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Over the years, archaeologist Randall White of New York University and his colleagues have discovered various artistic items of southern France’s Abri Castanet, a shallow cave in the Vexere valley, including ornamental snail shells and engraved limestones. But the researchers were unable to date the art due to a lack of organic matter. So when, in 2007, the team discovered a large block of limestone with paintings of what look like a female’s vulva that had fallen from the cave ceiling in an area with numerous animal bones, suggesting they dated to around the same time period, they sent the samples to the University of Oxford for radiocarbon dating. The results came back dating the bones to somewhere between 36,000 and 37,000 years ago, making them as old, or older, than the paintings of lions and other animals in southern France's Chauvet Cave, which have been noted as the oldest known cave art since their discovery in 1994. The researchers, who published their findings yesterday (May 14) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest that this date likely also applies to the other vulva-like art previously found in the cave. “The fact that the most recognizable image on the newly discovered surface falls broadly within the range of ovoid forms traditionally interpreted as vulva leads us to suppose that the above dates apply to other such images from Castanet, many of which were located within a few meters of the engraving described here,” they wrote. The images also differ greatly from the drawings at Chauvet, such as the fact that they are displayed in the areas of the cave used for sleeping and eating, as opposed to deeper areas beyond the prehistoric humans’ living space, suggesting regional differences in artistic traditions. “The vulvar tradition in the Vézère Valley seems to constitute a distinct regional variant within a mosaic of graphic and plastic expression across Europe in the Early Aurignacian,” the authors wrote.	3.578682
Features of Constitution1 \|Is there a constitution?\|\|Yes\| \|Does the constitution provide for freedom of religion?\|\|Yes\| \|Last Amended\|\|not amended\| \|Source\|\|Kosovo Constitution (Constitutional Commission)\| \|Translation\|\|Source is an English translation\| \|Current as of\|\|May 11, 2011\| Constitution Excerpts (clauses that reference religion)2 Article 8: Secular State The Republic of Kosovo is a secular state and is neutral in matters of religious beliefs. Article 9: Cultural and Religious Heritage The Republic of Kosovo ensures the preservation and protection of its cultural and religious heritage. Article 24: Equality Before the Law 1. All are equal before the law. Everyone enjoys the right to equal legal protection without discrimination. 2. No one shall be discriminated against on grounds of race, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, relation to any community, property, economic and social condition, sexual orientation, birth, disability or other personal status. 3. Principles of equal legal protection shall not prevent the imposition of measures necessary to protect and advance the rights of individuals and groups who are in unequal positions. Such measures shall be applied only until the purposes for which they are imposed have been fulfilled. Article 38: Freedom of Belief, Conscience and Religion 1. Freedom of belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed. 2. Freedom of belief, conscience and religion includes the right to accept and manifest religion, the right to express personal beliefs and the right to accept or refuse membership in a religious community or group. 3. No one shall be required to practice or be prevented from practicing religion nor shall anyone be required to make his/her opinions and beliefs public. 4. Freedom of manifesting religion, beliefs and conscience may be limited by law if it is necessary to protect public safety and order or the health or rights of other persons. Article 39: Religious Denominations1. The Republic of Kosovo ensures and protects religious autonomy and religious monuments within its territory. 2. Religious denominations are free to independently regulate their internal organization, religious activities and religious ceremonies. 3. Religious denominations have the right to establish religious schools and charity institutions in accordance with this Constitution and the law. Article 40: Freedom of Expression 1. Freedom of expression is guaranteed. Freedom of expression includes the right to express oneself, to disseminate and receive information, opinions and other messages without impediment. 2. The freedom of expression can be limited by law in cases when it is necessary to prevent encouragement or provocation of violence and hostility on grounds of race, nationality, ethnicity or religion. Article 42: Freedom of Media 1. Freedom and pluralism of media is guaranteed. 2. Censorship is forbidden. No one shall prevent the dissemination of information or ideas through media, except if it is necessary to prevent encouragement or provocation of violence and hostility on grounds of race, nationality, ethnicity or religion. 3. Everyone has the right to correct untrue, incomplete and inaccurate published information, if it violates her/his rights and interests in accordance with the law. Article 44: Freedom of Association 1. The freedom of association is guaranteed. The freedom of association includes the right of everyone to establish an organization without obtaining any permission, to be or not to be a member of any organization and to participate in the activities of an organization. 2. The freedom to establish trade unions and to organize with the intent to protect interests is guaranteed. This right may be limited by law for specific categories of employees. 3. Organizations or activities that infringe on the constitutional order, violate human rights and freedoms or encourage racial, national, ethnic or religious hatred may be prohibited by a decision of a competent court. Article 57: General Principles 1. Inhabitants belonging to the same national or ethnic, linguistic, or religious group traditionally present on the territory of the Republic of Kosovo (Communities) shall have specific rights as set forth in this Constitution in addition to the human rights and fundamental freedoms provided in chapter II of this Constitution. Article 58: Responsibilities of the State …3. The Republic of Kosovo shall take all necessary measures to protect persons who may be subject to threats or acts of discrimination, hostility or violence as a result of their national, ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity. …5. The Republic of Kosovo shall promote the preservation of the cultural and religious heritage of all communities as an integral part of the heritage of Kosovo. The Republic of Kosovo shall have a special duty to ensure an effective protection of the entirety of sites and monuments of cultural and religious significance to the communities. Article 59: Rights of Communities and their Members Members of communities shall have the right, individually or in community, to: (1) express, maintain and develop their culture and preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and culture; …(12) enjoy unhindered contacts among themselves within the Republic of Kosovo and establish and maintain free and peaceful contacts with persons in any State, in particular those with whom they share an ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity, or a common cultural heritage, in accordance with the law and international standards; Article 81: Legislation of Vital Interest 1. The following laws shall require for their adoption, amendment or repeal both the majority of the Assembly deputies present and voting and the majority of the Assembly deputies present and voting holding seats reserved or guaranteed for representatives of Communities that are not in the majority: …(6) Laws on religious freedom or on agreements with religious communities; 1. Data under the "Features of Constitution" heading are drawn from coding of the U.S. State Department's 2008 International Religious Freedom Reports conducted by researchers at the Association of Religion Data Archives. The article by Brian Grim and Roger Finke describes the coding of the International Religious Freedom reports. A dataset with these and the other international measures highlighted on the country pages can be downloaded from this website. Used with permission. 2. The constitutional excerpts shown above are reproduced from the websites given in the "Source" field; the links to these websites were active as of May 2011. Where the constitutional text shown on these websites was provided in a language other than English, this text was translated to English by ARDA staff with assistance from web-based translation utilities such as Google Translate and Yahoo! Babel Fish. Constitutional text was converted to American English where applicable. Constitutional clauses were judged to contain religious content based largely on the standards used in the construction of the Religion and State Constitutions Dataset collected by Jonathan Fox. Emphases were added to the text by ARDA staff to highlight religious content in articles that also contain content that does not pertain to matters of religion. The data on this page were correct to the best of the knowledge of the ARDA as of the date listed in the "Current as of" field shown above. Please contact us at [email protected] if you are aware of any incorrect information provided on this page.	3.240043
Mao Tse-Tung 1893-1976 MAO TSE-TUNG has departed from the world. For one quarter of a century he helped organize and later led a successful revolutionary struggle, and in the next quarter century he eliminated starvation and brough socialism to the globe's largest nation state. He violently opposed forces that advocated a pragmatic rather than revolutionary approach to modernization, yet today, industrial production is 20 times what it was at the end of the revolution in October 1949, when Mao announced in Peking, "Our nation will never again be an insulted nation. We have stood up." "A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture," Mao said in his early days of organizing. For 20 years, his army marched across the length and breadth of China, educating and organizing the peasants who were the movement's core. In one year his army marched and fought across 7000 miles of rugged, Kuomintang dominated terrain, losing 90,000 of its 100,000 troops. The Kuomintang also killed Mao's sister and first wife. Only after the Second World War were the communists able to devastate the U.S.-backed forces of General Chiang Kai-Shek, until eventually and finally China's major cities "fell like ripened fruit." Mao's achievements in the face of enormous opposition are miraculous, but they were never enough to satisfy the communist party chairman or occasion complacency. Even at age 72 he inaugurated a second revolution in China, aimed at "revisionists," whom Mao felt were not true to the goals of socialist revolution. As the personal symbol of China's potential for renewed vigor, Mao swam against the currents of the Yangtze River. When China's agricultural production dropped, he went without meat. Mao did not expect any Chinese citizen to make a sacrifice that he himself could not endure--he was a leader in the purest sense of the word. And Mao proved that leadership is not of necessity the domination by a small elite over the many. Day to day decisions in China are now made primarily by councils of workers and peasants. University students and government cadres are sent to the country to perform manual labor and learn from the rural workers. While fighting the Kuomintang in the late 1930s Mao said that the communist party's leaders must be the pupils of the masses as often as their teachers. Power did not corrupt the chairman's visions. Continuous revolution, self-sacrifice, and the "boundless creative power of the masses" are the forces that propelled Mao to personal greatness and regained for China a lost pride, a sense of purpose. They are reminders to those of us who would unabashedly indulge ourselves because the world is better than it was, or leave the tasks of social change to other citizens. "Dare to struggle: dare to win." Those who embody the principles of continued sacrifice and struggle, be they workers, peasants or any oppressed people have fought in Mao's spirit and will ultimately be victorious.	3.445399
