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craneArticle Free Pass
crane, any of 15 species of tall wading birds of the family Gruidae (order Gruiformes). Superficially, cranes resemble herons but usually are larger and have a partly naked head, a heavier bill, more compact plumage, and an elevated hind toe. In flight the long neck is stretched out in front, the stiltlike legs trailing out behind.
Cranes form an ancient group, the earliest fossils having been recovered from Eocene deposits in North America. Living forms are found worldwide except in South America, but populations of many are endangered by hunting and habitat destruction.
These graceful terrestrial birds stalk about in marshes and on plains, eating small animals of all sorts as well as grain and grass shoots. Two olive-gray eggs spotted with brown are laid in a nest of grasses and weed stalks on drier ground in marsh or field. The same nest may be used year after year. The brownish, downy young can run about shortly after hatching. The trachea (windpipe) is simple in the chick but lengthens with age, coiling upon itself like a French horn. It lies buried in the hollow keel of the breastbone and reaches a length of 1.5 m (5 feet) in the adult whooping crane (Grus americana).
The sandhill crane (G. canadensis) breeds from Alaska to Hudson Bay; it formerly bred in south-central Canada and the Great Lakes region of the United States but is now rare in these regions. This brownish-gray crane is about 90 to 110 cm (35 to 43 inches) long. Its call is long, harsh, and penetrating. The Florida sandhill crane (G. c. pratensis), a smaller race, breeds in Florida and southern Georgia and is nonmigratory. Other subspecies of sandhills are classified as rare or endangered. The common crane (G. grus) breeds in Europe and northern Asia, wintering in large flocks in northern Africa, India, and China. The Australian crane, native companion, or brolga (G. rubicunda), lives in Australia and southern New Guinea. The demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo) breeds in Algeria, southeastern Europe, and Central Asia; the crowned crane (Balearica pavonina [regulorum]), over nearly all of Africa; and the wattled crane (Bugeranus carunculatus), in eastern and southern Africa.
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| 3.547789 |
digestionArticle Free Pass
The chemical reactions involved in digestion can be clarified by an account of the digestion of maltose sugar. Maltose is, technically, a double sugar, since it is composed of two molecules of the simple sugar glucose bonded together. The digestive enzyme maltase catalyzes a reaction in which a molecule of water is inserted at the point at which the two glucose units are linked, thereby disconnecting them, as illustrated below.
In chemical terms, the maltose has been hydrolyzed. All digestive enzymes act in a similar way and thus are hydrolyzing enzymes.
Many other nutrient molecules are much more complex, being polymers, or long chains of simple component units. Starch, for example, is a carbohydrate, like maltose, but its molecules are composed of thousands of glucose units bonded together. Even so, the digestion of starch is essentially the same as the digestion of maltose: each linkage between adjacent glucose units is hydrolyzed, with the result that the starch molecule is split into thousands of glucose molecules. Protein molecules also are polymers, but their constituent units are amino acids instead of simple sugars. Proteolytic (i.e., protein-digesting) enzymes split the protein chains by hydrolyzing the bonds between adjacent amino acids. Because as many as 20 different kinds of amino acids may act as building blocks for proteins, the complete digestion of a protein into its amino acids requires the action of several different proteolytic enzymes, each capable of hydrolyzing the bonds between particular pairs of amino acids. Fat molecules too are composed of smaller building-block units (the alcohol glycerol plus three fatty acid groups); they are hydrolyzed by the enzyme lipase.
Various other classes of compounds are digested by hydrolytic enzymes specific for them. Not all of these enzymes occur in every organism; for example, few animals possess cellulase (cellulose-digesting enzyme), despite the fact that cellulose constitutes much of the total bulk of the food ingested by plant-eating animals. Some nonetheless benefit from the cellulose in their diet because their digestive tracts contain microorganisms (known as symbionts) capable of digesting cellulose. The herbivores absorb some of the products of their symbionts’ digestive activity.
So far, emphasis has been placed on the role of digestion in converting large complex molecules into smaller simpler ones that can move across membranes, which thus permits absorption of food into cells. The same processes occur when substances must be moved from cell to cell within a multicellular organism. Thus, green plants, which do not have to digest incoming nutrients, digest stored material, such as starch, before it can be transported from storage organs (tubers, bulbs, corms) to points of utilization, such as growing buds.
Animals that ingest bulk food unavoidably take in some matter that they are incapable of using. In the case of unicellular organisms that form food vacuoles, the vacuoles eventually fuse with the cell membrane and then rupture, releasing indigestible wastes to the outside. Substances that cannot be digested, such as cellulose, pass into the colon, or large intestine. There water and ions such as sodium and chloride are reabsorbed, and the remaining solid material is held until it is expelled through the anus.
Fecal constituents in species with an alimentary canal also include cast-off effete (damaged or worn-out) cells from the living mucous membrane and, in higher animals, bacteria that exist in the intestine in a symbiotic relationship. In the higher animals, the life span of a cell from the mucosal epithelium is four to eight days, and the life span of the specialized cells, such as the acid-secreting parietal cells located in the stomach, is one to three years.
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| 3.759918 |
The Origin of a Land Flora
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discussed in biography
The precise algal origin of land plants has yet to be ascertained, but questions raised by Bower’s work, summarized in his classic The Origin of a Land Flora (1908), have done much to coordinate paleobotany and plant morphology in a widespread study of plant evolution. Bower also wrote The Ferns, 3 vol. (1923–28), Size and Form in Plants (1930), and Primitive Land...
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| 3.094764 |
Library media centers provide access to a variety of resources including books, magazines, newspapers, online databases, computer programs, audiovisual materials and much more. These resources are made available to support student learning and to ensure students have many experiences which influence their development as information technology literate citizens. A full time librarian is available to assist students with selecting the materials they need to best answer their questions and to guide them in selecting the book that best suits their individual reading preferences.Online Resourceswww.ncwiseowl.org
NC WISE OWL is a Web site that has, as its centerpiece, several subscription databases. InfoTrac, a periodical database product by the Gale Group, is made up of a Kids Edition for elementary students, a Junior Edition for middle schoolers, and both the Student Edition and InfoTrac Gold Reference Edition for the high school and parent community. The Junior Reference Center and Kids InfoBits offer access to reference materials with a simplified format for greater ease of use. Also included in the Gale database collection is the Scribner Writers Series, with information on more than 1600 authors. Grolier Online offers two encyclopedias: The New Book of Knowledge for elementary and middle school students, and Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia for middle and high school students. Additional reference sources available include Lands & Peoples, Popular Science, America the Beautiful, and a collection of searchable eBooks in the Virtual Reference Center.
| 3.346585 |
Now, the genetic sequencing of the virus behind his death suggests it was a new one, and it came from Asian bats. The findings, which were published Nov. 20 in the journal mBio, may help scientists understand what makes the mysterious virus so deadly.
"The virus is most closely related to viruses in bats found in Asia, and there are no human viruses closely related to it," said study co-author Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, in a statement. "Therefore, we speculate that it comes from an animal source."
In general, human illness from animal diseases has been on the rise, but bats are an especially deadly reservoir for viruses. In addition to harboring rabies, bats may have been the initial hosts of hemorrhagic fevers such as the Ebola virus and deadly brain fevers such as the Nipah virus, scientists say.
Since the first case was reported, two other people have fallen ill, including a man from London who was visiting neighboring Qatar and another man in Saudi Arabia.
In the new study, the team sequenced the genome of the virus, finding it resembles those of two other viruses normally found in the flying mammals. The related viruses live in two other bat species: Lesser bamboo bats (Tylonycteris pachypus) and Japanese house bats (Pipistrellus abramus), which live throughout Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
Because the scientists tested thousands of Saudi hospital visitors and found no traces of antibodies to the disease, the team believes the virus has newly emerged in humans.
The new genetic sequence also reveals the pathogen belongs to a family of viruses that includes both the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). SARS first emerged in Asia in 2002 and has killed nearly 800 people as of 2003, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The genetic sequence of the virus in two of the patients differs enough that it's possible the two could have emerged from separate bat colonies.
"We really need to understand whether these viruses are coming from a single source or multiple sources," Fouchier said in a statement.
- Flying Mammals: Gallery of Spooky Bats
- 7 Devastating Infectious Diseases
- 10 Deadly Diseases That Hopped Across Species
Copyright LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Slavery is more than just a historical period in our history, it represents a breakdown in the fabric of human relations.
A book by Sr. Caroline Hemesath, SSF, “From Slave to Priest,” tells the true story of a man born in bondage who escaped the South as a child, gained freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation, battled prejudice, and whose irrepressible faith led him to an unspeakable triumph — the priesthood.
The conditions under which Fr. Augustine Tolton endured his early childhood were reprehensible as were any condition of bondage.
What we can take from Sr. Caroline’s book is that the faith that sustained Fr. Tolton through the darkest times is the same faith that can turn us away from the easy road that leads away from the Church and its teachings and back toward the true freedom with which Christ cloaks us all.
Just as for us today, priests were there to help young Augustine. Several priests took up his cause when they recognized in him the priestly gifts. Those priests battled seminaries and religious orders around the country who were “not ready for negroes.”
Vehement racial prejudice undermined the priests’ efforts and accounted for the loss of a great number of freed slaves who were Catholic but could not find a home.
The story goes beyond Fr. Tolton’s singular quest for the priesthood, however, and poses for us, the larger questions of justice, which we still face today. Fr. Richardt, Toulton’s main pre-seminary tutor, brought up the question of St. Thomas Aquinas’ treatment of justice.
“What is justice according to St. Thomas?” Fr. Richardt asked. Toulton knew that it meant to give every person his due. “And what is his due?” Richardt continued.
The priest did not wait for an answer and said that every person’s due comes from the natural law, codified in the words, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
Fr. Toulton had an epiphany — a very important one for us — in slavery, any kind of slavery, the body might be in bondage, but for the person created in the image of God, the soul and the will can never be owned.
Slave owners sometimes denied life to slaves — especially the old and the infirm — they always denied liberty, and we could never define the pursuit of happiness — the reaching of a person’s potential — within the context of slavery.
These three things, thus, were the reasons why slavery was unjust.
This question is even larger, however: taking the life of an infirm person, a disabled person, keeping a person in a state of terror, taking a life for a crime committed, taking lives in an unjust war, any taking of life anywhere along the human life-cycle is unjust because it robs the person of life, liberty, and the pursuit of their potential.
How many Martin Luther King Juniors, Booker T. Washingtons, and even Barack Obamas were lost to us during slavery, never given their due, never given a chance to work to fulfill God’s plan for them?
In this light, how then are we able to frame a discussion about abortion, injustice committed at the very beginning of the human life-cycle?
One thing Fr. Tolton teaches us is that singular devotion and the perseverance in faith to follow God’s will cannot end in failure.
In February, 1880, 10 years after his pastor first asked young Augustine if he wanted to be a priest, after countless rejections by seminaries and religious orders and a daily battle with racial prejudice among others in the parishes, he finally boarded a train headed for the East Coast and then on to Rome to the Pontifical College.
Once there, he encountered a whole new people of God, ones who believed in the sanctity of life, ones who treated Fr. Tolton with the respect due him as a person created imago dei, and ones who created a place for him to thrive.
And he did. He worked hard and was finally ordained, but instead of going to Africa as a missionary priest as he hoped, he was sent back to the United States, back to the place he escaped from.
He made the best of it, bravely fought racial prejudice, even among fellow priests, and he failed. The congregation he belonged to allowed him a transfer to Chicago and there he triumphed.
The book is a revelation, a reminder that evils like prejudice are only a few words away. A great, inspiring read.
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Fruits and Vegetables
"Eat your fruits and vegetables." You've likely heard this statement since childhood. Research shows why it is good advice:
- Healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases.
- Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.
- Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.
Not sure how many fruits and vegetables you should be eating each day?
- Visit the Fruit and Vegetable Calculator. Here you can calculate your fruit and vegetable recommendations based on your calorie needs for your age, sex, and activity level. This site also has helpful tips and photographs of 1/2 cup and 1 cup fruit and vegetable examples.
- Ever wondered what counted as ½ a cup of grapes or celery without counting? Visit: What Counts as a Cup? This visual example of what counts as a cup helps simplify the answer.
- Want to know how much you need of each food group; including fruits and vegetables? Visit: MyPlate Daily Food Plan to find out and receive a customized Daily Food Plan.
Curious as to whether fruits and vegetables can help you manage your weight?
- Take a look at this How to Use Fruits and Vegetables to Help Manage your Weight brochure and learn about fruits and vegetables and their role in your weight management plan. Tips to cut calories by substituting fruits and vegetables are included with meal-by-meal examples. You will also find snack ideas that are 100 calories or less. With these helpful tips, you will soon be on your way to adding more fruits and vegetables into your healthy eating plan.
The State Indicator Report on Fruits & Vegetables, 2013 [PDF- 1.23Mb] provides national and state-level information on how many fruits and vegetables people are eating, and highlights key areas within communities and schools that can be improved to increase fruit and vegetable access, availability, and affordability.
Previous State Indicator Reports on Fruits and Vegetables
The State Indicator Report on Fruits & Vegetables, 2009 (PDF-1.23Mb) provides national and state-specific information on fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and policy and environmental supports. The behavioral indicators are derived from objectives for F&V outlined in Healthy People 2010. The policy and environmental indicators measure a state's ability to support the consumption of F&V through increased access, availability, and reduced price in schools and communities. The report can be used to inform decision makers and track progress.
The National Action Guide (PDF-160k) summarizes the national data on F&V consumption, policy, and environmental supports and provides potential actions that government and business leaders, coalitions, community-based organizations, and professionals can take to improve Americans' nutrition along with resources for taking action.
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1. What is the Definition of an Earthquake?
An earthquake is the sudden, sometimes violent movement of the
surface from the release of energy in the earth's crust.
2. What Causes Most Earthquakes?
The crust of the earth when it is subject to tectonic forces, bends
slightly. But, because the crust is rigid, when the stress or pressure
exceeds the strength of the rocks, the crust breaks and snaps into a
position. Vibrations called seismic waves are generated and
both through the earth and along its surface. These seismic waves
the movement we call earthquakes.
3. Where Are Earthquakes Likely to Occur?
Within areas of the crust are fractures, known as faults, along
which two crustal blocks have slipped or moved against each other.
block may move up while the other moves down, or one may move
horizontally in one direction and the other in the opposite direction.
Geologists and seismologists (scientists who study earthquakes
the processes that create them) have found that earthquakes occur
repeatedly at faults, which are zones of weakness in the
4. How Many Earthquakes Happen Each Year?
There are over a million quakes annually, including those too small
felt. The following table shows the average frequency of different
||Frequency per year
|Minor (damage slight)
||less than 2.0
From Earthquakes and the Urban Environment, Vol. 1, G. Lennis
5. How Many Earthquakes Happen Every Month? Day?
Using the previous table:
And, per second, one earthquake is felt
every 30 seconds.
Of these only a relative few are capable of causing damage.
are common natural events.
6. How Deep Do Earthquakes Occur in the World?
Earthquakes occur in the crust or upper mantle which ranges from
surface to about 800 kilometers deep (about 500 miles).
7. Where Do Most Earthquakes Occur in the World?
The surface of the earth is divided like a jigsaw puzzle into giant
pieces called tectonic or crustal plates. These giant pieces
slowly over partially melted rock known as the mantle. As
move, they slide along each other, move into each other, move away
each other, or one slips under another. On these active plate
about 95% of all the world's earthquakes occur. California, Alaska,
Japan, South America, and the Philippines are all on plate
Only 5% are in areas of the plates far away from the boundaries.
called mid-plate or intra-plate earthquakes and are, as yet,
8. Where do the Most Earthquakes Occur in the United States ?
Alaska has more earthquakes per year than the combined total of
of the United States. As many as 4,000 are recorded there every
Alaska is on a plate boundary where one plate is sliding along
another, a subduction zone.
9. Where Did the Largest Known Earthquake Occur?
A magnitude 9.5 earthquake in Chile in 1960 was the largest known
earthquake and resulted in over 6,000 deaths. It triggered a tsunami or seismic wave (incorrectly known as a tidal wave)
killed people as far away as Hawaii and Japan. Chile is also on a subduction zone.
10. What Was the Largest Earthquake in the United States?
The great Alaska earthquake of March 27, 1964, is the largest
in the United States. It had a magnitude of 9.2. 115 people died,
most of the deaths due to the tsunami it generated. Shaking
felt for an estimated 7 minutes, and raised or lowered the ground
as much as 2 meters (6.5 feet) in some areas and 17 meters (approx.
feet) in others. The length of the ruptured fault was between 500
1,000 kilometers (310.5 and 621 miles). The amount of energy
equal to 12,000 Hiroshima-type blasts, or 240 million tons of TNT.
11. Where Was the Largest Earthquake in the Continental United
A series of four great earthquakes occurred in the central United States on December 16, 1811, and January 23, and February 7, 1812. All had estimated magnitudes greater than 7.5 on the Richter Scale, the largest happening on February 7, 1812. They are collectively known as the New Madrid earthquakes (after a small town in Missouri) and were felt as far away as Washington D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts. These events were felt over a region far greater than any other in the United States, an estimated 2 million square miles. There were fewer than 100 deaths, because of the small number of people living in the area. The earthquakes raised and lowered land levels several feet, created one large lake and several smaller lakes, and formed waterfalls on the Mississippi River. One small town was destroyed and there was extensive damage to structures and changes to land surfaces throughout the region. These earthquakes were far away from a plate boundary, and are the largest known to have happened in a mid-plate area.
12. It Seems that Large Earthquakes in the U.S. Are Responsible
Relatively Few Deaths. Is This True Around the World?
No. In other areas of the world smaller earthquakes are responsible
the deaths of many thousands of people. This is primarily because of
buildings which are poorly designed and constructed for earthquake
regions, and population density. The following table shows some of
major earthquakes around the world in the last twenty years, and
number of deaths associated with them.
13. What Was the Greatest Number of People Killed in One
An earthquake in China in 1556 killed approximately 830,000
14. How Are Earthquakes Measured?
A seismometer is an instrument that senses the earth's motion;
a seismograph combines a seismometer with recording
obtain a permanent record of the motion. From this record scientists
calculate how much energy was released in an earthquake, which is
to decide its magnitude. Calculations are made from several different
seismograms, both close to and far from an earthquake source to
its magnitude. Calculations from various seismic stations and
seismographs should give the same magnitude, with only one
any given earthquake.
Richter Magnitude is the scale most people are familiar with,
scientists use other more accurate scales. Another nonscientific way
measuring earthquakes is by their intensity or degree of shaking.
Intensity is descriptive, and is determined by inspection of damage
other effects, with the greatest intensity being close to the epicenter,
and smaller intensities further away. The Modified Mercalli
Scale uses Roman Numerals from I to XII to describe different
earthquake effects is commonly used.
15. What Does the Richter Scale Look Like?
The Richter Scale is not an actual instrument. It is a measure
the amplitude of seismic waves and is related to the amount of
released. This can be estimated from the recordings of an earthquake
seismograph. The scale is logarithmic, which means that each
number on the scale increases by 10. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake is
times greater than a 5.0, a 7.0 is 100 times greater, and a magnitude
is 1,000 times greater.
16. When was the First Instrument for Detecting Earthquakes
The earliest known earthquake detection instrument was invented in
A.D. by Zhang Heng, a Chinese philosopher. The instrument was a
meters or 6.5 feet in diameter) bronze jar, with a central pendulum
inside. Decorating the jar on the outside were a series of dragon
connected to a pendulum, each with a ball in a hinged mouth.
beneath each dragon head, on the surface of the stand, was a bronze
head up, mouth open to receive a ball from the dragon's mouth.
During an earthquake, the ground motion would move the pendulum
one or more balls to fall from a dragon's mouth into a toad's mouth.
direction of the earthquake was indicated by which of the dragon
had dropped a ball.
This instrument was sensitive enough to perceive shaking too small
felt, as it detected an earthquake over 600 kilometers (372 miles)
news of which arrived several weeks later.
Earthquake detectors are mentioned later in oriental manuscripts,
the west earthquake detection instruments did not emerge until
17. What is the Difference Between an Earthquake Prediction
An earthquake prediction involves assigning a specific date, location,
and magnitude for an earthquake. A forecast assigns a series of
probabilities and a range of years and magnitudes to a region. There
no way to accurately predict earthquakes, but forecasts have been
calculated for different areas of the United States. The earthquake in
northern California on October 17, 1989 was not predicted, but did
within the magnitude range, time span, and region forecast by U.S.
Geological Survey staff.
18. Does Animal Behavior Change Before Earthquakes?
Changes in animal behavior before earthquakes have been observed
documented in different parts of the world, most recently in the
California earthquake of October 17, 1989. It has been recorded that
fish in a high school biology lab in California would flip on its side
before some earthquakes.
Dogs, cats, snakes, and horses has also been known to behave
before earthquakes. Since behavior is not earthquake specific, change
animal behavior can therefore result from other events, and it is
impossible to determine beforehand what factor has caused the
Also, the behavior is not consistent. Sometimes earthquakes occur
previous behavior change.
19. Does the Ground Really Open Up and Swallow People?
This is an earthquake myth. Cracks and fissures appearing in the
are a common effect of earthquakes. Most of these are narrow and
In very large earthquakes changes in the level of the land can result
larger cracks that can cause a lot of damage to buildings, but people
buildings do not get swallowed by the ground.
20. Do Earthquakes Cause Volcanoes?
No, there are different earth processes responsible for volcanoes.
Earthquakes may occur in an area before, during, and after a volcanic
eruption, but they are the result of the active forces connected with
eruption, and not the cause of volcanic activity.
21. Are Earthquakes Weather Related?
In the 4th Century B.C., Aristotle proposed that earthquakes were
by winds trapped in subterranean caves. Small tremors were thought
have been caused by air pushing on the cavern roofs, and large ones
the air breaking the surface. This theory lead to a belief in
weather, that because a large amount of air was trapped
weather would be hot and calm before an earthquake.
A later theory stated that earthquakes occurred in calm, cloudy
conditions, and were usually preceded by strong winds, fireballs, and
meteors. There is no connection between weather and earthquakes.
the result of geologic processes within the earth and can happen in
weather and at any time during the year.
22. What Are Earthquake Scientists Called?
Seismologists: seismos-from the Greek meaning earthquakes, and
ologist-meaning a person who studies (something). A seismologist is
person who studies earthquakes and the mechanics of the earth.
23. How Much Energy is Released in an Earthquake?
Earthquakes release a tremendous amount of energy, which is why
be so destructive. The table below shows magnitudes with the
amount of TNT needed to release the same amount of energy.
From Earthquakes and the Urban Environment, Vol. 1, G.
24. Do All Large Magnitude Earthquakes Result in Great Amounts
Death and Destruction?
No.The destructive forces of an earthquake depends on many factors.
earthquakes commonly occur in remote areas of the world, with no
buildings or people, and are not destructive. In addition to
some of the factors that determine damage and deaths are:
densities, the density and types of building construction, local
conditions, distance from the epicenter, earthquake depth, how long
shaking continues, and the degree of earthquake preparedness in the
25. Can Earthquakes Be Prevented?
There is no known way to prevent earthquakes, but it is possible to
lessen the impact. The amount of devastation from an earthquake
greatly diminished by building structures using earthquake resistant
design, making the interiors of buildings safe from falling objects,
educating people about earthquake safety.
| 3.52359 |
Over fifty years ago, a supernova was discovered in M83, a spiral galaxy about 15 million light years from Earth. Astronomers have used NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory to make the first detection of X-rays emitted by the debris from this explosion.
Named SN 1957D because it was the fourth supernova to be discovered in the year of 1957, it is one of only a few located outside of the Milky Way galaxy that is detectable, in both radio and optical wavelengths, decades after its explosion was observed. In 1981, astronomers saw the remnant of the exploded star in radio waves, and then in 1987 they detected the remnant at optical wavelengths, years after the light from the explosion itself became undetectable.
A relatively short observation -- about 14 hours long -- from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2000 and 2001 did not detect any X-rays from the remnant of SN 1957D. However, a much longer observation obtained in 2010 and 2011, totaling nearly 8 and 1/2 days of Chandra time, did reveal the presence of X-ray emission. The X-ray brightness in 2000 and 2001 was about the same as or lower than in this deep image.
This new Chandra image of M83 is one of the deepest X-ray observations ever made of a spiral galaxy beyond our own. This full-field view of the spiral galaxy shows the low, medium, and high-energy X-rays observed by Chandra in red, green, and blue respectively. The location of SN 1957D, which is found on the inner edge of the spiral arm just above the galaxy's center, is outlined in the box (or can be seen by mousing over the image.)
The new X-ray data from the remnant of SN 1957D provide important information about the nature of this explosion that astronomers think happened when a massive star ran out of fuel and collapsed. The distribution of X-rays with energy suggests that SN 1957D contains a neutron star, a rapidly spinning, dense star formed when the core of pre-supernova star collapsed. This neutron star, or pulsar, may be producing a cocoon of charged particles moving at close to the speed of light known as a pulsar wind nebula.
If this interpretation is confirmed, the pulsar in SN 1957D is observed at an age of 55 years, one of the youngest pulsars ever seen. The remnant of SN 1979C in the galaxy M100 contains another candidate for the youngest pulsar, but astronomers are still unsure whether there is a black hole or a pulsar at the center of SN 1979C.
An image from the Hubble Space Telescope (in the box labeled "Optical Close-Up") shows that the debris of the explosion that created SN 1957D is located at the edge of a star cluster less than 10 million years old. Many of these stars are estimated to have masses about 17 times that of the Sun. This is just the right mass for a star's evolution to result in a core-collapse supernova as is thought to be the case in SN 1957D.
These results will appear in an upcoming issue of The Astrophysical Journal. The researchers involved with this study were Knox Long (Space Telescope Science Institute), William Blair (Johns Hopkins University), Leith Godfrey (Curtin University, Australia), Kip Kuntz (Johns Hopkins), Paul Plucinsky (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics), Roberto Soria (Curtin University), Christopher Stockdale (University of Oklahoma and the Australian Astronomical Observatory), Bradley Whitmore (Space Telescope Science Institute), and Frank Winkler (Middlebury College).
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.
| 3.658074 |
Waves, Nearshore Currents, and Tides
Energetic storm-generated winter waves at La Jolla, CA. Waves move sand on, off, and along the shore. These waves can strip beaches of sand during winter.
Photographer - Memorie Yasuda, image used with permission.
ost energy in nearshore waters comes from wind-generated waves and tidal currents. The dispersion of water, pollutants, nutrients, and sediments near the coast and the formation and erosion of sandy beaches are some of the common results of nearshore energy dissipation.
Waves and the currents they generate are the primary factors in transport and deposition of coastal sediments. Waves move material along the bottom and suspend it for weaker currents to transport.
Rips at Carolina Beach, North Carolina were the result of swells from a hurricane located a few hundred miles offshore (September 11, 2001).
Image courtesy Carolina Beach Police Department, image used with permission.
Rollover the image to highlight the rip current.
Wave climate - Wave climate history for the southern California Bight over the last century. Incidents with wave heights greater than 4m are shown. Other years had maximum wave heights less than 4m.
Diagram from Inman, D.L. and S.A. Jenkins, 1997.
Click here for a larger image.
Wave action along the southern California coast is seasonal, responding to changing wind systems over the Pacific Ocean. Some waves are generated in the southern ocean and travel 11,000 km (7,000 mi) before breaking on California beaches.
The height and period of the waves depend on the speed and duration of the generating winds and the fetch. The types of waves that break on a beach and their seasonal variance are known as the wave climate.
Deep water waves are long, low, and sinusoidal in form. As the waves enter shallow water, the propagation speed and wavelength decrease, the wave steepens, and the wave height increases until the wave train consists of peaked crests separated by flat troughs. This wave shoaling begins at the depth where the waves "feel bottom." This depth is about one-half the deep-water wave length.
Upon entering shallow water, waves are also subjected to refraction, a process in which the wave crests tend to parallel the depth contours. Simultaneously, wave diffraction causes a flow of energy along the wave crest from high waves to low waves.
Wave refraction - Wave refraction causes wave fronts to parallel the shape of the coastline as they approach shore and encounter ground. Wave refraction causes wave energy to concentrate on headlands and preferentially erode them rather than bays.
Location TBA. Photograph courtesy - Greg Moore. Permission pending.
Modelled wave refraction - Jaws, Maui.
Image used with permission - Katie M. Fearing and Robert A. Dalrymple.
Click here to see the movie.
For straight coasts with parallel contours, refraction decreases the angle between the approaching wave and the coast, and diffraction causes a spreading of energy along the crests.
Consequently, change in wave height and direction at any point along the coast is a function of wave period, direction of approach, and configuration of the bottom contours.
When waves break at an angle to the beach, the momentum of the breaking wave generates onshore currents that flow in the direction of propagation of the breaking wave and its bore. The pile up of water along the shore causes longshore currents that flow parallel to the beach inside the breaker zone. The water in the longshore current returns seaward as rip currents. The spacing between rip currents is usually two to eight times the width of the surf zone.
Nearshore river discharge and transport - Currents of the nearshore circulation system produce a continuous interchange of water between the surf zone and offshore areas waters, distributing nutrients and dispersing runoff from the land.
Click on buttons to compare.
Click to see photo of flood discharge.
Longshore currents may reach velocities of 2.5 m/s (8 ft/s). Rip currents have been measured in excess of 1.5 m/s (5 ft/s).
Headlands, breakwaters, and piers influence the circulation pattern and alter the direction of currents flowing along the shore. Where a straight beach is terminated on the down-current side by points or other obstructions, a pronounced rip current extends seaward.
Tidal flushing model - San Diego Bay, California
A simulation showing percent of initial tracer concentration forced by a 60 cm. tidal amplitude.
Click here for the movie. Movie requires QuickTime.
Image and movie courtesy John Helly, San Diego Supercomputer Center, UCSD.
Click here for more information.
The lunar semidiurnal tide, with a period of 12.42 h, is the principal world tide, and its amplitude is controlled by local ocean bathymetry. Tides generate shelf and coastal currents that are important to transport of finer sediments. Velocities over the southern California shelf may reach 15-20 cm/s at times.
The tidal range determines the elevation of wave attack at the shoreline. Extreme tides influence inundation and flooding and are amplified by sea level changes associated with El Niño events.
Tidal currents are the primary sediment transport force inside enclosed bays and harbors, and tidal flow through the entrances may be very fast.
©2002-2003 by the Regents of the University of California and the Kavli Institute.
All rights reserved.
Last modifed Friday, June 25, 2003
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McPhee 'flats' damage a concern
With low water, off-road play at reservoir could impact archaeological sites
Low levels at McPhee Reservoir have U.S. Forest Service officials concerned over more than just the area's water supply.
Off-road enthusiasts drawn to the mud flats left behind by the receding waterline are threatening sensitive ecosystems and archaeological resources normally protected beneath the surface of the reservoir. According to Dolores Public Lands Office District Ranger Derek Padilla, off-road vehicular play on the newly revealed flats is counterproductive to the preservation efforts of the forest service and dangerous to the history buried by McPhee.
"We have serious concerns about the archaeological sites and the use that is occurring," Padilla said.
McPhee Reservoir, completed in 1984 and filled to capacity in 1996, has long been a recreational jewel of Southwest Colorado, providing boating, fishing and camping opportunities for hundreds. However, the reservoir was created by flooding an area rich in archaeological significance, thus creating a tension between protection of the past, enjoyment of the present and planning for the future.
During construction of the reservoir, workers surveyed and recorded 1,626 archaeological sites on more than 16,000 acres as part of the Dolores Archaeological Program. Program archaeologists fully excavated 125 sites, collecting more than 1.5 million artifacts. However, much of the history of the ancient people groups from Southwest Colorado remained in the ground, covered over by the rising waters of the reservoir.
Now, as the water slowly disappears, many of those delicate sites and artifacts are being threatened by the unusual use of the area.
"The Native Americans of the past utilized the area quite extensively with what appears to be many hunting camps," Padilla said. "Even normal wave action and things like that reveal prehistoric human remains and other just run-of-the-mill-type archaeological artifacts. Now, with the unique usage that we are seeing there is a huge potential for damage."
Padilla said the public lands office has received calls regarding off-road vehicles as well as full-sized four-wheel-drive vehicles "mud bogging" on the flats of McPhee, drivers apparently not realizing the damage their fun could do on the fragile terrain. While the draw of unclaimed land is understandable, Padilla noted the area under the waters of McPhee is considered an "A Area" in travel management terms, land that is always off-limits for off-road vehicles.
Padilla was careful to note Forest Service officials do not want to limit access to McPhee, and encouraged anglers to continue to find their way to the shoreline. However, he asked off-road users to be conscientious of the impact they have on the landscape.
"In years past we have had a person or two here or there go beyond where we had anticipated," he said. "Now that the water level is as low as it is we are seeing far more usage in that area."
The Forest Service has not enforced the A designation on the McPhee flats as of yet, preferring simply to educate locals on travel rules until the new Boggy-Glade Travel Management Plan is implemented.
"Most of the Boggy-Glade landscape will be off-limits to cross country, off-road travel, so that will be our opportunity to reverse the situation," Padilla said.
Though there has not been any official enforcement of current travel rules or ticketing of inappropriate usage, Padilla did say the Forest Service can take action any time they can demonstrate natural resources are being damaged by recreational use.
For the time being, users are asked to be careful around the shores of McPhee, enjoying the recreational opportunities while respecting the history usually hidden beneath the water.
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Serve up a helping of math! Use plastic plates and Crayola Dry-Erase Crayons to practice math facts with your students.
A large plastic plate is a great surface to use with Crayola® Dry-Erase Crayons. Choose a light colored plate like white or pastel colors Dry-Erase crayon colors show up.
Practice math facts using Dry-Erase Crayons to write a number sentence. Draw pictures of food on the plate to match the number sentence and then write the answer. Take an added step and label the answer using words.
The best part is it’s easy to change the menu! Simply wipe off the plate with the E-Z Erase Mitt and serve up another helping of math.
Balloons are both colorful and mysterious. What a perfect match for a challenging matching game of Concentration!
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Play a cool double dare game! Figure out addition doubles with your classmates on dry-erase boards.
How much does a container hold? Remember relative liquid measures with this capacity chart.
Put large numbers in their places with this math game! Use Crayola® Color Switchers™ Markers to colorfully label ones, t
Hold a favorite color election then construct graphs to present data.
What's inside these Colorful Covers? A journal? E-mail addresses? Class notes? Photos? This book is great for cool-looki
Calling all scientists! Record your findings with a colorful bar graph. Illustrate two sets of data or variables with am
How much is a liter? Make a mental switch to metric by pouring, measuring, and creating a handy chart to compare volumes
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| 3.918315 |
A chemical that may help relieve chronic pain. Capsaicin is found in capsicum peppers, which include cayenne peppers, red peppers, African chilies, and tabasco peppers. It is capsaicin that gives these chili peppers their bite.
Capsaicin appears to relieve pain by stimulating the release of substance P, a chemical transmitter of pain, from nerve terminals. Initially, the release of substance P causes pain (or an exciting kick in the tastebuds), but eventually the nerve terminals become depleted of substance P, leading to loss of the pain sensation (and numb lips in lovers of Thai and Indian food). This painlessness generally lasts as long as capsaicin is present and depleting substance P from the nerves. Substance P is not the sole transmitter of pain, however, so capsaicin may only be effective in certain types of pain.
In the form of cayenne peppers, capsaicin has been used with variable success in folk medicine since the 1800’s for such diverse conditions as colds, allergies, arthritis, and hemorrhoids. Recently, it became available in the form of over-the-counter topical salves, sold under the brand names ArthriCare and Zostrix, among others, which have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating chronic pain. Although there have not been large, controlled clinical trials proving the effectiveness of these salves, they at least appear useful in relieving pain from shingles, trigeminal neuralgia (a nerve disorder that causes facial pain), arthritis, and painful diabetic neuropathy (nerve damage).
Capsaicin’s success in relieving pain from diabetic neuropathy is highly variable: Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t, and occasionally it actually makes the pain worse. If you have painful diabetic neuropathy, one of these salves may help relieve the pain, but it is a good idea to consult your doctor before trying it.
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What you will learn
In this Introduction to Maya 2012 tutorial, we will help you get a strong understanding of Maya and how it works. You'll get the chance to work with many of the Maya instructors here at Digital-Tutors who will show you how to use some of the major components of Maya. In this tutorial, we'll start by giving you the foundational skills and vocabulary you'll need in order to move around within Maya, and then we'll jump right into the Modeling section of the course. After completing the Modeling section, you'll get the chance try your hand at Texturing, Rigging, Animation, Dynamics, and finally, Lighting and Rendering your own animation. Our goal is not to weigh you down with technical information in this tutorial, but rather to help you form good habits and strong workflows so you can become a proficient Maya artist.
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Flexibility and Balance
Material adapted from ACSM's Complete Guide to Fitness & Health by the American College of Sports Medicine. (Copyright 2011 by Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.) Excerpted by permission of Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. http://www.humankinetics.com/.
A balanced exercise program is like a sturdy three-legged stool. If one leg is weak or too short, the stool isn't stable. In the same way, ignoring one of the exercise components will put your fitness program out of balance. Each health-related component of physical fitness — aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, and flexibility and balance — is important and must be considered. Although you may have a slightly different focus than someone else, to meet your own personal health or fitness goals, you need to address each one of these components.
Flexibility is the ability to move a joint through its full range of motion, or in other words, the amount of movement possible given the structure of the joint. To improve flexibility, you need to include stretching exercises in your exercise program.
Stretching refers to exercises that move joints, along with the related muscles, tendons, and ligaments, through their range of motion. Include stretching in your exercise program at least two to three days per week. Typically, about 10 minutes will allow you to stretch the major muscle groups (neck, shoulders, back, pelvis, hips, and legs). Check out these stretching exercises in our how-to videos.
In addition to flexibility, adult exercise programs should also address balance. Your nervous system interacts with your muscles to move your body as well as to optimize agility and balance. Aging can result in a loss of balance and agility, thus leading to an increased risk of falling. Balance-enhancing activities, often referred to as neuromuscular exercises (because of the brain/nerve and muscle connection), are recommended for adults in the form of activities such as tai chi, Pilates, and yoga, and for older adults who are at risk of falling or who have impairments in mobility. Here's a quick video that shows how to do a simple balance exercise.
