenomena. The concept of evolution, although never intended as a means of ranking creatures or of suggesting that "newer" organisms were "better" than more ancient versions, was all too easily misrepresented as a natural hierarchy: all creatures were to be scientifically described and slotted into their appropriate ranks in a Great March of Progress.
Since evolutionary theory stated that only the fit survived, social Darwinists assumed that those human beings who survived the nineteenth century social order were therefore fit (read "deserving") and those who failed to flourish deserved to fail. With this lopsided reasoning in place, it remained only to describe "nature's" human failures and human successes, record the physical and mental characteristics that determined their permanent place in mankind's Great March, and set public policy to accord with nature's intent.
But how could these characteristics be marked permanently, indelibly, "scientifically"? To achieve such a system, evolutionary theory quickly formed what one modern biologist has called "an unholy alliance" with those mainstays of natural history, numbers and measurement. Nineteenth century social scientists and psychologists dreamed that if only they could measure rigorously and copiously enough, they could turn their "soft" science into a science as verifiable and undeniable as Newtonian physics.
One of the earliest attempts to measure and rank human beings was known as craniometry, the measuring of heads. It was based on the assumption that a simple correlation existed between the size of the head and the size of the brain, and therefore of the intelligence and natural social rank of that head's possessor. By the mid-1800s craniometricians were announcing that the brains of white males were larger than the brains of dark-skinned races, whose brains were compared to those of the great apes, and of course larger than the brains of females of any race, whose measurements were compared to those of children, "savages," and gorillas.
Needless to say, these arguments lost their luster as data emerged on the existence of small-brained geniuses, large-brained criminals, and even the occasional educable female. Similar attempts were made to rank populations by "body type," yet these systems too were cumbersome and susceptible of argument. But the next major attempt to develop a system of ranking by intelligence would be simpler to implement, and far harder to argue away. It is with us still.
Alfred Binet (1857-1911) was a researcher in psychology at the Sorbonne during the heyday of craniometry, but late in his career his enthusiasm for this form of measurement faltered. When, in 1904, he was commissioned by France's minister of Public Education to identify children who were having trouble with normal classroom tasks and might benefit from special help, he decided to develop a very different, and far more pragmatic, type of test. Binet resolved to bring together a series of short tasks dealing with as many different skills and abilities as he could imagine. His working motto was "the more, the better," since the larger the sample the less the chance of skewing the overall pattern with an unusually high score or an "unfair" low score due to testing error.
Binet's 1905 test attempted to arrange the tasks in ascending order of difficulty, but by 1908 he had decided to assign an age level to each task, defining the levels as the youngest ages at which a child of normal intelligence should be able to complete that task. The test-taker would now move through the levels until "stumped," and the last level successfully completed would be called his/her "mental age." A few years later, after Binet's death, it became the practice to divide this mental age by the chronological age, yielding the intelligence quotient, or IQ. Eighty years later, the momentous effect of these mighty numbers is still felt in all aspects of Western society and education.
Binet fulfilled his charge from the ministry, but what did he really intend his test to be? First of all, he never intended to suggest that a complex phenomenon like intelligence was an independent entity that could be measured with a number. He insisted that his rough, practical device for noting which students needed help did not necessarily refer to anything innate, and that the notion of "mental age" was a tool, a shorthand expression, which taken literally would only result in "illusion." At the close of his life, Binet expressed great apprehension that IQ testing might one day be used to label and rank the mental worth of children, and he decried the possibility of such "brutal pessimism."
In short order Binet's worst dreams were to be realized, as the new science of IQ spread to America and took on that very cast of hereditarian "brutal pessimism." By the 1920s H.H. Goddard, the crusading director of research at the Vineland Training School for Feeble-Minded Boys and Girls in New Jersey, would be warning against the costs of allowing "high-grade defectives" (those with a "mental age" as high as 12) to reproduce, and recommending their prompt institutionalization -- for the good of society. R.M. Terman would persuade the army to test 1.75 million men during World War I, producing a skewed and subjective body of data which was tailor- made for the validation of racial and ethnic prejudices, and would lead to the Immigration Restriction Act of 1924.
Continue to Part II
FOR FURTHER READING:
The Mismeasure of Man, by Stephen Jay Gould (New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 1981).
Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner (New York, Basic Books, Inc., 1983).
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Science & Tech.
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On the surface, it doesn’t make sense. How can people be hungry in the most affluent county in Tennessee? It’s hard to understand but the fact remains that hunger is everywhere.
Every year, Feeding America releases its Map the Meal Gap study data estimating overall food insecurity and child food insecurity in every county in the U.S. It shows that there is food insecurity in every county and that is typically worse for children then for the overall population.
Here’s one example from the richest county in the U.S.—Loudoun County, Virginia:
Barbara Diaz, a nanny, struggles to feed her family of eight.
While the median income in the county stands at $122,000 a year, Diaz, 55, makes about $21,600 a year as a nanny. With her salary, she has to feed her family and pay rent, car insurance and utilities. Often, she doesn’t have enough at the end of the month for food, so she turns regularly to her local food pantry for help.
The reality is that there are many areas of Williamson County where people of all walks of life struggle with hunger. Many families face situations such as a medical issue, low wages, or being a single parent that lead to food insecurities.
According to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, 9.4% of our neighbors are dealing with food insecurities. For children under the age of 18, that number rises to 17.1%.
With the help of many generous donors and volunteers, GraceWorks has been fighting hunger in Williamson County since 1995. Last year, over $1 million in food was distributed to families in need.
GraceWorks helps those with food insecurities in the following ways:
Qualifying families can receive a shopping cart of perishable and non-perishable food monthly, allowing families to stretch their dollars and spend their resources on other basic needs.
Student Fuel Bags
Over 5000 students in Williamson County qualify for the free/reduced meal programs through the school systems. GraceWorks offers them bags of nutritional food for the weekend.
Mobile Food Pantries
Mobile Pantries provide another source of food to families and individuals facing hunger. GraceWorks uses mobile food pantries to provide access and increase food distribution so nutritious, non-perishable foods as well as perishable foods, such as milk, juice, bread and fresh produce, do not go to waste.
With healthy eating habit workshops and materials, neighbors receive help with feeding their families at lower costs and higher nutritional value.
With September being Hunger Action Month, we make an extra effort to remind everyone that hunger exists in Williamson County.
Visit here to see how you can help. From donating an item of need to holding a food drive, everyone can fight hunger.
If you, or anyone you know, is facing hunger issues, GraceWorks is here to help. Please visit here to find out how to qualify for assistance.
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Food & Dining
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This pernicious plague caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans was responsible for the 19th-century Irish potato famine, but also targets the tomato, queen among backyard crops.
In its modern incarnation, fortified by strains from New World spots like Mexico, late blight is an aggressive disease resistant to traditional chemical controls.
Late blight arrived early this season, thriving in cool, wet conditions that persisted through early summer. The epidemic was possibly helped along by the wide distribution of infected seedlings to chain stores, but even that factor can’t totally account for the way the blight spread like wildfire along the East Coast from Maine to the Carolinas. It was a devastating season for potato farmers and a bad, sad year for tomato-lovers.
If your plants succumbed and your tomatoes rotted on the vine, my sympathies. But onward, backyard warriors! What about next season? Are we doomed to a repeat performance of the Black Death?
I’ve been scouring the literature from university researchers for the answer to these questions, prompted in part by reader James Cassella of Parsippany, who lost his whole crop this season and spent the summer bereft of home-grown tomato joy.
First things first — prevention begins with a thorough cleanup of any remaining tomato debris. At the first sign of late blight, conscientious gardeners should have removed, bagged and thrown away (not composted) any infected plants.
This assumes that the disease was recognized and correctly identified, something not a given in a year when backyard food-raising jumped 20 percent in a recession. First-timers who knew not what they saw and failed to pull affected plants may have unwittingly contributed to the spread of disease spores, which can travel up to 40 miles on the wind. (Identification help is available from county offices of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service; you can find yours at
If you grew potatoes, discard the plants and dig up and throw away all tubers, since the disease can overwinter on them. And here’s something to keep in mind next spring: If you see any volunteer tomato or potato seedlings, pull them up and discard them, too. According to the Ohio State University Extension Office: "Volunteer potatoes and tomatoes can be a significant source of spores of the late-blight fungus."
Late blight can’t survive in the soil, only on plant tissue, so there’s no recommended treatment for purging the earth of spores. Freezing temperatures should do them in. Nonetheless, it’s a very good idea to plant tomatoes in another location next year.
"Rotating" crops, or moving them around from season to season, is a good hedge against the wide range of diseases (some 19 in all) that can afflict tomato plants. If you don’t have a good alternative spot, you might do what I plan to do — grow your tomatoes in big containers next season.
Next spring, plant only certified disease-free seed potatoes and choose resistant varieties for at least some of your tomato crop. There are no guarantees in any year with high disease pressure like this one, but there are a few cultivars that have shown promise.
‘Legend,’ ‘Ferline’ and ‘Fantasio’ have demonstrated late-blight resistance, according to the University of Maine. An even newer cultivar is ‘Mountain Magic,’ a cross between large-fruited and grape tomatoes released by Randy Gardner of North Carolina State University.
You’re unlikely to see these varieties in your local garden center, which brings us to another point: Blight was identified on mass-produced seedlings but seed-grown plants raised at home were at least initially uninfected.
You might try raising your own tomato plants to insulate them from this contagious disease, which can spread rapidly through garden center inventories. If you do purchase seedlings, examine them closely for signs of disease, and discard any that develop cankers or lesions once planted.
Another recommendation is to avoid overfertilization with nitrogen, which causes dense leaf growth (often at the expense of fruit production). Thick foliage tends to retain moisture when humidity is high, and that dampness can create favorable disease conditions.
Avoid overhead watering for the same reason, and don’t irrigate in rainy weather or during cool, cloudy periods. Remember these words from Cornell University scientists: "Infection only occurs when leaves are wet."
Fungicides are a preventive, not a cure. If conditions favor late blight next year, you might want to mount a spraying program. The thing is, you’ll have to be consistent since only continuous coverage will fend off problems. Choose a fungicide that includes the active ingredients maneb, mancozeb, chlorothalonil or fixed copper, and is labeled for tomato and potato late blight.
These measures are about all you can do to keep the evil blight from ruining your crop next year. God speed, tomato-lovers, and good luck.
Garden Diary appears every other week in H&G Today. You may reach Valerie Sudol at [email protected].
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Strong reasoning
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Start out 720x90 bnr Draw
Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA)
Subject matter Introduction
Exactly what is a TIA (TIA)?
A lot of people get in touch with any transient ischemic attack (TIA) any tiny-cerebrovascular event, as the signs are similar to your any cerebrovascular accident although do not last long. A new TIA develops when circulation for you to section of the mental abilities are impeded and also lessened, often by a blood clot. After the limited time, blood generally flows just as before as well as signs or symptoms go away completely. With a stroke, the particular circulation of blood stays blocked, plus the head possesses long-lasting destruction.
The TIA is often a warning: this indicates you may well have a stroke in the future. If you think you are developing a TIA, call up
Do you know the indicators?
Symptoms of a TIA overlap with the signs of a swing. Yet symptoms of a TIA appear all of the sudden and very last long. Quite often, they're going away throughout 10-20 min's. They will contain:
What may cause the transient ischemic attack?
The blood clot is the most frequent cause of the TIA. Thrombus is most likely the reaction to arteriosclerosis (coronary artery disease), stroke, or maybe unusual center tempos. Cognitive abilities are usually disturbed within seconds in the congestion. That triggers indications in the areas of the body governed by means of individuals cells. Following your curdle dissolves, the flow of blood results, and also the signs disappear altogether.
At times any TIA is usually the result of a razor-sharp drop by high blood pressure this minimizes the circulation of blood towards human brain. Video clips a "minimal-movement" TIA. It isn't seeing that common as others.
Just what tests do you need from TIA?
Your doctor can do exams to see your center and also arteries. You may need:
Your medical professional can even verify in the event something more important is causing your current indicators.
Bed mattress any TIA addressed?
A medical expert will start you on remedies to assist avoid a new heart stroke. You may want to carry a number of medications.
When lab tests display that this arteries (carotid arteries) with your nck are extremely narrow, you may need medical procedures to open them upwards (carotid endarterectomy). This assists keep blood clots of which block circulation of blood for a mental.
Another type of surgery will be arteria carotis stenting. With this surgical treatment, a doctor applies a small pipe known as the stent inside your arteria carotis. It will help maintain the arteria start. Carotid artery stenting isn't as fashionable as endarterectomy.
How will you avoid a further TIA as well as stroke?
After you've stood a TIA, you happen to be at risk for having another TIA or even a swing. But the truth is can make a number of significant lifestyle changes that can decrease your risk involving stroke and also boost your overall health.
Take care of every health conditions you could have
Follow the home chef
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Moderate reasoning
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Health
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Get exclusive member benefits & effect social change. Join Today
Alternative treatment for coronary artery disease (CAD) involves making lifestyle changes that improve your heart health. Becoming or staying physically active and making conscious decisions about what foods you eat are choices that give you more control over whether you develop CAD or whether CAD you already have leads to a heart attack.
The heart is a muscle. Like any other muscle, it responds favorably to physical conditioning. Physical activity keeps stress in check and helps your heart work more efficiently so that it takes less cardiac effort to circulate blood through your body. The American Heart Association emphasizes the benefit of a regular exercise for CAD patients. It recommends that you first see your doctor for exercise testing to establish a baseline, and then it recommends that your doctor refers you to an exercise program.
In addition to regular exercise and a healthy diet, some nutritional supplements may help reduce your risk of CAD. The Cleveland Clinic cautions that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration doesn’t regulate dietary supplements as strictly as prescription medicines and the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act of October 1994 doesn’t require manufacturers to prove supplement safety or effectiveness. Also, some supplements can cause serious interactions with medications, particularly the ones people take for heart conditions. If you have CAD, they recommend that you get medical supervision for all supplements you take.
Researchers believe omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a contributing factor in heart disease. Omega-3 fatty acids may also decrease triglycerides, lower blood pressure, and boost immunity. Eating two servings per week of cold-water fatty fish such as salmon, herring, or mackerel appears to reduce your risk of heart disease.
Omega-3 fatty acids are also in:
The amount of omega-3 fatty acids in these foods is less than in fish. Evidence of the heart benefits of eating these foods isn’t as strong as the evidence for eating fish.
You can also take omega-3 fatty acids as a supplement. Talk to your doctor before taking any supplements. High doses of omega-3s can increase your risk of bleeding problems, especially if you take them with blood-thinning medications.
Phytosterols are in:
Eating foods enriched with at least 0.8 grams of plant sterols or stanols daily can reduce your levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad, cholesterol. Lower LDL levels help to reduce your risk of CAD.
Current research indicates that vitamin D might be beneficial in reducing your risk of heart disease. Researchers have linked low levels of vitamin D with an increased risk of heart disease. How much vitamin D you should take isn’t clear. Some doctors are recommending as much as 1,000 to 2,000 international units per day. You should talk to your doctor before taking vitamin D supplements. Too much vitamin D can cause you to absorb too much calcium, which can cause kidney stones or damage.
It’s a good idea to eat foods rich in vitamin D. Foods that contain vitamin D include:
Researchers haven’t proven that alternative treatments for CAD are effective. Some alternative treatments may interfere with your medical treatments. Always talk to your doctor before beginning any alternative treatment for CAD.
Written by: the Healthline Editorial Team
Medically reviewed on: May 27, 2016: Debra Sullivan PhD, MSN , CNE,COI
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Moderate reasoning
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Culture, acculturation and smoking use in Hmong, Khmer, Laotians, and Vietnamese communities in Minnesota
© Burgess et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014
Received: 3 September 2013
Accepted: 21 July 2014
Published: 4 August 2014
Southeast Asian communities in the United States have suffered from high rates of tobacco use and high rates of chronic diseases associated with firsthand and secondhand smoking. Research is needed on how best to reduce and prevent tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in these communities. The objective of this study was to examine how tobacco use patterns in Minnesota’s Southeast Asian communities have been shaped by culture, immigration, and adjustment to life in America in order to inform future tobacco control strategies.
The study consisted of semi-structured interviews with 60 formal and informal leaders from Minnesota’s Hmong, Khmer (Cambodian), Lao, and Vietnamese communities and incorporated principles of community-based participatory research.
Among Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese, tobacco in the homeland was a valued part of material culture and was used to signify social status, convey respect, and support social rituals among adult men (the only group for whom smoking was acceptable). Among the Hmong, regular consumption of tobacco was unacceptable and rarely seen until the civil war in Laos when a number of Hmong soldiers became smokers. In Minnesota, social norms have begun to shift, with smoking becoming less acceptable. Although older male smokers felt social pressure to quit, smoking functioned to reduce the stress of social isolation, economic hardship, prior trauma, and the loss of power and status. Youth and younger women no longer felt as constrained by culturally-rooted social prohibitions to smoke.
Leaders from Minnesota’s Southeast Asian communities perceived key changes in tobacco-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors which were embedded in the context of shifting power, status, and gender roles within their communities. This has practical implications for developing policy and interventions. Older Southeast Asians are likely to benefit from culturally-tailored programs (e.g., that value politeness and the importance of acting in ways that benefit the family, community, and clan) and programs that work with existing social structures, as well as initiatives that address smokers’ psychological distress and social isolation. Leaders remained uncertain about how to address smoking uptake among youth, pointing to a need for additional research.
KeywordsTobacco Smoking Culture Acculturation Immigration Southeast Asians Hmong Lao Khmer Cambodian Vietnamese Minnesota
Southeast Asian communities in the United States have suffered from high rates of tobacco use among men and high rates of chronic diseases associated with firsthand and secondhand smoking [1–3]. Minnesota is home to some of the largest populations of Hmong, Khmer (Cambodian), Lao and Vietnamese refugees and immigrants in the U.S. Rates of smoking in Minnesota’s Southeast Asian communities have been high among men (except Hmong men) and rates of secondhand smoke exposure have been high for all community members [4, 5]. For example, in a survey conducted in Minnesota from July 2006 to March 2007, smoking rates were 41.6% among Vietnamese men, 13.8% among Cambodian men, 31.5% among Lao men and 11.8% among Hmong men . By comparison, 2010 data from the World Health Organization estimated rates of smoking tobacco use for men to be 40.0% in Vietnam, 57.4% in Cambodia, and 56.1% in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic . One might speculate that these lower rates of smoking among Cambodian and Lao smokers in Minnesota, relative to rates in Cambodia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, could be due to more negative social norms regarding smoking and attitudes toward smokers in Minnesota. It is unclear why the same pattern was not found for Vietnamese men, although it could be the case that the population reached in the Minnesota study was different than the population studied in Vietnam . To date, there is scant research on the contributors to smoking in these communities and on effective ways to reduce and prevent smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.
We, a team of Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese community members and academic researchers, partnered to undertake a formative community-based participatory research (CBPR) study using qualitative methods to examine the causes of tobacco use within these four Southeast Asian groups, to set the stage for future projects aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use. We chose to use a CBPR approach because the funding agencies did not want researchers to develop intervention strategies that would be imposed on these ethnic populations, but rather to conduct formative research to identify potentially viable and culturally meaningful approaches that would be of interest to these populations. This paper reports on one important aspect of our study – examining how the experience of living in Minnesota has influenced tobacco use patterns across these four Southeast Asian groups. We began with the fundamental belief that to fully understand present day tobacco use within Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities in Minnesota, it would be essential to understand how community members view indigenous (in the homeland) and recently formed (in Minnesota) culturally influenced practices of tobacco use.
There are several reasons why the experiences of these Southeast Asian community members might influence tobacco use. First, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese populations came to Minnesota as refugees and immigrants with tobacco use already well engrained in their cultures, in which the use of tobacco was normative for men [7–9]. Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese people have been using tobacco since the seventeenth century when Portuguese and Dutch traders began distributing it as a gift to promote friendship and as an item to exchange for local goods. Tobacco use spread in Southeast Asia because it was incorporated into daily customs and rituals as social currency, and because of its purported medicinal properties. In the late nineteenth century, Europeans, especially the French colonials, began selling manufactured cigarettes in Southeast Asia and promoting them as a luxury good .
It is important to note that the Hmong differed in key ways from the Vietnamese, Khmer, and Lao populations of refugees and immigrants that were resettled in the U.S. The Hmong began arriving from Laos as refugees in early 1976 . Their families lived as ethnic minorities, known as “hill tribes” and survived in remote areas for generations by practicing shifting cultivation of food crops and tobacco, raising livestock, and gathering food in the forests . Unlike the other three groups, the Hmong started their lives in Minnesota with low levels of tobacco use. However, since living in Minnesota, more and more Hmong have taken up tobacco use, especially Hmong men and Hmong youth of both genders .
Second, many people in these three ethnic communities, along with many Hmong, have experienced cumulative stress which is a risk factor for tobacco use . Cumulative stressors include the past trauma of prolonged periods of civil unrest, war, occupation and authoritarian rule and post-migration stress, including unemployment, language difficulties, family conflict and discrimination [14–17]. Third, many Southeast Asian youth who grew up in the U.S. have described their substance use, including tobacco, as stemming from the stress associated with the large intergenerational gap between them and their elders, and the use of tobacco among their friends and family members [19, 20].
To date, most of the research examining smoking among immigrant communities has been guided by the framework of “acculturation”, which is typically defined as “the process by which foreign-born individuals adopt the values, customs, norms, attitudes, and behaviors of the mainstream culture” . Studies conducted with members of Asian American and Latino immigrant communities have found a higher likelihood of smoking among highly acculturated women and youth, and a lower likelihood of smoking among highly acculturated men [21, 22]. These findings also are consistent with global trends in smoking behavior in which women’s rates of smoking tend to increase as societies become modernized and as gender equality increases .
Recently, the use of acculturation as an explanatory framework for understanding health behaviors, and the ways in which acculturation is typically operationalized have come under increasing scrutiny. Critics have argued that the acculturation framework ignores important historical, economic, and political contexts (e.g., circumstances of migration); ignores ethnic heterogeneity; and simplifies the process of adjustment as one of swapping American or “Western” norms for “traditional” norms. For example, many studies using acculturation as an explanatory framework treat culture as an individual-level variable rather than one at the level of the family or community. Some have argued a family- or community-perspective is particularly important when studying collectivist or group-oriented societies (e.g., Southeast Asian societies) [24–27]. Moreover, while the extant research provides important information about the patterns of tobacco use among different ethnic minority subgroups, it provides fewer insights into the meanings and significance of tobacco within these communities.
To lay the groundwork for developing sound tobacco control policy, researchers and policy-makers have called for studies that examine historical and cultural factors that influence these ethnic groups’ present-day tobacco use norms and practices, with an emphasis on examining community-level factors rather than individual-level factors [28–30]. The present study aimed to produce an in-depth understanding of tobacco use within Minnesota’s Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese populations within the context of the experience of resettlement, immigration and adjustment in order to inform the development of interventions that would reduce the harms of tobacco in these communities. To this end, we conducted this study using qualitative methods to explore the role of tobacco in Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese cultures in Minnesota.
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Minnesota Department of Health.
We used principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in which community members, representatives from different community-based organizations, and researchers collaborated throughout the research process. In 2002, ClearWay MinnesotaSM and the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota began engaging in dialogue with representatives from the Asian Pacific Tobacco-Free Coalition of Minnesota (APT-FCM), the Southeast Asian Refugee Community Home (SEARCH) and several other local advocacy and social service organizations that serve Southeast Asian communities in Minnesota, along with several university-based researchers. These groups formed the multidisciplinary Diverse Racial Ethnic Groups and Nations (DREGAN) Southeast Asian Community Advisory Committee. Representatives from these groups were involved in establishing the research project and all subsequent phases of the research including: defining the research questions and developing the interview guide; identifying, recruiting, and interviewing community leaders; analyzing data; validating and presenting results; and dissemination of the findings. To undertake the study, the Southeast Asian Community Advisory Committee designated a research team (the DREGAN team) made up of Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese community members and academic researchers (not of Southeast Asian origin).
We adhered to most of the principles of CBPR with two exceptions: the decisions to focus on tobacco and the basic study design (i.e., interviews with community leaders) were driven by the two sponsoring organizations, ClearWay Minnesota and the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The decision to focus on tobacco was based on the funding agencies’ shared missions to work on tobacco control. The decision to interview formal and informal community leaders was arrived at pragmatically in consultation with the community advisory board because community leaders were seen as experts on the social norms related to tobacco use in their communities and because they were in a position to play a key role in changing these norms and to elevate the importance of tobacco use as a community problem.
The DREGAN team identified domains of inquiry that would be meaningful for Southeast Asian community members to use in future tobacco control work. These domains included leaders’ own perceptions of tobacco, leaders’ perceptions of community members, leaders’ perceptions of tobacco use in their communities, and leaders’ perspectives about prevention. The DREGAN team then developed four overarching questions that guided the study: 1) What were the community leaders’ own feelings, views and beliefs about tobacco use and secondhand smoke? 2) What did the community leaders think members of their ethnic group in Minnesota believed and perceived about tobacco use and secondhand smoke? 3) What patterns of tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure did the community leaders observe? 4) What did the community leaders think might be done to reduce and prevent tobacco use?
To answer these questions, the DREGAN team developed an interview guide and translated it into Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. Team members with research expertise conducted trainings on semi-structured interviewing techniques for the Southeast Asian research team members who were fluent in English and their native language. The guide included broad questions about tobacco use, rather than just cigarette smoking, including a question that explicitly asked about “other forms of smoking including cigars, chewing tobacco and/or betel nuts, and pipes”. The Community Advisory Committee provided input and feedback throughout the process of developing the interview guide.
In this study, we used a nonprobabilistic sampling procedure to recruit participants with the intention of gathering in-depth information about shifts in cultural patterns rather than generalizing to a larger population in terms of rates or proportions. We used a stratified purposeful sampling frame to select specific subsamples for comparison. We defined the total population of interest as individuals who identified themselves as being “Southeast Asian” and residents of Minnesota, including refugees, immigrants and adults born outside of Southeast Asia with at least one Southeast Asian parent. Within this population, we included four Southeast Asian groups according to ethnicity: Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. Within each of those four ethnic subpopulations, we selected a class of individuals our community advisory committee considered to be informal and formal leaders who were highly knowledgeable and articulate. We stratified the sample further by gender to include 8 males and 7 females (60 leaders in all).
With each participant, we conducted a semi-structured one-to-one interview in whatever language or combination of languages the participant felt comfortable using. Each one-to-one interview lasted from 60–90 minutes and focused on tobacco-related behaviors, knowledge, and norms in the respondent’s land of heritage and in Minnesota. Before the interviews were conducted, written informed consent was obtained from each participant. Interviews were audiotaped and then transcribed. After the interview, each participant completed a brief demographic questionnaire and received a nominal gift for his or her participation.
Our team analyzed the data collected through the interviews. One bilingual team member, usually the interviewer, typed the audiotaped interview verbatim, in the language in which it was conducted and, when needed, translated it into English. A second bilingual team member independently compared the English transcription against the transcription in the original language, looking for errors. Any differences in translation were discussed and resolved between them. For the interviews conducted in English, we kept the original grammar of the participants, even if it was grammatically incorrect. We then undertook our analysis in three phases. In the first phase, we used a parallel method of analysis in which cultural insiders in our team analyzed the original transcripts, most of which were in their native language while cultural outsiders on our team analyzed transcripts in English. Through these parallel readings, we conducted a standard ethnographic analysis of coding transcripts and sorting text segments into topic documents. We classified text iteratively according to an evolving coding scheme as topics emerged. Examples of codes included gender, recollections about tobacco use in one’s land of heritage, smoking status, and secondhand smoke exposure. We achieved a consensus among team members in coding by resolving discrepancies through discussion about different interpretations.
Team members then analyzed text segments in each topic document to identify major themes, and to note the degree of variation in views related to these themes. We were sensitive to the amount of variation among participants on a given topic (between and within ethnic groups), and we identified variation as part of our coding, noting disconfirming cases. Specifically, as part of our analysis protocol we examined minority/contrasting views and examined whether there were differences by number of years in the country, smoking status, community, and gender.
In the second phase of our analysis, we used a standardized framework for ethnographic analysis called a face sheet comparison to look at each interview as a whole and to compare interviews to find similarities and differences between the participants. We identified topics for which there was substantial thematic similarity among all 60 participants. Then, we identified 11 topics where the data revealed a wide range of viewpoints, opinions and levels of knowledge. Topics included attitudes about smokers, ideas about addiction, and beliefs about the effects of smoking on others.
We sought to interpret the themes we identified within the cultural and social context of Minnesota, fusing Southeast Asian team members’ insider knowledge with other team members’ research expertise. Some of our analysis focused on identifying differences between subgroups, including by gender and language proficiency, using this as a proxy for level of acculturation to American norms. Throughout our analysis, we retained the diversity of experiences, opinions and ideas in the data to avoid oversimplifying the complex reality that participants presented in the interviews, and to avoid stereotyping.
In the third phase of our analysis, we conducted four separate meetings with members of each of the four communities (which included some interviewers and participants) in which we presented and then extensively discussed the major themes and variations we heard and our research team’s interpretation of these results. This “member-checking” process resulted in clarification and revision of our initial findings, and ensured that our conclusions accurately reflected the experiences and perspectives of the participants.
Participant characteristics by ethnicity and gender
Men (n = 8)
Women (n = 7)
Men (n = 8)
Women (n = 7)
Men (n = 8)
Women (n = 7)
Men (n = 8)
Women (n = 7)
Years in U.S.
Smoking status (%)
Generally, we found similarities among the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants’ accounts of how tobacco was used and regarded in their lands of heritage. The Hmong participants’ accounts were quite different from the other three groups, indicating that Hmong in Southeast Asia used and regarded tobacco differently from the other three groups. Accordingly, we present the findings from the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants separately from the Hmong findings. Additionally, in presenting our results, we have chosen quotes that are highly representative of the participants’ views about a given theme.
Tobacco-related beliefs, customs, and norms
Tobacco as a valued part of material culture
According to nearly all of the participants, manufactured cigarettes were a highly valued part of material culture in their lands of heritage. The participants described how manufactured cigarettes were an integral part of gift-giving at weddings, funerals, and other ceremonies, and how men used them in social encounters to forge and strengthen bonds. A Khmer male participant explained that tobacco (especially cigarettes) was “about guests greeting, making a connection, building relationships, offering to each other…”
A Vietnamese male participant recalled a saying that “…a conversation had to begin with offering tobacco”. In homes, a host who failed to offer a male guest a cigarette would be indicating that she/he “…does not really want to welcome the visitors” (Lao male). Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants recalled that people used tobacco to foster warm feelings of camaraderie, as one male Lao participant explained,
…When there was a festival or a time when you went to the temple or in someone’s home after the meal, in our culture older people would gather and start to smoke tobacco… Getting together [and] then smoking …[was] the happiest time they would have, and it symbolized the unity of the people…
In Southeast Asia, tobacco brands and forms of smoking tobacco became symbols of social class. Affluent Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese smokers and those aspiring to be affluent chose to smoke expensive European and American brands to indicate their high social status. A male Vietnamese participant explained,
Smoking shows off a person’s character, wealth, status, makes people look “cool”. People’s socio-economic class is reflected in what they smoke. Poor people/peasants smoke waterpipes, the majority smoked hand-rolled cigarettes, and rich people smoked imported cigarettes or cigars.
Similarly, a male Khmer participant recalled,
The American name brands or any imported cigarette such as Winston, Salem… They made the smoker look like a high-class person. The elite who held employment positions in offices and smoked those imported cigarettes inspired me. It symbolized a status of being high-class. It inspired me.
Tobacco use, age, and gender
Tobacco was used in Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese societies to create and sustain social arrangements among adult males and to reinforce gender ideology. The act of smoking also was bound up with sensibilities about masculinity and seen as part of manhood. According to an elderly Khmer man, “…when I was a single youth, if you didn’t know how to smoke or drink you were not a man…” Likewise, many participants, such as one Vietnamese man, described smoking in terms of a rite of passage that distinguished boys from men. “… Besides, when a boy wanted to show that he was mature, he smoked … to show that he was a grown-up, that he no longer was a boy. And … sometimes, [boys] wanted to show they fully lived their own life”.
The participants described how families and communities forbade children younger than 18 and women from smoking. Elderly men and women chewed tobacco with betel nuts. A Vietnamese man explained the disdain people had for any young person seen smoking, recalling “…if people see a youth smoking, they would perceive it as something bad, as a thorn poking their eyes”.
A Lao woman explained,
Smoking in my native land is considered a normal thing to do for adults or the man of the house. For young adults, they would be considered bad people. In order for it to be acceptable, young adults have to be at least 20 years or older. Otherwise, parents have the right to punish them.
Discussing the strong prohibition against women smoking, a Khmer man exclaimed:
If you were a female and smoked, that woman was not good. That was a city woman. And that was a woman who had no good occupation, you see. The woman who smoked …[was] a woman they don’t want to associate with…. The woman was…in a bad part of society…
War and smoking
Participants recalled an increase in smoking during the period of the civil wars in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and in the period of socioeconomic instability thereafter. One Vietnamese participant became a smoker after he joined the army due to “peer pressure” and as a way to cope with fear and to “relieve tension”. Another Vietnamese man believed that social unrest and unemployment after the fall of Saigon in 1975 led to an increase in smoking, explaining, “Before 1975 people smoked because people wanted to imitate each other and show-off… But after 1975, the number of smokers even increased for the following reasons. The unemployment rate was high. When people are unemployed, they smoke more”.
Several Khmer participants described how the Khmer Rouge regime’s harsh rule and tactics caused an increase in smoking. According to some, the Khmer Rouge distributed cigarettes in labor camps to keep people alert, to enhance productivity, and to show that everyone was equal. One participant remarked, “I saw a dangerous act committed by the Khmer Rouge. They distributed cigarettes to the children… Children and women smoked openly”. Another Khmer participant explained that under conditions of forced labor non-smokers took up smoking because it was the only time that they would be able to take a break from work. Others described how people became smokers so they would be given valuable cigarettes that could be traded for food, or to keep away the malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Under the Khmer Rouge, many also turned to cigarettes for solace:
… During Khmer Rouge power in our country we had a hard time. Lots of people learned to smoke, including myself…We believed smoking will keep the mosquitoes away at night.…Sometimes, we taught our children to smoke by ourselves… leading them to a smoking habit… And sometimes, some other people thought that smoking can make them relax.
Tobacco, medicine and health
Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese in Southeast Asia valued tobacco for its purported medicinal properties. Some participants associated tobacco use with health and cure for ailments. For example, a Khmer female participant described a myriad of medicinal uses for tobacco. “…[Tobacco] was used to remove leeches, cure skin diseases or stop the itch caused by insect bite, to kill germs, cure abscess, stop bleeding, clean teeth, use as a band aid, heal a sprained ankle and to heal a snake wound (or slow the effect of the venom)”. A female Vietnamese participant was careful to distinguish medicinal tobacco from the act of smoking, stating, “The tobacco used as medicine to cure diseases, when people smoke or … put on wounds to stop bleeding…We can also call this way of tobacco use as medicine, but… when you smoke tobacco, inhale it into your lungs and call it medicine – that’s never true”. Participants recalled that in Southeast Asia most people had little knowledge of the risks that smoking posed to health. Particularly in rural regions, very few people had any understanding of Western biomedical knowledge about tobacco use.
Tobacco use in the land of heritage among the Hmong
In contrast to the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants, the Hmong participants described how regular consumption of tobacco was unacceptable, disparaged, and rarely seen in Hmong villages. Unlike the other groups who lived under French colonial rule and were exposed to French norms and patterns of smoking, the Hmong lived in remote highland villages and were relatively isolated from French colonial influence. Smoking was only seen among some elders who smoked tobacco hoping to relieve arthritis and pain. One female Hmong participant recalled that Hmong smoked tobacco from a waterpipe to treat “…body ache or arthritis or waist pain or stomach pain…”. Like the other participants, a Hmong man recalled that Hmong people had very little knowledge about the health effects of tobacco saying, “In the old days of our time, people never heard of cancer or heart disease”.
Several Hmong participants’ depictions of smokers were extremely negative. They described smokers as lazy, immature, and hurting their family’s reputation: “[the] majority of the people thought that the ones who smoked … [were] not considered good human beings, or did not seem mature; that is why the person got into smoking. Elders viewed that as part of the culture and put smokers into the position that they were not worthy”. Other Hmong participants observed that although smoking tobacco was not encouraged, the real vitriol was reserved for opium smokers. Despite differing views as to the extent to which tobacco smokers (as opposed to opium smokers) were stigmatized, several Hmong participants discussed various ways in which villages would sanction or ostracize smokers.
… If your son or daughter wanted to marry someone who was smoker in the village, the whole villagers would recommend that you not marry that person. The villagers tend to exclude that individual from the society. Whether the person is male or female it will be difficult to look for a mate…if I have sons or daughters who are smokers, or if I have a son who wants to marry a female smoker, I personally would not recommend him marrying her because she does not have good character. I don’t know if some smokers are nice too, but most smokers are not good people. Everyone perceives that way about people who smoke and would refuse to accept that person.
Hmong people’s existence changed dramatically during the civil war in Laos when, in exchange for protection by the United States from their enemies, many Hmong fought the Communist insurgents on behalf of the U.S. During that time, a number of Hmong soldiers became smokers when the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) gave them American cigarettes to help them stay awake. Some Hmong elders blamed smoking on the “American War” and believed that sons and nephews of men in the military smoked to emulate their fathers, “spreading” the norm of smoking throughout the Hmong community. For example, when we asked a Hmong female participant about her image of a Hmong smoker she replied,
You know the first image that comes to my mind is… you think about what kind of family they grew up in and how they start smoking or were they people that always in trouble or people that just pick up smoking as a habit from friends and family or the war.
Tobacco use in Minnesota
The participants described many ways in which tobacco use patterns, beliefs, norms and practices changed among their ethnic groups living in Minnesota. Several participants observed that some in their ethnic group had started smoking after arriving in the U.S. These participants felt that some people had taken up smoking because of decades of accumulated trauma, dislocation and stress, a view that is supported by evidence that many Southeast Asian refugees suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression . As one Khmer male explained,
Back in the homeland, there was a war, the sufferings, and hardship… When we are here, we have a lot of stresses. Some people came here without knowing any English. They don’t speak English. They don’t know how to drive and cannot go out like others so they are always staying home like the rabbit in its cave. When they stayed inside for so long, they will have a lot of stresses and they don’t have any other ways…but pulling cigarettes to smoke…
Many participants explained that members of their ethnic group had found that, unlike in Southeast Asia, in Minnesotan society in general smokers do not derive high social status from their smoking and are somewhat ostracized, which is itself another stressor. One male Khmer participant explained the contrast in smokers’ experiences saying,
…The difference is [that] in Cambodia you could smoke if you wanted to. That was normal, you see. Nobody was criticizing you… But here, we are not welcoming those who smoke… When they need to smoke, they smoke alone, you see.
Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees and immigrants also confronted a dramatic difference in the way in which smokers were portrayed. Unlike in Southeast Asia, where smoking imported and manufactured cigarettes signified high social status, smokers’ experiences in Minnesota were dramatically different. As one Khmer male explained,
…in Minnesota, most people, young and old, have perceived the harmful impact of smoking. So, if anyone keeps smoking, he or she should be classified as unlikable person and ignorant. Society would not accept this person. In Cambodia, a smoker’s value depends on the value of cigarettes. It seems that the expensive cigarettes ennoble the smokers into a high-class status…In this country, no matter how high the price of cigarette is, the value of smokers may not be as high as their cigarettes.
Despite the perception that people in the general Minnesotan population tend to look down on smokers, the majority of the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants believed that only smokers who smoke around others are regarded negatively. Several female participants described how their perceptions of smokers had changed since they came to Minnesota. They expressed their strong personal aversion to the unpleasant smell and appearance of smokers, and they associated smokers with sickness. For example, a Vietnamese female participant described smokers as having “a dirty and unhealthy image. Smokers and everything surrounding them are so smelly…”. Several other participants perceived smokers negatively because they felt that smokers were harming innocent family members.