The Lancet, Volume 359, Issue 9310 , Page 908, 16 March 2002 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)08016-9Cite or Link Using DOI Hot, cold, and now bubble fusion For almost 50 years now, physicists have been trying to mimic energy-producing mechanisms that the sun uses. It is very difficult to persuade two people who naturally repel each other to come together-and so it is with nuclear fusion. The hydrogen bomb, a fusion device, needs an atom bomb to get it started. Huge and very expensive experiments with “hot” fusion are still in progress, but a commercially viable machine seems as far away as ever. Then, in 1989, came “cold” fusion. Perhaps deuterium a ... This article is made available free of charge, as a service to our users. Please login to access the full article, or register if you do not yet have a username and password. Already Registered? Please Login New to TheLancet.com? TheLancet.com is the online home of: - The Lancet - The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology - The Lancet Infectious Diseases - The Lancet Neurology - The Lancet Oncology - The Lancet Respiratory Medicine Please register to access selected articles for free, personalize and interact with this site. Registration is free, takes no more than two minutes, and offers you many benefits.	3.212767
Posted by Rafiq A. Tschannen Margari Hill, Stanford University While the presence of Islam in West Africa dates back to eighth century, the spread of the faith in regions that are now the modern states of Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Nigeria, was in actuality, a gradual and complex process. Much of what we know about the early history of West Africa comes from medieval accounts written by Arab and North African geographers and historians. Specialists have used several models to explain why Africans converted to Islam. Some emphasize economic motivations, others highlight the draw of Islam’s spiritual message, and a number stress the prestige and influence of Arabic literacy in facilitating state building. While the motivations of early conversions remain unclear, it is apparent that the early presence of Islam in West Africa was linked to trade and commerce with North Africa. Trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean predated Islam, however, North African Muslims intensified the Trans-Saharan trade. North African traders were major actors in introducing Islam into West Africa. Several major trade routes connected Africa below the Sahara with the Mediterranean Middle East, such as Sijilmasa to Awdaghust and Ghadames to Gao. The Sahel, the ecological transition zone between the Sahara desert and forest zone, which spans the African continent, was an intense point of contact between North Africa and communities south of the Sahara. In West Africa, the three great medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and the Songhay developed in Sahel. The history of Islam in West Africa can be explained in three stages, containment, mixing, and reform. In the first stage, African kings contained Muslim influence by segregating Muslim communities, in the second stage African rulers blended Islam with local traditions as the population selectively appropriated Islamic practices, and finally in the third stage, African Muslims pressed for reforms in an effort to rid their societies of mixed practices and implement Shariah. This three-phase framework helps sheds light on the historical development of the medieval empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay and the 19th century jihads that led to the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate in Hausaland and the Umarian state in Senegambia. Containment: Ghana and the Takrur The early presence of Islam was limited to segregated Muslim communities linked to the trans-Saharan trade. In the 11th century Andalusian geographer, Al-Bakri, reported accounts of Arab and North African Berber settlements in the region. Several factors led to the growth of the Muslim merchant-scholar class in non-Muslim kingdoms. Islam facilitated long distance trade by offering useful sets of tools for merchants including contract law, credit, and information networks. Muslim merchant-scholars also played an important role in non-Muslim kingdoms as advisors and scribes in Ghana. They had the crucial skill of written script, which helped in the administration of kingdoms. Many Muslim were also religious specialists whose amulets were prized by non-Muslims. Merchant-scholars also played a large role in the spread of Islam into the forest zones. These included the Jakhanke merchant-scholars in [name region], the Jula merchants in Mali and the Ivory Coast, and the Hausa merchants during the nineteenth century in Nigeria, Ghana, and Guinea Basau,]. Muslim communities in the forest zones were minority communities often linked to trading diasporas. Many of the traditions in the forest zones still reflect the tradition of Al-Hajj Salim Suwari, a late fifteenth-century Soninke scholar, who focused on responsibilities of Muslims in a non-Muslim society. His tradition, known as the Suwarian tradition, discouraged proselytizing, believing that God would bring people around to Islam in his own ways. This tradition worked for centuries in the forest zone including the present day, where there are vibrant Muslim minority communities. Read more here: http://spice.stanford.edu/docs/the_spread_of_islam_in_west_africa_containment_mixing_and_reform_from_the_eighth_to_the_twentieth_century/	3.414095
The antimatter costs 62.5 trillion per gram. In the future it is theoretically possible to use antimatter as fuel for spaceships to other planets. The problem is that its production requires extremely expensive technology, and to create just 1 gram, the world would have to work a whole year (global GDP is 65 trillion dollars). In physics the ' anti-matter is a conglomeration of antiparticles corresponding to the particles that constitute the ordinary matter... Californium costs $ 27 million per gram. Why is it needed? An element of californium is so expensive to produce, the isotopes of californium do not have any practical application. In the West it was created only once since its opening in 1950. The californium is a ' chemical element with the symbol Cf and the atomic number 98. It is a transuranic element, synthetic , radioactive : californium has very few practical uses and was discovered by bombarding c... The price of diamonds is of 55 000 dollars per gram. The colorless stone can cost more than 11 thousand dollars per carat, but colored diamonds are worth more. Why do we need diamonds? The natural diamonds are most often used in the jewelry industry. Also, the extreme hardness of diamonds finds its application in ind... materials substances the most expensive substances in the world gold which are the most expensive substances in the world saffron platinum rhodium methamphetamine rhino horn heroin cocaine lsd plutonium taffeit precious metals the most expensive metals gems stone gems precious stones diamonds taaffeite jewels jewelry	3.035589
The magnitude system works quite well for quantifying the brightness of stars. We know that a 6th magnitude star will be barely visible to the unaided eye from rural areas, yet easily seen in even the smallest of telescopes. The magnitude system doesn’t work as well for deep-sky objects. Consider the spiral galaxy M33 in Triangulum. Listed as a 6th magnitude object, it’s notoriously difficult to view in telescopes. M33 is elusive because its light is spread over an area four times that of the full moon. Defocus a 6th magnitude star until it’s that large and you’ll get the idea. Another reason why M33 is such a demanding target is its location in a star-poor region of the late autumn sky. I usually find it by training my telescope on an area roughly 4 ½ degrees west and slightly north of alpha (a) Trianguli. You can also trace an imaginary line from the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) to the star beta (b) Andromedae, then extend an equal distance beyond (refer to the accompanying finder chart). In either case, begin a low power sweep of the area until you encounter a large, faint glow. The key to observing M33 is to use an eyepiece that affords a field of view of at least 1½ to 2 degrees. One of the best views I’ve had of M33 was with a 4-inch f/4 RFT (the Edmund Astroscan) and a magnifying power of 16X. I’ve spotted it with 7X50 binoculars, and some observers even report seeing it with the unaided eye. The key, of course, is to conduct a search for M33 from a dark-sky site on a clear, moonless evening. Numerous sources credit the discovery of M33 to Messier himself (in 1764); however evidence exists that the true discoverer may have been the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Hodiema over a century earlier. M33 is part of the Local Group of galaxies that includes our Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. It’s approximately half the size of the Milky Way and lies about 2.9 million light-years away.	3.725048