Click here for ACSM's Program for Balanced Fitness (Part Four): Self Assessment.
Reviewed by Susan Weiner, RD, MS, CDE, CDN (06/12)
Roasted Corn, Black Bean & Mango Salad Chicken Tortellini Soup Sauteed Spinach with Pine Nuts & Golden Raisins Orange Buffalo Chicken Tasty Tomato and Eggplant Stew Spicy Lamb with Curried Coleslaw Spicy Orange Roughy Caramel Flan Green Beans and Walnuts Pizza Roll-ups
Readers ask me all the time [lie] about the diabetes supplies we use for Charlie. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stopped on the street [more lies] by a loyal blog reader wanting to know what blood glucose meter we use or what brand of finger pricker we employ. To calm the masses [not], I’ve decided the time is right to share our secret sauce; to reveal the tools of our trade. Today we take a look at … The Finger Pricker ...
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The good thing about testing software is that it usually takes place in an air-conditioned office with an espresso machine just down the hall. That's not the case with robots, however, especially when it comes to robots that are to work in rugged environments. Scarb, a robot designed for lunar prospecting, is just such a robot. Instead of the confines of a lab, Scarb will be tested on the rocky slopes of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano that is Hawaii's highest mountain. Granted Hawaii may not seem to have much in common with the moon. But the nearly 14,000-foot summit of Mauna Kea, home to a dozen major telescopes, is often snow-capped during winter months. The NASA field test will occur at elevations of approximately 9,000 feet, where Scarab is likely to encounter rain and fog and daytime temperatures of about 40 degrees.
During the upcoming field tests, the robot will simulate a lunar mission to extract water, hydrogen, oxygen and other compounds that could potentially be mined for use by future lunar explorers. The four-wheeled robot will trek to different sites, using a Canadian-built drill to obtain a one-meter geologic core at each site. Each core will be chemically analyzed by on-board instruments developed by NASA.
"People will not return to the moon for prolonged stays unless we can find resources there to help sustain them," said University Professor William "Red" Whittaker, director of the Robotics Institute's Field Robotics Center. "The technology being developed for Scarab will help locate whatever water or resources might exist on the moon as we seek out the raw materials for a new age of exploration."
Scarab was designed and built for NASA's Human Robot Systems program by Carnegie Mellon. It serves as a terrestrial testbed for technologies that would be used to explore craters at the moon's southern pole, where a robot would operate in perpetual darkness at temperatures of minus 385 degrees Fahrenheit. The rover features a novel rocker-arm suspension that enables it to negotiate sandy, rock-strewn inclines and to lower its 5 1/2-foot by 3-foot body to the ground for drilling operations. Scarab weighs 400 kilograms (about 880 pounds) and can operate on just 100 watts of power.
"Last year, we demonstrated Scarab's unique maneuverability and its ability to navigate autonomously," said David Wettergreen, associate research professor of robotics and project leader. "This year we reconfigured Scarab to accommodate a rock sample analysis payload developed by NASA. Now it is a complete robotic system for exploring the lunar poles and prospecting for resources."
Scarab is outfitted with a drill assembly built by the Northern Centre for Advanced Technology (Norcat). The drill takes hours to cut a one-meter core into a dense layer of weathered rock and soil, known as regolith. The core is then transferred into another Norcat device that pulverizes it, about one foot at a time.
The crushed rock and soil drops into the Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) experiment being developed by NASA's In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) program. Inside RESOLVE's heating chamber, the sample is heated to 900 degrees Celsius (1652 degrees Fahrenheit); gases released by the heat are transported to a gas chromatograph, an instrument that identifies individual chemicals and their relative abundance, and to absorption beds, each of which measures a particular compound of interest. It takes up to 20 hours to analyze an entire one-meter core.
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What Is Morphine?
An opiate analgesic medication, morphine is a narcotic pain reliever that has been used throughout medical history. It was first sold commercially in 1827, but had already been distributed privately for 10 years. Morphine is a natural substance, derived from the poppy plant, but has a very high risk of becoming habit forming. Physical and psychological dependence, a rapid tolerance to the drug, and the potential for addiction are some of the most concerning side effects of morphine.
It may also be found under the brand names: Avinza, MS Contin, Roxanol, Kadian, Oramorph.
Individuals who suffer from continuous moderate to severe pain may be prescribed morphine. Because of the drug’s addictive nature, it is typically only prescribed after the body has developed a tolerance to other pain relievers but still needs powerful relief.
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Slide 18 of 20
1. Market forces (such as prices for oil, costs of investment, and the pace of technological advance) may smooth and flatten the sharp peaks of the estimated production profiles. This graph shows the effect on the estimated peak production year when the methodology is altered to produce a rounded peak. (The rounded peak was generated by gradually decreasing the production growth rate from 2 percent to zero and then gradually increasing the production decline rate from zero to 5 percent.)
2. The rounded production peak is estimated by assuming that both production curves recover the same volume of conventional oil and both decline at about the same final rate (5 percent per year.)
3. The rounded peak occurs 7 years earlier and at a lower production rate than the sharp peak case.
4. This is generally true - a rounded peak occurs earlier than a sharp peak for the same resource base and yearly production growth rate.
| 3.31783 |
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Your respiratory system lets your body get the air it needs. Without clean, safe air, your body can't function. Your respiratory system helps protect you. But hazards can overwhelm your body's natural defenses. If you don't use a respirator, these hazards can damage your respiratory system. You may feel the effects right away. But some serious health problems may build slowly over time.
Your nose warms or cools incoming air, making it less irritating. Nose hair traps larger particles as you inhale. Your nose also adds moisture to the air, helping it flow more easily through the airway.
Cilia are tiny hairs that line the respiratory tract. They move small particles out of the airway. You get rid of these particles by coughing or swallowing.
The mucous blanket is a lining along the entire airway. It traps particles and moves them to the back of your throat. The particles then leave your body when you cough.
The cough reflex is triggered as unwanted substances get closer to your lungs.
Your nose, mouth, and throat: Dust, fumes, mist, smoke, fog, and other particles can damage your upper respiratory tract (nose, mouth, and throat). Symptoms you may notice include hoarseness, burning, and congestion. If you're exposed to the hazards over time, you may develop long-term problems throughout the upper respiratory tract.
Your lungs: Some particles in the air are too fine to be filtered out by your body's natural defenses. If these substances reach your lungs, they may become lodged in the tissue. This can cause health problems, including bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, or even cancer.
Your whole body: Gases, vapors, fumes, and other hazards can easily get past your body's natural defenses. Once they reach your lungs, they can be absorbed into your bloodstream. From there, they travel to other parts of your body. Your brain, heart, and reproductive organs can be harmed by these hazards. Lack of oxygen also causes serious problems throughout your body. An oxygen deficiency can quickly damage your heart and brain, and it may even cause death.
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PHYLUM PORIFERA AMIMALS WITHOUT TISSUES
Members of the kingdom Animalia, which are all multicellular eukaryotes, are thought to have evolved from single-celled eukaryotes (protistans). Among the simplest of all animals are the members of the phylum Porifera (sponges). Sponges are little more than loose aggregations of cells with no true tissue organization. There is some division of labor amongst the cells, but there are no organs.
The basic body form of all sponges consists of a sac-like structure with an outer layer of epidermal cells, an inner layer of flagellated choanocytes, and a middle mesohyl layer containing amoeboid cells that produce skeletal structures of various sorts. These layers are perforated by a large number of small pores, which give the group the name Porifera (= pore bearer). The cavity of the sac is called the spongocoel and it has at least one opening to the outside, the osculum.
Figure 1. Cutaway diagram of a simple sponge. After Margulis & Schwartz, 1998.
The phylum Porifera is commonly divided into 3 classes based on the type of skeletal materials produced: the class Calcarea has calcareous (calcium carbonate) spicules, the Hexactinellida has siliceous (glass-like) spicules, and the Demospongiae has predominately spongin (protein) fibers. Within each class, the sponges can be further differentiated by body type. In asconoid sponges the body wall is not folded; in syconoid sponges the body wall is folded into canals; and in leuconoid sponges the canals formed by the folded body wall are extensively branched. The term ostia is used to mean the openings into the pores of asconoid sponges, and the openings into the canals of syconoid and leuconoid sponges.
In all sponge types, the body is designed to facilitate filter feeding. Water is pulled into the pores and canals by the beating of the choanocytes' flagella. The water moves into the spongocoel and is eventually forced out through the osculum. As the water passes across the choanocytes, food particles (microscopic algae, bacteria, and organic debris) are trapped by the collar and taken into food vacuoles via phagocytosis for intracellular digestion. The more complex internal structure of leuconoid sponges increases surface area relative to volume, slowing the flow of water through the canals and making it easier for the choanocytes to trap food.
In this lab, we will examine examples of each of the three body types characteristic of sponges, and also representatives of the 3 classes of sponges.
Asconoid Sponges Leucoselenia (Class Calcarea)
Asconoid sponges have the simplest organization. Choanocytes line the spongocoel, drawing water through small ostia and expelling it through the osculum.
Figure 2. Diagram of an asconoid sponge, Leucosolenia. From Van De Graaff & Crawley, 1994.
1. Examine preserved whole specimens or preserved specimens on slides. Draw the specimen, labeling the osculum (which may be hard to see, but is at the apex), and the spicules protruding from the body wall.
Syconoid Sponges Scypha (Class Calcarea)
Figure 3. Diagram of a syconoid sponge, Scypha. From Van De Graaff & Crawley, 1994.
2. Examine a cross section of Scypha (= Grantia) using a compound microscope at low power. Draw the cross section, labeling the spongocoel, the radial canals that radiate from the spongocoel, the ostia and the incurrent canals they open into, and the osculum.
Leuconoid Sponges Euspongia, the "bath sponge" (Class Demospongiae)
Leuconoid sponges represent the most complex body form. The canal system is extensively branched. Small incurrent canals lead to flagellated chambers lined by choanocytes. Flagellated chambers discharge water into excurrent canals that eventually lead to an osculum. Usually there are many oscula in each sponge. The "bath sponge" is an example of a leuconoid sponge. The skeleton of this sponge is made of a soft protein, called spongin, rather than calcium carbonate or silica.
Figure 4. Diagram of a leuconoid sponge, Euspongia. From Van De Graaff & Crawley, 1994.
3. Examine demonstration materials showing the leuconoid body form. Draw a specimen showing the numerous ostia and the osculum.
4. Examine the Venus's flower basket specimen that is on demonstration. This is an example of a member of the class Hexactinellida, and it has fiberglass-like supporting fibers.
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ReportDate contains the date serial number for 1/1/2006. And Company contains text.
In both these examples, it probably would make more sense to set up cells in the workbook to contain these two values. But that's not the point. The point is that Excel isn't limited to naming ranges in a worksheet; Excel also can name text and numeric values.
Names also can name formulas, which can return values. To illustrate, you could define:
Here, the name MyPayment defines a formula that relies on other names
to return a payment amount. Those other names could refer to cells in a
spreadsheet or they could contain the actual values.
Excel Workbook Names That Return References
Most Excel names and definitions look something like this:
These Excel names have a workbook scope. You can use them in any worksheet in your workbook. To illustrate you could use these formulas anywhere in your workbook:
These names reference specific ranges. Therefore, when you insert or
delete rows above these ranges, or columns to the left of them, the
definition of the names will adjust accordingly.
Excel Worksheet Names That Return References
You can define Excel names that typically are used only in a single worksheet. These are said to have a worksheet scope. To define these names, include the name of the worksheet as part of the range name. To illustrate, you could create these names and definitions:
To define these names, enter Sheet2!CurrentDate and Sheet2!Sales as the name in the Define Name dialog.
In Sheet2, you would use these names just as you would use a name with a workbook scope. For example, you could enter =SUM(Sales). When you do so, Excel returns the sum of the Sales range defined on Sheet2.
In Sheet3, you would enter:
=SUM(Sales) to refer to the name with the workbook scope, defined for Sheet1.
=SUM(Sheet2!Sales) to refer to the name with the worksheet scope defined for Sheet2.
As with the first category above, because these names refer to specific ranges they adjust as you insert or delete rows or columns.
In each of these formulas, the INDIRECT function converts the reference as text in R1C1 notation into an actual reference. Here's what the R1C1 notation means in each instance
The second argument in each of these examples tells Excel that the text is in R1C1 style. Using 1 or TRUE in the second argument would tell Excel that the text reference is in A1 style. However, using an A1-style reference wouldn't work in this instance, because INDIRECT would return a reference to any specific cell you specify.
By the way, you might have seen a name defined like this:
|With cell B2 active...|
This style is dangerous. In fact, any reference like "=![Ref]" is dangerous. It can cause a crash in some versions of Excel. It also can create problems when used with VBA.
Avoid the "=![Ref]" reference style in Excel.
If you want to use relative references with names that have a worksheet scope, you have two choices. First, you can use INDIRECT formulas with R1C1, as shown above. Second, you can use relative references that include the sheet name as shown here:
|With cell B2 active...|
Notice that the definitions of all of these names exclude the "$" in their references. Therefore, all the names return a reference relative to the cell that was active when these names were defined. Because cell B2 was active, these three names serve the same function as the names above that use the INDIRECT formulas.
Names with a workbook scope must use the R1C1 style with INDIRECT, as illustrated here:
In all worksheets in your workbook, MyRow1 always refers to row 1 in the current column of the current worksheet. And MyColumnA always refers to column A in the current row of the current worksheet.
Notice, however, that the fixed rows and columns don't change if you insert new rows or columns in your worksheet. They only change if you redefine your range name.
Names with a worksheet scope can use standard A1-style referencing:
|With cell B2 active...|
Here, MyRow1 refers to row 1 in the current column of Sheet1. And MyColumnA refers to column A in the current row of Sheet1.
Notice, however, that because the names reference specific ranges,
the ranges will change if you insert rows above them or columns to their
left. To illustrate, if you insert a new column A, the name
Sheet1!MyColumnA then will reference column B.
Suppose that a workbook named MonthlySales.xls contains a range named Data. In some other report workbook, you could define:
When you define a name like this, it simplifies formulas that use external references. To illustrate, a formula like...
...is much easier to work with than a formula like...
If you ever want to change the source of your Data to, say,
NewMonthlySales.xls, it's easy to do. In the report workbook choose
Edit, Links, and then click the Change Source button to point all links
from MonthlySales.xls to the new workbook.
Names can use spreadsheet formulas to return cell references, as the following examples illustrate.
Names defined using the OFFSET function can return a value or reference based on the top-left cell of a reference range. Here, in the MyList example, the value in the NumRows cell determines the height of the range that MyList returns.
|=OFFSET(reference, rows, cols, height, width)|
|MyList||=OFFSET(TopLeftCell, 0, 0, NumRows, 3)|
Names defined with the INDEX function return the value or reference at the intersection of the row and column numbers...if specified. If a row or column number is omitted, the name returns the entire column or row that is specified.
|=INDEX(array, row_num, column_num)|
|MyCell||=INDEX(MyDataRange, RowNum, ColumnNum)|
|MyRow||=INDEX(MyDataRange, RowNum, )|
|MyColumn||=INDEX(MyDataRange, , ColumnNum)|
Names defined using the CHOOSE function return the value or reference from a list. Here, the ChoiceNumber could have the value of 1, 2, or 3, and return the reference specified.
|=CHOOSE(index_num, value_ref1, value_ref2, ...)|
|MyRef||=CHOOSE(ChoiceNumber, MyRef1, MyRef2, MyRef3)|
Names defined with the IF function can return values or references, based on a logical test. Here, if TestValue equals 3, the MyChoice name returns MyRef1. Otherwise, it returns MyRef2.
|=IF(logical_test, value_if_true, value_if_false)|
|MyChoice||=IF(TestValue=3, MyRef1, MyRef2)|
In a worksheet, array formulas loop through a range of values, performing various tests and returning values for the items that pass the test. To array-enter a formula, you type in the formula then hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys when you press Enter.
Names defined using array-formula logic will use that logic. To illustrate, suppose you array-enter the following formula in a cell. It will return the sum of the Ties sold in Scotland.
Here, when Product equals Ties and Region equals Scotland, Excel puts the Amount in a temporary array. Then SUM returns the sum of those amounts. In the example, the sum equals 8.
Similarly, if you define MySales using the same formula, and then enter =MySales into a cell, the cell returns the value 8.
This introduction hasn't explained the many benefits you can gain from using each of Excel's wide variety of naming techniques. Instead, I've tried to provide an overview of the key ways that you can use Excel names.
I certainly haven't explained every technique you could use. As you work with Excel, keep this power in mind. I'm certain you'll discover additional ways to gain even more power from Excel.
Learn how to create top-quality dashboard reports with Excel.
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Locke based his ethical theories upon belief in the natural goodness of humanity. The inevitable pursuit of happiness and pleasure, when conducted rationally, leads to cooperation, and in the long run private happiness and the general welfare coincide. Immediate pleasures must give way to a prudent regard for ultimate good, including reward in the afterlife. He argued for broad religious freedom in three separate essays on toleration but excepted atheism and Roman Catholicism, which he felt should be legislated against as inimical to religion and the state. In his essay The Reasonableness of Christianity (1695), he emphasized the ethical aspect of Christianity against dogma.
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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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Posted October 1997
From "Biomass energy in ASEAN member countries", produced by the FAO Regional Wood Energy Development Programme (RWEDP) in Asia in cooperation with the ASEAN-EC Energy Management Training Centre and the EC-ASEAN COGEN Programme (Bangkok, 1997)
Biomass is an important source of energy in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and its use is still increasing. In ASEAN, energy from biomass such as wood and agricultural residues represents about 40% of total energy consumption - more than 2.5 million Terajoules per year. The bulk is from woodfuels, with an estimated value of US$ 7 billion per year. Main applications are in the domestic sector and small-scale industries, but also increasingly in modern systems for combined heat and power generation.
Managed properly, biomass energy (or bio-energy) can be sustainable, environmentally benign and economically sound. Moreover, biomass energy creates substantial local employment. The advantages are also being recognised in industrialised countries, and several governments have successfully adopted articulate policies for promoting biomass energy.
Tropical countries enjoy favourable conditions for growing biomass. However, constraints to optimal use as an energy source are still to be resolved. Main issues are legal and institutional barriers, as well as lack of information and technology transfer. Furthermore, common misconceptions about biomass energy have to be redressed. It should be emphasised that the larger part of woodfuels come from non-forest land; woodfuel use is not the root cause of deforestation; biomass energy is more than a traditional commodity; and biomass energy will not phase out in the foreseeable future.
At present, AEEMTRC, COGEN and RWEDP cooperate in order to integrate information on biomass in energy data bases and assist in the development of sustainable energy policies.
It is recommended that energy policy makers in ASEAN member countries acknowledge the important role of biomass energy and its future potential. This will mean biomass energy can be integrated in overall energy policy making and planning. In particular the potential of modern applications for power generation should be given serious consideration as a way of ensuring optimal utilisation of each country's biomass resources.
The use of conventional energy like oil, coal and electricity has increased enormously in the last 25 years in ASEAN economies. During the 1980s, consumption more than doubled, with an average annual growth rate of 7%. Less spectacular, and somewhat overshadowed by this conventional energy boom, consumption of biomass energy has also increased substantially over the same period. Biomass energy includes fuelwood, charcoal and agriculture residues used as fuel.
For the five ASEAN countries where biomass is an important energy source (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam), consumption increased on average 2% per year between 1985 and 1994, due mainly to population growth. Consumption is highest in Indonesia, accounting for more than half of the total consumption because of the large population, while the rate of increase is highest in Malaysia and Vietnam.
Despite this growth, the share of biomass energy in total energy consumption has been decreasing for most countries, which often leads to the misconception that it is being substituted by modern energy and is phasing out. In reality, conventional energy is mostly used for new applications such as new industries, transport and household electricity, whereas wood and other biomass continue to dominate in domestic activities such as cooking and in many traditional industries.
Only for Thailand, recent and regular national statistics on wood and other biomass energy consumption are available. Comparing these with population data, it appears that there is a strong correlation between population and biomass energy consumption between 1985 and 1995 (0.99). By using population forecasts, we can predict an increase of nearly 15% in biomass energy consumption by 2010 over that in 1995. As accurate data on supply sources, both from forest and non-forest areas, are lacking it is difficult to assess if there will be enough supply available to meet future demand.
For the other four major biomass-using economies in ASEAN, similar or even higher trends of increase in biomass energy consumption are forecast, considering their higher population growth and greater dependence on biomass energy (except in Malaysia). Of course the above is only a simple modelling exercise, but it highlights the need for more accurate, regular and detailed data on consumption and production of biomass energy and its sources in order to asses trends, to develop forecasts and to formulate appropriate policies.
Wood and other types of biomass are widely used as fuels in the (private) domestic and industrial sectors, basically because they are cheaper than other fuels. Local availability and reliability of supply add to the economic advantages. Modern applications in both industrialised countries and in South-East Asia have demonstrated that biomass energy can also be competitive for larger-scale industrial applications. For fuel-importing countries, the use of local biomass can save substantial amounts of foreign exchange. The value of woodfuels currently being used in ASEAN economies is equivalent to an estimated US$ 7 billion annually.
The sustainable use of biomass energy sources helps to manage the local environment. When wood and other biomass are properly valued by local populations as an important resource base, they are more likely to be protected. Sustainable use of biomass is also beneficial for the global climate, because it is carbon-neutral, whereas substitution by fossil fuels would add to the greenhouse effect. This is the main reason why many industrialised countries have embarked upon policies for increasing the share of biomass in national energy consumption.
The use of wood and some other forms of biomass energy generates at least 20 times more local employment within the national economy than any other form of energy, per unit. A large amount of unskilled labour is engaged in growing, harvesting, processing, transporting and trading the fuels, which generates off-farm income for rural populations, either regularly or off-season. Policy makers in the European Union are increasingly coming to recognise the employment benefits for their own countries.
In times of hardship, or when harvests are inadequate for subsistence, the opportunity to generate income in woodfuel business provides a safety-net for the people affected.
The application of biomass energy in modern technologies allows for increased energy efficiency by combined heat and power generation (cogeneration). Applications of cogeneration in decentralised systems based on locally available fuel resources help to further reduce losses in the transmission and distribution of power.
Energy mix Incorporation of biomass fuels in national energy supply policy improves the energy mix by increasing the diversity of energy sources. This helps to reduce vulnerability to market fluctuations and can improve stabilization of prices.
It is sometimes assumed that biomass energy is a traditional commodity which will phase out in the near future. Some people even believe that woodfuel collection poses a major threat to tropical rainforests. Misconceptions such as these hamper the development of sound energy policies.
Data and planning
Systematic data are still inadequate or unavailable for biomass energy planning and for developing specific energy policies for supply and demand.
Technologies for biomass combustion which are at present widely used in ASEAN economies still need to be improved towards best practice. Financial, institutional and legal issues have to be resolved to make the best use of available technologies.
Biomass fuels consist of both woody and non-woody biomass. The first come from trees and shrubs, the latter from crop residues and other vegetation. Both can be converted into charcoal. In ASEAN economies, important biomass fuels are wood and residues from coconut, rubber and oilpalm trees, as well as sawdust, bagasse and husks and straw from rice plants. They are used in both traditional and modern applications.
The domestic sector is the main user of biomass fuels, primarily for cooking and space heating. The main user groups are farmers and villagers, but daily wage earners, industrial workers and food vendors in cities all use biomass fuels to some extent. Villagers also use biomass fuels to process agricultural products either for preservation or for conversion into tradable commodities.
Numerous industries in ASEAN member countries rely on biomass fuels for process heat and drying of the final product. Many are small-scale and based on traditional technology. These industries usually purchase the fuel, but some also collect biomass fuels from free supply sources. The industries include: agricultural and food processing (like sugar, rubber and coconut processing, rice parboiling, fish and meat drying and smoking); metal processing and mineral-based activities (e.g. brick making, lime burning, ceramics and pottery, smithing, foundry and jewellery); and forest products and textile industries (e.g. bamboo and cane, distilleries, timber drying, match factories, silk and textiles). Besides these industrial activities, services rely on biomass fuels (e.g. road tarring, soap making, tyre retreading, paper making, fishing net and boat making, food preparation and catering services).
The current situation is not expected to change as long as the supply of biofuels is secure and their price remains competitive with commercial fuels like coal, gas and electricity. The consumption of biomass fuels may even increase with growth in population. Bio-energy-using industrial and other commercial activities are mainly found in rural areas, but also exist in townships and even metropolitan cities like Bangkok, Jakarta and Manila. Also, many households in large urban centres use biomass fuels, in particular charcoal. Densified biofuels (briquettes of charcoal fines and loose residues) are becoming more popular in urban centres where different forms of woodfuels have already been accepted as traded commodities. At present, many higher-income rural families, urban households and industrial enterprises are purchasing biomass fuels, especially wood and charcoal, to meet their energy needs.
More recently, modern bio-energy has developed through adoption of technologies like cogeneration (generation of heat and power in wood and agro-based industries) and dendrothermal power plants (generation of electricity by burning woody biomass). Cogeneration is gaining increasing acceptance. Efficient, mature and proven biomass-based energy conversion technologies are available both within and outside the ASEAN region. Cogeneration of heat and power from residues in forest-based and agro-industries is being increasingly promoted (particularly in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand) by the private sector, mostly for own use. Utility companies in Western countries already supply electricity and heat from biomass to national grids and local communities.
The forest source is one of many sources of woodfuel production. It consists of government-owned and managed natural forests andtree plantations. However, this is not the only or even the main source. The situation in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand presents a typical scenario. In these countries, in recent years non-industrial plantations of different types (e.g. coconut, rubber and oilpalm plantations, fruit orchards, and trees in homesteads and homegardens) have gained recognition as important sources of woodfuel supply. These non-forest sources, managed and operated mostly by the private sector as informal business enterprises, are gaining prominence in supplying traded woodfuels to markets.
In the countries of South-East Asia, forest sources contribute between 10 and 50% of total national woodfuel supplies, with the balance coming from non-forest sources. The share of non-forest woodfuels in total household-level consumption in Indonesia is reported to be as high as 93%, and the share in total woodfuel supply in the Philippines and Thailand as 85% and 50% respectively.
Forest and non-forest sources produce woodfuels by the felling of trees which have grown naturally, or trees which were raised on single or multi-purpose plantations (i.e. as the main products of dedicated woodfuel plantations or as by-products of non-industrial plantations). Alternatively, woodfuels are obtained as lops and tops from forest harvesting; as dead wood, fallen branches, twigs and dead stumps at site; as by-products of wood-based industries (e.g. waste and scrap wood, sawdust); as surplus non-commercial wood derived from land clearing; or as recovered wood from replacement or demolition of old structures and constructions (e.g. wood from old poles, posts, buildings, scaffolding). The latter are used mostly by the urban poor.
Agro-residues like rice husk and straw, coconut husk and shells, palmoil kernel shells and fibre, and bagasse are the other main sources of biomass fuels. They are important for both the domestic and the industrial sectors.
In Thailand, the energy balance shows that bagasse and rice husk accounted respectively for 7.9% and 1.6% of all energy used in the country in 1995. In Indonesia, residues accounted for 7-8% in 1992, in Malaysia 15-16% in 1990, and in the Philippines about 12% in 1989. These amounts are basically consumed in the industrial sector (palmoil, coconut, sugar and rice milling). Data for the domestic sector are often not available, but evidence from limited surveys indicates that biomass in the form of residues plays an important role, in particular in areas where wood as a source of energy is in short supply.
In addition to the millions of users of biomass fuels in ASEAN countries, numerous actors play specific roles in the supply and distribution of traded biomass fuels from their sources to final users (e.g. collectors or gatherers, transporters, middlemen, wholesalers and retailers). Woodfuel collection for self-use and for the market can be an important occupation in rural areas. For the better-off it may be part-time off-season work, but for the poor it can very well be a full-time occupation for livelihood. And for yet others it may provide an opportunity for self-employment in woodfuel-related business to earn cash income and supplement household income. Most fuelwood gatherers live in villages close to the forests. They may be poor with very small land holdings, or landless labourers.
Estimated employment of woodfuel on the basis of person-days involved in production of one terajoule (TJ) of energy, compared to other commercial fuel alternatives, shows just 10 person-days per TJ for kerosene, compared to 200 to 350 person days for charcoal, depending upon productivity of site, efficiency of producers and the distance to the market.
For instance, over 830,000 households were employed in woodfuel-related activities in the Philippines in 1992 (536,000 in gathering, 158,000 in charcoal making and selling, and 40,000 rural and 100,000 urban traders). It was the main source of income for about 10% of rural households, supplying about 40% of their cash earnings.
If the supply source is properly managed, woodfuel can contribute positively to both the local and the global environment. Degradation of watershed and catchment areas occurs only when woodfuel is extracted in an unsustainable manner from environmentally sensitive sites. Also, woodfuel is a carbon-neutral energy source (that is, the CO2 released by its burning is matched by the amount used up in its production), provided the rate of harvest of the wood is equal to the rate of re-growth, so it need not contribute to the greenhouse effect. With present improvements in wood combustion technologies, other emissions like carbon monoxide (CO), polycyclo-aromoatic-hydrocarbons (PACs), nitrous oxides (NOx) and particulate matter can also be significantly reduced.
Considering the important contribution from non-forest production sources, it has been concluded that in most areas sustainable production of wood for energy can be viable. The present supply-demand imbalances may not be as serious as has been projected for most countries. It is also observed that, except in some highly populated forest deficit areas, the use of woodfuel by a majority of rural households is not the root cause of deforestation. In the present context of warnings against deforestation and growing concerns about biodiversity and environmental conservation, the role of government-raised plantations as newly emerging additional sources of woodfuel becomes more prominent as far as traded woodfuel is concerned.
Biomass resources, particularly residues from forests, wood processing, agricultural crops and agro-processing, are under-utilised in ASEAN countries. These resources are renewable, environmentally friendly in energy production, and sustainable in terms of supply.
Some of these residues are already used as raw materials for other products (such as particle board and fibreboard), as fodder and fertilizer, or as household and industrial fuels. However, large portions are still unused and represent potential sources of energy. Energy generation technologies specifically designed to use biomass residues are available and are becoming more and more economical.
Countries have yet to make optimum use of the additional power generation potential from their biomass residue resources, which could help them to partially overcome the long-term problem of energy supply. However, in order to make the most of biomass energy, various aspects must be taken into account:
There are several factors limiting the potential for large-scale fast-growing fuelwood plantations on a commercial scale: international petroleum fuel prices, remaining subsidies on commercial fuels, large initial investment requirements for woodfuel plantations, long gestation period between planting and harvesting, and conversion and transportation costs. This implies that the development of woodfuel should focus on the by-products of agroforestry and on the use of wood and biomass residues from relevant processing industries at their source.
Biomass fuels are mostly used in the household sector, primarily by the rural and urban poor and middle-class people in small towns. These people usually end up paying more for their household energy than their counterparts in larger urban centres. Cost-benefit analyses should incorporate avoided costs.
The low income level of the majority of rural woodfuel users can not support high investments in modern biomass-based energy generation. Governments should come in with financial schemes.
Biomass has a lower calorific value than fossil fuels. Densification (briquetting) of biomass residues increases accessibility but involves a cost, which may be out of reach of those present users who get their biomass fuels free. Detailed study of the local fuel market and careful selection of technology should precede major investments in biomass energy development.
Prevailing practices of technology transfer do not sufficiently take into account the local conditions under which imported technology has to be operated and managed, the training required for its use, maintenance requirements and capabilities, and backstopping arrangements. Promoters need to consider both hardware and software aspects of technology transfer. Research and development for biomass production and use on a commercial basis has not yet received adequate attention in the region.
Governments' policies relating to biomass energy development and the role of the private sector are not yet clearly defined. Only limited opportunity exists for exchange of information and sharing of experiences with regard to the use of modern biomass energy technologies amongst implementing organisations within ASEAN. It is important to facilitate transfer of know-how within the region. It may be desirable to develop and institutionalise a system for facilitating information sharing and technology transfer within the region. Government support with regard to the increased use of residues is often inadequate and at times conflicting. This may result in implementing agencies being unable to carry out their mandated tasks.
Information on the amount of biomass that may be sustainably available for power generation does not exist in most countries. Relevant information includes biomass from both existing natural resource bases and additional production from new sources, including currently under-utilised residues. Further reliable information must be generated for data bases with regard to prices, competing uses, cost of biomass energy in relation to alternatives, energy market, size, and supply sources.
Data bases should be accessible to agencies willing to finance, implement, monitor or use biomass energy. Exchange of information between countries in the region can be promoted by networking and through collaboration with regional and international agencies. No dedicated system exists for information flow on research and development in biomass energy. This needs to be established and regularly upgraded.
Most policies and legislation today are not conducive to biomass energy development, e.g. sectoral policies and legislation governing private trees in non-forest lands, including planting, harvesting, utilisation, transport of tree and wood products, tree and land ownership and tenure systems. Some countries' policies use subsidies to promote the use of commercial fuels, instead of developing the sources and supply of biomass energy, which could contribute positively to the balance of trade.
Present misconceptions about use of biomass fuel being the root cause of deforestation and environmental degradation do not provide a conducive atmosphere for bio-energy development. Appropriate legislation which regulates only indiscriminate biomass use needs to be promoted.
Prevailing arrangements do not encourage private-sector participation in the development of biomass resources in forest and non-forest areas. Utilisation of biomass for commercial energy production and marketing requires legislative provisions and incentives. Wherever feasible, countries should encourage, through legal and financial provisions, the plantation of fast-growing multi-purpose trees, if not as single-purpose plantations then as part of larger, multiple-use production systems.
ASEAN Member Countries have experienced high economic growth in recent years. They are now under enormous pressure to ensure reliable energy supplies in order to maintain current, or even accelerated, growth rates. Most of the additional energy demand is being met by fossil fuels. As ASEAN countries are in the tropics they have favourable conditions for growing biomass, which can strengthen their self-reliance in terms of energy. Clear and consistent policies are needed to make the most of this. Modern power generation from biomass sources should be further developed.
Data on supply and demand of biomass energy should be collected systematically and periodically. The data should be used by planning units as a basis for energy policies.
Fiscal and pricing policies should be reviewed, so as to remove discrimination in favour of certain fuel sources. Biomass energy should be allowed a "level playing field" in competition with other renewables and fossil fuels.
Barriers to the production, free flow and sustainable use of wood and biomass fuels should be removed.
Transfer of improved biomass combustion technology should be promoted both within the region and from outside. This can be implemented by stimulating leading institutes and organizations to acquire knowledge and cost-effective equipment and to establish demonstration sites for improved use of biomass fuels.
Establishing national energy information centres to assist private-sector initiatives should be encouraged. These information centres should aim to serve as "one-stop agencies", providing all information on supply and demand projections, government regulations, technology suppliers, etc. They should fully incorporate biomass energy.
It is recommended that:
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Water is a major resource that we all take for granted. With approximately 70% of the Earth covered in salt water oceans, it’s easy to forget that there are places in the world that are without water. National Geographic is also concerned with how much water we use here in the United States and how that affects rivers, lakes, wetlands, underground aquifers, and freshwater species.
That’s why they’ve introduced the Water Footprint Calculator, an online questionnaire that asks questions about the way water is consumed in your home. National Geographic states:
“We live in a watery world, with the average American lifestyle fueled by nearly 2,000 gallons of H2O a day. What may come as a surprise is that very little of that—only five percent—runs through toilets, taps, and garden hoses at home. Nearly 95 percent of your water footprint is hidden in the food you eat, energy you use, products you buy, and services you rely on.”
The National Geographic Society encourages you to find out your Water Footprint and the “pledge to cut your water footprint and help return more water to rivers, lakes, wetlands, underground aquifers, and freshwater species.”
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Florida Water Snake
Scientific name: Nerodia fasciata pictiventris (COPE 1895)
* Currently accepted name
* scientific names used through time
- Coluber fasciatus – LINNAEUS 1766
- Tropidonotus fasciatus – HOLBROOK 1842
- Nerodia fasciata – BAIRD & GIRARD 1853
- Tropidonotus pogonias – DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1854 (fide WALLACH)
- Natrix fasciata fasciata – COPE 1888
- Natrix fasciata pictiventris – COPE 1895
- Natrix sipedon pictiventris – CONANT 1958
- Nerodia fasciata – CONANT 1963
- Nerodia fasciata pictiventris – CONANT & COLLINS 1991
Description: Adults average from 24-42 inches (61-106.7 cm). The record is 62.5 inches (158.8 cm). Stout bodied snake with broad black, brown, or red crossbands over most of body. The lighter narrower bands are tan, gray, or reddish and may contain a dark spot on the side. The light bands may be broken by a black strip down the middle of the back. Crossbands may be obscured as snake darkens with age. Belly is creamy yellow with wormlike red or black markings. Scales are keeled and there are 23-27 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The pupil is round. A dark stripe extends from the eye to the angle of the jaw. Juveniles have very clear red or black crossbands on light background.
A. Top of the head
B. Underside of the head (chin and throat)
C. Elongated scales below the tail (subcaudal scales) are typically divided
D. Front (face view) of the head
E. Side of the head
F. Keeled scales
Range: In Florida, the Florida Banded Water Snake is found throughout the peninsula, excluding the Florida Keys. Outside the Florida, it occurs in extreme southeastern Georgia and has been introduced to Brownsville, Texas.
Habitat: The Florida Banded Water Snake can be found in nearly all freshwater habitats, preferring the shallow waters of swamps, marshes, ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers.
Comments: HARMLESS (Non-Venomous). When threatened, the Florida Banded Water Snake defends itself by biting and smearing its tormentor with a foul smelling musk. Active mainly at night, but may be found during the day sunning on banks or on vegetation hanging over the water. Feeds on live or dead fishes, frogs, and aquatic invertebrates. The Florida Banded Water Snake bears live young. Mating occurs mid-winter to spring and litters of 20-30 young are born in late spring through summer. The young are 7.5-10.5 inches (19-26.6 cm) at birth.
Comparison with other species: The Brown Water Snake (Nerodia taxispilota) has squarish dorsal blotches along its entire body. The Midland Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon pleuralis) has fewer than 30 darker brown crossbands near the neck, which break up into alternating blotches further down the body, and the belly is yellowish marked with two rows of half moons.