Most participants talked about how Southeast Asians in Minnesota had established new social norms governing smoking. For the participants, one of the most striking differences between patterns of tobacco use among Southeast Asians in Minnesota versus what they recalled in Southeast Asia was that in Minnesota, smoking was becoming common among youth and women, two groups that were forbidden to smoke in Southeast Asia. Although Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants believed that smokers were generally viewed more negatively in the U.S. than in Southeast Asia, those same participants, as well as some Hmong participants, viewed the U.S. as a place where all people had the freedom to smoke, regardless of age or gender. They constructed “freedom” in this context, as individual autonomy to do what one wishes. This construction of personal autonomy was particularly appealing to women and young people. As a Vietnamese woman lamented,
…when our Vietnamese people immigrated to the United States, we had communication and exchange with the American world…we have learned many good things, but we have also learned a lot of bad things … the young ladies nowadays seem to adapt the concept of freedom, so they would think they should have the right to smoke just as their brothers, and would not worry about their reputation…
Some participants saw the greater “freedom” to smoke as a function of immigrating from close-knit communities where if you smoke “you are worried about other people telling on you” (Hmong woman) to large urban areas with greater anonymity. As a Khmer participant bemoaned, “[Smoking among youth]…is not acceptable in our community but the parents couldn’t do much because of the convenient access to cigarettes. They [youth] can buy it or get it from friends. This is becoming a part of the parents’ stress”. Similarly, a Hmong woman said, “I can start to see women smoke tobacco because, I think, in Laos, if you see a woman smoke, people would talk about it, and then that person would feel ashamed of smoking, but in this country and in Minnesota, like the mainstream culture, women, children, everybody smokes…” A Hmong woman captured the effect of anonymity on smoking in a vignette she described,
The other day I was at a park and we ran into a family and the husband was smoking and when we walked around the park, we ran into the family again and the wife was smoking too… She was in her late thirties and I thought wow! That’s a surprise because she’s speaking Hmong to her kids and that’s really rare. Now if she was in Laos because it was more restricted and more looked down upon by the elders…she would not have been smoking.
A few participants characterized their ethnic communities as being in a “state of flux” in which some members want to hold onto the Southeast Asian values they grew up with whereas others want to adopt American ways. It appears that community members who adapted more readily to mainstream American society and who realized that others in their community disapproved of their smoking negotiated this potential hazard by refraining from smoking in their homes and around community members, and instead restricted their smoking to their peer group. For example, a Hmong woman explained,
I don’t think it’s acceptable to…have elders and parents see youth smoking. I mean, that is still looked down upon and it’s still a bad reputation…because…they won’t want other member of the Hmong community looking down on them … But I do have …some siblings, younger siblings that would smoke but they won’t smoke at my house just because they respect me and won’t want to make me lose face…
Most participants reported that although some smokers in their ethnic group still smoked at social gatherings, generally people in their ethnic group had become less tolerant of smokers smoking around others, particularly around children, pregnant women, elders with health problems, and in the homes of non-smokers. As a Vietnamese former smoker explained,
…smoking at social gatherings still occurs but smokers are expected to smoke away from nonsmokers. Yes, tobacco is still used in our celebrations. But, at many places, smokers are asked to sit separately. Many non-smokers do not like to smell the cigarette smoke.
Several participants stressed the importance of respecting the new norms in America explaining how sensitivity and respect for others were important cultural values among Southeast Asians. As one Khmer man explained,
As our ancestors taught us, we should follow the winding stream when we enter the river’s journey. In America, there are some restrictions for smoking. The dangerous impact of smoking is often publicized in TV. We understand it… Therefore, in the wedding ceremony, where we used to serve guests with cigarettes, we offer candies as a symbol of thanksgiving. I had done it in my daughter’s wedding. I encountered some objections, but I went ahead using candies instead of cigarettes. It’s less harmful.
Some participants attributed the differences in norms to the effect of different climates in Southeast Asia and Minnesota, as well as to the different housing conditions. Whereas people in Southeast Asia lived in a tropical climate in houses designed to be open and naturally ventilated, in Minnesota people live in houses designed for hot and cold climates with air conditioning and heating, with minimal natural ventilation. In such conditions in Minnesota, Southeast Asians found that smoking indoors was inconsiderate. However, several participants explained that it is also considered rude to tell a guest that they cannot smoke in one’s own home. As such, guests must intuit the appropriate rules because they are not stated outright. As one Hmong participant explained,
… the person who smokes has to know …that in order to respect the family that they go visit not to smoke in their house, because the host family or the family who … invite you to go to their house, they’re not going to tell you that… Even though it’s not acceptable in their house they’re not going to say directly to that person, that would be … disrespect toward their visitor, so the visitor has to know … by him or herself that it’s not acceptable…
Limited increases in awareness of health risks
Participants described the contrast between living in Southeast Asia where, at the time, people had little knowledge about the effects of tobacco on health, versus living in Minnesota where people have been exposed to messages about the health risks of firsthand and secondhand smoke for decades. One Vietnamese male participant noted that in Minnesota, “…the television always broadcasts noisily that smoking causes this, causes that…” Some of this information had reached Southeast Asians living in Minnesota. When we asked a Hmong participant about the effects of smoke on nonsmokers, he said, “I know that they have commercials on TV that it’s bad. You can still develop lung cancer or other health problems just by secondhand smoke”. However, many participants emphasized that despite the distribution of health information through various media in Minnesota, many Southeast Asians still lacked awareness about the dangers of smoking, especially those who did not read or understand spoken English, such as elders. As a Hmong leader explained, “everyone seems to hear rumors that smoking is not good, but they do not know exactly what it is that is not good”. Similarly, a Lao participant explained,
…most of our people don’t know what caused them to be sick. When Mr. X or Uncle Y got sick they knew that he had lung cancer … [but they had] no explanation to what caused that… Nobody would say that it was because he had been smoking for over twenty years. Even his family wouldn’t say he had been smoking for over twenty years [and] that’s why he has cancer.
Knowledge about the health risks of secondhand smoke appeared to be limited in all four ethnic groups. For instance, when we asked a female Hmong participant about the effects of smoke from another person’s cigarette, she answered, “…The one that doesn’t smoke will probably not have any problems in their body and health because that person is not smoking”. However, somehow, nearly all of the participants seemed to have learned that secondhand smoke exposure is harmful for children, pregnant women, and the elderly. As one Vietnamese participant explained,
…even with the current publication of the numerous flyers on smoking and secondhand smoking, this issue is not a real concern for the Asian people in general. Except this specific situation, if the smoker has a family with young children, it would be better for the children’s health if the smoker does not smoke in the house.”
Additionally, some participants were misinformed about the effects of smoking tobacco. Several held the belief that homegrown tobacco (produced “without chemicals”) and tobacco smoked through a waterpipe were safer than manufactured cigarettes. Some participants indicated that community members pointed out that some elders had smoked all of their lives without getting sick. For example, a Lao participant explained how people’s perceptions about the effects of smoking were heavily influenced by the events they observed, stating,
Some people quit for five to six months and then died of cancer or have diabetes …I had seen three or four friends who died because they quit smoking rapidly. Within five to seven months of their quitting, some people have diabetes then cancer without any reason, so it’s hard for people to decide to quit.”
Increased motivation to quit among older men
Immigrating to the U.S. along with increased pressure from family members sparked some Southeast Asians’ desires to quit. A Vietnamese woman, for instance, estimated that almost fifty percent of Vietnamese smokers in the U.S. want to quit because “…they know that their health is very important here. If they cannot go work, how could they pay the bills?” A Khmer man recalled that the shame and disgrace he experienced as a smoker in the U.S. led him to quit:
…I used to smoke before because I used to work as a constructor to build roads, bridges… [my company] had its own good rules [in] which they don't allow the smokers to smoke in a working place. They allowed them to smoke outside. Then I felt ashamed. …And I understood that when they [my employers] do good things, I have to respect them and follow them. And it is not only the benefit to the community but to [the] individual. That is why I decided not to smoke anymore.
Several participants recounted incidents of smokers quitting in response to direct or indirect criticism from their family, community, and larger society. They recalled that wives and children pressured male smokers to quit – events that would be much less likely in Southeast Asia where patriarchal family hierarchy was more rigid and respected. According to a Vietnamese woman, “whenever I see my children or my husband touch a cigarette, I start complaining. I complain all the time. I say, ‘Why do you want to smoke? It’s costly, and it’s harmful to our health.’ So all of my family members had to stop smoking”.
Despite such pressure, some smokers simply changed their smoking patterns in response to social disapproval, rather than quitting. A male Khmer participant described it this way,
…When a husband smokes, the bad odor disturbs his wife. She often discourages him from smoking. And her attitude of dislike grows. It is a disgrace for a husband. As for the youths, they would have encountered the same situation: disgraced by the elders. Therefore, both youths and general individuals are afraid of losing face and respect. Then they would not smoke in public. They would do it in a private place so that other people in the community cannot see them, and they cannot look down at them.
While male Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese smokers faced increasing pressure to quit, the Hmong participants explained that Hmong were reluctant to criticize male smokers. For this reason, Hmong participants felt that their ethnic group was more concerned about dealing with the increasing numbers of young Hmong who were taking up smoking.
Discussion and conclusions
This formative study adds to the literature by documenting the effects of immigration and acculturation on tobacco use among Southeast Asians in the U.S. by exploring cultural and contextual factors that contribute to changing patterns of tobacco use . These findings suggest potential directions for public health policy and practice.
Our results help explain a consistent finding of prior studies documenting higher rates of smoking among acculturated women and youth, and a lower likelihood of smoking among acculturated men. Our research identifies several contributors to these shifting patterns of tobacco use. First, most adult community members – including many smokers – no longer view the act of smoking cigarettes and the identity of being a smoker as having potent, positive symbolic significance, transactional utility, and social acceptability that they once did in Southeast Asia. Now that these Southeast Asians are living in Minnesota, while there has not been a complete reversal of this view, there has been a gradual shift such that cigarettes have less symbolic and practical significance. The information from the participants suggests that a large majority of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese older community members in Minnesota have changed their perceptions about tobacco. This has contributed to an emerging set of social norms that govern tobacco use among many, although not among some youth and some women. Smokers in these communities have contributed, in varying degrees, to producing these cultural shifts by changing their own smoking patterns. We found that the pattern of change among Hmong community members was different from that of the other three groups because Hmong came to the U.S. with less favorable perceptions about tobacco and less approving norms of tobacco use. Still, Hmong too face rising rates of youth smoking.
In adjusting to life in a new context, the primary message many refugees and immigrants have received is that smoking is generally unhealthy and not widely accepted socially. Community members have encountered images and information in English language media and in their own ethnic media that are vastly different from what they were exposed to in their lands of heritage, and they now live in a context that has much more restrictive laws and regulations regarding tobacco use. Moreover, social norms in Minnesota restrict smokers considerably compared to social norms in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese participants felt that sizable majorities of their communities no longer see smoking as an essential part of ceremonies and greeting rituals. Whereas it was once considered essential to offer guests cigarettes as gifts at social occasions to create a pleasant, relaxing ambiance and enliven the “happiest times” to bring people closer together, in Minnesota, community members mainly offer other party favors to guests such as candies. In doing so, they demonstrate their sensitivity for nonsmokers and awareness of smoking as an unfavorable, not-family-friendly social activity. Even within the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese men’s worlds, the pattern of exchanging cigarettes as a token for cultivating close social relations is in decline. When men were in Southeast Asia and meeting each other in business situations and in male-only interactions (e.g., military), they handed each other cigarettes to forge a “connection”. In Minnesota, men have been abandoning this social ritual because fewer men smoke, because smoking no longer has the same association with masculinity, and because expensive brands no longer has much cachet.
Our results suggest that in Minnesota in the context of private homes, now many Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese community members no longer offer cigarettes to guests or potential associates. Many nonsmokers no longer find it acceptable to allow smokers to smoke in their homes. Accordingly, many smokers no longer feel that they can smoke wherever and whenever they wish to smoke in others’ homes, in other locations, and even within their own homes. Now, many smokers regulate their smoking according to the social and physical context in the moment when they have the urge to smoke. Many smokers also either voluntarily smoke outside or away from nonsmokers, or at least they ask for permission before lighting up a cigarette with the awareness that that permission may, politely, not be granted.
In addition, gender ideology about smoking has shifted. Whereas young and older men once viewed smoking as a symbol of joining men’s world and community members once expected that the majority of boys would become smokers when they entered adulthood, now in Minnesota, many family and community members – including some male smokers – discourage boys and young men from taking up smoking.
The shifts in perceptions and norms have not all been positive from a public health perspective. In all four ethnic populations, it appears that increasing numbers of adults no longer forbid girls from smoking or discourage young women from smoking. In Southeast Asia, girls and young women who smoked were often ostracized and targeted with gossip and innuendo about being a prostitute. Now, in Minnesota, fewer community members subject girls and young women to such harsh social sanctions and criticism. Although many community members still find it unsavory and objectionable to see girls and young women smoking, most tend to turn a “blind eye,” assuming that these female community members are just becoming “Americans” or becoming “Americanized” –processes that at least some community members see as inevitable as they relinquish their efforts to restrict women’s freedom .
For more conservative community members, the sight of youth of both genders and the sight of young women taking up smoking and smoking openly in public represents a loss of valued cultural traditions. They see these phenomena as further evidence of the undermining of social hierarchy within their ethnic groups. These phenomena also represent what they perceive to be the distortion of American values of freedom and equality that produce “out of control” behaviors and gives undue influence of their children’s friends . Undoubtedly, these cultural shifts have created an opening for the tobacco companies, some of which have directed marketing executives to “…investigate the possibility of utilizing men and women and targeting youth in advertising strategies” and have disseminated research “indicating that Asian-American women are smoking more as they believe that they should enjoy the same freedom as men” .
For some smokers, these changes in perceptions and norms can be fraught with powerful negative emotions that are linked to larger issues related to the stress of immigration and adjustment to life in America. Although some participants (particularly nonsmokers) viewed American anti-smoking sentiments as positive, they acknowledged that some smokers and their families experience strife. They reported that their wives, children and other family members now openly and sometimes harshly pressure husbands, fathers, and other male family members to quit smoking. This confrontation had an impact not only on male smokers who feel that such pressure is an affront to their patriarchal authority within their households, but also on male smokers’ social standing within communities. Such pressure, coupled with the shifts in community-wide perceptions of social norms described above, can induce feelings of shame as smokers face implicit and explicit criticism from their family members, their community, and the wider society in Minnesota.
The participants were clear that many male smokers used tobacco to alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression, as seen in other studies, [1, 35] as they struggled with feelings of social isolation, dislocation from their own culture, lack of English language proficiency, lack of employment, and poverty. They also felt many smokers were ashamed that they could not quit, particularly in the face of pressure from their family members and negative images of smokers that had become pervasive in Minnesota. The participants were also clear that their communities and health professionals need to take care with these smokers.
There are several limitations to this research. Our findings are derived from in-depth interviews with participants who are informal and formal community leaders and thus, our findings are based on their experiences, perceptions and opinions. These leaders tended to be somewhat older on average than the general population in their ethnic communities, and by definition they had higher social status than most other community members. Additionally, many of these leaders were not current tobacco users. Thus, while they had a wide perspective based on their many contacts and activities within their communities, their viewpoints do not directly reflect those of smokers and other important segments of these communities. This may have led to comments that suggested a larger shift away from the normative use of tobacco than was the case among smokers and in the community as a whole. However, to the extent that these leaders have a disproportionately large influence on their communities, their perspectives are critical to understanding and shaping tobacco use patterns in these communities.
Over time, memory about life in one’s land of origin can fade or become distorted with nostalgic sentiments. So, particularly for those participants who had been in the U.S. for several decades and had not been back to their land of heritage since, their recollections may have become somewhat less reliable. We only interviewed Hmong, Khmers, Laos and Vietnamese in Minnesota. Thus, our findings may not be generalizable to other Southeast Asian populations. It is possible that the interviewing process induced some acquiescence bias because ethnic community partners conducted the interviews rather than professional researchers. Although the community partners received training for conducting interviews and they asked pilot-tested questions as much as possible, their interviewing technique may have inadvertently led some interviewees to bias their answers.
We also did not directly explore some other potential causes of increased smoking uptake among Southeast Asian immigrants in the U.S., such as the impact of tobacco marketing activities, particularly those directed toward women and youth . Additionally, we did not explore the influence of some important contextual factors such as tobacco control policies and the demographic composition of the residential population.
An understanding of the historical events that bring refugees and immigrants to the U.S. and their experiences adapting to life in the U.S. provides a necessary foundation for understanding their cultural shifts in patterns of tobacco use. Our research has shown that Southeast Asians of different generations and life stages face different problems. Southeast Asians who are older tend to face barriers to quitting that include low levels of knowledge about health risks, limited familiarity with the concept of preventive health, social isolation, positive associations regarding tobacco, and stronger adherence to rituals involving smoking. However, older people possess many attributes that can serve as the basis for culturally-rooted tobacco control programs, such as having tightly knit families, communities, and clans, and having a high level of cultural responsiveness to social norms, including American norms. This group is likely to benefit from programs based on their culturally-rooted values (e.g., the values of politeness; the importance of acting in ways that benefit the family, community, and clan) and programs that work with existing social structures, as well as initiatives that address smokers’ psychological distress and social isolation.
It is less clear (to the participants and to us) how to address smoking uptake among the younger generations of Hmong, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. Studies in the U.S. have shown that Southeast Asian youth suffer from stress, anxiety and depression associated with poverty, racism, discrimination, and teasing by their peers. Also, they may feel disadvantaged by the absence of a parent who is able to guide them and advocate for them within school, and they may feel hampered by being part of an ethnic community that is somewhat set apart from “mainstream” American society [36, 37]. These stressors may be compounded by the intergenerational conflict that ensues as youth – particularly girls and young women – adopt “American” behaviors that are prohibited by their ethnic group’s traditions. Young people tend to perceive smoking as a stress release, and stressors such as discrimination are associated with smoking behavior . It is critical that tobacco control programs be developed that address these types of stressors that are likely to contribute to smoking uptake and continued use among younger generations of Southeast Asian youth. Such programs should build upon the positive anti-tobacco norms that are emerging in these populations.
It is important to note that this research project served as an important catalyst for change in Minnesota’s Southeast Asian communities. This research project led community leaders to elevate tobacco use to the level of an important community priority that needed to be addressed. Some participants and members of the research team from the four ethnic groups became advocates for tobacco control. They also became key participants in subsequent research projects and community interventions aimed at shifting social norms related to tobacco use and motivating current tobacco users to quit. These projects, in which community members were active participants, included the development of tobacco control messages, the integration of community messages into major community activities, and the use of community health workers to address tobacco-related policies and social norms related to tobacco use at culturally-specific venues, including multiunit housing, places of worship, ethnic businesses and community events. These projects incorporated insights from this study including the need to involve family, community, and clan; the need to address smokers’ psychological stress and social isolation; and changing social rituals in order to eliminate the role of tobacco. Thus, this study demonstrates how formative research, utilizing principles of CBPR, examining cultural and historical shifts in tobacco use patterns in ethnic communities can inform the development of tobacco control strategies that will be more effective because they are culturally meaningful in taking account the dimensions of acculturation.
Community-based participatory research
Central Intelligence Agency.
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, or ClearWay Minnesota. DREGAN was a joint community-based participatory research project of the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and ClearWay Minnesota, and conducted in partnership with the SE Asian community. We would like to acknowledge our partnering organization, the Southeast Asian Community Advisory Committee, the Southeast Asian Refugee Community Home and members of the DREGAN project team: Hoang K. Tran, Moustapha Omar, Jaime Martinez, Jasmine Dinh, and Joy Andreasen. We also would like to thank the participants who spoke so eagerly about their own experiences and their communities’ experiences with tobacco in their homeland and in Minnesota.
This work was supported by funding from the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and ClearWay Minnesota. Dr. Burgess was supported by a Merit Review Entry Program award from VA HSR&D.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. 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 credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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Health
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It’s a general fact of the world that every culture must have at least one story of a hairy ape-like creature. We’re all familiar with Bigfoot and his snowy cousin the Yeti, and we can find more far-fetched tales of their relatives from across the globe. The Chinese have encountered and killed various Yerens, for example, while people in India have been terrorized by a monkey on a skateboard. In the United States, we have the Skunk Ape, the Fouke Monster, and so many other Bigfoot clones that one might presume the entire country was inhabited by ape-men.
Japan is no exception to this universal law. Its fantastical hominid, the Hibagon, is a big-nosed, dark-furred monster that stands on two legs at the height of five or so feet. It’s said to live around Mount Hiba, a mountain in Hiroshima Prefecture that can also boast of being the burial site of the goddess Izanami. The first sighting of the Hibagon, according to the Japanese site Occult Chronicle, dates back to July 20, 1970.
On that morning, a man with the last name of Marusaki spotted a strange creature while he was passing through the town of Saijo in a truck. The critter stared at Marusaki, made its way across the road, and then vanished into a forest. Initially, Marusaki thought the jaywalker was an ape. Three days later, a farmer cutting his grass saw a similar creature watching him from some brush. The farmer said that the monster had a human-like face. Speculations linked the peeping tom to Marusaki’s ape, and soon enough, the legend of the Hibagon was born.
In December 1970, there were a dozen sightings of the Hibagon. The ape was strolling so freely, in fact, that some people discovered its footprints in the snow. By April 1971, the Hibagon’s fame inspired the enterprising Saijo authorities to set up the Ruijin’en Kakari, a name my clunky Japanese would render as the “Ape Staff” or “Ape Officials.” This committee investigated sightings, interviewed witnesses, and assisted with the publicity the monster was bringing to the small town. Interviewees were apparently paid 5,000 yen (about $46) for their testimony.
As the stories of the Hibagon were printed across Japan, curious travelers came to Saijo for a chance to see the creature. One group, dispatched by Kobe University, failed to uncover any proof that the Hibagon existed. For a few more years, the mythical ape continued to grace the townspeople, however, with sightings most frequently occurring in the summer.
The year 1974 marked the peak of the Hibagon. In August, a man driving with his mother in a town near Saijo saw the Hibagon flee into some trees. Realizing his find, the man grabbed his camera, got out of the car, and snapped a picture some twenty feet away. The resulting image was a shadowy figure standing in foliage. Unfortunately, as you can observe above, we can’t even see the Hibagon’s lovely smiling face. Still, while some believers were titillated by this picture, other witnesses disputed that it was the Hibagon at all.
By the end of the year, the Ape Staff had received tips about 100 sightings since the committee’s establishment. 22 of these reports were testimonies, from the mouths of 33 different people. From this body of evidence, the Hibagon was judged to be slow, harmless, and intelligent. Its face was like an inverted triangle, and its fur was either brown or black in color. Although not everyone agreed that it was like a monkey, a lot of witnesses, including a woman who spotted it near her house in July 1974, identified it as being similar to an ape.
After creating such an uproar, the Hibagon completely disappeared after October 1974. The Saijo authorities disbanded their committee in March 1975, believing the issue was still inconclusive. Mysterious Universe notes that the Hibagon was detected in other parts of Hiroshima in the early 1980s, but these sightings were just as short-lived as the original wave around Saijo. Today, the Hibagon is a familiar sight around the town (now a part of the city Shobara), but exclusively in the form of pictures, costumes, and merchandise. The curious gourmet can even sample Hibagon eggs, a treat made of cocoa, bean paste, and sweet potato flavors.
Fifty years later, can we really say that there was a benign, jaywalking ape hiding in the forests of Japan? Doubters have suggested that the Hibagon was a misidentified animal, like a Japanese macaque or an Asian black bear. Perhaps one of these animals ventured away from the forest or mountain, and was separated from the rest of its fellows. Some witnesses claimed that the Hibagon had white on its hands or hip, a feature that I wonder might have been confused with the Asian black bear’s signature white chest.
At the time of Hibagonmania, the area around Hiba Mountain was also being developed, an act that must have interfered with local wildlife. Cynics have additionally taken note of the Saijo government’s unusual involvement with the Hibagon sightings in the ’70s, which included paying witnesses for their help. The mayor of the time, according to Japanese blogs I read, was eventually arrested for taking bribes from a construction company. Might the whole episode have been a ruse by officials to spark interest in a newly-developing tourist spot? It’s a question to ponder, preferably while eating Hibagon eggs.
If you enjoyed reading this article, please consider supporting my work by buying my book “Forgotten Lives” on Amazon here. My first collection of short stories includes such sweet tales as “The Society for the Preservation of Vice,” in which a group of decadent artists attempt to pull off a human sacrifice, and the heart-warming “A Gourmet’s Confession,” in which a glutton resorts to cannibalism after he can’t eat conventional food anymore. Due to my state’s COVID-19 shutdown, I am currently out of work, so I would greatly appreciate the support. A review, witty condemnation, or political manifesto posted on its Amazon page would also be wonderful.
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History
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What are the types of predictive analytics?
Predictive analytics is often used to mean predictive models. Increasingly, people are using the term to describe related analytic disciplines used to improve customer decisions. Since different forms of predictive analytics tackle slightly different customer decisions, they are commonly used together. The models are built using a similar methodology but different mathematical techniques.
Predictive models analyze past performance to "predict" how likely a customer is to exhibit a specific behavior in the future. For example, an attrition model measures the likelihood of a consumer to attrite or churn. This category also encompasses models that "detect" subtle data patterns to answer questions about customer behavior, such as fraud detection models. Predictive models are often embedded in operational processes and activated during live transactions. The models analyze historical and transactional data to isolate patterns: what a fraudulent transaction looks like, what a risky customer looks like, what characterizes a customer likely to switch providers. These analyses weigh the relationship between hundreds of data elements to isolate each customer’s risk or potential, which guides the action on that customer
Unlike predictive models that predict a single customer behavior (such as attrition risk), descriptive models identify many different relationships between customers or products. Descriptive models "describe" relationships in data in a way that is often used to classify customers or prospects into groups. For example, a descriptive model may categorize customers into various groups with different buying patterns. This may be useful in applying marketing strategies or determining price sensitivity.
Decision models predict the outcomes of complex decisions in much the same way predictive models predict customer behavior. This is the most advanced level of predictive analytics. By mapping the relationships between all the elements of a decision—the known data (including results of predictive models), the decision and the forecast results of the decision—decision models predict what will happen if a given action is taken.
Unlike predictive models, decision models are generally used offline to develop decision strategies. These strategies can be deployed in real time. Optimization combined with decision modeling helps produce decision strategies that determine which actions to take on every customer or transaction, in order to mathematically optimize results and meet defined constraints. Before you roll out a new offer or strategy, decision modeling also allows you to "simulate" changes to volume, response and risk—for example, "What would happen if I lower my pricing by 5%? By 10%?" You can run hundreds of these simulations within a short period, exploring many more possibilities than would be practical with live testing.
What is a model?
A model is a mathematical equation that takes in data and produces a calculation, such as a score. Think of it as a very specific set of instructions on how to analyze data in order to deliver a particular kind of result.
A predictive model could measure how likely a doctor is to prescribe a specific brand drug (behavior). By contrast, a decision model could determine the appropriate number of drug samples to send to each physician that would result in a written prescription (action). A decision model considers economic and business drivers and constraints that a predictive model would not.
What is a score?
A score is the numerical value generated by a model or group of models when applied to a specific individual or account. Scores are common outputs of many types of predictive analytics—but not all models generate scores.
What is optimization?
While the term optimization is used loosely within the business community—sometimes simply to mean making a better decision— the technical definition is much more concrete. Optimization involves using analytic techniques to mathematically calculate the best action in a specific situation, given business goals and constraints. True optimization is highly complex, able to account for uncertainty and balance competing business objectives—such as growing your customer base without overexposing yourself to risk. Its effectiveness increases when combined with predictive and decision models.
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Strong reasoning
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Finance & Business
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Most people are aware that there is a serious Opioid crisis in America. But how many people know that the company who makes OxyContin, the highly addictive painkiller, is owned by a single family who has reaped billions of dollars of profits?
To say that the Sackler family has an impressive roster of monuments to their wealth would be an understatement. The Sackler family has had entire museums, wings, labs, stairways, and courtyards erected in their name.
From buildings and monuments to philanthropy, the Sackler name is everywhere, but the family itself is hardly ever seen. In 2015 Forbes magazine added the family to the list of America’s richest families. The billionaire family is descended from Mortimer and Raymond Sackler, two psychiatrist brothers from Brooklyn. Consisting of about 20 members, Forbes cited their wealth at a low-ball of 14 billion dollars. The family never comments publicly on the source of all that wealth – and that’s not a surprise. Most of their wealth came from sales of the narcotic painkiller, OxyContin. Since 1966 when the drug began being sold by the American branch of the Sackler’s pharmaceutical empire, Purdue Pharma, more than 200,000 people have died from overdoses on OxyContin and other painkillers.
While billions of dollars have also been made from tobacco, cars, and firearms, there is not another case where a single family has profited so greatly, and so privately, from one product as the Sackler’s have with OxyContin. Unlike other families who amass great wealth from their products and place their name on them, the Sackler’s cite “family privacy” when asked about their wealth.
After the mass opioid addictions that came with the end of the Vietnam war, people were looking for an alternative to traditional pain medication. During OxyContin’s early production, Doctor’s advice was ignored and misconceptions about how OxyContin worked were exploited by Purdue Pharmaceutical company in order to push production and sales. Purdue pleaded guilty in 2007 for criminally misbranding OxyContin.
Purdue was helped by the FDA when branding OxyContin as a less addictive alternative than past opioids because of its time-release properties. OxyContin was promoted as less appealing to addicts because they would not want a slow release pill. However, people soon found that crushing and snorting it allowed the user to intake almost the entire painkiller in one shot.
In the years following 1996 Purdue upped its sales force to over 600 people and began pointedly selling to general practitioners, dentists, obgyn’s, nurses, and physicians assistants. By 2001, sales were over $1 billion dollars. The sales staff was told to downplay addiction risks and sell using whatever means necessary. From 1996 to 2001, OxyContin prescriptions went from approximately 300,000 to almost 6 million. Next came the increase of addiction and abuse reports. Later, hundreds of doctors, who were the sales staff’s main target, would be arrested for heading up pill mills.
Script amounts increased rapidly and over the next few years dozens of lawsuits were filed against Purdue. Some were dismissed; others were taken care of with large checks from the Purdue family. Finally, in 2007, the Federal Government came in and Purdue pleaded guilty to felony charges for lying to doctors about the potential for abuse with the drug.
In 2010, Purdue made a huge change, redesigning the pill and saying that it was less susceptible to abuse in its new configuration. Purdue then claimed that because of its dangerous potential, generic manufacturers should not be able to duplicate it. On April 16, 2013, the day when critical patents were going to expire for OxyContin, the FDA announced that the formula could not be sold.
This May, lawmakers in congress sent a letter to the World Health Organization informing them of Purdue’s hand in America’s opioid crisis, warning them that they would soon be doing the same abroad.
The global impact of the Sackler’s company and actions will not be known overnight, but the family continues to make its mark all over the world.
Jeffrey Newman represents whistleblowers.
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Military history of the Netherlands
Part of a series on the
|History of the Netherlands|
The Dutch-speaking people have a long history; the Netherlands as a nation-state dates from 1568. Belgium (a country with a Dutch-speaking majority) became an independent state in 1830 when it seceded from the Netherlands.
During the ancient and early medieval periods, the Germanic tribes had no written language. What we know about their early military history comes from accounts written in Latin and from archaeology. This causes significant gaps in the historic timeline. Germanic wars against the Romans are fairly well documented from the Roman perspective; however, Germanic wars against the early Celts remain mysterious because neither side recorded the events. Wars between the Germanic tribes in Northern Belgium and the present day Netherlands, and various Celtic tribes that bordered their lands, are likely due to their geographical proximity.
- 1 Ancient times
- 2 The Franks
- 3 The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)
- 4 Wars of the Dutch Republic
- 4.1 Scilly "War" (1651-1986)
- 4.2 The first Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)
- 4.3 Dutch-Swedish War (1657–1660)
- 4.4 The second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)
- 4.5 The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) and the third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)
- 4.6 Nine Years' War (1688–1697)
- 4.7 The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
- 5 Batavian Republic and French rule
- 6 Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810–1811)
- 7 The Padri War (1821–1837)
- 8 Java War (1825–1830)
- 9 The Belgian revolution (1830–1839)
- 10 The Aceh War (1873–1903)
- 11 World War I (1914–1918)
- 12 World War II (1939–1945)
- 13 Cold War
- 14 The War against Indonesian Independence (1945–1949)
- 15 Contemporary wars
- 16 References
Germanic tribes are thought to have originated during the Nordic Bronze Age in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. The tribes spread south, possibly motivated by the deteriorating climate of that area. They crossed the River Elbe, most likely overrunning territories formerly occupied by Celtic people. In the East, other tribes, such as Goths, Rugians and Vandals, settled along the shores of the Baltic Sea pushing southward and eventually settling as far away as Ukraine. The Angles and Saxons migrated to England. The Germanic peoples often had unsettled relationships with their neighbours and each other, leading to a period of over two millennia of military conflict over various territorial, religious, ideological and economic issues.
- Germanic tribes often fought both against and for the Roman Empire.
- On Christmas Day 406, with the freezing of the Rhine, Franks, Allemanni, Burgundians, Suebi and Vandals crossed the Rhine from present day Germany into Gaul. The Franks later expelled the Goths from Aquitaine and absorbed the Burgundians. They were later to give their name to modern France.
- In 455, under the leadership of their King Gaiseric, the Vandals seized Rome, plundering it for 15 days (and henceforth giving their name to wanton destruction).
- From 772 to 814, the Frankish King Charlemagne held the Carolingian Empire, an empire which contained nearly all of the following modern day countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France (except Brittany), Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy north from below Rome, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco and parts of Spain (northeast), Czech Republic (west), Hungary (west) and Croatia (northwest).
The Batavi (Batavians) were a Germanic tribe, originally part of the Chatti, reported by Tacitus to have lived around the Rhine delta, in the area which is currently the Netherlands, "an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side" (Tacitus, Histories iv). This led to the Latin name of Batavia for the area. The same name is used for several military units, originally raised among the Batavi.
They were mentioned by Julius Caesar in his commentary Gallic Wars, as living on an island formed by the Meuse River after it is joined by the Waal, 80 Roman miles from the mouth of the river. He said there were many other islands formed by branches of the Rhine, inhabited by a "savage, barbarous nation", some of whom were supposed to live on fish and the eggs of sea-fowl.
The Batavians incorrectly became regarded as the sole and eponymous ancestors of the Dutch people. The Netherlands were briefly known as the Batavian Republic. Moreover, during the time Indonesia was a Dutch colony (the Dutch East Indies), the capital (now Jakarta) was named Batavia. If the ancestry of most native Dutch people were traced back to Germanic tribes, most would lead to the Franks, Frisians and Saxons. Dutch is in fact a Low Frankish language, and is the only language (together with Afrikaans, which descends from Dutch itself) to be a direct descendant of Old Frankish, the language of the Franks.
Military units of the Batavi
Later, Tacitus described the Batavians as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic border wars, with cohorts under their own noble commanders transferred to Britannia. He said they retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: "They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms", Tacitus remarked. Well regarded for their skills in horsemanship and swimming — for men and horses could cross the Rhine without losing formation, according to Tacitus. Dio Cassius describes this surprise tactic employed by Aulus Plautius against the "barbarians" — the British Celts — at the battle of the River Medway, 43:
- The barbarians thought that Romans would not be able to cross it without a bridge, and consequently bivouacked in rather careless fashion on the opposite bank; but he sent across a detachment of Batavians, who were accustomed to swim easily in full armour across the most turbulent streams. [...] Thence the Britons retired to the river Thames at a point near where it empties into the ocean and at flood-tide forms a lake. This they easily crossed because they knew where the firm ground and the easy passages in this region were to be found; but the Romans in attempting to follow them were not so successful. However, the Batavians swam across again and some others got over by a bridge a little way up-stream, after which they assailed the barbarians from several sides at once and cut down many of them. (Cassius Dio, Roman History, Book 60:20)
The Batavians also provided a contingent for the Emperor's Imperial Horse Guard.
The Batavian legacy
Numerous altars and tombstones of the Batavi, dating to the 2nd century and 3rd century, have been found along Hadrian's Wall (notably at Castlecary and Carrawburgh), in Germany, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Austria. After the 3rd century, however, the Batavians are no longer mentioned, and they are assumed to have merged with the neighbouring Frisian and Frankish people.
Until the Franks defeated and pushed them back the Romans established two provinces in the area of the present-day Belgium and a part of the Netherlands. Both were outposts, especially above the Meuse and apart from a few Roman legions sent there to protect the Empires borders, the Roman presence was limited. The provinces were called Gallia Belgica named after the Belgae, a group of Celtic tribes conquered by the Romans, and Germania Inferior (inferior meaning 'low' in Latin, and Germania referring to the area occupied by the Germanic tribes).
During the Revolt of the Batavi, which took place in the Roman province of Germania Inferior between 69 and 70 AD, the rebels led by Civilis managed to destroy four legions and inflict humiliating defeats on the Roman army. After their initial successes, a massive Roman army led by Quintus Petillius Cerialis eventually defeated them. Following peace talks, the situation was normalized, but Batavia had to cope with humiliating conditions and a legion stationed permanently within her lands.
The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations. The confederation was formed out of Germanic tribes: Salians, Sugambri, Chamavi, Tencteri, Chattuarii, Bructeri, Usipetes, Ampsivarii, Chatti. They entered the late Roman Empire from the present day Netherlands and northern Germany and conquered northern Gaul where they were accepted as a foederati and established a lasting realm (sometimes referred to as Francia) in an area that covers most of modern-day France and the western regions of Germany (Franconia, Rhineland, Hesse) and the whole of the Low Countries, forming the historic kernel of the two modern countries. The conversion to Christianity of the pagan Frankish king Clovis was a crucial event in the history of Europe. Like the French and Germans, the Dutch also claim the military history of the Franks as their own.
Battle of Soissons (486)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the last Roman army in Gaul.
Battle of Tolbiac (496)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Alamanni tribe.
Battle of Vouillé (507)
- The Franks under Clovis I defeat the Visigoths under Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain. (As a result of these victories, the domains of Clovis quadruple)
Battle of Tours (732)
- One of the most celebrated victories in Western history, the Franks under Charles 'the Hammer' Martel defeated a large Islamic invading force. Historians have debated whether it had the enormous significance that is often claimed, but it was nonetheless a huge symbolic victory .
Battle of Pavia (773)
Saxon Campaigns (773-804)
- The Franks under Charlemagne repeatedly subdue over three decades of Saxon insurrections.
Siege of Paris (885-886)
- With 200 men defending Paris, the Western Franks manage to halt and, when outside help arrived, defeat a Viking invasion force of 30,000.
The Frankish Empire (481–843)
The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. From 751, under the Carolingian Dynasty, it is known as the Carolingian Empire. After the Treaty of Verdun of 843 it was split into East, West and Middle Francia. East Francia gave rise to the Holy Roman Empire with Otto I the Great in 962.
Since the term "Empire" properly applies only to times after the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, and since the unified kingdom was repeatedly split and re-united, most historians prefer to use the term Frankish Kingdoms or Frankish Realm to refer to the entirety of Frankish rule from the 5th to the 9th century.
The Holy Roman Empire (843–1648)
The Frankish realm underwent many partitions and repartitions, since the Franks divided their property among surviving sons, and lacking a broad sense of a res publica, they conceived of the realm as a large extent of private property. This practice explains in part the difficulty of describing precisely the dates and physical boundaries of any of the Frankish kingdoms and who ruled the various sections. The contraction of literacy while the Franks ruled compounds the problem: they produced few written records. In essence, however, two dynasties of leaders succeeded each other; first the Merovingians and then the Carolingians.
The Holy Roman Empire was a political conglomeration of lands in Central Europe and Western Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Emerging from the eastern part of the Frankish Empire after its division in the Treaty of Verdun (843), it lasted almost a millennium until its dissolution in 1806. By the 18th century, it still consisted of the larger part of modern Germany, Bohemia (now Czech Republic), Austria, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Belgium, and Luxembourg, as well as large parts of modern Poland and small parts of the Netherlands and Croatia. Previously, it had included all of the Netherlands and Switzerland, parts of modern France and Italy. By the middle of the 18th century the Empire had been greatly reduced in power.
The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648)
The Eighty Years' War, or Dutch Revolt, was the war of secession between the Netherlands and the Spanish king, that lasted from 1568 to 1648. The war resulted in the Seven United Provinces being recognized as an independent state. The region now known as Belgium and Luxembourg also became established as the Southern Netherlands, part of the Seventeen Provinces that remained under royal Habsburg rule.
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, or the Dutch Republic, became a world power, through its merchant shipping and huge naval power, and experienced a period of economic, scientific and cultural growth. In the late 16th century military reform by Maurice of Orange laid the foundation for early modern battlefield tactics. The Dutch States Army between 1600 and 1648 was one of the most powerful in Europe, together with the English and French.
The main battles of the Eighty Years' War
- April 23, 1568 Battle of Rheindalen (Often regarded as a mere skirmish)
- The Dutch geuzen under the command of the Lord of Villers, Joost de Soete, are defeated by a Spanish Garrison.
- May 23, 1568 Battle of Heiligerlee
- Dutch victory. After a successful ambush the Dutch killed about 2,000 Spanish troops, while losing 50 men (Including one of its commanders, Adolf of Nassau) of its own.
- July 21, 1568 Battle of Jemmingen
- Decisive Spanish victory. Louis of Nassau failed to capture the city of Groningen. Louis was chased by the Duke of Alva and defeated at the Battle of Jemmingen by the larger and better equipped Spanish army.
- December 11, 1572 – July 13, 1573 Siege of Haarlem
- Surrender of Dutch troops after a bloody siege by Spanish troops.
- June 1574 – October 3, 1574 Siege of Leiden
- Dutch victory. During the siege 6,000 of the 18,000 inhabitants of Leiden died. The siege ended because geuzen opened the dikes surrounding the city causing the Spanish troops to flee.