The camera never lies, so we’ve been altering photographs to suit our needs since the invention of photography itself. Is it a painting or a photograph? It is a harbor. Ships sit on the beach at low tide. The clouds are puffy and white in the sky. A city can be seen in the background. Lovely cliffs rise up behind. Édouard Baldus, a Frenchman, created the image in 1855. It is a photograph, but the clouds have painted on to the print. The image comes to us from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the way of an exhibit titled "Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop," on view through January 27th, 2013. The exhibit contains photographs that have been doctored and manipulated from the 1840s all the way up through the 1990s. The inspiration for the show is explained to us thusly: Over the past two decades, digital technology has made us all more keenly aware of the malleability of the photographic image, and many lament a loss of faith in the testimony of the camera. What we have gained, however, is a fresh perspective on the history of the medium and its complex relationship to visual truth. Through today's eyes, we can see that the old adage "the camera never lies" has always been photography's supreme fiction. People like to believe this about photography. They like to believe that photographs are a direct testimonial of visual truth, that the camera never lies. When it can be shown, however, that photographs are always lying, that they are always a manipulation of visual truth, it is supposed to be a great revelation. The revelation of fakery in photography thus gives us a "fresh perspective" and reveals to us that there is no reason to "lament a loss of faith in the testimony of the camera" since there was no reason to have any faith in the testimony of the camera in the first place. - "Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop." Through January 27, 2013. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Let us be clear about another thing: There were no snapshots in early photography. The technology didn’t allow for it. There was no immediacy, no illusion about capturing a quick reflection of the world as it really looks. Early photography was a laborious process. Getting an exposure took a very long time. Taking a picture was a tremendously staged process, especially if the photograph was of a person. Early portraits are a testimonial to patience. The sitter had to sit still, presenting him or herself to the camera while the image developed. It was not unlike sitting down to have your portrait painted. Photography was simply a way to take a portrait, or capture a landscape, with fewer intermediary steps than were needed in a painting. In this sense, you could say that all photography was born in the attempt to cut out the middleman. The middleman was the painter. A little history is in order here. During the Renaissance, as painters were developing techniques to render three-dimensional scenes into the two-dimensional space of paint and canvas, they rediscovered the camera obscura (known about since ancient times). A camera obscura is little more than a box with a hole in it. Positioned properly, the light from outside comes through the hole and projects an image of whatever is in front of the box. The image shining through the hole can be projected onto a piece of paper or some other surface. Painters would sometimes use a camera obscura to figure out how to paint tricky scenes where the lines of perspective were particularly complicated. They would, literally, trace out the image projected from the camera obscura and then paint in the rest of the details. The camera obscura was a tool for mastering two-dimensional space. Leonardo de Vinci wrote down explanations for how to build and use a camera obscura in the late 15th century. He seems to have understood the usefulness of the camera obscura for projecting an image that could be used as the basis for painting. It is clear that many of the Renaissance masters who came after Da Vinci were aware of the usefulness of the camera obscura as well. In 2001 the contemporary artist David Hockney published a book (Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters) in which he claims that almost all of the great masters of painting after the 15th century used tricks like the camera obscura in order to paint. According to Hockney, painters from Vermeer to Ingres were essentially great at tracing. He admits that the special artistry of these paintings made the final result greater than the sum of its parts. But he thinks that much of their amazing skill at rendering three-dimensional space into two-dimensions was done by projecting images and then tracing them. Hockney's thesis has created no small amount of controversy. Whether or not Hockney is correct in the extent of his claims doesn’t matter very much. Painters, certainly from the early Renaissance onward, were obsessed with problems of perspective and they were using any means at their disposal — camera obscuras, mirrors, drawing machines, and the like — in order to solve these problems. Technological innovations in the early 19th century allowed for the next step. The daguerreotype, for instance, was a technique by which the image projected by a camera obscura could be captured and preserved — thus, the elimination of the middleman. In the past, the image from a camera obscura still had to be painted. A human being had to take that image and make it permanent, capturing it on canvas and filling it out by means of pigment. With the daguerreotype, the image could be taken and presented as such. Voila, photography was born. The work that went into "doctoring" early photographs was the same work that had been going on in order to transform the images of the camera obscura into paintings. You could almost say that all paintings, from the mid 15th century until the mid 19th century, were essentially painted photographs. By the late Renaissance, painters had transformed themselves into machines for the accurate rendering of perspective and field of vision onto the flat surface of the canvas. The innovation of early photography was to shift the job that the painter was doing out of the hands of a human being and into the hands of a chemical process. The “paintings” were now making themselves, by exposing copper plates covered with silver to the light of day. While this process created miraculous images, the images could also be disappointing. The painters of the early 19th century were, after all, tremendously skilled. The images that they could create — of people, landscapes, and historical scenes — were immensely satisfying as visual documentation. They looked real. In many ways, they looked realer than reality. The paintings of the great masters have that intangible dual quality of realism and luminous idealism. It is realism taken to a second order. And these were the visual expectations that early photography had to match. The comment that "the camera never lies" (probably first uttered in the mid to late 19th century) is thus not to be understood as a positive statement about the inherent truth of photography — it is a complaint. A woman looking at a photographic portrait of herself would say, "This doesn't look very good. Is that even me?" The photographer would reply, "Well, the camera never lies." The comment was a photographer's excuse, an explanation as to why the camera produces an unsatisfying document. Essentially, people were complaining that photographs tended to look worse than paintings. Those early portraits could be so lifeless. It is difficult, after all, to sit down for a photograph and to hold one expression for minutes or even hours without that expression becoming wooden. The painter could fix this by bringing life back into the face with his painterly skill. The chemicals of the photographic process had no such flexibility. And so, in early photography, painters were often called in to fix the results, in order to give photographs the look of the painted scenes. There's a photo in the Metropolitan Museum exhibit of a young girl with her hand on her shoulder. It is a daguerreotype from about 1850. The daguerreotype has more or less been turned back into a painting. It has been colored in and many of the lines, especially of the woman's dress, have been softened up with painterly techniques. There is fakery here, if you want to call it that. But the fakery is not about making the photograph into something truer to life — it is about making the photograph truer to painting. And that is the fascinating thing that can be seen in all the wonderful early photographs at the Metropolitan Museum exhibit. We see this happening with the landscapes as well as the portraits. The exhibit includes a photograph of Cape Horn, Columbia River, Oregon done by Carleton E. Watkins in 1867. The scene shows a cliff by the side of the lake with a cloudy sky shot through with light above and to the right of the photograph. In fact, as a print of the original picture shows, the photograph displayed by Watkins is a blend of two exposures. Watkins was not able to get an exposure of both the clouds and of the cliff in the same shot. So, he took two different shots and put them together. The interesting thing is that the two unblended photographs are perfectly satisfying on their own. There are plenty of times in real life when we observe a scene in nature and cannot see the sky due to the brightness of the sun. Our eyes can have the same problem of overexposure that affects a camera obscura or a photograph. Watkins' original photo of the landscape with its overexposed sky is only dissatisfying if you compare it to a landscape painting from the same era, with its perfect rendering of both land and sky. Watkins wasn't worrying about truth or lies in photography when he took that picture of the Columbia River; he was worrying about Thomas Cole's 1836 painting View From Mount Holyoke, or something like it. Watkins was trying to make his photograph live up to the compositional standards of the great landscape painters of his time. The great struggle for photography in those early days was thus to figure out whether photography was simply an extension of painting, a cutting out of the middleman, or whether it was something genuinely new, with its own set of rules and suppositions and formal challenges. The photographs collected in the exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of art are a beautiful and moving testimony to that struggle. Reality, as is so often the case, has nothing to do with it. • 14 November 2012 Morgan Meis is a founding member of Flux Factory, an arts collective in New York. He has written for The Believer, Harper’s, and The Virginia Quarterly Review. Morgan is also an editor at 3 Quarks Daily, and a winner of a Creative Capital \| Warhol Foundation Arts Writers grant. A book of Morgan's selected essays can be found here. He can be reached at [email protected]. Photographs courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.	3.264052
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) took over responsibility for mapping the country in 1879 and has been the primary civilian mapping agency of the United States ever since. Now you can view this complete seamless series of maps on Thoos. The best known USGS maps are those of the 7.5-minute, 1:24,000-scale quadrangle series. A scale of 1:25,000 is used for maps based on metric units (1 centimeter = 0.25 kilometer). The area portrayed on each sheet ranges from 64 square miles at latitude 30 degrees north to 49 square miles at latitude 49 degrees north. (Zoom in all the way to view 7.5 minute maps) A scale of 1:24,000 allows considerable detail to be shown in the quadrangle areas. It takes about 57,000 maps to cover the conterminous 48 States, Hawaii, and territories.	3.156315
Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp Awareness About Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp The development of polyps is a common problem in the digestive tract of the body wherein most cases affect the colon and this condition is called as colon polyps. Tubulovillous Adenomal Polyp is one of the common forms and considered dangerous as well, since it can lead to cancer, therefore awareness about this condition is vital for its total treatment. The Importance of Awareness about Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp The digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract of the body is composed of several vital organs such as the stomach and the intestines (small intestines and large intestines). The upper section includes the stomach while the intestines belong to the lower section. The colon is part of the large intestine and the last organ in the GI system which is responsible in the absorbance of water and nutrients (specifically potassium) in the body. Just like the stomach, the colon also has lining which is known as “mucous membrane”, and for some reasons masses of tissues described as “polyps” may grow in this area then it develops to Colon Polyp. The growth of polyps in the colon is normally benign (or non-cancerous) when it’s beyond the normal size of not more than one centimeter. However, this is not always the case since it can grow larger and turned into “adenoma”, an abnormal growth of polyps in the swelling lining of the colon. There are several forms or classification of colon polyps based on their shapes and sizes: - Hyperplastic – Of all the common forms of colon polyps, this type is classified low risk in terms of turning into cancer, even though that the polyps are growing not on its size but also to its number. - Inflammatory – This form is also considered benign because it is rare to become malignant or develop to cancer. In medical terminology, it is known as “pseudopolyps” which means false polyps, and most common to occur on patients with IBD and ulcerative colitis. - Adenomatous – Colon polyps under this category are the most common and have the highest risk of becoming cancerous if not discovered or treated immediately. There are three types of adenamatous colon polyps- tubular, villous, and tubulovillous. TVA or Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp is the most dangerous type that usually develops to colon cancer. The possibility of development of polyps to become Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp depends on the appearance and the size of the adenoma. Pedunculated (with thin stalk) polyp and sessile (flat without stalk) polyp are the two common shapes, wherein the sessile polyp is known to have greater chances to become cancer if not removed in time. Sessilepolyp.com explains well about this condition. Possible Treatment for Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp Based on studies, people aging 60 and above are prone to colon polyps wherein biggest percentage of cases are found to be adenomatous which includes Tubulovillous Adenoma Polyp. Therefore, before it’s too late for you to know that you have TVA, you can undergo colon cancer screening test which is effective in diagnosing colon polyps. Sigmoidoscopy is one of the procedures used in diagnosing colon polyps aside from colonoscopy and fecal occult blood testing. The polyps should be removed on its early stage before it turned out to be colon cancer in the future.	3.118198
These are two of my favorite pictures from my research on children’s books about Einstein and Curie. (You can click on them to see the bigger images). They are I think, the most visual example of my thesis’s argument and I think they are also illustrative of exactly what we need to pay attention to in Children’s biography. Stories about famous figures’ biographies are the most directly applicable aspect of children’s literature. This is the part of the story that with which children can most readily identify. Tragically, this part of the story of these lives is generally the thinest part of the historical record. Because children’s literature is so rarely reviewed by historians, this is not an issue for many children’s authors. They can simply invent the figures childhood. The first picture is a picture of the young Albert Einstein terrorizing his baby sitter. Albert is described as cruel, and angry, he throws tantrums the text tells young readers that “His temper so terrifies a tutor hired to help young Albert prepare for school that she runs away, never to be seen again.” In the picture Albert and his anger are foregrounded as the tutor runs away in terror, apparently never to be seen again. You will be hard pressed to find historical precedent for this story: By all accounts Albert was a much more timid boy, but it is easy to see here how masculinity and power are imbued on this child. The second picture is of Curie crying in the arms of her teacher. Before I get into the details, consider the differences between these two images. Notice the relative size of Curie and her teacher. Einstein is bigger than his tutor, while the small (and surprisingly Aryan) Curie is presented as significantly smaller. In the second picture, the teacher does not come down to her level and instead maintains her size and visual power. This story appears in almost every single children’s book about Curie. The young Manya Skłodowska was the youngest and smartest student in her class. Her school, which was run by Polish teachers, was under constant threat from the Russians who occupied Poland. The school was barred from teaching children in Polish and teaching Polish history. Instead, schools were required to have children memorize Russian history and learn Russian language. The school that Manya attended disobeyed these rules. When Russian school inspectors came to check on the school a look-out in the hallway would warn the class and the class would hide their Polish books. Once the inspector came in, the teacher would call on Manya to answer his questions. In the story, Manya succeeds by answering all of the Russian inspector’s questions in Russian to his liking. After he leaves she cries. In this story it becomes apparent that while Manya is very smart and strong she still has a kind of frailty. Readers are told that Manya’s knowledge gives her a kind of importance. She is called on in class and because of her impressive memory; she saves the class from the inspector. While the stories of Einstein were exaggerate stories that stress his clashes with authority the story of the Russian inspector is usually treated in a way that is much more consistent with the authoritative texts. However, Eva Curie tells several other stories about Manya that only make it into one of the children’s books, and thus the picture of the young Manya is shaped more by exclusion than by exaggeration. The following anecdotes come from Eleanor Doorly’s 1939 book, The Radium Women: Madame Curie. Doorly’s book went through many printings and was highly acclaimed, being recommended in three consecutive editions of the Children’s Catalogue. Doorly states quite clearly in the opening of her book that it is a children’s adaptation of Eva Curie’s biography of her mother. This book stays very close to Eva’s biography and offers insight into a different trajectory that could have been developed in accounts of Curie. These selections come from the second chapter of her book, appropriately entitled “Rebels.” In the Russian-run high school Manya and her friend Kazia “took delight in inventing witticisms against their Russian professors, their German master, and especially against Miss Mayer who detested Manya only a little less than Manya detested her.” Their teacher Miss Mayer stated, “It’s no more use speaking to that Sklodovska girl,” she said, “than throwing green peas at a wall!” On one occasion Eva tells us of a time in which Manya was openly disrespectful, and witty. “I won’t have you look at me like that!’ Miss Mayer would shout. ‘You have no right to look down on me!’” Manya responded “‘I can’t help it,’ said Manya truthfully, for she was a head taller that Miss Mayer. No doubt she was glad that words sometimes have two meanings.” In the second series of stories, the young Manya is openly disrespectful of her teachers. While the story of her crying in front of the Russian inspector is interesting it should be seen as just one of several stories about Manya’s school experience. Importantly, it is the only story that puts her in a position of weakness against the authority of both the teacher and the inspector. Other stories show the potential of portraying a Manya who is similar to the exaggerated Einstein, openly disrespectful of a rather hostile teacher. Brown, Don. Odd Boy Out: Young Albert Einstein . Houghton Mifflin, 2004. Doorly, Eleanor. The Radium Woman, a Life of Marie Curie; and Woodcuts. New York: Roy Publishers, 1939.	3.292286
Landscape, Water and Religion in Ancient India Ritual sites and water resource structures in their archaeological landscape project is geared towards building integrated models of religious, economic and environmental history in central and western India through the documentation of ritual sites and water-resource structures in their archaeological landscape. central question is how did the spread and institutionalisation of Buddhist and Brahmanical religious traditions between c. 3rd century BC and 6th century AD relate to other important processes such as urbanisation, state-formation and innovations in agriculture? There are two major interrelated research themes: Religion in the Landscape; and Water and Civilisation, with three main geographical zones of application: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. - Religion in the Landscape The study of ancient Indian religion has long since been dominated by textual scholarship which has given priority to the Sanskrit tradition, and drawn on archaeology largely for supplementary evidence. Furthermore, until recently the site-based focus of South Asian archaeology has meant that ritual sites have tended to be studied in isolation from wider patterns in the landscape. This project has sought to build a more integrated approach to textual and archaeological scholarship on early Indian religion, focussing in particular on the following questions: What was the changing relationship between the state and religion? How did the different religious traditions attract local patronage networks? How did they relate to local agricultural communities? What was the nature of inter-religious dynamics? - Water and Civilisation The development of advanced irrigation systems has been seen as a major factor in the rise of complex, urban societies in ancient India. However, a number of questions regarding the history and chronology of irrigation technology and its role in the wider economic, political and religious landscape, have remained unanswered. The traditional view, based largely on readings of problematically dated texts such as the Arthasastra, is that the building and management of irrigation works was dependent on centralised state administration. Marxist-inspired models such as Wittogel’s ‘Hydraulic Civilisations of the Orient’ have led to similar notions regarding Asian economic systems as a whole. In recent years, these have undergone major revision following studies of more devolved systems of irrigation management in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia involving village councils and religious institutions. In India, however, traditional models have until recently remained unchallenged due in part to the paucity of archaeological research on irrigation.Steps towards redressing this problem have been taken in relation to a group of dams documented during the Sanchi Survey Project (Madhya Pradesh) with comparative studies in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Datable to the early centuries BC, the Sanchi dams appear to have been central to the development of sustainable exchange networks between Buddhist monks and the local laity, just as contemporaneous irrigation systems in Sri Lanka formed the basis of monastic landlordism and a distinctly ‘Buddhist economics’. - Shaw, J. (2011). 