Florida Banded Water Snakes are harmless, though they have a mouth full of teeth and will bite to defend themselves. Because they are found around bodies of water, Water Snakes are often killed in the mistaken belief that they are the venomous Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus). Since Cottonmouths can easily be distinguished from Water Snakes there is no excuse for killing Water Snakes out of confusion. The Cottonmouth has a triangular shaped head and a vertical pupil. If the head is viewed from above, the eyes of Cottonmouths cannot be seen while the eyes of Water Snakes are visible; Cottonmouths have elliptical pupils and Water Snakes have round pupils; and Cottonmouths have a facial pit between the nostril and the eye, while Water Snakes do not.
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|1. Description - |
|Principles of landscape design theory. Intermediate studies in and applications of graphic communication, creative problem solving, design theory, and presentation skills. Residential site analysis and landscape design case studies. This course is intended for students in the horticulture program but members of the public and professional community are invited to enroll.|
|Advisory: HORT 40 and/or drafting skills strongly recommended.|
|2. Course Objectives - |
|The student will be able to: |
- exhibit an understanding of the elements and principles of landscape design theory through class exercises.
- demonstrate knowledge of intermediate graphic communication skills as they relate to landscape design problems through a series of projects.
- discuss and analyze design case studies and/or completed residential landscape projects.
- understand the cross-cultural nature of landscape design.
|3. Special Facilities and/or Equipment - |
|Design laboratory with multimedia projection system. Students provide drafting supplies and equipment as necessary to complete projects. Needs vary by student. Typical materials include vellum, tracing paper, drafting pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, erasing shield, drafting tape, T-square, parallel glider, architect's and engineer's scales, triangles (30/60 and 45), circle template, drafting brush, and drafting surface. |
|4. Course Content (Body of knowledge) - |
- Landscape design theory
- Basic elements of design (point, line, plane, form, texture, motion, etc.)
- Principles of organization (unity, harmony, scale, etc.)
- General philosophical concepts
- Specific functional concepts
- Overview of trends in landscape design
- Form development
- Case studies and analysis of completed residential landscape projects
- Intermediate graphic communication
- Analysis graphics
- Symbols and symbol palettes
- Functional and analytical bubble diagrams
- Color wheel
- Palette selection
- Rendering techniques
- The metric system as applied to landscape design
- Cross-cultural applications of landscape design process
|5. Repeatability - Moved to header area.|
|6. Methods of Evaluation - |
- Participation in class activities
- Weekly exercises and projects
- Final project
|7. Representative Text(s) - |
|Booth, Norman and Hiss, James, Residential Landscape Architecture: Design Process for the Private Residence, 5th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice-Hall, 2007. |
|8. Disciplines - |
|Environmental Horticulture & Design |
|9. Method of Instruction - |
- Oral presentations
|10. Lab Content - |
- Basic design composition lab
- Utilizing theoretical constructs, apply elements of design to landscape design project.
- Garden gate lab
- Students will explore the "garden gate" as a defining element of the typical garden. Based on research and field work, students will design their own "ideal garden gate".
- Color rendering lab
- Following the lecture on use and application of color rendering products, students will practice developing these skills in the classroom.
- Site analysis lab
- Using a real site, students will practice and develop site analysis skills.
- Landscape site design lab
- Utilizing a real or fictitious site, students will create a landscape design based on a program which has been provided.
|11. Honors Description - No longer used. Integrated into main description section.|
|12. Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing and Outside of Class Assignments - |
- Reading assignments will include reading approximately 25 pages per week from the assigned texts with supplemental reading from a course reader. Out of class reading/assignments is approximately 4 to 6 hours.
- Lectures will address reading topics and experiences of the instructor. Classroom discussion and demonstrations in support of lecture topics will be provided.
|13. Need/Justification - |
|This course is a required core course for the AS degree and Certificate of Achievement in Environment Horticulture & Design. |
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The Aymara or Aimara (Aymara: aymara listen (help·info)) are an indigenous native nation in the Andes and Altiplano regions of South America; about 2 million live in Bolivia, Peru and Chile. They lived in the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca, and later of the Spanish in the 16th century. With the Spanish American Wars of Independence (1810-1825) Aymaras became subjects of Bolivia and Peru and after the War of the Pacific (1879-1883) Chile acquired an Aymaran population.
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America and their descendants. Pueblos indígenas (indigenous peoples) is a common term in Spanish-speaking countries. Aborigen (aboriginal/native) is used in Argentina, while "Amerindian" is used in Guyana, but not commonly used in other countries. Indigenous peoples are commonly known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, which include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. Indigenous peoples of the United States are known as Native Americans or American Indians and Alaskan Natives.
According to a prevailing New World migration model, migrations of humans from Eurasia to the Americas took place via Beringia, a land bridge which connected the two continents across what is now the Bering Strait. The most recent migration could have taken place around 12,000 years ago, with the earliest period remaining a matter of some unresolved contention. These early Paleo-Indians soon spread throughout the Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of culturally distinct nations and tribes. According to the oral histories of many of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, they have been living there since their genesis, described by a wide range of traditional creation accounts.
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HIV replication is a complex multi-staged process that includes crucial steps taking place on the exterior as well as the interior of the target host cell.
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Korea's Joseon dynasty of monarchs had begun in 1392 and was to last to 1864. By 1392, the Koreans learned how to make gunpowder – which had been a guarded secret in China. The Koreans had cannons. They were were wearing cotton clothing – ahead of the Japanese perhaps because they were closer to China. The Koreans had compasses and an observation balloon. Printing with clay type is believed to have begun in China in the eleventh century, and, in the year 1403, Korea advanced printing to the use of metal type – while copying by hand was still being used in Europe. Under the Korean king, Sejong (1418-1450), book publishing accelerated. Poetry, fantasy novels, books on philosophy and a medical encyclopedia were published. Sejong created a new academy to promote scholarship. And, against the wishes of Korean Confucianist scholars, who wished to maintain traditional Chinese script, Sejong had a new a phonetic alphabet created, with one letter for each sound – an advantage over the 50,000 characters that had been used by the Chinese.
In the 1400s, the Koreans were continuing their work in astronomy and meteorology. They developed wind velocity measurement – two hundred years before this was in use in Europe. In an attempt to improve farm production, the Koreans were measuring rainfall. And in 1492, to improve agricultural production, a book was distributed titled Straight Talk on Farming.
An improved agriculture created for the Koreans a new prosperity – while Japan was spending its energies and wealth in incessant warfare. Korea in the 1400s had the highest standard of living in East Asia. But Korea was burdened by the same authoritarianism and feudalism that existed elsewhere. Great landowners and a scholar-gentry, similar to that in China, dominated agriculture. The Confucianist scholar-gentry (yangban) were officially recognized as the leading class and accorded privileges. Beneath them were the craftspeople, held with some esteem because of their skills. Below the craftspeople in the official order were the common people (about 80 percent of the population) – those who worked the land. Few of them owned their own land. Most worked for landowners and were not free to leave their landlord without permission from the king. But they were described as "the foundation of the nation."
Recognized as being below farm laborers were the merchants, fitting with the Confucianism view of commerce as greed and dishonesty. Also below the farm laborers were those called the low-born (ch'onmin): butchers, gravediggers, those who worked with leather, basket makers, those who peeled bark, sorcerers, those in public entertainment, and that fifth or so of the population who were slaves.
Not until the third Joseon monarch, T'aejong (1400-1418) did China's Ming rulers give recognition to Joseon rule, and China's Ming emperors continued to see Korea as subservient to China, the Ming assuming suzerainty over Korea. This the Joseon monarchs accepted, pledging subservience, in other words, vassalage to China. Korea's Confucianists agreed with this arrangement, seeing China as the homeland of Confucianism and the font of civilization and wisdom.
At the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1392, what had been a golden age of Buddhism in Korea came to an end. Confucianism and Buddhism were in conflict in Korea, as they had been in China. The Confucianists disliked competition from the Buddhists. The first Joseon monarch, T'aejo, removed the power and influence of Buddhist monks from government. He expelled them from the capital, and he confiscated Buddhist estates. The construction of temples in the capital was forbidden. The amount of land that Buddhist monasteries could own and the number of monks and nuns living in monasteries was regulated.
Despite government regulation and disapproval, Buddhism retained much of its popularity among common people – especially among women – while neo-Confucianism reigned supreme among Korea's elite. Korea's Neo-Confucianists held that moral and natural law arose from the "Supreme Ultimate" behind the universe, a spirit that controlled the yin and yang of the five elements of existence: fire, water, wood, metal and soil. Where Confucianism reigned, women had declined in status, with an obligation to subservience to their husbands, and after they died to their eldest son. The ability of women to inherit property was falling, and, by the middle 1600s, inheritance became exclusively for an eldest son. And with Confucianist support for status differences, marriage between people of different social classes became became prohibited.
The elevation of Confucianism over Buddhism did not change the nature of monarchy, and the question of who would succeed the first Joseon emperor, T'aejo, resulted in the usual bloodshed. Conflicts existed, too, between monarchs and the nobility, the third Joseon monarch, T'aejong, reorganizing his bureaucracy in order to strengthen the monarchy. The arbitrary nature of authoritarian monarchs was expressed in the fourth Joseon monarch, Sejong (1418-50), in reversing the policies of his predecessor monarchs by patronizing Buddhism. And bloodshed returned in 1453 when the boy-monarch, Tanjong, was forced to abdicate in favor of his uncle. This uncle was Sejo, who ruled from 1455-1468. He also patronized Buddhism, but after Sejo's reign the restrictions on Buddhism returned.
Through all of this, a belief in education prevailed among Korea's elite. Korea had five universities – mainly for males from noble families. And the rich were getting richer in the form of expansion by agricultural estates at the expense of small farmers. Tenant farmers were over taxed as landowners forced their workers to pay taxes that they, the landowners, were reluctant to pay. Poor farmers had to borrow at excessively high interest rates. Increasingly, common people abandoned farming, leaving their taxes to be paid by their kinsmen and their neighbors – the kind of collective responsibility that existed in Japan. And brigandage was on the rise.
In 1592, Japan's Hideyoshi began his attempt to conquer China, landing at the Korean port town of Pusan before dawn on April 13. Pusan's garrison commander was away hunting game, and resistance to Hideyoshi's army was minuscule. Hideyoshi had no plan to win advantage by liberating Korea's downtrodden. Instead, he tried the same method of control that Timur and others had used: terror. After blasting Pusan with cannon fire and conquering the city, his army massacred unarmed civilians, the beheaded, according to Korean sources, numbering around 30,000 – the dead also serving as sacrifices to Japan's war god.
The Japanese army pushed northward into Korea, massacring more civilians along the way. In twenty days a spearhead unit of around 20,000 Japanese were at the capital, Hanyang, (Seoul), which was defended by less than a thousand men. Korea's king, Sonjo, escaped to Pyongyang and then to a border town: Uiju. The Japanese reached Pyongyang. China, believing that Korea was theirs to protect, sent a few thousand soldiers against the Japanese at Pyongyang, without success. And the Japanese began their effort to occupy Korea's rice producing areas in the southwest, Chungchong and Cholla.
King Sonjo sent his messengers through the country to raise a volunteer militia. Koreans joined guerrilla forces against what they described as the Japanese devils. Korea's navy rallied. The Koreans had iron clad warships, and, at the battle of Hansando, their navy sank 63 Japanese ships – a battle to be studied by Britain's Admiral Horatio Nelson and Japan's Admiral Togo. The remainder of Japan's fleet – 470 in number – fled to Pusan harbor. On September 1 the Korean navy inflicted more damage to the Japanese fleet, and Korea's admiral, Joseon Sumsin, acquired control of the seas around Korea.
Admiral Li allowed Japanese ships to leave but not to enter Korean waters. The Japanese were unable to reinforce or supply their ground forces. The Japanese army tried living from plunder, and the war in Korea dragged on for years while the Japanese tried negotiating a settlement. As a part of the bargaining, Hideyoshi demanded Japanese rule over four of Korea's southern-most provinces, and he demanded that trade between Japan and China be opened and that some high-ranking Koreans be sent to Japan as hostages. All demands were refused, and China held that no trade whatsoever would be allowed between China and Japan. Then in August 1598, Hideyoshi suddenly died. His last request was to have his forces in Korea withdrawn, and his successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu, ended the war, withdrawing what he could from Korea.
Japan's invasion left much of Korea in ruin. But the number of slaves had diminished, slaves having been scattered by the invasion, and records as to who were slaves had been destroyed. The slaves around 1600 were counted at around 200,000, down from the 350,000 counted in the 1400s. Also, Japan's invasion left Korea with more land available to the war's survivors, and a new law in 1600 benefited surviving farmers. Lands were reclaimed and restored, and from early in the 1600s the technique of transplanting rice seedlings improved – by growing plants from seeds and then transplanting them to the rice paddies.
Contact with the West came in 1628 in the form of a Dutch ship that wrecked near Chesu Island. The Koreans rescued three of the Dutch crewmen and forced them to work as slaves, making weapons and helping in military training. Knowledge about Europeans also increased in Korea by way of China. An envoy to China returned in 1631 with a map of Europe. And by way of China, the Koreans acquired a musket, a telescope, an alarm clock and books on astronomy and Western culture.
Responding to their experiences in the war against the Japanese and concerned with national defense, Korea tried to improve themselves militarily, but it helped little against the Manchus, who, in 1636, crossed the Yalu River with 30,000 troops. Rather than try to destroy the Manchu invaders, the Koreans negotiated. The Manchus claimed that they were brothers of the Koreans and won from the Koreans recognition of their suzerainty over Korea, in place of China's suzerainty. The Manchus won from the Koreans a non-aggression pact and an agreement to trade. And in 1637 the Manchus withdrew and pursued their aggressions against the Chinese, whom they soon conquered.
After 1650, interest in Western science increased. A book by Jean Terrenz, Descriptions of Ingenious Devices, had made its way to China and then to Korea. Meanwhile, a new outlook was rising among the Koreans, not necessarily from Western influence. A few Koreans defied their own and Chinese traditions and began what has been called the Shirhak school of scholarship. Its adherents wanted change. They proposed a new land system and equality of opportunity, the replacement of the old civil service examinations with a new system of recruitment, and they advocated more study of Korea's history, science, economics and foreign languages and less study of the Confucianism.
Confucianism was not overwhelmed. Tenant farming continued to dominate Korea's agriculture, with slaves laboring on public and military lands for some landowners. Commerce continued under government control, except for individual peddlers and rural crafts. Mobility continued to be hampered by laws that kept people bound to their places of work. Confucian values continued to inhibit economic growth, the Confucianists still believing that exchange should be more of gift giving rather inspired by gain.
But some growth in Korea's economy could not be stopped. The government continued to sponsor advances in agriculture, and land reclamation projects increased food production – the growing of rice, barley, buckwheat, beans, ginseng, cotton and potatoes. Accompanying an agriculturally based prosperity, Korea was developing a money economy, although slowly, while high taxes continued to discourage enterprise. Government taxes on mining made mining less than worthwhile. Mines closed except for that mining that could be done without government knowledge.
History of Korea, by Han Woo-keun, translated by Lee Kyung-shik, edited by Grafton K Mintz
A New History of Korea, by Ki-baik Lee,
Copyright © 2001-2013 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.
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Little-wing pearly mussel
Description: The little-wing pearly mussel is small, not exceeding 1.5 inches in length and 0.5 inches in width. The shell’s outer surface is usually eroded, giving the shell a chalky or ashy white appearance. When the outer surface is intact, it’s light green or dark yellowish brown with dark rays of variable width along the shell’s front surface.
Specific food habits of the mussel are unknown, but it likely feeds on food items similar to those consumed by other freshwater mussels, including detritus, diatoms, phytoplankton, and zooplankton.
The reproductive cycle of the species is likely similar to other native mussels. Males release sperm into the water, and the eggs are fertilized when the sperm are taken in by the females through their siphons during feeding and respiration. Females retain the fertilized eggs in their gills until the larvae (glochidia) fully develop. The glochidia are released into the water and must attach to the gills or fins of the appropriate fish species. They remain attached to their “fish host” for several weeks, drawing nourishment from the fish while they develop into juvenile mussels. They do not hurt their “fish host.” The juvenile mussels then detach from the fish host and drop to the bottom of the stream where they continue to develop, provided they land in a suitable place with good water conditions. This dependence on a certain species of fish increases the mussels’ vulnerability to habitat disturbances. If the fish host is driven off or eliminated because of habitat or water quality problems, the mussels can’t reproduce and will eventually die out.
Habitat: The little-wing pearly mussel inhabits small to medium streams, with low-turbidity, cool-water, and high to moderate gradients.
Range: This mussel was historically widespread but uncommon in the smaller tributaries of the upper Cumberland and Tennessee River basins in Alabama, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.. Today, in the Cumberland River system, the mussel is known from Horse Lick Creek (Jackson and Rockcastle Counties, KY); Big and Little South Forks, Cumberland River (McCreary and Wayne Counties, KY); Cane Creek (Van Buren County, TN). In the Tennessee River System, the mussel is known from: the Little Tennessee River (Macon and Swain Counties, NC), North Fork Holston River (Smyth and Washington Counties, VA), and the Clinch River (Tazewell County, VA).
Listing: Endangered, November 14, 1988. 53 FR 45861
Critical habitat: None designated
Threats: Poor water quality and habitat conditions have led to the decline and loss of populations of the littlewing pearly mussel and threaten the remaining populations.
Agriculture (both crop and livestock) and forestry operations, roads, residential areas, golf courses, and other construction activities that do not adequately control soil erosion and water run-off contribute excessive amounts of silt, pesticides, fertilizers, heavy metals, and other pollutants that suffocate and poison freshwater mussels.
The alteration of floodplains or the removal of forested stream buffers can be especially detrimental. Flood plains and forested stream buffers help maintain water quality and stream stability by absorbing, filtering, and slowly releasing rainwater. This also helps recharge groundwater levels and maintain flows during dry months.
Acid mine drainage and other water quality impacts associated with gas, oil, and mineral extraction also contribute to imperilment.
Why should we be concerned about the loss of species? Extinction is a natural process that has been occurring since long before the appearance of humans. Normally, new species develop through a process known as speciation, at about the same rate other species become extinct. However, because of air and water pollution, forest clearing, loss of wetlands, and other man-induced environmental changes, extinctions are now occurring at a rate that far exceeds the speciation rate.
All creatures, including humans, are interconnected. Native mussels rely on certain fish species in order to reproduce. In turn, these mussels provide numerous benefits to fish and other aquatic organisms. Mussels continuously filter the water for food and oxygen; as they do so, they are cleaning the water of pollutants and large quantities of organic particles, much line a tiny water purifying system. They play an important role in the aquatic food chain as a food source for wildlife, including river otters, muskrats, great blue herons, and numerous species of fish and turtles. Their shells provide cover and nesting habitat for aquatic insects, crayfish, and bottom-dwelling fish species like darters, sculpins, and madtoms (major prey items for man game fish species).
Endangered species are indicators of the health of our environment. The loss of these plants and animals is a sign that the quality of our environment – air, land, and water – is declining. Gradual freshwater mussel die-offs, such as the declining littlewing pearly mussel, and sudden mussels kills are reliable indicators of water pollution problems. Stable, divers mussel populations generally indicate clean water and a healthy aquatic environment. While poor environmental quality may first manifest itself in the health of our plant and animals populations, if untreated, it eventually affects humans directly, as we breathe polluted air, loose valuable topsoil to erosion, or get sick from swimming in contaminated water.
We depend on the diversity of plant and animal life for our recreation, nourishment, many of our lifesaving medicines, and the ecological functions they provide. One-quarter of all the prescriptions written in the United States today contain chemicals that were originally discovered in plants and animals. Industry and agriculture are increasingly making use of wild plants, seeking out the remaining wild strain of many common crops, such as wheat and corn, to produce new hybrids that are more resistant to disease, pests, and marginal climatic conditions. Our food crops depend on insects and other animals for pollination. Healthy forests clean the air and provide oxygen for us to breathe. Wetlands clean water and help minimize the impacts of floods. These services are the foundation of life and depend on a diversity of plants and animals working in concert. Each time a species disappears, we lose not only those benefits we know it provided but other benefits that we have yet to realize.
What you can do to help
Species Contact:Bob Butler
office - 828/258-3939, ext. 235
fax - 828/258-5330
160 Zillicoa St.
Asheville, NC 28801
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2001
As many as 75,000 pairs of nesting bald eagles may have lived in the lower 48 United States when the bird was adopted as our national symbol in 1782. It was a common nesting species along the coast of the Southeast as well as along major rivers and lakes. Its population diminished rapidly, however, due to habitat destruction, nest disturbance, illegal shooting, and most notably, the contamination of its food sources by the pesticide DDT. By the 1960s, nesting populations were reduced to less than 2 percent of their former numbers, and the bald eagle below the 40th parallel was listed as endangered in 1967.
Due to efforts to protect the bald eagle and its habitat, reintroduce eagles into suitable habitat, and ban the use of DDT, bald eagle populations have expanded rapidly in recent years, prompting the Service to propose removing the species from the list of threatened and endangered species. However, many of these eagles are choosing to build nests in developed areas or areas slated for development.
"This pair of bald eagles seems accustomed to the normal residential activities around the site they have selected to build a nest," said Mark Cantrell, a biologist in the Service's Asheville office. "Based on what has happened in states like Florida, where eagles have continued to nest in and around developed areas, we think they will readily adapt to the proposed habitat modifications under this Habitat Conservation Plan."
When eagles choose areas close to developed areas, the Service works with affected private landowners to balance the habitat and nesting needs of the eagles with the landowner's needs. The Service does this by working with private landowners and other non-Federal entities to develop Habitat Conservation Plans that can authorize activities that might harm listed species and that are otherwise prohibited under the Endangered Species Act. These plans are cooperative efforts between the Service and the private sector to conserve and protect endangered species without sacrificing landowners' rights to reasonable use of their property.
The Service's Asheville Field Office worked closely with Pinsto, Inc., to design measures to reduce impacts to the eagles while allowing the development to proceed if the incidental take permit is issued. In an effort to minimize any adverse effects of subdivision construction on the eagles and their habitat, Pinsto, Inc., proposed several conservation measures including:
The Service is soliciting data and comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal to issue the permit. Comments should be submitted to the Regional Office, 1875 Century Boulevard, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia 30345 (Attn: Endangered Species Permits), by May 9, 2001. The Service announced a similar permit application last month for a bald eagle nest upstream on the Catawba River at Lake James. No decision has been made yet on that permit.)
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System that encompasses 531 National Wildlife Refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management offices, and 78 Ecological Services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fish and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.
NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at http://southeast.fws.gov. Our national home page is at: http://news.fws.gov/newsreleases/.
Atlanta, GA 30345
Phone: 404/679-7289 Fax: 404/679-7286
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Safety recommendations for bathing
Try to bathe in areas which are supervised. Before you enter the water check the flag signal to see whether it is safe to bathe:
- Red flag: No bathing allowed
- Yellow flag: Take precautions when bathing
- Green flag: Bathing allowed
Remember these rules and always respect the advice of lifeguards and the local authorities.
- Watch children carefully at all times. If they cannot swim make sure they wear armbands or swim rings.
- Avoid areas where there are strong currents; you may be swept out to sea without realising it. On windy days don't use lilos or swim rings because they are easily carried away by the current. If there is a storm, do not stay in the water.
- Don't dive head first into the water if you don't know how deep it is or if there are rocks in the area.
- If you swim in the sea stay parallel to the shoreline so that you don't go too far away from the beach. If you can't swim, make sure the water comes no higher than your waist and stay near the shore.
- Allow 2 hours after eating before you swim. Avoid spending too long in the water and staying under water for long periods as this reduces your body's defences.
- Stay clear of areas marked with buoys for water sports, as you could be hit by a surfboard or water scooter.
- To avoid injury be sure to wear suitable footwear when walking over rocks or on mossy surfaces and watch out for sea urchins, jellyfish and scorpion spider crabs. In public showers wear sandals or another suitable type of non-slip footwear.
If you see anyone in trouble in the water notify the lifeguard immediately or call 112. Do not jump into the water to save anyone if you are not a trained lifeguard.
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A vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) may benefit women with HIV, even if they have already been exposed to HPV, according to a study released by an NIH research network.
The study, published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes in an article titled "Prevalence and Risk Factors for HPV in HIV-Positive Young Women Receiving Their First HPV Vaccination", notes that more than 45% of women with HIV appear never to have been exposed to the most common high-risk forms of HPV. That contradicts earlier studies, which found that many women with HIV were more likely than were women without the AIDS virus to have conditions associated with HPV, such as precancerous conditions of the cervix, as well as cervical cancer.
"Our results show that for a significant number of young women, HPV vaccine can still offer benefits. This is especially important in light of their HIV status, which can make them even more vulnerable to HPV's effects," says the study’s first author, Jessica Kahn, M.D., of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
"Even among women who test positive for one type of HPV, the vaccine may effectively prevent infection with others—especially high-risk forms that cause cancer," Dr. Kahn said.
In the study, researchers analyzed blood and tissue samples from 99 HIV-positive women between the ages of 16 and 23 who were given an initial HPV vaccination. The researchers then examined the samples for evidence of an existing HPV infection as well as previous exposure to the virus.
Researchers tested for the presence of 41 of more than 100 existing types of HPV virus, including 13 high-risk types. They found that 75% of the women had an existing HPV infection with at least one type, with 54% testing positive for a high-risk type. When examining the two types that cause 70% of cervical cancers (HPV-16 and HPV-18), however, the researchers found that nearly half of the women had no existing infection with either type and showed no evidence of exposure to them.
When the women in the study received their first HPV vaccination, 12% had an existing HPV-16 infection while 5% had an HPV-18 infection. Because of their HIV status, these women may be more likely to develop cervical cancer or to develop a cancer that is hard to treat, the researchers say.
Also, when they tested for each type of HPV individually, they found that nearly 75% of the women had no current HPV-18 infection and no evidence of previous exposure. For HPV-16, more than half (56%) did not have a current infection or previous exposure.
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How to Use the Get Ready to Read! Screening Tool
This information is also available in: Spanish
This 20-question tool for 4-year-olds is quick and easy to use. It was developed by some of the country's top reading researchers and was designed to show where a child is on the path to developing pre-reading skills – whether a child's skills are weak, strong, or somewhere in between.
This tool is designed to screen a child twice during the year before kindergarten -- in the fall one year before the child enters kindergarten, and again the next fall before kindergarten begins, to measure the child's progress. Although you can get useful information about a child's skills anytime during the 4-year-old year, don't use the tool more than three times a year. Kids develop new skills gradually, and it's not designed to measure small changes.
Find a quiet time to work and set aside about 10-15 minutes to complete the screening tool.
Step 1: Sit next to the child in front of the computer screen. Give the child control of the mouse if he or she knows how to use it.
Step 2: The screening tool begins with a sample question. Use this question to make sure that the child knows what to do. Point to the pictures in the sample question and say to the child: "Let's look at some pictures. I will ask you a question about them, and you point to (or click on) the picture that is the best answer. Let's try one."
Step 3: Remember, read the statement aloud that appears at the top of the sample question slowly, clearly, and exactly as it is written on the screen. Ask the child to point to (or click on) the best answer. This is a sample question, so you may give hints and feedback only on this question to make sure the child understands the instructions.
Step 4: When you are confident that the child understands what to do, click on "start" at the bottom of the sample page to continue to the first question.
Step 5: Read the statement at the top of the page to the child exactly as it is written on the screen. You or the child should click on the picture that the child chooses as the answer. Click on "next" to continue to the next question. Continue in this way through all 20 questions.
Step 6: After the 20th question, click on the "Get Score" button to get the child's score. You may also download a PDF version of the answer sheet.
- The child wants to stop?
Say: "We have just a few more. Let's try to finish." If the child stops paying attention, take a short break. Start with the next unanswered item. If the child is not able to start again, restart the screening tool at the beginning a few days later.
- The child asks for help?
Say: "Try to do it yourself." You can repeat a question, but don't offer more help.
- The child says the answer instead of pointing to or clicking on it?
Say: "Can you show me? Put your finger on it."
- The child points to more than one picture or changes an answer?
Say: "Can you pick just one?" Choose the child's final answer.
- The child asks if the answer is right?
Give a vague answer: "You're doing a really good job." Respond the same way whether the answer is right or wrong.
- The child answers too quickly, or points to the picture in the same position every time?
Say: "Take your time. Look at all the pictures before you decide." The child may be tired. Take a short break.
Be Ready for Reading
Bring a book to your child’s next doctor’s appointment to ease the wait. And, leave a book where you keep your reusable shopping bags to make the shopping cart a rolling reading room
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The Peruvian spider monkey (Ateles chamek) is a species of spider monkey that lives not only in Peru, but also in Brazil and Bolivia. At two feet (0.6 m) long, they are relatively large among species of monkey, and their strong, prehensile tails can be up to three feet (1 m) long. Unlike many species of monkey, they have virtually no thumb. Peruvian spider monkeys live in groups of up to a dozen individuals called bands.
Range map provided by Patterson, B. D., G. Ceballos, W. Sechrest, M. F. Tognelli, T. Brooks, L. Luna, P. Ortega, I. Salazar, and B. E. Young. 2007. Digital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere, version 3.0. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia, USA.
Data provided by NatureServe in collaboration with Bruce Patterson, Wes Sechrest, Marcelo Tognelli, Gerardo Ceballos, The Nature ConservancyMigratory Bird Program, Conservation InternationalCABS, World Wildlife FundUS, and Environment CanadaWILDSPACE.
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Once upon a time, computer makers wrote software that worked only in English. Eventually, hardware and software vendors noticed that if their systems worked in the native languages of non-English-speaking countries, they were able to sell more systems. As a result, internationalization and localization of programs and software systems became a common practice.
For many years, the ability to provide internationalization was largely restricted to programs written in C and C++. This chapter describes the underlying library gawk uses for internationalization, as well as how gawk makes internationalization features available at the awk program level. Having internationalization available at the awk level gives software developers additional flexibility—they are no longer forced to write in C or C++ when internationalization is a requirement.
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Imagine it is 2013 in New York City. Many things in your life haven't changed since 2010 but one thing certainly has: You won’t need to buy gas in order to drive. Instead, while you recharge your battery after a long day at work, your new electric car could be recharging as well.
Late this year, a new wave of electric vehicles will begin to arrive on the U.S. market. The Chevrolet Volt and the Nissan Leaf will lead the way, with other manufacturers including Ford, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and Tesla planning to introduce their electric cars sometime between 2011 and 2012.
Last week, the Obama administration announced new fuel economy standards for automobiles that provide some incentives for electric cars.
The policy, intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil consumption, is geared to a nation where most people rely on cars for transportation. But do electric cars make sense in New York City, where streets are snarled with traffic and many people park on the streets rather than in their own driveways? Would these vehicles truly help to lower carbon emissions? Should the city encourage their use?
The Bloomberg administration sees electric cars as part of its overall move to create a more environmentally sustainable New York. Others, however, think the city should focus more on getting people out of cars altogether.
Potential demand for electric cars in New York City is strong enough that consumers will likely buy up all available supply for the next several years, according to a PlaNYC study, released in January, that explored potential demand and environmental benefits for electric vehicles in the city.
Consumers here and elsewhere soon will be able to choose between two types of electric vehicles: the plug-in hybrid and the all-electric car. Plug-in hybrids run on an electrical charge for about 40 miles before switching to gas power. The new plug-in-hybrids, like the upcoming Chevy Volt, contain the same technology as the hybrids on the market today but have larger battery packs and get about twice the fuel economy of a conventional hybrid.
All-electric cars, like the upcoming Nissan Leaf, have a range of about 100 miles and are powered by electric motors instead of the gas-powered internal combustion engine found in most current cars. They rely on a battery charged from a standard 120 volt or 240 volt outlet and do not produce carbon emissions while running but require frequent charging.
Better Cars …
PlaNYC2030, New York's "comprehensive sustainability plan" to reduce the city's overall greenhouse gas emissions includes electric cars as part of its strategy. In 2008, transportation accounted for 22 percent of all city carbon emissions. Passenger vehicles and light trucks were responsible for 74 percent of these transportation emissions that, as part of the overall PlaNYC effort, "would be reduced by 44 percent by 2030."
To accomplish this, the plan calls for improving public transit, getting cars off the road and making sure the vehicles that remain are more fuel-efficient. According to a previous PlaNYC study, car trips produce five times more carbon emissions than a trip on mass transit. Electric cars, though, could "provide a significant reduction in fuel usage, greenhouse gas emissions, noise, and local air pollution compared to conventional gasoline-powered vehicles,” according to the electric vehicle study.
Significant reductions in carbon emissions, though, would require a large-scale shift to these new cars. If by 2015, 2.5 percent of all cars in New York City are electric, which the PlaNYC study suggests is possible, the city's carbon emissions would be reduced by approximately 170,000 metric tons per year from 2008 levels. That represents only 1.43 percent of the city's 11.8 million metric tons of transportation emissions in 2008. The city's overall emissions that year totaled 53.3 million metric tons, according to a previous PlaNYC study.
On the national level, the Obama administration has set the goalof 1 million plug-in hybrids on U.S. roads by 2015 and has provided $2.4 billion in stimulus grants to the industry. The federal government also offers buyers a tax credit of up to $7,500 per electric vehicle.
… Or No Cars?
Although electric vehicles might help to ease carbon emissions, congestion and deaths and injuries from vehicles will still persist, said Transportation Alternative's communications director Wiley Norvell. "If we're looking at what's going to solve all of these problems, we have some silver bullets out there: movement to transit, walking, and biking. Electric vehicles aren't a silver bullet," he said.
Instead, he said, the city needs to look at alternatives to cars. "Our streets have been all car, all the time and for us, the New York of the future is not slightly more efficient cars all the time, it's a better balance with more cycling, more on street space dedicated to moving public transportation, and making our walking environments safe," Norvell said.
According to Norvell, millions of Americans are reevaluating their decision to own and drive cars, creating an opportunity for changes in transportation. "If we come out of this window with a handful of half-measures I think a lot of us will see it as a missed opportunity," he said. "We can see a role for more efficient vehicles in a New York City with vastly diminished automobile use."
Robert Paaswell, director emeritus of the University Transportation Research Center and interim president of City College sees a place for electric cars, but his main concern is mass transit. To boost that, he would increase taxes on gasoline and put tolls on expressways and the East River bridges. "Nobody is willing to go after it but gasoline should be taxed another dollar a gallon," he said."
On Volt and Leaf
The PlaNYC study, conducted by McKinsey & Company, surveyed New Yorkers about their driving behavior and their attitudes toward electric cars. It found that 21 percent of city residents are considered potential early adopters, people looking to buy an electric vehicle as soon as they become available for purchase. Partly due to limited supply of electric cars, it found, these early buyers "will likely outstrip the available supply of electric vehicles to the New York market for at least the next five years."
Electric car owners must have a parking space with access to an electrical outlet charge their cars. The early adopters indicated they would for a charging station even without tax incentives and do not see the need for a large public charging network throughout the city.
The New York study anticipates that by 2015, electric vehicle prices should decline because of reduced battery costs, that there will be a sufficient supply of electric vehicles to purchase, and that consumers will take advantage of the existing federal tax credit of $7,500 for new electric cars. The number of electric cars bought, according to the study, "may be significantly less if these assumptions do not materialize."
Paaswell believes there is a "huge market" for electric vehicles that needs to be supported and developed with incentives such as preferred parking spots. While the first buyers will be "environmental people or people who want to be cool," eventually, Paaswell said, the eventual market "will be the everyday user who buys cars for price competitive reasons for their families or for their businesses."
"As the demand goes up, the technology is going to change rapidly," Paaswell said. "The example I always like to give is when cell phones came out, they were these suitcases people carried around, and now you carry a mini-thing in your pocket. The technology will take care of itself when the demand is there and the monetary reward is there."
But Paaswell also believes that electric cars won't take off unless new taxes make conventional vehicles more expensive and the city takes steps to encourage other electric vehicles, such as trucks. "If the city requires all delivery vehicles to be electric and begins to put in charging stations, that will make it easier for people to buy cars," he said.
Paying at the Pump
Car manufacturers and the PlaNYC study count on consumers paying a higher price for an electric car to save money on fuel in the long run. "If gas prices increase, the savings from using electric cars will be higher," the report said.
Electricity prices go up as well -- Con Ed announced another increase last month -- but not as rapidly as gas prices, according to the report. As a result, it concludes, "The day-to-day cost of driving an electric vehicle in New York, including electricity and maintenance, will be 40 percent to 70 percent less than a gasoline vehicle costs to operate" meaning that "electric vehicles offer the potential to save drivers significant sums of money over time."
The study does not see the need for the city to create a public network for charging electric cars. "The market will be saturated with early adopters so in the long term, that's something to be looked at but in the short term, the study found it wouldn't be necessary," said Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The report did, however, recommend other possible steps for the city and stakeholders to take to encourage electric vehicle adoption. These include discounts on garage parking spaces with charging infrastructure, a free unlimited MetroCard for one year, and street trees being planted in the name of the first 5,000 New Yorkers who buy an electric vehicle.
As part of its sustainability strategy, the Bloomberg administration has purchased some hybrid police cars. In 2007, the administration announced a plan to replace the city's 13,000 taxis with conventional hybrid cars by 2012. That, however, has been blocked by the courts.
On the Grid
The study also considered how much strain electrical vehicles might put on the city’s electrical grid. It concluded that if the number of electric vehicles reaches about 50,000 vehicles by 2015," it would not have an impact on the grid," according to Post.
If the number of vehicles exceeded 200,000, the city could reduce their effect by allowing charging stations to work only when demand for power is low, such as overnight. This is known as smart charging.
Power plants that produce the electricity for the cars have their own emissions, though the exact amount varies widely. The Obama administration recognized that power plants produce carbon dioxide emissions when it decided to not treat all electric cars as emission free. Under its plan, a manufacturer would receive a credit for 0 grams of carbon dioxide emission only for the first 200,000 electric vehicles it produces by 2016.
In New York, the report found that, if electric vehicles became widespread, emissions at local power plants might increase but emissions from gasoline consumption would be lower, "resulting in a net benefit of lower overall emissions."
How much lower, though depends to a great extent on how that electricity is generated, according to Jeffrey Zupan, a senior fellow with the Regional Plan Association. "Since the electricity is going to have to come from somewhere, you want it to come from clean energy sources whether it be wind or solar and those sorts of things. If the power plants are going to be fueled by coal we're going to be worse off than if we fuel them by gas," said Zupan. "It's a conundrum because ultimately there aren't too many clean energy sources."