- April 14, 1574 Battle of Mookerheyde
- Decisive Spanish victory. The Dutch army, though more numerous, was defeated because a large amount of the, unpaid, mercenaries fled before and during the battle. Both Dutch commanders, Louis of Nassau and Henry of Nassau were killed.
- January 31, 1578 Battle of Gembloux
- Decisive Spanish victory. After the battle, the Spanish commander John of Austria executed over 1,000 Dutch prisoners of war.
- July 1584 – August 17, 1585 Siege of Antwerp
- Spanish victory. The siege lasted over a year despite 60,000 of the 100,000 inhabitants leaving the city before the Spanish troops arrived.
- September 22, 1586 Battle of Zutphen
- Spanish victory.
- March 4, 1590 Siege of Breda
- Dutch victory. The Dutch entered Breda on a peatship filled with 70 Dutch soldiers led by Maurice of Nassau, taking the city with minimal casualties.
- January 24, 1597 Battle of Turnhout
- Decisive Dutch victory. Fifteen cavalry units and several hundred Dutch infantry soldiers defeated a Spanish army of over 5000 men.
- July 2, 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort
- Dutch victory. The Dutch army originally was on a mission to capture the raider port of Dunkirk but was intercepted en route by a Spanish army, resulting in the battle.
- July 5, 1601 – September 16, 1604 Siege of Ostend
- Spanish victory. Although eventually victorious, around 55,000 Spanish soldiers died during the siege and this was an important factor during the negotiations for the twelve-year truce (1609–1621) between Spain and the Netherlands. The siege was one of the longest in the entire Eighty Years' War.
- April 25, 1607 Battle of Gibraltar
- Decisive Dutch victory. A Dutch fleet attacked and destroyed the Spanish fleet anchored in the Bay of Gibraltar. At a cost of 100 men, including the commanding admiral Jacob van Heemskerck, the Dutch killed 4,000 Spanish sailors and their commanding officer.
- August 28, 1624 – June 5, 1625 Siege of Breda
- Spanish victory after a siege of 11 months.
- Dutch victory.
- October 31, 1639 Battle of the Downs
- Decisive Dutch victory. Dutch ships led by Maarten Tromp attacked the Spanish fleet; 60 of the 77 Spanish warships are destroyed and 15,200 Spanish sailors are reportedly killed (a figure modern historians find dubious), at a cost of 1,000 men killed and several ships torched.
The Dutch in the East Indies
The Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC), chartered in 1602, concentrated Dutch trade efforts under one directorate with a unified policy. In 1605 armed Dutch merchantmen captured the Portuguese fort at Amboyna in the Moluccas, which was developed into the first secure base of the VOC. The Twelve Years' Truce signed in Antwerp in 1609 called a halt to formal hostilities between Spain (which controlled Portugal and its territories at the time) and the United Provinces. In the Indies, the foundation of Batavia formed the permanent center from which Dutch enterprises, more mercantile than colonial, could be coordinated. From it "the Dutch wove the immense web of traffic and exchange which would eventually make up their empire, a fragile and flexible one built, like the Portuguese empire, 'on the Phoenician model'." (Braudel 1984, p. 215)
Over the next decades the Dutch captured the major trading ports of the East Indies: Malacca in 1641; Achem (Aceh) in the native kingdom of Sumatra, 1667; Macassar, 1669; and Bantam itself, in 1682. At the same time connections in the ports of India provided the printed cottons that the Dutch traded for pepper, the staple of the spice trade.
The greatest source of wealth in the East Indies, Fernand Braudel has noted, was the trade within the archipelago, what the Dutch called inlandse handel ('native trade'), where one commodity was exchanged for another, with profit at each turn, as silver from the Americas was more desirable in the East than in Europe.
By concentrating on monopolies in the fine spices, Dutch policy encouraged monoculture: Amboyna for cloves, Timor for sandalwood, the Bandas for mace and nutmeg, Ceylon for cinnamon. Monoculture linked island economies to the mercantile system to provide the missing necessities of life.
The Dutch East India Company was defeated by Ming dynasty China in the Sino–Dutch conflicts during a war over Penghu (the Pescadores) from 1622-1624. The Dutch were defeated again by the Chinese at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay in 1633. In 1662, the Dutch East India company's army was defeated by a Chinese Ming dynasty army led by Koxinga at the Siege of Fort Zeelandia on Taiwan. The Chinese used ships and naval bombardment with cannon to force a surrender. The expulsion of the Dutch ended their colonial rule over Taiwan.
The Cambodians defeated the Dutch East India Company in a war from 1643-44 on the Mekong River.
The Vietnamese Nguyen Lords defeated the Dutch East India Company in a 1643 battle during the Trịnh–Nguyễn War, blowing up a Dutch ship.
Wars of the Dutch Republic
The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden/Provinciën; also Dutch Republic or United Provinces in short) was a European republic between 1581 (but was formally recognised in 1648) and 1795, which is now known as the Netherlands. From an economic and military perspective, the Republic of the United Provinces was extremely successful. This time period is known in the Netherlands as the Golden Age. The free trade spirit of the time received a strong augmentation through the development of a modern stock market in the Low Countries. At first the Dutch had a very strong standing field army and large garrisons in their numerous fortified cities. From 1648 on however the Army was neglected; and for a few years even the Navy fell into neglect— until rivalry with England forced a large extension of naval forces.
The Anglo-Dutch Wars (Dutch: Engelse Oorlogen) were fought in the 17th and 18th centuries between Britain and the United Provinces for control over the seas and trade routes. They are known as the Dutch Wars in England and as the English Wars in the Netherlands.
Scilly "War" (1651-1986)
In 1651, one of the last possessions held by the English Royalists (partisans of Charles II of England against the Commonwealth of England declared by the Rump Parliament) was the Isles of Scilly, off Cornwall. From these islands, governed by Sir John Grenville, and from other friendly ports, a section of the Royal Navy that had mutinied to Charles' side operated in a piratical way against shipping in the English channel.
The Dutch declared war against the Scillies as a legal fiction which would cover a hostile response to the Royalist fleet. In July 1651, soon after the declaration of war, the Parliamentarian forces under Admiral Robert Blake forced the Royalist fleet to surrender. The Netherlands fleet, no longer under threat, left without firing a shot. However, due to the obscurity of one nation's declaration of war against a small part of another, the Dutch forgot to officially declare peace.
In 1985, the historian and Chairman of the Isles of Scilly Council Roy Duncan, wrote to the Dutch Embassy in London to dispose of the "myth" that the islands were still at war. But embassy staff found the myth to be accurate and Duncan invited Ambassador Jonkheer Rein Huydecoper to visit the islands and sign a peace treaty. Peace was declared on April 17, 1986, a stunning 335 years after the war began.
The first Anglo-Dutch War (1652–1654)
The collapse of Spanish power at the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648 meant that the colonial possessions of the Portuguese and Spanish Empires were effectively up for grabs. This brought the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, former allies in the Thirty Years' War, into conflict. The Dutch had the largest mercantile fleet of Europe, and a dominant position in European trade. They had annexed most of Portugal's territory in the East Indies giving them control over the enormously profitable trade in spices. They were even gaining significant influence over England's maritime trade with her North American colonies, profiting from the turmoil that resulted from the English Civil War. However, the Dutch navy had been neglected during this time period, while Cromwell had built a strong fleet.
In order to protect its position in North America and damage Dutch trade, in 1651 the Parliament of the Commonwealth of England passed the first of the Navigation Acts, which mandated that all goods from her American colonies must be carried by English ships. In a period of growing mercantilism this was the spark that ignited the first Anglo-Dutch war, the British seeking a pretext to start a war which led to sporadic naval engagements across the globe.
The English were initially successful, Admiral Robert Blake defeating the Dutch Admiral Witte de With in the Battle of the Kentish Knock in 1652. Believing that the war was all but over, the English divided their forces and in 1653 were routed by the fleet of Dutch Admiral Maarten Tromp at the Battle of Dungeness in the English Channel. The Dutch were also victorious at the Battle of Leghorn and had effective control of both the Mediterranean and the English Channel. Blake, recovering from an injury, rethought, together with George Monck, the whole system of naval tactics, and in mid-1653 used the Dutch line of battle method to drive the Dutch navy back to its ports in the battles of Portland and the Gabbard. In the final Battle of Scheveningen on August 10, 1653 Tromp was killed, a blow to Dutch morale, but the British were forced to end their blockade of the Dutch coast. As both nations were by now exhausted, peace negotiations were started.
The war ended on 1654-04-05 with the signing of the Treaty of Westminster, but the commercial rivalry was not resolved, the British having failed to replace the Dutch as the world's dominant trade nation.
- May 29, 1652 Battle of Goodwin Sands
- Draw, moral English victory
- August 26, 1652 Battle of Plymouth
- Minor Dutch victory
- October 8, 1652 Battle of the Kentish Knock
- English victory
- December 10, 1652 Battle of Dungeness
- Dutch victory
- March 14, 1653 Battle of Leghorn
- Dutch victory
- February 28 till March 2, 1653 Battle of Portland
- English victory, but moral victory for the Dutch as their fleet escaped certain destruction.
- June 13, 1653 Battle of the Gabbard
- English victory
- August 8–10, 1653 Battle of Scheveningen
- English tactical victory, strategic Dutch victory
Dutch-Swedish War (1657–1660)
The Dutch-Swedish War, 1657–1660, was a Dutch intervention in the Northern Wars. When Charles X of Sweden had been unable to continue his hold on Poland — partly because the Dutch fleet relieved the besieged city of Danzig in 1656 — he turned his attention on Denmark, invading that country from what is now Germany. He broke a new agreement with Frederick III of Denmark and laid siege to Copenhagen. To the Dutch the Baltic trade was vital, both in quantity and quality. The Dutch had been able to convince Denmark, by threat of force, to keep the Sound tolls at a low level but they feared a strong Swedish empire would not be so complying. In 1658 they sent an expedition fleet of 75 ships, 3,000 cannon and 15000 troops; in the Battle of the Sound it defeated the Swedish fleet and relieved Copenhagen. In 1659 the Dutch liberated the other Danish Isles and the essential supply of grain, wood and iron from the Baltic was guaranteed once more.
The second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667)
After the English Restoration, Charles II tried to serve his dynastic interests by attempting to make Prince William III of Orange, his nephew, stadtholder of The Republic, using military pressure. This led to a surge of patriotism in England, the country being, as Samuel Pepys put it, "mad for war". This war, deliberately provoked by the English in 1664, witnessed several significant English victories in battle, (but also some Dutch ones such as the capture of the HMS Prince Royal during the Four Days Battle in 1666 which was the subject of a famous painting by Willem van de Velde). However, the Raid on the Medway (entailing the burning of part of the English fleet whilst docked at Chatham in June 1667 when a flotilla of ships led by Admiral de Ruyter broke through the defensive chains guarding the Medway and wrought havoc on the English ships as well as the capture of the Royal Navy's flagship HMS Royal Charles) saw the war ended with a Dutch victory. For several years the greatly expanded Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world. The Republic was at the zenith of its power.
- June 13, 1665 Battle of Lowestoft
- June 1 till June 4, 1666 Four Days Battle
- Dutch victory.
- August 4 and 5, 1666 St James' Day Battle
- English victory, but the main body of the Dutch fleet escaped, while the Dutch rear beat its counterpart.
- June 1667 Raid on the Medway
The Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) and the third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674)
Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678) was a war fought between France and a quadruple alliance consisting of Brandenburg, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and the United Provinces. The war ended with the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678); this granted France control of the Franche-Comté (from Spain).
France led a coalition including Münster and Great Britain. Louis XIV was annoyed by the Dutch refusal to cooperate in the destruction and division of the Spanish Netherlands. As the Dutch army had been neglected, the French had no trouble by-passing the fortress of Maastricht and then marching to the heart of the Republic, taking Utrecht. Prince William III of Orange is assumed to have had the leading Dutch politician Johan de Witt deposed and murdered, and was acclaimed stadtholder. The French were halted by inundations, the Dutch Water Line, after Louis tarried too much in conquering the whole of the Republic. He had promised the major Dutch cities to the British and tried to extort huge sums from the Dutch in exchange for a separate peace. The bishop of Münster laid siege to Groningen but failed. 1672 is known as the rampjaar ("disaster year") in Dutch history, in which the country only nearly survived the combined English-French-German assault.
Soon after the second Anglo-Dutch War, the English navy was rebuilt. After the embarrassing events in the previous war, English public opinion was unenthusiastic about starting a new one. Bound by the secret Treaty of Dover Charles II was however obliged to assist Louis XIV in his attack on The Republic in the Franco-Dutch War. This he did willingly, having manipulated the French and Dutch into war. The French army being halted by inundations, and an attempt was made to invade The Republic by sea. Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, gaining four strategic victories against the Anglo-French fleet, prevented invasion. After these failures the English parliament forced Charles to sign a peace in 1674.
Already, allies had joined the Dutch — the Elector of Brandenburg, the Emperor, and Charles II of Spain. Louis, despite the successful Siege of Maastricht in 1673, was forced to abandon his plans of conquering the Dutch and revert to a slow, cautious war of attrition around the French frontiers. By 1678, he had managed to break apart his opponents' coalition, and managed to gain considerable territories by the terms of the Treaty of Nijmegen. Most notably, the French acquired the Franche-Comté and various territories in the Netherlands from the Spanish. Nevertheless the Dutch had thwarted the ambitions of two of the major royal dynasties of the time: the Stuarts and the Bourbons.
- June 7, 1672 Battle of Solebay
- Tactical draw, Dutch strategic victory.
- June 2, 1673 First Battle of Schooneveld
- Dutch minor victory.
- June 14, 1673 Second Battle of Schooneveld
- Dutch minor victory.
- August 11, 1673 Battle of Texel
- Tactical draw, huge Dutch strategic victory.
Action of March 1677
The Action of March 1677 was a maritime battle that took place in March 1677 in the West Indies when a Dutch fleet under Jacob Binckes repulsed a French force attempting to recapture the island of Tobago. Heavy losses were suffered on both sides: one of the Dutch supply ships caught fire and exploded. The fire then quickly spread in the narrow bay causing several ships, among them the French flagship 'Glorieux', to catch fire and explode in turn which resulted in great loss of life on both sides. The French under d'Estrees retreated.
Nine Years' War (1688–1697)
The Nine Years' War was a major war fought in Europe and America from 1688 to 1697, between France and the League of Augsburg — which, by 1689, was known as the "Grand Alliance". The war was fought to resist French expansionism along the Rhine, as well as, on the part of England, to safeguard the results of the Glorious Revolution from a possible French-backed restoration of James II. In North America the war was known as King William's War.
The League of Augsburg
The League of Augsburg was formed in 1686 between the Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, and various of the German princes (including the Palatinate, Bavaria, and Brandenburg) to resist French expansionism in Germany. The alliance was joined by Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Provinces.
France had expected a benevolent neutrality on the part of James II's England, but after James's deposition and replacement by his son-in-law William of Orange, Louis's inveterate enemy, England declared war on France in May 1689, and the League of Augsburg became known as the "Grand Alliance", with England, Portugal, Spain, the United Provinces, and most of the German states joined together to fight France.
Campaign in the Netherlands
In the war's principal theatre, in continental Europe, the early military campaigns, which mostly occurred in the Spanish Netherlands, were generally successful for France. After a setback at the Battle of Walcourt in August 1689, in which the French were defeated by an allied army under Prince Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, the French under Marshal Luxembourg were successful at the Battle of Fleurus in 1690, but Louis prevented Luxembourg from following up on his victory. The French were also successful in the Alps in 1690, with Marshal Catinat defeating the Duke of Savoy at the Battle of Staffarda and occupying Savoy. The Turkish recapture of Belgrade in October of the same year proved a boon to the French, preventing the Emperor from making peace with the Turks and sending his full forces west. The French were also successful at sea, defeating the Anglo-Dutch fleet at Beachy Head, but failed to follow up on the victory by sending aid to the Jacobite forces in Ireland or pursuing control of the Channel.
The French followed up on their success in 1691 with Luxembourg's capture of Mons and Halle and his defeat of Waldeck at the Battle of Leuze, while Marshal Catinat continued his advance into Italy, and another French army advanced into Catalonia, and in 1692 Namur was captured by a French army under the direct command of the King, and the French beat back an allied offensive under William of Orange at the Battle of Steenkerque.
Early French dominance
When the war began in 1689, the British Admiralty was still suffering from the disorders of the reign of King Charles II, which had been only in part corrected during the short reign of James II. The first squadrons were sent out late and in insufficient strength. The Dutch, crushed by the obligation to maintain a great army, found an increasing difficulty in preparing their fleet for action early. Louis XIV, with as yet inexhausted resources, had it within his power to strike first.
English and Dutch resurgence
A large French fleet entered the English Channel, and gained a success over the combined British and Dutch fleets on July 10, 1690 in the Battle of Beachy Head, which was not followed up by vigorous action. During the following year, while James's cause was finally ruined in Ireland, the main French fleet was cruising in the Bay of Biscay, principally for the purpose of avoiding battle. During the whole of 1689, 1690 and 1691, British squadrons were active on the Irish coast -helping to win the Williamite war in Ireland for the allies. One raised the siege of Derry in July 1689, and another convoyed the first British and Dutch forces sent over under the Duke of Schomberg. Immediately after Beachy Head in 1690, a part of the Channel fleet carried out an expedition under the Earl of Marlborough, which took Cork and reduced a large part of the south of the island. William of Orange himself arrived in Ireland in 1690 with veteran Dutch and allied troops, defeating the James II at the battle of the Boyne -an engagement largely decided by Dutch infantry. The war was ended in Anglo-Dutch favour in 1691, when Dutch general Ginkel destroyed the Franco-Irish army at the Battle of Aughrim.
In 1691, the French did little more than help to carry away the wreckage of their allies and their own detachments. In 1692 a vigorous but tardy attempt was made to employ their fleet to cover an invasion of England at the Battle of La Hougue. It ended in defeat, and the allies remained masters of the Channel. The defeat of La Hougue did not do so much harm to Louis's naval power, and in the next year, 1693, he was able to strike a severe blow at the Allies.
In this instance, the arrangements of the allied governments and admirals were not good. They made no effort to blockade Brest, nor did they take effective steps to discover whether or not the French fleet had left the port. The convoy was seen beyond the Scilly Isles by the main fleet. But as the French admiral Tourville had left Brest for the Straits of Gibraltar with a powerful force and had been joined by a squadron from Toulon, the whole convoy was scattered or taken by him, in the latter days of June, near Lagos Bay. Although this success was a very fair equivalent for the defeat at La Hogue, it was the last serious effort made by the navy of Louis XIV in this war. Want of money compelled him to lay his fleet up.
The allies were now free to make full use of their own, to harass the French coast, to intercept French commerce, and to cooperate with the armies acting against France. Some of the operations undertaken by them were more remarkable for the violence of the effort than for the magnitude of the results. The numerous bombardments of French Channel ports, and the attempts to destroy Saint-Malo, the great nursery of the active French privateers, by infernal machines, did little harm. A British attack on Brest in June 1694 was beaten off with heavy loss, the scheme having been betrayed by Jacobite correspondents. Yet the inability of the French king to avert these enterprises showed the weakness of his navy and the limitations of his power. The protection of British and Dutch commerce was never complete, for the French privateers were active to the end, but French commerce was wholly ruined.
The Fourth Anglo-Dutch War (1780–1784)
The Glorious Revolution of 1688 was the last successful invasion of England and ended the conflict by placing Prince William III of Orange on the English throne as co-ruler with his wife Mary. Though this was in fact a military conflict between Great Britain and The Republic, William invading the British Isles with a Dutch fleet and army, in English histories it is never described as such because he had strong support in England and was partly serving the dynastic interests of his wife.
The regime change was a major contributing factor in the economic decline of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch merchant elite immediately began to use London as a new operational base. Dutch economic growth slowed. William ordered that any Anglo-Dutch fleet be under British command, with the Dutch navy having 60% of the strength of the British. From about 1720 Dutch wealth declined. Between 1740 and 1770 the Dutch Navy was neglected. Around 1780 the per capita gross national product of the Kingdom of Great Britain surpassed that of the Dutch Republic.
The Dutch Republic, nominally neutral, had been trading with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War, exchanging Dutch arms and munitions for American colonial wares (in contravention of the British Navigation Acts), primarily through activity based in St. Eustatius, before the French formally entered the war. The British considered this trade to include contraband military supplies and had attempted to stop it, at first diplomatically by appealing to previous treaty obligations, interpretation of whose terms the two nations disagreed on, and then by searching and seizing Dutch merchant ships. The situation escalated when the British seized a Dutch merchant convoy sailing under Dutch naval escort in December 1779, prompting the Dutch to join the League of Armed Neutrality. Britain responded to this decision by declaring war on the Dutch in December 1780, sparking the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.
The Dutch navy was by now only a shadow of its former self, having only about twenty ships of the line, so there were no large fleet battles. The English tried to reduce the Republic to the status of a British protectorate, using Prussian military pressure and gaining factual control over most of the Dutch colonies, those conquered during the war given back at war's end. The Dutch then still held some key positions in the European trade with Asia, such as the Cape, Ceylon and Malacca. The war sparked a new round of Dutch ship building (95 warships in the last quarter of the 18th century), but the British kept their absolute numerical superiority by doubling their fleet in the same time.
- August 5, 1781 Battle of Dogger Bank
- Indecisive outcome. No ships were lost on either side; this alone meant a moral victory for the Dutch.
Batavian Republic and French rule
Against this background it is less surprising that, after the French Revolution, when Republican troops invaded and occupied the Netherlands in 1795, the French encountered so little united resistance. William V of Orange fled to England. The Patriots proclaimed the short-lived Batavian Republic, but government was soon returned to stabler and more experienced hands. In 1806 Napoleon restyled the Netherlands (along with a small part of what is now Germany) into the Kingdom of Holland, with his brother Louis (Lodewijk) Bonaparte as king. This too was short-lived, however. Napoleon incorporated the Netherlands into the French empire after his brother put Dutch interests ahead of those of the French. The French occupation of the Netherlands ended in 1813 after Napoleon was defeated, a defeat in which William V of Orange played a prominent role.
Batavian Republic (1795–1806)
The Batavian Republic was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, a day after stadtholder William V of Orange fled to England. The invading French revolutionary army, however, found quite a few allies in the Netherlands. Eight years before, the Orange faction had won the upper hand in a small, but nasty civil war only thanks to the military intervention of the King of Prussia, brother-in-law of the stadtholder. Many of the revolutionaries (see: Patriots (faction)) had fled to France and now returned eager to realize their ideals.
In contrast to events in France, revolutionary changes in the Netherlands occurred comparatively peacefully. The country had been a republic for two centuries and had a limited nobility. The guillotine proved unnecessary to the new state. The old Republic had been a very archaic and ineffective political construction, still largely based on old feudal institutions. Decision-making had proceeded very slowly and sometimes did not happen at all. The individual provinces had possessed so much power that they blocked many sensible innovations. The Batavian Republic marked the transition to a more centralised and functional government, from a loose confederation of (at least nominally) independent provinces to a true unitary state. Many of its innovations were retained in later times, such as the first official spelling standard of the Dutch language by Siegenbeek (1804). Jews, Lutherans and Roman Catholics were given equal rights. A Bill of Rights was drafted.
The new Republic took its name from the Batavi, a Germanic tribe who had lived in the area of the Netherlands in Roman times and who were then romantically regarded as the ancestors of the Dutch nation.
Again in contrast to France, the new Republic did not experience a reign of terror or become a dictatorship. Changes were imposed from outside after Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power. In 1805 Napoleon installed the shrewd politician Schimmelpenninck as raadspensionaris ("Grand Pensionary", i.e. president of the republic) to strengthen the executive branch. In 1806 Napoleon forced Schimmelpenninck to resign and declared his brother Louis Bonaparte king of the new Kingdom of Holland.
The only signs of political instability were three coups d'état. The first occurred in 1798, when the unitarian democrats were annoyed by the slow pace of democratic reforms. A few months later a second coup put an end to the dictatorship of the unitarians. The National Assembly, which had been convened in 1796, was divided by a struggle among the factions. The third coup occurred in 1801, when a French commander, backed by Napoleon, staged a conservative coup reversing the changes made after the 1798 coup. The Batavian government was more popular among the Dutch population than was the prince of Orange. This was apparent during the British-Russian invasion of 1799.
As a French vassal state, the Batavian Republic was an ally of France in its wars against Great Britain. This led to the loss of most of the Dutch colonial empire and a defeat of the Dutch fleet in the Battle of Camperdown (Camperduin) in 1797. The collapse of Dutch trade caused a series of economic crises. Only in the second half of the 19th century would Dutch wealth be restored to its previous level.
Occupation of the Netherlands/French Revolutionary campaign of 1795
The year opened with French forces in the process of attacking the Netherlands in the middle of winter. The Dutch people were rather indifferent to the French call for revolution, as they had already been a republic for two centuries, nevertheless city after city was occupied by the French. The Dutch fleet was captured, and the stadtholder fled to be replaced by the Batavian Republic, and, as a vassal state of France, supported the French cause and signed the treaty of Paris, ceding the territories of Brabant and Maastricht to France on May 16.
With the Netherlands falling, Prussia also decided to leave the coalition, signing the Peace of Basle on April 6, ceding the left bank of the Rhine to France. This freed Prussia to finish the occupation of Poland.
The Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810)
The Kingdom of Holland 1806-1810 (Koninkrijk Holland in Dutch, Royaume de Hollande in French) was set up by Napoleon Bonaparte as a puppet kingdom for his third brother, Louis Bonaparte, in order to better control the Netherlands. The name of the leading province, Holland, was now taken for the whole country. Louis did not perform to Napoleon's expectations – he tried to serve Dutch interests instead of his brother's – and the kingdom was dissolved in 1810 after which the Netherlands were annexed by France until 1813 when the French were defeated. During Louis' reign an expeditionary force took part in the French campaigns in Germany during the War of the Fourth Coalition and the War of the Fifth Coalition, and a Dutch brigade was involved in the Peninsular War.
Battle of Waterloo June 18, 1815
The battle was to involve 73,000 French soldiers; while the Allied army from Britain, Hanover, Brunswick, and the Netherlands and Nassau were about 67,000 men strong. (Of the 26 infantry brigades in Wellington's army, nine were British; of the 12 cavalry brigades, 7 were British. Half the 29 batteries of guns were Hanoverian or Dutch).
At Waterloo, Wellington had the reinforced Hougomont farm, anchoring his right flank, and several other farms on his left. Napoleon faced his first major problem even before the battle began. Unsure of the Prussian Army's position since its flight from Ligny two days previously, Napoleon was all too aware of the need to begin the assault on Wellington's positions. The battle commenced at about 10:00 with an attack upon Hougoumont, but the main attack, with the most feared weapon of the era, the French field artillery, was delayed for hours until the sodden ground from the previous night's downpour had dried out sufficiently to take the weight of the French ordnance. The mud also hindered infantry and cavalry as they trudged into position. When the French artillery eventually opened fire on Wellington's ridge at around 11:35, the expected impact on the Allied troops was diminished by the soft terrain that absorbed the impact of many of the cannonballs.
A crucial element of the French plan of battle was the expectation that Wellington would move his reserve to his right flank in defense of Hougomont. At one point, the French succeeded in breaking into the farm's courtyard before being repulsed, but their attacks on the farm were eventually unsuccessful, and Wellington did not need to use his reserve. Hougomont became a battle within a battle and, throughout that day, its defence continued to draw thousands of valuable French troops, under the command of Jérôme Bonaparte, into a fruitless attack while all but a few of Wellington's reserves remained in his centre.
At about 13:30, after receiving news of the Prussian advance to his right, Napoleon ordered Marshal Ney to send d'Erlon's infantry forward against the allied flank near La Haye Sainte. The attack centred on the Dutch 1st Brigade commanded by Major-General Willem Frederik van Bylandt, which was one of the few units placed on the forward slope of the ridge. After suffering an intense artillery bombardment and exchanging volleys with d'Erlon's leading elements for some nine minutes, van Bylandt's outnumbered soldiers were forced to retreat over the ridge and through the lines of General Thomas Picton's division. Picton's division moved forward over the ridgeline to engage d'Erlon. The British and Dutchmen were likewise mauled by volley-fire and close-quarter attacks, but Picton's soldiers stood firm, eventually breaking up the attack by charging the French columns.
Meanwhile, the Prussians began to appear on the field. Napoleon sent his reserve, Lobau's VI corps and 2 cavalry divisions, some 15,000 troops, to hold them back. With this, Napoleon had committed all of his infantry reserves, except the Guard.
Lacking an infantry reserve, as Napoleon was unwilling to commit the Guard at this stage of the battle, all that Ney could do was to try to break Wellington's centre with his cavalry. It struggled up the slope to the fore of Wellington's centre, where squares of Allied infantry awaited them.
The cavalry attacks were repeatedly repelled by the solid Allied infantry squares (four ranks deep with fixed bayonets – vulnerable to artillery or infantry, but deadly to cavalry), the harrying fire of British artillery as the French cavalry recoiled down the slopes to regroup, and the decisive counter-charges of the Allied Light Cavalry regiments and the Dutch Heavy Cavalry Brigade. After numerous fruitless attacks on the Allied ridge, the French cavalry was exhausted.
The Prussians were already engaging the Imperial Army's right flank when La Haye Sainte fell to French combined arms (infantry, artillery and cavalry), because the defending King's German Legion had run out of ammunition in the early evening. The Prussians had driven Lobau out of Plancenoit, which was on the extreme (Allied) left of the battle field. Therefore Napoleon sent his 10 battalion strong Young Guard to beat the Prussians back. But after very hard fighting the Young Guard was beaten back. Napoleon sent 2 battalions of Old Guard and after ferocious fighting they beat the Prussians out. But the Prussians had not been forced away far enough. Approximately 30,000 Prussians attacked Plancenoit again. The place was defended by 20,000 Frenchmen in and around the village. The Old Guard and other supporting troops were able to hold on for about one hour before a massive Prussian counter-attack kicked them out after some bloody street fighting lasting more than a half hour. The last to flee was the Old Guard who defended the church and cemetery. The French casualties at the end of the day were horrible.
With Wellington's centre exposed by the French taking La Haye Sainte, Napoleon committed his last reserve, the undefeated Imperial Guard. After marching through a blizzard of shell and shrapnel, the already outnumbered 5 battalions of middle guard defeated the allied first line, including British, Brunswick and Nassau troops.
Meanwhile, to the west, 1,500 British Guards under Maitland were lying down to protect themselves from the French artillery. They rose as one, and devastated the shocked Imperial Guard with volleys of fire at point-blank range. The French chasseurs deployed to answer the fire. After 10 minutes of exchanging musketry the outnumbered French began wavering. This was the sign for a bayonet charge. But then a fresh French chasseur battalion appeared on the scene. The British guard retired with the French in pursuit – though the French in their turn were attacked by fresh British troops of Adam's brigade.
The Imperial Guard fell back in disarray and chaos. A ripple of panic passed through the French lines – "La garde recule. Sauve qui peut!" ("The Guard retreats. Save yourself if you can!"). Wellington, judging that the retreat by the Imperial Guard had unnerved all the French soldiers who saw it, stood up in the stirrups of Copenhagen (his favourite horse), and waved his hat in the air, signalling a general advance. The long-suffering Anglo-Dutch infantry rushed forward from the lines where they had been shelled all day, and threw themselves upon the retreating French.
Anglo-Dutch Java War (1810–1811)
The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, Herman Willem Daendels (1762–1818), fortified the island of Java against possible British attack. In 1810 a strong British East India Company expedition under Gilbert Elliot, first earl of Minto, governor-general of India, conquered the French islands of Bourbon (Réunion) and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean and the Dutch East Indian possessions of Ambon and the Molucca Islands. Afterward it moved against Java, captured the port city of Batavia (Jakarta) in August 1811, and forced the Dutch to surrender at Semarang on September 17, 1811. Java, Palembang (in Sumatra), Macassar (Makasar, Celebes), and Timor were ceded to the British. Appointed lieutenant governor of Java, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) ended Dutch administrative methods, liberalized the system of land tenure, and extended trade. In 1816, the British returned Java and other East Indian possessions to the Dutch as part of the accord ending the Napoleonic Wars.
The Padri War (1821–1837)
In the 1820s, the Dutch were yet to consolidate their possessions in some parts of the Dutch East Indies (later Indonesia) after re-acquiring it from the British. At the same time, a conflict broke out in West Sumatra between the so-called adat and padri factions. Although both Minangkabaus and Muslims, they differ in values: the Adats were Minangkabau traditionalists while the Padris were Islamist-Wahhabist. The Padris sought to reform un-Islamic traditions, such as cockfighting and gambling.
Java War (1825–1830)
The Java War was fought in Java between 1825 and 1830. It started as a rebellion led by the illustrious Prince Diponegoro. The trigger was the Dutch decision to build a road across a piece of his property that contained his own parent's tomb. Among its causes was a sense of betrayal by the Dutch felt by members of the Javanese aristocratic families, as they were no longer able to rent land at high prices. There were also some problems with the succession of the throne in Yogyakarta: Diponegoro was the oldest son, but as his mother was not the queen, he did not have any right to succeed his father.
The troops of Prince Diponegoro were very successful in the beginning, controlling the middle of Java and besieging Yogyakarta. Furthermore the Javenese population was supportive of Prince Diponegoro's cause, whereas the Dutch colonial authorities were initially very indecisive.
However, as the Java war prolonged, Prince Diponegoro had difficulties in maintaining the numbers of his troops.
The Dutch colonial army however was able to fill its ranks with troops from Sulawesi and later on with troops from the Netherlands. The Dutch commander, general De Cock, was able to end the siege of Yogyakarta on September 25, 1825.
Prince Diponegoro started a fierce guerilla war and it was not until 1827 that the Dutch army gained the upper hand.
It is estimated that 200,000 died over the course of the conflict, 8,000 being Dutch. The rebellion finally ended in 1830, after Prince Diponegoro was tricked into entering Dutch custody near Magelang, believing he was there for negotiations for a possible cease-fire, and exiled to Manado on the island of Sulawesi.
The Belgian revolution (1830–1839)
The Belgian Revolution was a conflict in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands that began with a riot in Brussels in August 1830 and eventually led to the establishment of an independent, Catholic and neutral Belgium (William I, king of the Netherlands, would refuse to recognize a Belgian state until 1839, when he had to yield under pressure by the Treaty of London).
The Ten Days Campaign
August 2 to August 12, 1831, the Dutch army, headed by the Dutch princes, invaded Belgium, in the so-called "Ten Days' Campaign", and defeated Belgian forces near Hasselt and Leuven. Only the appearance of a French army under Marshal Gérard caused the Dutch to retreat. The victorious initial campaign gave the Dutch an advantageous position in subsequent negotiations. William stubbornly pursued the war, bungled, ineffectual and expensive as its desultory campaigns were, until 1839.
The Aceh War (1873–1903)
The Dutch colonial government declared war on Aceh on March 26, 1873; the apparent immediate trigger for their invasion was discussions between representatives of Aceh and the United States in Singapore during early 1873. An expedition under Major General Köhler was sent out in 1874, which was able to occupy most of the coastal areas. It was the intention of the Dutch to attack and take the Sultan's palace, which would also lead to the occupation of the entire country. The Sultan requested and possibly received military aid from Italy and the United Kingdom in Singapore: in any case the Aceh army was rapidly modernized, and Aceh soldiers managed to kill Köhler (a monument of this achievement has been built inside Grand Mosque of Banda Aceh). Köhler made some grave tactical errors and the reputation of the Dutch was severely harmed.
A second expedition led by General Van Swieten managed to capture the kraton (sultan's palace): the Sultan had however been warned, and had escaped capture. Intermittent guerrilla warfare continued in the region for ten years, with many victims on both sides. Around 1880 the Dutch strategy changed, and rather than continuing the war, they now concentrated on defending areas they already controlled, which were mostly limited to the capital city (modern Banda Aceh), and the harbour town of Ulee Lheue. On October 13, 1880 the colonial government declared the war as over, but continued spending heavily to maintain control over the areas it occupied.
War began again in 1883, when the British ship Nisero was stranded in Aceh, in an area where the Dutch had little influence. A local leader asked for ransom from both the Dutch and the British, and under British pressure the Dutch were forced to attempt to liberate the sailors. After a failed Dutch attempt to rescue the hostages, where the local leader Teuku Umar was asked for help but he refused, the Dutch together with the British invaded the territory. The Sultan gave up the hostages, and received a large amount in cash in exchange.
The Dutch Minister of Warfare Weitzel now again declared open war on Aceh, and warfare continued, with little success, as before. The Dutch now also tried to enlist local leaders: the aforementioned Umar was bought with cash, opium, and weapons. Umar received the title panglima prang besar (upper warlord of the government).
Umar called himself rather Teuku Djohan Pahlawan (Johan the heroic). On January 1, 1894 Umar even received Dutch aid to build an army. However, two years later Umar attacked the Dutch with his new army, rather than aiding the Dutch in subjugating inner Aceh. This is recorded in Dutch history as "Het verraad van Teukoe Oemar" (the treason of Teuku Umar).
In 1892 and 1893, Aceh remained independent, despite the Dutch efforts. Major J.B. van Heutsz, a colonial military leader, then wrote a series of articles on Aceh. He was supported by Dr Snouck Hurgronje of the University of Leiden, then the leading Dutch expert on Islam. Hurgronje managed to get the confidence of many Aceh leaders and gathered valuable intelligence for the Dutch government. His works remained an official secret for many years. In Hurgronje's analysis of Acehnese society, he minimised the role of the Sultan and argued that attention should be paid to the hereditary chiefs, the Ulee Balang, who he felt could be trusted as local administrators. However, he argued, Aceh's religious leaders, the ulema, could not be trusted or persuaded to cooperate, and must be destroyed.
This advice was followed: in 1898 Van Heutsz was proclaimed governor of Aceh, and with his lieutenant, later Dutch Prime Minister Hendrikus Colijn, would finally conquer most of Aceh. They followed Hurgronje's suggestions, finding cooperative uleebelang that would support them in the countryside. Van Heutsz charged Colonel Van Daalen with breaking remaining resistance. Van Daalen destroyed several villages, killing at least 2,900 Acehnese, among which were 1,150 women and children. Dutch losses numbered just 26, and Van Daalen was replaced by Colonel Swart. By 1904 most of Aceh was under Dutch control, and had an indigenous government that cooperated with the colonial state. Estimated total casualties on the Aceh side range from 50,000 to 100,000 dead, and over a million wounded.
World War I (1914–1918)
During World War I the Netherlands remained neutral. A large army was mobilised to defend this neutrality, but it was not equipped by the new standards of the day, causing a structural equipment inferiority that would last until the middle of the century. After the war most of the defence budget was spent on the fleet to protect the East Indies. This however didn't allow the navy to be expanded, merely to be modernised.
World War II (1939–1945)
Whereas it often said of the allies, with much exaggeration, that they during the Battle of France were more prepared for the previous than the present war, for the Dutch not even that was true. Of all the major participants they were by far the most poorly equipped, not even attaining World War I standards. However, the German invaders in May 1940 adjusted their forces accordingly, and the Dutch army in the Battle of the Netherlands was largely intact when it surrendered on May 14 — after just five days of fighting — to save the major Dutch cities from further bombardment.
The Dutch empire continued the fight, but the Netherlands East Indies (later Indonesia) was invaded by Japan in 1942. In the climactic Battle of the Java Sea, the larger part of the Dutch navy was destroyed. The Dutch contribution to the war effort was then limited to the merchant fleet (providing the bulk of allied merchant shipping in the Pacific war), several aircraft squadrons, some naval vessels and a motorised infantry brigade raised by enlisting Dutch emigrants.
After the Second World War, the Dutch were first involved in a colonial war against the nationalists in Indonesia. As a result the home forces were much neglected and had to rearm by begging for (or simply taking) surplus allied equipment, such as the RAM tank. In 1949 Bernard Montgomery judged the Royal Netherlands Army as simply "unfit for battle".
In the early fifties however, the Dutch fully participated in the NATO build-up of conventional forces. US financial support paying half of the equipment budget made it possible to create a modern defence force. Afraid that the USA might give up Europe immediately after a Soviet attack, the Dutch strongly reinforced the Rhine position by means of the traditional Dutch defensive weapon: water. Preparations were made to completely dam the major Rhine effluent rivers, forcing the water into the northern IJssel branch and thereby creating an impassable mudbarrier between Lake IJssel and the Ruhr Area. The Dutch navy was also expanded with an aircraft carrier, two cruisers, twelve destroyers and eight submarines.
In the sixties, the Navy again began to produce modern vessels of its own design and expanded slowly, however nuclear propulsion was refused by the USA. The Army replaced most of its motorised units by mechanised ones, introducing thousands of AFVs into the Infantry and the Artillery. Conventional firepower was neglected however as it was intended to engage in nuclear war immediately.