'Monasteries, monasticism, and patronage in ancient India: Mawasa, a recently documented hilltop Buddhist complex in the Sanchi area of Madhya Pradesh', South Asian Studies 27 (2): 111-130. - Sutcliffe, J., J. Shaw, and E. Brown (2011). 'Historical water resources in South Asia: the hydrological background', Hydrological Sciences Journal 56 (5): 775-788. - Shaw, J. (2009). ‘Stūpas, monasteries and relics in the landscape: typological, spatial, and temporal patterns in the Sanchi area', in A. Shimada and J. Hawkes, eds., Buddhist Stūpas in South Asia: Recent Archaeological, Art-Historical, and Historical Perspectives. New Delhi : Oxford University Press. - Madella, M., R. Osborne, and J. Shaw, (Eds.) (2009), The Archaeology of Water. World Archaeology, vol. 41.1. - Shaw, J. (2007). Buddhist Landscapes in Central India: Sanchi hill and archaeologies of religious and social change, c. 3rd century BC to 5th century AD. London: British Association for South Asian Studies, The British Academy. - Shaw, J. (2007), ‘Landscape, Water and Religion in Ancient India’, Archaeology International 2006-2007, 43-52. - Shaw, J., J. V. Sutcliffe, L. Lloyd-Smith, J-L. Schwenninger, and M.S. Chauhan, with contributions by E. Harvey and O.P. Misra (2007), ‘Ancient Irrigation and Buddhist history in Central India: Optically Stimulated Luminescence and pollen sequences from the Sanchi dams’, Asian Perspectives 46(1): 166-201. - Shaw, J. (2005), 'The archaeological setting of Buddhist monasteries in central India: a summary of a multi-phase survey in the Sanchi area, 1998-2000', in C. Jarrige and V. Lefèvre (eds.), South Asian Archaeology 2001: proceedings of the 16th international conference of the European Association of South Asian Archaeologists, Paris: Éditions Recherche sur les Civilisations, ADPF, Vol. 2, 665-676. - Shaw, J. and J.V. Sutcliffe (2005), ‘Ancient Dams and Buddhist Landscapes in the Sanchi area: New evidence on Irrigation, Land use and Monasticism in Central India’, South Asian Studies 21, 1-24. - Shaw, J. (2004), ‘Naga sculptures in Sanchi’s archaeological landscape: Buddhism, Vaisnavism and local agricultural cults in central India, first century BCE to fifth century CE’, Artibus Asiae LXIV(1), 5-59. - Shaw, J. (2004), ‘Early historic landscapes in central India: recent archaeological investigations in districts Raisen and Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, 2003-4’, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology 1, 143-150. - Shaw, J. and J.V. Sutcliffe (2003), ‘Ancient dams, settlement archaeology and Buddhist propagation in central India: the hydrological background’, Hydrological Sciences Journal 48 (2), 277-291. - Shaw, J. and J.V. Sutcliffe (2003), ‘Water management, patronage networks and religious change: new evidence from the Sanchi dam complex and counterparts in Gujarat and Sri Lanka’, South Asian Studies 19, 73-104. - Shaw, J. and J.V. Sutcliffe (2001), ‘Ancient irrigation works in the Sanchi area: an archaeological and hydrological investigation’, South Asian Studies 17, 55-75. - Shaw, J. (2000), ‘The sacred landscape’, in M. Willis, with contributions by J. Cribb and J. Shaw, Buddhist Reliquaries from Ancient India, London: British Museum Press, 27-38. - Shaw, J. (2000), ‘Sanchi and its archaeological landscape: Buddhist monasteries, settlements and irrigation works in central India’, Antiquity 74, 775-776. Shaw, J. (1999), ‘Buddhist landscapes and monastic planning in eastern Malwa: the elements of intervisibility, surveillance and the protection of relics’, in T. Insoll, (ed.), Case Studies in Archaeology and World Religion: the proceedings of the Cambridge conference, Oxford: Archaeopress, 5-17. Publications in preparation - Shaw, J. (Ed.) Archaeology of Religious Change. World Archaeology, vol. 45.1 - Shaw, J., ‘Introduction’. Archaeology of Religious Change. World Archaeology, vol. 45.1 - Shaw, J., ‘Archaeologies of Religious Change in South Asia’. Archaeology of Religious Change. World Archaeology, vol. 45.1 - Shaw, J., ‘Archaeologies of well-being and suffering: environmental ethics and Buddhist economics in ancient India’ (2013) - Shaw, J., ‘Buddhist mortuary rituals in ancient India’. Invited paper for pre-circulation in seminar to be held at the McDonald Institute, Cambridge in April 2011. Papers will be peer reviewed and published in a single volume by 2013. Seminar title: Death Shall Have no Dominion. Organisers: Colin Renfrew, Michael Boyd, and Ian Morley - Shaw, J., and A. Beck, ‘The archaeological application of satellite remote-sensing in Central India' 2012/3). - Shaw, J., J. Sutcliffe, and E. Brown. ‘Irrigation and complex society in ancient India: an archaeo-hydrological assessment’. Water History(journal). (2012) - Shaw, J., J., Sutcliffe, E. Cork, and H. Bakker. ‘Archaeological landscapes at Ramtek and Mansar: religion, politics and water in the Vakataka empire’, South Asian Studies (2012) - British Association for South Asian Studies (2006-8) - Department of Archaeology, Museums and Archives, Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal (PI) - John Sutcliffe, Reading - Religious change - Social & economic change - Landscape archaeology - Water management - Ancient irrigation - Patronage & kingship - Ritual landscapes	3.189046
The Road to Rio+20 and beyond World Bank Group Twenty Years on from the Earth Summit 1. Twenty years ago, the Rio Earth Summit provided the staging ground for a global conversation that continues to this day ? a conversation about the long-term survival of the planet and the quality of life of those who live on it. Prompted then by environmental challenges like deforestation and increasing threats from climate change as well as rising social and economic inequality, the Summit provided the needed political impetus for an agenda for global action. 2. Rio 1992 called for action at global, national and local levels that would deliver on the Brundtland Commission?s recommendations of 1987 for ?development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The Summit resulted in Agenda 21, which called for action and required countries to draw up national strategies for sustainable development ? development which would meet social, economic and environmental objectives. It also led to the adoption of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Principles of Forest Management, and the establishment of a funding mechanism (the Global Environment Facility). It also pushed discussion on the Convention to Combat Desertification, which was signed two years after Rio. 3. Twenty years on from Rio 92, the world is a different place. Growth and social policies have resulted in a decrease in the share of people living in poverty from some 42 percent of the developing world in 1990 to an expected 15 percent by 2015. Substantial progress has been made on literacy, gender inclusion, health, and life expectancy. Yet an increasing population that is more prosperous has expanded global consumption. This has led to two interlinked challenges for sustaining progress: meeting the demands for improved lives for a larger, more prosperous and more urban global population, and addressing environmental pressures and governance challenges that could undermine the world's ability to meet these demands. 4. Climate change limits the solutions available but is focusing minds. Rising greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use and land use change now threaten to increase the warming of the planet by more than 2°C. Climate change adds layers of cost and complexity to the development agenda ? hitting poor people disproportionately. The accompanying changes in sea level, rainfall patterns, glacial retreat and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events threaten to erode development gains of the past 20 years. In Rio 1992, climate change was the future ? today it is the present, and while there is some action, public policy and collective action lag behind science. 5. Global efforts have not been enough to ensure either a world free of poverty or a world that is economically, socially or environmentally sustainable. The world has become increasingly complex, unequal and hazardous. Some 900 million people could still be in poverty by 2015. Growing floods, droughts, fires and hurricanes interact with financial, food, and fuel crises, placing the most severe burden on those least able to adapt, and risking increases in poverty. Unequal patterns of consumption and control over resources among and within countries at all income levels contribute to divergent trajectories of opportunity and human well-being. Political disenfranchisement, lack of good governance, and conflict stymie efforts to find solutions. Renewed Political Commitment 1. In this context, the need for renewed global commitment to meeting sustainable development challenges is stronger than ever. As the world grapples with the continuing impacts of a global economic crisis, countries are increasingly challenged to find inclusive and greener growth paths that provide jobs and sustainably manage their natural resources, ensuring people have access to clean air, land and water. Twenty years since these issues dominated discussions at the first Rio conference and notwithstanding successes in some areas, we still do not have local, national and global systems in place to bring economic, social and environmental considerations into balance. 2. The World Bank Group is looking to Rio+20 to reiterate the political commitments made 20 years ago in today?s context and to set new benchmarks for action. The world needs a clear global roadmap that sets a path toward sustainability -- a way forward that does not put the burden of sustainable development on the poor and socially excluded. The Bank Group regards Rio+20 as an important opportunity to agree on such a roadmap and commits itself to helping countries to meet their continuing development challenges. 3. The World Bank Group therefore supports the UNSG?s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability goal: ?To eradicate poverty and reduce inequality, make growth inclusive and production and consumption more sustainable while combating climate change and respecting the range of other planetary boundaries.? We also emphasize the importance of continuing to strive toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. 