Last Updated (Jun 06, 2012)
| 3.02441 |
|Born in Struggle, 1819-1860:|
Rising Black Bourgeosie
Revolutionary War, some Black veterans were able to join the ruling class. An example
is Lemuel Haynes. He was a freeman born in 1753 in what was to become West Hartford, but ended
up in Massachusets as a servant. When the War began, he enlisted as Minuteman in 1774 and
fought at Lexington, the siege of Boston, and went on the Ticonderoga expedition in New York.
This military experience left him with ambitions. He studied theology under a clergyman in Canaan,
Connecticut, and was eventually ordained in Litchfield in November, 1785. He went on to become a minister
in Torrington and then in Rutland, Vermont, where he preached more than thirty years. He was a preacher
much sought after in New England, and his color made no difference. This was because the old attitudes
still prevailed, for despite humble beginnings, he had become a professional and hence a respected member
of the ruling class. It would not be long, though, before one's personal qualities could not overcome the fact
of one's being Black.
This picture of Reverend Lemuel Haynes is from a lithograph of c. 1839, reproduced in Timothy
Mather Cooley, Sketches of the Life and Character of the Reverend Lemuel Haynes. . .
Of course, such success stories in which Black individuals folded smoothly into white society, were
necessarily exceptional, and their significance today as models of behavior is in proportion to the liklihood of
a typical Black person rising to the heights of social status and power.
Reverend Haynes' sucessful career within the church should not obscure the early role of the church,
which was not the liberation of Black people, but its prevention. At the time, the church institution was
controlled by whites who aimed to "civilize" Blacks in the sense that their struggles for progress could
only be in terms of prevailing white values and institutions.
The concept "civilization" had appeared in the previous century as an important part of
emerging bourgeois ideology. It served as an antidote to the notion of the sovereign individual, for
there was need to counterbalance the anarchy implied by eighteenth-century social atomism,
whether that anarchy was moral, economic or political (once the revolution was over). Civilization
was therefore invented to refer to a willing submission of autonomous property owners to laws of
their own devising so that they could enter into "rational" social relations. The empirical effect of
"rationality" - and civilization more broadly - was an increase in one's personal property and the
wealth of nations.
An important civilizing force was found in religion, for the art of voluntarily restraining one's
autonomy, natural inclinations or appetites in the name of higher principle or law was sanctioned by
Christian belief. Naturally, the early revolutionary indifference or even hostility to organized religion
gave way to its warm accomodation once the new ruling class felt itself to be secure. The ruling
bourgeosie had every reason to encourage education in the Black community as a potent instrument
of social control, and since Blacks did not have access to what little public education was available in
Hartford, the City fathers were in favor of elementary education in Black churches. If this sounds a little
cynical, keep in mind that neither political life nor, to any extent, employment required an education.
It was costly then as it is today, and one can never take its existence for granted as either a natural
right or as intrinsically beneficial.
In the 1830's there were riots in which Black confronted white. One assumes this encouraged the
provision of some education in the Black churches. The principal example was the school set up
in the A.M.E. Zion Church that had existed on Pearl Street since 1836. Classes here for the Black
children living in the nearby community along the Park River were taught by the Black author Ann
By current standards, the building was an impressive; classes were taught by a sophisticated
woman. At the time women were seen as civilizers of their husbands' baser instincts, and so it was
mandatory that women be employed as teachers to "civilize" their pupils. However, having noted this
social function of education in the Black community, it remains that some graduates from this school
undoubtedly drew upon their education as a basis of a career in the the white world, and in a few
cases actually joined the ruling bourgeoisie themselves.
The rudiments of an education and exposure to the ruling class through the church or military service,
and the rising tide of general economic development in Hartford, naturally led to some Blacks suceeding
in white terms. An example is William Saunders, whose "Cheap Store" for men's clothing was located some
15 rods (83 yards) south of the old State House.
Such a movement into the ruling class might seem to show promise for at least a portion of Black
population, but in the long run this promise was empty. The location of Saunder's store symbolizes
the limits of opening a small business, for the spot later came to be dominated by finance capital (the
bank and insurance company buildings are still there) when the basis of Hartford's economy shifted
away from light industry to begin an economic decline from which she has yet to recover.
|Here are some Blacks who were successful to varying degrees|
in white society
school teacher and abolitionist
|The Saunders Brothers
owners of a dry goods store
author and minister
|E. C. Freeman
author and school teacher
cobbler and shoemaker
author, abolitionist, veteran
|"Professor" James Williams|
janitor of Trinity College
| 3.225942 |
A hallucination is a sensory experience, while you are awake and conscious, without any corresponding cause in the external world which could be shared by others. So it would include hearing a voice when nobody is speaking and no-one else could hear it; or seeing a person or object which nobody else near you can see.
There can also be hallucinations of touch (such as feeling things crawling over your skin, when there are none); hallucinations of smell or taste occur, but less commonly, and may be more typical of the aura that warns that an epileptic fit is imminent.
Seeing or hearing things.
Psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia, or very severe depression or bipolar disorder, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Sleep deprivation; fever; temporal lobe epilepsy, or the aura preceding an epileptic fit. Some brain tumours. Severe physical illness in which one is delirious, such as liver or kidney failure. Sensory deprivation in which one is, temporarily or permanently, blind or deaf. Intoxication by or withdrawal from various drugs and substances of abuse - such as cocaine, or amphetamine, alcohol (especially in delirium tremens).
Hallucinations may be entirely normal in bereavement, in the form of briefly seeing or hearing the loved person who has recently died - but these are brief, and the person experiencing them recognises that they are not real. Other normal hallucinations include hypnagogic hallucinations which can occur as one is falling asleep, and hypnopompic hallucinations which occur when one is waking up. These are brief, and one rapidly recognises that they don't represent reality.
Not safe until a cause has been established by a doctor, and is being properly treated. While this is being arranged, do not leave the person alone, speak calmly and soothingly, letting them know what is being done. Don't get over-anxious or talk behind their back.
When to see a doctor
When you recognise that this is what you are experiencing, or when family or friends tell you that this is what is happening to you. When someone in the family starts to hallucinate, arrange for them to see a doctor as soon as possible, and do not leave them alone.
What to expect at the doctor
A careful history and physical examination, perhaps blood and urine tests to check for a number of possible physical illnesses.
This, of course, depends on the cause of the hallucination. Treatment obviously needs, where possible, to focus on clearing up the cause of these experiences. Anti-psychotic medications may help to remove or at least reduce the disturbance caused by the presence of hallucinations.
| 3.10429 |
- Why should I be concerned about the air quality in my home?
- What are indoor air pollutants and where do they come from?
- How can these pollutants affect my health?
- How can I reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants at home?
- Where can I get more information about indoor air, ventilation and related topics?
Why should I be concerned about the air quality in my home?
According to a number of national organizations, including the American Lung Association, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency, studies have shown that air pollution in our homes can be more of a health concern than air pollution outside. Indoor pollutant levels may, in fact, be two to five or more times higher than outdoor levels. There are three main reasons why indoor air quality is becoming more of a health concern.
- Compared to many years ago, we spend more time indoors. In the United States, it is estimated that people today spend up to 90 percent of their time indoors.
- There has been a large increase in the use of manmade building materials and furnishings, as well as household cleaning, personal care, and pesticide products that contain chemicals.
- Over the past few decades, homes and other buildings have been made “tighter” to save on energy use and costs.
What are indoor air pollutants and where do they come from?
An indoor air pollutant is a substance in the air that may affect the health of home occupants. Pollutants could come from outside of the home, for example an idling car engine in an attached garage, backyard trash burning, or radon entering the house from the ground below.
An air pollutant could also come from inside the home. Some examples of indoor sources might be a faulty furnace, a freshly painted room or mold growing on damp or wet carpeting.
Examples of indoor air pollutants include:
- carbon monoxide
- nitrogen dioxide
- other combustion pollutants, including secondary tobacco smoke.
Bacteria and viruses, mold, pet dander, insect parts (dust mites or roaches), and chemicals found in some hobby and household cleaning, or personal care products are all potential indoor air pollutants.
How can these pollutants affect my health?
Breathing air pollutants can lead to allergic and asthmatic reactions, infections, and other health problems that involve the lungs, nose and throat. For example, pet cats, caged birds and rodents, and dogs can produce dander and other particles that can trigger allergic reactions or asthmatic symptoms in some people.
Exposure to other indoor air pollutants, such as high enough levels of carbon monoxide, can result in headaches, nausea, vomiting, brain damage, and even death. Exposure to radon may increase the risk of lung cancer. Exposure to VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) may affect the lungs, brain, and nervous systems.
The possible health effects depend on the amount of pollutant inhaled, the length of time the person is exposed, family history, and age and general health of the person. Infants and young children may be especially sensitive, in part, because their organs and immune systems are not fully developed. Senior citizens may also be more sensitive to certain pollutants.
How can I reduce exposure to indoor air pollutants at home?
To decrease the risk of exposure and health effects, a number of actions can be taken. In general, decrease or remove the source of pollution, stop or reduce the pathways that pollutants may take and increase ventilation (fresh air).
- Install a carbon monoxide detector that meets UL rating 2034 and be aware of possible sources of carbon monoxide pollution in your home.
- Have your furnace, boiler, and gas stove checked and serviced once a year, or more if necessary.
- Have stove pipe and chimneys checked and cleaned as often as needed, especially if you burn wood.
- Don’t idle your car’s engine in an attached garage.
- Don’t operate a space heater (kerosene, etc.) unless it’s vented to the outside.
- Don’t smoke in the house. (See Fact Sheet on Carbon Monoxide)
- Test your home for radon, the second leading cause of lung cancer. (See Fact Sheet on Radon)
- Increase ventilation. In some cases, this can be done by opening the windows and doors to provide fresh air from the outside. Installing exhaust fans in bathrooms and kitchens and properly maintaining air filter systems will also help air quality.
- Keep your home in good repair:
- Prevent or repair roof, pipe, and basement leaks.
- Prevent or reduce mold growth and the spread of mold spores by venting the clothes dryer, the bathroom, and the area by the kitchen stove to the outside of the house.
- Limit the use of humidifiers and maintain and clean them regularly and frequently. Using a dehumidifier in high moisture areas such as the basement can help. Discard water damaged porous items (sheetrock, paneling, carpets, furniture, etc.) especially if repeatedly dampened or wet for more than 24 hours.
- Regularly clean the drip pan under your refrigerator.
- Keep your home warm enough to prevent moisture buildup or condensation (and mold growth), especially in poorly insulated areas.
- Properly insulate and correctly install a vapor barrier in wall and ceiling areas. In winter, do not allow the indoor relative humidity to go over 50 percent. (See Fact Sheet on Mold)
- Limit the use of carpeting, an easy gathering and possible growing place for biological pollutants like mold, dust mites, and bacteria. Do not use carpeting directly on cement floors or in damp areas like the basement. (See Fact Sheet on Carpet) Consider limiting where pets, (dogs, cats, etc.) can travel in your house or not allowing pets to occupy carpeted areas of the house.
- Care for carpeting:
- Use a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filtering vacuum cleaner daily. Leave shoes by the entry door.
- Do not saturate your carpeting if wet-cleaning it.
- Use 140°F water with an extractor to reduce the amount of water remaining in the carpeting.
- Limit or do not use high solvent cleaners when cleaning the carpet.
- Use fans and a dehumidifier in the carpeted room in order to dry it within 24 hours.
- Reduce your use of household chemicals. When you have a choice between two products that produce the same cleaning results, choose the least toxic. Look at ingredients on the label, or obtain an MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) from the company. Under “Health Hazard Rating,” which gives a rating between 0 and 4, consider choosing the one with the lowest number. Consider alternate hobbies, or alternate hobby-related products, if the hobby could expose you to harmful fumes or vapors.
- Store chemicals properly in an area not normally occupied by people, such as a garage or shed, and safely out of reach of children. Buy only the amount you need and store in original container so that safety information is not lost.
- Read and follow directions for use on the label. Do not mix any cleaning products unless directed on the product label. When instructions read “use with adequate ventilation,” strongly consider using the product outside the building. If the product is used inside the building, increase ventilation by opening a window and using exhaust fans.
Where can I get more information about indoor air, ventilation and related topics?
Please see our Indoor Air Quality Resource Guide.
| 3.276539 |
President Abraham Lincoln reluctantly restores Union General George B. McClellan to full command after General John Pope's disaster at the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia, on August 29 and 30. McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, saw much of his army transferred to Pope's Army of Virginia after his failure to capture Richmond, Virginia, during the Seven Days' Battles in June 1862.
Pope, who had one chance to prove his leadership at Second Bull Run against Confederate General Robert E. Lee, failed miserably and retreated to Washington, D.C. He had not received any help from McClellan, who sat nearby in Alexandria, Virginia, and refused to go to Pope's aid. After a summer of defeats, the Union forces in the east were now in desperate need of a boost in morale. Even though McClellan was, in part, the architect of those losses, Lincoln felt he was the best available general to raise the sagging spirits of the men in blue. The president recognized McClellan's talent for preparing an army to fight, even if he had proven to be a poor field commander. Lincoln wrote to his secretary John Hay: "We must use the tools we have. There is no man in the Army who can man these fortifications and lick these troops into shape half as well as he. If he can't fight himself, he excels in making others ready to fight."
There was little time for the Union to dawdle after Second Bull Run. Lee's army lurked just 25 miles from Washington, and had tried to cut off the Union retreat at Chantilly, Virginia, on September 1. Even as Lincoln restored McClellan's command, the Confederates were starting to move northward. McClellan was soon on the road in pursuit of Lee's army.
| 3.238065 |
During 1941 work began on adapting the Spitfire to use the new Merlin 61 engine. This had a two-stage supercharger, which improved its performance at high altitude by around 50%. The new engine was fitted to Spitfire N3297 (the only Mk III Spitfire), and the modified aircraft first flew on 27 September 1941. The timing was perfect. September 1941 also saw the operational debut of the Fw 190. The new German fighter outclassed the Spitfire V, then the RAF’s best front line fighter. Tests early in 1942 proved that the Merlin 61 powered Spitfire was the answer – it reached a maximum speed of 414 mph at 27,200 feet and could still reach 354 mph at 40,000 feet.
Work began on redesigning the Spitfire airframe to take the new heavier more powerful engine. This work would produce the pressurised Mk VII and the unpressurised Mk VIII Spitfires. These aircraft were expected to be the answer to the Fw 190. In the event the interim Mk IX performed that function. This version used a Mk V fuselage with as few changes as possible, and entered front line service in July 1942, nearly a year before the Mk VIII.
The Mk VIII (and VII) featured a strengthened fuselage with a retractable tail wheel. Each wing carried a 14-gallon self sealing fuel tank, and the main fuselage fuel tank was increased in size to 96 gallons. These changes gave the Mk VIII the same range as the Mk V, although as this distance was achieved at a higher speed, the Mk VIII could stay in the air for less time than the Mk V. Most Mk VIIIs used a new broad-chord, or pointed-tip rudder. It also featured a new tropical filter – the Vokes Aero-Vee – that was so well designed it was installed on all Mk VIIIs and adapted for tme Mk IX. The Mk VIII used the “c” wing armament (four cannon or two cannon and two machine guns) and could carry up to 1,000lbs of bombs.
A Mk VIII was the first Spitfire to use the revised cockpit seen on most later models, with a cut-down rear fuselage and a bubble canopy. This design improved the rearwards visibility of the aircraft, and was used in late production Mk IXs, the very similar Mk XVI and the late Mk 20 and above.
1,657 Mk VIIIs were produced in all, so although it never replaced the Mx IX in Britain and Northern Europe it was still a major version of the Spitfire. It was produced in three versions. The F.VIII using the 1,560 hp Merlin 61 was the standard fighter model. The HF.VIII used a 1,655hp Merlin 70 and was a high altitude fighter and the LF.VIII used the 1,705 hp Merlin 66 and was officially a low altitude fighter, although its best altitude was not that much lower than for the F.
The success of the Mk IX reduced the importance of the Mk VIII. Although the first production model was completed in November 1942, it took until June 1943 for the first squadron to be equipped with the model. One reason for the delay was that it had been decided to use the Mk VIII in the Mediterranean and Far East, and so the first squadron to use it was No. 145, based on Malta. By the summer of 1943 the crisis in the Mediterranean was in the past, and the Mk VIII saw most of its service during the invasion of Italy, often in a ground attack role.
The Mk VIII arrived in the Far East towards the end of 1943. This was just in time, for at the start of 1944 the Japanese launched their Arakan offensive. The Mk V Spitfire had been on a par with the best Japanese fighter in Burma, the Ki 44 “Tojo”, but the Mk VIII was much faster. The Japanese Army Air Force was soon driven from the skies over the Arakan, allowing the Allies to keep their isolated troops supplied from the air. The same pattern was repeated in March 1944 when the Allied air forces in India were able to keep 55,000 troops supplies at Kohima and Imphal.
Finally, the Mk VIII was used by the Royal Australian Air Force, at first for the defence of Darwin, but as the Japanese were pushed back it was more often used in the ground attack role, keeping the isolated Japanese garrisons pinned down.
Prototypes - Mk I - Mk II - Mk III - Mk V - Mk VI - Mk VII - Mk VIII - Mk IX - Mk XII - Mk XIV - Mk XVI - Mk XVIII - Mk 21 to 24 - Photo Reconnaissance Spitfires - Spitfire Wings - Timeline
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| 3.2939 |
|Fighting Forest Fires|
|Thursday, 06 September 2007 06:28|
One of the key factors in fighting forest fires is the ability to predict the spread of the fire. Human experience and empirical spread models provide important tools, but they are not always accurate enough. In particular, they are often inadequate for large, intense wildfires. In the future, however, firefighters might get more reliable, hi-tech help predicting the flames and the smoke.
photographer Kari Greer
Two FSU scientists, CSIT professor Yousuff Hussaini and meteorology professor Phil Cunningham, are using computer models to try to understand the course of wildfires, hoping to be able to develop predictive tools that can be used in real life situations. The core of their research is not the chemistry of the combustion itself, but the fluid mechanics describing how the fire interacts with the surrounding air. Some major questions are: Where is the hot air going, and how does it interact with the atmospheric winds to feed back on the fire?
The FSU scientists work with Dr. Rodman Linn of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who developed one of the models that the group currently runs on the FSU supercomputers, and Dr. Scott Goodrick of the USDA Forest Service. Linn's model, called FIRETEC, is a coupled fire-atmosphere model, meaning that at every instant it calculates the interactions between the chemical reactions and the atmospheric flow to provide predictions of fire behavior.
The intense buoyancy forces associated with the heat from the fire result in a column of rapidly rising air, causing the predominantly horizontal winds in the atmosphere to be diverted around the fire and to bend back in its wake, only to be swept up into the rising column of air. This effect results in a pair of vortices on the downstream edge of the fire, one rotating clockwise and the other rotating counter-clockwise, that can have major impact both on the spread of the fire and the transport of smoke away from the fire in the plume.
In addition to the work on fire spread, Phil Cunningham has adapted a model of the atmosphere to look specifically at the plumes. While most tools currently used to predict smoke concentrations downwind of a fire assume that the plume spreads like a cone with the highest concentration of smoke in the middle, this is not always the case. Occasionally the counter-rotating vortices are intense enough to entrain smoke-free air between them, causing the plume to split into two branches.
Beyond its immediate impact on air quality, the smoke from fires plays an important role in the carbon cycle and on the climate, and authorities concerned with air quality management are very interested in both short and long term effects of the smoke. In fact, despite the threatening nature of the fire itself, the fact is that smoke impacts the well being of a larger number of people over a much larger area.
Caption: Simulation from the FIRETEC coupled fire-atmosphere model showing temperature, air flow streamlines and fuel depletion. (Image courtesy Wilfredo Blanco, FSU Visualization Lab, and Chunmei Xia.)
| 3.524749 |
During the past several decades, developing countries have had mixed results in reducing poverty. While East Asia (particularly China) has achieved astonishing progress in eradicating severe poverty through strong agricultural and overall economic growth, many African countries have experienced an increase in the number of poor. Today, more than 1 billion people still live on less than US$1 per day, and the recent surge in food prices has caused another 100 million people in developing countries to fall into poverty. It is obvious, therefore, that a “business as usual” approach is wholly inadequate.
In recognition of the fact that persistent poverty and malnutrition result in irreversible costs to human and economic development, developing countries and the international development community have been intensifying their efforts to increase and redirect resources in order to achieve specific development objectives such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, public resources are limited, so prioritization is clearly critical. Policymakers want to know what public spending programs have the largest impact on the poor and how the resources should be allocated among different sectors, such as agriculture, infrastructure, health, and education.
In recent years, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has conducted numerous studies related to public spending and its impact on growth and poverty reduction. The findings from those studies have been brought together in a new book, Public Expenditures, Growth, and Poverty: Lessons from Developing Countries (published for IFPRI by the Johns Hopkins University Press and, in South Asia, by Oxford University Press). The approach used in the book differs from previous work in that it considers multiple types of government spending, including investments in agriculture, infrastructure, health, education, and social safety nets; recognizes that investments have a direct impact on poverty reduction through multiple channels; and links the effects of public investment to its overall social benefits and cost, using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework.
| 3.170185 |
Last reviewed by Faculty of Harvard Medical School on December 29, 2009
By Claire McCarthy, M.D.
Boston Children's Hospital
It's a sad commentary on our society when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has to issue a report reminding parents and doctors that it's important for children to play.
The October 2006 report, called "The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds," points out that some children aren't being given adequate free time just to play.
Back to top
Childhood Has Changed
There are many reasons for this trend:
- Increased academic demands, due in part to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, have caused schools to cut back or eliminate recess time in favor of more time spent on reading and math.
- Parents receive messages from the media and society that they should be building every skill or aptitude possible in their children from an early age. As a result, parents feel that they must enroll children in lots of activities, and buy them "educational" toys, videos or other gadgets rather than just letting them play.
- The college admission process has become more rigorous and parents feel that they must start early to build their child's resume through academics, sports, volunteer activities and other achievements. For some families applying to private schools, the resume-building starts as early as preschool.
- Secondary schools feel judged by how many of their students are accepted to top colleges. So they push students to have rigorous academic schedules, take Advanced Placement courses and enroll in preparatory classes for entrance exams. This leaves students with little free time.
- Children are spending more time watching television and playing video games rather than engaging in active, creative play.
- There are more families with single parents or two working parents, and fewer families with grandparents and other family members who can care for the children while parents are at work. This means that more children are being enrolled in daycare or afterschool programs where there is less time for free play.
- In many communities, there are very few if any places for children to play safely outside.
Back to top
Play More Than Just a Good Time
The lack of unscheduled and independent time for children to get back to the basics of play worries the AAP because:
- Play is important for child development. Through play, children explore the world, practice decision-making skills and discover interests. They also learn to work in groups, negotiate and share. Play prepares children for navigating a complicated world and for future leadership.
- Play is important for physical health. Children who dont get active play time and who spend hours in front of a television or computer screen are far more likely to be overweight.
- Play is important for mental health. Unstructured time allows children to relax and decompress something all of us need. Childhood and adolescent depression is increasing, and some experts believe that the decrease in free play time is part of the cause. Without enough play time, we are likely to see even more depression, stress and anxiety in our children.
- Play in schools is important. It encourages students' academic, social and emotional development. Play also helps children learn. Studies have shown that children learn better and adjust to school better when they have breaks with time to play.
- Play is important for parents and families, too. Joining in on play can help parents understand their children betterand build better relationships with them. Spending time together as a family helps nurture children, guide them, and teach them the values they need to be happy, successful and resilient.
It's not that signing kids up for activities or buying educational products is all bad. Activities offer opportunities for exercise, socializing and learning skills. Educational products can make a difference for many children. Some communities and children, especially poorer ones, need more activities and enrichment rather than less. The challenge is in finding the right balance for each child and each family.
Back to top
We can't let play be lost. It's too important for our children's health, happiness and future. Here are some ideas for preserving a pastime that seems to be in jeopardy:
- Make sure your child has downtime. Every moment of his life shouldnt be scheduled; he needs time to himself every day.
- If your child is involved in activities, watch her carefully for any signs of stress: acting sad or cranky, poor appetite, sleeping problems, trouble with friends or school. If you see any of these, she may be overscheduled. Talk to your doctor for advice.
- Don't believe everything you hear or read about what's necessary for your child's success. Love, nurturing, and creative play make more of a difference than the latest computer software or piano lessons.
- Play with your child. Join in a tea-party. Make up stories together. Help build a castle. Your child will love it, and you'll be building stronger bonds with her.
- Spend time together as a family. Have movie nights and game nights, or go for walks together. This time is just as important more so, actually than soccer practice.
- If your child is getting ready to apply for college, help him keep some perspective. Yes, he needs to do his best. But if he does, he'll find a college that's a good match for him.
- Turn off the TV and computer. Get your child moving and thinking!
- Buy toys that encourage the imagination, like dolls, blocks, paints and dress-up clothes.
- Read to your child every day. It's a great enrichment activity and a chance to snuggle.
- Work with community leaders to create safe places for children to play.
Claire McCarthy, M.D., is an assistant professor in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, an attending physician at Children's Hospital of Boston, and medical director of the Martha Eliot Health Center, a neighborhood health service of Children's Hospital. She is a senior medical editor for Harvard Health Publications.
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A Review of The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks: Studies on the State Sponsored Campaign of Extermination of the Christians of Asia Minor (1912-1922) and Its Aftermath: History, Law, Memory
Edited by Tessa Hofmann, Matthias Bjørnlund and Vasileios Meichanetsidis
The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks digs deep into the deplorable actions of the dying embers of the Ottoman Empire and the foundation of the Turkish Republic, which systematically annihilated various Christian communities. These various Christian communities were the indigenous people and suffered such brutality because of their ethnicity and religious affiliation. However, in the vast majority of schools throughout Europe and further abroad, this “hidden genocide” remains “in the dark” because of enormous pressure from modern Turkey and other factors.
Like the title of the book implies, the area covered is the genocide of the Greek community. Indeed, this is the first academic publication on the Greek genocide therefore it will serve to be a valuable source of information. The brutality that occurred during this period of history is unimaginable and clearly it is essential that a major academic publication deals with this very important subject. Therefore, The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks fills this academic gap and sheds light on a genocide which needs more international attention.
On the Greek Genocide website it is stated that “During the years 1914-1923, whilst the attention of the international community focused on the turmoil and aftermath of the First World War, the indigenous Greek minority of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey’s predecessor, was subjected to a centrally-organized, premeditated and systematic policy of annihilation. This genocide, orchestrated to ensure an irreversible end to the collective existence of Turkey’s Greek population, was perpetrated by two consecutive governments; the Committee for Union and Progress, better known as the Young Turks, and the nationalist Kemalists led by Mustafa Kemal “Atatürk”. A lethal combination of internal deportations involving death marches and massacres conducted throughout Ottoman Turkey resulted in the death of one million Ottoman Greeks.”
William Ramsay, a British ethnographer, visited the Ottoman Empire and clearly he understood what Turkish Muslim rule meant. He commented that the “Turkish rule… meant unutterable contempt… The Armenians (and Greeks) were dogs and pigs…to be spat upon, if their shadow darkened a Turk, to be outraged, to be the mats on which he wiped the mud from his feet. Conceive the inevitable result of centuries of slavery, of subjection to insult and scorn, centuries in which nothing belonged to the Armenian, neither his property, his house, his life, his person, nor his family, was sacred or safe from violence – capricious, unprovoked violence – to resist which by violence meant death.”
Henry Morgenthau, the ambassador of the United States (1913-1916) to the Ottoman Empire, stated that the policies of the Turkish government led to “outrageous terrorizing, cruel torturing, driving of women into harems, debauchery of innocent girls, the sale of many of them at 80 cents each, the murdering of hundreds of thousands and the deportation to and starvation in the desert of other hundreds of thousands, [and] the destruction of hundreds of villages and many cities”, all part of “the willful execution”
Comments and areas covered by The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks
“The period of transition from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to the foundation of the Turkish Republic was characterized by a number of processes largely guided by a narrow elite that aimed at constructing a modern, national state. One of these processes was the deliberate and planned elimination, indeed extermination, of the Christian (and certain other) minorities. According to demographic studies, the numbers are stark: In 1912 the areas of Asia Minor and Thrace were inhabited by about 4-5 million Christians and 7-8 million Muslims; by 1923 only 250-300,000 Christians remained.”
“Raphael Lemkin, the legal scholar who introduced the term genocide into international law, formulated his early ideas on the definition of this war crime by studying the destruction of the Christians of Asia Minor, while the distinguished Turcologist Neoklis Sarris has noted that the annihilation of the Christian minorities represented an integral element in the formation of the Turkish Republic. As the editors of this volume note the 2007 resolution by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, recognizing the Greek and Assyrian Genocides suggests a wider range of victim groups. This volume therefore represents an effort to provide an outline and a direction of a more extensive study of the deliberate destruction and elimination of a Greek presence that spanned over three millennia, in the space that became the Turkish Republic.” [http://www.greek-genocide.org/iags_resolution.html]
“The last two decades have seen a massive amount of research of the genocide of the Armenian population in the Ottoman/Turkish space. Much less scholarly work has been done on the genocide of the Greeks of Asia Minor and Thrace; there are many reasons for this, including the fact that Turkish governments have been successful in intimidating diplomats in the context of Turkish-Greek relations of the last generation, and of subverting academic integrity (inducing some scholars to make a career as denialists supported by international NGOs, all in the name of countering nationalism).”
“The volume includes article contributions on the areas subtitled: Historical Overview, Documentation, Interpretation; Representations and Law; Genocide Education; Memorialization; Conceptualization; and a very extensive Bibliography”
This book is essential reading for all people who are concerned about the genocide of Christians by Turkish rulers. The denial of the genocide encouraged Adolf Hitler because he stated “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians? Therefore, the book called The Genocide of the Ottoman Greeks is a must read in order to fully understand the brutal reality of what happened to the Ottoman Greeks and other minorities.
This review first appeared in the Modern Tokyo Times
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You respond to assist police with a patient acting strange. Arriving on scene, you find a young male in police custody. He’s sitting handcuffed and appears to be sleeping. The officer tells you they responded to a disturbance and found an adult male sitting on the ground. Bystanders report that the patient was yelling incoherently and appeared to be attempting to remove his clothes. The officer tells you the young man is acting strange but is not combative.
When you call the patient’s name, he opens his eyes and looks at you. He answers your questions slowly and says he has no idea what he was doing. He denies taking any illicit drugs, and the only prescription medication he takes is topiramate. He tells you he has a history of seizures and that he just wants to sleep.
En route to the hospital, you establish an IV line and check the patient’s blood glucose level, which is 96 mg/dl. A physical exam reveals no signs of traumatic injury, and vital signs are within normal limits—with the heart rate slightly elevated at 96 beats per minute. A bit confused about the relationship between the description of events and a history of seizure, you transport the patient to the emergency department for evaluation. After giving a hand-off report to the receiving physician, you ask her about seizures that present differently than the grand-mal and petit-mal seizures that you learned about in EMT school.
Seizures can be divided into two broad categories: generalized and partial. Generalized seizures involve both sides of the brain, which include grand-mal (tonic-clonic) and petit-mal (absence) seizures. Tonic-clonic seizures are more dramatic in their presentation and may last several minutes. Patients with tonic-clonic seizures may make a loud noise when the seizure begins. Their muscles will tighten and relax repetitively during the seizure.
After the seizure has ended, the patient will seem confused while their brain re-organizes. This is known as the post-ictal state, and during this time patients may be lethargic, anxious, and in some cases, combative. If the patient returns to seizure activity before gaining consciousness, or if the seizure activity continues, this is a serious condition known as status epilepticus.
Another type of seizures are known as absence seizures, which are most commonly seen in children. These seizures are subtle and last for a few seconds. Children may stare into space with no muscle movement, and in some cases, will blink their eyes rapidly or move their mouths in a tasting motion. After the seizure, the child may be confused because they feel like they’ve lost a segment of time.
Other generalized seizures are Myclonic and Atonic seizures. Myclonic seizures present with no alteration in consciousness, but the patient will experience a rapid uncontrollable spasm of a muscle, typically bilaterally. For example, a patient with myoclonic seizures may suddenly throw both hands into the air. These seizures are more common in adults but people of all ages can experience them. Onset during puberty is also common.
Atonic seizures, also known as drop seizures, present with a sudden lack of muscle tone. Patients experiencing Atonic seizures will suddenly lose all muscle tone and fall to the ground. This may appear similar to a marionette having its strings cut. These seizures are short in duration— commonly less than 20 seconds. Patients often wear helmets to prevent injury during a fall caused by this type of seizure.
Partial seizures involve only a part of the brain and are divided into two categories: simple partial and complex partial. Both of these seizure types will vary in presentation based on the area of the brain affected. Simple partial seizures may present with a feeling, like happiness, a sensation, such as tingling skin, or a taste or sound. Consciousness isn’t commonly lost. Complex partial seizures present with automatisms, which are unconscious movements that may be simple and repetitive movements, such as smacking lips or pulling at clothes, or they may be a more complex series of movements. Patients with this type of seizure may also scream, cry or become combative. After the seizure, which commonly lasts only a few minutes, the patient will be tired and won’t be able to recall what they did during the seizure. Based on these factors, this is most likely the type of seizure the patient in this particular case experienced.
When you evaluate a patient who has experienced a seizure or possible seizure, you should remember that many different causes exist, including tumors, traumatic head injuries, strokes, infections and exposure to chemicals such as amphetamines or carbon monoxide. In many cases, the exact cause of a patient’s seizure is unknown, or idiopathic. Reversible causes may be remedied, as in the case of an infection where the patient can be treated with antibiotics. Other, non-reversible causes may be treated with anticonvulsant drugs; however, these drugs don’t cure seizures or epilepsy, but rather, work to control them.
It’s important to treat seizures symptomatically by maintaining airways and protecting patients from injuries that may occur during seizure activity. Remember to consider potential causes, such as hypoglycemia or hypoxia, and obtain a thorough patient history that includes medications, and a good description of the seizure activity from bystanders. Never assume it is ‘just a seizure.’
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In this chapter I want to teach you the method to create 2D landscapes I used in my game Castles. Again, I won't talk about the Main class, which controls the applet in general and I won't talk about the Stars class, that paints the stars in the background. But both classes are pretty simple, so I think it will be no problem for you to learn them by yourself if you want to. Before we start programing, we have to know what our "problem" looks like.
We want to generate a 2D landscape that looks like the "Rocky Mountains" and can be used in a game like "Castles". This landscape will look different in every game, so it's not possible to use *.gif's or something like that. We want this landscape to be generated at random. Also we want to have the possibility to change it afterwards for example if "bombs" hit the ground. Another important thing is, that the datastructure of our landscape mustn't be too complicated, so that the game is still running fast and the amount of data is not too big. I'm sure, there are many different solutions to this problem one could think of. Let's talk about mine:
Idea and outline of the algorithm
To produce as little data as possible, I want to generate my landscape out of many lines and not out of single points/pixels. The basic idea is to draw a vertical line for every pixel of the length of the landscape. Now we choose the lower point of all lines as constant. So we only have to store the upper point, the "surface" of the landscape that will have different values for every line, in a array.
First of all one has to recognize, that it doesn't make sense to choose every upper point at random. If you want to generate a "landscape" this way, you wouldn't get a structured surface, instead your "surface" would look like the picture beside this text.
To generate a real surface is a little bit harder. First of all I will show you the basic concepts of the algorithm, then afterwards, you get the method I used in Castles as a Java program. Remember, that we leave the lower point of every line constant and change/store the upper point only!
- First of all we choose a start value at random and store it in a array
- Now we initialize the second upper point (the second line) with a value 1 pixel higher or smaller than the one before (the first one).
- We initialize all values of the array this way, adding or subtracting 1 to the value before the value we want to initialize.
- The decision of adding or subtracting is made by random. The propability to change the direction (from adding to subtacting and vice versa) is 10% the propability to do the same operation (adding or subtracting 1) as before is 90%.
Beside this text you can see the result of this pretty simple but pretty effective algorithm and it is realy not bad. There are just a view small problems. First of all it happens pretty often, that "mountains" are higher and "valleys" are lower than the appelt size. Another "problem" is, that this landscape looks a little bit boring, I think. So I will present you an algorithm that solves these problems and adds some additional features to the landscape like changing colors. Here we go:
The "final" algorithm
// Ändern der Richtung
faktor = - (faktor);
// new plus (value 1 or 2)
plus = 1 + Math.abs(rnd.nextInt() % 2);
// Ändern der Richtung
faktor = - (faktor);
// if color value get's too high
greenvalue -= 10;
// if color value get's too small
greenvalue += 10;
// get the value before the actual position and store it in last
last = map [i - 1];
// Decision if changing direction or not
change = Math.abs(rnd.nextInt() % 10);
// changing direction and possibly plus
if (change > 8)
/* Make sure that surface values stay in a certain range */ if (last > 350 || last < 120)
// Make sure that color values stay in a certain range
if (greenvalue > 240)
else if (greenvalue < 100)
// Calculate and store surface value on position i
map [i] = last + (faktor * plus);
// Calculate and store color value on position i
greenvalue = greenvalue + (-faktor * plus);
colors [i] = new Color (redvalue, greenvalue, bluevalue);
/* initialize plus, this variable tells you which value will be added or subtracted from the last value. */
plus = 1;
// initialize variable factor which decides if + or - value of plus faktor = 1; // Initializing start value of the surface
start = Math.abs(300 + (rnd.nextInt() % 50));
// Store start value on the first position in the array
map = start;
// Initializing start values for the colors
int greenvalue = 200;
int redvalue = Math.abs(rnd.nextInt() % 200);
int bluevalue = Math.abs(rnd.nextInt() % 201);
// Storing first RGB value in the Color array
colors = new Color (redvalue, greenvalue, bluevalue);
// Loop to initialize all array positions
for (int i = 1; i < mapsize; i ++)
public void generateLandscape ()
If one has initialized all array values that way one can paint the landscape. The easiest way to do this is to get all values of the arrays with a for - loop. Then draw a line from the bottom of the applet (constant value) to the surface array value. The x - coordinate is the array position of the value. Draw the line in the corrosponding color out of the color array. You can see the result of this method besides this text. As I mentioned, there are many different possibilitys to generate a landscape (for example one could calculate and store single points instead of lines) but my algorithm is fast and doesn't generate a too large an amount of data. And at least the result is not too bad. Ok, that's it, if you have another good method to generate a landscape (maybe even 3D) write me. Here comes the source code and the applet!