In the seventies, it was hoped that the strategy of flexible response would allow for a purely conventional defence. Digital modelling by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research showed that successful conventional defence was feasible and indeed likely, provided that conventional firepower would be improved. Whereas the British, French, Belgians and Canadians reduced their forces in this decade, the Dutch government therefore decided to go along with the German and American policy of force enlargement. As a result, in the mid-eighties the Dutch heavy units equalled the British in number and the Dutch Corps sector at the Elbe was the only one to have its own reserve division; it was conceived as to be able to hold an attack by nine reinforced Soviet divisions, or about 10,000 AFVs including materiel reserves. These facts were obscured somewhat by international press attention to the relaxation of discipline, part of a deliberate policy to better integrate the forces into the larger society. At the same time the Navy had over thirty capital vessels and the Air Force about 200 tactical planes.
When the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself collapsed, the Dutch reduced their forces considerably and integrated their army with the German while also creating a new airborne brigade. The conscript army was replaced by a fully professional one and hundreds of light AFVs bought for use in peace missions. Modernising of naval and air forces, less drastically reduced, continues.
The War against Indonesian Independence (1945–1949)
After the collapse of Japan at the end of World War II, Indonesian nationalists under Sukarno recognized the opportunity presenting itself and declared independence from Dutch colonial rule. With the assistance of indigenous army units created by the Japanese, an independent Republic of Indonesia with Sukarno as its president was proclaimed on August 17, 1945.
The Netherlands, only very recently freed from German occupation itself, initially lacked the means to respond, allowing Republican forces to establish de facto control over parts of the huge archipelago, particularly in Java and Sumatra. On the other, in the less densely populated outer islands, no effective control was established by either party, leading at times to chaotic conditions.
In the weeks following the Japanese, the United Kingdom sent in troops to take over from the Japanese and soon found itself in conflict with the fledgling government. British forces brought in a small Dutch military contingent which it termed the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA). The British were worried about the increasing boldness and apparent strength of the Indonesian nationalists, who seemed to be armed with the weapons of defeated Japanese garrisons across the archipelago. A British Brigadier, A.W.S Mallaby, was killed as he pushed for an ultimatum stipulating that the Indonesians surrender their weapons or face a major assault. In retaliation, 10 November 1945, Surabaya was attacked by British forces, leading to a bloody street-to-street battle.
Lasting three weeks, the battle of Surabaya was the bloodiest single engagement in the war and demonstrated the determination of the Indonesian nationalist forces. It made the British reluctant to be drawn into another when their resources in southeast Asia were stretched following the Japanese surrender.
As a consequence, the Dutch were asked to take back control, and the number of NICA forces soon increased dramatically. Initially the Netherlands negotiated with the Republic and came to an agreement at Linggadjati, in which the 'United States of Indonesia' were proclaimed, a semi-autonomous federal state keeping as its head the Queen of the Netherlands.
Both sides increasingly accused each other of violating the agreement, and as consequence the hawkish forces soon won out on both sides. A major point of concern for the Dutch side was the fate of members of the Dutch minority in Indonesia, most of whom had been held under deplorable conditions in concentration camps by the Japanese. The Indonesians were accused (and guilty) of not cooperating in liberating these prisoners.
Police actions and guerilla war
The Netherlands government then mounted a large military force to regain what it believed was rightfully its territory. The two major military campaigns that followed were declared as ere 'police actions' to downplay the extent of the operations. There were atrocities and violations of human rights in many forms by both sides in the conflict. Some 6,000 Dutch and 150,000 Indonesians are estimated to have been killed.
Although the Dutch and their indigenous allies managed to defeat the Republican Army in almost all major engagements and during the second campaign even to arrest Sukarno himself, Indonesian forces continued to wage a major guerrilla war under the leadership of General Sudirman who had escaped the Dutch onslaught.
A few months before the second Dutch offensive, communist elements within the independence movement had staged a failed coup, known as Madiun Affair, with the goal of seizing control of the republican forces.
Recognition of Indonesian independence
The continuing existence of Republican resistance following the second 'Police action', paired with active diplomacy, soon thereafter led to the end of colonial rule. Journalistic opinion in much of the rest of the world, notably in the United States, was against the Dutch. In January 1949, the US government suspended Marshall Plan aid to the Netherlands Indies. Although the threat to Marshall Plan aid to the Netherlands was only implicit, the possibility of the threat to American funds vital to Dutch economic recovery after the Second World War, was one of the reasons why the Netherlands government resumed negotiations. Following the Round Table conference in The Hague, the Dutch finally recognised Indonesian independence on December 27, 1949. An exception was made for Netherlands New Guinea (currently known as West Irian Jaya), which remained under Dutch control. In 1962, in an attempt to increase pressure on the Dutch, Indonesia launched a campaign of infiltration by commandos coming in by sea and air, which were all beaten back by the Dutch forces, although these were not serious invasions. After large pressure from mainly the United States (again about the Marshall Plan) the Dutch finally gave custody over New Guinea to the UN, which in 1963 gave New Guinea to Indonesia.
In the following decades, a diplomatic row between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands persisted over the officially recognized date of Indonesian independence. Indonesians commemorate the anniversary of Sukarno's proclamation (August 17, 1945) as their official holiday.
The Netherlands, having taken in a number of loyalist exiles who (for various reasons) viewed Sukarno's government as illegitimate, would only recognize the date of the final Dutch capitulation to Indonesia on December 27, 1949. This changed in 2005 when the Dutch Foreign Minister, Bernard Bot, made several well-publicized goodwill gestures: officially accepting Indonesian independence as beginning on August 17, 1945; expressing regret for suffering caused by the fighting during the war; and attending the 60th anniversary commemoration of Sukarno's independence proclamation, part of the first Dutch delegation to do so.
The Korean War, from June 25, 1950, until the Korean Armistice Agreement took effect on July 27, 1953, started as a war between North Korea and South Korea. When it began, North and South Korea existed as provisional governments competing for control over the Korean peninsula, due to the division of Korea. The war was one of the first major armed clashes of the Cold War. The principal combatants were North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China, and later combat advisors, aircraft pilots, and weapons from the Soviet Union; against South Korea, supported principally by the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Philippines and many other nations sent troops under the aegis of the United Nations (UN), including the Netherlands, who sent over 3,000 troops.
The Netherlands Detachment United Nations was established on October 15, 1950 and out of a total number of 16,225 volunteers, 3,418 men were accepted and sent to Korea. Most Netherlands army troops were assigned to the "Netherlands Battalion", attached to the 38th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division. Dutch casualties included 116 men killed in action, 3 missing in action and 1 who died as a prisoner of war. The casualties were eventually buried at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, South Korea.
Several vessels of the Royal Netherlands Navy were deployed to Korean waters including the destroyers Evertsen, Van Galen and Piet Hein and the frigates Johan Maurits van Nassau, Dubois and van Zijll (not all at the same time). Their duties included patrolling Korean waters, escorting other ships and supporting ground troops with naval artillery fire.
The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an armed conflict that took place between March 1992 and November 1995. The war involved several ethnically defined factions within Bosnia and Herzegovina, each of which claimed to represent one of the country's constitutive peoples.
The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) was the primary UN peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars. They served between February 1992 and March 1995. The Dutch Army contribution was known as ‘Dutchbat’. UNPROFOR was replaced by a NATO-led multinational force, IFOR in December 1995.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force deployed 12 F-16s as part of Operation Deny Flight, NATO's enforcement of the Bosnian no-fly zone between April 1993 and December 1995 . The Royal Netherlands Air Force also deployed 18 F-16s as part of Operation Deliberate Force, a NATO air campaign conducted to undermine the military capability of Bosnian Serbs who threatened or attacked UN-designated "safe areas" in Bosnia .
One of the most controversial chapters of the Bosnian war and the Netherlands's involvement in the conflict was the Srebrenica massacre that took place in July 1995, where at least 7,000 Muslim men and boys were murdered after the town of Srebrenica fell to Bosnian Serb forces.
Srebrenica was supposed to be a UN-designated safe area, and Dutch troops under the command of Colonel Thom Karremans were tasked to protect Srebrenica's safe haven status. From the outset, both parties to the conflict violated the 'safe area' agreement. Dutchbat troops had arrived in January 1995 and watched the situation deteriorate rapidly in the months after their arrival. The already meagre resources of the civilian population dwindled further and even the UN forces started running dangerously low on food, medicine, fuel and ammunition. Eventually, the UN peacekeepers had so little fuel that they were forced to start patrolling the enclave on foot; Dutchbat soldiers who went out of the area on leave were not allowed to return and their number dropped from 600 to 400 men. With only machinegun-equipped, light armor (Dutch parliament refused to deploy tanks), UNHQ's refusal to commit air support when it was needed, a passive, politically motivated Dutch high command and malfunctioning US supplied anti tank weapons (they would kill the operator on launch), the Dutchbat soldiers present could only wait and watch. Bosnian Serb forces soon took over the town and the massacre soon followed. One Dutch soldier was killed by a grenade lobbed from a column of a retreating Bosniak soldiers; he was the only fatal Dutch casualty in Srebrenica.
Thom Karremans, the UN, the Netherlands army and the Dutch government soon came under fierce criticism for their handling of the crisis. In 2002, a report by the Nederlands Instituut voor Oorlogsdocumentatie concluded that the "humanitarian motivation and political ambitions drove the Netherlands to undertake an ill-conceived and virtually impossible peace mission" and that Dutchbat was ill-equipped to carry out such a mission. The report led to the resignation of the Second cabinet of Wim Kok. The report did not satisfy those that believed the Netherlands bore greater responsibility in not preventing the massacre.
The Kosovo conflict was between Yugoslavia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation between March 24 and June 10, 1999 as a result of the breakdown of security and deteriorating human rights situation in Kosovo. The Netherlands contributed several ships and aircraft to the NATO force in the region. On March 26, 1999, a Yugoslav MiG-29 was shot down by a Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16. At its height in 1999, the Netherlands provided 2,000 troops for KFOR, that entered Kosovo to establish and maintain a secure environment.
War on terrorism
The ‘War on Terrorism’ is a campaign by the United States, supported by several NATO members and other allies, including the Netherlands, with the stated goal of ending international terrorism. The ‘War on Terrorism’ (in its current context) is the name given by the George W. Bush administration to the efforts launched in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. by al-Qaeda.
Multinational force in Iraq
The Multinational force in Iraq, also known as the 'Coalition' or 'US-led coalition', refers to the nations whose governments have military personnel in Iraq. The first Balkenende cabinet supported the USA and the UK in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. An independent contingent of 1,345 troops (including 650 Dutch Marines, CH-47 Chinook helicopters, military police, a logistics team, a commando squad, and a field hospital and Royal Netherlands Air Force AH-64 attack helicopters in support) based in Samawah (Southern Iraq), that started deploying in 2003 after the initial invasion, left Iraq in June 2005. Netherlands lost two soldiers in separate insurgent attacks.
In January 2010, PM Balkenende found himself in dire straits after the publication of the final report of the 10 months inquiry by the Davids Commission.
Willibrord Davids was the chairman of this special committee of inquiry, charged by the Dutch government in 2009 with investigating the decision-making by the Dutch government in 2003 on the political support for the war in Iraq, which was supported then by the Dutch government following intelligence from Britain and the US. This was the first ever independent legal assessment of the invasion decision. The commissioners included the former president of the Hoge Raad (Dutch supreme court), a former judge of the European Court of Justice, and two legal academics. Balkenende had so far resisted calls for a formal parliamentary inquiry into the decision to back the war.
According to the report, the Dutch cabinet had failed to fully inform the Dutch House of Representatives about its support that the military action of the allies against Iraq "had no sound mandate under international law" and that the United Kingdom was instrumental in influencing the Dutch decision to back the war.
It also emerged that the British government had refused to disclose a key document requested by the Dutch panel, a letter to Balkenende from Tony Blair in which was asked for the support. This letter was said to be handed over in a "breach of diplomatic protocol" and on the basis that it was for Balkenende's eyes only.
The letter was not sent as a note verbale as is the normal procedure – instead it was a personal message from Blair to Balkenende, and had to be returned and not stored in the Dutch archives.
The details of the Dutch inquiry's findings and the refusal of the British government to disclose the letter were likely to increase international scrutiny on the Chilcot inquiry.
Balkenende reacted that he had fully informed of the lower house of parliament with regard to support for the invasion and that the repeated refusal by Saddam Hussain to respect UN resolutions and to co-operate with UN weapons inspectors had justified the invasion.
As part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Netherlands deployed aircraft as part of the European Participating Air Force (EPAF) in support of ground operations in Afghanistan as well as Dutch naval frigates to police the waters of the Middle East/Indian Ocean. Starting in 2006, the Netherlands deployed further troops and helicopters to Afghanistan as part of a new security operation in the south of the country. Dutch ground and air forces totalled almost 2,000 personnel during 2006, taking part in combat operations alongside British and Canadian forces as part of NATO's ISAF force in the south. Most of the troops operated in the Uruzgan Province as part of a 3-D strategy (defense, development, diplomacy). On November 1, 2006 Dutch Major-General Ton Van Loon took over NATO Regional Command South in Afghanistan for a six months period from the Canadians. See the Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006 and Battle of Chora articles for further details. The Royal Netherlands Army Commando Captain Marco Kroon was the first individual recipient of the Military William Order (the highest Dutch award for valour under fire, comparable to the Victoria Cross and the Medal of Honor) since 1955 for actions in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.
Domestically, the participation was unpopular and controversial leading the government in 2007 to announce their withdrawal set for 2010. In response to requests of the American government to continue to stay in Afghanistan in 2009, the Dutch government was reported to explore new missions in Afghanistan, however, this action led to disagreements within the government culminating in its collapse in February 2010. On August 1, 2010 the Dutch military formally declared its withdrawal from its four-year mission in Afghanistan; all 1,950 soldiers are expected to be back in the Netherlands by September.
- Donald F. Lach, Edwin J. Van Kley (1998). Asia in the Making of Europe: A Century of Advance : East Asia. University of Chicago Press. p. 1821. ISBN 0-226-46769-4. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- Andrade, Tonio. "How Taiwan Became Chinese Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century Chapter 11 The Fall of Dutch Taiwan". Columbia University Press. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- Lynn A. Struve (1998). Voices from the Ming-Qing cataclysm: China in tigers' jaws. Yale University Press. p. 232. ISBN 0-300-07553-7. Retrieved 2010-06-28.
- Royal Netherlands Navy Retrieved February 7, 2011.
- “It can hardly be denied that the Dutch raid on the Medway vies with the Battle of Majuba in 1881 and the Fall of Singapore in 1942 for the unenviable distinctor of being the most humiliating defeat suffered by British arms.” – Charles Ralph Boxer: The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London (1974), p.39
- Edler (1911), pp. 37–38, 42–62; The American trade via St. Eustatius was very substantial. In 1779 more than 12,000 hogsheads of tobacco and 1.5 million ounces of indigo were shipped from the Colonies to the island in exchange for naval supplies and other goods; Edler, p. 62
- Edler (1911), pp. 95–173
- Ricklefs, M.C. (2001) A history of modern Indonesia since c.1200. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p185-188.
- Van der Eng, Pierre (1988). ‘Marshall Aid as a Catalyst in the Decolonisation of Indonesia 1947-1949’, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 19: 335-352.
- Interred at UNMCK
- 2nd Infantry Division (2id), Netherlands Veterans of Korean Services
- " Report answers questions on Iraq - Did the British trick the Dutch after the invasion? Questions answered about the Iraq-report"
- "Balkenende rejects Iraq enquiry criticism"
- "Iraq war was illegal, Dutch panel rules - Inquiry says conflict had no sound mandate in international law as it emerges UK denied key letter to seven-judge tribunal"
- "Iraq invasion violated international law, Dutch inquiry finds - Investigation into the Netherlands' support for 2003 war finds military action was not justified under UN resolutions"
- "More Dutch troops for Afghanistan" BBC Friday, 3 February 2006
- Netherlands confirms 2010 Afghanistan pullout
- Marquand, Robert (22 February 2010). "Dutch government collapse: Will other European troops now leave Afghanistan?". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 22 February 2010.
- upi (August 1, 2010). "Netherlands begins Afghan troop withdrawal". Retrieved August 1, 2010.
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Is knowing what’s best for diabetes the same as knowing what’s best for your patient?
Martha Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, FAAN, an expert in diabetes care and self-management, patient education and psychosocial support, discusses the challenges of behavior change and patient-professional communication strategies.
Q: Why is it important for health care professionals to consider the psychological and social needs of people with diabetes?
A: When diagnosed with diabetes, it is common to experience a lot of powerful emotions. Many people feel overwhelmed and experience feelings of anger, fear, shame, and guilt. I think that one of the most important things we can do as health care professionals is to let the person with diabetes know that they are not alone, and to help them find ways to cope with feelings of distress and negative emotions. We're not able to do the best job for our patients unless we address those issues.
Knowing what is best for diabetes is not the same as knowing what is best for a particular patient. I always tell patients that while I know about diabetes, they are the experts on themselves and what will work best in their own lives. All patients are different and cope with and manage their diabetes differently.
Q: How can feelings of distress and negative emotions interfere with the management of diabetes?
A: Depression and anxiety are first to come to mind, and those are true problems, and they're more common among people with diabetes. However, "diabetes-related distress" are the specific negative feelings that many patients with diabetes live with day-to-day. Diabetes is a very complex and not always cooperative disease that brings very specific feelings. It's easy for people with diabetes to feel frustration, powerless, overwhelming, and discouraged from dealing with and trying to manage a disease that doesn't always do what you and they think it should. Research has shown that diabetes-related distress is a real issue for people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
The stigma associated with a diagnosis of diabetes is a burden that can contribute to distress and feelings of shame and judgment. The American Diabetes Association and the American Association of Diabetes Educators recently issued a consensus statement on language in diabetes care and education recommending that health care professionals use neutral, nonjudgmental language. For example, terms like "uncontrolled," or "noncompliant," are stigmatizing in that they are associated with being "lazy," or "unmotivated." We have to be careful in how we talk to and about people with diabetes and how we talk about the disease.
Q: What is the difference between depression and diabetes-related distress?
A: Depression is a clinical diagnosis and we have specific criteria and treatments (counseling and medications) for it.
Diabetes-related distress is more common. Most of the studies find that somewhere between 30 and 45 percent of people experience it at some time in their lives with diabetes. Diabetes-related distress has clear effects on A1C, self-management and self-efficacy.
We do not usually talk about diabetes-related distress with our patients because we think it will make them feel worse. However, I find that when I use its name and describe it with patients –they feel supported. Their fears and feelings of being overwhelmed, anxious, guilty, and angry are validated because they know that it's not as simple as thinking, "I should be strong and just get over it."
We're also learning from the DAWN2 study (The Diabetes Attitudes Wishes and Needs) and other studies that families also feel distressed, overwhelmed, afraid and angry about living with someone who has diabetes. They want to help, but do not always know how to be supportive. So, part of our job is to make sure that families have the education and skills they need as well.
Showing our willingness to open the door to a conversation about diabetes-related distress is an important thing we can do for our patients and their families.
Q: How can health care professionals start that conversation?
A: I usually start the conversation by asking, "How does diabetes affect your everyday life and your family's day-to-day life?" I realize that some providers may think, "I don't have time for that," and that's true we don't have the time. But the reality is that because these psychosocial issues can have an impact on diabetes outcomes, having the conversation is not a waste of time.
I always say at the start of an appointment, "I have some things that I need to do before we finish today but before we do that, I want to hear from you." This starting point lets my patients know that I am going to have to save some time during the visit to get to some "must-do" things, but I want to start with their issues, questions, and concerns. People are very aware that we don't have an hour to spend and we can't discuss everything in one visit, and I'm signaling that I care and the conversation can continue with the next appointment, too.
Q: We often hear phrases like, "facilitate behavior change in your patients." What does that mean?
A: What it really comes down to is listening. Keep in mind that you really cannot motivate other people, but you can inspire and support them. I think facilitating behavior change is really about asking:
- How is diabetes affecting your life?
- What's important for you in terms of managing your diabetes?
- What would help you?
Because if we're dealing with adults, diabetes isn't the first problem they've ever had in their lives, and so they have some experiences. Most of my patients do not find it helpful to say, "Well, you should exercise more, so you should get up early and go work out." That may work for you, but I know, personally, that that would never happen for me no matter how much I respect you.
As health care professionals, we need to ask questions and we need to listen. Not telling someone what to do can be hard. But is more effective to help patients set self-management goals that are self-directed – which means the patient comes up with the goal and the plan, or I-SMART goals (Inspiring and Important– Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-specific). The value of setting goals is to help patients learn from the results – both those plans that work and those that do not.
Q: What is the most important message that you want health care professionals to know about supporting behavior change?
A: Make sure that patients and families receive diabetes self-management education and on-going support. Education is critical for helping patients to choose and make plans to make behavioral changes. It teaches patients to think about what to do and why it is personally meaningful to them. Then, don't be afraid to ask questions. Your patients do not expect you to fix every problem. They just need to have someone to help them problem-solve. We also need to help patients think about what will work for them. If it doesn't work in the patient's life, then it just doesn't work. The nice thing about diabetes is the wealth of options. So, we need to focus on how we can adapt a plan to fit the patient, rather than try and come up with ways to maneuver and manipulate patients to fit our plan for them.
What are some ways that you have engaged with patients to elicit behavior change?
About Martha Mitchell Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, FAAN
Martha Mitchell Funnell, MS, RN, CDE, FAAN is a nurse and Emeritus Research Scientist in the Department of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School. She is a past President, Health Care and Education of the American Diabetes Association, past Chair of the National Diabetes Education Program and has received several national awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Diabetes Educators. She has more than thirty years experience as a Diabetes Educator with more than 175 publications and over 225 national and international presentations.
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Dunes on Mars move just like on Earth
Sands of time A new study has found sand dunes on Mars are at least five times more active than earlier estimates, being comparable to dune movement rates on Earth.
The findings by researchers including Dr Nathan Bridges from the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, means a rethink of current models for past atmospheric conditions on the red planet.
The Martian atmosphere today has just one per cent the density of Earth's, which scientists believed was too thin to move sand grains.
So signs of wind erosion on the red planet, is evidence of a thicker atmosphere in the past.
However recent observations have shown signs of fresh sand dune movements on Mars, indicating the process is still happening today.
Bridges and colleagues used high resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
They measured the movement of sand ripples on the Nili Patera dune field in the northern caldera of a volcanic complex on the border between the Martian northern lowlands and southern highlands.
Reporting in the journal Nature, Bridges and colleagues took images of the same area 105 Earth days apart, finding movement in the sand ripples extending across the entire dune field.
Their measurements indicate the Martian dunes are moving the same volumes of sand as Antarctica's Victoria Valley.
Contrary to previous models of the Martian atmosphere, the new findings mean conditions on Mars are sufficient to transport large amounts of sand.
Bridges and colleagues say this suggests possible fundamental differences in how sand is mobilised on Mars compared to the Earth.
They say once wind gusts start sand grains skipping across a dune on Earth, the grains will keep skipping even if the wind speed drops by a fifth.
However the different conditions on Mars will cause sand grains to roll at higher speeds, allowing them to keep going even if wind speeds drop by 90 per cent.
Bridges and colleagues also report huge differences in the time it takes sand dunes to form on Mars compared to Earth.
They say the Nili Patera dunes have 1000 times the volume of those in Antarctica's Victoria Valley, yet similar rates of sand movement.
This indicates the characteristic timescales of formation are 1000 times longer, showing that dunes on Mars evolve much more slowly than their counterparts on Earth.
Sand dune expert, Professor Robert Wasson from the National University of Singapore, says the findings paint an intriguing picture of the red planet.
"The comparison with Antarctica's Victoria Valley is interesting because while both places are extremely cold, the air in the Antarctic is far denser than Mars today," says Wasson.
"Whether on Earth or Mars, the air must be reasonably dense to move sand across a dune".
"And you still need wind speeds to reach a significant threshold to get the sand moving in the first place," says Wasson.
"But clearly the evidence is there to show the Martian sand is moving, so despite the thin atmosphere, the wind velocity and density are still sufficient on the red planet to achieve this."
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Dec 19, 2017 · Carbonconditioning reduces porosity and water absorbency of recycled aggregate. In addition to improve recycled aggregate quality, CO 2 emissions from the aggregate also help filling openings in the concrete composition, generating an improved bond matrix. These two traits assist in enhancing the recycled concrete properties.
Crushed concrete aggregates also called as recycled concrete aggregates are fragments and pieces of concrete buildings which are demolished or rebuild. These crushed concrete are cleaned from dirt and broken to smaller pieces to manufacture aggregate which is termed as recycled aggregate. Crushed
billion tons/year of aggregate for concrete production, the carbon footprint can be determined for the natural aggregate as well as for the recycled aggregate. The use of recycled aggregate generally increases the drying shrinkage creep & porosity to water &
A comparative analysis of the experimental results of the properties of fresh and hardened concrete with different replacement ratios of natural with recycled coarse aggregate is presented in the paper. Recycled aggregate was made by crushing the waste concrete of laboratory test cubes and precast concrete columns. Three types of concrete mixtures were tested: concrete made entirely with
Annex 2 details the main standards and specifiions relating to aggregates. The majority of recycled aggregate in Scotland is either capping material (e.g. 6F4 and 6F5) or subbase (e.g. Type 1). Some production sites can produce aggregates for concrete, such as washed sand, but this is
Recycled concrete rubbles can be used as coarse aggregate in concrete. Production of RAC also results in generation of many byproducts having many uses such as a ground improvement material, a concrete addition, an asphalt filler etc.
Source: Recycled Aggregate Concrete: Appliions, advantages and disadvantages in the Construction Industry ConstroBazaar Recycled Aggregate Concrete: Appliions, advantages and disadvantages in the Construction Industry Construction material
May 20, 2019 · The production of recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) is quite similar to the production of crushed natural aggregates (Hansen,).The waste is fed into a grizzly feeder for a first size selection
Using recycled materials preserves our deposits. Our material requires less energy to process. We recycle all of our onsite concrete & asphalt material. No land is disturbed. We are competitively priced to comparable material products. Lower traffic, less waste and a commitment to conservation of our raw materials.
Comparisons between the recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and natural aggregate (NA), RCA concrete and normal concrete are comprehensively documented. • The major concern related to the use of coarse and fine RCAs in a concrete mixture is due to the presence of old mortar that adhered on the surfaces of RCA particles. •
Recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is generally produced by twostage crushing of demolished concrete, and screening and removal of contaminants such as reinforcement, paper, wood, plastics and gypsum. Concrete made with such recycled concrete aggregate is called recycled aggregate concrete (RAC). The main purpose of this work is to determine
In general, the reuse and recycle of construction waste is concentrated in the preparation of recycled aggregate for concrete. By adding a portion of recycled aggregate instead of natural aggregate coarse into the mixture, producing the recycled concrete, which can conserve energy and materials for concrete production.
Recycled Concrete Aggregate For Sale in NJ. Recycled concrete aggregate shouldn''t be purchased from just anyone. In order to ensure that you''re getting a reliable product that has been properly screened and DOT approved, it''s essential that you find a concrete recycling plant that has a solid reputation for honesty and professionalism.
In developing countries, construction and demolition waste (CDW) is disposed to landfill, causing social, environmental, and economic crises. In these nations, CDW exponentially increase due to their rapid economic growth, industrialization, and urbanization. This paper aims to examine the possibility of recycling concrete waste for production of new concrete in Ethiopia.
Aug 25, 2008 · Much of the U.S. research focused on using crushed, hardened concrete as an aggregate in fresh concrete has been in mainline paving. Work on this topic began with a major effort in the 1980s in Minnesota. Unfortunately, most of the research focused on using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as a base material to the pavement.
However, for this to be fulfilled, it is necessary to use quality recycled concrete coarse aggregate and to follow the specific rules for design and production of this new concrete type. Discover
Design of Normal Strength Concrete Mixtures with Recycled Concrete Aggregates A.M. Knaack1 and Y.C. Kurama2 1Univ. of Notre Dame, Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall of Engineering, Notre Dame, IN, 46556 email: [email protected]
Recycled concrete is created by breaking, removing, and crushing existing concrete to a preferred size. It is commonly used as a base layer for other construction materials. Recycled concrete can be used as aggregate in new concrete, particularly the coarse portion. When using the recycled concrete as aggregate, the following should be taken
CRITERIA FOR THE USE OF FINE RECYCLED CONCRETE AGGREGATES IN CONCRETE PRODUCTION Luís R. Evangelista (1), Jorge C. de Brito (2) (1) Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), Portugal (2) Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal Abstract In many research programs, recycled aggregates from concrete have been used to produce
May 20, 2019 · This video is unavailable. Watch Queue Queue. Watch Queue Queue
may be classified as recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) when consisting primarily of crushed concrete or more general recycled aggregate (RA) when it contains substantial quantities of materials other than crushed concrete. Currently, only the use of coarse aggregate derived from construction or demolition waste is recommended for use in new
Mar 29, 2013 · After demolition of old roads and buildings, the removed concrete is often considered worthless and disposed of as demolition waste. By collecting the used concrete and breaking it up, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is created (Fig. 1).This paper focuses on coarse RCA which is the coarse aggregate from the original concrete that is created after the mortar is separated from the
Concrete production using recycled waste plastic as aggregate This study insures that reusing waste plastic as a sandsubstitution aggregate in concrete gives a good approach to reduce the
1 Structural behaviour of prestressed concrete sleepers produced with High Performance Recycled Aggregate Concrete Andreu GonzalezCorominas1, Miren Etxeberria1*, Ignasi Fernandez2 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Jordi Girona, 13 B1 building, Barcelona 08034, Spain.
Abstract. Electric arc furnace (EAF) slag is a byproduct of steel production in electric arc furnaces. Several studies have tried to demonstrate its suitability in civil engineering appliion, such as in bituminous mixtures and cementbased materials, due to its
RECYCLED CONCRETE AGGREGATE . Generally, recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) is made by following twostages, crushing of demolished concrete and screening for the removal of contaminants such as reinforcement, paper, wood, plastics and gypsum (Malešev et al., 2010). A lot of research has been done with respect to the applicability of
Jan 30, 2018 · The process of producing a sustainable, recycled aggregate from previously segregated inert materials.
However, a comprehensive stateoftheartdocument on the recycled aggregate concrete has been presented by Hansen & others in 1992 in which detailed analysis of data has been made, leading towards preparation of guidelines for production and utilization of recycled aggregate concrete.
1. Introduction. To obtain good quality concrete using recycled aggregate it is necessary to follow the minimum requirements defined by the BCSJ, RILEM, DIN 4226.100, and prEN 13242:2002 .Acceptable properties of aggregates are an elemental base for concrete quality, however adequate mix proportions and concrete production methods are highly important in concrete quality too.
replace natural aggregates in road construction and in concrete production. The main subjects of this paper are the grades of the recycled rubble aggregates and the rules to be followed in order to obtain satisfactory performances from Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC).
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Strong reasoning
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Industrial
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Although this essay is concerned primarily with Haydn's musical style, I must begin with a few remarks about his personality. In agreement with certain observers of his own time, such as the Swedish diplomat Fredrik Samuel Silverstolpe, I have for many years interpreted his personality in terms of a duality between earnestness and wit.1 Haydn was devout and dedicated to the Virgin, and especially in his late years a leading exponent of the musical sublime; at the same time he was often high-spirited, jovial, even joking. However, it must be remembered that wit connotes not only humor, but intelligence, inventiveness, and so forth; and that in the 18th century the concept humor itself was much broader than it is today, including for example the 'four humors' or temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic.2 Be that as it may, I have recently come to believe that to frame the matter solely in terms of this single binary opposition underplays a third, equally important aspect of Haydn's personality: his sensibility.3
The word "sensibility" has numerous different meanings, of which the relevant ones in this context are:4
mental or emotional responsiveness toward the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others
receptiveness to impression, acuteness of feeling
Closely related is "sensitivity," which often functions as a synonym for "sensibility" in senses and above, but also has the additional, negative meaning:
quickness to take offense; touchiness
Both words are in turn related to "sentiment":
tender, affectionate feeling
and to "sentimentality":
affected, inappropriate, or excessive emotionality
All these words derive from sense (a capacity to appreciate or understand; recognition or perception through the senses or the intellect) and therefore ultimately from the Latin sensus, past participle of sentire, "to feel." (Just as in English these words overlap in meaning, so do the equivalent German words Empfindsamkeit, Empfindlichkeit, Sensibilität, Sentimentalität, although the correspondences between the two languages are not always consistent.) Thus in using "sensibility" in my title, I don't mean to exclude aspects of the concept that strictly speaking might better be expressed by one or more of these related words.
In my view, all of these aspects of sensibility were important in Haydn's personality, except No. 5, sentimentality. His receptiveness to impression (No. 2) may be taken for granted. His sensitivity (No. 3), especially to criticism, is now well understood; it often took exaggerated forms, such as his 'pre-emptive' rebuttal of negative reviews in the preface to the "Auenbrugger" keyboard sonatas Hob. XVI:35-39 & 20 (published 1780), in which he pointed out the similarity of the opening themes of two variation rondos.5 Perhaps his tendencies to loneliness and melancholy, and (late in life) his complaints of ill-health - even his unhappy marriage? - were related to hypersensitivity as well.
Less well understood, however, are the depth and range of Haydn's sensibility in the positive sense (Nos. 1 and 4). When outward circumstances permitted (primarily in Vienna and London), he enjoyed a rich and varied social and affectional life. The recipients of his affections included not only his lovers Luigia Polzelli and Rebecca Schroeter, but numerous intimate friends such as Maria Anna von Genzinger. His letter to Genzinger of February 1790 is often quoted, but primarily owing to his amusing description of his sudden removal from Vienna to Eszterháza, and his sorry state there; less often emphasized is his regret at being deprived of the social and artistic 'scene' of the capital:
Here I sit in my wasteland - forsaken ... almost without human contact - sad - full of the memory of past glorious days - yes, alas, past - and who knows when those pleasant days will come again? those wonderful parties? where an entire company is one heart, one soul - all those beautiful musical evenings - which can only be imagined, and not described - where all those inspirations? …
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Strong reasoning
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Entertainment
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Process of Photosynthesis
The process of photosynthesis is conveniently divided into two parts: the energy-fixing reaction (also called the light reaction) and the carbon-fixing reaction (also called the light-independent reaction or the dark reaction).
The energy-fixing reaction of photosynthesis begins when light is absorbed in photosystem II in the thylakoid membranes. The energy of the sunlight, captured in the P680 reaction center, causes the electrons from P680’s chlorophyll to move to a higher, unstable energy level. These electrons pass through a series of cytochromes in the nearby electron-transport system.
After passing through the electron transport system, the energy-rich electrons eventually enter photosystem-I. Some of the energy of the electron is used to pump protons across the thylakoid membrane, and this pumping sets up the potential for chemiosmosis.
The spent electrons from P680 enter the P700 reaction center in photosystem I. Sunlight activates the electrons, which receive a second boost out of the chlorophyll molecules. There they reach a high energy level. The electrons progress through a second electron transport system, but this time there is no proton pumping. Rather, the energy reduces NADP. This reduction occurs as two electrons join NADP and energize the molecule. Because NADP acquires two negatively charged electrons, it attracts two positively charged protons to balance the charges. Consequently, the NADP molecule is reduced to NADPH, a molecule that contains much energy.
Because electrons have flowed out of the P680 reaction center, the chlorophyll molecules are left without a certain number of electrons. Electrons secured from water molecules replace these electrons. Each split water molecule releases two electrons that enter the chlorophyll molecules to replace those lost. The split water molecules also release two protons that enter the cytoplasm near the thylakoid and are available to increase the chemiosmotic gradient.
The third product of the split water molecules is oxygen. Two oxygen atoms combine with one another to form molecular oxygen (O2), which is given off as the by-product of photosynthesis; it fills the atmosphere and is used by all oxygen-requiring organisms, including plant and animal cells.
Described above are the noncyclic energy-fixing reactions (see Figure 5-2). Certain plants and autotrophic prokaryotes are also known to participate in cyclic energy-fixing reactions. These reactions involve only photosystem I and the P700 reaction center. Excited electrons leave the reaction center, pass through coenzymes of the electron transport system, and follow a special pathway back to P700. Each electron powers the proton pump and encourages the transport of a proton across the thylakoid membrane. This process enriches the proton gradient and eventually leads to the generation of ATP.
Figure 5-2 The energy-fixing reactions of photosynthesis.
ATP production in the energy-fixing reactions of photosynthesis occurs by the process of chemiosmosis (explained in Chapter 4). Essentially, this process consists of a rush of protons across a membrane (the thylakoid membrane, in this case), accompanied by the synthesis of ATP molecules. Biochemists have calculated that the proton concentration on one side of the thylakoid is 10,000 times that of the opposite side of the membrane.
In photosynthesis, the protons pass back across the membranes through channels lying alongside sites where enzymes are located. As the protons pass through the channels, the energy of the protons is released to form high-energy ATP bonds. ATP is formed in the energy-fixing reactions along with the NADPH formed in the main reactions. Both ATP and NADPH provide the energy necessary for the synthesis of carbohydrates that occurs in the second major set of events in photosynthesis.
Glucose and other carbohydrates are synthesized in the carbon-fixing reaction of photosynthesis, often called the Calvin cycle after Melvin Calvin, who performed much of the biochemical research (see Figure 5-3). This phase of photosynthesis occurs in the stroma of the plant cell.
Figure 5-3 A carbon-fixing reaction, also called the Calvin cycle.
In the carbon-fixing reaction, an essential material is carbon dioxide, which is obtained from the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is attached to a five-carbon compound called ribulose bisphosphate. Ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase catalyzes this reaction.
After carbon dioxide has been joined to ribulose bisphosphate, a six-carbon product forms, which immediately breaks into two three-carbon molecules called phosphoglycerate. Each phosphoglycerate molecule converts to another organic compound, but only in the presence of ATP. The ATP used is the ATP synthesized in the energy-fixing reaction. The organic compound formed converts to still another organic compound using the energy present in NADPH. Again, the energy-fixing reaction provides the essential energy. Each of the organic compounds that results consists of three carbon atoms. Eventually, the compounds interact with one another and join to form a single molecule of six-carbon glucose. This process also generates additional molecules of ribulose bisphosphate to participate in further carbon-fixing reactions.
Glucose can be stored in plants in several ways. In some plants, the glucose molecules are joined to one another to form starch molecules. Potato plants, for example, store starch in tubers (underground stems). In some plants, glucose converts to fructose (fruit sugar), and the energy is stored in this form. In still other plants, fructose combines with glucose to form sucrose, commonly known as table sugar. The energy is stored in carbohydrates in this form. Plant cells obtain energy for their activities from these molecules. Animals use the same forms of glucose by consuming plants and delivering the molecules to their cells.
All living things on Earth depend in some way on photosynthesis. It is the main mechanism for bringing the energy of sunlight into living systems and making that energy available for the chemical reactions taking place in cells.
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| 0.926651 | 1,272 | 4.0625 | 4 | 2.410713 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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CEOs have ultimate responsibility for the work of everybody else in their institution. But they also have work of their own — and the study of management has so far paid little attention to it. It is the same work, whether the organization is a business enterprise, a nonprofit, a church, a school or university, a government agency; and whether it is large or small, world-wide or purely local. And it is work only CEOs can do, but also work which CEOs must do.
In any organization, regardless of its mission, the CEO is the link between the Inside, i.e., “the organization,” and the Outside — society, the economy, technology, markets, customers, the media, public opinion. Inside, there are only costs. Results are only on the outside. Indeed the modern organization (beginning with the Jesuit Order in 1536) was expressly created to have results on the outside, that is, to make a difference in its society or its economy.
The CEO’s Tasks
To define the meaningful Outside of the organization is the CEO’s first task. The definition is anything but easy, let alone obvious. For a particular bank, for instance, is the meaningful Outside the local market for commercial loans? Is it the national market for mutual funds? Or is it major industrial companies and their short-term credit needs? All three of these “outsides” deal with money and credit. And one cannot tell from the bank’s published accounts, e.g., its balance sheet, on which of these “outsides” it concentrates. Each of them is a different business and requires a different organization, different people, different competencies and different definitions of results. Even the very biggest bank is unlikely to be a leader in all these “outsides.” For which of these to concentrate on is a highly risky decision and one very hard to change or reverse. Only the CEO can make it. But also the CEO must make it. It is the first task of the CEO.
The second specific task of the CEO is to think through what information regarding the Outside is meaningful and needed for the organization, and then to work on getting it in usable form. Organized information has grown tremendously in the last hundred years. But the growth has been mainly in Inside information, e.g., in accounting. The computer has further accentuated this inside focus. As regards the Outside there has been an enormous growth in data — beginning with Herbert Hoover in the 1920s (to whose work as secretary of commerce we largely owe the data on GNP, on productivity, and on standard of living). But few CEOs, whether in business, in nonprofits, or in government agencies have yet organized these data into systematic information for their own work.