4. In addition, the World Bank Group also supports the principles for global sustainability as outlined in the Common Statement by the UN System Chief Executives Board on the Outcome of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. A Framework for Action 10. Rio 1992 was about setting an agenda for action. We hope Rio+20 will be about realizing that agenda by shifting economic incentives and systems and rallying political will. As part of the design of a global roadmap for sustainable development, the World Bank Group suggests Rio+20 strives for agreement on: ? The adoption by countries of development strategies that are consistent with the concepts of green and more inclusive growth while maintaining a strong poverty reduction focus ? A global methodology and process for incorporating natural capital and ecosystems services into countries? national accounts by 2030 ? A discreet set of sustainable development goals by 2030 complementing the MDGs e.g. for energy, sanitation, water, land, and oceans, and reinforcing them for biodiversity. 11. We support the three global energy goals outlined in the Action Agenda of the UN High-Level Group on Energy and the United Nations ?Sustainable Energy for All? year 2012: ? Universal access to modern energy services ? Doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and ? Doubling the share of renewable energy - all by 2030. 12. We are ready to support efforts to develop more sustainable development goals. Toward a Green and Inclusive Growth Path 1. We will maintain our focus on growth given its centrality to poverty reduction, but growth needs to be green and inclusive. The world needs a form of growth that is socially and environmentally sustainable that takes resource limits and climate change into account. GDP growth in developing countries will still be necessary to enhance living standards, reduce poverty, and cope with growing populations. But we know that growth per se is not enough. During the recent global economic downturn, some countries continued to see growth at levels of 7 percent a year or more, yet millions of people fell below the poverty line. 2. Green and inclusive growth is climate-resilient, water-smart, land-saving, energy-efficient and reliant on diverse energy sources. It also generates decent jobs and improves livelihoods across a diverse set of productive and service sectors. It is underpinned by properly valued natural capital, the value of which is fully integrated into countries? systems of national accounts. Green and inclusive growth paths factor environmental considerations into government policies and business decisions, placing sustainable natural resource management ? with its benefits flowing to people ? at the heart of future development and growth. The improved health of people that stems from cleaner air, land and water benefits from and feeds back into this new growth path. Gender equality when recognized as ?smart economics? enhances productivity and further improves development outcomes. Enabling the Transition 15. Green and inclusive growth policies need to be fully integrated into countries? overall development strategies and assessed in terms of their contribution to development and well being. Measuring growth with the right tools, promoting sound public expenditure management and fiscal policies, and getting prices aligned with the true value of environmental services are key parts of the transition. The private sector will need to consider how to report on business growth differently, especially in terms of social and environmental value created. 16. These considerations mean that climate and other environmental concerns are no longer the exclusive concern of environment ministries but of government as a whole, especially ministries of finance, economy and development. In addition, Rio 1992 made it clear that these issues are not the exclusive concerns of government. Now, more than ever, the effort to shift growth paths requires the engagement and participation of all parts of society. 17. Measuring green growth also requires new tools. GDP indicates whether an economy is growing, but gives no information on whether the growth is sustainable. That is why putting in place comprehensive wealth accounts that focus on the value of natural capital and ecosystem services, and integrating them into development planning is an important part of mainstreaming green growth. 18. Sound public expenditure management and institutions are critical to ensuring that public spending for sustainable goals is wisely allocated, managed and transparently tracked. Engaging citizens to set priorities and oversee public spending is also essential for transparency, accountability and effectiveness. In developing countries, the role of public policy will also be to remove distortions, barriers and weaknesses impeding private innovation. These efforts can include improving the quality of and access to communications networks, reducing domestic barriers to firm entry and exit, improving access to finance, opening up trade and investment regimes, while at the same time assuring sound environmental and social performance of production and innovation, and strengthening skills and capacity development. 19. The role of fiscal policy is central in allocating public resources to activities with high social and development returns, consistent with green growth principles. Market-based fiscal instruments ? like taxes, targeted subsidies, renewable energy feedin-tariffs, energy efficiency certificates, and emission trading schemes - are critical to ensuring the right incentives for shifting consumption, production, investment and innovation to efficient, clean, least-cost options. Targeted fiscal policies can help create the conditions for the poor to contribute to green and inclusive growth, while reducing unintended costs in terms of public health, social tensions and violence. 20. The role of the private sector in driving the green, inclusive growth agenda needs to be emphasized. Sound public policies and investments are central but are not enough. The private sector is the engine of innovative solutions and the main channel through which the benefits of growth are shared through incomes for rural and urban populations. Green and inclusive growth requires the private sector to operate in ways that decreases its environmental footprint and assures healthy and fair conditions for its workforce. The private sector is a repository of organizational and management expertise that can increase the effectiveness of service delivery, develop new business models and help finance the research and development necessary to transform growth paths. 21. As companies develop more inclusive business models, they will be able to provide goods, services, and livelihood opportunities to underserved populations, creating high development impact in financially sustainable and scalable ways. Growth in businesses that engage with people living at the base of the economic pyramid has so far been driven by talented and resilient business entrepreneurs as well as by value-conscious consumers. Taking successful models to scale will require improvements in many countries? investment climates as well as innovative, long-term investment decisions by the private sector. 22. Establishing innovative financing mechanisms will be vital as sectoral transitions will require significant investments, both public and private. In Rio 1992, the focus was on how to raise new and additional resources, and transactions were assumed to be from developed to developing countries. Now there is a broader choice of private and public finance available which can be mobilized domestically, internationally, and through instruments like the Climate Investment Funds. Targeted international and national public finance, including climate finance, can serve as a catalyst to leverage private sector investment, enhance development policy and lead to transformational change. Developed countries, meanwhile, need to honor their global commitments ? such as those agreed at Monterrey (on official development assistance) and Cancun (on climate finance). 23. For middle-income countries, domestic financing options such as green taxes and Payments for Environmental Services are becoming viable options for leveraging financing for environmental investments. In the interim, concessional financing will still be necessary to promote sustainable energy and environmental efforts. Less developed countries will rely more on international transfers and private capital flows to meet their needs to finance the transformation. Private investors will need stable investment climates and different incentive structures, promoting accountability through transparency, and deploying inclusive business models in sourcing and distribution. Financial markets have a key role to play in mobilizing financing that is long-term and suitable to finance the transformation. Special attention needs to be paid to how such innovative mechanisms are structured to ensure that the poor and vulnerable are not further marginalized but are empowered to contribute actively to realizing the goals of sustainable development. Social protection policies can complement such mechanisms so as to ensure that the livelihoods of vulnerable groups are resilient in the face of episodic shocks and chronic stresses. 24. More rapid green growth is inconceivable without technological innovation. Frontier innovations shift out production possibilities, allowing the production of more environmentally-friendly outputs with fewer inputs. For developing countries, innovation includes frontier or ?new-to-the world? innovations and adaptation to local conditions, and dissemination of existing technologies. 25. Advancing the green growth agenda requires a systematic consideration of equity, social inclusion, gender, equality and indigenous people?s rights. Environmental degradation is often highly skewed, disproportionately affecting the poor and disadvantaged, where women, children and the elderly are often the worst affected. Carefully designed social protection programs can help alleviate these shocks on the most vulnerable in society. There is growing evidence of the positive links between human development outcomes and more evenly distributed gains from economic growth, higher levels of civic engagement, and the empowerment of women in governance at all levels. The equity agenda goes beyond the use of fiscal and social protection policies as mere compensation for losses incurred by growth elsewhere. Rather, it is a question of harnessing and realizing the economic potential of poor and excluded groups, and ensuring that they have voice and are empowered to contribute to sustainable development. Ensuring the Transformation 26. Combined with an integrated development strategy, the green growth transformation requires targeted action at various levels ? globally and locally. Priority action is needed in the following areas that are listed as key topics for Rio+20 by the UNCSD (Rio+20) Secretariat: 27. Infrastructure and Energy: Infrastructure plays a key role in responding to regional and global issues like rapid urbanization, energy sector and sanitation challenges, and climate change. The next five to 10 years present a major opportunity as huge investments in infrastructure will be made across the developing world. For at least the next 25 years, cities will grow by some 250,000 additional people every day ? 