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Changing sentences to COMPLEXS sentences. 1. The drought caused deprivation of food and clean water in the town 2. Many people can interpret things in a way that you didn't mean 3. The book on Ancient Greece gave me some insight as to what their life was like. 4. The part ...
You have to change the complete sentences to complex sentences
Changing sentences for complex sentences 1.The stray cat took refuge in an old cardboard box to keep warm. 2. Some students find it difficult to make the transition to a new school 3. Jesus suffered from persecution due to his religious beliefs.
how important were federal policies for the expansion of the industrial economy between 1865 and 1900
Where do I put the thingy in above of which words
Underline each variable IV ABOVE THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DV ABOVE THE DEPENDANT VARIABLE 1.How will Product x affect the life if cut flowers. 2.What is the effect of different amounts of oxygen on the rate of yeast growth. 3.Does the number of bees affect the amount of honey ...
Zinc reacts with hydrochloric acid according to the reaction equation: Zn(s)+2HCl(aq)->ZnCl2(aq)+H2(g) How many milliliters of 4.50M HCl1(aq) are required to react with 8.25g of an ore containing 30.0% Zn(s) by mass?
7th grade Math quick help Ms. Sue
This is the math unit test at connections academy. you should be ashamed.
The answer to 7 plus 4(8 minus 2)
Two beetles run across flat sand, starting at the same point. Beetle 1 runs 0.42 m due east, then 0.72 m at 32o north of due east. Beetle 2 also makes two runs; the first is 1.48 m at 47o east of due north. What must be the magnitude of its second run if it is to end up at the...
For Further Reading
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Understanding blood sugar ranges
A normal blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dL. Patients with type 2 diabetes have a fasting blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL or more.
A normal blood sugar level after a meal is less than 140 mg/dL. Patients with type 2 diabetes have a blood sugar level of more than 140 mg/dL 2 hours after a meal.
Talk with your health care team about the blood sugar range that is right for you.
Help prevent high and low blood sugar levels:
- Stay as close to your schedule of eating, activity, and medicine as possible
- Check your blood sugar level as directed and share your tracking records with your health care team
- Set goals with your health care team for weight, activity, blood sugar level, and A1C level
- Wear something that lets others know that you have diabetes, such as a necklace or bracelet, in case of an emergency
- Always carry a carbohydrate (such as hard candy) with you so that you can treat a low blood sugar level at any time
Talk to your health care provider if you frequently experience high or low blood sugar levels. You may need to discuss changes in diet, activity, or diabetes medicine.
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- Seasons Aren't Dictated by Closeness to Sun
- How Earth's Tilt Causes Seasons
- Are Southern Hemisphere Seasons More Severe?
- Milankovitch Cycles Precession and Obliquity
- Precession Causing Perihelion to Happen Later
- What Causes Precession and Other Orbital Changes
- Apsidal Precession (Perihelion Precession) and Milankovitch Cycles
Milankovitch Cycles Precession and Obliquity How changes in Earth's rotation can effect Earth's seasons and climate
Milankovitch Cycles Precession and Obliquity
⇐ Use this menu to view and help create subtitles for this video in many different languages. You'll probably want to hide YouTube's captions if using these subtitles.
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History & Memory
History and Memory
Lucknow's fortunes changed toward the mid-nineteenth century as the English East India Company gained ascendancy in northern India. In 1856, the British deposed Wajid Ali Shah, the last ruler of Awadh, and annexed his kingdom. One year later, Indian soldiers and their supporters at Lucknow joined the forces allied against the Company in the Great Uprising, or Mutiny, of 1857–58 (also known as the First War of Indian Independence).
During the Uprising some 3,000 people were besieged in the British Residency compound at Lucknow. Their plight and the battle to recapture the city were memorialized in various ways by British artists and photographers catering to the intense public interest in the conflict. In the aftermath of British victory, a wide gulf came to separate European and Indian memories of Lucknow.
Lucknow remained legendary for its refined Indo-Muslim culture, evident in the manners, language, dress, cuisine, and aesthetic pursuits of the city's elites. Courtesans are especially linked to the city's memory. Their highest ranks consisted of wealthy, well-educated, and exquisitely mannered women who were employed by Lucknow's nobility for musical and dance entertainments, poetry recitals, and the teaching of social etiquette. It was in their salons that Lucknow's distinctive classical music and dance forms were developed. Embodying a rich and cultivated history, Lucknow's courtesans were depicted by many Indian and European artists. They continue to dominate postcolonial imaginings of the city, particularly in Indian film.
Image 1: Thomas Jones Barker, England, 1815–1882, The Relief of Lucknow, 1857, England, 1859, Oil on canvas, Lent by the National Portrait Gallery, London, 5851.
Image 2: Felice Beato (Active England, 1832–1909), Interior of the Sikander Bagh, after the Slaughter of 2,000 Rebels by the 93rd Highlanders, and the 4th Punjab Regt., India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, 1858, Albumen print, 10 1/2 x 11 3/4 in., Howard and Jane Ricketts Collection.
Image 3: Bowl with Fish Designs, India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, c. 1880–1900, Silver, 6 1/4 x 8 3/8 in., Richard Milhender.
Image 4: Tilly Kettle (England, 1735–1786), An Indian Dancing Girl with a Hookah, India, Uttar Pradesh, Faizabad, 1772, Oil on canvas, 6 x 47 in., Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1981.25.385.
Image 5: Egron Lundgren (Sweden, 1815–1875), Nautch Entertainment by Man Singh in Honor of Lord Clyde, the Commander-in-Chief, India, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow, 1859, Watercolor on paper
Page 13 3/4 x 22 3/4 in., The Royal Collection, RL 19185.
Image 6: Darogah Abbas Ali (fl. c. 1860s–70s), Gummoon Jan, Dancing Girl, From The Beauties of Lucknow, consisting of twenty-four selected photographed portraits, cabinet size, of the most celebrated and popular living histrionic singers, dancing girls and actresses of the Oudh Court and of Lucknow, India, Uttar Pradesh, Awadh, 1874, Albumen prints, Album approx. 10 x 8 in., Victoria and Albert Museum, IS. 1050–1883.
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Lactic acid test
Lactic acid is mainly produced in muscle cells and red blood cells. It forms when the body breaks down carbohydrates to use for energy during times of low oxygen levels. Your body's oxygen level might drop during intense exercise or if you have an infection or disease.
A test can be done to measure the amount of lactic acid in the blood.
How the Test is Performed
A blood sample is needed. for information on how this is done, see: Venipuncture.
How to Prepare for the Test
Do not exercise for several hours before the test. Exercise can cause a temporary increase in lactic acid levels.
How the Test Will Feel
When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain, while others feel only a prick or stinging sensation. Afterward, there may be some throbbing.
Why the Test is Performed
This test is usually done to diagnose lactic acidosis.
4.5 to 19.8 mg/dL (0.5-2.2 mmol/L)
Note: mg/dL = milligrams per deciliter; mmol/L = millimoles per liter
Normal value ranges may vary slightly among different laboratories. Talk to your doctor about the meaning of your specific test results.
The examples above show the common measurements for results for these tests. Some laboratories use different measurements or may test different specimens.
What Abnormal Results Mean
Abnormal results mean that body tissues are not getting enough oxygen. See: Oxygen deprivation
Conditions that can increase lactic acid levels include:
- Heart failure
- Liver problems
- Lung disease
- Not enough blood containing oxygen getting to a certain area of the body
- Severe infection that affects the entire body (sepsis)
- Very low levels of oxygen in the blood
Veins and arteries vary in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Obtaining a blood sample from some people may be more difficult than from others.
Risks may include:
- Excessive bleeding
- Fainting or feeling light-headed
- Hematoma (blood accumulating under the skin)
- Infection (a slight risk any time the skin is broken)
Clenching the fist or having the elastic band in place for a long time while having blood drawn can artificially increase lactic acid level.
DuBose TD Jr. Disorders of acid-base balance. In: Brenner BM, ed. Brenner and Rector's The Kidney. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier;2008:chap 14.
Seifter JL. Acid-base disorders. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 119.
David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
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Dictionary definition for: Change
2. (n) an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another; "the change was intended to increase sales" "this storm is certainly a change for the worse" "the neighborhood had undergone few modifications since his last visit years ago"
5. (v) make or become different in some particular way, without permanently losing one''s or its former characteristics or essence; "her mood changes in accordance with the weather" "The supermarket''s selection of vegetables varies according to the season"
11. (v) exchange or replace with another, usually of the same kind or category; "Could you convert my dollars into pounds?" "He changed his name" "convert centimeters into inches" "convert holdings into shares"
WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved.
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The Philippines, an archipelago, made up of 7,107 islands, between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam occupies an area slightly larger than the U.S. state of Arizona.
The mostly mountainous, tropical island country holds natural resources of timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper and has an estimated population of more than 89,000,000 (July 2006). Natural hazards are uncontrolled deforestation in watershed areas, soil erosion, air and water pollution in major urban centers, coral reef degradation, and increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps that are important fish breeding grounds.
The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century, ceded to the U.S. following the Spanish-American War in 1898, and became a self-governing commonwealth in 1935, in preparation for independence. During World War II, the islands fell under Japanese occupation (1942-45); on July 4, 1946, the Philippines attained independence. The Philippine government is comprised of the 24-seat Senado (Senate) and the 212-member Kapulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan (House of Representatives), led by a President elected for a single six-year term.
The majority of Philippine people are Malay, descendants of Indonesians and Malays who migrated to the islands long before the Christian era. The most significant ethnic minority group is the Chinese, who have played an important role in commerce since the ninth century. As a result of intermarriage, many Filipinos have some Chinese and Spanish ancestry. Americans and Spaniards constitute the next largest alien minorities in the country. About 87 native languages and dialects are spoken, all belonging to the Malay-Polynesian linguistic family. Of these, eight are the first languages of more than 85% of the population. The three principal indigenous languages are Cebuano, spoken in the Visayas; Tagalog, predominant in the area around Manila; and Ilocano, spoken in northern Luzon. The national language, Philipino, based on Tagalog, is taught in all schools and is gaining acceptance, particularly as a second language. The Philippines has one of the highest literacy rates in the East Asian and Pacific area.
The Philippines has a tropical marine climate dominated by a rainy season and a dry season. The summer monsoon brings heavy rains to most of the archipelago from May to October, whereas the winter monsoon brings cooler and drier air from December to February. Manila and most of the lowland areas are hot and dusty from March to May. Monsoon rains, although hard and drenching, are not normally associated with high winds and waves. But the Philippines does sit astride the typhoon belt, and it suffers an annual onslaught of dangerous tropical storms from July through October. These are especially hazardous for northern and eastern Luzon and the Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions, but Manila gets devastated periodically as well.
CIA World Factbook, U.S. State Department Background Notes, LC Country Studies, 09/2009; 04/2009; 06/1991
This map has also been used:
- Philippines, August 2006
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Misconceptions and Educational Research
Common misconceptions include:
- Seasons are caused by Earth's distance from the Sun
- Seasons are caused by Earth's axis changing the degree of tilt
- Earth orbits the Sun in a day
Some research has been conducted on how students understand the seasons, and on most effective ways to teach this subject:
A Private Universe
A powerful collection of video clips of students' astronomical ideas (seasons and moon phases) and how they change (or don ’t) with classroom instruction. ages five and above. While much research needs to be done, the studies reported here offer ideas for how teachers and curriculum developers can help students achieve the goals outlined in the National Science Education Standards.
Private Universe Project "Teachers Lab"
Designed for classroom teachers, this site begins with a 5-question conceptual assessment survey of the visitor ’s ideas about lunar phases and seasons. The information is presented with a discussion of typical responses. Classroom activities are presented and a forum is available for educators to share their questions, ideas, and experiences.
Atwood, V. & Atwood, R. 1996, “Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions of the Causes of Seasons,” Journal
of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 33, No. 5 pp.553-563.
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The Grilled Cheese sandwich is a type of food where cheese is placed between two slices of bread that is fried, toasted, or broiled.
The practice of creating a hot cheese sandwich (where the bread is toasted and the inside cheese is heated to a point of melting) began in the 1920s as sliced breads and processed cheeses became more widely available. The original versions, however, contained one slice of bread, topped with cheese. The practice of adding a top, toasted slice of bread became popular in the 1960s. A cold version, without toasting and melted cheese, is simply called a cheese sandwich.
Today, the grilled cheese sandwich is a very popular food in the US with a grilled cheese convention held annually in Los Angeles in its honor.
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Mathematics for Secondary School Teachers
By Elizabeth G. Bremigan, Ralph J. Bremigan, and John D. Lorch
Catalog Code: MSST
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-88385-773-1
Hardcover, 404 pp., 2011
List Price: $64.95
Member Price: $52.95
Series: MAA Textbooks
Table of Contents | Excerpt | About the Authors | Buy on Amazon | Buy in MAA Bookstore |
Mathematics for Secondary School Teachers, which is intended for prospective educators in middle and high school, balances discovery learning with direct instruction.
Written to develop a deeper understanding of the mathematics that will be taught, the book presents topics of central importance in the secondary school mathematics curriculum, notably, functions, polynomials, trigonometry, exponential and logarithmic functions, numbers and operations, and measurements.
Beyond the goals of conceptual understanding and computational fluency, readers of the book can devise their own mathematical explanations and arguments; create examples and visual representations; remediate typical student errors and misconceptions; and analyze students’ work.
A broad collection of exercises of varying degrees of difficulty is integrated with the text. Instructors are able to emphasize the following:
Basics: The exploration of key precollege topics from intuitive and rigorous points of view;
Connections: The exploration of relationships among topics, using tools from college-level mathematics;
Extensions: The exploration of college-level mathematical topics that have a compelling relationship to precollege mathematics.
By taking into account the diverse mathematical backgrounds of preservice teachers and the varied goals of teacher preparation programs, the authors have written a textbook whose subject matter addresses a wide range of learning objectives appropriate for future teachers.
Mathematics for Secondary School Teachers can also be used in licensing programs; as a supplement to mathematics methods courses; as a text for graduate courses for in-service teachers; and as a resource for faculty development.
Table of Contents
To the Student.
To the Instructor.
2. Lines in the Plane.
3. Quadratic Polynomials.
5. Hyperbolic Trigonometry.
7. Operations in Number Theory.
8. Topics in Number Theory.
10. Exponential and Logarithmic Functions: History, Computation, and Application.
11. Transcendental Functions and Complex Numbers.
12. Beyond Quadratics: Higher Degree Polynomials.
Appendix A: Log Tables.
Excerpt: 4.2 Triangles, Circles, and Trigonometric Functions (p. 107)
The word trigon refers to a three-sided figure, while metry means measurement. Thus trigonometry is the measurement of triangles, which is tantamount to studying the measurement of the relationships among side-lengths and angles. There is no doubt that trigonometry is useful. Human beings have been using triangles to make measurements (e.g., the height of Everest, the circumference of the earth, the distance of from the earth to the sun) for thousands of years. But why is trigonometry nontrivial? After all, we know how to measure angles and line segments, so what can be so hard about trigonometry?
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How To Write A Short Film
When learning how to write a short film, it’s important to make your screenplay as presentable and “actable” as possible. This is done by observing such principles as standardized formatting and writing that allows everyone involved to imbue their roles with more of their personality.
- Premise. A premise is more than what your movie will be about. It represents the momentum of the story and often conveys the tools you’ll need to complete production. An example of a good premise would read like this: An amateur crook who wants to become a professional con man apprentices with a renowned grifter only to learn later that the grifter has framed him for murder. If this was your premise, right away you would know the minimum number of actors your short film would require as well as some basic props. More than that, however, you’d have a starting point to begin your screenplay.
- Formatting. If you’ve never written a screenplay before, you’ll need to learn the ins and outs of proper formatting. There are a number of good books available that can teach you which fonts are accepted, how wide your margins should be and how to tag your scenes so that they’re readable by your actors. One excellent reference is “The Screenwriter’s Bible” by David Trottier.
- Page count. To write a short film, your screenplay should not exceed 60 pages. The rule of thumb in the movie industry is that one page in a screenplay equals one minute of screen time. Because of this, if your screenplay stretches past 60 pages, there’s a good chance your movie will balloon to more than 60 minutes. Short films are generally considered to be a maximum of 60 minutes.
- Don’t direct the director. Unless you’re going to write a short film and direct it too, resist the urge to insert direction into your screenplay. The only things you should concern yourself with are setting, characters and internal and external dialogue. If you have a character talking on the phone, do not insert “Judy stands in front of the TV” or “Judy is framed in the doorway.” This is called “directing the director.” You can indicate the character’s feelings, but you cannot determine how the director’s shot will be staged.
- Locations. Most short films are limited to one or two locations. This is not a requirement, but it will go a long way to ensuring that your short doesn’t blow up into a feature-length production. By crafting a premise that limits the sites on which you’ll film, you’ll preserve the brevity of the work.
- Exposition. If you want to attract quality talent, you need to write a short film that avoids on-the-nose dialogue. This kind of dialogue features characters who talk about everything openly and in detail in order to bring the audience up to speed on the film’s backstory. This will reduce the quality of your short film and will make actors pass on your material. For instance, don’t write, “Well, John, as you know I am your sister and we were separated at birth, and that’s why I have resentment issues towards our parents.” Instead, write, “Oh, so NOW they want a happy little family, do they?” It hints at past troubles and leaves you room to slowly work in the details. Too much all at once, otherwise known as info-dumping, will repel good actors.
- Don’t direct the actors. In addition to not directing the director, you want to avoid directing the actors. The best way to avoid this is by not filling your screenplay with too many details. Too many details when it comes to your character’s movements and thoughts restricts the actor. It can be something as simple as writing, “He buttoned his jacket” instead of “He buttoned his jacket from top to bottom.” A subtle difference like this can free the actor to play the part more naturally, making your finished product all the better for it.
Follow these steps and you can write a short film that you’ll be proud of. It will also make directors and actors take note of your work, improving your chances of selling more screenplays in the future.
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You are going to read a magazine article about how cities have developed.
Eight headings have been removed from the article. Choose the most suitable
heading from the list A-I for each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra
heading you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning. (0).
In the actual exam you must mark your answers on the separate answer sheet
A Growth despite poor conditions B A false dream C City habits D Too big? E Attitudes in the city F Why do cities exist? G A risk to the city? H A failed attempt I A recent development?
The Big City –
Our greatest Invention or worst nightmare?
The first cities appeared only about 7,000 years ago, in the Middle
East and in China. In comparison with several million years of human
existence, the city is still very new. Yet in its brief time it has
changed all the rules of human behaviour.
History tells us, however, that cities have always been in crisis.
Ancient Rome had terrible traffic problems. One solution tried was
to allow wheeled vehicles into the city only at night. But that left
the city's population ill-tempered and short of sleep. If you think
the noise of modern city traffic is bad, imagine trying to sleep
against the rumble of cart-wheels on cobbled streets.
To understand what the city means, we have to think hard about what
it represents: it is an environment constructed by humans for humans
as an alternative to nature. In the opinion of some, it is a symbol
of man's resistance to the natural world
Those ancient Romans 2,000 years ago imagined themselves living the
good life in country villas, removed from the luxuries, temptations
and dirt of the city. But the idea of a calm, peaceful and, above
all, innocent countryside is an invention of city folk, as
artificial as the city itself.
The largest modern cities are expanding so quickly that maps have to
be revised each year to include all the new streets. The scale of
such cities makes some people wonder if we have taken our resistance
to nature too far.
Historically, in spite of such ideas, cities have always attracted
new inhabitants. London, for example, had become the biggest city in
Europe by the mid-18th century. But by modern standards the London
of the recent past was an unimaginably dirty and dangerous place,
where the number of deaths per year was higher than the birth rate.
The number of inhabitants increased only because people came in
their thousands from smaller towns and the countryside.
Could this growth of the city at the expense of the countryside
prove to be a mistake? Most of the world's great cities are coastal
and, if the ice-caps do melt as pollution causes the earth's
temperature to rise (which some fear might happen), then cities
really will be destroyed by their own success.
The wish to ‘make good’ was a big attraction. For a city to succeed,
it had to be more open to different kinds of people than the town or
the village. And so, over time, there emerged another big idea: open-mindedness.
Freedom and open-mindedness, two of the most important values of our
time, are a condition of civilised city life. Would they have
developed as human values without cities?
to add new words to your vocabulary lists!
presente material es de utilidad para la preparación de FCE. El material online es una pequeña parte de
un completo Curso de FIRST CERTIFICATE disponible en CD Rom
y del que puedes descargar gratuitamente una
versión de evaluación. Si deseas
conocer si tu nivel actual es adecuado para preparar el examen, puedes
realizar también una prueba de nivel.
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Weather in South Africa
varies depending upon its landform topology and the influence of the seas. Weather in South Africa
is responsible for the development of its charecteristic natural vegetation and agricultural patterns. Weather in South Africa is one of the most important factors for the growth of the South African economy.
South African weather
is a combined result of the impact of the seas and the various landforms like the Highveld to the north and the south Namib to the north west. Climate in South Africa
makes for hot dry atmosphere for the most part of the year in north west to western areas. However the eastern portions receive generous rains and hence are clothed in tropical vegetation. But the best of the South African climate
is enjoyed by the farthest south west which has a weather noticeably alike to the Mediterranean having humid drippy winters and blistery, rainless summers. Such a weather has given rise to a flourishing wine making industry here, earning it the mnemonic of the Garden Route.
The dry bushland on the Highveld, created by the long dry summers of the weather in South Africa
, are the primary areas for watching the big cats from which South Africa earns its highest amount of foreign exchange.
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Nickel, 24 Hour, Urine
Clinical Information Discusses physiology, pathophysiology, and general clinical aspects, as they relate to a laboratory test
Nickel (Ni) is a silvery white metal that is widely distributed in the earth's crust. Nickel is essential for the catalytic activity of some plant and bacterial enzymes but its role in humans has not been defined. Elemental nickel may be essential for life at very low concentrations and is virtually nontoxic.
Nickel is commonly used in industry. It is a pigment in glass, ceramics, and fabric dyes; is converted in the Mond process to nickel carbonyl, Ni(CO)4 and used as a catalyst in petroleum refining and in the plastics industry, is frequently employed in the production of metal alloys (which are popular for their anticorrosive and hardness properties) in nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries, and is used as a catalyst in hydrogenation of oils.
Ni(CO)4, a liquid with low vapor pressure, is 1 of the most toxic chemicals known to man. Ni(CO)4 is absorbed after inhalation, readily crosses all biological membranes, and noncompetitively inhibits ATP-ase and RNA polymerase. Breathing the vapors of Ni(CO)4 binds avidly to hemoglobin with resultant inability to take up oxygen. The affinity for hemoglobin is higher than carbon monoxide. The binding to hemoglobin is the main transport mechanism for spreading Ni(CO)4 throughout the body. Urine is the specimen of choice for the determination of nickel exposure via inhalation.
Patients undergoing dialysis are exposed to nickel and accumulate nickel in blood and other organs; there appear to be no adverse health affects from this exposure. Hypernickelemia has been observed in patients undergoing renal dialysis. At the present time, this is considered to be an incidental finding as no correlation with toxic events has been identified. Routine monitoring of patients undergoing dialysis is currently not recommended.
Breathing dust high in nickel content has been associated with development of neoplasms of the respiratory system and nasal sinuses. Most reactions to nickel are localized skin sensitivity and allergic skin disorders that occur on contact with nickel-containing alloys. These reactions do not correlate to blood concentrations; patients experiencing skin sensitivity reactions to nickel are likely to have normal circulating concentrations of nickel.
Detecting nickel toxicity in patients exposed to nickel carbonyl
Values > or =7 mcg/24-hour specimen represent possible environmental or occupational exposure.
Nickel concentrations >50 mcg/24-hour specimen are of concern, suggesting excessive exposure.
Clinical concern about nickel toxicity should be limited to patients with potential for exposure to toxic nickel compounds such as nickel carbonyl. Hypernickelemia, in the absence of exposure to that specific form of nickel, may be an incidental finding or could be due to specimen contamination.
Cautions Discusses conditions that may cause diagnostic confusion, including improper specimen collection and handling, inappropriate test selection, and interfering substances
Specimen collection procedures for nickel require special collection containers, rigorous attention to ultraclean specimen collection and handling procedures, and analysis in an ultraclean facility. Unless all of these procedures are followed, increased urinary nickel results may be an incidental and misleading finding.
High concentrations of gadolinium and iodine are known to interfere with most metals tests. If either gadolinium- or iodine-containing contrast media has been administered, a specimen should not be collected for 96 hours.
This test cannot determine the source compound (eg, nickel sulfate) responsible for the exposure.
Reference Values Describes reference intervals and additional information for interpretation of test results. May include intervals based on age and sex when appropriate. Intervals are Mayo-derived, unless otherwise designated. If an interpretive report is provided, the reference value field will state this.
Reference values apply to all ages.
Clinical References Provides recommendations for further in-depth reading of a clinical nature
1. Moreno ME, Acosta-Saavedra LC, Meza-Figueroa D, et al: Biomonitoring of metal in children living in a mine tailings zone in Southern Mexico: A pilot study. Int J Hyg Environ Hlth 2010;213:252-258
2. Schulz C, Angerer J, Ewers U, et al: Revised and new reference values for environmental pollutants in urine or blood of children in Germany derived from the German Environmental Survey on Children 2003-2006 (GerES IV). Int J Hyg Environ Health 2009;212:637-647
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What is the importance of taking the
full daily dose and finishing all of the pills that are prescribed during a
short-term course of treatment?
The dose and duration of therapy with drugs usually is determined by scientific experiments. In some diseases, for example, infections, it takes a certain length of time of exposure to a specific dose of an antibiotic or antiviral drug in order to kill the bacteria or virus. If the right dose is not taken for the correct length of time, some of the bacteria or viruses may survive, multiply, and cause the infection to recur. Inadequate treatment also may promote the development of resistance to the drug by the bacterium or virus. Then the antibiotic or antiviral drug may not work at all. Like antibiotics, other types of drugs also may be required at a specific dose and duration to achieve appropriate levels in the body to adequately combat the disease. With some medications this even may require weeks or months of treatment.
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Definition of Hyperexplexia
Hyperexplexia: A rare genetic disorder inherited in an autosomal dominant manner in which babies have an exaggerated startle reflex. Symptoms at birth may include muscle stiffness (hypertonia), an exaggerated response to being startled, and strong brain stem reflexes (especially head-retraction reflex). The startle reflex is sometimes accompanied by sudden stiffness (acute generalized hypertonia), which can cause the affected person to fall to the ground like a log. Treatment is via medications. Also known as exaggerated startle disease, hyperekplexia, Kok disease, startle disease, and stiff baby syndrome.
Last Editorial Review: 3/19/2012
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Canine monocytic ehrlichiosis is usually caused by the rickettsia Ehrlichia canis, although other types of Ehrlichia are sometimes involved. (Rickettsiae are a specialized type of bacteria that live only inside other cells.) Carried by ticks, the organism infects a certain type of white blood cell and causes fever and other signs. A related organism, Ehrlichia ewingi, targets other types of white blood cells called granulocytes and has been isolated from dogs and people in the southern, western, and midwestern United States. Anaplasma platys, another rickettsia, causes infectious cyclic thrombocytopenia in dogs. This infection leads to periodic losses of platelets, which causes problems with blood clotting.
The Ehrlichia and Anaplasma rickettsiae are present in many parts of the world, including the United States. They are transmitted by ticks (including the brown dog tick, lone star tick, and black-legged tick) that become infected after feeding on infected animals. People, dogs, cats, and other domestic animals are accidental hosts of these disease-causing organisms.
In infections caused by Ehrlichia canis, signs commonly progress from short to longterm, depending on the strain of the organism and the immune status of the host. In short-term cases, there is fever, widespread inflammation of the lymph nodes, enlargement of the spleen, and a decrease in the number of platelets in the bloodstream. In addition, there may be loss of appetite, depression, loss of stamina, stiffness and reluctance to walk, swelling of the limbs or scrotum, and coughing or difficulty in breathing. Most short-term cases are seen in the warmer months, when ticks are active. During this phase of infection, death is rare and the infected animal may recover spontaneously. The recovered dog may remain free of signs thereafter, or longterm disease may develop.
Longterm ehrlichiosis caused by Ehrlichia canis may develop in any breed of dog, but certain breeds (such as German Shepherds) may be predisposed. Longterm infection does not vary with the seasons. Signs depend on which organs are affected and may include enlargement of the spleen, kidney failure, and inflammation of the lungs, eye, brain and spinal cord. If the brain and spinal cord are involved, there may be problems with the nervous system, such as lack of coordination, depression, partial paralysis, and increased sensitivity to a normally painless touch. Severe weight loss is common.
Dogs infected with Anaplasma platys generally show minimal to no signs of infection, although the organism is present in the platelets. Infection with other rickettsiae causes signs similar to short-term Ehrlichia canis infection, but the disease is usually more self-limiting. Fever and a lameness that shifts from one leg to another may be present. Longterm disease (such as that seen with Ehrlichia canis infection) is not typically seen in other ehrlichial infections.
For treatment of all forms of infection caused by these organisms, your veterinarian will prescribe an antibiotic. The medication is usually given for a period of 10 to 21 days. Fever usually ends within 1 to 2 days after treatment begins. In longterm cases, the blood abnormalities may persist for 3 to 6 months, although relief from signs often occurs much sooner. Some dogs may also need supportive care. If the dog has widespread or severe bleeding, then transfusion with blood platelets or whole blood may be prescribed.
The most important preventive steps are those that control ticks, the most common source of the disease. Keeping your dog away from areas known to harbor ticks is a step you can take. Preventive medications that will keep your dog from being infested with ticks are also available from your veterinarian. Any ticks found on your dog should be promptly and properly removed to prevent the spread of disease. Remove any ticks by using fine-pointed tweezers to grasp the head of the tick (right where it enters the skin). Pull the tick straight off, making sure not to grasp or squeeze its body. If there are multiple ticks, it may be best to have your veterinarian remove them and examine your dog.
Last full review/revision July 2011 by Otto M. Radostits, CM, DVM, MSc, DACVIM (Deceased); David A. Ashford, DVM, MPH, DS; Craig E. Greene, DVM, MS; Eugene D. Janzen, DVM, MVS; Bert E. Stromberg, PhD; Max J. Appel, DMV, PhD; Stephen C. Barr, BVSc, MVS, PhD, DACVIM; J. P. Dubey, MVSc, PhD; Paul Ettestad, DVM, MS; Kenneth R. Harkin, DVM, DACVIM; Delores E. Hill, PhD; Johnny D. Hoskins, DVM, PhD; Jodie Low Choy, BVMS; Barton W. Rohrbach, VMD, MPH, DACVPM; J. Glenn Songer, PhD; Joseph Taboada, DVM, DACVIM; Charles O. Thoen, DVM, PhD; John F. Timoney, MVB, PhD, Dsc, MRCVS; Ian Tizard, BVMS, PhD, DACVM
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In the theory of special relativity, the slowing down of a clock as perceived by an observer in relative motion with respect to that clock. Time dilation becomes noticeable only at speeds approaching that of light and has been accurately confirmed by the apparent increased lifetime of unstable subatomic particles traveling at nearly the speed of light and by the precise timing of atomic clocks carried on airplanes. See alsoLorentz-FitzGerald contraction.
This entry comes from Encyclopædia Britannica Concise. For the full entry on time dilation, visit Britannica.com.
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For most of her life, Maria Sanabria has been affected by heart problems, starting when her father had a heart attack in his 40s. When Sanabria, now 47, was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation or AFib, last April, memories of her father’s experience inflamed her fears.
Like her father, she also suffers from serious hypertension. A-Fib, which causes an irregular heartbeat, can result in shortness of breath, lightheadedness, heart palpitations, chest pains and extreme weakness. While some patients feel no symptoms, severe AFib results in blood clots that can lead to stroke. After episodes landed her in the emergency room, Sanabria’s cardiologist tried a blood thinner, which prevents clots from forming. It didn’t work.
“I still went into atrial fibrillation,” Sanabria says, ending up in the emergency room and unable to work.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2.5 million people had AFib in 2010, and as many as 12 million will have the condition by 2050. A person can develop AFib at any age, but the risk increases as we age. The average age for patients is 66.8 years for men and 74.6 years for women. Because of Florida’s high elderly population, the state’s Afib rate is one of the highest in the country. The primary risk factor is hypertension, doctors say.
Over the past 20 years, according to the CDC, mortality rates in which Afib was an underlying cause of death have steadily increased. Estimated cost of treatment of atrial fibrillation in 2005 was $6.65 billion per year, including hospitalization, physician care and medications.
Blood thinners, like the one used to treat Sanabria, work well, but many patients can’t tolerate the side effects. They affect diet, and some patients are prone to bleeding. Other drugs are designed to prevent or stabilize the irregular heartbeat, but also cause serious side effects and often don’t work.
“The anti-arythmic drug area has been a disappointment. They haven’t been as effective as we’d hoped,” said Dr. Robert Myerburg, professor of medicine and physiology at University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
If medications don’t work, and the patient’s quality of life has deteriorated, doctors may recommend ablation, a non-surgical procedure in which doctors insert a catheter and destroy a small area of heart tissue that is causing the irregular heartbeats. Ablation once required doctors to open up the chest, and resulted in long recovery times. Today the procedure generally requires only a couple of days in the hospital.
“For AFib, it doesn’t work for everybody and fairly frequently you have to go back and do it a second time,” Myerburg said.
Sanabria’s doctor suggested she talk to a surgeon known for performing a relatively new ablation procedure, the Hybrid Maze, in which doctors make small incisions in the patient's stomach to access the heart and create surgical lesions that block A-Fib triggers and pathways. Then, another doctor, an electrophysiologist, uses cardiac mapping technology to plug any small gaps in the surgical lesions. Sanabria, a tech nurse at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, saw Dr. Angelo LaPietra, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Mount Sinai, who began performing the procedure in 2009. The procedure is more effective, doctors say, because it combines two procedures, targeting both the inside and outside of the heart. LaPietra says that success rates are more than 80 percent.
Sanabria had the surgery last month, and says she has not had another incidence of AFib. She returned to work a month later.
“Just not to go into atrial fibrillation again and have those complications,” she said, “it’s a great feeling.”
Another new option for patients who cannot take blood thinners is the Lariat procedure, which prevents blood clots and has a success rate of from 90-95 percent, says Dr. Ramon Quesada, medical director of interventional cardiology and cardiac research at Baptist Cardiac & Vascular Institute.
Quesada was the first physician in the Southeastern United States to perform the Lariat procedure. A rope-like device is used to cinch off a piece of the heart where blood tends to collect, stagnate and clot, often leading to stroke.
George Busse, 81, has a history of heart disease, wears a pacemaker and has had two stents inserted. Busse also has AFib. When he could not tolerate the blood thinner, he opted to have the Lariat procedure last month.
An avid swimmer for much of his life, Busse says, he stopped a couple of months ago.
“After I see the doctor next week…,” he says, “I’m going back to the pool.”
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Michigan's Frogs & Toads
There are more than 3400 species of frogs and toads worldwide, with the majority living in the humid tropics. Michigan can boast only 13 species, but they are an important part of the State's wildlife heritage.
Frogs and toads, along with the salamanders, are members of the class Amphibia. Amphibians are characterized by a life cycle which begins with an unshelled egg laid in water, the egg hatches into a fish like, gill breathing larva (called a tadpole or polliwog in frogs and toads), followed by the transformation of the larva into an adult. During this transformation, the larva gradually develops legs, lungs, and other modifications for life as an air breathing adult capable of living on land. Sometimes this transformation occurs inside the egg, with the animal hatching out as an "adult," but all of Michigan's frogs and toads, have a typical aquatic (water living) tadpole stage. Most amphibians have rather thin skins through which they can "breathe" and absorb or lose water. Because of this, they prefer to live in moist or wet habitats.
How can you tell a frog from a toad? It's been said that a toad is just a lumpy frog! Toads do have thicker, more warty skins compared to the smoother skin of most frogs. Toads are adapted for drier conditions than frogs, though they spend much of their time burrowed into moist soil during times when the air is drier. Toads have shorter hind legs than frogs, comparatively speaking, and move in short hops or simply walk instead of making long leaps.
Michigan has two species of "true" toads, the American Toad and Fowler's Toad. Some species are hard to fit into either category. For example, Cricket Frogs have a warty skin, and the Gray Tree Frog (often called a "tree toad") spends much of the summer high in the trees away from water.
Amphibians are "cold blooded" (ectothermic) animals, which means that they do not produce internal body heat. Instead, their body temperature is dependent upon that of their surroundings. Frogs are active at fairly cool temperatures in spring, but must seek protection from below freezing conditions in winter.
Most species pass the winter in a dormant ("sleep like") state underwater, either burrowing into mud, or just sitting on the bottom in ponds and swamps. Toads burrow deep into woodland soil. Recent studies revealed that a few kinds of frogs can stand being in below freezing conditions for short periods (like the Wood Frog and Spring Peeper), while others died under the same conditions (such as the Leopard and Mink Frog).
As temperatures rise in early spring, frogs begin to move to their breeding sites. The actual timing depends on the warmth of the air and water, and the humidity, but there is noticeable order in which the various Michigan species become active and begin voicing their breeding calls. For example, in southern Michigan the raspy voice of the Western Chorus Frog is usually heard first, often in late March, followed quickly by the highpitched peeps of the Spring Peeper. In a few days the woodland swamps are filled with the quack like calls of the male Wood Frogs, while in another week in open marshes the low snores of the Leopard Frog are barely heard over the squeaky songs of newly arrived Red Winged Blackbirds.
The first warm rains of April bring American Toads out of the woods to the breeding ponds, where the air is soon filled with their melodious trills. Several of our frogs postpone their breeding activities until later in spring, when air and water temperatures are higher. Included in this late group are the Gray Tree Frog, Blanchard's Cricket Frog, and Green and Bull Frogs.