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Strong reasoning
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Finance & Business
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The authors of the two new Civil War narratives under review are not shy about stating their central theses. The Union Army of the Tennessee, writes Steven Woodworth, was “the most effective fighting force on the continent” by 1864. It “won the decisive battles in the decisive theater of the war” while other Union armies were losing battles or barely holding their own. Charles Bracelen Flood agrees. The personal rapport and professional partnership between Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, who successively commanded the Army of the Tennessee from 1861 to 1864, was “the friendship that won the Civil War.”
Like most Union armies, the Army of the Tennessee was named after the river that flowed through its area of initial operations. It grew from a core of several brigades commanded by Grant that occupied the vital strategic region where four navigable rivers came together along the Illinois– Kentucky border: the Cumberland, Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers. This army increased to its maximum size of about 60,000 men during the Vicksburg campaign in 1863. Soldiers in the Army of the Tennessee came almost entirely from the states of what we now call the Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota. The midwesterners Grant and Sherman created this army in their own image, according to Woodworth: “It partook both of [Grant’s] matter-of-fact steadiness and his hard-driving aggressiveness” as well as of Sherman’s genius for strategic mobility.
Grant was one of the few commanders on either side in the Civil War (Robert E. Lee was another) who “understood the importance of momentum and maintaining the initiative,” as Woodworth points out:
There might be many things that the enemy could do to him, but Grant seemed to realize that the enemy would not be able to do these things if he acted first, keeping his opponent off balance.
When the Confederates at Fort Donelson attacked and threatened to break his line on February 15, 1862, Grant recognized that
some of our men are pretty badly demoralized, but the enemy must be more so, for he has attempted to force his way out, but has fallen back: the one who attacks first now will be victorious and the enemy will have to be in a hurry if he gets ahead of me.
Grant calmly directed a counterattack that penned up the Confederates in their fort and compelled the surrender of 14,000 of them the next day.
Seven weeks later at the Battle of Shiloh in southwest Tennessee, after his army had been roughly handled and driven back two miles on April 6, one of Grant’s staff officers asked about preparations for retreat. Surprised, Grant replied: “Retreat? No! I propose to attack at daylight, and whip them.” And he did. Two years later when Grant went east as general in chief of all Union armies and made…
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Strong reasoning
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History
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- A Brief Introduction to the Movement
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- Women in the Conventions | March 8, 2017
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Scripto | Transcribe Page
Proceedings of the Colored State Convention assembled in St. Paul's A. M. E. Church, Lexington, Ky., November 26.
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Resolved, That we indorse the proposed National legislation to aid the common school system of the United States. Resolved, That the following telegram ofr the condolence be sent: To Mrs. Thomas A. Hendricks, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Convention of Colored men of Kentucky, now assembled, tender their unfeigned sympathies to you in this, your hour of affliction, in the death of your distinguished husband, the Vice- President of the United States. Messrs. Wm. H. Steward, A. C. Brent and W. M. Jamison were appointed to send the telegram to Mrs. Hendricks. The following committee was appointed to present the resolu- tions to the Legislature of Kentucky: Wm. J. Simmons, chair- man; W. H. McRidley, E. W. Glass, J. C. Strange, G. W. Bolling, J. W. Hawkings, Henry Seroggins, A. W. Titus, I. H. Natas, J. F Hummons, W. H. Mason, Wm. H. Steward, W. H. Ward, G. W. Gentry, J. C. Jackson, A. C. Brent, R. Va- rien, E. Evans, C. H. Parrish and D. Jones. Resolutions thanking the officers for the fair and impartial discharge of their duties, to the citizens of Lexington for hos- pitality and entertainment, and to the press for courtesies, were adopted. After a general interchange of opinions the convention ad- journed sine die. THE COMMITTEE OF PETITIONERS OF THE STATE CONVENTION. First Day, January 26, 1886. Pursuant to the call of the committee, through its officers, the following members of the committee met in Frankfort, in the hall of the Young Men's Club, viz: Fifth District, Wm. J. Simmons, Chairman ; First District, Wm. H. McRidley ; Third District, J. C. Strange ; Seventh District, Henry Scroggins ; Eighth District, A. W. Titus ; Ninth District, I. H. Natas ; Eleventh District, Wm. H. Mason ; State at Large J. C. Jackson, R. Varian, G. W. Gentry, E. Evans, A. C. Brent, C. H. Parrish, Daniel Jones. The following gentlemen of the Frankfort Committee were also present, and attended all the sessions: Henry Samuels, Wm. H. Mayo, L. T. Clark, Jesse hocker, W. B. Luckett, J. W. Woolfolk, R. H. C. Mitchell, Jno. Thomas, Sr.
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Moderate reasoning
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History
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Life Pacific University uses four different style guides based on one's academic program. Generally speaking, the undergraduate students use MLA, and graduate students typically use APA or Turabian. Undergraduate Bible majors, in upper division major courses, will be using SBL (which is almost identical to Turabian's Notes & Bibliography Style guide). When in doubt, always ask consult the course outline or ask your professors to defermine which style guide to use.
MLA, the Modern Language Association, is an association of professionals, professors, editors, authors and experts that work in the area of English literature and modern languages. The guide is meant to be used by authors and editors for correctly formatting works to be published. It is also used in a large number of academic institutions as a general guide for writing papers for college courses. In the Spring of 2016 major changes were put in place with the new 8th edition of the MLA Handbook. This LibGuide will show both 7th and 8th format for one year.
APA, the American Psychological Association, is an association of professionals, psychologists, authors and editors that work in the area of psychology. This guide is meant to be used by authors and editors for correctly formatting works to be published. There are a large number of academic institutions that use this guide as a general guide for writing papers, especially in the sciences and business. The unique things that make APA stand out are: gender inclusiveness (author's first initial is given, not their first name), the prominent position of the date of publication (moved to the second position in citation, emphasizing currency), and the use of in-text citation (opposed to footnotes or endnotes favored in the humanities).
SBL, the Society of Biblical Literature, is an association of professionals, professors, pastors, authors and editors that work in the field of Biblical Studies. This guide is meant to be used by authors, editors and academics for correctly formatting works to be published. This work is only used in the area of Biblical Studies and some areas of Semitics research (languages related to Hebrew). This manual is really based on the Chicago Manual of Style with the added work being languages and citations for ancient works. The Chicago Manual of Style is itself based on the work of Kate Turabian and Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations.
Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations has two different types of style guides: Notes and Bibliography Style, and Author-Date Style. Notes and Bibliography Style is typically used within the humanities including literature, history, and the arts. This is the style used by the MATS program. The Author-Dates Style is primarily used within the physical, natural, and social sciences. LPU does not use this particular style.
The MATS program follows the Turabian Notes and Bibliography Style and students should consult the SBL section in this libguide. If Turabian devites from SBL, this guide will note the deviation with an asterix (*). Additionally, section numbers are provided for the 9th edition so students can look for further information and examples.
Use this checklist while writing your paper to make sure it is consistent with seventh edition APA Style. This checklist corresponds to the writing and formatting guidelines described in full in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.).
APA and MLA both use in-text citation. Notations to the reader identifying where information came from are placed in parentheses. The content of the parentheses depends on the source of information and the style being followed. Typically, the content of the parentheses is the author/editor's last name and either the page number (MLA, but also APA if it is a quotation) or the year of publication.
SBL, following Turabian and Chicago Manuals of Style, uses footnotes. Footnotes should be handled by your word processor and not something you just try to put in the footer. The footnote should be in the same font, Times New Roman, but in 10 point font, as opposed to the 12 point font of the paper body. The content of the footnote depends on source and if it is the first time the resource is cited. The second, and following citation, the note is shortened greatly.
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Moderate reasoning
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Education & Jobs
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The Sundering Flood, by William Morris, , at sacred-texts.com
Chapter LIV. The Carline Beginneth Her Tale
There was an old woman, yet not cripple, who dwelt in a stead beside a great river, which none might cross, either by bridge or ford or ferry. But she dwelt not alone, neither was the house her own: for with her abode a damsel young of years, who was the owner of the said house, but had no kindred, for father and mother and all else had passed away from her. Therefore it is like that the Carline came to dwell with her because she loved the Maiden, and would serve her and do good to her. And no wonder was that, for not only was the Maiden now grown so beauteous that she was the pearl of all beauty, but also she was merry and kind, and loving as might be. So that none that saw her but must love her if they had any good in them.
Now ye will ask, since it was so with her, was there no young man who was drawn into the net of her love. But I must tell you that the stead where these twain dwelt was lonely, and there was but little recourse of folk thither. Yet I say not but that there was more than one young man of the dwellers thereby who thought it better than good to come to the house and sit and talk with her, and would have kissed and caressed her had they durst. But they durst not, for not one of them touched her heart; and though she was kind and friendly with every one of them, there was nought in her words or her mien by which they might anywise deem that she would suffer the toys of love from them. Sooth to say, the Maiden had a love, a fair youth and stalwarth, and a glorious man, and many were the words they had spoken together, but never had her hand touched his hand, nor his lips her lips; because betwixt these two was a river such as are few upon the earth, unbridged, unfordable, unferryable. And few might think that it was anywise like to betide that ever their two bodies should touch each the other; but the Carline, who was somewhat wise in lore, had an inkling that, despite this terrible hedge of water, the twain should one day meet.
Now it is to be said that oftenest the Maiden was patient, and abode the sundering will no ill cheer. But whiles her trouble was over heavy for her, and she would wander forth into the wood or the field, and go weeping and lamenting there; or she would sit in the chamber with the Carline, and cry out aloud on her love to come to her, and on all things on the earth and in the heavens, yea, the Great God himself sitting amongst the Cherubim, to help her, that for once, if once only before she died, she might feel her love's arms about her and his face laid to hers.
Or again, she would, as it were, tell stories of how it would betide that at last they should meet, both grown old, and kiss once, and so walk hand in hand into the Paradise of the Blessed, there to grow young again amidst the undying spring, in the land where weariness is come to nought; and there would she sit and weep, as if there were no ending to the well of her tears.
At such times was the Carline sore grieved for her, and would strive to comfort her by giving her some little inkling of the hope which she, the old woman, had conceived in her heart, that the meeting of the those two should come about whiles they were yet young and lovely; more than that she might not tell the Maiden, lest the might should ebb from her. Thus wore the days between patience and despair, betwixt cheer and lamentation.
At last, when the Maiden was of some eighteen summers, great matters befel that country-side; for on a day came the alien reivers, such as are called the Red Skinners, with intent to rob and carry off all that was not too hot or too heavy for them, and to lay waste and destroy all that they might not bear away. But the folk of the land met them valiantly, and their friends on the other side of the fierce river aforesaid helped them what they might with the shot-battle; and great and grim was the murder, and the stour of the hardest.
Now there were the Maiden and the Carline at their house, and nought easy was the rede for them. The Maiden bade flee to the next stead, which was some four miles thence, but the Carline bade abide, lest they be caught upon the way, which forsooth she deemed was most like to betide if they left the house, and that rede they took at the last. So they sat expecting what should befal them.
For a long while none of the aliens came anear them; but at last, when the battle was at its fiercest, rode up three men leading two unbacked horses, and they were of the mien and in the gear of the Red Skinners; and the Carline stood in the door to meet them, and she spake to them and said: "What will ye warriors? Why are ye not in the battle with your fellows?" Said one: "Because our errand is here and not there: neither are those men our fellows. We be the servants of that goodly merchant who guested here a while ago, and would have bought the maiden within there in all honour, and ye rewarded his good will with scorn, and mocks and japes and scurvy dealing. Wherefore he hath set these reivers on your folk, and hath sent us along with them to look to you. And two-fold is our errand, to bear away the maiden without a price, and to slay thee. Hah! dost thou like it?"
Now the Carline remembered the coming of the said merchant, and how he had cast his love on the Maiden unhonestly and lustfully, and would have lain by her against her will had it not been for the lore of the said Carline, who letted him of his evil will and sent him away shamed.
But now she muttered something under her breath, and looked on those men, and made signs with her fingers, and then spake aloud: "Slay me speedily then, whiles ye are about it; for I take no great keep of life." The men handled their weapons, but nothing came of it, and they sat in their saddles staring at the Carline as if they were mazed. And even therewith ran the Maiden forth from the house, and cast her arms about the Carline, and cried out: "Nay, nay! but ye shall not slay her! for as my mother hath she been, and none other have I had save her. But I pray you by your salvation to take this my mother with you, for I cannot do to be without her; and if I miss her, then shall I be of little use, miserable and forlorn, to that lord of yours that ye tell of so goodly."
The old woman kissed her and embraced her, and then turned to those men and laughed in their faces; and they seemed presently as if awaking out of slumber, and one said: "Well, this may be; I see not why we should not slay thee there as well as here; and since the damsel would have it so, we will have thee along with us, and let the maiden settle it with our lord whether he will be wheedled by her or not. But come, to horse both of you! for time presses."
So the two women were set a-horseback, and they men rode with a good pace out of the Dale toward the fells at the back thereof; and if at any time the women thought of turning rein and riding off, they had but to look at the men, how they were horsed, for their way-beasts were mighty strong steeds of good race, but the women were set on everyday nags, such as be seen on any highway.
After a while they came on to the broken ground at the foot of the fells, and all must needs ride slower; and then the Carline came sidling up to the Maiden, and saw how wan and woebegone was her face, and asked what ailed her; and she answered faintly at first, and then clearer and louder: "It is because I am thinking of him and his woe; and I wot well that now, so soon as the battle is over, there shall he stand yet and look over the Flood on to the field of deed, as if he were seeking after me dead among the corpses of the foe. And tomorrow he shall come down to the water's edge while the dead yet lie there, and stand looking to see if I be not coming to meet him, as now I have been wont so many years. And the morrow of that morrow will he come, yea, and many a morrow, till his heart shall be outworn with longing and grief, and he will go away out of the Dale to escape from his sorrow, and shall nowise escape it. Ah, and how shall I know whither he will wend, or the place of the shifting dwelling of his wanderings? And I, and I, I wend away from him."
Sore grieved was the Carline at her grief, and she said: "O my child, I pray thee keep up a good heart within thee, lest thou die of sorrow, and endure not the chances of the meeting. Who knows whether thou be wending away from him? Nay, to my mind thou art wending toward him, and he to thee; for never had ye come together hadst thou abided in thine old home and he in his."
But the Maiden wept. But therewith rode along by them one of the men, and smote the Carline on the shoulders with his spear-staff, and bade her hold her peace, and not go on like a crazy hen.
So they rode their ways till they had passed the straiter part of the pass that led through the fells, and there night began to fall on them (it was April-tide in those days); so the men-at-arms chose a place where was grass and water and three thick thorn-bushes, and made their harbour there. They took some pains to dight a shelter for the Maiden by spreading cloths betwixt a thorn and their spears stuck into the ground, but to the Carline, as was like, they gave no heed. But she laid her down peaceably within call of her dear fosterling, muttering as her head fell back: Here at any rate it is over-soon; let us get out of the mountains first. So they slept, yea, even the Maiden amidst her grief, so weary as she was. And when morning was they fared on, after a short tarrying for breakfast, whereof they gave of the best they had to the Maiden, but nought at all to the Carline. Nevertheless, when her fosterling fed her kindly from her abundance they naysaid it not.
This day is nought to tell of: toward sunset they came out of the mountains into a very fair green plain, wherein were neat and sheep a many; but though there were not a few houses of the herdsmen about, they made not for any of them, but took harbour in a little copse by a stream-side, and supped of such meat as they had; save that the two of them rode out into the plain and drove back with them a milch-cow, which they milked then and there for the Maiden's behoof.
The next day they rode across the plain, and here and there fell in with some of the herdsmen by the way; but small greeting passed betwixt them, and the country-folk seemed well pleased that the men-at-arms had little to say to them. Before evening was they rode off the plain and into a land of little hills and streams, with green meadows for the most part, but here and there a little tillage, and a good many houses, yet these but the cots of husbandmen. This day they rode long and late, yea, till it had been dark night but for the rising of the moon upon them. At last said one of the men to another: "We shall not do it tonight; let us rest, and come in fresh a morning-tide." So again that night they had the shelter of the trees and fields, but on the morrow betimes they were up and rode forward.
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We’ve all been that parent at the grocery store with a screaming toddler at one time or another. Some might consider it a rite of passage into parenthood—temper tantrums are just a part of life when you have a toddler.
These meltdowns can cause a lot of stress for parents, though. You may wonder how you should react and if your child’s behavior is normal. If that sounds like you, you’re definitely not alone.
Why do children have temper tantrums?
Temper tantrums are a normal part of your child’s development. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, they are especially common between ages 1 and 3. At this age, your toddler isn’t always able to communicate their needs and wants, which can lead to extreme frustration.
Of course, there are other factors that may lead to a temper tantrum as well. For example, if your child isn’t feeling well or has had a change to their normal routine, they are more likely to have a meltdown.
Some common causes of temper tantrums include:
- Frustration with an activity or task.
- Change in routine.
- Being hungry, tired, or ill.
- Wanting attention.
Keep in mind that children have different personalities and temperaments. If one of your children has more temper tantrums, it doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t giving them enough attention.
How to respond to a temper tantrum
Tantrum behavior is often (if not always) disproportionate to the situation. As adults, we know that screaming and flailing our arms won’t fix our problems. But when your toddler is in the midst of a meltdown, they are unlikely to listen to reason.
The most important thing you can do is stay calm. Remember that temper tantrums usually only last for about 15 minutes or less. There are a few other dos and don’ts to keep in mind as well.
- Talk about their feelings. It’s important to acknowledge your child’s frustration. Understanding their emotions will help them learn to handle difficult feelings. Similarly, it’s a good idea to take time to practice mindfulness techniques with your child.
- Remove them from danger. Make sure your child has a safe place for a time out. If they are running toward the street or hurting themselves, you may need to hold them until they calm down.
- Use distractions. Sometimes a silly song or a favorite toy may be enough to help your child calm down.
- Take a break. Meltdowns can be tough to deal with. If you have a partner or a friend that can watch your child, even a few minutes can help. If not, take a few minutes to breathe or relax during your child’s time out.
- Lose your cool. When you feel yourself losing patience, take a few deep breaths or leave the room. Your child learns a lot of their behavior from your actions.
- Hit, bite, or kick your child back. Some parents may think it is a good idea to show their child that hitting and biting hurt by demonstration. This is not a good way to teach your child. Instead, calmly but firmly tell your child, “No, we don’t hit,” or, “We don’t bite.”
- Reward a tantrum by giving in. It’s important to have consistent rules and expectations. In the long run, this will help prevent tantrums. Of course, there may be some times that you need to pick your battles.
- Give extra attention during a tantrum. If you give your child extra attention during a temper tantrum, it may reinforce this behavior. As long as your child is safe, sometimes it’s best to ignore the tantrum.
How to prevent temper tantrums
While temper tantrums are a normal part of your child’s development, there are some steps you can take to avoid them.
- Have a consistent daily routine.
- Avoid outings or errands when your child is tired, hungry, or sick.
- Prepare your child in advance for transitions or changes to your routine.
- Allow your child to make some of their own choices throughout the day.
- Keep distractions (like toys or books) handy during errands or doctor’s visits.
- Avoid places or activities that usually lead to a meltdown.
- Set aside time every day to give your child your undivided attention.
- Praise your child for good behavior.
Should I be worried about my child’s tantrums?
Temper tantrums are common before age 4. As your child gets older and is able to use language to express their wants and needs, they should start having less meltdowns. Some children continue to have tantrums as they get older, but generally they decrease over time.
However, there are times when tantrums could be a sign of a problem. Between 5 and 20 percent of children have frequent, severe tantrums that become disruptive to daily life. In these cases, you will want to seek guidance from your child’s doctor.
Talk to your child’s pediatrician if:
- Your child’s tantrums worsen after age 4.
- Temper tantrums last longer than 15 minutes.
- Your child has more than 5 tantrums a day.
- Your child is harming themselves or others.
- Your child holds their breath to the point of fainting.
If you are in the midst of “the terrible twos” with a toddler who throws frequent tantrums, remember that you aren’t alone. This behavior is usually normal. It’s easy to become embarrassed or frustrated if your child starts screaming and crying in public, but most other parents will know exactly how you feel.
As long as your child is safe, they will get through their meltdown—usually within a few minutes. Just keep an eye out for signs of harmful behavior. If you have any concerns about your child’s behavior, it’s always a good idea to talk to their pediatrician.
Daniels, Elizabeth, et al. “Assessment, Management, and Prevention of Childhood Temper Tantrums.” Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, vol. 24, no. 10, 2012, pp. 569–573., https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00755.x.
“Top Tips for Surviving Tantrums.” HealthyChildren.org, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/family-dynamics/communication-discipline/Pages/Temper-Tantrums.aspx.
“Temper Tantrums: What They Are, How to Handle & Possibly Prevent Them.” Cleveland Clinic, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/14406-temper-tantrums.
“Temper Tantrums in Toddlers: How to Keep the Peace.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 5 Nov. 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/infant-and-toddler-health/in-depth/tantrum/art-20047845.
“Hi! My name is Lydia and I’m a freelance writer who specializes in parenting and education. I have a bachelor’s degree in English and worked as a teacher and tutor before deciding to stay home full-time with my two young children. As a mom, I’m passionate about early childhood education and am always looking for fun and practical ways to teach my kids at home.”
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Moderate reasoning
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Health
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The world is subject to a global food system that couldfeed the world but doesn’t.
Around the world, enough food is grown, harvested and processed, and an estimated 40% of all food grown is wasted and never consumed. Waste isn’t the only problem; the way food is distributed is neither sensible nor fair and adds to global food poverty. I think the changes we’ve seen in bread are a living example of the effects of Big Food on both the global food system and the climate.
It’s what I call bread politics.
So what is Big Food, and why should you care? Big Food is the name given to the large food companies that control much of the world’s food. From agricultural companies like Du Pont and Monsanto, which was bought by the pharmaceutical giant Bayer in 2018, to food companies like Nestle, Tyson Foods, or Brakes in the UK, their reach and influence can’t be ignored. The Bayer/Monsanto story is a scary one – the company owns the patents on a large number of commercial crops and sells the seed, together with their sprays (fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and crop conditioners) that will kill everything on the field, except the cash crop. It has been modified to withstand the assault of their chemical weapons. The company also produces chemicals used in food processing and artificial vitamins for food fortification. Finally, when a lifetime of eating foods produced in this way has made you sick, it will also sell you a wide range of drugs to keep you going. Wonderful….from the point of view of the shareholders anyway!
We’re approaching a crisis: a shortage of energy, water and land will soon make it impossible to meet the increased demand of a growing population. This could affect food prices and trade, incite conflict, and create new waves of refugees. And the planet? Damaged, destroyed, desolate. How did we get here?
The green revolution of the 20thcentury increased agricultural yields and may have saved some from starvation, but it has made a global system that’s dependent on fossil fuels to grow, harvest, process and transport much of the world’s food. This type of chemical farming together with tilling is killing the soil biology and structure and as the microbes and worms are dying off, the soil looses its ability to store water. The result: soils wash off and agricultural yields drop. As supplies of oil run out, the price will skyrocket, taking with it the cost of food. Ethanol is an alternative fuel source, but if ethanol crops are prioritised when space is allocated, there won’t be enough land for food crops. Climate change itself could make agriculture so difficult that it will be increasingly impossible to feed the world a good diet.
Scarcity of supply will affect the most vulnerable first and they will be powerless against the might of the global food system. It shows more interest in profit than nutrition – agricultural and manufacturing processes focus on extracting the maximum yield at the lowest cost. The shareholders in Big Food demand a good return on their investment, and this may come at the cost of ethics, health, nutrition and the environment. Is it ethical to encourage the consumption of sugary drinks, or poor quality foods high in sugar, salt and fat? To farm in ways that aren’t sustainable? And it’s not just their size that’s a worry. Their behaviour and influence are even more of a concern. Big Food has big budgets, especially for funding (and influencing) research and development, and for lobbying governments to make sure they are able to carry on their business unrestricted by rules and regulations.
As well as affecting what people eat, the global food system and Big Food contribute about one-third of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, driving climate change that may make agriculture untenable in parts of the world.
In the days before Big Food, people were partly responsible for growing their own food. The rest was bought from small food producers like bakers, butchers, and grocers. People could feed themselves independently, often baking at home, killing their own livestock or growing their own produce. The quarter acre section that still so many New Zealanders dream of owning is based exactly on this proposition – that it will allow enough food to be grown on it to feed a family of 4 – 6 people. This independence gave people some control over their economy as well as their diet, and while there were times of famine, there was generally sufficient food to allow the growth of civilisations and cultures – otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.
Big Food’s spread around the planet has displaced traditional food systems and dietary patterns. This has had a huge impact on people’s health, causing obesity and starvation at the same time. Changing dietary patterns, particularly the trend to eat more protein, have been hugely destructive, with many of the crops grown by agricultural giants used to feed cattle rather than people. Giving priority to feeding livestock has caused massive areas of deforestation in South America and South East Asia – this affects locals as they lose both land and hunting grounds, and the environment, as the trees are burned or logged, giving up their carbon which is released into the atmosphere. Just so we can all eat burgers. With the world population expected to pass nine billion by 2050, resources such as land and water will become the most sought after commodities, and if we continue on the current trajectory the demand for food will continue to outstrip what the environment can sustain (for more in-depth information please read the study from the Lancet linked below).
So how can we battle Big Food and a global food system designed to maximise profit rather than nutrition? Every time we eat, we are making a choice. A choice to accept the current state, or to fight back- with your wallet as your weapon. With buying products that are produced using sustainable and organic methods. With reading the ingredient labels of products and rejecting chemicals and things you don’t know what they are. Eating less meat. With supporting local producers. And with eating real bread. And that’s no hardship, is it?
The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition and Climate Change Study https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)32822-8/fulltext
Read about the history of bread in ‘The long history of the loaf’.
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Strong reasoning
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Food & Dining
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The world was shocked this week by the unexpected outcome of a vote in The UK (United Kingdom) to leave the European Union (Thus “Britain Exit”).
The threat of uncontrolled migration by Islamic refugees from the Syrian battlefields and other places–where the emerging ISIS caliphate is persecuting Christians and even Muslims who don’t agree with them—is one of the main reasons the majority of British voters feel the need to regain autonomy over their own borders.
The Bible predicted that there would finally emerge a One-World Government. The Old Testament book of Daniel and the New Testament’s final book, Revelation, give some idea of how this global government will materialize.
Daniel’s visions of world empires conclude with a sort of “revived Roman Empire” in the last days. The European Union (EU) could very possibly be the head of this final world government. It is located in the same area as the old Roman Empire, and is expanding its influence year by year.
The first step toward the formation of a European superstate was the Benelux Agreement on June 8, 1948. This was a treaty between three very small countries, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Several years later, in 1957, in the city of Rome, and with a document called “The Treaty of Rome,” those three countries joined with three other countries, Italy, France, and Germany to make the EEC (European Economic Community) which was called the Common Market for many years. Today the organization is known as the EU (European Union). In 1973 the United Kingdom joined the EU along with Ireland and Denmark, making a total of nine nations. In 1981 Greece became a member of the union. Since then the membership has grown to 28.
In Daniel, chapter 2, the major world empires are depicted in a series of dreams and visions. Before this time Egypt and Assyria had already come and gone as world powers. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a giant statue. He asked his wise men to interpret the dream, but they could not. However, Daniel, a devout young Hebrew captive, was given the ability to declare the dream and its interpretation to the king.
The statue had a head of gold that represented the Babylonian Empire and King Nebuchadnezzar.
The chest and arms were silver, and stood for the next world empire, which would have two parts. This was fulfilled by the Medo-Persian Empire that eventually conquered Babylon.
A bronze waist and thighs stood for another powerful empire that would arise. This was a preview of Greece.
The legs were of iron, stronger than the other metals, and they symbolized Rome, the strongest of all empires, and the last world empire to reign over the known world.
The final aspect of the statue was the composition of the feet. They were partly of iron, and partly of clay. Then a rock fell from heaven, symbolizing the coming of Messiah to reign, and broke the feet, causing the whole statue to fall and break apart. The rock then grew into a great mountain, representing the coming righteous reign of Christ.
What would the iron and clay mean? It is a Revived Roman Empire–partly of the old iron of the ancient Roman Empire, and partly of clay, something weaker and brittle, like the infiltration of Islamic groups that will not blend into the existing culture, and may even give rise to terrorism. When the stone comes out of Heaven and lands on these feet they will break. The stone from Heaven represents the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as King of Kings. When he comes he will destroy the final evil empire and set up the Millennial Kingdom. (See also our blog from 2011: Iron and Clay)
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Strong reasoning
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Religion
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Three decades ago, the last two weeks of June were spent in a cottage in Connemara. The weather was mostly grey, but occasionally the clouds broke and the sun shone. Walking with friends on 24th June, at the junction of two back roads there were the ashes of a bonfire.
“A Saint John’s Night fire,” commented a friend.
An inquiry as to what this meant brought a shrug of the shoulders.
Wondering what the fires were really about, an Internet search brought an explanation:
There are many bonfire customs associated with Midsummer celebrations.
Generally the dates celebrated are 23 June – St. John’s Eve which is sometimes called Bonfire Night. It is known in gaelic as: Oiche an teine chanáimh or Teine Féil Eóin. The fire must be lit exactly on sunset and must be watched till the next morning. The fire and its ashes brought blessings on to the crops. Fires were made to be circular in form – a holy shape. Music, dancing and games were popular along with feats of strength. Bonfires were set close to the graveyard and or holy well. Fires were made from turf, furze bushes and other firewood. Troublesome weeds were also burned. Demons were exorcised. The first fires of new homes were kindled from the bonfire. Fires lit from the bonfire were lit around houses to keep fairies away. Items were burned so as to inflict loss on an enemy. Fires were both communal and individual. Bonfires were so large that tall ladders were required for their construction. Begging for fuel was popular with those who refused being tormented. It was said that Protestant bones were burned on hilltop bonfires. There was competition to have the biggest and best fire. The fires were lit during the recitation of a prayer: ” In the honour of God and of St. John, to the fruitfulness and profit of our planting and our work, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen”. All ages took part. Walking sunwise around the fire while praying was considered essential. Youths would toss burning sticks up into the air. Sometimes effigies were tossed on the fire. Food including a special dish called “goody” made of white shop bread soaked in milk and flavoured with sugar and spice was made in iron pots by the side of the fire. Children collected money in advance of the fire which they spent on sweets. The fire was usually blessed with holy water. Jumping over the fire was a sign of bravery but it also would bring good luck in deeds and in marriage.
From: Kevin Danaher, The Year in Ireland, Mercier Press, Dublin, 1972
“Items were burned so as to inflict loss on an enemy . . . It was said that Protestant bones were burned on hilltop bonfires . . Sometimes effigies were tossed on the fire”?
Probably nasty pieces of mythology, but if that mythology was a reflection of the spirit of the celebration, then the shrug of the shoulders is explained. Traditions are not all as wholesome as imagined.
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Moderate reasoning
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History
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How to Start the Introduction in a Group Presentation
25 JUN 2018
In both school and business, group presentations require teamwork, collaboration and planning. These group assignments result in comprehensive presentations that benefit from the strengths and ideas of various group members. With careful planning and a clear distribution of responsibilities, members of a group can avoid conflict and and work together effectively on a group presentation. After mapping out the presentation, all group members should participate in delivering it to the audience. When presenting, the introduction will set the tone for your presentation and determine whether you will have the attention of your audience.
- Paper outlines of your presentation
- Props relating to the topic
1 Ask Thought Provoking Question
Capture the attention of your audience immediately by asking thought-provoking questions, providing startling facts and statistics or using relevant props. For a presentation about a serious political, moral or health topic, open with a question that makes the audience feel something about the subject. Use sentences that begin with "Would you ever," "What would you do if" and "Why do you think that" to make the subject personal to the audience. When presenting lighter topics, use attention getting props, such as costumes or diagrams to build interest.
2 Briefly Introduce Group Members
Each member of your group should address a designated theme or aspect of the presentation topic. Choose a leader to introduce the group members. Each group member will briefly address the audience, stating their name, role in the presentation and intentions for presenting. Establish credibility with the audience by calling their attention to your research of and experience with the topic. Audience members will take group members more seriously during the presentation after getting to know them through a brief introduction.
3 Incorporate Visual Aids
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, audience members retain 65 percent of information from oral presentations that include visual aids compared to the 10 percent retained without them. Hand out one-page outlines of your presentation to the audience stating the main points you will cover. Briefly read through the outline to prepare the audience for the presentation and invite them to take notes directly on the provided outline. Writing the information you present will keep the audience focused on your presentation and provide them with material to review later.
- Clearly define roles and expectations of group members to create equal workloads.
- Use the most confident group members to lead the introduction and capture the audience's attention.
- Involve the audience with short surveys or a question and answer segment.
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Moderate reasoning
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Education & Jobs
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Thromboembolic Conditions in the Human Being
Thrombi and Emboli. An abnormal clot that develops ina blood vessel is called a thrombus. Once a clot has developed, continued flow of blood past the clot is likely to break it away from its attachment and cause the clot to flow with the blood; such freely flowing clots are known as emboli. Also, emboli that originate in large arteries or in the left side of the heart can flow peripherally and plug arteries or arterioles in the brain, kidneys, or elsewhere. Emboli that originate in the venous system or in the right side of the heart gen-erally flow into the lungs to cause pulmonary arterial embolism.
Cause of Thromboembolic Conditions. The causes of throm-boembolic conditions in the human being are usually twofold: (1) Anyroughened endothelial surface of avessel—as may be caused by arteriosclerosis, infection,or trauma—is likely to initiate the clotting process. (2) Blood often clots when it flows very slowly through blood vessels, where small quantities of thrombin and other procoagulants are always being formed.
Use of t-PA in Treating Intravascular Clots. Geneticallyengineered t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator) is available. When delivered directly to a thrombosed area through a catheter, it is effective in activating plasminogen to plasmin, which in turn can dissolve some intravascular clots. For instance, if used within the first hour or so after thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery, the heart is often spared serious damage.
Because clotting almost always occurs when blood flow is blocked for many hours in any vessel of the body, the immobility of patients confined to bed plus the practice of propping the knees with pillows often causes intravascular clotting because of blood stasis in one or more of the leg veins for hours at a time. Then the clot grows, mainly in the direction of the slowly moving venous blood, sometimes growing the entire length of the leg veins and occasionally even up into the common iliac vein and inferior vena cava. Then, about 1 time out of every 10, a large part of the clot disengages from its attachments to the vessel wall and flows freely with the venous blood through the right side of the heart and into the pulmonary arteries to cause massive blockage of the pulmonary arteries, called massive pulmonary embolism. If the clot is large enough to occlude both of the pulmonary arteries at the same time, immediate death ensues. If only one pulmonary artery is blocked, death may not occur, or the embolism may lead to death a few hours to several days later because of further growth of the clot within the pulmonary vessels. But, again, t-PA therapy can be a lifesaver.
Occasionally the clotting mechanism becomes acti-vated in widespread areas of the circulation, giving rise to the condition calleddisseminated intravascularcoagulation. This often results from the presence oflarge amounts of traumatized or dying tissue in the body that releases great quantities of tissue factor into the blood. Frequently, the clots are small but numer-ous, and they plug a large share of the small periph-eral blood vessels. This occurs especially in patients with widespread septicemia, in which either circulat-ing bacteria or bacterial toxins—especially endotox-ins—activate the clotting mechanisms. Plugging ofsmall peripheral vessels greatly diminishes delivery of oxygen and other nutrients to the tissues—a situation that leads to or exacerbates circulatory shock. It is partly for this reason that septicemic shock is lethal in 85 per cent or more of patients.
A peculiar effect of disseminated intravascular coagulation is that the patient on occasion begins to bleed. The reason for this is that so many of the clotting factors are removed by the widespread clot-ting that too few procoagulants remain to allow normal hemostasis of the remaining blood.
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This article discusses aspects of the performance practice of plainchant, with a special focus on (office) sources and repertory from the Low Countries, and argues that the performance practices within the region widely varied. The most important sources for the study of chant performance are discussed. Eight parameters of performance (notation, rhythm, tempo, melody, polyphony or accompaniment, text, acoustics, and ensemble) are analyzed in view of their pertinence to chant in the Low Countries. Furthermore, the importance of ceremonial aspects and the handling of relics, and their (in)direct impact on the performance of processions and the office are studied. Finally, it is argued that the processes of selection, repetition, and addition are pertinent to the practice of chant performance as well. This is demonstrated through an analysis of the interrelations between office and processional chants.
Key words: ceremony, chant, historiae, liturgical office, liturgy, local saints, Low Countries, patron saints, performance practice, plainchant, processions, relics, Tongeren, Ghent, Ghistel, Andenne
Este artículo discute aspectos de la práctica del performance de canto llano con un énfasis en las fuentes y el repertorio del Oficio Divino en los Países Bajos, argumentando que la práctica en esta región era muy variada. Las fuentes más importantes para el estudio del performance del canto llano son discutidas y ocho parámetros de performance (notación, ritmo, tempo, melodía, polifonía o acompañamiento, texto, acústica y ensamble) son utilizados en el análisis de acuerdo a su pertinencia en el canto de los países bajos. El artículo también analiza la importancia de aspectos ceremoniales y el uso e impacto de reliquias en el performance de procesiones. Finalmente, sugiero que el proceso de selección, repetición e incorporación también son pertinentes en la práctica del performance del canto llano. Esto queda demostrado por medio de un análisis de las relaciones entre Oficio y cantos procesionales.
Palabras clave: ceremonia, canto llano, historiae, liturgia, santos locales, Países Bajos, santos patronos, performance, procesiones, reliquias, Tongeren, Ghent, Ghistel, Andenne
The study of medieval plainchant sets as its purpose to find and interpret the sources of chant, to analyse their notations and repertory in order to discover how individual chants were composed, how genres and styles evolved over time and how the repertory of chant relates to other (polyphonic) music. It may seem tempting to paraphrase the German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886) in stating that the achievement of a better understanding of what chant really was like, in the Middle Ages and beyond, is the ultimate goal of chant research.
The history of research has taught us to be critical of von Ranke’s approach, however. Even if he laid the foundations of historicism, von Ranke is often denounced as too optimistic with regard to the directness with which the sources show us the historical past, and too positivist in his approach to history. Indeed, when applied to chant, the mere collecting of factual knowledge about chant does not suffice to gain deeper insight into its historical reality. Even establishing which are the facts about chant is difficult enough.
To obtain a global understanding of chant as it functioned in the liturgy, it is often necessary to rely on several types of liturgical sources and on the assistance of other disciplines. Indeed, without the help of Ordinals, rubrics, or archival documents, and without the expert knowledge from other disciplines such as history, art history, liturgiology and theology, to name just a few, it would be difficult to grasp even superficially the broader context in which chant functioned. Moreover, without them it would be virtually impossible to answer questions about the reasons why certain chants were written and specific compositional decisions were taken, questions that clearly take us beyond the material surface of the music.
But if all these elements, sources, and disciplines were taken together, would it then be possible to “sagen, wie es eigentlich gewesen”? To perform chant “as it really sounded” in a given historical period is a forceful ideal, and has inspired chant scholars and performers in their work to the present day. The ideal of the reconstruction of historical reality, however, may seem as elusive as it is inspiring. Indeed, for those wishing to investigate the historical performance practice with a view to understand, reconstruct, or perform specific parts of the chant repertory, the field is fraught with many problems and questions.
The present article will take up a number of these questions, with special attention to chant in the Low Countries. Rather than pretending to give definitive answers, it attempts to survey the most important parameters and bring together those elements that are pertinent to the performance practice of chant in the Low Countries. Consequently, it is not intended as a “guide to performers” on how to perform chant practically, but means to guide towards a fuller understanding of the aspects to be taken into account when studying historical chant performance.
While the beginning of this article (2.1) may seem rather general in comparison with the more detailed sections that follow, it is important to mention a number of medieval authors there, because many of the problems mentioned continue in force into the later Middle Ages and beyond, and because several of them were active in the Low Countries. Moreover, the writings of medieval theorists are probably the material that has been studied in greatest detail by musicologists, and therefore precede the discussion of liturgical sources.
After discussing the parameters that pertain to chant in general, special attention will be given to the performance aspects of the liturgical office in the Low Countries. With the exception of some of the earliest historiae from the Low Countries to contain chants in modal order, those composed by bishop Stephen of Liège (d. 920), much of the repertory has received relatively little scholarly attention to date, in spite of the comparably large number of extant historiae, and their continued composition during at least seven centuries.
The time frame has been kept deliberately broad for two reasons. First, because there was a continuity in the performance of chant throughout the Ancien Régime. This article attempts to illustrate how rich and varied the palette of chant performance was during this period. Second, because the composition of liturgical historiae in the Low Countries continued from the tenth to at least the seventeenth century ¯ in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries probably stimulated by the Counter-Reformation ¯ and both imprints with liturgical offices and office manuscripts were produced until the eighteenth century, occasionally even on parchment (e.g. in Ghent and Tongeren).
The examples offered in the following paragraphs aim at giving a representative cross-section of the cities in the Low Countries, admittedly with a somewhat stronger accent on the southern Low Countries. They are taken from liturgical and theoretical sources from Amsterdam, Andenne, Bruges, Ghent, Ghistel, Leuven, Liège, Mons, St Ghislain, St Trond, ‘s Hertogenbosch, Soignies, Ter Doest, Tongeren, Tongerlo, Tournai, Utrecht, and Zutphen.