2 billion more urban residents by 2035. Green growth discourages investment decisions that entrench countries, cities, and communities in environmentally damaging, carbon-intensive systems. There are tremendous win-win opportunities for improving energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air and water quality, tackling urban poverty as well as reducing vulnerability to climate change at the city-level. 28. The three sustainable energy goals put forward by the UN on universal access to modern energy, doubling renewable energy use and improving energy efficiency by 2030 are ambitious but achievable. They are vital for improving the lives of the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity and the 2.5 billion people now using polluting, traditional cooking stoves. 29. Private investments in renewable energy, in particular in solar and wind, have grown tremendously over the past five years, and as the cost of production drops, removing implicit subsidies for fossil fuels will help further transform the global energy balance. There is a need for energy transition, and hydropower represents an important clean energy source which will become a larger share of the world?s energy production as lower income countries develop their capacity. Regional power projects and transmission infrastructure will be needed to make best use of available natural resources, including renewable energy resources. 30. Developed and developing countries need to embark on low emission development (LED) paths to sustain growth. An approach that minimizes energy consumption and pollution from transport can be achieved through the adoption of carbon savings technology and sustainable planning of accessible transport services and infrastructure. Strategies for achieving these goals must be gender-sensitive if they are to be effective and benefit those who are most adversely impacted. LED is a critical ingredient to protecting growing urban populations from fine particle inhalation, which often results in increased mortality and morbidity through respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Reaching WHO-set air quality standards is critical to improving basic environmental health conditions. 31. Measurable targets could include reduction in urban poverty, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, improved air and water quality, increased energy efficiency in buildings and appliances, reduced energy losses in generation and distribution, and share of trips taken by low carbon modes of transportation. Strong enforcement to reach nationally and particularly internationally-set air and water quality standards is needed. 32. Water and food and energy nexus: A world free of poverty is not consistent with 800 million people without access to safe drinking water, 1.6 billion without access to electricity, and one billion suffering from hunger. Water resources must be allocated between agriculture, energy, urban consumption, mining, and increasingly threatened ecosystems. Population and economic growth are expected to increase demand for food, energy and water further, making the efficient allocation of water absolutely critical. 33. Currently, 70% of the world?s withdrawn freshwater resources are being used for agriculture. By 2030, it is estimated that 30-45 percent more water will be required to meet increasing food demands. Already, 50 percent of food globally comes from irrigated areas, and of this irrigation water, 50 percent comes from aquifers which are being depleted at a rapid pace in many countries. And with more than 50 percent of the world?s population now in cities, urban centers will increasingly compete with farms for water. 34. Another 15% of the world?s withdrawn water resources are being used for industry, mostly for energy production. Hydroelectricity and many solar energy systems ? two key alternative sources of clean energy ? require water. Stable and ample energy supply is important for water provision and food production. Maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services also requires an overall decrease in groundwater withdrawal, and these ecosystem services are critical for groundwater supply. To turn these linkages from a vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle, water management must become much more efficient. 35. In addition to the lack of safe drinking water, there are 2.4 billion people living without basic sanitation. To meet the challenges of providing water and basic sanitation to the bottom billion, regressive subsidies need to be removed; sustainable solutions that work need to be scaled up; innovative results-based financing instruments that reward efficiencies need to be promoted; incentives to reduce water use need to be supported; institutional frameworks and water utilities need to be strengthened; and capacity building for service providers in long-term planning needs to be promoted. 36. Oceans: Healthy and biologically diverse oceans are essential for humans, providing food, jobs, recreation, and pharmaceutical resources. Oceans are also the planet?s main carbon sink by capturing and storing a large part of greenhouse gas emissions. Today, oceans are absorbing more CO2, which is changing the pH and oceans are becoming more acidic. Climate change is also leading to ocean warming since oceans moderate our climate. Human pollution ? approximately 6 million tons of solid waste plus industrial, agricultural and human waste runoff ? is also affecting the health of the oceans. 37. Warming, acidification, and pollution are also affecting coral reefs and mangroves. In turn, this ?natural infrastructure? provides critical ecosystem services at a time when fish resources are already direly affected by over-exploitation. The world?s oceans and shared seas provide 20 percent of the animal protein and 5 percent of the total protein in the human diet. They also provide food and livelihoods for 8 percent of the world?s population. Bold action to improve governance of marine resources is needed to reverse the loss of habitats, restore fish stocks, and manage coastal environment so that it provides socio-economic benefits for communities and maintains countries? natural resource wealth. Catalytic funding is needed to: move towards rights-based fisheries management, increase marine protected areas, harmonize certification of wild and cultured fish, improve coastal zone management and reduce marine pollution. Currently, only 1 percent of oceans are under some form of protection. For shared seas, in particular, environmental management across all riparian countries is critical. 38. Biodiversity: The planet is in the throes of a sixth great extinction that is liquidating the goods and services on which pro-poor growth and sustainable development depend. IUCN has listed 208 species as ?possibly extinct?, and a further 17,300 species are considered under threat. We must deliver on the Aichi Targets established at the CBD COP10 in Nagoya, Japan. This includes targets for mainstreaming biodiversity considerations across government and society; reducing the direct pressures on biodiversity; safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity; and enhancing the benefits from biodiversity and ecosystem services. To do this, countries need to mainstream biodiversity considerations into planning processes and production sectors, set public policy to ensure that the private sector deploys sourcing, production and distribution practices that leverage biodiversity as an asset, strengthen civil society to become an effective partner in protecting biodiversity, and meet targets for safeguarding at least 17 per cent of terrestrial and inland water, and 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas by 2020. 39. Social development: The early years of the 21st century have brought home just how complex, interconnected, hazardous, uneven and uncertain patterns of global development have become. It is increasingly recognized that socially inclusive and resilient as well as environmentally sustainable patterns of growth require attention to good governance, voice and representation for those who are marginalized from the economic and political mainstream. Twenty years ago in Rio, consideration of women was just an add-on. Now, gender equality is part of smart economics as it enhances productivity and improves development outcomes. We expect that gender will be far more prominent in the debate around Rio+20. 1. Rio 1992 compelled the world to face up to the environmental, social and economic crises of its own making. It put the idea of sustainable development on the table and, to a certain degree, brought about a global shift in thinking ? away from ?progress at all costs? toward ?inclusive growth.? It backed up the talk with an agenda for action that, in many ways, defined international efforts for a generation. 2. Rio+20 presents the world with an opportunity to shift the thinking again ? this time through a transformation to green and inclusive growth that will be supported by a new kind of GDP ? one which acknowledges that growth which depletes natural and social capital is not sustainable. Agreeing on a set of sustainable development goals for 2030 that build on the MDGs will help ensure global efforts are focused. 3. In Rio 1992, government participation was made up largely of environment ministries. At Rio+20 we expect to see much broader participation from ministries of finance, development, and planning. In 1992, women and children were added on to documents under pressure from civil society. Today, gender inclusion is regarded as smart economics. Rio 1992 focused on mobilizing additional financing. Now it is clear that without broader and more innovative financing mechanisms, we will not see results. There is also a realization that transferring knowledge from north to south is not enough. Now knowledge must also flow from south to south and south to north. 4. The World Bank Group itself has come a long way since 1992 ? our thinking and actions have shifted enormously towards a focus on sustainable development. We see Rio+20 as a vital agenda-setting moment in history and we embrace the opportunity to put our skills, experience and thinking behind the next phase of global transformation. Annex: World Bank Group Actions to Support Green Growth 1. The World Bank Group?s comparative advantage is that it can help developing countries try innovative ways to sustainably grow their economies in sustainable ways by leveraging knowledge, fostering innovation, sharing of good practices and lessons learned across the world and building capacity to implement them. We also provide innovative financing instruments and partnerships with public and private sector to fund action along with advice on metrics to measure progress. 