Frogs are far more often heard than seen. Most frog sounds are the advertisement calls of the males, intended to attract the females for breeding. Frog voices may carry for long distances, especially the higher pitched calls of the smaller species. The males increase the loudness of their calls by ballooning out their throats or special sacs at the sides of their throats, creating a kind of resonating chamber. Only males produce advertisement calls, but both sexes may give shorter warning calls or screams when danger threatens. Males can also produce distinct calls that warn away rival males that approach their calling or breeding sites.
Female frogs and toads may lay hundreds or even thousands of eggs. These are usually attached to underwater vegetation or left floating in large masses at the surface. During egg laying, the male clings to the female's back and fertilizes the eggs. The small, dark eggs are protected by layers of a jelly like substance. They may be in rounded masses (as in Wood and Leopard Frogs), loose clusters (Gray Tree Frogs), long necklace like strings (Toads), thin surface films (Bull and Green Frogs), or deposited singly or in small clusters (Spring Peeper). Many frog eggs are eaten by predators such as fish, turtles, and aquatic insects, or are lost to drying or destruction by micro organisms.
Tadpoles hatch in a few days or weeks, depending on temperature and species. They feed mostly on algae and other plant life, but also scavenge on animal remains. Eventually they reach a certain size and age when chemicals inside their bodies, called hormones, will trigger the change to adult form. First the hind legs appear, then the front legs. Feeding may stop as their jaws and digestive systems change to prepare for the adult diet of insects and other small animals.
Soon the gills which allowed the tadpoles to breathe in water are replaced by lungs, and the "frogs to be" must start surfacing for air. Lastly, the tail is absorbed, and the new froglets or toadlets can begin to move about on land, partly free of their dependence on water. As with the eggs, many tadpoles and young frogs are lost to predators. It would not be surprising to find that a thousand eggs laid in spring might produce only a dozen or fewer adult frogs by late summer. Obviously, one importance of frogs in nature is providing food for other animals!
Most Michigan frogs grow from egg to tadpole to adult in one summer. Those species that breed in temporary ponds typically have very rapid development. The Spring Peeper's eggs may hatch in three days, and the tadpoles can become frogs within six weeks often in a close race with the evaporation of the pond! In some years, small ponds dry up before the tadpoles can mature. However, the risk of breeding in these shallow places may be balanced by the lack of fish and other large predators that require permanent water. Some of the largest frogs (such as Green and Bull Frogs) have tadpoles that need two or three years to mature, and they are dependent on the deeper ponds, lakes, streams, and marshes.
From a human standpoint, frogs and toads are extremely beneficial animals. Their springtime choruses are a pleasure to hear, and most people enjoy seeing them, whether in wetlands or suburban gardens. Adult frogs and toads feed largely on insects, and destroy vast numbers of insect pests every year. It has been estimated, for example, that a single Cricket Frog an increasingly rare species in Michigan can consume about 4800 insects in one year. A hundred frogs would thus eat about 480,000 insects, a thousand frogs perhaps 4.8 million insects, and so on. It is clear that the loss of these tiny frogs in a wetland ecosystem would be no small matter! Larger frogs would eat even greater quantities, and the benefits of a backyard toad population are known to many gardeners.
The Bull Frog is the only species that might eat creatures favored by people, such as fish, young ducks, or other frogs. But their impact is very minor. The Bull Frog is valued as a game animal itself as the source of "frog legs" used for human food. To help prevent overharvest of local frog populations, Michigan protects all frogs during the spring breeding season. Frogs can be legally harvested only during the "frog season" which opens the Saturday before Memorial Day and closes November 15.
Unfortunately, many human activities are harmful to frog and toad populations. Valuable wetland habitats are often drained for agriculture or urban developments. Water pollution may destroy or degrade the ponds, lakes, marshes, and streams that remain. The problem of acid rain has been found to damage amphibian populations in affected areas. And the often unwise use of chemical pesticides is harmful to frogs and toads, both by killing them directly and also by reducing their insect food supply. Thousands of these creatures are killed every year by automobiles, often while crossing roads during migration to breeding sites in spring. An increasing problem is the destruction of wetland environments by the misuse of off road vehicles.
There is often much that can be done to protect existing frog and toad populations and to restore habitat that has been lost or degraded. Years ago many small wetlands were drained or filled for agricultural purposes. Where this "reclaimed" land is no longer needed for crops, steps can often be taken to restore a small wetland. Sometimes this may be as simple as blocking old drainage ditches or removing a tile system if this will affect drainage only on your property. Land developers should avoid filling ponds and marshes; alternatives can often be found. (Michigan does have wetlands protection legislation which controls and licenses the use and modification of ponds, lakes, streams, swamps, and marshes. Be sure to contact the Department of Natural Resources before attempting any modification of wetlands or drainage ways.)
Frog habitats are vulnerable to contamination by run off from farmland, residential yards and industrial sites. While the larger problem must be dealt with via governmental zoning ordinances, we can all exercise restraint in the use of fertilizers and pesticides, particularly where water contamination is possible. There are many alternatives to the use of pesticides to control pest insects. Backyard mosquitoes are more likely to breed in clogged rain gutters and discarded trash than in a healthy pond environment. Filling in or poisoning the pond will destroy frogs and toads and other predators that would otherwise be eating many insect pests. Sometimes a second look and common sense are all that is needed to assure that one problem will not be solved by creating another problem.
Frogs and toads are important contributors to a healthy ecosystem, particularly in the fragile wetland areas. Efforts to protect these animals and their valuable wetland habitats will produce many benefits, both for ourselves and for future generations.
Michigan.gov Home Report All Poaching 1-800-292-7800 Contact DNR DNR Home State Web Sites Spending & Accountability Office of Regulatory Reinvention
Copyright © 2001-2013 State of Michigan
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The Endangered Alphabets project has raised a series of fascinating questions and dilemmas about language, culture and the forces that act on each of them. I can’t pretend to have solved any of these riddles, but it may at least be worthwhile passing them on as a series of items for consideration and discussion. For example, what does a written language — any written language — look like? The Endangered Alphabets highlight this question in a number of interesting ways. As the forces of globalism erode scripts such as these, the number of people who can write them dwindles, and the range of examples of each script is reduced. My carvings may well be the only examples of, say, Samaritan script or Tifinagh that my visitors ever see.
At once we’re faced with the fact that what written language looks like and means now is very, very different from what it looked like and meant in its infancy. When I saw Tifinagh on the Omniglot website, it looked weird and cool. When I tracked down photographs of it in its natural habitat, I realized I was looking at the most extraordinary writing in the world.
The natural habitat in question is the wall of a cave deep in the Sahara desert, at a site called the Wadi Matkhandouch Prehistoric Art Gallery, near Germa in Libya. It’s startling to find any evidence of human presence in such an inhospitable place, so far from what we think of as civilization. And, frankly, the Tifinagh didn’t look much like what we think of as writing. It was a meandering string of simple symbols (Figure 1), some of which looked more like mathematics than writing. There was no attempt to include pictograms, though in fact the same set of rocks and caves has an incredible array of carvings of animals: giraffes, lions, crocodiles, elephants, ostriches and two cats apparently fighting. Or perhaps it represented a kind of code, for this twisting strand of language looked so old and so deep it might just be the DNA of writing. Did I mention that the symbols or letters were in such a strange and vivid red pigment that they looked as if they’d been written in blood?
To me, it wasn’t just a series of symbols intended to convey sound and meaning, though in fact these fantastical scraps of writing are actually messages from one caravan to another, giving directions, passing on the location of water. It was, however, like a missing link, the verbal equivalent of the famous prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux in southwestern France. Written language was here, it said, long before anyone thought to write in straight and level lines.
The individual letters had the same combination of angular purpose yet prehistoric crudity that challenge the sense at Stonehenge. Something was being born. That writing was a defining moment in human intellectual history: not just a representation of a panorama of hunting, but early, early, unbelievably early symbolism. It was like the invention of meaning itself. . .
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NASA's Webb Telescope Completes Mirror-Coating Milestone
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has reached a major milestone in its development. The mirrors that will fly aboard the telescope have completed the coating process at Quantum Coating Inc. in Moorestown, N.J.
The telescope's mirrors have been coated with a microscopically thin layer of gold, selected for its ability to properly reflect infrared light from the mirrors into the observatory’s science instruments. The coating allows the Webb telescope's "infrared eyes" to observe extremely faint objects in infrared light. Webb’s mission is to observe the most distant objects in the universe.
"Finishing all mirror coatings on schedule is another major success story for the Webb telescope mirrors," said Lee Feinberg, NASA Optical Telescope Element manager for the Webb telescope at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "These coatings easily meet their specifications, ensuring even more scientific discovery potential for the Webb telescope."
The Webb telescope has 21 mirrors, with 18 mirror segments working together as one large 21.3-foot (6.5-meter) primary mirror. The mirror segments are made of beryllium, which was selected for its stiffness, light weight and stability at cryogenic temperatures. Bare beryllium is not very reflective of near-infrared light, so each mirror is coated with about 0.12 ounce of gold.
The last full size (4.9-foot /1.5-meter) hexagonal beryllium primary mirror segment that will fly aboard the observatory recently was coated, completing this stage of mirror production.
The Webb telescope is the world’s next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
Mirror manufacturing began eight years ago with blanks made out of beryllium, an extremely hard metal that holds its shape in the extreme cold of space where the telescope will orbit. Mirror coating began in June 2010. Several of the smaller mirrors in the telescope, the tertiary mirror and the fine steering mirror, were coated in 2010. The secondary mirror was finished earlier this year.
The first six flight mirrors for the James Webb Space Telescope are installed for cryo testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Thanks to Marshall Space Flight Center for the video. Credit: NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center|
Quantum Coating Inc. (QCI) is under contract to Ball Aerospace and Northrop Grumman. QCI constructed a new coating facility and clean room to coat the large mirror segments. QCI developed the gold coating for performance in certain areas, such as uniformity, cryogenic cycling, durability, stress and reflectance, in a two-year effort prior to coating the first flight mirror.
In the process, gold is heated to its liquid point, more than 2,500 Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius), and evaporates onto the mirror's optical surface. The coatings are 120 nanometers, a thickness of about a millionth of an inch or 200 times thinner than a human hair.
"We faced many technical challenges on the Webb mirror coating program,” said Ian Stevenson, director of coating at Quantum Coating. “One of the most daunting was that all flight hardware runs had to be executed without a single failure."
The mirror segments recently were shipped to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colo., where actuators are attached that help move the mirror. From there, the segments travel to the X-ray and Calibration Facility at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to undergo a final test when they will be chilled to -400 Fahrenheit (-240 degrees Celsius). The last batch of six flight mirrors should complete the test by the end of this year.
The Webb telescope is a partnership between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.
› James Webb Space Telescope website
Goddard Release No. 11-060 (co-issued as NASA HQ Release No. 11-298)
Trent J. Perrotto
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
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Teacher Crystal Kirch, center, talks to her students in her pre-calculus class at Segerstrom High School in Santa Ana, Calif., Jan. 16. / Jae C. Hong, AP
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - When Timmy Nguyen comes to his pre-calculus class, he's already learned the day's lesson - he watched it on a short online video prepared by his teacher for homework.
So without a lecture to listen to, he and his classmates at Segerstrom Fundamental High School spend class time doing practice problems in small groups, taking quizzes, explaining the concept to other students, reciting equation formulas in a loud chorus, and making their own videos while teacher Crystal Kirch buzzes from desk to desk to help pupils who are having trouble.
It's a technology-driven teaching method known as "flipped learning" because it flips the time-honored model of classroom lecture and exercises for homework - the lecture becomes homework and class time is for practice.
"It was hard to get used to," said Nguyen, an 11th-grader. "I was like 'why do I have to watch these videos, this is so dumb.' But then I stopped complaining and I learned the material quicker. My grade went from a D to an A."
Flipped learning apparently is catching on in schools across the nation as a younger, more tech-savvy generation of teachers is moving into classrooms. Although the number of "flipped" teachers is hard to ascertain, the online community Flipped Learning Network now has 10,000 members, up from 2,500 a year ago, and training workshops are being held all over the country, said executive director Kari Afstrom.
Under the model, teachers make eight- to 10-minute videos of their lessons using laptops, often simply filming the whiteboard as the teacher makes notations and recording their voice as they explain the concept. The videos are uploaded onto a teacher or school website, or even YouTube, where they can be accessed by students on computers or smartphones as homework.
For pupils lacking easy access to the Internet, teachers copy videos onto DVDs or flash drives. Kids with no home device watch the video on school computers.
Class time is then devoted to practical applications of the lesson - often more creative exercises designed to engage students and deepen their understanding. On a recent afternoon, Kirch's students stood in pairs with one student forming a cone shape with her hands and the other angling an arm so the "cone" was cut into different sections.
"It's a huge transformation," said Kirch, who has been taking this approach for two years. "It's a student-focused classroom where the responsibility for learning has flipped from me to the students."
The concept emerged five years ago when a pair of Colorado high school teachers started videotaping their chemistry classes for absent students.
"We found it was really valuable and pushed us to ask what the students needed us for," said one of the teachers, Aaron Sams, now a consultant who is developing on online education program in Pittsburgh. "They didn't need us for content dissemination, they needed us to dig deeper."
He and colleague Jonathan Bergmann began condensing classroom lectures to short videos and assigning them as homework.
"The first year, I was able to double the number of labs my students were doing," Sams said. "That's every science teacher's dream."
In the Detroit suburb of Clinton Township, Clintondale High School Principal Greg Green converted the whole school to flipped learning in the fall of 2011 after years of frustration with high failure rates and discipline problems. Three-quarters of the school's enrollment of 600 is low-income, minority students.
Flipping yielded dramatic results after just a year, including a 33% drop in the freshman failure rate and a 66% drop in the number of disciplinary incidents from the year before, Green said. Graduation, attendance and test scores all went up. Parent complaints dropped from 200 to seven.
Green attributed the improvements to an approach that engages students more in their classes.
"Kids want to take an active part in the learning process," he said. "Now teachers are actually working with kids."
Although the method has been more popular in high schools, it's now catching on in elementary schools, said Afstrom of the Flipped Learning Network.
Fifth-grade teacher Lisa Highfill in the Pleasanton Unified School District said for a lesson about adding decimals, she made a five-minute, how-to video kids watched at home and in class, then she distributed play money and menus and had kids "ordering" food and tallying the bill and change.
A colleague who teaches kindergarten reads a storybook on video. The video contains a pop-up box that requires kids to write something that shows they understood the story.
The concept has its downside. Teachers note that making the videos and coming up with project activities to fill class time is a lot of extra work up front, while some detractors believe it smacks of teachers abandoning their primary responsibility of instructing.
"They're expecting kids to do the learning outside the classroom. There's not a lot of evidence this works," said Leonie Haimson, executive director of Class Size Matters, a New York City-based parent advocacy group. "What works is reasonably sized classes with a lot of debate, interaction and discussion."
Others question whether flipped learning would work as well with low achieving students, who may not be as motivated to watch lessons on their own, but said it was overall a positive model.
"It's forcing the notion of guided practice," said Cynthia Desrochers, director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching at California State University-Northridge. "Students can get the easy stuff on their own, but the hard stuff should be under the watchful eye of a teacher."
At Michigan's Clintondale High School, some teachers show the video at the beginning of class to ensure all kids watch it and that home access is not an issue.
In Kirch's pre-calculus class, students said they liked the concept.
"You're not falling asleep in class, "said senior Monica Resendiz said. "You're constantly working."
Explaining to adults that homework was watching videos was a little harder, though.
"My grandma thought I was using it as an excuse to mess around on the Internet," Nguyen said.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read the original story: Teachers flip for 'flipped learning' class model
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Future research into the underlying causes of neurological disorders such as autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia, should greatly benefit from a first-of-its-kind atlas of gene-enhancers in the cerebrum (telencephalon). This new atlas, developed by a team led by researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is a publicly accessible Web-based collection of data that identifies and locates thousands of gene-regulating elements in a region of the brain that is of critical importance for cognition, motor functions and emotion.
"Understanding how the brain develops and functions, and how it malfunctions in neurological disorders, remains one of the most daunting challenges in contemporary science," says Axel Visel, a geneticist with Berkeley Lab's Genomics Division. "We've created a genome-wide digital atlas of gene enhancers in the human brain - the switches that tell genes when and where they need to be switched on or off. This enhancer atlas will enable other scientists to study in more detail how individual genes are regulated during development of the brain, and how genetic mutations may impact human neurological disorders."
Visel is the corresponding author of a paper in the journal Cell that describes this work. The paper is titled "A High-Resolution Enhancer Atlas of the Developing Telencephalon." (See below for a list of co-authors.)
The cerebrum is the most highly developed region of the human brain. It houses the cerebral cortex, the so-called "gray matter" where complex information processing events take place, and the basal ganglia, a brain region that helps control movement throughout the body and is involved in certain types of learning. Many of the genes responsible for development of the cerebrum have been identified but most of the DNA elements responsible for expressing these genes - turning them on/off - have not. This is especially true for gene enhancers, sequences of DNA that act to amplify the expression of a specific gene. Characterizing gene enhancers tends to be difficult because an enhancer does not have to be located directly adjacent to the gene it is enhancing, but can in fact be located hundreds of thousands of DNA basepairs away.
"In addition to acting over long distances and being located upstream, downstream or in introns of protein-coding genes, the sequence features of gene enhancers are poorly understood," Visel says. "However, gene-centric studies have provided strong evidence that gene enhancers are critical for normal embryonic development of the brain and have also linked human diseases to perturbed enhancer sequences."
Visel and an international team of researchers met the challenges of systematic identification and functional characterization of gene enhancers in the cerebrum through a combination of ChIP-seq studies and large-scale histological analyses in transgenic mice, in which the activity patterns of human telencephalon enhancers can be studied. ChIP-seq, which stands for "chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing," is a technique for genome-wide profiling of proteins that interact with DNA.
This combination of approaches enabled Visel and his colleagues to identify over 4,600 candidate embryonic forebrain enhancers. Furthermore, studying mouse embryos they mapped the activity of 145 of these enhancers at high resolution to define where exactly in the developing brain they drive the expression of their respective target genes. The result is a comprehensive, electronically accessible database for investigating the gene regulatory mechanisms of cerebrum development, and for studying the roles of distant-acting enhancers in neurodevelopmental disorders.
"By mapping hundreds of gene enhancer sequences and defining where exactly in the developing brain they are active, our enhancer atlas provides important information to connect non-coding mutations to actual biological functions," Visel says.
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Magnetism and CRT's
I am doing a simple science project with my son. I accidently waived a magnet by a
CRT screen and saw the magnetic fields in colors. I want to do this experiment at the school
along with a 4th grade explanation on the reaction between screen and magnet. Can you help?
On a CRT, the picture is drawn by three separate electron beams scanned rapidly across the screen.
Each bean is supposed to strike only one of the three primary color phosphors on the interior of
the CRT face. The beams are guided to their proper location by the interplay of electric and
magnetic fields applied back in the area of the CRT tube's neck.
When you applied the magnet to the CRT face, the externally imposed magnetic field distorted the
aim of the electron beams, thereby causing a mis-registration of their intended points of impact.
Older color TV sets can be temporarily damaged by application of a magnet to the screen. No
damage will occur if the TV CRT is of the black and white style.
This is similar to the generation of electrical current by moving a wire through a magnetic
In this case, you have an electrical current moving through a magnetic field. A force is
generated that causes the electrons moving toward the screen to be displaced slightly and
hit the wrong color dot.
Color CRTs work by superimposing three images -- one Red, one Blue, one Green -- at least
this is one color scheme that is used. It takes precise alignment of the electron beams to do
this. The interaction of the moving electron beam with the magnetic field causes the electrons
to shift slightly and hit the wrong color dots.
Click here to return to the Physics Archives
Update: June 2012
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Wrestling is the act of physical engagement between two unarmed persons, in which each wrestler strives to get an advantage over his opponent.
Physical techniques which embody the style of wrestling are clinching, holding, locking, and leverage. Avoiding potentially lethal techniques, wrestling has aspects of ritual fighting, but its basic principles are closely related to those of military hand-to-hand combat or self-defense systems. Many styles of wrestling are known all over the world and have long histories, and sport wrestling (particularly amateur wrestling) has become an Olympic sport.
Wrestling made a name for itself while history was still young in Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and several smaller countries. The concept of wrestling dates as far back as 3400 B.C.E. In fact, origins of the sport can be traced back 15,000 years to cave drawings in France. Early Egyptian and Babylonian reliefs depict wrestlers using most of the holds known to the present-day sport. In ancient Greece, wrestling occupied a prominent place in legend and literature; wrestling competition, brutal in many aspects, was the supreme contest of the Olympic Games. The ancient Romans borrowed heavily from Greek wrestling, but eliminated much of its brutality. During the Middle Ages, wrestling remained popular and enjoyed the patronage of many royal houses, including those of France, Japan, and England.
Middle and Far East
The Epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian literature features its hero Gilgamesh establishing his credibility as a leader after wrestling Enkidu. Other sculptures and literature from ancient Mesopotamia show that wrestling was held in popularity. One other early (probably c. 1500 B.C.E.) description of wrestling appears in the Old Testament book of Genesis 32:22-32. The passage depicts the patriarch Jacob wrestling with the Angel, for which Jacob was subsequently renamed Israel. (Israel translates to "wrestles (or strives) with God.")
The Mahabharata, one of the major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, describes the encounter between the accomplished wrestlers of Bhima and Jarasandha; "grasping each other in various ways by means of their arms, and kicking each other with such violence as to affect the innermost nerves, they struck at each other's breasts with clenched fists. With bare arms as their only weapons roaring like clouds they grasped and struck each other like two mad elephants encountering each other with their trunks." The popular folk wrestling style of India performed on a mud surface called the akhara follows the Indian tradition.
Shuai Jiao, a wrestling style originating in China, is arguably the most ancient of all Chinese martial arts, with a reported history of over 4,000 years. (The date may be legendary, but wrestling was reportedly used by the Yellow Emperor during his fight against the rebel Chih Yiu and his army in 2697 B.C.E.) During these matches, the combatants reportedly wore horned helmets that they used to gore their opponents while using a primitive form of grappling. This early style of combat was first called Jiao Ti (butting with horns). Throughout the centuries, the hands and arms replaced the horns while the techniques increased and improved. The name Jiao Ti also changed over time, both through common usage and government decree.
The first documented evidence of wrestling in Egypt appeared circa 2300 B.C.E., on the tomb of the Old Kingdom philosopher Ptahhotep. During the period of the New Kingdom (2000-1085 B.C.E.), additional Egyptian artwork (often on friezes), depicted Egyptian and Nubian wrestlers competing. Carroll notes striking similarities between these ancient depictions and those of the modern Nuba wrestlers. On the 406 wrestling pairs found in the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni Hasan in the Nile valley, nearly all of the techniques seen in modern freestyle wrestling could be found.
During the period of Ancient Greece (about 1100 to 146 B.C.E.), Greek wrestling was a popular form of martial art in which points were awarded for pinning a competitor by stretching the opponent prone to the ground or touching his back to the ground, forcing a competitor to submit or by forcing a competitor out of bounds (arena). Three falls determined the winner. It was at least featured as a sport since the eighteenth Olympiad in 704 B.C.E. Wrestling is described in the earliest celebrated works of Greek literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Wrestlers were also depicted in action on many vases, sculptures, and coins, as well as in other literature. Other cultures featured wrestling at royal or religious celebrations, but the ancient Greeks structured their style of wrestling as part of a tournament where a single winner emerged from a pool of competitors. Greek mythology celebrates the rise of Zeus as ruler of the earth after a wrestling match with his father, Kronos. Both Herakles and Theseus were famous for their wrestling against man and beast. Late Greek tradition also stated that Plato was known for wrestling in the Isthmian games.
This continued into the Hellenistic period. Ptolemy II and Ptolemy III of Egypt were both depicted in art as victorious wrestlers. After the Roman conquest of the Greeks, Greek wrestling was absorbed by the Roman culture and became Roman wrestling during the period of the Roman Empire (510 B.C.E. to AD 500). Arabic literature depicted Muhammad as a skilled wrestler, defeating a skeptic in a match at one point. By the eighth century, the Byzantine emperor Basil I, according to court historians, won in wrestling against a boastful wrestler from Bulgaria.
In 1520, at the Field of the Cloth of Gold pageant, Francis I of France threw Henry VIII of England in a wrestling match. In Henry VIII's kingdom, folk wrestling in many places was widely popular and had a long history. In particular, the Lancashire style may have formed the basis for Catch wrestling also known as "catch as catch can." The Scots later formed a variant of this style, and the Irish developed the "collar-and-elbow" style which later found its way into the United States. The French developed the modern Greco-Roman style which was finalized by the nineteenth century and by then, wrestling was featured in many fairs and festivals.
Because of that and the rise of gymnasiums and athletic clubs, Greco-Roman wrestling and modern freestyle wrestling were soon regulated in formal competitions. On continental Europe, prize money was offered in large sums to the winners of Greco-Roman tournaments, and freestyle wrestling spread rapidly in the British Isles and in the United States after the American Civil War. Professional wrestling soon increased the popularity of Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling around the world with such competitors as Georg Hackenschmidt, Kara Ahmed, Paul Pons, Stanislaus Zbyszko, William Muldoon, and Frank Gotch. When the Olympic games resurfaced at Athens in 1896, Greco-Roman wrestling was introduced for the first time. After not being featured in the 1900 Olympics, sport wrestling was seen again in 1904 in St. Louis; this time in freestyle competition. Since then, Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling have both been featured, with women's freestyle added in the Summer Olympics of 2004. Since 1921, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) has regulated amateur wrestling as an athletic discipline, while professional wrestling has largely become infused with theatrics.
The term wrestling is an Old English word that originated some time before 1100 C.E. It is perhaps the oldest word still in use in the English language to describe hand-to-hand combat. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines wrestling as "a sport or contest in which two unarmed individuals struggle hand-to-hand with each attempting to subdue or unbalance the other."
Roget's New Millennium Thesaurus does not support the usage of "wrestling" (noun) and "grappling" (noun) as synonymous.
International disciplines (non-folk styles)
Wrestling disciplines defined by FILA are broken down into two categories: International wrestling disciplines and folk wrestling disciplines. According to the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, there are five current international wrestling disciplines acknowledged throughout the world. They are Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, Sambo (martial art), Grappling and Beach wrestling.
Greco-Roman is an international discipline and an Olympic sport. "In Greco-Roman style, it is forbidden to hold the opponent below the belt and to actively use the legs in the execution of any action." Recent rule changes have increased the opportunities for "high amplitude" throws. One of the most well known Greco-Roman wrestlers from the United States is Rulon Gardner.
Freestyle wrestling is an international discipline and an Olympic sport. "In free style, it is allowed to hold the legs of the opponent, to make trips and to use actively legs on the execution of any action." It is thought to have originated from English catch wrestling, and is currently the international style in which women participate in competition.
Sambo is a martial art that originated in the Soviet Union (particular Russia) in the twentieth century. It is an acronym for "self-defence without weapons" in Russian and had its origins in the Soviet armed forces. Its influences are varied, with techniques borrowed from sports ranging from the two international styles of Greco-Roman and freestyle to boxing, judo, jujitsu, European styles of folk wrestling, and even fencing. The rules for sport sambo are similar to those allowed in competitive judo, with a variety of leglocks and with over 5,000 defense holds from the various national wrestling styles in the Soviet Union, while not allowing chokeholds.
"Grappling, also called submission wrestling, refers to the gripping, handling, and controlling of an opponent without the use of striking, typically through the application of various grappling holds and counters to various hold attempts. Grappling can be used in both a standing position, where it is known as stand-up grappling, and on the ground, where it is known as ground grappling. Grappling is an essential part of both clinch fighting and ground fighting." Grappling is also used to describe the skills used in mixed martial arts competitions, differing from the FILA definition.
Apparently in a bid to give wrestling greater appeal to television audiences, FILA adopted beach wrestling as an official discipline during 2004-2005. Beach wrestling is standing wrestling done by wrestlers, male or female, inside a sand-filled circle measuring 6 meters in diameter. There are only two weight categories, heavy and light. The objective is to throw your opponent or take your opponent to his or her back. The wrestlers wear swimsuits rather than special wrestling uniforms. Wrestlers may also wear spandex or athletic shorts.
Folk style disciplines
There are almost as many folk wrestling styles as there are national traditions, because folk wrestling describes a traditional form of wrestling unique to a culture or geographic region of the world. Folk wrestling styles are not recognized by FILA internationally. The following list provides examples of wrestling systems that fall into this category.
|Catch wrestling||United Kingdom|
|Collegiate Wrestling||United States|
Collegiate wrestling (sometimes known as scholastic wrestling or folkstyle wrestling) is the commonly used name of wrestling practiced at the university level in the United States. A very similar style is practiced at the high school and middle school levels. The term is used to distinguish the styles of wrestling used in other parts of the world, and for those of the Olympic Games: Greco-Roman wrestling and Freestyle wrestling. There are currently several organizations which oversee collegiate wrestling competition: Divisions I, II, and III, of the NCAA, NJCAA, NAIA, and the NCWA. Division I of the NCAA is considered the most prestigious and challenging level of competition. A school chooses which organization to join, although it may compete against teams from other levels and organizations during regular-season competition. The collegiate season starts in November and culminates with the NCAA tournament held in March.
Wrestling as a martial art
Wrestling has gained respect among martial arts practitioners, especially with the advent of mixed martial arts competition. Early competitions (e.g. UFC 4 & 5) saw wrestlers defeat stylists from more traditional, striking-oriented styles such as karate and kickboxing. Randy Couture (current UFC heavyweight champion) and Dan Henderson (current PRIDE champion in both the 183 and 205 pound divisions) both competed extensively in collegiate and Greco-Roman wrestling before beginning their careers in mixed martial arts. Other fighters coming from wrestling are: Matt Lindland, Matt Hughes, Sean Sherk, Urijah Faber, Tyson Griffin, Kevin Randleman, Mark Kerr, Don Frye, Mark Coleman, Brian Vettel, Tito Ortiz, Quinton Jackson, Rashad Evans, Jeff Monson, Matt Horwich.
Many other prominent and successful fighters began their training in various forms of wrestling, and fighters from non-wrestling backgrounds often pursue wrestling training to complement their other skills.
Professional wrestling: World Wrestling Federation(WWE/WWF)
Professional wrestling has grown in popularity over the past decade. The basis for its growing popularity is not confined to simply wrestling. The main professional wrestling league is the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), formerly known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Professional wrestling most closely resembles a soap opera, with well-defined characters that play to the audiences' emotions. The violence is rampant; while much of it appears to be scripted, with combatants hitting each other with metal chairs and slamming through tables. Professional wrestlers such as the Rock (Duane Johnson) have forged their way into the television industry simply due to their popularity. The WWE has taken its act to global boundaries, even having a WWE Japan, Frankfurt, Australia, and so on.
- Position—This term refers to your position in relation to your opponent. Being in a good defensive position is the most important skill in wrestling. Getting your opponent out of a good defensive position is the one thing that must first be accomplished to penetrate into your opponent.
- Bottom/Down—You are under your opponent and he is in control of you. If you gain the neutral position, then you have "escaped." If you gain the Advantage/Top position then you have "reversed" your opponent.
- Advantage/Top—You are on top and in control of your opponent. In "folkstyle" wrestling, this is the only time points are awarded. A defensive wrestler must score an "escape' or "reversal" in order to score points, except for illegal holds or for stalling.
- Stance—Being in a proper stance is essential in wrestling. It most commonly applies to the neutral position, but is also applicable in the bottom and top positions.
- Square Stance—This means that your feet are even in alignment when you are in a standing position.
- Staggered Stance—This means that one leg is farther forward than the other foot.
- Squat Back Stance—A stance used in the down/bottom position in wrestling. Your knees and hands are as close to the lines as possible, with your hips sitting down on your heels.
- Tabletop Stance—A stance used in the bottom position. Thighs are essentially perpendicular to the mat, and your back is parallel to the mat like a "tabletop."
- Violation of Position—This can apply to the Neutral, Top, and Bottom positions. There are certain positions, which are correct, and certain positions, which are incorrect. An incorrect position prevents you from defending actions by your opponent.
- Hand Control—This means that you are holding one or both of your opponent's hands with your hands. It is generally preferable to grab your opponent's hand instead of his wrist. There are occasions when it is preferable to grab his wrist.
- Elbows In—This maneuver is executed by keeping your elbows aligned with your body; however, it does not necessarily mean that your elbows are against the side of your body.
- High Leg Over—When you are in the top position, there will be times that you need to turn your hips towards the ceiling temporarily. By stepping one leg over the other and putting your foot to the mat, you are executing a "High Leg Over."
- Two on One—This means gripping an opponent's hand, wrist, or arm with both of your hands.
- Bridge—Forming an arch "Bridge" with your back and legs, by supporting your body with only your head and feet on the mat.
- Chop—This usually means to pull the opponent's near elbow towards the mat.
- Step and Slide—This is how your move your feet in a circle or laterally. You step sideways with one foot (this is a small step usually 6" to 1', you then slide your other foot to keep an even distance between your feet.
- Back Heel—This can be done from the neutral and top position. In the neutral position it means stepping your foot outside and placing it behind the opponent's foot. In the top position this usually occurs with your opponent in a standing position, with you standing behind him with your hands locked around his waist. You place one of your feet behind his heel, and then pull him over the foot you've blocked.
- Limp Arm—This is a method to release an opponent's overhook/whizzer when you are in the neutral or top position.
- Rip Back—This means you take the opponent's head backwards over his hips by rolling over your own when you are at a 90-degree angle to the opponent.
- Underhook—A form of tie up in the neutral position. You drive your hand and forearm inside your opponent's arm, and raise your hand and forearm up under the opponent's shoulder.
- Crossleg—This means' reaching under the opponent's chest/stomach and grabbing the knee/calf of the far leg.
- Crossface—This will drive the opponent's head away from you, by pushing his head with you're the bicep portion of your upper arm to the side of his head. This is used typically to counter leg takedown attempts, and on top to apply a crossface or far side cradle.
- Swisher—To swing your feet away (like a windshield wiper blade action) from your body when in a squat back or tabletop stance.
- Belly Down—This means put your belly so it faces or is on the mat.
- Cut Him Loose—This means let your opponent go when you are in the top position. Your coach may want you to do this for the following reasons:
-You are about to be reversed, therefore let him go and give up only 1 point. -You are about to be called for stalling because you can't break your opponent down. This action will save a penalty point, which you may be able to make up by scoring a takedown. If you don't let him go you'll be penalized, then if he escaped he has scored 2 points instead of the one you gave up when you "cut him loose."
- Trap—To hold a part of the opponent's body with part of your body. You may "trap" or squeeze his head with your knees, trap an arm by squeezing your elbow to your side, and so on.
- Flanker—When in the top position this means you take a foot and calf of your leg and place it inside your opponent's leg. If you use your outside leg it is an outside flanker, which is the most commonly used type of flanker. If you use the inside leg, it is usually because the opponent stepped over your near leg.
- Double Top Stretcher—You overhook both of your opponent's legs below the knees while in a chest-to-chest position. Many high school wrestlers refer to this as a "Saturday Night Ride."
- Daylight—This refers to the distance between you and your opponent. Defensively you want to create daylight; offensively you want to eliminate daylight.
- Turn the Corner—This means going from a head-to-head alignment to a 90-degree or less angle to your opponent. It means you will wind up to one side of the opponent.
- Back Door—To go between the opponent's legs from in front until you are behind him.
- Block—To keep a certain part of the opponent's body from moving. For example, blocking the opponent's foot, and driving or pulling his body over that foot will cause him to lose his balance.
- Whizzer—This is the same as an overhook of the opponent arm from the front or when you are parallel to him.
- Straight-line Defense—This mean's you keep your body on the same alignment as the opponent's, only your body is above his body. This is a means of stopping his penetration on a leg takedown attempt. Hopefully you will be able to stop his penetration, get him extended, and score a takedown by getting behind him.
- Pinch Head Lock—Secure and underhook with one arm, and grab the opponent' s head in a "collar tie" lock your hands together, place your forehead in the opponent's temple. After doing this simply drive him down to the mat and onto his back.
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Michael B. Poliakoff, "Wrestling, Freestyle," Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present, eds. David Levinson and Karen Christensen (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996).
- ↑ Sacred Texts, The Mahabharata. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ Benny Peiser, "Western Theories about the Origins of Sport in Ancient China," Sports Historian (16): 117-139.
- ↑ Scott T. Carroll, "Wrestling in Ancient Nubia," Journal of Sport History 15 (2): 121-137.
- ↑ Historical Pankration, Wrestling. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, Greco-Roman Wrestling. Retrieved August 9, 2007.
- ↑ Dictionary.com, Wrestling etymology. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ Merriam-Webster, Wrestling. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
- ↑ Thesaurus, dictionary.reference.com American Psychological Association (APA): wrestling. Retrieved March 23, 2007.
- ↑ FILA, International Federation of Wrestling Styles. Retrieved January 16, 2009.
- ↑ FILA, FILA-Greco-Roman definition. Retrieved January 16, 2000
- ↑ FILA, Freestyle definition. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ FILA, FILA-Sambo definition. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ FILA, FILA-Grappling definition. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ FILA, Beach Wrestling Rules. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ Gary Mihoces, Wrestling's New World Rises from Sand, USA Today. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
- ↑ Erich Krauss, Warriors of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (Citidel Press, 2004, ISBN 0806526572).
- Poliakoff, Michael. "Wrestling, Freestyle." In Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen (eds.), Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0874368197.
- Poliakoff, Michael. "Wrestling, Greco-Roman." In Levinson, David, and Karen Christensen (eds.), Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1996. ISBN 0874368197.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Homepage. Retrieved October 21, 2007
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- Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge's rocky cliffs have been a premier seabird nesting area for thousands of years, providing protected coastal nesting and roosting habitat for seven species of native Hawaiian seabirds. It is probably one of the most important seabird nesting sites in the main inhabited Hawaiian islands. Doves, cardinals, sparrows and other introduced bird species are also common on the refuge. Some introduced birds, such as cattle egrets, mynahs and feral chickens, impact native birds on the refuge by spreading disease, pecking seabird eggs, and competing for nesting habitat.