While the discussion of performance practice following below (in section 2.2) focuses mainly on the information that can be gained from musical and liturgical sources, this article should not be without a brief overview of other sources where performance indications of chant can be found. Because of their complementarity to the liturgical sources, sources such as theoretical treatises, music iconography, and sound recordings are often studied or referred to in existing literature. But even though specimens of the same types of source material are also found in the Low Countries, no systematic research on this region has been carried out to date.
In studying chant performance, a logical point of departure are the theoretical and practical treatises on chant and music theory. Depending on their intended audience and use, treatises may contain instructions for the performance of chant, with widely varying degrees of explicitness and detail. A summary overview of the most important authors follows; the discussion of performance parameters below will refer to some of them. This very selective overview of music theorists not only offers hints at some of the problems at stake, it also suggests that theorists from the Low Countries, primarily from the diocese of Liège and the county of Hainaut, contributed to discussions of plainchant performance between the eleventh and the fifteenth centuries.
Among the earliest authors cited in the literature are illustrious names, such as John Hymmonides (John the Deacon, d. before 882), who in his Vita Gregorii (BHL 3641) included a famous commentary on the difficulties the Frankish cantors experienced in mastering the Roman melodies and their ornamentations (Hiley 1993: 517, 562). After the turn of the millennium, the groundbreaking work of Guido of Arezzo (c. 990? ¯ c. 1050?), is one of the first, and certainly the most important milestone to include references to the singing of chant (Guido d’Arezzo 2008 gives recent editions and translations of Guido’s works, an extensive bibliography, and a list of earlier editions). The earliest witness of the introduction of Guido’s diastematic notation in the Low Countries is the Benedictine abbot Rodolfus of St Trond (c. 1070 ¯ 1138), who records the use of the new method in his Gesta abbatum Trudoniensium. The same author is credited with the authorship of the treatise Quaestiones in musica, probably datable to the early twelfth century (Steglich 1911). The Quaestiones in musica draws on important medieval authorities such as Boethius and Guido of Arezzo, and is of great interest for its section on notation (cf. infra).
From the thirteenth century on, more references to chant performance survive. The most often cited are of French origin, such as the Cistercian Instituta Patrum and, in particular, Jerome of Moravia’s Tractatus de musica, written after 1272 (cf. infra), and Elias Salomon’s Scientia artis musicae of 1274 (Dyer 1980). A theorist active in the Low Countries in the same decade is the author of a Tractatus de musica known as Magister Lambertus or pseudo-Aristotle (fl. c. 1270). On account of his first name, Lambertus was previously thought to have originated around Liège, until Jeremy Yudkin identified him with a magister of the university of Paris who was also dean of the abbey of Soignies, situated between Mons and Brussels, and west of Nivelles (Yudkin 1991: 182-183, 191). The first part of the Tractatus deals with both the speculative and practical aspects of music; the tonary it includes pertains the latter category. One of the important elements singled out by Lambertus is the use of the epiglottis in vocal music.
Both the Quaestiones in musica and the work of Magister Lambertus were known to Jacobus of Liège (Jacobus Leodiensis, c. 1260 ¯ 1330), the early fourteenth-century author of the musical summa Speculum musicae. Traditionally, it has been assumed that Jacobus originated in, or was active in Liège, where he would have had access to well-equipped libraries, because Book Six of Jacobus of Liège’s Speculum musicae refers to the Quaestiones in musica, and Book Seven refers to the treatise of Magister Lambertus. Alternatively, Karen Desmond has made a strong case for the identification of Jacobus with Jacobus de Montibus (c. 1270/80 ¯ c. 1337/43), probably born in Mons, who obtained his magister degree in Paris, and received a canonicate at the collegiate church of St Paul in Liège in 1316 (Desmond 2000). Even though Jacobus is not particularly concerned with giving performance instructions for chant, his Speculum musicae gives a few important indications of chant use in the medieval diocese of Liège. In the sections describing the properties of the eight modes, Jacobus shows that the use of the East-Frankish chant dialect was evident to him (cf. infra). Furthermore, his concern for modal uniformity within the same Mass cycle is remarkable. More precisely, Jacobus proposes to have all Mass chants either in the same mode, or in modal order, "as is found in certain offices". It cannot be determined here whether this suggestion for Mass chants was a mere theoretical suggestion, or if it was also applied in Liégeois practice, as was the case with modally ordered offices. In any event, Jacobus's proposal shows the continuing interest in modal arrangement of chants in the region, which had begun with the already mentioned offices of Stephen of Liège.
Not only the medieval diocese of Liège, but also the county of Hainaut seems to have produced writers on music. Probably around the beginning of the fifteenth century, Arnulf, probably a Benedictine monk from St Ghislain in Hainaut, west of Mons, wrote a short but remarkable treatise on singing. In De differentiis et gradibus cantorum (c. 1400), Arnulf gives interesting remarks and impressions of chant. His references to the chant of female singers, with their predilection for microtonal singing, are particularly rare (Page 1992). They invite further research and comparison with possible indications for the use of microtones found in chant sources, e.g. from Utrecht (De Loos 1996), and raise many questions about the differences between performance traditions in male and female communities.
While Arnulf of St Ghislain’s account of chant and singing is rather descriptive in nature, Italian and German treatises of the late fifteenth century provide more direct instructions for the performance of chant, such as the Regula Musice Plane (1497) of Bonaventura of Brescia, and the often cited treatise De modo bene cantandi (1474) of Conrad of Zabern. These authors provide particularly interesting references regarding the tempo of performance (cf. infra).
A second category of manuscript evidence is music iconography. The Low Countries were famous for their manuscript illuminations. Liturgical books such as Missals or Books of Hours, but also historical or hagiographic texts contain depictions of the performance of vocal music (a few examples: Bowles 1983: 170, 174-75, 180, 184, 187, 189-90). Illuminations may contain especially interesting iconographical information on the performance of chant. In their depictions of groups of (mostly male) singers, the cantor can often be seen “conducting”, i.e. giving indications by means of hand movements to the other singers, who keep contact among each other by holding their hands on the shoulders of their fellow singers (Bowles 1983). Unless the illumination shows music manuscripts on which notes are visible, however, it is difficult to establish whether the performance depicted is of chant or polyphony.
A third type of source is radically different, i.e. recordings of chant performances. By their nature, (early) recordings of chant, the first of which are the Gramophone Company recordings of the Gregorian Congress in Rome (1904), pertain to the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century chant and chant scholarship, and may thus seem to fall outside the scope of this article. Systematic and accurate research of early recordings, on the condition that it be aptly contextualized, could develop the exploration of these sources into an exciting new field of chant research. They are nevertheless worth mentioning in the context of this article as well, because they may be helpful in assessing current performance styles more adequately, and determine modern performers’ positions, e.g. against the Solesmes-based approach of chant of the late nineteenth century. Indeed, as early as 1891, a discussion in the French periodical Musica sacra deliberated the question of the role the phonograph could play in the dissemination of the Solesmes chant practice (Berry 1979: 197). Most of the work in this field remains to be done. Mary Berry delivered interesting comments on several early chant recordings from 1904 onwards, which reflect several stages of the Solesmes monks’ restoration work (Berry 1979; also Brunner 1982, Weber 1990, Bergeron 1998: 131-142). One of the (to my knowledge) earliest recordings of chant from present-day Belgium, is a recording made on wax records by the Premonstratensian canons of Averbode in 1933. It would be worthwile to compare the chants sung on this recording with both authentic Premonstratensian sources, such as the Antiphoner commissioned by abbot Tsgrooten of Tongerlo in 1522, imprints from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (Mannaerts 2008b), and the “new” editions of the alleged “Premonstratensian chant tradition”, produced in the first and second decades of the twentieth century under the direction of the abbey of Tongerlo, such as the Premonstratensian Gradual of 1910 (Hoondert 2003: 53-81). A systematic search for recordings may uncover many more (and earlier) documents, and stimulate research in chant performance of the past two centuries, as well as discussion and reflection upon current practices.
To form an adequate image of what the historical performance of chant between the tenth and the eighteenth century was like, it is important to turn to the liturgical sources themselves. These include musical manuscripts with adiastematic or diastematic notation, manuscripts without musical notation containing instructions for or indications on the celebration of the liturgy, such as Ordinals or Customaries, and rubrics in different kinds of liturgical manuscripts. From liturgical manuscripts, many practical aspects of chant performance can be read, such as aspects of notation, rhythm, tempo, or melody. Indications about the “vertical dimension” occasionally added to chant, such as the alternation with polyphony or musical instruments, may also be found.
Other aspects are equally important and decisive for the eventual sound of the performance, but cannot, or not exclusively, be reconstructed on the basis of liturgical manuscripts. These aspects require a knowledge of the larger historical and cultural context, such as local pronunciations of Latin, and of locally and liturgically determined performance circumstances, such as the acoustics and the composition of the “ensemble” of performers, i.e. the individual singer or the group of singers performing the chant.
It is of course not possible to list all the elements that play a role in the coming into being of a single chant performance, and a full catalog of such elements is not intended here. In a recent book, Erika Fischer-Lichte differentiates in performance between Inszenierung and das Performative. More precisely, Fischer-Lichte distinguishes between the repeatable elements of the mise-en-scène (the staging), comparable to the instructions recorded in Ordinals or rubrics, which remain the same for each performance, and those elements of performance that are not repeatable, and, by contrast, make every performance unique in its own way (Fischer-Lichte 2001). Naturally, elements of chance also play a role in each performance, such as unintended errors, the absence of singers due to sickness (Page 1989: 162-165), noises in the church and its environment (Garrioch 2003), weather circumstances, etcetera. It is obvious that these cannot be taken into account here, and that research of historical performance practice mainly focuses on the elements that pertain to the music itself and the factors that contribute to its “staging”.
In contrast to those working from transcriptions of the music, performers wishing to work from the original sources or from facsimile editions need to be familiar with the type of notation used in these sources. This kind of performance requires an extensive frame of reference of early music notation, and ¯ ideally ¯ the ability to interpret the meaning of every individual notational sign. Much of the earlier chant scholarship is dedicated to the resolution of this kind of problems, and was initiated by the writings of scholars of the Benedictine abbey of Solesmes. The greatest merit of “Gregorian semiology” has been its fundamental contribution to the understanding of these earliest neumatic notations, including the specific notation characteristics (such as liquescence, cf. infra; Göschl 1980; Van Betteray 2007) and the rhythmic indications they contain (e.g. Cardine 1960; Cardine 1968).
The adiastematic chant notations found in the Low Countries attest to the region’s continuing position on the divide of several traditions, because different types of adiastematic notation can be found, such as French and Lotharingian neumes. Furthermore, a third neume type occurs, termed “Low Countries neumes” by Ike de Loos, which actually is a contact form that combines elements taken from French and German neumes (De Loos 1996). The occurrence of different types of neume forms raises questions about the relationship between these neume families: can it be assumed that these families are locally differentiated ways of recording identical or similar information? Or does each neume family have its singularity, which should also be reflected in performance?
Apart from these neumatic notations, other forms of notation, such as alphabetical notation, were known and used in the Low Countries, but probably for theoretical or didactic purposes only. One example bringing together various types of notation can be found in a manuscript containing Thomas Aquinas’s treatise De sortibus and the anonymous Arithmetica et geometrica et geomantia (Bruges, Groot Seminarie, 111/178), from the Cistercian abbey of Ter Doest. A later added gathering displays alphabetical notation and adiastematic neumes, beside two Guidonian hands (Mannaerts 2007).
The traditional focus on early notations has involved the neglect of later notation types. The extent to which Gothic or square notation contain specifications that affect the rhythm of chant has ¯ with only a few exceptions (Berry 1968, Hiley 1984, Caldwell 1992) ¯ barely been studied thus far. Filling these lacunae is of great importance for the Low Countries as well. After the introduction of “Guidonian” diastematic notation at the Benedictine abbey of St Trond (cf. supra), the Low Countries continued to be on the crossroads of influences. In the region, both square notation, written on staves of three to five lines, and Gothic or “Hufnagel” notation are found, often within the same city (e.g. Tongeren).
The aspect of chant notation that has been most diligently studied and most fiercely debated is its rhythm; the discussions between equalists, mensuralists (for a clear argumentation of the anti-mensuralist view: Wagner 1905) and the work of the monks of Solesmes (for a brief overview: Berry 1979, Brunner 1982) form an important chapter in the history of chant research. To date, the discussion about rhythm in adiastematic notation seems to be less heated, and is certainly couched in other terms than “equalism” and “mensuralism”. This does not mean, though, that it is definitively settled, even though many scholars gravitate towards a refined version of the “rhythme oratoire” of the Solesmes monks, taking into account the rhythmical finesses of early chant notation. These sophistications include the use of episemata, different forms of the same neume, coupure neumatique, and litterae significativae, indicating the lengthening of specific notes.
It is a task for future research to determine the place of the Low Countries in the field of chant rhythm. Even though the amount of sources in adiastematic neumes from the Low Countries is comparatively small and fragmentary, it is clear that these tend to use rather sparingly, if at all, rhythmical devices such as the coupure neumatique, episemata, significative letters, differences in note shapes, etcetera. Much seems to have depended on the education of individual scribes, since some manuscripts use one or several of these techniques, whereas others do not. The episema is found in adiastematic fragments from Tongeren, for instance (Mannaerts 2008a: 37-43). Significative letters are mentioned in Chapter 23 of the First Book of the Quaestiones de musica (Steglich 1911: 63-64). Some of them (mainly s and t) also occur in an Antiphoner in diastematic notation from Utrecht (University Library 406) dating from the second half of the twelfth century (De Loos 1996: 91).
As mentioned earlier, the performance practice of later diastematic notations, such as square and Gothic neumes, has not been researched thoroughly. For the Low Countries, it would be an interesting exercise to compare the findings of the studies mentioned earlier with the many liturgical manuscripts and imprints found in the region. A few samples from manuscripts of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries seem to confirm the conclusions of John Caldwell’s article of 1992, i.e. that a rhomboid shape was used frequently to indicate shorter note values, not only in series of two or more (as in a scandicus or climacus), but as a single note as well; but only rarely in a truly mensural idiom (Caldwell 1992: 11). An example of this usage can be found in the set of Graduals and Antiphoners that was produced for the Cathedral of St Bavo in Ghent between 1652 and 1659 (Mannaerts 2005a; Bouckaert & Vercammen 2005: 118-120, nos. 504-508).
As indicated by several music theorists, the tempo of plainchant was variable and would differ depending on the solemnity or the festivity of the feast, or on to the genre of chant. Conrad of Zabern, writing in 1474, sums up six requirements of a good chant performance: it should be sung concorditer, mensuraliter, mediocriter, differentialiter, devotionaliter, and satis urbaniter (Dyer 1978: 211-12; MacClintock 1979: 12-17). The fourth of these, differentialiter, indicates that the accomplished singer should differentiate the tempo and pitch of performance according to the degree of solemnity and festivity of the liturgy. The more important and solemn the celebration, the slower the tempo should be. The more festive the occasion, the higher the chants should be intoned. A funeral service, for instance, is to be sung in an earnest and worthy manner, with a low intonation. This practice, Conrad adds, has “a good basis in the authority of the Council of Basel” (1431-49) (Dyer 1978, 211; MacClintock 1979: 13). Similarly, Conrad’s recommendation to keep a uniform pitch level for chants that belong together, or if possible throughout the entire service, shows his attempt at a stronger musical unity throughout the celebration, not unlike that of Jacobus of Liège.
Writing twenty-three years later, Bonaventura of Brescia differentiates in an entirely distinct way. Instead of stressing musical and unity, Bonaventura underscores the different nature of each chant genre. According to their liturgical function, chants should be performed in a appropriate manner: introits and responsories should be sung in a lively manner, because they are meant to stir up the community to worship and devotion, at the beginning of Mass, or when the religious enter the church at night. According to a similar logic, antiphons and alleluias should sound soft and sweet, offertories and communions are to be sung with a moderate pace, and tracts and graduals in a slower tempo (Berry 1968: 312).
These approaches, the first stressing musical and liturgical unity, the second pointing to a clear-cut conscience of the proper idioms of the various chant genres, show divergent modi operandi for the tempo of chant. In their fundamental assumptions, both approaches had already been formulated in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century. The first is already encountered in Jerome of Moravia (c. 1272), and is still found in Guidetti’s Directorium chori of 1582 (Berry 1968: 308-310); the second is comparable to the exposition of Johannes de Grocheio (c. 1300), who compares each genre of chant to a genre of secular music and its corresponding manner and tempo of performance (Berry 1968: 312-314). Given their relative proximity to Paris, where these earlier treatises were written, it is not unreasonable to assume that similar performance guidelines were also applied in the churches and monasteries of the Low Countries.
Many problems related to notation arise from the lack of notation of certain parameters; this is certainly the case for the melodic aspect of chant. The extent to which embellishments were applied, for instance, varied chronologically and geographically; so did the degree to which these were either written or indicated in the sources, or improvised freely. It remains to be confirmed whether ornamentation was as ubiquitous as is claimed by some authors or performers (e.g. McGee 1998), but indications of it are found from the earliest adiastematic sources ¯ in neume forms such as quilisma, oriscus, and pressus ¯ to diastematic sources of the fifteenth century and later. In this respect, it is striking that the Gothic or “Hufnagel” neumes remain much longer faithful to their neumatic ancestors than the square notation, in which the only ornamental neume is the plica (Hiley 1984). Moreover, theorists such as Jerome of Moravia include in their treatises elaborate digressions on ornamentation (MacClintock 1979: 3-7).
Clearly related to the “problems of non-notation” on the melodic level are the avoidance of alterations other than b flat (of e flat and f sharp in particular) by means of transposition, and the use of unwritten alterations or musica ficta. Indeed, musica ficta was not limited to polyphony, but also occurs in the chant of the late Middle Ages and continues into the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. Depending on local usage, b flats or b naturals were preferred. In order to avoid confusion, some sources clearly indicate all accidentals, such as the edition of the Roman Antiphonal published by the Franciscan, Francis of Bruges, in Venice in 1505 (Berry 1965: 122). Francis remarks that “we, French, and those living in Germany, and all those living in other regions, are pleased with the b natural, whereas the Italians, and certain nations south of the Alps are attracted towards the b flat”.
Other books, such as the Florentine chant manual Il Cantore Addottrinato of Matteo Coferati (first edition 1682), devote considerable attention to the use of sharps in chant, as a means to attenuate tritones in the melodies (Dodds 2003: 536-47).
While Coferati’s and others’ use of sharps also points to the incorporation of the traditional chant melodies in the emergent harmonic tonality, the use of b natural or b flat echoes a much older distinction between West- and East-Frankish dialects. In the same way as the Low Countries display influences from various traditions of neumatic notation, their sources testify to the presence of both West- and East-Frankish chant dialects: two Graduals made in Ghent for the “Leproserie” of St Magdalene in Bruges in 1504 and 1506 (Bruges, Public Centre for Social Welfare [OCMW], Inv. O. SJ 210.1 and O.SJ 211.1) display the West-Frankish dialects, whereas the Gradual from the collegiate church of Tongeren (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, 57; Mannaerts 2006: 46-51) contains its East-Frankish counterpart. This may explain Francis’s awareness of existing differences as late as the early sixteenth century, even though one is left wondering why he distinguishes between b flat and b natural without mentioning the c as a third possibility. Given the Low Countries’ continuing position between two spheres of influence, the presence of both traditions in one region does not guarantee the performer any obvious choices.
That late medieval and early modern performers saw themselves confronted with the same difficulties is attested to by a number of manuscripts, which were adapted from one chant dialect to the other. These adaptations were probably the result of corrections made after a specific model manuscript. The same procedure was applied in a later period in Antiphoners of religious orders, which were corrected as late as the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, after authoritative prints of the order. A case in point is the Tongerlo Antiphoner of 1522 referred to earlier, which was corrected after the Antiphonarium Praemonstratense printed in Paris in 1680 (Mannaerts 2008b). Similar corrections were ¯ probably during the seventeenth century, if they are contemporary with the majority of the marginal glosses ¯ made to the fourteenth-century Graduals of Tongeren, not so much by striking out or erasing melismas, but by putting them between brackets.
An important terrain for modern performers, again deserving of more research, is the relationship between chant and other repertories, such as polyphony, with which chant alternated, or for which it provided the cantus firmus (e.g. Moll 2001). The importance of this relationship has been, for the Low Countries, convincingly demonstrated in the work of Jennifer Bloxam (Bloxam 1987, 1991 and 1992; also Sherr 1992). This domain may be further expanded by a component investigating the use of instruments such as the organ and the serpent as instruments of accompaniment or intonation. The serpent was invented by Edmé Guillaume, a canon of Auxerre, in 1590, and soon spread towards the northern France and the Low Countries. Pertinent comments on the liturgical use of the serpent in the Low Countries and northern France were given in the eighteenth century by Charles Burney, relating to Lille (Rijsel) and Antwerp, as well as to Paris (Spiessens 1988; Burney 1991).
An aspect that strongly determines the actual sound of chant performance is, obviously, the type of Latin pronunciation used. Similar to the situation of today, and in line with the position of the Low Countries on the meeting point of various traditions and influences, the linguistic situation of the region was characterized by variety throughout its history. Traditionally, the northern half of present-day Belgium is Dutch-speaking, as are the present-day Netherlands, whereas the southern half of Belgium is a Francophone area. This is, mutatis mutandis, a situation largely similar to that in the Middle Ages. As Harold Copeman has pointed out, various types of Latin pronunciation were used in the Low Countries: a Flemish pronunciation, and at least two types of pronunciation related to French, i.e. Picard (North-French) and Walloon (Copeman 1996). One may even wonder whether, given the enduring adherence of the diocese of Liège to the Holy Roman Empire and the concomitant musical characteristics (such as the East-Frankish chant dialect and the use of Gothic neumes), a German-related type of pronunciation should not be added.
Even though linguistic matters are not often part of the competence of musicologists, they may, however, contribute in one respect to a fuller understanding of how pronunciation in music took place. More precisely, the study of the use of the liquescence, the modification of neume forms in function of the pronunciation of sounds such as “m”, “n”, “l”, and diphthongs, may be useful. In the Low Countries, the notation of liquescent neume forms is often, but not always, prominent in adiastematic neumes, as well as in diastematic square and Gothic neume forms.
A text-related problem of different nature is that of text underlay. In polyphony, where the coordination of the texts of several voices or the simultaneous rendering of several texts are major concerns, performers are well aware of its problematic character. In the context of chant, the question is rather related to the singing of text or melismas. Recently, Lori Kruckenberg has demonstrated that certain sequences were partly “neumatized”, i.e. sung as a textless melisma, a practice that continued into the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Kruckenberg mentions two sequences from a Low Countries source: Iam votiva festa for Christmas and Placatus quesumus for Pentecost, found in a late-twelfth-century Gradual from Andenne (Namur, Musée diocésain, 1) (Kruckenberg 2006: 304-306). There is evidence to show that the dating of the practice can even be extended further, resulting in a longer continuity than Kruckenberg has assumed. While the occurrence of the text of the Pentecost sequence Placatus quesumus extends to the liturgical books of the second half of the sixteenth century (such as the Liège Missals of 1513 and 1552), these do not document any specific manner of performance, or indications of the inclusion or omission of textless sections. On the other hand, the late-fourteenth-century Gradual of Tongeren mentioned earlier, contains the same Placatus quesumus on folios 131-131˙ (pages 260-261). Here, the letter “a” indicates the melisma (and perhaps suggesting the continuation of the preceding "alleluia"), followed by a texted setting of the same melody fragment. As in Andenne, all other sequences of the manuscript are set in a traditional, straightforward way. Chances are that the sequence was sung and perhaps “neumatized” more widely in the diocese of Liège, since Placatus quesumus also occurs in the Ordinal of the collegiate church of St Peter in Leuven (Lefèvre 1960: 124). Its inclusion in the Ordinal of the abbey of St Arnulf in Metz (Odermatt 1987: 217) may even suggest a certain dissemination in Lorraine as well. In both cases, however, it remains to be demonstrated that the performance of the sequence in Leuven and Metz actually was a “neumatized” one. That the performance in Metz is a candidate for such a performance is perhaps suggested by the Ordinal’s indication that on the Friday after Pentecost, the Alleluia Veni sancte spiritus is to be sung by two hebdomadarii, together with the prosa (sic) Placatus quesumus.
While the pronunciation of Latin probably had a certain consistency within the same region, the acoustics differed at every location. Most of the chant, in the Low Countries as elsewhere, was sung in the choir stalls. Rubrics and Ordinals occasionally prescribe small processions within the church space, a procession to a specific place in the church, such as the font, or a small tour around the church building.
As Eugeen Schreurs has argued recently, the choir screen (doxael) which divided the choir from the church nave was used in a number of (collegiate) churches, such as those of Leuven, Mechelen, Antwerp and Ghent, as a location for singers to stand on. This peculiar position, considerably higher than the choir stalls, evidently must have had implications for performance and listening (Schreurs 2005).
Furthermore, architectural and decorative elements evidently influenced the acoustics of the church space, such as the number of side chapels, the size and height of the nave, the presence of textiles such as tapestries exhibited on major feasts, and the number of participants and faithful present in the church.
Finally, so-called acoustic vases were specifically intended to improve space acoustics. A technique dating back to the Roman architect Vitruvius (De Architectura, first century BC), the vases in churches were placed in the ceiling and under the choir stalls, and were almost always hidden from view. Some authors have argued that they were mainly used in Cistercian churches, but it is certain that their use was much more widespread (Arns & Crawford 1995: 112-119, 128-135).
As is clear from the example of the sequence Placatus quesumus, some late-medieval Ordinals, such as those from Tongeren or Metz, are especially valuable on account of their inclusion of ample instructions on the celebration of the liturgy (cf. infra). One type of indications particularly useful for the reconstruction of the performance of chant is the information about the liturgical “personnel” required to sing specific (parts of) chants or celebrations. In most cases, Ordinals and rubrics in liturgical manuscripts provide instructions on the role of the dignitaries present and singing (such as dean, cantor, pre/succentor), and on the precise points of alternation between choirs in antiphonal psalmody (Nowacki 1990). In this context, the recitation of the Passion should be mentioned here as well. Passion letters are found in some of the earliest gospel books in the Low Countries, such as the eighth-century Codex Eyckensis (Maaseik, Church of St Catherine, s.s.), the ninth-century Xanten Gospels (Brussels, Royal Library, 18723), and the tenth-century gospel book in Tongeren (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, olim 85). While these examples are of insular, Lower Rhineland and Breton origin, respectively, and hence display a wide array of letters used, the gospel books of later centuries are, e.g. in the diocese of Liège, quite consistent in their use of the letters c, s, and t, the standard combination in French sources (Huglo 1988: 20; Mannaerts 2008a: 25-36). The recitation of the Passion performed during Holy Week, is traditionally indicated by so-called “letters of the Passion” in Missals and Graduals, which indicate the persona (Christ, the evangelist, and others) and their respective recitation tones. The caveat that has to be given, however, is that these three letters do not necessarily indicate three different performers; indeed, as Kurt Von Fischer has argued, the performance of the by several performers (three or more) was only introduced in the second half of the thirteenth century (Von Fischer 1973).
Many of the aspects discussed in the preceding section apply to the entirety of the chant repertory, and are shaped differently in function of the chronological and geographical context. With respect to the performance of office chant in the Low Countries, a number of these parameters take specific shapes. It should be remarked here that processions, to which some of the following examples refer, are also considered as a part of the divine office, on the basis of their less standardized character, and, more importantly, of the repertory of responsories and antiphons, which are their main musical components.
The use of the serpent (2.2.5) is documented for the celebration of Bavo, the patron saint of the cathedral of Ghent in the eighteenth century (c. 1759). During the seventeenth century, the medieval office was replaced by a “new” office in honor of Bavo (Mannaerts 2005a). Among the sources, a part for serpent has also been preserved, which seems to confirm the use reported by Charles Burney: the serpent supports the intonation of the chants, and plays the bass part in polyphonic pieces (Bouckaert & Vercammen 2005: 39-40, no. 195; a color facsimile can be found in Schreurs 2005: 70).
The singing of melismas (2.2.6) did not only occur in sequences in the Mass, but also during the office. More precisely, the performance of responsory prosulas, a genre of tropes that displays a strong formal similarity to sequences (Kelly 1985), seems to have taken place more or less in the same way. Not only were certain parts sung to a textless melody, but, as in the instructions for the sequence Placatus quesumus in Metz (cf. supra), specific indications also indicated by whom specific chants should be sung (cf. 2.2.8.).
The late-fourteenth-century Antiphoners from the collegiate church of Tongeren (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, 63 and 64) contain a striking example. In the Matins of Christmas, the ninth responsory Verbum caro is sung, and is followed by an untexted trope melody, which is found in other sources as the trope Quem ethera et terra. Remarkably, the trope melody is divided into small sections, which are assigned by the rubrics to be sung in alternation between the right and the left sides of the choir. The sections are designated as Iubilus Ade and Iubilus Eve, respectively. Identical performance indications are given in the third Christmas responsory, Descendit de celis, to which the neuma triplex is added (Kelly 1988).
In the context of the office, performance instructions found in Ordinals may be very specific, and have implications for the interplay between performance and (church) acoustics (2.2.7). As mentioned earlier, the route the procession made, within the church, or with excursions into the ambulatory, into the city, or into the fields, with stations in other churches or chapels, evidently had its repercussions for the actual sound of the performance. But also when the performance took place in the choir of the church only, chant was sung in several directions. In fifteenth-century Tongeren, the responsory Verbum caro is sung in the middle of the church (in medio ecclesie) during the procession following Terce on Christmas. The Ordinal (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, 68, f. 13) specifies the succession of actions, which includes the singing in different directions:
The cantor should then begin the responsory Verbum caro factum est, three canons (domini) sing the verse In principio, turning towards the east; after the repetition [of the repetenda], three vicars sing the Gloria Patri, turning towards the west. After the repetition [of the repetenda], the Speciosa is sung in organis. In the meantime, the priests go to the treasury with their relics, and place them there […]. (Lefèvre 1967: 30).
As the Ordinal indicates, “this order is observed in the church of Tongeren on the major feast days” (f. 13; Lefèvre 1967: 31). Indeed, the instructions for the Easter procession, for instance, read, mutatis mutandis, almost as an exact copy:
“[…] after the singing of the hymn [Salve festa dies], the cantor begins the antiphon Christus resurgens with its verse Dicant nunc Iudei, entering the ambulatory [behind the church], entering the church by its right-hand side where the ladies [domine] stand, to the tower, and there the procession turns and goes towards the middle of the church, where a station is held. When all are gathered there, the cantor begins the responsory Sedit angelus, three canons sing the verse Crucifixum in the middle of the church, towards the east, and the choir repeats Nolite metuere. After this, three other vicars sing the verse Recordamini, with their faces towards the west, the alleluia is repeated, and then the Regina coeli is sung in organis; in the meantime, the priests, standing in the station before the dean go to the treasury with their relics and place them there […]. (Lefèvre 1967: 170).
In the concluding sections of this article, two further “parameters” are presented which are of specific interest for office compositions, and for the celebration of patron saints in particular. The feasts of patron saints are especially well documented as to performance indications, because of their solemnity (comparable to that of Christmas and Easter), and often because of the presence of saints’ relics in the abbey or church. In almost all ecclesiastical institutions, then, the feast of the patron saint was celebrated with special care. The celebration included recitation from the saint’s vita, and performance of the saint’s proper liturgical office (historia), which was frequently based on the vita. In many cases the feast also saw a special devotion to the primary and secundary relics of the saint, including their exhibition on or near the altar, incensing, and processions. Nearly all these actions were accompanied by chants, mostly selected from the proper office. Moreover, the veneration for the patron saint was frequently extended beyond the feast day, by additional celebrations of octave and commemorations, and by additional feasts as those of Translation and Elevation. The factors of selection (of significant passages of the vitae) and repetition (at fixed points throughout the liturgical year) contributed to a greater familiarity with “proper” and “local” saints and traditions, and thus played a significant role in the creation of medieval local or regional “identities”.
The Christmas and Easter instructions from Tongeren cited earlier have already suggested what may be understood as “ceremony”. Indeed, the term “ceremony” is used here in the sense outlined by John Harper (Harper 1991: 14), and thus designates the manner in which a liturgical ritual is carried out, including seemingly ephemeral phenomena such as movements, gestures, ornaments, and vestments. Briefly, it encompasses all information saying how things are done, and by whom. It is not without importance to include ceremonial instructions and practices as performance parameters, because they have direct or indirect implications for the various parameters mentioned earlier. They affect the performance directly, for example by specifying the liturgical personnel demanded for certain rites, which affects the “ensemble” of performers singing a certain chant (including, e.g., the cantor, hebdomadarii, canons, vicars, or choirboys,). Indirect implications could be compared to what Erika Fischer-Lichte designates as the “atmosphere” of a performance (Fischer-Lichte 2001), such as a certain habitus in the movements that are made, or the vestments, candles and incense used. Such factors can contribute to a sense of solemnity, which in its turn may affect the way in which chant is performed - and here Conrad of Zabern’s requirement of singing differentialiter comes to mind again (2.2.3). Occasionally, the “performance” of the liturgy approximates the modern sense of the word “staging” (Fischer-Lichte’s Inszenierung), in the use of almost “theatrical” techniques, such as a dove descending “ex machina”, used on the Feast of the Annunciation in the church of St Jacob (James) in Bruges in the fifteenth, and in the cathedral of Tournai in the sixteenth century (Bärsch 2005: 1-2).
In the celebration of patron saints, the relics, as the objects that embody the physical and spiritual presence of the saint, were of primary importance. The Tongeren Ordinal, copied in 1435-36 probably on the basis of a considerably older manuscript, offers a good example of the solemnity with which the feast of the second patron saint of the church, Maternus, is celebrated:
On the feast day of St Maternus, the first bishop of Tongeren and confessor, which is celebrated as a triple feast, the great bells toll, the main altar is prepared as on major feast days, and on it are placed Maternus’s pastoral staff and the chrystal in which [parts of] his right arm are kept. Two canons, the cantor and the ebdomadarius, serve on the choir, and the dean sings the Mass and the principal office hours. […] [After Terce,] a procession is held in the church, all canons dressed in caps, going towards the tower, returning along the pillars of the nave into the ambulatory, re-entering the church and proceeding to the font, and returning through the middle of the church into the choir stalls without halt (statio), while singing the responsory Gaude tuo with its verse and the Gloria Patri. (Lefèvre 1968: 520-522).
The actions to be performed in the collegiate church of Tongeren on September 25 are given in considerable detail. Indeed, the feast of Maternus was celebrated with great solemnity; it was established with certainty as a triple feast before 1383, a rank which brought the feast on the same level as Christmas, Epiphany, All Saints, the Dedication of the church, and the major Marian feasts (Purification, Annuntiation, Visitation, Assumption, Nativity, Conception). The instructions for the feast day of Maternus, the city’s legendary first bishop, answer many questions about rite and ceremony (who, what, where, when, how): they specificy the church personnel and its responsibilities, the decoration of the altar, the relics, the route to be followed by the procession. Important information on the music is given: which bells are tolled, and most importantly, which music is sung, when, and by whom.
The relic collections of certain churches comprised much more than the remains of the patron saint(s). Churches with a rich collection would also pay liturgical attention to the relics of other important saints, or, indeed, to the collection as a whole. Examples of both situations can be found, again, in the collegiate church of Tongeren. A special celebration was held in honor of Sts Processus and Martinian on the feast of the Visitation of the Virgin. This addition to a much more important (triple) feast day was justified on account of the presence of these saints’ relics ¯ the Ordinal actually says “bodies” ¯ in the church, as is attested by the ancient Ordinal, the predecessor of the Ordinal of 1435-36 (Lefèvre 1968: 453). In addition to the celebrations related to the relics of individual saints, a yearly festum reliquiarum nostrarum was held in Tongeren on November 8 (the octave of All Saints), and every seven years an Ostentatio reliquiarum was held during two weeks, from July 9 until July 24 (Lefèvre 1968: 468-469, 552). While the festum reliquiarum had no items that fell out of the ordinary celebration of the octave of a feast, the procession with the relics held before the Mass of the Ostentatio involved no small participation of musicians and singers, again corresponding to the solemnity of the occasion:
Note that every seven years, the display of the relics of the church of Tongeren is held […]. Then priest should dress in chasuble and prepare, with the deacon and subdeacon, for the singing of the special Mass of All Saints. Together with the canons and the chaplains, dressed in silken caps, and the scholars, they should go to the tower in procession, go up to the relics chamber, where each is given a relic container, and all descend in order, humbly and with great devotion, towards the main altar, lighted with candles, while all kinds of music should sound, that is, organs, trumpets, flutes, psalters and certain [other] instruments, and the responsory of All Saints Tua sunt hec Christe opera with the verse and the repetenda is sung, the antiphon Gaudent in celis and the antiphon In circuitu tuo Domine, when this should be necessary. Thus, this procession should proceed to the said altar with the greatest solemnity, where all relic holders should be placed on the main altar. Then the Mass of All Saints should begin (Lefèvre 1968: 468-469).
The final section addresses two aspects of repertory: the first deals with the relationship between the repertory sung at processions, the second with the addition of new chants to an already established historia for a saint.
The procession repertory is often related to that of the saint’s historia. But exactly what was the relationship between the former and the latter? Which chants were selected, and thus repeated more than once? An elaborate comparison of the use of chants in a primary (office) and secondary (processions, commemorations, etcetera) contexts of performance is not possible here, but a few examples will suffice to illustrate the principal points. Four patron saints and chants in their honor will be taken as an example: Maternus (Tongeren), Bavo (Ghent), Godeleva (Ghistel, close to Bruges), Begga (Andenne). The sources used are Antiphoners containing their historiae and Processionals containing one or several chants sung during the procession; in the cases of Tongeren and Andenne, an Ordinal also exists.
In honor of St Godeleva of Ghistel, the nuns of the Benedictine abbey at Ghistel sang two monastic offices, for the feast of Godeleva’s Passion, and for her Elevation. Both offices are preserved in a manuscript copied in 1606, and presently kept in Bruges (Bruges, Abbey of St Godeleva, 4). The chants for the processions on Godeleva’s feast days are preserved in the gatherings that form a fragment of a Processional (ibidem, 10). The responsories sung when entering the choir stalls (in introitu chori) during the procession on the feast of the Passion of Godeleva are the eighth responsories of the Passion (Godeleva cum de carnis carcere) and of the Elevation offices (Multiplicia in miseros), followed by the Magnificat antiphon from Second Vespers of the Passion office (O bone Messia). In the procession on the feast of the Elevation, the responsory from First and Second Vespers of the Elevation office (Gaude Godeleva inclita) is sung.
Before the seventeenth century, two medieval offices were also sung in honor of St Bavo, patron saint of the (male) Benedictine abbey of St Bavo (later transformed into a cathedral) in Ghent, for the feasts of the Deposition and the Elevation of Bavo. The offices are kept in the Antiphoner (Ghent, University Library, 15), and the processions in the Processional of St Bavo (Ghent, University Library, 184). The procession for the feast of the Deposition of Bavo selects the seventh (Pater insignis Bavo) and eighth responsory (Exulte in omne cordis) of the Deposition office, and the Magnificat antiphon of First Vespers (Sancte Bavo confessor) of the Deposition office. The procession for the Elevation makes use of the second (Quocumque divini sator) and third responsories (Omnem carnis insolentiam) of the Deposition office, and the same Magnificat antiphon.
In the processions for both Bavo and Godeleva, the responsories from the Elevation and the Passion or Deposition offices appear to be interchangeable: responsories from the Passion or Deposition offices are used in the Elevation processions, and vice versa. Furthermore, on account of their textual and musical style, the Elevation offices of both saints seem to be younger than the Deposition and Passion offices (the analytical details cannot be discussed here). It is striking, however, that the processions for the oldest feasts, the Deposition of Bavo and the Passion of Godeleva, make use of the responsories of the third nocturn, while the “later” Elevation processions hark back to responsories of the first nocturn (Bavo) or of First Vespers (Godeleva).
In the ordo of the secular canons at the collegiate church of Our Lady in Tongeren, only one office for Maternus was used; it is preserved in the fourteenth-century Antiphoners of Tongeren (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, 63 and 64) and in an compilation manuscript with components dating from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries (The Hague, Royal Library, 70 E 4); the processional chants are found in the fifteenth-century Processional (Tongeren, Church of Our Lady’s Nativity, 55). As was mentioned earlier (cf. a part of the description in the Ordinal above), the ceremonial aspects regarding relics, vestments, personnel, bells, candles, incense, and the procession itinerary, were described in detail in the Ordinal. During the procession, only one responsory was sung (Gaude tuo), the ninth responsory of the third nocturn. The feast of the Translation existed, but referred entirely to the chants of Maternus’s main feast. In the procession on the Translation feast, the Magnificat antiphon of Second Vespers from the Maternus office (Ave pater Gallie) was sung.