Reintroduction efforts for the endangered nene goose were begun on the refuge in 1991 as part of a statewide recovery program. Regular predator control efforts and a buried fence line around the perimeter of the refuge are necessary to protect breeding seabirds and nene. Native plant restoration efforts have been ongoing since the refuge was established in 1985. Habitat management efforts also include opening up and maintaining nesting areas for the recently colonizing Laysan albatross and improving feeding habitat for nene.
Built in 1913 as a navigational aid for commercial shipping between Hawaii and Asia, Kilauea Lighthouse, within the wildlife refuge, stands as a monument to Hawaii's colorful past. For 62 years, it guided ships and boats safely along Kauai's rugged north shore. In 1976, the Coast Guard deactivated the lighthouse and replaced it with an automatic beacon. In 1979, the lighthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The refuge receives heavy public visitation, about 300,000 people per year. The site provides important environmental education opportunities for students. It offers breathtaking views and hikes overlooking the Pacific, and it is one of the most popular spots for visitors and residents of Hawaii alike. Migratory birds such as the Pacific golden plover, seabirds such as the Laysan albatross, and Hawaii State Bird (the nene) are some of the wildlife that use this refuge. Humpback whales, Hawaiian monk seals, and spinner dolphins can also be observed here. Volunteers give daily tours and are readily available to answer any questions.
Kilauea Point is located on Kauai, the northernmost island, and is one of the few Hawaiian refuges open to the public.
Ask a local about Kilauea Point National Wildlife RefugeLocals have answered 9 questions about Kauai.
Ask Kauai Locals about Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge
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Although it is one of Australia's newest cultural institutions, the National Museum of Australia was almost 100 years in the making. Over the course of the twentieth century, proposals for a national museum were intermittent, interrupted by wars and financial crises and stifled by government inaction.
A national inquiry in 1975 (the 'Pigott Report') finally resulted in the creation of the Museum in 1980 with the passing of the National Museum of Australia Act. Collecting officially began with significant collections inherited from Australian Government collections, including the Australian Institute of Anatomy. A location was identified at Yarramundi Reach, Canberra.
In December 1996 the building of the Museum was announced as the key Centenary of Federation project, and Acton Peninsula was chosen as the site, with funding confirmed in 1997. The National Museum of Australia opened on 11 March 2001. It is home to the National Historical Collection and is one of the nation's major cultural institutions.
The Museum's exhibitions, collections, programs and research focus on three interrelated themes, specified in the National Museum of Australia Act 1980.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture
- Australia's history and society since 1788
- the interaction of people with the environment.
These areas define the Museum's intellectual and conceptual framework, which is articulated to the public through the themes of land, nation and people.
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Composition of Circles and Semicircles 1935
In the 1910s, Sophie Taeuber-Arp was deeply involved with the Dada art movement in Zurich, which expressed shock and anger over the atrocities surrounding World War I. While many artists of the time created politically-charged or surrealistic imagery, Taeuber-Arp expressed her radical vision through geometric-based paintings, sculptures, textile designs, and stage sets. Her spare aesthetic extended from her belief in the innate expressive power of color, line, and form.
In this painting, the mix of half and whole circles and varying levels of intensity among the colors give the painting a strong sense of movement. This quality of mostion may reflect Taeuber-Arp's experience as a dancer and choreographer of avant-garde “performances” related to the Dada group’s activities. At the time she created this painting, Taeuber-Arp and her husband, French artist Jean Arp, lived in Paris. Both were members of the city’s influential Abstraction–Création group, which championed geometric abstract art in particular and whose membership included artists from across Europe.
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3-D printing is an innovative manufacturing technique developed by Michael Cima and Emanuel Sachs from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Once just used to create working prototypes, 3-D printers are now used by people from engineers to home inventors to make objects from their imaginations. Learn more in this Science of Innovation video.
Credit: NBC Learn, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and National Science Foundation
The Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF) of the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering supports research and education projects that explore the foundations of computing and communication devices and their usage. The Division seeks advances in computing and communication theory, algorithms for computer and computational sciences, and architecture and design of computers and software.
They're soft, biocompatible, about 7 millimeters long--and, incredibly, able to walk by themselves. Miniature "bio-bots" developed at the University of Illinois are making tracks in synthetic biology. The walking bio-bots demonstrate the Illinois team's ability to forward-engineer functional machines using only hydrogel, heart cells and a 3-D printer.
March 18, 2013
Printable Robots Designed to Be Consumer-friendly, Inexpensive
Average person could design, customize and print a specialized robot in a matter of hours
This project, funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Expeditions in Computing Program, envisions a future in which 3-D robotic systems can be produced and designed using 2-D desktop technology fabrication methods. If this feat is achieved, it would be possible for the average person to design, customize and print a specialized robot in a matter of hours. Currently, it takes years and many resources to produce, program and design a functioning robot. This project would completely automate the process, from sketches on-demand, anywhere, and with the skill of a team of professional engineers, leading to potential transformations in advanced manufacturing.
"This research aims to revolutionize the design and manufacture of robots, which could have a profound impact on society," says Ralph Wachter, a program director in the NSF Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering. "It would remove barriers and allow the average person to create and customize his or her own robot to meet his or her specific needs. This opens the door to great possibilities in diverse fields spanning health care, energy and transportation."
"This research envisions a whole new way of thinking about the design and manufacturing of robots, and could have a profound impact on society," says MIT Professor Daniela Rus, project leader and director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL). "We believe that it has the potential to transform manufacturing and to democratize access to robots."
CSAIL is the largest interdepartmental laboratory at MIT and one of the world's most important centers of computer science and information technology research. The lab has played a major role in the technology revolution of the past 50 years. Currently, CSAIL is focused on conducting groundbreaking research in artificial intelligence, computer systems, and the theory of computation, while also tackling pressing societal challenges such as education, health care, manufacturing and transportation
"Our goal is to develop technology that enables anyone to manufacture their own customized robot. This is truly a game changer," adds engineering professor Vijay Kumar, who is leading the team from the University of Pennsylvania. "It could allow for the rapid design and manufacture of customized goods, and change the way we teach science and technology in high schools."
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations presented in this material are only those of the presenter grantee/researcher, author, or agency employee; and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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The role of the NSF in the U.S. Antarctic Program was formally delineated in Presidential Memorandum 6646 issued on February 5, 1982, in which the following decisions were presented:
The memorandum also stated that the NSF should budget for and manage the entire United States national program in Antarctica, including logistic support activities, so that the program may be managed as a single package. It was directed that the NSF should draw upon the support capabilities of other government agencies on a reimbursable basis, and commercial support and management facilities should be used where they are cost effective and not detrimental to the national interest.
Three year-round research facilities have been constructed in Antarctica that remain today: McMurdo Station near the Ross Ice Shelf in 1955, Amundsen-Scott Station at the South Pole in 1956, and Palmer Station by the Antarctic Peninsula in 1965. An ice-strengthened research/transport ship and a research icebreaker also were acquired. Since the 1960s the backbone of the program's air transport has been a fleet of ski-equipped C-130 aircraft designated LC-130s. University-based and Federal agency research are supported at the rate of about 125 projects each year. The cost of this inclusive program of infrastructure and science is compared with the cost of U.S. Arctic research programs in Exhibit 1.
Beginning in 1989, the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation initiated a South Pole Redevelopment Project. The replacement research facilities that had been built at the geographic South Pole in the 1970s were overcrowded and at the end of their design life, having been constructed for an expected life of 15 to 20 years and for a population of 34 men. The station, dedicated in 1975, has 30-year-old structural and environmental technology and supported 172 men and women during this year's austral summer. A facilities evaluation recently conducted by an Alaska-based consultant, Kumin Associates, concluded that within eight to ten years most buildings and several utility systems at the South Pole will have reached the end of their useful life. As the buildings and utilities become more unreliable, safety risks, costs and interruptions to ongoing research will increase. A building code inspection in 1993 revealed over 300 deficiencies of varying degrees of significance. NSF's Polar Safety and Health Officer has implemented numerous administrative controls to reduce safety risks, but additional safety controls will be required as the facilities continue to age, further reducing the efficiency of scientists and operational personnel and increasing costs.
The South Pole Redevelopment Project was reviewed in 1994 by a Non-Advocate Review Panel chaired by Colonel Palmer Bailey of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory. The panel concluded that there was a need to redevelop the South Pole Station and that the program presented by the Office of Polar Programs to do so was well conceived and based on reasonable and appropriate assumptions. Questions were raised about the possibility of reducing the number of people at the Pole by expanding automation and telescience. Continued input from the user community, as well as from public interest organizations dealing with environmental issues, was encouraged by the Non-Advocate Review Panel. It found that the overall architectural concept of the existing South Pole Station was sound and practical but expressed concern over continued dependence on the sub-snow arches and the use of drifting, aged geosynchronous satellites for communications. The panel concluded by stating that the NSF had a sound concept and a fully adequate plan for replacement of South Pole Station and encouraged the NSF to move forward with the program.
The South Pole Redevelopment Project which would replace the existing station was next reviewed from a scientific perspective by a Blue Ribbon Panel chaired by H. Guyford Stever. In June, 1994, the Stever panel reported its findings that NSF supports scientific programs at the South Pole that 1) can be conducted only at the South Pole, or 2) can be done better there than elsewhere on Earth, or 3) can be done there at lower cost than conducting corresponding research in space. The panel noted that the South Pole provides a unique environment for research in several aspects: location at the rotational axis and proximity to the magnetic axis; circulation of the atmosphere; uninterrupted observation during dark and light periods; cleanliness of the atmosphere; low-water vapor content; the existence of a continental-sized block of extraordinarily transparent ice; a unique tectonic location; low levels of electromagnetic interference; a unique environment for seismology; and a high elevation with flat terrain. The Stever panel concluded that science is the primary justification for the U.S. presence at the South Pole, but substantial non-scientific national values are served as well. Included are international environmental leadership, educational inspiration, and support for responsible governance of a non-sovereign territory.
The Stever panel stated that there was serious need to:
In September 1995 the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies, aware that the NSF was considering a South Pole Redevelopment Project, requested the National Science and Technology Council to review U.S. Antarctic Policy. The Panel requested the review to:
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) transmitted its report to Congress on April 26, 1996. The report prepared by NSTC's Committee on Fundamental Science determined:
In response to the NSTC recommendation for an external panel, the Director of the NSF established the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel on August 16, 1996, and provided Terms of Reference (Appendix II). The Director charged the Panel to "...examine and make recommendations concerning the stations and logistics systems that support the science while maintaining appropriate environmental, safety, and health standards; the efficiency and appropriateness of the management of these support systems; and how and at what level the science programs are implemented. The panel's views and recommendations should include consideration of eventual replacement of the South Pole Station and other infrastructure."
The Director of the NSF also asked the Panel to provide advice on how the USAP can maintain a high quality research program while implementing the U.S. policy in Antarctica under realistic budget scenarios. One scenario the Panel was asked to consider was an overall budget freeze for the USAP science program and for all infrastructure support, including the South Pole Station. It was stated that supplemental funding from other federal agencies or from other sources within NSF was not necessarily to be assumed. The Panel was asked to consider approaches used by other agencies and the private sector in operating remote facilities, as well as new technologies such as robotics that could yield further efficiencies and cost savings. Finally, the Panel was asked to identify areas in which substantial increases in program effectiveness would result from resource reallocation or short-term changes in budget profiles, including capital investments, that could lead to reductions in life-cycle costs.
The present document is the final report of the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel. It addresses such issues as the need for a U.S. year-round presence in Antarctica, the quality and uniqueness of research programs being conducted in Antarctica under U.S. auspices, and the adequacy of facilities which support on-going and projected activities. It presents 22 specific findings and 12 recommendations that address the budget and management issues raised in the NSF's Terms of Reference.
| 2.934423 |
|The Non Smokers' Movement of Australia|
Protecting the rights of the Non-smoking majority from
and from the tobacco industry's propaganda.
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|Fact Sheet - How Tobacco Causes Diseases|
It is worth having a simple model of tobacco-caused diseases in mind,
as there are so many of them that it may cause confusion.
Tobacco diseases are best seen as the inhalation of toxic substances, some of which act immediately, and some of which have effects in the longer term.
1. The Toxic Ingredients
2. Input Cancers
These are caused as the smoke goes in to the body
Airway damage is caused by poisoning of airway lining cells with carbon monoxide, tar and nicotine and deposition of soot particles. The smooth muscle in the airways is also contracted by nicotine. This leads to an inability to remove secretions with blockages causing recurrent infections leading to chronic bronchitis and trapping of air, which is called emphysema.
The lung changes are also called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or sometimes Chronic Obstructive Airways Disease (COAD). It is different from lung cancer mentioned above.
4. Arterial Diseases
The tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide cross from the lungs into the bloodstream. The tar and carbon monoxide may directly damage the blood vessel walls, and change the platelets (clotting cells) so that they stick to the blood vessel walls. The smooth muscles in the blood vessel walls are contracted by the nicotine, so the lumen (hole the blood goes through) is smaller. Hence the pressure is higher (due to the same volume having to pass through a smaller pipe), and the flow more turbulent.
The arterial effects of smoking are thus caused by reduced blood flow, by complete blockage of arteries or by the weakening of the blood vessel walls so that they dilate or rupture as an aneurysm. This process affects a large number of organs. The organ affected depends on which artery is affected.
These are caused by tars as they leave the body in secretions. The unpleasant smell on the skin of smokers is due to the tars coming out of the sweat glands.
All body secretions are filtrates of the fluid outside cells, which is concentrated, thus making the cells lining the secretory glands exposed to higher tar concentrations. This results in an increased chance of:
Thus the trying of it and the temporary adolescent belief of its image-giving properties gives time for a re-setting of nerve outputs. By definition, an addictive substance gives a withdrawal syndrome, as the nicotine level falls. This is why nicotine supposedly 'relieves stress'. It removes the 'stress' of the withdrawal syndrome. This is important in keeping people smoking.
So this is why there are so many diseases caused by smoking tobacco. If you have not started, then donít and if you have, it is never too late to quit.
|The Non-Smokers' Movement of Australia Inc, Box K860, Haymarket NSW 1240.|
|This page was last updated on Friday, 4th May, 2012.|
|Home Page | Publications | Newsletters | Fact Sheets | Top of Page | Smoking Jokes | Quotes about Smoking|
| 3.330824 |
By: Richard Konicek-Moran
|$20.76 - Member Price |
$25.95 - Nonmember Price
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Everyday Science Mysteries: Stories for Inquiry-Based Science Teaching
|Type of Product:||NSTA Press Book (also see downloadable PDF version of this book)
based on 6 reviews
|Publication Title:||Everyday Science Mysteries Series
|Grade Level:||Elementary School, Middle School
|Read Inside:||Read a sample chapter: The Magic Balloon
|Author Blog:||Read Dick Konicek's blog
Our reviewers—top-flight teachers and other outstanding science educators—have determined that this resource is among the best available supplements for science teaching.
[Read the full review]
What causes condensation? Does temperature affect how well a balloon will fly? How do tiny bugs get into oatmeal? Through 15 mystery stories, this book memorably illustrates science concepts for students and reinforces the value of learning science through inquiry. Each mystery presents opportunities for students to create questions, form hypotheses, test their ideas, and come up with explanations. Focused on concepts such as periodic motion, thermodynamics, temperature and energy, and sound, these mysteries draw students into the stories by grounding them in experiences students are familiar with, providing them with a foundation for classroom discussion and inquiry.
The story format is used because it is one of the most effective ways to engage students’ attention right from the start. Each chapter includes a list of science concepts explored, targeted strategies for using the stories with children in grades K–4 and with older students in grades 5–8, and a key matching story concepts with corresponding standards in the NSES.
Ideas For Use
Educators will find this a useful reference on conceptual change teaching and a valuable resource for building content knowledge.
The benefit of pedagogical strategies designed to improve students’ conceptual understanding is one more reason to add this to your teaching library.
(mouse over for full classification)
Phases of the moon
Conservation of energy
Scientific habits of mind
Nature of science and technology
Growth and development
|Intended User Role:||Curriculum Supervisor, Elementary-Level Educator, Middle-Level Educator, Teacher
|Educational Issues:||Classroom management, Curriculum, Inquiry learning, Instructional materials, Learning theory, Professional development, Teacher content knowledge, Teacher preparation, Teaching strategies
Introduction: Case Studies on How to Use the Stories in the Classroom
Chapter 1: Theory Behind the Book
Chapter 2: Using the Book and the Stories
Chapter 3: The Link Between Science, Inquiry, and Language Literacy
The Stories and Background Material for Teachers
Matrix for Earth and Space Sciences
Chapter 4: Moon Tricks
Chapter 5: Where Are the Acorns?
Chapter 6: Master Gardener
Chapter 7: Frosty Morning
Chapter 8: The Little Tent That Cried
Matrix for Biological Sciences
Chapter 9: About Me
Chapter 10: Oatmeal Bugs
Chapter 11: Dried Apples
Chapter 12: Seed Bargains
Chapter 13: Trees from Helicopters
Matrix for Physical Sciences
Chapter 14: The Magic Balloon
Chapter 15: Downhill Ride
Chapter 16: Grandfather’s Clock
Chapter 17: The Neighborhood Telephone System
Chapter 18: How Cold is Cold?
Chapter 19: Conclusion
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National Standards Correlation
This resource has 121 correlations with the National Standards.
- Physical Science
- Properties of objects and materials
- Objects have many observable properties, including the ability to react with other substances. (K-4)
- Objects have many observable properties, including size, weight, shape, color, and temperature. (K-4)
- The observable properties of objects can be measured using tools, such as rulers, balances, and thermometers. (K-4)
- Materials can exist in different states--solid, liquid, and gas. (K-4)
- Some common materials, such as water, can be changed from one state to another by heating or cooling. (K-4)
- Properties and changes of properties in matter
- A substance has characteristic properties, such as density, a boiling point, and solubility. (5-8)
- Position and motion of objects
- The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background. (K-4)
- An object's motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time. (velocity) (K-4)
- The size of the change of position and motion is related to the strength of the push or pull. (K-4)
- Sound is produced by vibrating objects. (K-4)
- The pitch of the sound can be varied by changing the rate of vibration. (K-4)
- The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. (K-4)
- Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
- Heat can move from one object to another by conduction. (K-4)
- Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another. (K-4)
- Transfer of Energy
- Energy is a property of many substances and is associated with heat, light, electricity, mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a chemical. (5-8)
- Energy is transferred in many ways. (5-8)
- Heat moves in predictable ways, flowing from warmer objects to cooler ones, until both reach the same temperature. (5-8)
- Light interacts with matter by transmission (including refraction), absorption, or scattering (including reflection). To see an object, light from that object—emitted by or scattered from it—must enter the eye. (5-8) (5-8)
- Heat, light, mechanical motion, or electricity might all be involved in energy transfers. (5-8)
- Motion and Forces
- Catapults are an ancient military device made for hurling projectiles. They are made from a variety of simple machines.
- Unbalanced forces will cause changes in the speed or direction of an object's motion. (Acceleration) (5-8)
- The motion of an object can be described by its position, direction of motion, and speed. (5-8)
- Motion can be measured and represented on a graph.
- An object that is not being subjected to a force will continue to move at a constant speed and in a straight line. (inertia) (5-8)
- If more than one force acts on an object along a straight line, then the forces will reinforce or cancel one another, depending on their direction and magnitude. (5-8)
- Life Science
- The characteristics of organisms
- Organisms have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water, and food; plants require air, water, nutrients, and light. (K-4)
- Organisms can survive only in environments in which their needs can be met. (K-4)
- Each plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction. For example, humans have distinct body structures for walking, holding, seeing, and talking. (K-4)
- Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal and external cues. (K-4)
- The behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (such as hunger) and by external cues (such as a change in the environment). (K-4)
- The world has many different environments, and distinct
environments support the life of different types of organisms. (K-4)
- Life cycles of organisms
- Plants and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms. (K-4)
- Plants and animals closely resemble their parents. (K-4)
- Many characteristics of an organism are inherited from the parents of the organism, but other characteristics result from an individual's interactions with the environment. Inherited characteristics include the color of flowers and the number of limbs of an animal. (K-4)
- Organisms and environments
- All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.
- An organism's patterns of behavior are related to the nature of that organism's environment, including the kinds and numbers of other organisms present, the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics of the environment.
- Structure and function in living systems
- Living systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function (5-8)
- Important levels of organization for structure and function include cells, organs, tissues, organ systems, whole organisms, and ecosystems (5-8)
- Reproduction and heredity
- Reproduction is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every species. (5-8)
- Some organisms reproduce asexually (5-8)
- Some organisms reproduce sexually. (5-8)
- In many species, including humans, females produce eggs and males produce sperm. (5-8)
- Plants also reproduce sexually--the egg and sperm are produced in the flowers of flowering plants. (5-8)
- An egg and sperm unite to begin development of a new individual. That new individual receives genetic information from its mother (via the egg) and its father (via the sperm). (5-8)
- Sexually produced offspring never are identical to either of their parents. (5-8)
- Every organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits (5-8)
- Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation to another. (5-8)
- Each gene carries a single unit of information. (5-8)
- Hereditary information is contained in genes, located in the chromosomes of each cell. (5-8)
- The characteristics of an organism can be described in terms of a combination of traits. (5-8)
- Some traits are inherited and others result from interactions with the environment. (5-8)
- Regulation and behavior
- All organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce, and maintain stable internal conditions while living in a constantly changing external environment. (5-8)
- Diversity and adaptations of organisms
- Millions of species of animals, plants, and microorganisms are alive today. (5-8)
- Although different species might look dissimilar, the unity among organisms becomes apparent from an analysis of internal structures, the similarity of their chemical processes, and the evidence of common ancestry. (5-8)
- Species acquire many of their unique characteristics through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally occurring variations in populations. (5-8)
- Biological adaptations include changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival and reproductive success in a particular environment (5-8)
- Earth Science
- Properties of earth materials
- Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere.
- The varied Earth materials have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we use as food.
- Earth materials provide many of the resources that humans use.
- Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.
- Objects in the sky
- The sun, moon, stars, clouds, birds, and airplanes all have properties, locations, and movements that can be observed and described.
- The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the earth.
- Changes in earth and sky
- The surface of the earth changes.
- Some changes to the surface of the Earth are due to slow processes, such as erosion and weathering
- Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons.
- Weather can be described by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.
- Objects in the sky have patterns of movement.
- The sun appears to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes slowly over the seasons.
- The moon moves across the sky on a daily basis much like the sun.
- The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.
- Structure of the earth system
- Land forms are the result of a combination of constructive and destructive forces. (5-8)
- Constructive forces include crustal deformation, volcanic eruption, and deposition of sediment. (5-8)
- Destructive forces include weathering and erosion. (5-8)
- Some changes in the solid earth can be described as the "rock cycle." (5-8)
- Old rocks at the earth's surface weather, forming sediments that are buried, then compacted, heated, and often recrystallized into new rock. Eventually, those new rocks may be brought to the surface by the forces that drive plate motions, and the rock cycle continues. (5-8)
- Soil consists of weathered rocks and decomposed organic material from dead plants, animals, and bacteria. (5-8)
- Soils are often found in layers, with each having a different chemical composition and texture. (5-8)
- Water, which covers the majority of the earth's surface, circulates through the crust, oceans, and atmosphere in what is known as the "water cycle." (5-8)
- Water evaporates from the earth's surface, rises and cools as it moves to higher elevations, condenses as rain or snow, and falls to the surface where it collects in lakes, oceans, soil, and in rocks underground. (5-8)
- The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases that include water vapor. (5-8)
- The atmosphere has different properties at different elevations. (5-8)
- Earth in the solar system
- The earth is the third planet from the sun in a system that includes the moon, the sun, eight other planets and their moons, and smaller objects, such as asteroids and comets. (5-8)
- Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. (5-8)
- The motions of most objects in the solar system explain such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.
- The sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth's surface, such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle. (5-8)
- Seasons result from variations in the amount of the sun's energy hitting the surface, due to the tilt of the earth's rotation on its axis and the length of the day. (5-8)
- Science as Inquiry
- Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
- Ask a question about objects, organisms, and events in the environment. (K-4)
- Plan and conduct a simple investigation. (K-4)
- Employ simple equipment and tools to gather data and extend the senses. (K-4)
- Use data to construct a reasonable explanation.
- Communicate investigations and explanations.
- Identify questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
- Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
- Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret data.
- Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
- Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations.
- Understandings about scientific inquiry
- Types of investigations include describing objects, events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
- Scientists develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already know about the world (scientific knowledge). Good explanations are based on evidence from investigations. (K-4)
- Science and Technology
- Abilities of technological design
- Identify a simple problem.
- Propose a solution.
- Implementing proposed solutions
- Communicate a problem, design, and solution.
- Identify appropriate problems for technological design.
- Design a solution or product.
- Implement a proposed design.
- Evaluate completed technological designs or products
- Understanding about science and technology
- People have always had problems and invented tools and techniques (ways of doing something) to solve problems.
- Trying to determine the effects of solutions helps people avoid some new problems.
- Tools help scientists make better observations, measurements, and equipment for investigations. They help scientists see, measure, and do things that they could not otherwise see, measure, and do.
- Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All technological solutions have trade-offs, such as safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance. (5-8)
- Distinguish between natural and human made objects
- Some objects occur in nature; others have been designed and made by people to solve human problems and enhance the quality of life.
- Process Standards for Professional Development
- Introduce teachers to scientific literature, media, and technological resources that expand their science knowledge and their ability to access further knowledge. (NSES)
- Uses learning strategies appropriate to the intended goal. (NSDC)
- Incorporate ongoing reflection on the process and outcomes of understanding science through inquiry. (NSES)
- Content Standards
- Quality Teaching
- Deepens educators’ content knowledge, provides them with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and prepares them to use various types of classroom assessments appropriately. (NSDC)
- Teaching Standards
- Teachers of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
- Select science content and adapt and design curricula to meet the interests, knowledge, understanding, abilities, and experiences of students.
- Teachers of science guide and facilitate learning. In doing this, teachers
- Encourage and model the skills of scientific inquiry, as well as the curiosity, openness to new ideas and data, and skepticism that characterize science.
- Focus and support inquiries while interacting with students.
- Orchestrate discourse among students about scientific ideas.
- Recognize and respond to student diversity and encourage all students to participate fully in science learning.
- Teachers provide students with the time, space, and resources needed to learn science.
- Create a setting for student work that is flexible and supportive of science inquiry.
||Good book but too juvenile
||Reviewed by: Kimberly (Decherd, TN) on July 17, 2008
||I really like the idea for the book but I teach middle school science and the stories were more for younger students. I know it talks about adapting them for older students, but I was hoping for something else. I do think elementary students would love the stories and mysteries.
||Reviewed by: Rhonda (Sioux Falls, SD) on July 17, 2008
||This book had lots of connections for reading/science. Our accelerated science teachers will be using it to enhance our new curriculum.
||Everyday Science Mysyteries
||Reviewed by: Heather (Howell, MI) on July 16, 2008
||My students love these stories! They have proven to be an exciting and interesting method of introducing new ideas.
||A very useful tool!
||Reviewed by: David M (Sioux Center, IA) on July 15, 2008
||I found Everyday Science Mysteries to be an enjoyable read. I'll be very likely to use several of the "mysteries" included in the book this coming school year with my 7th grade students. Great tips for using the mysteries are included, and clear explanations of the science behind the story will help novices or teachers who don't see themselves as science experts to use the book effectively. I'd definitely recommend reading!
||Everyday Science Mysteries: Stories for Inquiry
||Reviewed by: Katherine B (, ) on July 15, 2008
||This book provides stories that can be used as hooks into lesson. For instance if you are teaching about matter expansion and contraction there is a story about how the gas in a balloon will contract making the balloon appear as if it has a leak, only to expand again once it has warmed up. This is a good tool for teaching. The contents are set up well in that the different areas of science are identified. If you are looking for physical science it has them listed in such a format.
||Storytelling - - A great concept
||Reviewed by: Robert Gilmore (Milford, MA) on July 15, 2008
||Tapping into the innately human interest in storytelling is pure genius. This book is very well organized and relates well with other useful resources (such as the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series) that are frequently mentioned throughout the text.
If you wish to add your review, click here.
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Writing - Style
( Originally Published 1922 )
Style a Reflection of Self. — As the French academician observed, "Style is the Man." Style in writing is just as true a portrayal of what a man is—how his texture of thought is woven together—as are the actions of his life. Style is a particular method of writing and no two men are gifted with the same method, just as not two people are alike. Style is a garb of many colors, a thing of many constituents. Stories may be told in a multitude of styles. Thus, a story's style may be elegant, awkward, smooth, dull, involved, ornate, poetical, simple, melodious, and so forth, all depending on the individual who impresses on it the inevitable stamp of personality. Style is like a mirror—it reflects exactly the peculiarities of each detail of its master. If a man be nervous temperamentally his style is sure to reflect those characteristics, and very likely will be choppy and erratic. A writer of nervous temperament, too, is-quite likely to have a versatile style, one possessing many different qualities.
But it is not necessary to go into a technical discussion of styles. Such a discussion belongs to the realm of rhetoric. It will be necessary only to sketch lightly the main and salient features of style, for it is true that the better the style of the story, the more pleasure will it give to the reader.
Style in Stories of To-day.—Yet, it is the truth that present-day stories have very little, if any, literary style. Out of the hundreds of stories that appear monthly in all our vast number of periodicals, but few can be said to possess a good style. Compare any of the stories which you may read in current magazines with some of the stories of Henry Van Dyke, the master dictionist, whose style is as limpid and smooth-flowing as the water in a sand-bottomed brook. But perhaps just because of the fact that so many accepted stories lack good style, the writer will decide not to bother greatly over style. The writer may determine that question for him-self. If he does not care to develop a distinctive and beautiful style, it may not much matter in the long run. Still, all stories must be told clearly, simply, and smoothly. The words of the story must be such as to bring forth mental images to the mind of the reader. Only so far as it is necessary to accomplish these things must the writer study style. The supreme duty of every story writer is to make himself understood absolutely. To write in such a manner that not one bit of doubt arises in the reader's mind as to what the author means, is a great task as well as a great duty.
In real life O. Henry was a quietly humorous and observing individual, bubbling over with good-fellowship and taking a great joy in recording the characteristic oddities of people. The following extract from one of his stories will reveal his humorous outlook on life. It is a fine example of the statement, "Style is the Man."
"A trust is its weakest point," said Jeff Peters.
"That," said I, "sounds like one of those unintelligible remarks such as, `Why is a policeman' ?"
"It is not," said Jeff. "There are no relations between a trust and a policeman. My remark was an epigram—an axis—a kind of mulct'em in parvo. What it means is that a trust is like an egg. If you want to break an egg you have to do it from the outside. The only way to break up a trust is from the inside. Keep sitting on it until it hatches. Look at the brood of young colleges and libraries that's chirping and peeping all over the country. Yes, sir, every trust bears in its own bosom the seeds of its destruction like a rooster that crows near a Georgia colored Methodist camp meeting, or a Republican announcing himself a candidate for governor of Texas."
Studying the Masters of Style.—To be certain regarding the qualities of pure, distinctive style the writer might make a study of the diction of several of the master writers, such as, Dickens, Stevenson, Addison, Kipling, Poe, Hawthorne, Conrad, and so forth, comparing their style with his and ending up by striving to imitate their peculiarities of writing. In this way he may be assisted in his choice of words. Of a like method of self-improvement Stevenson says:
"Whenever I read a book or a page that particularly pleased me in which a thing was said or effect rendered with propriety, in which there was either some conspicuous force or some happy distinction in the style I must sit down at once to ape that quality. I was unsuccessful, and I knew it; and tried again, and was again unsuccessful, and always unsuccessful; but at least in these vain bouts I got some practice in rhythm, in harmony, in construction and co-ordination of parts.
"I have thus played the sedulous ape to Hazlitt, to Lamb, to Wadsworth, to Sir Thomas Browne, to Defoe, to Hawthorne, to Montaigne.
"That, like it or not, is the way to learn to write, whether I have profited or not, that is the way. It was the way Keats learned, and there never was a finer temperament for literature than Keats."
Style Should Suit the Type of Story.-Style varies according to the type of story to be written. Thus, in a story of swift, continuous action, the style should consist of short, forceful sentences. All ornamentation, figures of speech, and the like, should be eliminated. If the story is one of mystery or tragedy, the style should lean to the choice of words in which the feeling of fear or horror is aroused. Thus, in Poe's story, "The Fall of the House of Usher," his sentence structure and his choice of words are such that sensations of mystery and apprehension are produced, which sensations come not entirely from the fact that the story deals with elements of the supernatural. Again, in Poe's story "Ligeia," the style or choice of words plays a prominent part in bringing out tones of melancholy.
The Three Qualities of Style : 1. Clearness: To arouse emotion in the reader, the style must appeal clearly to particular senses, tastes, passions, and so on, for a clear appeal to any one of our five senses invariably arouses some emotion. In clearness of style are included clearness of thought and clearness of expression. We must think a thing clearly before we can express it well. To be intelligible the writer's every sentence must contain ideas clearly and logically related to each other.
As an important assistance to clearness, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns should be placed carefully to modify the words and antecedents to which they are most vitally related.
2. Force.—When a writer wishes to be impressive, to be emphatic, to arouse emotion, and to stress sensational situations, he employs a forceful style. As Professor Genung observes:
"As related to the writer himself, force in style is the result and evidence of some strong emotion at work infusing vigor into his words. He realizes vividly the truth of what he says and so it becomes intense and fervid; he has a deep conviction of its importance, and so it becomes cogent and impressive. Along with this fervor of feeling his will is enlisted ; he is determined, as it were, to make his reader think as he does and to make his cause prevail. Every employment of word and figure is tributary to this. Geniune force in style cannot be manufactured; if the style has not serious conviction to back it, it becomes contorted ; if it has no vivifying emotion, it becomes turgid. Force is the quality of style most dependent on character."
To impart force the writer should use only those words which indicate strength, which imply bigness or swiftness of movement. He should eliminate carefully all merely superficial adjectives and adverbs. Force in the sentence is inherent in the sentence's arrangement. To employ a maximum of force, the main idea in a sentence should be arranged culminatingly so that it comes with emphasis at the end of the sentence.
3. Beauty.—Beauty means making the story a thing of delight to the ear, mind, sense of proportion, and so on. It means the elimination of all harsh words and combinations of words. The use of melodious words, of alliterative words, of suggestive words, such as, "murmuring" and "clash," having a strong resemblance in sound to the idea they express, are practices which lend to the beautification of a work. Lastly in the element of beauty comes the use of figures of speech, such as simile, metaphor, personification, etc.
| 3.327092 |
Search Health Information
Thrombophlebitis is swelling (inflammation) of a vein caused by a blood clot .
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
The following increase your chances for thrombophlebitis:
- Being hospitalized for a major surgery or with a major illness
- Disorders that make you more likely to develop blood clots
- Sitting for a long period of time (such as on a long airplane trip)
There are two main types of thrombophlebitis:
The following symptoms are often associated with thrombophlebitis:
- Inflammation (swelling) in the part of the body affected
- Pain in the part of the body affected
Skin redness (not always present)
- Warmth and tenderness over the vein
Signs and tests:
The health care provider can usually diagnose the condition based on how the affected area looks. You may need to have your pulse , blood pressure , temperature, skin condition, and circulation frequently checked to make sure you don't have complications.
If the cause cannot be easily identified, one or more of the following tests may be done:
In general, treatment may include support stockings and wraps to reduce discomfort as well as medications such as:
Analgesics (pain killers)
- Antibiotics (if infection is present)
- Anticoagulants (blood thinners) to prevent new clots from forming
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen to reduce pain and inflammation
- Thrombolytics to dissolve an existing clot
You may be told to do the following:
- Apply moist heat to reduce inflammation and pain
- Keep pressure off of the area to reduce pain and decrease the risk of further damage
- Raise the affected area to reduce swelling
Surgical removal, stripping, or bypass of the vein is rarely needed but may be recommended in some situations.
For more specific recommendations, see the particular condition (superficial thrombophlebitis or deep venous thrombosis ).
Thrombophlebitis and other forms of phlebitis usually respond to prompt medical treatment.
Superficial thrombophlebitis rarely causes complications.
Complications of deep vein thrombosis include blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolism ) or chronic pain and swelling in the leg.
Calling your health care provider:
Call your health care provider if you have symptoms of thrombophlebitis.
Call your health care provider promptly if thrombophlebitis symptoms do not improve with treatment, if symptoms get worse, or if new symptoms occur (such as an entire limb becoming pale , cold, or swollen).
Routine changing of intravenous (IV) lines helps to prevent thrombophlebitis related to IVs.
If you are taking a long car or plane trip, walk or stretch your legs once in a while and drink plenty of liquids. Wearing support hose may help.
If you are hospitalized, your doctor may prescribe medicine to prevent deep venous thrombosis.
Lim W, Crowther MA, Ginsberg JS. Venous thromboembolism. In: Hoffman R, Benz EJ, Shattil SS, et al, eds. Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2008:chap 135.
DeLoughery TG. Venous Thrombotic Emergencies. Emergency Medicine Clinics of North America. August 2009;27(3).
|Review Date: 5/10/2010|
Reviewed By: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, University of Washington, School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
| 3.319831 |
It’s never been this hot in the United States.
We just finished the hottest year on record. For the contiguous United States, the 12 months between July 2011 and the end of June marked the hottest year since record keeping began in 1895. Nationally, the average temperature was 56 degrees Fahrenheit -- 3.2 degrees above the long-term average.
This won’t come as news to the folks of Red Willow County, Nebraska, where temperatures reached 115 degrees on June 26 -- shattering the previous record set in 1932 -- or any of more than 100 other places that saw their hottest days ever during just the past three weeks.
It’s not exactly a scoop to the 76 percent of the country where corn is roasting to dust and lakes are baking to chalk amid drought or abnormally dry conditions.
Nor will it much surprise the thousands of Americans who have fled their homes in advance of wildfires that have burned more than 2.6 million acres of land so far this year. (See "Climate Change Fuels the Perfect Firestorm.")
News that we’ve just wrapped up the hottest 12 months on record, though, does put this summer’s heat, drought, and wildfires into perspective, at a time when conservative pundits like George Will are shrugging their shoulders and asking: so what?
“How do we explain the heat? One word: summer,” Will said Sunday on ABC News. “We’re having some hot weather. Get over it.”
Some summers are hotter than others, falling within a range of what scientists call “natural variability,” which can be influenced by global weather patterns. There are many reasons, also, for the kinds of wildfires, and drought we’re seeing this summer. All, though, are part of the wider pattern that climate scientists have been predicting for decades and documenting for years, as the burning of fossil fuels builds up heat-trapping carbon in our atmosphere.
“You’re watching climate change in action,” Kevin Trenberth, distinguished senior scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, told me. “These are just the sort of things we expect to see as the climate gets warmer. To some extent, these things are going to continue to happen.”
Get over it? Get used to it might be more accurate.
“This is not your grandfather’s summer,” said Trenberth, whose office was forced to evacuate for two days last month as wildfires raged within 1.5 miles of the facility. “This is the summer of the future.”
In just the past three weeks, at least 46 deaths have been blamed on the heat.
How hot? It was 118 degrees in Norton County, Kansas, on June 28. Wait a minute -- 118 degrees? You leave a bayberry candle on your screened porch in that weather, and it melts like a stick of butter.
Amid the longest stretch of triple-digit days since 1930 in the nation’s capital, officials blamed a “heat kink” in a commuter rail line for forcing a train off the tracks July 6. Roads are buckling from the heat in Wisconsin. Yes, Wisconsin.
“Evidence supporting the existence of climate change is pummeling the United States this summer,” Amy Goodman wrote in a July 5 column for the Guardian, “from the mountain wildfires of Colorado to the recent ‘derecho’ storm that left at least 23 dead and 1.4 million people without power from Illinois to Virginia.”
A ‘derecho’ is a powerful line of thunderstorms, supercharged by extreme heat, like the one that swept from Indiana to the coast of Delaware in 10 hours on June 29, packing gusts up to 80 miles per hour and toppling massive trees and telephone poles in its wake.
The kind of heat that fuels derechos has been in ample supply of late.
It was 113 degrees in Edgefield County, South Carolina, on the last day of June, and 112 degrees in Marshall County, Tennessee, on the second of July. Both of those scorchers broke the local all-time highs, part of more than 140 records shattered in 115 different places during late June and early July, according to the National Climatic Data Center, which maintains the largest weather data archive in the world.
Run a finger across a map along a line from northern California to the top of Ohio. Most of the country south of that line is experiencing serious drought, with little relief in sight. “The near-term forecast doesn’t bode very well,” Mark Svoboda, climatologist with the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, told me. “July and August are the hottest and driest months of the year.”
Across much of the heartland, lakes are drying up, crops are withering, and farming communities are getting hammered, from the cornfields of Nebraska to the pecan groves of Georgia. “There’s a lot of praying,” Illinois Farm Bureau spokesman John Hawkins told the New York Times last week. “These 100-degree temperatures are just sucking the life out of everything.”
Moreover, the warming trend is global. Worldwide, land surface temperatures were 2.18 degrees above the historical average in May. It was the second-hottest May since record keeping began 132 years ago, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last year was the 35th year in a row that annual global temperatures exceeded the 20th century average. The 11 years since 2001 all rank among the 13 hottest since 1880.
Hot weather, early snowmelt, and persistent drought have combined to create tinderbox conditions across much of the country. By July 9, 30,495 wildfires had burned 2.6 million acres nationwide, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, and there are more than two months of hot, dry summer conditions ahead.
The amount of forest and other land burned so far this year is in line with the 10-year average, but the average has risen 80 percent over the past decade.
Many factors contribute to wildfires. Experts, though, have been warning for years that global climate change is making matters worse. (See "How the West Was Lost.")
“The effects of climate change will continue to result in greater probability of longer and bigger fire seasons, in more regions of the nation,” states the 2009 Quadrennial Fire Review, a joint document produced every four years by the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, and the National Association of State Foresters. “What has already been realized in the past five years -- shorter, wetter winters and warmer, drier summers, larger amounts of total fire on the landscape, more large wildfires -- will persist and probably escalate.”
Even if we’re able to insulate ourselves from the worst effects of fires, drought and heat waves -- for a while, at least --- we’re not much likely to just “get over it,” as some might wish.
“We will have to live with the consequences of the carbon dioxide we’ve already put up there,” Trenberth explained. “While humans can hide in our air-conditioned houses, the trees and the ecosystems can’t.”
| 3.480989 |
Despite an especially wet winter and spring this year in the Northwest, research has shown that average temperatures have risen and snowpack has decreased since the mid 1900’s. But are these recent changes a human-caused anomaly, or just part of normal climate patterns
New research that sheds some light on that debate.
Trees, it turns out, hold the key to understanding the climate history of the West. In a study released Thursday in the journal Science, researchers took core samples from trees in 66 sites in the Columbia, Missouri, and Colorado river basins.
Jeremy Littell is a research scientist with the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington and a co-author of the study. He says the team was trying to figure out how climate has varied over the past …well, really long time.
"In some cases the living trees are approaching a thousand years or even more. Some of these trees were witnessing climate at the time of the Norman invasion. And that’s exciting to scientists because being able to look that far back in history gives some context to the recent changes in climate," he said.
The tree samples show that for the past thousand years, anyway, climate has cycled through wetter and drier periods -- but the current warming period is out of whack with the historical pattern. Littell says consider the sub alpine larch tree. When there's less snowpack, these trees grow better so their growth rings are wider and this century scientists are consistently seeing more wide growth rings.
"If you’re a larch that’s been standing in the North Cascades for 1,000 years then the last 50-100 years look quite different than what had been going on before that," Littell said.
The tree record shows that the recent decreases in snowpack across the West are inconsistent with tree records that go back hundreds of years. And that, Littell says, could be our fault. Littell explained, "There are a couple of analyses that suggest that somewhere between half and two thirds of the trend in snow pack and water resources are attributable to human-caused climate warming."
Think of snowpack as a sort of watery bank account -- where water is stored in solid form and then slowly dispensed as the snow melts throughout the drier summer months. Those later water installments are critical for crop irrigation and the health of river ecosystems.
But climate models for the Northwest suggest that as average annual temperatures rise, we'll get less snow and more rain that will be immediately absorbed. Sort of like cashing that water check upfront, instead of saving it for a sunny day.
Journal Science article:
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As part of a sexual health check up, we can offer you an HIV test.
Many people are concerned that personal information about them or their tests may be disclosed to other agencies such as insurers or other professionals within the NHS, such as their GP. We do not routinely give out information about individuals seen by Open Doors. Tests carried out are not accessible by other hospital departments and electronic information is stored on a separate electronic record that can only be accessed by staff working within sexual health.
Please read the following information to ensure that you understand:
What is HIV?
HIV is a virus that, if left untreated can lead to a life threatening condition called AIDS. HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus; it is so called because it attacks the immune system, resulting in a decreased ability to fight off disease and infection.
What is AIDS?
AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, a condition in which a person’s immune system is no longer functioning. This places the individual at increased risk of serious ill health.
How is HIV transmitted?
The virus is found in the following body fluids: blood, pre-cum/semen, vaginal fluid and breast milk. The virus can be transmitted when the fluid containing the virus from an infected person enters the body of another person. The risks of HIV transmission are increased by the following:
- Unprotected vaginal or anal sex
- Sharing needles or ‘works’ to inject drugs
- Mother to child transmission during pregnancy
- Contaminated blood or blood products
Treatment for HIV
Although there is no cure for HIV, those diagnosed with the infection can take medication which significantly reduce the risk of life threatening illnesses associated with HIV/AIDS.
The benefits of knowing you are HIV positive now far outweigh potential drawbacks. Testing allows people to remain healthier for longer by accessing care and treatment sooner, as opposed to remaining untested and unaware of infection and risking ill health.
How do I reduce the transmission risk?
- Condoms. Using condoms for vaginal and anal sex are the best way of reducing transmission of HIV. Sex can cause abrasion or tearing to the tissue inside the vagina, rectum or penis, making HIV easier to pass into the body.
- Oral Sex. Levels of risk around oral sex have always been a bit of a grey area. Whilst not high risk, oral sex cannot be said to be risk-free. Don’t perform oral sex on a customer or partner if: you have cuts, sores or ulcers in or around your mouth, have bleeding or inflamed gums, have a throat infection or swollen tonsils, if you have just brushed you teeth or flossed. Not letting a customer or partner ejaculate in your mouth will significantly reduce any infection risk.
- Drugs and Alcohol. Your decision making can change under the influence of alcohol or recreational drugs. You’ll feel less inhibited and may take risks you wouldn't otherwise. Limiting the amount will help to reduce risk
- Saying “No”. People can sometimes end up being placed in situations or taking risks because they feel unable or uncomfortable to negotiate the type of sex they feel happy with.
- Safer injecting. Not sharing injecting equipment for drug use with others will prevent transmission of HIV and other blood borne viruses.
- Have regular Sexual Health Checks. Having a check up on a regular basis will help to ensure that you reduce the risk of any undiagnosed STIs. Presence of other infections may potentially make HIV easier to pass on.
Many people undertake HIV testing to know their status, particularly upon entering a new relationship or following a particular event that has concerned them.
HIV testing is becoming more and more common place in the UK. Many people can now access testing at their GP surgery and is offered routinely to pregnant women as part of their antenatal care.
How do I test for HIV?
A small sample of blood is taken from a vein in the arm, and is sent to a laboratory, where it is tested for the presence of HIV antibodies. These are markers of infection in the blood. The HIV Antibody test, searches for HIV-1 and HIV-2.
There are two possible results from the test
- HIV Negative (HIV Antibody Not Detected). No antibodies were found in the blood sample, meaning the person does not have HIV infection.
- HIV Positive (HIV Antibody Detected). Antibodies were found in the blood sample, meaning that the person has HIV infection.
Will HIV appear instantly?
No. It can take up to three months for HIV Antibodies to develop; this is referred to as the “Window Period”. If you have been at risk of HIV within the past three months, this should not prevent you from testing today, but you should remember to repeat your test three months after your last risk.
When and how do I get my results?
Results are available within 2 weeks after your blood was taken. We do not currently offer rapid or same day testing. Many people now choose to receive their results by text message to their mobile telephone. Your message tells you if results are clear, or if positive, will advise you to attend a clinic with an Open Doors team member. We do not provide printed negative results
What if my result is positive?
People, who receive a positive result, understandably may have many concerns and questions. The Open Doors Staff will provide support and information through this difficult period. A referral will be made to a specialist HIV team; this will be arranged by the Open Doors Staff and a Health Adviser in one of the clinics.
What if I’m still worried?
Sometimes when people find out that their result is negative they can remain worried about their risk. It can often be helpful to discuss these concerns with the Open Doors Staff.
What if I’m worried about my sexual health?
There can be number of factors that affect people’s ability to achieve and maintain good sexual health. These can include: difficulties with safer sex negotiation and condom use, erection difficulties, female sexual difficulties, lack of satisfaction or enjoyment with sex life. There are specialist clinics and services to which people can be referred that may help. Open Doors Staff may be able to assess your needs and refer you as necessary.
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Services | Residuals & Feedstock
About Biogas Renewable Energy
Anaerobic Digesters convert liquid
organic waste into biogas
renewable energy + fertilizer
Anaerobic digestion is a process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen to produce a combination of methane and carbon dioxide that can be used to generate electricity and heat. The residual digested material is a virtually odour and pathogen free, organic slurry that can be used as an organic soil amendment, an addition to composts, liquid plant nutrients etc.
Agricultural anaerobic digesters are situated on farms to convert livestock manures into biogas. The benefits of agricultural ADs are numerous, and go far beyond the advantages of renewable energy production: farm odours are reduced; bacterial pathogens are reduced; nutrients become more readily available and more predictable to manage; and, digested materials can be recycled as an odour-free crop nutrient.
A key environmental benefit is that the captured methane is converted into electricity, which represents a net greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
Benefits of biogas energy production:
- Renewable energy production
- Greenhouse gas reduction
- Expands organic recycling capacity reducing reliance on landfills
- Major reduction in odour and pathogens in the digested material
- Improves wastewater treatment by reducing organic loading at treatment plants
- Improves groundwater protection by improving the nutrient availability in the digested material
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In Ages Past
The Apostle of Ohio: Bishop Edward Fenwick, O.P.
By 1800, Americans were moving westward by the thousands, settling the untamed backwoods of Kentucky. Barely a generation had passed since Daniel Boone guided the first white settlers there. Only a few years earlier had the bloody Indian wars ended. Here, in 1805, the centuries-old Dominican Order established its first house in North America, a simple log-cabin like the one Abraham Lincoln would be born in a few years later. Its founder was Edward Fenwick: teacher, pastor, frontier missionary, and Ohio's first Catholic bishop.
Fenwick was born far from the frontier on a Maryland plantation, on August 19, 1768, and was baptized in the family's private chapel. The Fenwicks were an old English Catholic family that settled in Maryland, the birthplace of American Catholicism, during the 1600s. Of the thirteen original colonies, only there did Catholics exist in any sizeable number; only there could they freely practice their faith.
During the American Revolution, Edward's father was a Colonel in the Continental Army. At sixteen, the boy left home to study in Belgium at a Dominican school. (Many Maryland Catholics sent their sons to study at Catholic schools in Europe, since America had none.) Here he discerned a religious vocation, and in 1788 joined the Dominicans. Five years later, he was ordained in Belgium, teaching at his alma mater. The French Revolution, however, forced the college to relocate to England.
For the next decade, Father Fenwick taught at their school outside of London. Two decades had passed since he saw home, and he dreamed of starting a Dominican house in the American nation. In 1804, he got permission to begin a house in Kentucky, where many Maryland Catholics had emigrated since the 1780s. There were about eight thousand Catholics there, with few priests to serve them.
Priests were essentially circuit riders back then, searching for Catholics wherever they might be found. Fenwick often rode between fifty and three hundred miles visiting the sick and administering the sacraments. "We are everywhere," he wrote, "followed and pestered for confession. Many have not been for three, four, eight, and twelve years." One biographer writes that his saddle was "his house of prayer, for he read his breviary while riding from one place to another."
In 1806, Fenwick purchased a 500-acre plantation near Springfield, Kentucky. He named it for the Dominican St. Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the first native of the Americas to be canonized. Within a few years, the property housed a church, a religious house, and the College of St. Thomas Aquinas. The school was among the first in the area, and future Confederate President Jefferson Davis was among its earliest students.
In 1808, Fenwick turned his eyes toward Ohio, where many Catholics had moved. He rode there "in search of stray sheep," wherever there were Catholics or rumors of Catholics. As his biographer notes, it could be dangerous. Sometimes he got lost and had to "spend the night in the backwoods . . . still infested with wolves and other beasts of prey." On one occasion, he baptized an entire settlement:
A short time ago, a colony of thirteen families, having by chance found a Catholic book, conceived the desire of embracing our holy religion; and, although I was three hundred miles away, they wrote me a letter, in which they made their desire known to me. I made my way to this colony, which I had the good fortune to find, instructed them in all those things that are necessary to be known, and had the consolation of baptizing them.
Dr. Pat McNamara is a published historian. He blogs about American Catholic History at McNamara's Blog.
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Amelia Earhart Plane
Support provided by:
July 2, 1937: newspapers all over the world report the same event: Amelia Earhart's airplane disappears over the pacific. The disaster and presumed death of the beloved 39 year-old heroine gripped the public.
For decades historians have debated how and where the aviator disappeared. Both scientific and more fanciful theories abound: some surmise she landed on uninhabited Gardner Island. Others suggest she was captured and executed by the Japanese. Less scrutinized is an accident she had four months earlier, during take-off for her around-the-world flight.
Did that crash somehow contribute to Earhart's disappearance?
Over seventy years later, History Detectives investigates whether a fragment of metal is from the missing plane.
- Also in Season 7 Kahlil Gibran Painting Is this painting an unknown work by an immigrant poet whose words inspired an American generation?
- Related Investigation Hindenburg Artifact Was this device snatched from the burning wreckage of the ill-fated zeppelin?
- Also in Depression and WWII: 1929-1945 Internment Artwork What is the story behind these watercolor paintings of a prison camp?
- Related Investigation Satelloon Could this three-inch square of metallic material be part of America's first satellite program?
- Also with Elyse Luray Civil War Bridge Has a new discovery rewritten Civil War history?
- Also in Depression and WWII: 1929-1945 Chinese Poems Who were the authors of the poems describing bitterness and misery on the Angel Island detention center walls?
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Anyone wishing to submit an artifact for investigation should do so through Submit a Story.
- Submit your StoryDo you have a Depression or World War II object? Submit your story now.
- Latest CommentWhat is this glorifying the firearm (which is a semi-automatic by the way) of a criminal? (3 days ago)
- Twitterremember this investigation with @TukufuZuberi @elyseluray Tonight they reunite! Let us know your thoughts! @PBS http://t.co/4KMnc27K (7 months ago)
- FacebookSome wisdom as the day draws to a close. Like my page for more conversations. Enjoy your evening. Peace, Tukufu. (1 day ago)
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Virtual Reality at the Service of Archaeology: the examples of Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux and Fort Conger
PDF Version (153 Kb)
The complex nature of archaeological sites creates a challenge when recording and communicating certain aspects of a heritage place's archaeological resources. Virtual 3D technology offers a way to keep a virtual record of archaeological sites that will be lost or compromised, and to communicate and illustrate what we've learned about an archaeological site.
Among others, these two projects at Parks Canada demonstrate the usefulness of Virtual 3D technology.
Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux
Parks Canada archaeologists excavated some 1,500 m2 of ground beneath the Dufferin Terrace in Quebec City, uncovering in the process the remains of the Saint-Louis Forts and the old Château Saint-Louis. These digs unearthed such a tangled collection of remains that it is proving difficult to make the archaeological information understandable and explain it clearly to visitors and the general public. Virtual 3D reconstruction techniques were considered a possible tool for communicating this new information more easily.
Fort Conger, Quttinirpaaq National Park, northeastern Ellesmere Island -a site featuring remains of British and American exploration camps dating to the late 19th century as well as 20th-century- is now under stress from both natural and cultural elements.
Fort Conger aerial view
© Parks Canada
Its eroding bank endangers unique cultural resources and may expose contaminants left on site by some of these early expeditions to the marine environment. Climate change is also a factor as warmer temperatures may accelerate decay and affect permafrost, causing structural changes to the buildings and ground surface. These threats must be monitored or mitigated according to current standards and laws while maintaining the cultural integrity, historic authenticity and sense of place of this exceptional site and its structures.
A Scientific Challenge
3D modeling © Parks Canada
In the case of the Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux, the use of Web-based technologies now allows Parks Canada to make accessible and present the information that archaeologists are able to visualize and understand as archaeological discoveries are made. The 3D presentation synthesizes the findings on the superposition of soil layers or architectural elements and even their re-use. The three-dimensional animation creates different perspectives and makes optimal use of suggested reconstruction sketches to compare the current landscape with the remains found. Canadian Culture Online, a Department of Canadian Heritage program, provided an excellent opportunity for ensuring the development and online presence of this project.
In the case of Fort Conger, archaeologists from the University of Calgary and Parks Canada's Western and Northern Service Centre based in Winnipeg are planning to use laser scanning to capture three-dimensional images of the footprint of Fort Conger and use these images to archive and reconstruct the site in virtual reality. This application of 3D technology, which will allow the team to document and preserve the site and provide data useful in the structural analysis of the buildings and foundations, may eventually take the form of an interactive website for the public.
In addition to the Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux, a few other National Historic Sites containing archaeological digs were selected for trials of these new technologies as part of the 3D Tours project. 3D visualization enables online users to take virtual tours of the sites and see them from all possible perspectives.
The three-dimensional images obtained at Fort Conger with the short-range laser scanner can be used to digitally archive threatened heritage resources as well as test various building scenarios and analyze activity areas in a three-dimensional context.
Explore Parks Canada's 3D Tours on Archeology
These projects are a very tangible indication of the benefits of investments in information technology in Canada. This project illustrates the wide range of possible applications of interactive and immersive virtual simulations that contribute to public education.
Principal investigator: Saint-Louis Forts and Châteaux, Robert Gauvin
Principal investigator : Fort Conger, Margaret Bertuli
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It is possible that the main title of the report Addison's Disease is not the name you expected. Please check the synonyms listing to find the alternate name(s) and disorder subdivision(s) covered by this report.
Addison's disease is a rare disorder characterized by inadequate production of the steroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone by the outer layer of cells of the adrenal glands (adrenal cortex). The symptoms of classic Addison's disease, also known as primary adrenal insufficiency, result from the insufficient production of these two hormones. Major symptoms include fatigue, gastrointestinal abnormalities, and changes in skin color (pigmentation). Behavior and mood changes may also occur in some individuals with Addison's disease. Increased excretion of water and low blood pressure (hypotension) can lead to extremely low concentrations of water in the body (dehydration). The symptoms of Addison's usually develop slowly, but sometimes can develop rapidly, a serious condition called acute adrenal failure. In most cases, Addison's disease occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the adrenal glands causing slowly progressive damage to the adrenal cortex.
National Adrenal Diseases Foundation
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American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc.
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East Detroit, MI 48021
NIH/National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive & Kidney Diseases
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Hormone Health Network
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Chevy Chase, MD 20815-5817
MUMS National Parent-to-Parent Network
150 Custer Court
Green Bay, WI 54301-1243
Genetic and Rare Diseases (GARD) Information Center
PO Box 8126
Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8126
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Support Group
PO Box 66
Tel: +64 3 3584 507
Fax: +64 3 3584 506
Tel: 0800 224 698
Addison's Disease Self-Help Group (UK)
P.O. Box 1083
Guildford, Surrey, GU1 9HX
Tel: 0844 588 2722
Autoimmune Information Network, Inc.
PO Box 4121
Brick, NJ 08723
This is an abstract of a report from the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). A copy of the complete report can be downloaded free from the NORD website for registered users. The complete report contains additional information including symptoms, causes, affected population, related disorders, standard and investigational therapies (if available), and references from medical literature. For a full-text version of this topic, go to www.rarediseases.org and click on Rare Disease Database under "Rare Disease Information".
The information provided in this report is not intended for diagnostic purposes. It is provided for informational purposes only. NORD recommends that affected individuals seek the advice or counsel of their own personal physicians.
It is possible that the title of this topic is not the name you selected. Please check the Synonyms listing to find the alternate name(s) and Disorder Subdivision(s) covered by this report
This disease entry is based upon medical information available through the date at the end of the topic. Since NORD's resources are limited, it is not possible to keep every entry in the Rare Disease Database completely current and accurate. Please check with the agencies listed in the Resources section for the most current information about this disorder.
For additional information and assistance about rare disorders, please contact the National Organization for Rare Disorders at P.O. Box 1968, Danbury, CT 06813-1968; phone (203) 744-0100; web site www.rarediseases.org or email [email protected]
Last Updated: 6/28/2012
Copyright 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012 National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc.
Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
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Physics Division Research Highlights
Luminescent solar concentrators
Luminescent solar concentrators (LSC) represent one promising approach to dramatically increase utilization of solar energy because they can capture sunlight — including diffuse light — over a large area using low-cost materials and redirect that light onto much smaller solar cells. Moreover, the solar spectrum can be segmented by using stacked concentrators and bandgap-matched photo-voltaics to increase conversion efficiency. The parameter space in luminescent solar concentrator design, however, is vast, and optimizing their performance empirically is a daunting challenge.
Argonne physicists have developed a simulation-based approach that can focus experimental efforts in both materials and device design. The analyses show that a single layer configuration is far from optimal and adding a second layer in the LSC with wavelength shifted material in the near infrared region significantly increases the power output, while the gain in power by adding a third layer is relatively small. The results of this study provide a theoretical upper limit to the performance of an LSC and give guidance for the properties required for luminescent materials, such as quantum nanocrystals, to operate efficiently in planar LSC configurations. With such guidance in hand, synthetic work will be more efficient and performance maximized.
Optimizing luminescent solar con-centrator design, by Hermilo Hernandez-Noyola, David H. Potterveld, Roy J. Holt and Seth B. Darling. Energy & Environmental Science, Issue 2, 2012.
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Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) is a type of computer memory that is basically an upgrade of the standard DRAM. It retrieves data alternately between two memory groups, eliminating unnecessary delays. It is synchronized with the speed of the computer clock and optimized for the CPU bus speed of the computer. It also provides support to high bus speeds commonly found in high-end computers.
Types of SDRAMs
Kinds of SDRAMs include the following:
Clock circuitry types
A two-clock SDRAM interacts with two chips per clock cycle. It has the same features as the four-clock model.
A four-clock SDRAM interacts with four chips per clock cycle. It is commonly used in most motherboards.
A PC100 SDRAM has a memory that can run on a frequency of 100 MHZ.
A PC133 SDRAM has a memory that can run on a frequency of 133 MHz.
Choosing SDRAMs (Buying tips)
Speed and compatibility: Choose an SDRAM with a high speed rating compatible with its frequency counterpart. For example, if you want to get an SDRAM with a 10 nanosecond rating, it should be used with an 83 MHz system.
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Developmental Stages of Learning to Read:
What, Why, and How?
Most people are aware that learning to walk and talk are developmental processes. New mothers realize their babies may begin to walk at 10 months of age or not until they are 15 months old; they may begin to talk at 12 months of age or not until they are 18 months old. Young children reach the milestones of walking and talking at different ages. Before children begin to walk, they crawl and sit up; before they talk, babies babble and coo.
Learning to read is also a developmental process; all children do not begin to read at the same age. Children reach literacy milestones along the way. For example, children develop a basic oral vocabulary and understand the alphabetic principle before they begin to read. Although children may enter school at about the same chronological age, they are at various stages of reading development. A child's conceptual understanding of spoken words and his or her knowledge of print have an impact on his or her beginning literacy instruction. As a result, teachers need to be cognizant of the Developmental Stages of Learning to Read so all of their young students are successful learners.
What Are the Developmental Stages of Learning to Read?
Most children follow a similar pattern and sequence of reading behaviors as they learn how to read-from print awareness to pretend reading, to identifying alphabet letters, and to beginning reading. There are distinct stages of development across this continuum of learning to read, and there are specific reading behaviors that can be identified at each of these stages. Researchers have used various labels and terms to identify the stages of reading development, but the literature indicates there are five stages of learning to read (Chall, 1983; Dorn & Soffos, 2001; Fountas & Pinnell, 1996; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998). These Developmental Stages of Learning to Read give teachers an estimate, based on observations of reading behaviors, of each student's beginning instructional level:
- Awareness and Exploration of Reading Stage (typically pre-K)
- Emergent Reading Stage (typically pre-K to early Kindergarten)
- Early Reading Stage (typically Kindergarten to early Grade 1)
- Transitional Reading Stage (typically late Grade 1 to Grade 2)
- Fluent Reading Stage (typically Grade 3 and higher)
Why Should K-3 Teachers be Aware of the Developmental Stages of Learning to Read?
An understanding of the Developmental Stages of Learning to Read and how these stages fall along a continuum of learning is helpful, especially at the beginning of the school year. It is well known; however, that developmental growth, whether physical, emotional, or cognitive, is uneven and is greatly influenced by a child's environment and experiences (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Teachers of K-3 students need to be careful not to associate a child's intellectual ability with his or her developmental stage.
Children who come from literature-rich home environments where parents read and play word games with them on a daily basis will most likely be at a higher developmental stage of reading than a child who lives in a home environment that lacks books and reading experiences. Additionally, cognitive development is uneven, marked by alternating spurts of growth and regression. A child may appear to know something one day but the next day will be unable to answer the same question or demonstrate the same skill. The Developmental Stages of Learning to Read give the teacher a starting point, an idea of where to begin instruction. Using the analogy of painting a picture, the Developmental Stages are the broad strokes of the brush as the artist begins to paint the background. Later, the artist will use a fine brush to paint the details, just as a teacher will use ongoing assessment to target specific learning needs for each student.
How Do the Developmental Stages of Learning to Read Assist Teachers as They Plan Reading Instruction?
The Developmental Stages of Learning to Read enable teachers to estimate each child's instructional needs. Remember that this is a first look. Screening, diagnostic, and ongoing progress monitoring assessment will provide a more in-depth understanding of the student's learning needs. Once the assessment data has been gathered, instruction can be designed according to the child's zone of proximal development in the literacy strands (Vygotsky, 1978). The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983) will then be used for the delivery of instruction, moving from high teacher support to low teacher support as the child develops mastery in the multiple areas of literacy.
- Chall, J. S. (1983). Stages of reading development. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Dorn, L. J., & Soffos, C. (2001). Shaping literate minds: Developing self-regulated learners. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
- Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
- Pearson, P. D., & Gallagher, M. C. (1983). The instruction of reading comprehension. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 317-344.
- Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (Eds.). (2000). From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood development. Washington, DC: The National Academy Press.
- Snow, C. E., Burns, M. S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.). (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: The National Academy Press.
- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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Receive the PTSD Monthly Update, the PTSD Research Quarterly, or Clinician's Trauma Update-Online.
PTSD is just one of the effects of trauma. People experience a range of reactions following a traumatic event. Below learn more about other common problems and reactions related to experiencing trauma. For Veterans, also see the VA Mental Health website.
Acute Stress Disorder Discusses ASD, including who is at risk, how is it treated, and how is it related to PTSD.
Anger and Trauma Describes the relationship between trauma and anger and provides treatment strategies for the three manifestations of anger.
Common Reactions After Trauma Following exposure to a trauma most people experience stress reactions. Here is a description of the types of common symptoms that can occur. Common problems are also addressed.
Reacciones Comunes Después de un Trauma Luego de estar expuestas a un trauma, la mayoría de las personas experimentan reacciones de estrés. Aquí tiene una descripción de lo síntomas comunes que pueden aparecer. También trataremos algunos problemas comunes. (Spanish: Common Reactions after Trauma)
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Upland South Immigrant Regions
These bottoms, especially the American, are the best regions in the United States for raising stock, particularly horses, cattle, and swine. Seventy-five bushels of corn to the acre is an ordinary crop.
-- Peck 1836
Settlers from the Upland South predominated across southern Illinois during the territorial and early statehood periods. Migrating primarily from valley and hill environs, they arrived prior to 1800 in search of cheap land, fertile soil, similar environmental habitats, and escape from slave territory. Emigrant guides painted landscape images of hope, fertility, and success for many destinations in Illinois Country ( Beck 1823; Mitchell 1837; Peck 1831, 1836, 1837). The colonizing frontier society was far from homogeneous. Patterson differentiates two frontier types: pioneer-hunter and yeoman farmer ( 1881). The latter's Upland South farming practices and material culture traditions impressed southern Illinois. The former, the mobile woodland frontiersmen, persisted on the margins of civilization. Being from the lower classes of southern society, these colorful, social-cultural misfits were "notorious for fighting, drinking, swearing, and dissolute conduct" (116). Patterson argues that the worst of these shiftless, pioneer- hunter families in the early days always moved farther West. By the 1830s and 1840s, the frontier as an escape outlet for this segment of pioneer society had thrust into the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas and the central hills of s ( Jordan 1967, 1970).
Upland South immigrant regions reveal similarities in their clustering and dispersion patterns in Illinois by 1850. Structural patterns delineate the northern extent of southernness. Upland Southerners spread westward and northwestward within a dynamic American diffusion network into the Lower Midwest (fig. 3.8). I propose the emergence of a cultural core within the Upland South culture
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Book title: Making the Heartland Quilt:A Geographical History of Settlement and Migration in Early-Nineteenth-Century Illinois. Contributors: Douglas K. Meyer - Author. Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press. Place of publication: Carbondale, IL. Publication year: 2000. Page number: 136.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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New Directions for
The nation's attention has recently been directed to the finding that many students have a great deal of difficulty in solving the simplest mathematics problems that require thinking beyond the retrieval of practiced algorithms ( Dossey et al., 1988; McKnight et al., 1987). The narrow focus on "back to basics" and the nearly unanimous decision by states and school districts in the late 1970's to settle for minimal competency in mathematics resulted in exactly the results that might have been expected. Students have learned how to do numerical computation at the expense of learning how to think and solve problems.
A byproduct of an era of competency- based education and accountability has been a focus on, if not an obsession with, testing. Falling SAT scores, poor showings in comparison with Japan and other developed countries, and failures on competency tests have resulted in even more tests at state and district levels. Tests are becoming the primary and widely accepted means for determining entry to, progress through, and exit from educational program of all types and levels. Satisfactory performance on tests is becoming the sole indicator of the "value added" by education.
A great deal of time, money, and effort is expended by commercial testing companies to produce standardized tests that satisfy all of the requirements for reliability, norms, and validity. But how valid are these tests in measuring what really does (or ought to) go on in the nation's mathematics classrooms? Earlier this decade, debate about tests was often centered on the alignment of tests with the curriculum. Studies showed that there was a poor match between specific topics emphasized in mathematics textbooks, standardized tests, and the curriculum ( Freeman et al., 1980). Results from state, national, and international tests provide another perspective on the mismatch between what students are taught and what they are tested on. A review of scores showed that students performed better on state assessments than on national and international tests in which the contents of the items may be unfamiliar ( Kulm, 1986b). The Second International Mathematics Study (IMS) found, for example, that some students had the opportunity to learn only as few as 40 percent of the items in some content categories ( McKnight et al., 1987).
But leaving the alignment problem aside, how well do standardized achievement tests define the nature of the mathematics that students should learn in our schools? The NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics has identified assessment standards, some of which seem difficult to attain with current approaches to standardized
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Book title: Assessing Higher Order Thinking in Mathematics. Contributors: Gerald Kulm - Editor. Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science. Place of publication: Washington, DC. Publication year: 1990. Page number: 71.
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Developing Essential Literacy Skills
Kindergarten: Introducing Essential Skills
Building important literacy skills must begin in Kindergarten and continue to be reintroduced and reinforced throughout the primary grades. This is necessary not only to prepare students to be lifelong literacy learners, but also if students are to meet the ever increasing demands of state literacy standards and state-mandated assessments.
Chapter 2 contains units of study that will help Kindergarten teachers introduce essential strategies and skills to students in order to begin a continuum of ongoing essential reading and writing lessons through the primary grades. Each unit of study is accompanied by recommended materials, literary resources, reproducibles, and assessments to aid teachers in successful implementation of the units.
Cohen, R. (2008).
Kindergarten: Introducing Essential Skills.
In Developing Essential Literacy Skills (pp. 15-40). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
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TNRTB Archive - Retained for reference information
X-ray studies of a distant quasar provide more evidence for the immensely fine-tuned space-energy density that causes the expansion rate of the universe to increase. The discovery of the space-energy density (also known as dark energy) in the late 1990s rested on observations of Type Ia supernovae. The dark energy provided the simplest explanation of the dimness of these supernovae (which function as standard candles) as their redshifts increased. One alternative model posited the existence of a specific kind of dust—called “grey dust”—that accounted for the dimness-redshift relation. However, x-ray studies of a distant quasar constrain the amount of this dust to be less than one-tenth the amount required to explain the supernova data without dark energy. Given that dark energy ranks as the single most fine-tuned characteristic of the universe, these results further support RTB’s cosmic creation model, which asserts that a supernatural Creator designed the universe specifically to support life.
o Andreea Petric et al., “A Direct Upper Limit on the Density of Cosmological Dust from the Absence of an X-ray Scattering Halo Around the z = 4.3 Quasar QSO 1508+5714,” Astrophysical Journal 651 (2006): 41-45.
· Related Resource
o Hugh Ross, “Predictive Power: Confirming Cosmic Creation”
· Product Spotlight
o Creation as Science, by Hugh Ross
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Astronomers Use ALMA To Dissect Nearby Planetary System
[ Watch the Video ]
Astronomers have made a breakthrough discovery in understanding a nearby planetary system, giving clues about how these systems form and evolve.
Scientists used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to find that planets orbiting the star Fomalhaut must be smaller than originally thought.
The high-resolution images show that both the inner and outer edges of the thin, dusty disk have very sharp edges. This, as well as computer simulations, have led the astronomers to believe that the dust particles in the disk are kept within the disk by the gravitational effect of two planets.
The team also found that the probable size of the planets is that they are larger than Mars but no larger than a few times the size of the Earth.
“Combining ALMA observations of the ring’s shape with computer models, we can place very tight limits on the mass and orbit of any planet near the ring,” Aaron Boley, a Sagan Fellow at the University of Florida, leader of the study, said in a press release “The masses of these planets must be small; otherwise the planets would destroy the ring.”
The sizes of the planets help explain why earlier infrared observations failed to detect the planets, despite an image by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealing the inner planet.
The ALMA observations traced larger dust grains that are not moved by the star’s radiation. This helped the astronomers clearly see the disk’s sharp edges, indicating the gravitational effect of the two planets.
The ring is about 16 times the distance from the Sun to the Earth, and is only one-seventh as thick as it is wide.
“The ring is even more narrow and thinner than previously thought,” Matthew Payne, also of the University of Florida, said in a press release.
Only a quarter of ALMA’s planned 66 antennas were available during the astronomer’s observations. Once construction is completed next year, the full system will be better equipped for research.
“ALMA may be still under construction, but it is already the most powerful telescope of its kind,” ESO astronomer and team member Bill Dent said in a press release. “This is just the beginning of an exciting new era in the study of discs and planet formation around other stars.”
The astronomers will be publishing their research in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Image 1: This view shows a new picture of the dust ring around the bright star Fomalhaut from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The underlying blue picture shows an earlier picture obtained by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. The new ALMA image has given astronomers a major breakthrough in understanding a nearby planetary system and provided valuable clues about how such systems form and evolve. Note that ALMA has so far only observed a part of the ring. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO). Visible light image: the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. Acknowledgement: A.C. Boley (University of Florida, Sagan Fellow), M.J. Payne, E.B. Ford, M. Shabran (University of Florida), S. Corder (North American ALMA Science Center, National Radio Astronomy Observatory), and W. Dent (ALMA, Chile), P. Kalas, J. Graham, E. Chiang, E. Kite (University of California, Berkeley), M. Clampin (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), M. Fitzgerald (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), and K. Stapelfeldt and J. Krist (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
Image 2: This chart shows the location of the bright star Fomalhaut in the constellation of Piscis Austrinus (The Southern Fish). This map shows most of the stars visible to the unaided eye under good conditions. Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the constellation and one of the brightest stars known to have an orbiting planet. It lies about 25 light-years from the Earth and is surrounded by a huge disc of dust. Credit: ESO, IAU and Sky & Telescope
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