The convent of St Begga in Andenne also used only one office of Begga for the various celebrations of their patron saint. This convent counted a maximum of thirty secular canonesses among its inhabitants, as well as ten canons, one of which was a priest. The Begga office is preserved in a manuscript of 1669 from Andenne (Brussels, Royal Library, II 3316); the procession chants are found in the Andenne Processional of 1741 (Brussels, Royal Library, IV 7). After the “Messe des pélerins” (f. 142) in this Processional, the faithful bring Begga's shrine to the nave of the church, while singing the responsory Gloriose regum, the ninth responsory of Matins. On other important feast days, other responsories are sung: Beata Begga (the sixth responsory) in the procession of Corpus Christi, and Cum jam Dei amica (the seventh responsory) on the “jour de la feste d’Andenne” (f. 140). As in Tongeren, the Customs (coûtumes) of Andenne give precise indications regarding Begga’s relics, candles, personnel, and the procession itinerary (edited in Misson 1990: 392-501). Remarkably, the indications in the Customs also point to a relative rare composition of the “ensemble” of performers: both canonesses and canons participated in the ¯ alternatim ¯ performance of chant during the celebrations.
Comparable to the processions of Bavo and Godeleva, those of Begga and Maternus make use of the final responsory from the third nocturn of the saints’ historia. On feast days of secondary importance compared to the saints’ principal feast, other responsories are sung (Begga), or a Magnificat antiphon (Maternus).
Summarizing, it is clear that the responsories from the third nocturn are the ones that are most likely to be performed more than once, since they are often selected for inclusion among the procession chants. Comparing of the musical components of processions to saints’ historiae thus seems to be an important indicator for the performance frequency of certain chants
As a confirmation of the predilection for the repetition of the final responsory, it must be pointed out that such repetitions also occur within the “primary context” of the historia itself. The Tongeren Ordinal requires repeatedly that the last responsory be repeated instead of the Te Deum, more specifically on the feasts of Lucy, Peter’s chair, Mary of Egypt (when it falls before Easter), the Holy Innocents, and Septuagesima Sunday. On certain feasts, such as on Septuagesima Sunday, the Ordinal further specifies that a bell tolls during the second performance of this responsory, lending it an even greater importance:
[…] the ninth responsory, Ubi est Abel […] [is sung]; the Te Deum is not sung until Easter unless on double or triple feasts, but instead, the ninth responsory is repeated and is sung entirely, and in the meantime the second bell is tolled, instead of the Te Deum, until the end of the responsory. The custos of the choir always re-intones the responsory when the Te Deum is not sung (Lefèvre 1967: 105).
In a fashion similar to the repetition of the final responsories of Matins, the addition of a prosula adds to the importance of the concluding responsory. It is remarkable how consistently these prosulas were added to the ninth responsory of Matins.
To a certain extent, the addition of office prosulas to the great responsories at Matins is documented for the Low Countries. While nothing suggests that this actually was a frequent practice, some remnants still exist. As the case of the liturgy of Tongeren demonstrates, prosulas were added to office responsories on the feasts of popular and important saints, such as Mary, Catherine, or Nicholas, without necessarily including the patron saint as well. In Tongeren, prosulas were sung on the principal feasts of the Virgin Mary (Stella maris and Inviolata for the feasts of Conception, Purification, Assumption, Annunciation, or Nativity), and furthermore on the feasts of Catherine (Eterne virgo), Nicholas (Sospitati), Agnes (Eve genus) and Hubert (Huberte presul). For the second patron saint of the collegiate church, Maternus, no prosulas exist. Most of these prosulas, the Agnes-prosula excepted, have concordances in manuscripts from ‘s Hertogenbosch, Utrecht, or Zutphen.
A systematic search for the dissemination and continued use of prosulas has not yet been undertaken for the Low Countries, but there are elements to suggest that their use persisted well into the sixteenth century, both in manuscripts and in printed books. The Cantuale printed by Petrus Phalesius (Leuven, 1561) and destined for the new boys’ choir that emerged from the fusion of the choirs of the Old and the New Church in Amsterdam, for instance, contains prosulas for Nicholas, Catherine, and the Virgin Mary.
In regard of the chant of the office and of historiae in the Low Countries, this article hopes to have demonstrated how much can be gained from studying the liturgical context in rubrics and Ordinals and from the comparison of historiae and processional chants. Such a comparison yields important information about the interrelation between various celebrations of the same saint (Deposition, Passion, Elevation), and about the performance frequency of responsories.
Furthermore, the Low Countries' continuing position on the crossroads of many influences is clearly reflected in the flexible interpretation of the parameters of chant performance and in the writings of a number of medieval authors from the region. It makes clear that we should not be blind for certain continuities that persisted throughout the centuries, such as the continued use of ornamental forms in both adiastematic and Gothic neumes, or the various views on the differentiation of performance tempo. But on the other hand, and in spite of what an authority such as Peter Wagner envisaged as “the” traditional, and hence authentic way of performing chant in 1905, this article demonstrated that it is not possible to speak of one single performance practice, and that chronological and geographical variation is, or should be, one of the rules of a historically oriented performance practice.
De Loos, Ike. 1998-2008. Chant behind the dikes. <http:// utopia.knoware.nl/users/ikedl/chant/> [consulted on August 15, 2008].
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Strong reasoning
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Religion
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Founded sometime prior to the Hellenistic Age, Pergamum or Pergamon was an important ancient Greek city, located in Anatolia. It is now the site of the modern Turkish town, Bergama. Ruled by the Attalid dynasty, the city rose to prominence as an administrative center under King Eumenes II of Pergamum, who formed an alliance with the Roman Republic, severing ties with Macedonia.
Under the rule of Eumenes II (197-160) Pergamum was a wealthy, developing city with a population of over 200,000 people. Culturally it was rivaled only by the cities of Alexandria and Antioch. Many important works of sculpture and architecture were produced at this time, including the Great Altar of Pergamon. Upon the death of Attalus III, son of Eumenes II, in 133 BC, Pergamum was bequeathed to the Roman Republic. After the fall of Constantinople, Pergamum became part of the Ottoman Empire.
Pergamum was also an important city in the New Testament and was explicitly mentioned by St. John as one of the Seven Churches of Revelation in the Book of Revelation. The ruins of Pergamum and its library are now major archaeological sites in Turkey.
Pergamum was home to a library said to house approximately 200,000 volumes, according to the writings of Plutarch. Built by Eumenes II and situated at the northern end of the Acropolis, it became one of the most important libraries in the ancient world. The cultured Pergamene rulers built up the library to be second only to the Great Library at Alexandria. Flavia Melitene, who was a distinguished citizen of Pergamum and wife of a town Councillor was instrumental in supplying the library. She also presented a statue of Hadrian to the library as a gift. It is known that a certain Artemon was employed in the library during the second century B.C. though his personification is obscure. No index or catalog of the holdings at Pergamum exists today, making it impossible to know the true size or scope of this collection.
The library consisted of four rooms, the largest of which was the main reading room (44.5 feet x 50 feet), lined with many shelves. An empty space of approximately 50 centimetres (20 in) was left between the outer walls and the shelves to allow for air circulation, intending to prevent the library from becoming overly humid in the warm climate of Anatolia, an early attempt at library preservation. A 3 meter (10 feet) statue of Athena, modeled after her statue in the Parthenon, stood in the main reading room.
Manuscripts were written on parchment, rolled, and then stored on the shelves. The word "parchment" is derived from Pergamum (via the Latin pergamenum and the French parchemin). Pergamum was a thriving center of parchment production during the Hellenistic period. The city so dominated the trade that a legend later arose indicating that parchment had been invented in Pergamon to replace the use of papyrus, which had become monopolized by the rival city of Alexandria. This however is a myth; parchment had been in use in Anatolia and elsewhere long before the rise of Pergamon. Parchment reduced the Roman Empire’s dependency on Egyptian papyrus and allowed for the increased dissemination of knowledge throughout Europe and Asia.
The Kingdom of Pergamon fell to the Romans in 133 BC and the library grew neglected. According to a legend relayed by Plutarch, Mark Antony seized the collection of 200,000 rolls and presented them as a gift to his new wife Cleopatra in 43 BC, presumably in an effort to restock the Library of Alexandria, which had been destroyed by Ptolemaic raiders in 47 BC. Emperor Augustus returned some of the rolls to Pergamum after the death of Antony, and the library remained extant well into the Christian era, though it was not mentioned much by later historians, indicating its collection was no longer significant.
The ruins of the library sit on a hilltop near the Sactuary of Artemis and other buildings of the Pergamon Acropolis.
Content from Wikipedia
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Strong reasoning
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History
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City of Safranbolu
City of Safranbolu
From the 13th century to the advent of the railway in the early 20th century, Safranbolu was an important caravan station on the main East–West trade route. The Old Mosque, Old Bath and Süleyman Pasha Medrese were built in 1322. During its apogee in the 17th century, Safranbolu's architecture influenced urban development throughout much of the Ottoman Empire.
Ville de Safranbolu
Du XIIIe siècle à l'apparition du chemin de fer au début du XXe siècle, Safranbolu a été un poste caravanier important sur la principale route commerciale entre l'Orient et l'Occident. Sa Vieille Mosquée, ses bains, et la medersa de Shleyman Pacha ont été construits en 1322. À son apogée au XVIIe siècle, son architecture a influencé le développement urbain d'une grande partie de l'Empire ottoman.
من القرن الثامن وحتى ظهور السكة الحديد في مطلع القرن العشرين، شكلت سفرنبلو محطة هامة للقوافل على الطريق التجارية الرئيسة بين الشرق والغرب. وقد تم بناء مسجدها القديم وحماماتها ومدرسة سليمان باشا عام 1322. وإذ بلغت المدينة أوجها في القرن السابع عشر، أثرت هندستها في تطور التخطيط المدني لجزء كبير من الامبراطورية العثمانية.
Начиная с XIII в. и до времени появления железных дорог в начале XX в., Сафранболу был важным пунктом на главном караванном торговом пути Восток-Запад. Старая мечеть, Старые бани и медресе Сулейман-паши были построены в 1322 г. Во времена своего расцвета в XVII в. архитектура Сафранболу оказывала влияние на развитие городов в значительной части Османской империи.
Ciudad de Safranbolu
Desde el siglo XIII hasta la llegada del ferrocarril, a comienzos del siglo XX, Safranbolu fue una etapa importante de las caravanas que se desplazaban por la principal ruta comercial terrestre entre Oriente y Occidente. La vieja mezquita, los antiguos baños públicos y la madraza de Solimán Pachá se edificaron el año 1322. Durante su período de apogeo, en el siglo XVII, la arquitectura de esta ciudad ejerció una acusada influencia en las realizaciones urbanas de una gran parte del imperio otomano.
Safranbolu is een typisch Ottomaanse stad die vanaf de 13e eeuw tot de komst van de spoorweg begin 20e eeuw een belangrijke rustplaats was voor reizigers op de handelsroute tussen oost en west. Veel belangrijke gebouwen zoals de oude moskee, de oude badplaats en de Süleyman Paşa Medresesi zijn rond het jaar 1322 gebouwd. Tijdens haar hoogtepunt in de 17e eeuw beïnvloedde de architectuur van Safranbolu de stedelijke ontwikkeling van een groot deel van het Ottomaanse Rijk. De stad is sinds de prehistorie bewoond geweest, wat blijkt uit menselijke nederzettingen en in rotsen uitgehakte tombes.
Safranbolu is a typical Ottoman city that has survived to the present day. It also displays an interesting interaction between the topography and the historic settlement. By virtue of its key role in the caravan trade over many centuries, Safranbolu enjoyed great prosperity and as a result it set a standard in public and domestic architecture that exercised a great influence on urban development over a large area of the Ottoman Empire. The architectural forms of the buildings and the streets are illustrative of their period. The caravan trade was for centuries the main commercial link between the Orient and Europe. As a result, towns of a characteristic type grew up along its route. With the coming of railways in the 19th century, these towns abruptly lost their raison d'être, and most of them were adapted to other economic bases. Safranbolu was not affected in this way and as a result has preserved its original form and buildings to a remarkable extent.
The site of Safranbolu has been occupied by human settlements since prehistory, as evidenced by rock-cut tombs. The Turks conquered the town in the 11th century and in the 13th century it became an important caravan station on the main east-west trade route. Surviving buildings from this early period include the Old Mosque, Old Bath, and Medresse of Süleyman Pasha, all built in 1322.
The caravan trade reached its apogee in the 17th century, when the central market was extended to meet the requirements of travellers. Many buildings survive from this period, including the Cinci Inn with its 60 guestrooms (1640-48), Koprülü Mosque (1661) and Let Pasha Mosque (1796), as well as many stores, stables and baths. Changes in trading structures and the advent of the railways brought this long period of prosperity to an end in the early 20th century. The town underwent a period of economic deprivation until the building of the Karabük steelworks, which provided a great deal of employment in the region.
Safranbolu consists of four distinct districts: the market place area of the inner city, known as Çukur (The Hole), the area of Kıranköy, Bağlar (The Vineyards), and an area of more recent settlement outside the historic area. The original Turkish settlement was immediately in the south of the citadel and developed to the south-east.
Çukur is so named because it lies in the lower part of the town; its centre is the market place, which is surrounded by the houses and workshops of craftsmen, such as leather workers, blacksmiths, saddlers and shoemakers, and textile workers. The area is triangular in shape, defined by two rivers.
Kıranköy was formerly a non-Muslim district, with a socio-architectural pattern similar to that in contemporary European towns, in fact the craftsmen and tradesmen living above their workshops, cellars used for winemaking and storage, etc. The pattern of settlement in Bağlar is one of single houses set within large gardens.
The streets in Çukur and Kıranköy are narrow and curved, following contours. They are surfaced with stone paving, sloping inwards to evacuate surface water. The older houses are half-timbered, the spaces between the timbers being filled with various materials (clay, brick, etc.). There are no windows on the street frontage, so that the stone walls resemble extensions of garden walls; the main rooms are on the first floor. Many of the ceilings are lavishly carved and painted.Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
The site of Safranbolu has been occupied by human settlements since prehistory, as evidenced by rock-cut tombs and a Roman temple in the vicinity. The present settlement developed as a trading centre after the Turkish conquest in the 11th century. In the 13th century it became an important caravan station on the main east-west trade route. Surviving buildings from this early period include the Old Mosque, the Old Bath, and the Medresse of Siileyman Pasha. all built in 1322.
The caravan trade reached its apogee in the 17th century, when the central market was extended to meet the requirements of travellers rather than the local inhabitants. Many buildings survive from this period, including the Cinci Inn with its sixty guest rooms (1640-48), the Kopriilii Mosque (1661), and the Izzet Pasha Mosque (1796), as well as many stores, stables, and baths.
The 19th century saw considerable investment in private estates and a sharp increase in the size of the town. The richer inhabitants donated public buildings, including eighteen fountains, the ~ and Hamadiye mosques, the Ali Baba convent, and the town hospital.
Changes in trading structures and the advent of the railways brought this long period of prosperity to an end in the early 20th century. The town underwent a period of economic deprivation until the building of the Karabiik steelworks, which provided a great deal of employment in the region. Safranbolu residents who went to work at Karabiik preferred to retain their original homes, thus bringing limited economic stability back to the town.Source: Advisory Body Evaluation
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Strong reasoning
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History
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It was said for magic that knowing a demon or magical creature's name gave you power over it. This is the same for our knowledge of organisms. Knowing which genus, species, family, etc. allows you access to all the previously known knowledge about it.
Do we have hundreds of articles on its biology? Or is it something completely unknown?
As a taxonomist, these are dynamics that one comes to accept as part of the profession. They are challenges and we always hope that things will be better. But for the moment, this is how they are.. Most folks in the taxonomy field live with these things every day.
They would often identify these things (and yes, of course for free) and there was not even a suggestion that the name of the taxonomist would be included anywhere but in the acknowledgements.
So, the scientists were held in high regard but never got full credit.
This happened to me a lot early in my career. but not any more...
Its often convention to list the author and date of description after the species name, especially if it was described recently (i.e., in the last 50 years or so). This is usually done only in formal taxonomic papers. But in journals which use taxonomy outside of "formal" use (e.g., in ecology, physiology, etc.), its not unusual for the author and date to not be cited and the reference (and thus the credit) for scientific papers is denied to taxonomists. Thus lowering their status in the scientific community. This paper documents this issue.
- Space! So many jars, specimens, etc. fit into a storage room and real estate can be expensive. Universities and private collectors are prone to give up their collections, which often end up at museums overwhelming the in-house resources.
- Personnel! People are one of the most important ingredients to a good museum collection. Specimens require upkeep. They have to be cataloged. Shipped. Mailed. Received. Sorted. Some materials are protected by law. Training museum professionals is now its own field separate from what scientists do. Collection management is a challenge.
- Resources! Specimens require material. Jars. Archival storage boxes. Tissue samples require freezers. Shelving. The list goes on. Individually, some of the items may not cost much..but remember these are used at a pretty regular clip.
Most taxonomists are unique experts in their group. As I said above, I am one of the world's only practicing taxonomists specializing in living sea stars (there are paleontologists around though). In the early 20th Century there were up to 5 to 7 sea star experts at any given time. Yes. there are people who work on regional faunas (i.e. starfishes of island X) but folks who work on all of them? That's me.
One of the things I always clarify to folks is that even though there's always something to DO, there's not always someone who will hire you to do it.
I love what I do. But I don't have a "proper job" (I get by on soft money and other funds) but I feel compelled to continue (and I continue to hope!). My career is a good one but I've been lucky. Its a difficult field to survive in.
So, yes. There's an avalanche of undescribed species awaiting description! But whether you are a classical (but modern!) taxonomist like me, a person working on protists, or a barcoding guru, these are all pretty specialized positions. And getting a job doing what we're trained for is, at best difficult.
What happens when the last person working on a big or important group retires or dies?
There's been an unfortunate decline in jobs for taxonomists in recent years. This seems to accompany the various funding issues which accompany universities which have shifted their emphasis away from programs focusing on general knowledge.
Many reasons have been offered for this decline but ultimately I think the best I can do to support future generations and my other colleagues is to continue my outreach and shed a light on the challenges faced and why supporting taxonomists is worthwhile!
At this point, someone will bring up privatization or "Why don't you charge people for what you do?" And yes. Its crossed my mind..but that's a discussion for another post..
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Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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Bisexual folks have high rates of bad real and psychological state. Physical disparities consist of greater prices of high blood pressure, bad or reasonable real wellness, smoking cigarettes, and dangerous ingesting than non LGB individuals, lesbians, or homosexual males. Despite these disparities, as well as perhaps compounding them, bisexual folks are not as likely than homosexual males or lesbians to be off to their own health care providers.
Bisexual individuals encounter higher prices of intimate and partner that is intimate than homosexual, lesbian, and right individuals.
The world-wide-web can be sharing facts that are important numbers concerning the bi community. Get in on the discussion by tweeting BiFacts for BiWeek today! From September 21 27, join GLAAD in acknowledging the Bisexual Awareness Week, including Celebrate Bisexuality Day on September 23. Browse the brand new means for bi, trans, and ally communities to obtain involved every single day.
Bisexuality is a term accustomed describe a intimate orientation in which individuals are emotionally and sexually interested in folks of one or more sex. The “bi” (meaning both) in bisexual will not explain attraction to just two genders (male and female), as some may think, but defines a state of attraction to both those of one’s own gender and those of some other or numerous gender(s). Attraction toward individuals of any sex may often be described as pansexuality, but whether a chooses that are individual determine as bisexual or pansexual is typically a matter of individual choice.
Intimate orientation can be defined as the pattern of one’s romantic or intimate attraction to other people of the identical sex, one or more sex, or none after all. Many people whom identify as bisexual might be drawn to those people who are female or male, while some might be drawn to anybody, no matter that person’s sex.
The word pansexual is usually utilized as by people who need to explain their intimate orientation to be unhampered by limits of sex. Someone who identifies as bisexual may experience attraction that still is likewise limitless, many may experience restrictions for their attraction. A person may choose to identify as bisexual as a matter of preference, and some may use the terms bisexual and pansexual interchangeably in either case. Someone who is drawn to people of one or more sex or who partcipates in intimate behavior that will may actually suggest bisexuality will likely not identify as bisexual necessarily or pansexual and could alternatively choose various other identifier or none after all.
Find a specialist
Some individuals whom identify as bisexual may decide to pursue non relationships that are monogamous a variety of an individual, but quite simply distinguishing as bisexual will not indicate that any particular one is non monogamous. The complexities of intimate, intimate, and attraction that is emotional tough to determine with no one of these can summarize just exactly what this means become bisexual.
The above mentioned examples are merely a couple of hypothetical explanations of some experiences that are possible and they’re perhaps not designed to simplify bisexuality. The complexities of romantic, intimate, and attraction that is emotional hard to determine, with no one of these can summarize exactly exactly what this means become bisexual. Some may experience limits to their attraction in general, the main distinction between bisexuality and other sexual orientations is that bisexual individuals have the potential for sexual attraction toward more than one gender, and though individuals who are bisexual may be attracted to all genders.
Exactly How Typical Is sex cam com Bisexuality?
In accordance with a scholarly study carried out by The Williams Institute last year, around 3.5% for the populace regarding the usa identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Whenever those that participate in homosexual intimate behavior but try not to recognize as LGB are most notable quantity, the portion increases to 8.2percent for the populace. Simply over 1 / 2 of the study’s LGBT population (3.5%) described on their own as bisexual (1.8%), and females made within the greater part of those that defined as bisexual.
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Strong reasoning
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Social Life
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Students want this because they want to gain more from the same amount of time/money, and teachers want it because it’s their job provide this.
There are of course many ways of increasing efficiency, but one of the lowest hanging fruit is probably that of previewing. This is incredibly important for efficiency, yet many students neglect it. The most ambitious students preview, which is a pity, because it’s actually the rest of the group that need it most.
Why previewing is essential for efficient learning
Previewing is important because it allows you to use time more efficiently. Let’s look at an example. You are a normal student in a normal foreign language course at a university in your home country. You have a textbook and at the end of the semester, there will be a test on all the chapters you have covered.
You can either:
- Not preview at all, which will mean that most things you encounter in class will be completely new. This approach might still work, but you definitely need extra time after the lesson to really understand what’s going on. Then you also need reviewing to remember everything. A majority of students use this method.
- Preview properly before each lesson, which means that going to the lesson is mostly a matter of solidifying what you have already learnt while straightening out some questions you might have. Reviewing is necessary, not to understand, but to remember what you have learnt. This is what all students should do.
I think the above two approaches take roughly the same amount of time over a semester, but they are clearly not equal when it comes to how much you learn. Previewing has several advantages over not previewing:
- Input should precede output – Most research shows that input should precede output. You can’t be expected to use a grammar patterns you have only heard once. If you preview, you can read and listen to the material several times before you go to the lesson. This can be done without a teacher. During the lesson, you’ll get more out of your speaking practice.
- Increased chances of incidental learning – If you know most of the content before the lesson starts, you’re much more likely to be pick up new things without really trying. This is simply because you already know what the teacher is talking about, increasing your understanding a lot, and thus also increasing the likelihood that you pick up new things. This includes things that aren’t actually part of the lesson, such as extra words used by the teacher. Without previewing, these will just be distractions.
- Less confusion leads to more learning – Since you already know most of the things covered by the lesson, you have a clear idea what the teacher is talking about, which makes it a lot easier to learn. If you don’t preview, it will take a lot of time to figure out what the teacher means every time she introduces something new. This uncertainty or fuzziness can be both frustrating and detrimental to learning. It can mostly be done away with if you preview properly.
- Teaching others is a great way of learning – If you have previewed and some of your classmates have not, while this will slow down the pace of the lesson, you often get opportunities to help others out. This is a great way to solidify your own knowledge and check if you understand the subject matter or not. I’ve written more about the benefits of teaching here: Use the benefits of teaching to boost your own Chinese learning.
- Boosted confidence and more enjoyable lessons – Constantly feeling out of your depth and repeatedly missing the point can be emotionally straining. By being prepared when you come to class, you will feel more in control and probably enjoy learning more. This is particularly important if you have enrolled in a course which is actually above your current level.
There are probably more reasons why previewing is a good, but I think that’s enough. Most of these and other reasons can actually be discussed accurately using time quality, which briefly put just means using the right kind of time for each activity. Read more here:
Not previewing is a waste of high-quality study time
The main reason why neglecting previewing is so bad is that it’s a waste of time quality. In other words, you’re using high-quality teacher time for tasks you could as well have completed with lower-quality time at home on your own.
There are several factors limiting how much you can learn, such as how much time you have available to study on your own, how much teacher time you have, how much time you can practise with friends and so on.
By spending precious time with a teacher on things you don’t actually need a teacher for, you’re wasting high-quality study time. If you could learn the basic meaning of the words for the next chapter on your own, why would you do it in class? If you could practise reading the text a few times and iron out some pronunciation issues before class, rather than stumble your way through it in class, why not do that?
Naturally, depending on what your course is like, there might still be elements that fall into this category, even if you preview. You might have to listen to classmates who haven’t prepared at all stumbling through a text or your teacher might insist that you go through things that are adequately explained in the textbook.
No matter, previewing is still good for you, apart from the fact that you don’t want to be the person slowing everybody else down. Taking up more classroom time is also a problem in itself.
For example, would you ask as many questions if you knew you also took up more time with basic tasks such as reading a text, compared with your classmates? Most people aren’t okay with that and fair teachers also limit the impact unprepared students are allowed to have on the class as whole.
What to preview and how to do it
Previewing is not difficult. Focus on input as much as possible and don’t be too concerned with being able to actively use the language. Make sure you understand the words in the new chapter (reading and listening), read and listen to the text until you feel reasonably familiar with it, check any explanations in the book.
If you encounter something difficult or something which the book fails to explain properly, just make a note of it and ask your teacher. This is partly what teachers are for! If you have previewed properly, you know which questions to ask. If you haven’t, those questions will often pop up after the lesson, when no-one is around to answer.
Seriously. If you take learning Chinese seriously, you have to preview. The only exception might be if you for some reason have access to unlimited teaching time, which is extremely unlikely. For all normal students, make sure you get the most out of your lessons by previewing! It doesn’t take significantly more time, it’s just that you put in more effort before the lesson rather than after. By doing so, you do both yourself, your classmates and your teacher a big favour!
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Moderate reasoning
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Education & Jobs
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US researchers suggest that eating more brown rice and less white rice, and similarly for other grain foods, eating more whole grain and less refined grain, could lower people’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, because unrefined grains have more nutrients and fiber, which slow the rush of sugar into the bloodstream.
You can read about the National Institutes of Health sponsored study that led up to these findings in the 14 June online issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. The lead author was Dr Qi Sun who worked on the study while at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and is now an an instructor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, both in Boston, Massachusetts.
Sun, whose work was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from Unilever Corporate Research, told the press that this was the first study to compare links between white and brown rice consumption and diabetes risk among Americans, who are eating a lot more rice now than they did a few decades ago.
“We believe replacing white rice and other refined grains with whole grains, including brown rice, would help lower the risk of type 2 diabetes,” said Sun.
He and his colleagues found that consuming five or more servings of white rice a week was linked to an increased risk, yet eating two or more servings of brown rice was linked to a lower risk, of developing type 2 diabetes.
They estimated that replacing a small amount (50 gm, or about one third of a daily serving) of white rice with brown rice would be enough to lower the risk by 16 per cent, and doing the same with whole grains like wheat and barley would lower it even more, by 36 per cent.
For the study they examined data on 157,463 women and 39,765 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HFPS) and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital-based Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) I and II. The data came from questionnaires given out every four years where the participants answered questions about their lifestyle, diet, health conditions and medical status.
The results showed that:
- During 22 years of follow up in the NHS 1 study, there were 5,500 documented cases of type 2 diabetes among the participants, while over 14 years there were 2,359 cases among NHS II participants, and over 20 years there were 2,648 among the HFPS participants.
- After adjusting for age and other lifestyle and dietary risk factors, consuming 5 or more servings per week of white rice was linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with consuming less than one a month (pooled relative risk was 1.17 with 95 per cent confidence interval CI ranging from 1.02 to 1.36).
- In contrast, consuming 2 or more servings of brown rice per week was linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes compared with consuming less than one a month (pooled relative risk 0.89, with 95% CI from 0.81 to 0.97).
- Replacing 50 grams (uncooked, about one third of a daily serving) of white rice with same amount of brown rice was linked to a 16 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes (95 per cent CI from 9 to 21 per cent).The same replacement with whole grains as a group was linked with a 36 per cent lower risk of type 2 diabetes (95 per cent CI from 30 to 42 per cent).
Sun and colleagues concluded that:
“Substitution of whole grains, including brown rice, for white rice may lower risk of type 2 diabetes.”
They suggested the findings support the idea that to prevent developing type 2 diabetes, most of our carbohydrate intake should come from whole rather than refined grains.
White rice is the result of milling and polishing brown rice, which strips away the fiber and most of the minerals and nutrients in the grain, making it easier and quicker to digest so the main end product, sugar, enters the bloodstream faster. This is also the case for other grains that we eat, like wheat and barley.
The researchers also found that the biggest consumers of white rice were more likely to have a family history of diabetes, but less likely to smoke or be of European descent.
In contrast, there was no particular ethnicity link for brown rice consumption: instead, people with a health conscious lifestyle and diet were the most likely to eat brown rice.
After ruling out potential influencers like age, body mass index (BMI), alcohol, smoking, family history of diabetes and other dietary factors, the links between white rice consumption and increased risk of diabetes was still there.
When they did a secondary analysis that included only white participants, thus ruling out the effect of ethnicity on both white rice consumption and diabetes risk, they found much the same result.
There were much fewer participants eating brown rice in the sample compared to eating other whole grains, and this could account for the researchers not being able to determine if higher levels of brown rice consumption might link with even lower risk of diabetes; it might also explain why eating more whole grains overall was more reliably linked to lower risk of the disease than the figures for brown rice would indicate.
The US government’s guidelines suggest that Americans should get at least half of their carbohydrates from grains, including rice. But although Americans are eating more rice, it’s mostly white rice. Senior author Dr Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH, said:
“From a public health point of view, whole grains, rather than refined carbohydrates, such as white rice, should be recommended as the primary source of carbohydrates for the US population.”
He said their findings could have “even greater implications for Asian and other populations in which rice is a staple food”.
“White Rice, Brown Rice, and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in US Men and Women.”
Qi Sun, Donna Spiegelman, Rob M. van Dam, Michelle D. Holmes, Vasanti S. Malik, Walter C. Willett, Frank B. Hu.
Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
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Strong reasoning
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Health
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SCADA is a supervisory control and data acquisition software. The HMI SCADA system gathers industrial PLC (programmable logic controller) equipment data in real-time inside the architecture of a ICS (Industrial Control System). The goal is to monitor data, process control, record industrial gathered information in a database, generate reports and execute specific applications.
List of some SCADA software:
- Control Microsystems: SCADAPack
- LCDS SCADA system: LAquis SCADA
- Rockwell: RSView
Automation also has come to optimize and make jobs easier inside the industry. SCADA systems helps both the operator and the manager to control the process. Several repetitive tasks are automated and more time is left for decision tasks. SCADA in industrial automation is widely used. When talking about industrial automation, PLC, HMI, is also usually involved an SCADA system. SCADA is a supervisory system where real-time industry information is gathered through a communication network. The equipment in a factory may have a communication ability. It allows PLC equipment to send the data acquisition to computers in a company. These computers, that have a SCADA system installed, allow you to receive the data acquisition from the equipment.
But it's not just monitoring. The SCADA system can control, record, generate reports and develop specific applications from the data acquisition. In the case of the control, the PLC may contain variables. Setpoint, limits, and parameters in general. Then the SCADA sends the data to the equipment and it has its data parameterized. Each variable or information is usually called a tag. In a SCADA software these tags can be memories and formulas as well. The equipment that communicates with the computer is usually a PLC. PLC is an acronym that stands for Programmable Logic Controller. There may be a lot of equipment on the same communication network. All these equipment may be gathered in the SCADA system. The most commonly used communication types in the data acquisition are ethernet and serial. For the case of serial communication may be RS-232, usually standard DB9, or RS-485. The RS-485 allows multiple devices on the same line and a longer distance, so it is widely used. Ethernet is the format of the computer network generally used with the TCP protocol in the SCADA systems. For the case of ethernet communication, each equipment / PLC has an IP. These devices can communicate directly with the computer over a specific network or through the corporate LAN network. There are several types of communication protocols. In the case of serial communication, one of the protocols used in SCADA system data acquisition is the MODBUS RTU. This standard has been set to the SCADA system sends and receives data from a generic address table. A similar protocol can be used via ethernet which is the MODBUS TCP. Each device may have a specific communication protocol. For the SCADA system to communicate with the equipment, a communication driver is required. This driver is a part of the software or library that allows you to communicate with the equipment. But a driver that communicates with MODBUS RTU may be used in equipment that has this protocol.
Keep the factory under control in real time, keep reports and analyze everything that has occurred. This is one of the characteristics of an SCADA software system. Each control point, each system tag.
Monitoring information in an HMI SCADA system (human machine interface). An HMI screen is designed like a panel with buttons, displays, gauges, charts, etc. Data is presented to the user in a SCADA software.
Display: objects that display values on the SCADA HMI screen. Several formatting properties can be used. Numbers, texts, and even colors indicative of errors and alarms. They are mainly associated with analog tags.
Pictures may be used in the HMI not only to illustrate the environment or the machine but also to represent buttons and states. For example, open or closed valve, also associated with a tag. The pictures can be animated, as in the case of running engines as well. Instead of external pictures, it is possible to draw on the SCADA itself. Vector drawings are also used as objects.
Buttons: Used to receive a user command. By clicking on the button, an action is triggered. Information sent to the PLC, change of HMI panel or report generation. These buttons may be hotspots distributed over a picture on the HMI in a SCADA system.
LEDs: color indicators for digital states. If a digital variable of the PLC is connected, value 1, then the color referring to the connected state is activated in a LED.
Gauge: pointer indicator for analog SCADA system variables. The minimum and maximum values of the scale are set. Limits may also be placed.
Level: Level indicators with scale. They can be used from liquid indications such as in tanks to simple scales of analog numbers. The minimum and maximum values of the scale are defined. SCADA system alarm and safety limits can also be set.
Check: key switches on and off. They are associated with digital tags. When the user clicks the SCADA HMI on the check a digital signal is sent to the PLC.
Text/number input: Components for number or text entry. Usually used in analog variables. The user enters the value in HMI and sends the variable to the PLC. Combos can also be used to stop preset values. Text may be used as information also, for example, product name.
Chart: Charts are important to show the behavior of the tags over time. They may be placed in a HMI associated with the PLCs tags. In the Y axis the tag values are placed, and in the X-axis, the time. This history may be saved to the database.
Control: The setpoints available in the system are controlled by the SCADA system. Limits and presets are changed during the process. Valves, pumps can be also triggered by the SCADA system.
Data acquisition: Information from the PLC transmitted to the computer as explained above. Data acquisition and reporting may be continuous or split by testing or production. For the continuous case, the data is monitored continuously with some possible interruptions. In the case divided by test, there is a beginning and an end. It could be a calibration, an inspection, or even a small production.
Database in SCADA
The database stores the history of the information collected by the PLC. They may be binaries, texts, standard formats via ODBC or proprietary. These databases have fields that can be created according to each case. Auxiliary tables are also used to feed information. Each field in a database may be a tag. Each database has multiple tables. Each table has records separated by date. Field types can be number, text, or date/time. Tables may be protected by a password or by a CRC so the data can not be changed without permission there. The table data is searched by filters on the fields. For the case of the ODBC, they may be queried via SQL in the application.
Reports in SCADA
Generating reports is often the goal. They are where the final results are presented. They are documents with formatting from headers, texts, and footers. The data in the reports are presented through texts, tables or graphs. Each report format is defined according to each system case. The data stored in a SCADA system are filtered according to each case and placed in the tables. The data can be presented by time or by crossing information. Likewise the charts. There are several types of analysis that may be done in reports. Means of values, count of items, control of users that changed setpoints, tests of values that exceed limits, quality reports, efficiency, production statistics, etc. Reports can also be test results as a certificate. Data headers for a product, customer, procedures, collected data and calculated results using the acquired information. This reporting may have specific standard layout approved by the quality sector.
SCADA distributed system
SCADA system can be distributed. Several computers in a network can receive information from the equipment. This data sharing can be via WEB / TCP. In a computer network, some computers with SCADA are connected to the PLC / equipment. These computers become servers. Other client computers on the network receive the information from the servers. Similarly, data written to the database is stored on servers. Reports may be generated on the client computers with the data retrieved from the servers. This network can be LAN network. Each computer can have an IP.
Scripts are used for specific applications with sequential commands. These commands are defined within each system event. This script can be a computer language. A sequence of commands and conditions that define the behavior of specific processes. Also, some more advanced calculations that must be addressed by algorithms.
Examples of SCADA commands:
Transfer value from a tag to a variable: The value of a SCADA system tag, an analog or digital output point of a PLC, is transferred to an internal script variable. This variable is used to calculate results or define other behaviors. Set values of a tag: Specific values of equipment entry points may be set via script depending on the behavior of an event or some state. Conditions: Define conditions to execute a command. Example, if a tag is greater than other, then execute some command.
There are many types of events in a SCADA system. Examples of events:
After the scan: executes a series of commands after the values of the tags have been read from the PLC. Alarm: Run a script when an alarm is triggered. Start: Run commands when the system starts. Clicking an object. Execute commands when the user clicks on any of the objects in the HMI.
There are also several types of auxiliary SCADA commands that are used in script.
Text commands, where text variables are handled with formats and positions. SCADA commands for handling numbers, logical commands, rounding, mathematical calculations, timings, handling of time variables, commands for writing to special files (text/binary), commands for TCP communications, etc.
There are two basic types of SCADA variables in script. Text variables and numeric variables. Text variables are used, for example, for status and warning statements. Numerical variables can be analog or digital variables.
Building automation: A housing complex or a hotel can have a centralized control. There are many things to control and monitor. The number of lamps to be turned on and off can be huge, and schedules may be made from on and off times. Also, if you want, a control of who left it on and for how long. And it's not just the lamps, but the air conditioners as well. Control for on, off and schedules. Another fundamental thing in SCADA is the control of energy expenditure. Voltage, current and power data must be monitored. There is also the case for open and closed door security systems for apartments. And pumps for swimming pools and saunas.
Water treatment: For the case of water treatment, there is a sequence of steps. Chlorination, sedimentation, aeration, sand filtration, disinfection, etc... The SCADA system can monitor the liquid level of each stage. The valves can also be opened or closed by SCADA. In a HMI, all the steps in the schematic with tanks, pipes, motors and valves may be monitored. In the database and report the history of pH, temperatures, flows, oxygen and levels are controlled with samplings and charts.
Temperature control: For temperature control, several points with thermocouples can be distributed in the plant. Each thermocouple sends the information through indicators or controllers. Each temperature point has tolerances relative to the process. In some cases, a recipe of pre-set temperatures should be followed. For these cases, temperature controllers with analog outputs or relays are used to heat or cool the system. Recipes and setpoints may be controlled via SCADA.
Production control system: In production control, many items should be controlled. Each machine can be used by several operators. Each operator will act in specific shifts. The machine will be switched on for production and shut down for various reasons. The machine on and standby time must be monitored. When stopped, the reason must be related to the SCADA system. When in production, the pieces must be counted. The reports may contain the relationship between the operators, the running time of the machines, the reasons for the stops and the counting of parts and the characteristics of the products.
Product test: A product test has a middle and an end start. It can be divided into several phases. At the end, a report is issued with product data, data collected and results. One example is the vehicular inspection. First, the vehicle and customer data are entered. Then the suspend test is started. Vibration variation is monitored and stored. Then the braking test is performed. The braking force is stored. Then, in the generation of the report, the factors that, based on the data collected, will be calculated if the vehicle has passed or not passed the test.
One very important item that is being analyzed is the safety of SCADA. The SCADA system can not allow data to be manipulated by undesirable sources. Various types of actions must be taken to ensure that only the chosen users are able to control the system.
Easier jobs with SCADA system.
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Moderate reasoning
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Software
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What is Government? A government is a group of people or a system that governs a group of people. Generally, a state or other form of organized community has a government. Listed below are the types of governments. To learn more about each one, check out the definitions below. What Is Government? What is its Purpose? And What Is a Government? Here are some of the most common examples:
A government is a political body that exercises authority over its citizens and performs functions. This type of organization is dependent on the people’s desire to run their own affairs, whether they want a school board or a city council, or elect a state or federal government. However, the term government is also commonly used as a synonym for governance. Here are some definitions: What is a Government? What Is It? And Why is It Important?
A government is a form of political authority that provides benefits to society. Its goals vary from country to country, but most aim to secure national borders, provide health care for citizens, and ensure economic prosperity. A government also provides benefits to its citizens. These benefits vary depending on the governmental system, but some common benefits are education, health care, and infrastructure. Listed below are some of the most popular types of government. What Is Government?
A government has two branches: the executive branch and the judicial branch. The president is the head of the executive branch, while the legislature serves as the judicial branch. The executive branch is elected by voters, while the judicial branch is elected by them. The legislative branch is responsible for interpreting and enacting laws, while the judicial branch is responsible for administering justice. A government can be divided into two branches, which are referred to as the judicial, legislative, and administrative.
Regardless of how it is organized, government is a vital part of society. It allocates power and benefits to the population. All governments worldwide aim to achieve economic prosperity, secure national borders, and ensure the safety of their citizens. As a result, governments provide services to their citizens that vary widely from country to country. Some common government functions include providing health care, education, infrastructure, and law enforcement. It is the ultimate authority over its people.
In general, a government is a group of people that is given the power to rule a community. A government may be a nation or a state. A government can be a parliamentary system or a democracy. A democratic government is a form of a parliamentary system. The judicial branch is the branch that oversees a community. The legislature is the supreme authority of the country. Its role is to implement laws and protect the public.
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No reasoning
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Politics
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In early December of 1965, network executives at CBS were wringing their hands over the decision to retain the telling of the birth of Jesus at the conclusion of A Charlie Brown Christmas. The program that had its premier nationally on CBS on December 9, 1965 was the creation of Charles M. Schulz. His Christmas program included all of the main characters in his famous comic strip Peanuts. The theme was the search for the true meaning of Christmas. Charlie Brown, disgusted by the commercialism surrounding the holiday, determined to discover the authentic meaning of Christmas. Finally, frustrated by his pursuit, he cried out for someone to answer his question. Linus then relates to Charlie and to the television audience the Nativity from the Gospel of Luke. The executives feared that viewers would not stay tuned through the recitation by Linus of the birth of Christ. Charles Schulz rebelled against any attempt to remove the telling of the story of the birth of Jesus. Schulz declared, "If we don't tell the true meaning of Christmas, who will?"
Explicit in this question is the very "Mission Statement" of the apostles. It was they who had to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to the societies of the ancient world. It is we who must continue that proclamation to ours. Ironically, some people are reticent to share their beliefs, but there are many who are almost desperate to do so. The English writer William Hazlitt illustrates the point in this remembrance from a gathering of friends, "'There is only one person I can think of after this,' continued H____, but without mentioning a name that once put on a semblance of mortality: 'If Shakespeare was to come into the room, we should all rise up to meet him; but if that person was to come into it, we should all fall down and try to kiss the hem of his garment.' As a lady present seemed now to get uneasy at the turn the conversation had taken, we rose up to go." Great is the number of souls who desire to receive the happiness, comfort, hope, assurance, and all the other gifts contained in the true meaning and purpose of Christmas. Among the various celebratory seasons of the year, Christmas provides the most agreeable atmosphere for public rejoicing. From family gatherings to nondescript office parties, opportunities exist to introduce thoughtful comments about the birth of Christ. Few are the people who can comfortably and effectively stump for Christ, but we all are able to present ourselves as individuals who spiritually are aware of the momentous event being celebrated. Employing the very motion of our lives, we should seek to witness to the significance of Christmas in a faithful, natural, joyful, and, shall we say, merry way. If we don't do this, who will?
In quiet and truthful times, good people in conversation often lament over the moral decay emblematic of our culture. The times are topsy-turvy. One may be chary of wishing another a "Merry Christmas," but unashamedly may spew all forms of obscenity. The mass of misguided impulses that has formed recent societal trends continue to create chaos in the process of discerning right from wrong. Consequently, life becomes cheap. Those qualities of character that cement personal relationships and open individuals to true love are lacking. Not that these qualities no longer exist or have no force, but that they are occluded by misaligned notions of self-respect and self-worth. Contrastingly, the birth of Christ relates that from the very beginning the scene was set depicting the nature of the relationship between God and his people. The Word incarnate called all people, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, kings and shepherds to his side, to his saving grace. This inclusiveness marked the call as truly divine. Therefore, the only authentic and unassailable source of human dignity and worth comes through the consonance of the human and the divine will. Reflecting on God's love for us, we can internalize the power of that love in coping with our own frailties and honing our life-enhancing skills. Thus, we may give to our world the Christmas present of our best selves. Human dignity and rights, not based on human whim, but on God's love finds its proper foundation. If we do not do this, who will?
This "Christmas card" to you bears a rather serious tone. Perhaps, the urgency of telling the true meaning of Christmas by living it is so apparent that I feel that it ought to be underscored this year. Oh! If you were wondering how everything came out regarding that hard stand taken by Charles Schutz in keeping the Nativity in A Charlie Brown Christmas, you need not fret. Fifty percent of the television sets in the United States were tuned in to the program. A Charlie Brown Christmas garnered an Emmy and the Peabody Award. Since then, the show has become a Christmas classic. Thank you, Charles Schulz for your faith, your fortitude, and your genius. Should you be looking down on us this Christmas and are concerned, don't worry. Who will? We will!
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CC-MAIN-2017-13
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Strong reasoning
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Religion
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Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
There can be circumstances when vulnerable individuals in care need to have their independence removed or their free will restricted in some way, if it is in their own best interests and safety, and to prevent them from coming to harm, or from harming others.
These restrictions on an individual’s freedom are known as ‘deprivation of liberty’.
But isn’t it against the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) to deprive someone of their liberty?
Yes, strictly speaking, it is – unless there are good reasons.
It is recognised under Article 5 ECHR that: “Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one should be deprived of his liberty save… in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law”.
However, even when a person is deprived of their liberty, they still have rights – as provided for under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (known as ‘MCA DOLS’ or just ‘DOLS’ for short).
DOLS is an amendment to the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and applies to England and Wales only.
What is DOLS?
DOLS is a legal procedure that provides extra protection and safeguards for vulnerable individuals, who lack mental capacity, and whose liberty is being deprived in contravention of their Human Rights.
DOLS only applies to patients in hospital or residents in a care home – otherwise the Court of Protection can authorise deprivation of liberty.
DOLS cannot be used if the individual meets the criteria for detention under the Mental Health Act instead, nor if the main reason is to protect the individual from contact with others who may cause them harm.
What is deprivation of liberty?
In simple terms, it means keeping or restraining an individual in a secure environment, not allowing them freedom to go anywhere without permission or close supervision, or keeping them under constant supervision.
So, if an individual in a hospital or care home lacks mental capacity:
- To choose where they want to live when receiving care or treatment
- To consent to that care or treatment
- Is not physically able to leave the place where they are being cared for of their own freewill
then that is regarded as a deprivation of liberty and DOLS safeguards are needed to protect them at all times.
When can you deprive someone of their liberty?
Depriving someone of their liberty should be avoided whenever possible.
Depriving an individual of their liberty can only ever be authorised in very specific circumstances – when it’s in their best interests, and it is the only way to keep them safe (including making sure they have the right medical treatment).
Deprivation of liberty should only last for the shortest period possible, and only be for a particular treatment plan or course of action.
If other lesser alternatives are available, they should be considered instead.
Who is likely to need DOLS protection?
Most commonly, vulnerable individuals suffering with: severe learning difficulties, severe cognitive deficit (eg Alzheimer’s or dementia), neurological conditions such as brain injuries, and the elderly or infirm.
Is being deprived of your liberty always a bad thing?
No, not necessarily. It sounds drastic, but actually can be advantageous if it is genuinely considered necessary in the individual’s own best interests, or to keep them from harm and danger.
- It may be necessary to keep someone with advanced dementia safe, by not allowing them to wander freely out of the care home.
- Someone at high risks of falls may be kept in their bedroom to prevent them wandering down the stairs on their own, unsupervised.
- If an individual is physically aggressive, they may be need to be kept in isolation or under close supervision.
- The individual requires close supervision when outside the care home environment.
- Strapping a person into their wheelchair, chair or bed to restrain them – perhaps to prevent them from falling and hurting themselves or others, or to provide support, or administer treatment or medication.
Is deprivation of liberty different under the Mental Capacity Act from being detained under the Mental Health Act?
If an individual needs to be detained for treatment for mental health problems, then the individual’s deprivation will usually fall under the Mental Health Act regulations.
Whereas, if an individual’s liberty needs to be constrained to keep them safe from harm or in their own best interests, then DOLS applies, under the Mental Capacity Act.
How is DOLS authorised?
Before an individual can be lawfully deprived of their liberty, an assessment must be carried out by the Managing Authority (ie the care home or hospital) to seek prior authorisation from the Supervisory body (ie the Clinical Commissioning Group or Local Authority).
The Managing Authority’s will appoint at least 2 assessors to carry out the DOLS assessment – a ‘best interest’s assessor’ and a ‘mental health assessor’.
There are six qualifying requirements that the assessors must consider, and All six criteria have to be met before authorisation can be made deprive an individual of their liberty:
- Age – Is the person being deprived of their liberty aged 18 or over?
- Mental Health – Does the individual have a ‘mental disorder’?
- Mental Capacity – does the individual lack the ability to decide for themselves whether to be admitted to, or remain in hospital/care home, and/or receive the treatment or care being provided?
- Best Interests– Is the deprivation of liberty in the individual’s best interests, necessary to prevent them from coming to harm, and a proportionate response to the likelihood of them suffering harm?
- Eligibility – Is the individual eligible to be deprived of their liberty under DOLS, or should they be considered for detention under the Mental Health Act instead?
- No refusals requirement – Does the DOLS authorisation being sought contradict, conflict or override any other prior decision to refuse treatment or support?
If the individual meets all six of the above requirements, then the assessors will notify the Local Authority or Clinical Commissioning Group of the outcome, for authorisation.
How long does DOLS authorisation last for?
There are two types of authorisation:
Standard authorisation: deprives an individual of their liberty for a maximum 12 months.
The 12 month period cannot be extended. Once the individual’s restrictions are no longer required, they should stop as soon as possible.
If it is considered that the individual’s needs still ought to be restrained or restricted after that period, then the Managing Authority must make a fresh application for another standard authorisation.
Urgent authorisation: In the case of an emergency, the Managing Authority may decide that it is necessary to deprive someone of their liberty immediately, and grant authorisation themselves – only if it’s in the individual’s own best interests, or in order to protect them from harm. Urgent authorisation only lasts up to a maximum of 7 days, before standard authorisation has to be obtained from the Supervisory body.
Furthermore, the Managing Authority must have reason to believe that the standard authorisation will be granted, and in addition, should consult with family, friends and carers, prior to making their decision to deprive the individual of their liberty.
In exceptional circumstances, the period can be extended by another 7 days.
If your relative is being deprived of their liberty without authorisation, you must bring this to the attention of the Managing Authority, so that the position can be regularised immediately.
The ‘relevant person’s representative’ (RPR).
As an added layer of protection under DOLS, anyone who is deprived of their liberty must have a ‘relevant person’s representative’ (RPR) to protect their interests throughout the whole process.
The RPR is usually appointed at the best interest’s assessment.
Who can act as RPR?
An RPR is usually a friend or family member, as they will inevitably know the individual best, and will be more committed to ensuring that their rights are being properly safeguarded.
In the event that there is no family member or friend able or willing to undertake the role of RPR, the Local Authority will appoint a paid representative, who has to be 18 years or older, is able to keep in contact with the relevant person, and who is willing to take on the responsibilities of the appointment.
What are the RPR’s duties?
The RPR’s duties can be onerous and emotionally challenging, and include:
- Protecting the individual’s interest throughout the process.
- Maintaining face-to-face contact with the individual being deprived of their liberty, and generally representing and supporting them.
- Obtaining information about the relevant person’s care or treatment.
- Regularly checking whether it is still appropriate to deprive them of their liberty and that their best interests are being safeguarded.
- Making decisions in the individual’s best interests – taking into consideration any wishes or feelings they may have previously expressed, and any religious beliefs, cultural background or moral views, which may influence the RPR’s decision making.
- Consulting widely with the individual’s Attorney (under a Lasting Power of Attorney) or Deputy (if appointed by the Court of Protection), or indeed anyone else involved in the individual’s care, or who has an interest in their welfare – to ensure all decisions are made in their best interests.
- Checking that DOLS is being used appropriately and not as a form of ‘punishment’ or for the ‘convenience’ of professionals, carers or anyone else because it suits them to restrain the individual to make it easier to manage their needs that way – the lazy option.
- Requesting a review if the RPR believes that the deprived individual’s circumstances have changed, for example: if deprivation of liberty is no longer appropriate, or perhaps should be modified because they no longer meet any of the six criteria for deprivation of liberty.
- Challenging any decision the RPR disagrees with (at the Court of Protection), or seeking a variation to the authorisation (eg adding or removing a restriction), or bringing an end to the authorisation.
What happens when the authorisation ends?
The Supervisory body will then assess the six qualifying requirements, and if they see that the individual no longer meets the criteria, the authorisation must be terminated and individual should no longer be deprived of their liberty. They should also notify the RPR in writing immediately.
For further reading:
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CC-MAIN-2019-35
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https://caretobedifferent.co.uk/using-legislation-to-safeguard-your-relative-in-care-deprivation-of-liberty-safeguards-dols/
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en
| 0.938688 | 2,226 | 2.609375 | 3 | 2.845802 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Crime & Law
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Is a war crimes tribunal being used to settle political scores? If so, it may unleash social chaos, reports Sebastian Strangio.
DHAKA – BANGLADESH’S Liberation War Museum sits on a quiet street in central Dhaka, shaded by trees and fronted by an austere barbed wire fence. The small building commemorates the country’s 1971 liberation struggle, a fierce war of independence from Pakistan that cost an estimated 3 million lives. An eternal flame in the museum’s courtyard marks it out as a site of martyrdom—a reminder of the bloody star under which the country was born. Almost fittingly, dozens of small Bangladeshi flags are intertwined on the rusting barbs of the museum’s front fence.
Last week, Bangladesh’s government arrested two leading politicians from the country’s main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, on charges of committing mass murder during the liberation struggle. The arrests, which followed the detention of the party’s president, Motiur Rahman Nizami, and other top Jamaat officials in late June, mark the first stage of a tribunal established in March to address war crimes committed during the 1971 conflict.
But even though the tribunal has no scheduled start date, it has already whipped up controversy in Muslim-majority Bangladesh. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which was elected in a landslide in 2008 in part on promises of a trial, says it has evidence proving the involvement of senior Jamaat members in the 1971 atrocities. Critics, however, say the tribunal is being used to settle domestic political disputes and runs the risk of unleashing social chaos and compromising Dhaka’s relationship with Muslim allies in the Middle East.
The tribunal comes after nearly four decades of inaction in Bangladesh. The 1971 conflagration, which erupted when Pakistan attempted to prevent the secession of its eastern wing, included the systematic execution of leading Bengali intellectuals and the rape of by some estimates 200,000 women. Although the process of putting collaborators on trial began after the defeat of the Pakistani army on December 16, 1971, the tribunal process was derailed after the assassination of independence icon Sheik Mujibur Rahman in August 1975. Ahmed Ziauddin, an advisor to Bangladeshi rights group Odhikar, says that for the following three decades, a succession of military administrations has swept aside all attempts at justice, fearing it could implicate many within their own ranks.
‘The current process is, if you like, unfinished business that started in 1972,’ he says.
Mahbub Alam, general manager of the Liberation War Museum, says that even though 40 years have passed and many perpetrators are long dead, there’s a widespread desire to see responsible politicians brought to justice. ‘The people who did all these kinds of misdeeds are the beneficiaries of the creation of Bangladesh,’ says Alam, who lost his father in the Liberation War. ‘Why are war criminals in power? They are the beneficiaries of the country, of three million martyrs.’
Given the political difficulties involved in trying to extradite former military officers still living in Pakistan, the government is instead focusing on the razakars—internal collaborators who led, assisted and committed crimes in conjunction with the Pakistani administration then in control of the country. For the moment, the attention is falling squarely on Jamaat and its allies.
Critics, however, say the tribunal could be compromised by its blatant use as a political bludgeon. Don Beachler, an associate professor of political science at New York’s Ithaca College, says the government has set up the tribunal in order to tar Jamaat-e-Islami as allies of the Pakistani army and ‘enemies of the Bangladeshi people.’ The fact that Jamaat ruled in coalition with the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party—a key rival to the Awami League—from 2001 to 2006 provides an ‘extra motive’ to pursue the Islamist movement, he says.
Many also agree that Nizami and other Jamaat leaders have reason to be concerned. Beachler says Nizami founded and led the Badr militia, which committed numerous acts of violence against civilians in support of the Pakistani army’s campaign to repress Bengali nationalism. ‘Nizami was active against independence and advocated violence against Hindus who were seen as the source of Bangladeshis’ alleged betrayal of Pakistan and Islam,’ he says. ‘On the merits and the politics Nizami has much to fear.’
Following their arrest, Jamaat’s leaders have pledged to fight the charges in court, accompanying it with ‘peaceful’ street protests. Earlier this month, Khaleda Zia, the BNP president whose party ruled the country in coalition from Jamaat from 2001 to 2006, demanded the immediate release of its leaders, terming the arrests ‘a heinous example of political repression’.
Jamaat, which has close links to its more powerful namesake in Pakistan, has more than ten million followers, and any attempt to prosecute its leaders could provoke a social upheaval. After Nizami’s arrest on June 29, for example, violent street riots erupted and injured more than 80 people—a foretaste of what could greet the opening of the trials.
‘The Bangladesh government can expect major violence and/or law and order problems at home, with serious destabilising effects caused by militant members of Jamaat and its allied organisations,’ says Rafiqul Islam, a professor of international law at Macquarie University in Sydney, adding that militant help may also come from Pakistan and Afghanistan. ‘This is a price that the government and people of Bangladesh have to pay for this trial.’
There are also questions about the manner in which the trials are going ahead. Nizami—along with his deputy Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and top preacher Delwar Hossain Saydee—were arrested on charges of ‘offending religious sentiment’ after they compared their persecution by the Awami League government to the sufferings of the Prophet Mohammed. Only once they were in custody did the government move ahead with questioning on war crimes-related charges.
In an editorial in the country’s Daily Star newspaper on July 14, human rights advocate Mozammel H. Khan wrote that their arrest on such ‘trivial charges’ could undermine the credibility of the government’s case against them. ‘It might create a boomerang effect,’ he wrote, ‘for the government in their pledge to bring the alleged war criminals, of which the three arrestees are believed to be leading members, to book.’
Islam predicted that while the current government would reap political capital from the trials, they could damage relations with Middle Eastern countries with close links to Jamaat. On July 2, The Daily Star reported that the tribunal had proceeded ‘on assurance from influential countries in the West that they would tackle any backlash from Middle East countries against the arrests of Jamaat leaders.’
In spite of the political machinations surrounding the trials, Alam expresses hope that they will at least see some manner of justice done. ‘In this country, if you go into each and every village you will find war victims,’ he says. He says that for most Bangladeshis, the desire for vengeance is less important than the desire to see justice done: ‘I don’t expect that these gentlemen should be hanged, but the gentlemen should be tried,’ he says. ‘I’d like to see it in my lifetime.’
[Published in The Diplomat, July 22, 2010]
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CC-MAIN-2015-14
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http://www.sebastianstrangio.com/2010/07/22/war-crimes-and-bangladesh/
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en
| 0.961606 | 1,604 | 2.53125 | 3 | 3.027072 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Politics
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National prescription drug coverage would provide access to necessary medications to those who cannot afford them. A national drug program, could also save billions of dollars in healthcare expenditure. A 2016 poverty Backgrounder explained that the inability to afford prescription medications poses three problems: increased acute care expenditure over time, tenfold non-adherence to prescribed regimens among those with low household incomes, and inequitable access to necessary drugs. In 2010, Gagnon reported that generic drugs are often referred to as ‘tried and true’, they are often well researched and frequently used. Generic drugs in Canada are more than double the median price in other OECD countries. The current multi-payer system for prescription drug coverage is highly inefficient. Maintaining the status quo would lead to higher expenditures by employers and employees on private insurance plans. Research shows that employers and employees pay steep premiums, which increase labor costs and reduce competition. There is a negative correlation between drug expenditure and research and development of drugs over a 15-year period in Canada. Using the same data, countries who spend 35% less on pharmaceuticals spend more on research and development.
With the recent public consultation on the new Canadian “food guide” just coming to an end I’ve been noticing a lot of push-back from industry. There was a letter from a MP voicing concern about the new food guide as the new guiding principles seem to be steering people away from animal-based sources of protein…
We’re living in a wealthy, healthy, privileged and developed country, we’re actually so privileged that we’ve masked the inequality that exists in our country. Health and wealth are correlated in Canada. The people with the four times the food insecurity rates also have the lowest life expectancies in the country. It’s a cycle that continuously affects the whole population through healthcare spending (tax dollars)- Canada can’t spend less on healthcare until everyone has equal opportunities for health.
Food banks are kind of like a band-aid… a necessary band-aid but band-aids don’t heal wounds or problems, they cover them. Policy intervention must take place in order to help those who are food insecure so that they can continuously have adequate food in their home. Adequate food is affordable and is nutritious. Adequate food is also food that the person knows how to prepare and has the tools to do so.
Do you know what will solve food insecurity? Hint: it’s not reduced food waste.
Ever wonder what the healthiest thing to order on the Chinese takeout menu is? Find out what a dietitian thinks about Chinese takeout, ordering hacks and more.
I recently read an article titled, Sugar coating the truth about soft drink taxes, the article was written well. While reading the first few lines I thought that the writer was against soda taxes I soon found out he was for actions that help people make educated choices about their food. He speaks about soda taxes…
Do you know how much protein you need? Are you sick of boiled chicken breasts and spinach? Try some of my muscle building hacks and my muscle math to ‘beef up’ your diet.
There might be a new big brother in town that is set up to monitor food industry influence of nutrition research, conflicts of interest, and bias. Introducing Feed the Truth with advocates Marion Nestle (Food Politics), Michael Jacobson (CSPI), and Debra Eschmeyer (White House) on the board of directors.
Does chewing gum after surgery improve bowel function? You’ll be surprised with the answer!
Bottom Line: Chewing gum in post abdominal surgery patients shortens time to first flatus (by 10 hours), time to first bowel motion (by ~1/2 day), and length of hospital stay (by~0.7 days). For every five patients treated, one fewer will develop ileus. Chewing gum in non-post-surgical constipation has not been studied.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations has defined “food security” as existing when
“all people, at all times, have physical and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet
their dietary needs and food preferences for an active
and healthy life.”
In Canada, the absence of food security is “food
insecurity” – Not all Canadians
are able to afford enough food for themselves,
their partners, and children. In 2012, one in every eight
Canadian households experienced food insecurity.
Have you signed the petition for putting added sugar on Canadian food labels? Do you know the difference between free sugar and added sugar?
A quick read for Nutrition Month. Do you understand the influence of the food industry? Are you aware that the food industry funded research is 5x more likely to conclude that there is no association between sugar sweetened beverages and obesity than systematic reviews without conflicts of interest.
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CC-MAIN-2020-05
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https://emmatrain.com/category/blog/
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en
| 0.958939 | 1,022 | 2.5625 | 3 | 2.924142 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Health
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Around eight million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans each year. Scientists warn that plastic pollution is as great a threat as climate change.
As an eco-friendly business, you know your decisions about waste, energy and water make a huge impact on customer perception of your company and significant savings to your bottom line. Many businesses go green these days, from a simple office paper recycling program or employee carpool to sophisticated solar and geothermal power co-generation and smart building technologies.
But where to start? Read on for 10 tips for creating an eco-friendly business.
Start With Sustainable Packaging
Consistently reducing the amount of waste generated and the energy and water used in your packaging makes a huge difference, both to the environment and to your profit margin.
An eco-friendly business avoids:
– Plastics Made From Polyethylene
– Multi-layered Packaging
– Fossil Fuel Energy
– Non-Recyclable Materials
– Biodegradable Plastics
– Plant-based Plastics
– Recycled Products
– Alternative Energy Sources
– Post-consumer Recycled Polyethylene Bags Made From Recycled Waste
– Recycled Molded Packaging
When possible, select items with the least amount of packaging possible and retool your own products to eliminate excess packaging.
Use Digital Recordkeeping
Thoughtful paper use is a simple step and businesses already use online contact forms and newsletters. Think of the impact you could have if you insisted on digital copies as your first choice, double-sided copies when you did have to print and recycled paper sold in 5000 sheet boxes rather than shrink-wrapped 250 sheets.
How much paper (and office supply costs) could you save over the course of a year? How much waste and plastic are you diverting from the landfill? A few small changes – but big results!
Eco-Friendly Business Buildings
Consider a Building Management System (BMS) to control lighting and Heating, Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Between 30% and 70% of the energy used by commercial buildings is consumed by HVAC. Businesses with an updated Building Management System (BMS) controller can cut operational costs up to by 15%.
A more sophisticated BMS takes advantage of strategic electrical tariff pricing. Rates for electricity in most commercial buildings include both peak demand and consumption charges, with large potential savings available from shifting demand to off-peak hours.
Audit your taps. A dripping faucet can cost you 10,000 liters a year, a running toilet can lose that much in a month. Drinking water is increasingly precious and running it away wastefully reflects badly on your business and your costs.
Many buildings install waterless urinals and low-flow toilets. Gray water recycling systems to flush toilets or water landscaping are popular in some areas. Investment in rainwater collection and xeriscape landscaping is also smart.
Consider upgrading equipment like dishwashers, cooling towers and laundry systems to their low water and low energy consumption equivalents. A 15 year-old warewasher uses almost three times as much energy and twice as much water as a newer model. Given energy and water savings, good for the environment is good for the bottom line!
Donate, Don’t Discard
When you discard furniture or other large pieces, look into creative reuse or donation before adding them to the waste stream. Many items can be reused as is, broken into component parts for repurposing or turned into art!
Also, look to purchase repurposed or recycled when seeking new furniture pieces. Often, “good as new” can be purchased at a fraction of the cost.
Choose the most fuel- and time-efficient modes of transportation to both purchase goods and deliver your product to customers. Your first choice should always be to buy products locally made over goods traveling a long distance. Order larger amounts with less frequency to minimize trips.
For delivery, consider a minimum order size to reduce the frequency of deliveries and use common carriers where possible. Where your own delivery fleet is used, GPS software can be used to create routes with reduced in-traffic idling time and the most fuel-efficient distances.
Use Renewable Resources
Adding solar panels to heat water or generate electricity is a typical change many eco-friendly businesses make. But have you considered wind, fuel cell or geothermal energy? How about recapturing heat generated by your computers or refrigeration equipment and using it to heat your water?
Reduce Fossil Fuel Use
An eco-friendly business looks for ways to decrease use of fossil fuels by purchasing hybrid or alternative fuel company fleet vehicles. Some companies even offer employees an incentive to purchase hybrid or electric vehicles.
Consider allowing employees to avoid coming into the office at all. Avoiding even one daily commute per week, per employee makes a big difference in carbon emissions for the year.
Encourage alternate transportation like biking or public transport. Additionally, specialized software can create optimum carpool partners and routes.
LEED and Beyond
Should an eco-friendly business pursue LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification? Many businesses find that having the third-party validation of their efforts is valuable, especially if customers prefer those businesses with the “seal of approval” an LEED Gold or Platinum level brings.
LEED certification is not without cost. The fees to apply are approximately 2% of the total construction budget in addition to making selections in materials and methods that are initially more costly. However, many components such as all LED lighting, occupation sensors or gray-water recycling can be implemented without certification documentation and still save your business money!
Incentivize Your Customers
Extend your eco-friendly business ideas to your customer and employee lives by offering incentives to make green changes. Perhaps a small discount for customers who bring in their own coffee cup rather than taking a disposable, or for bringing a bag rather than using plastic.
Make Merchant Money Your Eco-friendly Business Partner
With these ten tips for taking charge of your business’ environmental impact and sustainability in mind, how are you going to reduce waste and use energy and water wisely? Every step, large or small, benefits the planet and benefits your bottom line.
Contact Merchant Money today about unsecured business finance options to improve your building systems and equipment. Making your business green and eco-friendly is not unobtainable. Let us help!
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CC-MAIN-2018-17
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en
| 0.923893 | 1,328 | 2.515625 | 3 | 2.536344 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Finance & Business
|
In one experiment, groups of students were asked to assemble sentences from scrambled sets of words, after which they were sent down the hall to do another experiment, the point of the experiment was this walk. One group was given a set of words related with the elderly (e.g. Florida, forgetful, bald, gray). The time it took them to get to the other room was measured. That group walked significantly slower.
In a mirror experiment, people were asked to walk around a room for 5min at about one-third their usual pace. After which they were much quicker to recognize words related to old age.
Priming seems to work both ways: thinking a certain way influences you to act a certain way. And acting a certain way reinforces certain thoughts.
In another experiment, students were asked to rate the humor of a cartoon while holding a pencil between their teeth so that the point was facing to their left and the eraser to their right. Other students did the same while holding a pencil by pursing their lips, so that the point would be aimed straight out. The groups were unaware that these actions made them either smile or frown, but the first group found the cartoons funnier.
Simple gestures can also unconsciously influence thoughts and feelings. People were asked to listen to messages through new headphones, supposedly to test the quality of the audio equipment. To check for any distortions of sound, half the participants were told to nod their head up and down while others were told to shake it side to side. The messages they heard were radio editorials. Those who nodded (a yes gesture) tended to accept the message they heard, but those who shook their head tended to reject it.
A study of voting patterns showed that the support for propositions to increase the funding of schools was significantly greater when the polling station was in a school than when it was in a nearby location. A separate experiment showed that exposing people to images of classrooms and school lockers also increased the tendency of participants to support a school initiative.
Reminders of money produce some troubling effects. Similar to the old-age experiment, participants were primed to the idea of money by constructing sentences from words related to money. Other primes were more subtle, including the presence of an irrelevant money-related object in the background, such as a stack of Monopoly money on a table, or a computer with a screen saver of dollar bills floating in water. Money-primed people became more independent and self-reliant than they would have been without the associative trigger. They persevered almost twice as long in trying to solve a very difficult problem before they asked the experimenter for help. Money-primed people were also more selfish: they were much less willing to spend time helping another student who pretended to be confused about an experimental task. When an experimenter clumsily dropped a bunch of pencils on the floor, the participants with money (unconsciously) on their mind picked up fewer pencils. In another experiment, participants were told that they would shortly have a get-acquainted conversation with another person and were asked to set up two chairs while the experimenter left to retrieve that person. Participants primed by money chose to stay much farther apart than their nonprimed peers (118cm vs. 80cm). Money-primed undergraduates also showed a greater preference for being alone.
Consider the ambiguous word fragments W__H and S__P. People who were recently asked to think of an action of which they were ashamed were more likely to complete those fragments as WASH and SOAP and less likely to see WISH and SOUP. Feeling that one’s soul is stained appears to trigger a desire to cleanse one’s body, an impulse that has been dubbed the “Lady Macbeth effect.” The cleansing is highly specific to the body parts involved in a sin. Participants in another experiment were induced to “lie” to an imaginary person, either on the phone or in e-mail. In a subsequent test of the desirability of various products, people who had lied on the phone preferred mouthwash over soap, and those who had lied in e-mail preferred soap to mouthwash.
Lastly, an experiment was conducted in an office kitchen at a British university. Members of that office paid for the tea or coffee to which they helped themselves during the day by dropping money into an “honesty box.” A list of suggested prices was posted. For a period of ten weeks a new banner poster was displayed above the price list each week, either flowers or eyes that appeared to be looking directly at the observer. On average, the users of the kitchen contributed almost three times as much in “eye weeks” as they did in “flower weeks.” Evidently, a purely symbolic reminder of being watched prodded people into improved behavior. As we expect at this point, the effect occurs without any awareness.
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CC-MAIN-2022-40
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https://mademethink.com/
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s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2022-40/segments/1664030335573.50/warc/CC-MAIN-20221001070422-20221001100422-00039.warc.gz
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en
| 0.988176 | 1,011 | 3.765625 | 4 | 2.923598 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Science & Tech.
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People who have been paralysed will have free access to robotic rehabilitation thanks to a new programme at an Irish university.
People with reduced mobility due to paralysis, through spinal cord injuries, stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's disease, will have access to the Ekso Bionics Exoskeleton, which allows participants to complete sessions of supported walking, as the robotic device helps them move their limbs again.
Today's top videos
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
The exoskeleton programme was officially launched on Wednesday at Dublin City University's campus in Glasnevin.
Adventurer Mark Pollock, who is blind and who also became paralysed after an accident, is collaborating with DCU on the project.
Mr Pollock, originally from Hollywood in Co. Down, yesterday demonstrated the use of exoskeleton.
He said: 'Finding a cure for paralysis is a human crisis requiring people to work together across geographical, organisational and intellectual boundaries.'
In 1998, Mr Pollock, at the age of 22, went completely blind. From an early age he had problems with the retinas in both eyes, leading him to lose sight in his right eye at just five years of age.
However, he didn't let that hold him back, and went on to compete in ultra-endurance races across deserts, mountains, and the polar ice caps. He became the first blind person to race to the South Pole.
In 2010, he sustained a fall from a second-storey window which nearly killed him.
Mr Pollock broke his back and the subsequent damage to his spinal cord left him paralysed.
Since the fall, his goal has been to explore to cure paralysis which eventually led him to the exoskeleton programme.
The exoskeleton was developed by US company Ekso Bionics, which worked with Mr Pollock to test components for the next-generation device. He has been working extensively with the company, taking more than 1.5 million steps in the device.
The DCU exoskeleton programme will be led by neurorehabilitation physiotherapist Ronan Langan.
Speaking yesterday, Mr Lanagan said it was his privilege to lead this programme which aims to 'break new ground in the field of neurological rehabilitation'.
Participants can access the expertise of the clinical team and the technology to improve their walking and help them to get back on their feet.
Mr Pollock said: 'I am excited to collaborate with Dublin City University and Ekso Bionics to launch our pioneering programme which is now allowing more people access to cutting edge exoskeleton technology that I have benefited from for the last few years.' DCU is predicting that robotic applications such as the exoskeleton will be commonplace for individuals affected by paralysis in the future.
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CC-MAIN-2022-40
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https://extra.ie/2019/09/06/news/irish-news/esko-bionics-exoskeleton-dcu
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| 0.969919 | 567 | 2.75 | 3 | 2.728525 | 3 |
Strong reasoning
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Health
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Perched on a hillside covering 110 acres of the 20th arrondissement in eastern Paris, Père Lachaise Cemetery takes its name from Père François de la Chaise, confessor to King Louis XIV. Created by a decree from Napoleon Bonaparte, the cemetery opened in 1804 largely to relieve the overcrowding of the Cemetery of the Innocents and other cemeteries in Paris (see also The Catacombs of Paris).
When it opened, it contained only 13 graves as it was considered too far outside the city to be practical, so the early 19th century city fathers devised a clever marketing plan. They transferred the remains of Molière and Jean de la Fontaine, a popular poet and fabulist, to Père Lachaise. It didn't take long for word to spread and by 1812, more than 800 people were buried there.
Then, in 1817 the remains of the fabled lovers Abélard and Héloise were moved to Père Lachaise (photos below). There is much discussion about whether this is really where their remains rest, but it's a touching tribute to both of them and to their love story. Now more than one million people are buried among its meandering tree-lined, cobblestone lanes and it is both the largest park and largest cemetery in Paris.
To maximize space, many tombs contain the remains of multiple family members such as this one belonging to the family of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann who led the renovation of Paris in the mid-19th century.
Because Père Lachaise contains so many remains, current regulations state that only people who live in Paris or have died in Paris can be buried there. In recent years the city has issued 30-year leases on gravesites. If the lease is not renewed, the remains can be removed and placed in the columbarium at the cemetery (below).
Along the Boulevard de Mélinmontant which runs along the western edge of the cemetery is an almost 1,000 ft. boundary wall with the names of over 94,000 Parisians killed in action during WWI.
Street sign at one of the entrances to the cemetery. Maybe an attempt at a little humor?
Napoleon decreed that any citizen should have the right to be buried at Père Lachaise regardless of race or religion. We saw graves representing many different religions and nationalities. There is a large section dedicated to those killed in World War II, especially during the holocaust.
And this one, dedicated to the children who were killed under the Nazis.
Many notable people are buried in Père Lachaise. These are a few.
Jim Morrison's grave is fairly unremarkable compared to most of the others, but it's one of the most visited graves in the cemetery.
We came across these particularly poignant tombs.
And there are many which are so artistic...
Some of them are no bigger than a telephone booth, but the stained glass is beautiful.
And then there are some that are just plain interesting...
I've been to Père Lachaise a few times; it's lovely in any season.
If you stand in the right place, you can even see the Eiffel Tower!
➜ Top Tips
Métro lines 2 and 3 will get you there. Get off at either the Père Lachaise or Philippe Auguste stops.
Walking around Père Lachaise can be tiring; wear comfortable and sturdy shoes.
I would recommend taking a guided tour at least the first time you go. Book one in advance.
Download a map of the cemetery; it's a rabbit warren of little lanes, and graves can be difficult to find.
Père Lachaise is not normally among the first places that tourists visit (and it took me many visits to Paris before I first saw it), but it should be high on your list!
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CC-MAIN-2022-05
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https://www.twoboomersabroad.com/post/p%C3%A8re-lachaise-cemetery-paris
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| 0.961876 | 820 | 3.359375 | 3 | 2.44173 | 2 |
Moderate reasoning
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History
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Liver cirrhosis is an irreversible liver condition. By the time liver disease progresses to cirrhosis, this is often the later stage and treatment options are limited. Alcohol and viral hepatitis B and C are the most common causes of cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis may cause weakness, loss of appetite, easy bruising, yellowing of the skin (jaundice), itching, and fatigue.
There are actually over 100 different types of liver disease which can impact the function of the liver.
The liver is the only organ in the body with regenerative capabilities. The liver has many different roles, like purifying the blood, detoxing the body, aiding in digestion, and storing essential nutrients – just to name a few. Although the liver typically isn’t many people’s concern, it should be because it really is a crucial organ.
Everything we ingest, at some point, passes through the liver, so being mindful of what we take in is important for optimal liver health.
Cirrhosis occurs after fibrosis, which is the scarring of the liver. It is an advanced stage of liver disease, so by the time you receive a diagnosis of cirrhosis, most of the damage has already been done. As scar tissue continues to develop, the liver’s ability to perform its many functions deteriorates, making you quite sick.
Cirrhosis is a response to scarring on the liver – fibrosis. In an attempt to heal itself, the liver produces scar tissue. A buildup of scar tissue leads to a deterioration of liver function.
There are many different causes of cirrhosis and factors that lead to scarring of the liver, including:
Some of these causes are inherited, other stand alone, and in some people, it is a combination of two or more factors.
Symptoms of cirrhosis include:
If through your routine check-up, signs of liver problems arise, then your doctor will recommend you undergo other laboratory tests to better determine the function of your liver. Laboratory tests to diagnose liver cirrhosis include liver function tests by checking your blood for excess bilirubin along with other enzymes that could indicate liver damage, kidney function tests to check for levels of creatinine in the blood, testing for hepatitis virus in the blood, and your body’s ratio of international normalized ratio (INR), as it reveals your body’s ability to clot blood which could indicate liver problems as well.
Imaging tests are also helpful in diagnosing liver cirrhosis. Such tests include MRI or transient elastography, CT scans, and a biopsy of tissue from the liver to confirm diagnosis and determine severity and extent of illness.
If caught early, cirrhosis is treatable. Typically, in order to best treat cirrhosis, the cause of the disease must be dealt with. This can refer to treating hepatitis, cessation of alcohol or drug use, or treating a parasite.
Complications linked with cirrhosis also need to be treated. This can involve releasing excess fluid from the body, managing blood pressure, treating cirrhosis-related infections, and taking medications to reduce toxins in the body.
If cirrhosis is severe, a liver transplant is required.
Cirrhosis is not inevitable, and you can start taking steps to protect your liver and prevent cirrhosis.
Limit or cut out alcohol: Alcohol isn’t just linked with cirrhosis, it can also play an overall role in poor liver function.
Choose a healthy diet to promote liver function as well: Steer clear of fatty, fried foods and stick with fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Note that red meat takes longer to break down in the liver.
Maintain a healthy weight: Some forms of liver disease, including cirrhosis, are linked with fat accumulation.
Reduce your risk of developing hepatitis: Do not share needles, ensure you are vaccinated, and be aware of the risk of hepatitis when traveling to foreign countries.
Avoid infections: Cirrhosis makes it difficult to fight off infections. Avoid people who are sick and wash your hands frequently.
Eat a low-sodium diet: High sodium can cause your body to retain fluids, worsening swelling in your abdomen and legs. Use herbs for seasoning your food, rather than salt. Choose prepared foods that are low in sodium.
Exercises for Liver Cirrhosis
Studies have shown that aerobic exercises can help improve liver function, and in liver cirrhosis, liver function declines. Therefore, a good way to slow down the progression of liver cirrhosis is to exercise.
The important takeaway here is that most cases of liver cirrhosis are preventable as long as you adhere to a healthy lifestyle, which includes maintaining a healthy weight, regular exercise, eating healthy, reducing stress, not smoking, and moderating your alcohol consumption.
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