2. Our contribution to the Rio +20 agenda is guided by a number of sustainable development sector strategies which include: agricultural and rural development, energy, infrastructure, information and communication technologies, water, oil and gas, transport, urban, social development, manufacturing, mining, and environment. At the program level, our support to meeting the Rio+20 agenda includes: GREEN GROWTH KNOWLEDGE The Green Growth Knowledge Platform will facilitate continued work on identifying and remediating knowledge gaps and implementing green growth policies in developing countries. The knowledge platform is also a mechanism to develop partnerships and join ?conversations? with an emerging community of practice involving scholars, policymakers, practitioners, and other concerned individuals and institutions in developed and developing countries. The platform will provide online tools for collaboration and discussion on green growth issues. The Bank?s main partners in this are UNEP, OECD, and the Global Green Growth Institute. We will present a flagship report on green growth providing detailed recommendations for ?how.? Green issues will play a growing role in the World Bank?s ongoing dialogue with finance and economic ministries on fiscal policy, macroeconomic stability, growth, competitiveness, poverty reduction and equity issues. Careful analysis of the growth and distributional impact of environmental pricing policies is needed. The Bank Group will continue to support countries to assess such effects and to design and implement transfers or other social protection programs to help address them. We will also continue working with developing countries to strengthen budget and public expenditure management systems, while paying careful consideration to public oversight and social accountability mechanisms, including systems to evaluate and allocate environmental spending relative to other fiscal priorities and to better ensure that allocated spending is accountably and efficiently used. WEALTH ACCOUNTING AND VALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (WAVES) Through the WAVES global partnership, launched at the Nagoya CBD COP in 2010, the Bank Group will expand the number of countries undertaking environmental accounting. Already, WAVES is undertaking pilot programs in six developing countries while partnering with developed countries leading the way in the area. WAVES will build knowledge and experience and gradually, broaden the number of countries participating. A key goal of the Bank Group?s work in this area is to demonstrate how countries can use environmental accounts to improve decisions about more sustainably managing natural capital. Our Low Carbon Development studies - undertaken between 2008-10 in seven client countries have been scaled up into Development Policy Operations and Clean Technology Fund Investment Plans, among other options. Numerous Low-Emission Development studies (LEDs) have also been undertaken. The creation of a decentralized knowledge platform for low emission development that can provide upstream advice and support to developing countries is being considered with external partners. This includes paying careful attention to the distributional, poverty and social impacts of policies designed to bring about low-emission development, with systematic use of Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) to help better inform policy choices We will continue to support developing countries with their Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action plans (NAMAs), enhancing access to the carbon market including through the newly established Partnership for Market Readiness, capacity building activities, and the establishment of innovative financing schemes for LED. The elements of reducing an institution?s footprint (also known as CSR) are fundamental ingredients of a green economy. The World Bank Group will continue to support projects and programs in its client countries to improve environmental and social performance in public and private sector operations. Internally, the World Bank will continue to be ?walking the talk? by continuing to measure and reduce the environmental impact of its own corporate operations to set an example to other public and private agencies. ? RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY Our support for the common goals on access, energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE) has come in the form of financing and technical assistance. Our work in these areas has contributed to increased access to electricity through grid-based and off-grid electrification. Bank Group support has also helped develop enabling policy reforms, institutional frameworks, and innovative financing for EE and RE projects. IFC has invested, in FY10 alone, $1.7 billion in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects, aiming to increase the relative share of financing into this segment to about 20% of its commitments by 2013. Importantly, IFC financed and advised on, through partnerships with over 60 Financial Institutions around the world, a large and growing portfolio of energy and resource efficiency investments by Small and Medium Enterprises, a sub-set of the private sector which to reach is critical for green growth to take off. The WBG has also built a strong alliance of partners to further these goals. For instance, the Global Alliance on Clean Cookstoves will help distribute nearly 100 million advanced cookstoves, through gender-sensitive strategies, thereby reducing indoor air pollution and increasing safety for the users of these stoves and other household members. Through the Lighting Africa project, WBG in collaboration with the private sector is promoting the market-based provision of safe, affordable lighting based on solar systems to nearly 2.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa. The goal of universal access to modern energy will benefit from harnessing the power of the private sector. For instance, removing barriers to private sector entry, especially in rural areas far from electricity grid access, will substantially accelerate access to modern renewable energy sources. In countries with some of the lowest rates of access to electricity, the private sector has found new ways of providing rural populations with clean options: biomass-fueled generators using agricultural by-products such as rice husks, sisal or copra are leading to village-sized mini-grids, and photovoltaic-based solar home systems and energy efficient lamps are distributed by private providers at prices affordable to low-income users. The Bank Group plans to increase its investment in preparatory analysis in the area of sustainable hydropower to ensure benefit sharing and adequate social and environmental protections and will also conduct analysis on how best to manage water releases to ensure downstream flow regimes can be managed as sustainably as possible. This analytical work will aim to help clients to adapt their policies and approaches in hydropower to reach their energy goals. The Bank Group is helping to conserve conventional energy resources through a public-private partnership, Global Gas Flaring Reduction. Converting flared natural gas to productive uses will reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and energy poverty ? CLEAN TRANSPORT We are committed to addressing the linkages between poverty and social exclusion, environmental quality and human health with efficient transport services. In line with its 2008-2012 business strategy for ?Safe, Clean and Affordable Transport?, the Bank?s transport sector seeks to establish the governance, strategies, policies and services that will deliver safe transport for development in a way that is economically, financially, environmentally and socially sustainable. The strategy focuses on reducing GHG emissions which has shifted our lending portfolio accordingly. FOOD, WATER AND CLIMATE NEXUS ? CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE (CSA) CSA is a core part of the broader green development agenda for agriculture, which is about meeting the needs of people for food, fuel, timber and fiber and contributing to economic development and poverty reduction and food security while maintaining and enhancing the productivity and resilience of natural ecosystem functions. ? FOOD SECURITY The IFC has launched the private sector component of the WBG Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to assist in the implementation of pledges made by the G-8 and G-20 to strengthen food security in low-income countries. The program will channel donor funding to support private initiatives developed by client countries to improve governance, productivity, and competitiveness of their agribusiness sectors. Good practice guidelines include safeguards concerning the land rights and natural resource claims of local land users. IFC will provide long- and short-term loans, credit guarantees, and equity to local companies and financial intermediaries. As part of the integrated WBG approach to food security, IFC is providing investment and advisory services to the agribusiness sector across the agricultural supply chain to enhance productivity, help mitigate price and weather-related shocks, and support small and medium agribusiness enterprises, particularly in the poorest countries. The Bank Group will continue to help client countries tackle water issues through a growing portfolio of investment and knowledge that supports improved integrated water resources management, improved irrigation/agricultural water management, and improved access to water supply and sanitation. Water is at the core of many countries? climate adaptation strategies and improved water resources management in the agricultural sector and across sectors, more productive irrigation, and better knowledge about how climate change will affect water variability (eg through more frequent droughts/floods; glacier melt) is fundamental to meet increasing global food demands in a changing climate. Public funding for water is limited but there is growing private sector interest in industrial water-demand management and efficiency, as well as improved wastewater management. Public-private partnerships are helping balance competing demands for access to water and ensure sustainability. The Water Resources Group Entity, a neutral platform where public, private-multilateral, and nongovernmental-organization actors can collaborate on transforming the water sector was formally launched in October, 2011. The entity, which is to be housed at IFC, is the result of a partnership between the World Economic Forum and the Water Resources Group to provide expertise to governments wishing to transform their water sectors. The Bank Group has developed a considerable body of knowledge and experience on climate adaptation through its projects and the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience under the Climate Investment Funds as well as through knowledge products like the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change. Our experience in developing and implementing innovative climate-related disaster risk financing and insurance tools helps countries reduce, pool, and share climate-related disaster risks, particularly through risk financing and transfer mechanisms. Increasing attention is being paid in this context to how the design of such instruments, and their coherence with complementary social protection and other policies, can help build resilience in the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable in particular. We have a significant work program underway on sustainable cities, with a specific thematic emphasis on climate change. In particular, a knowledge paper on ?Towards a Partnership on Sustainable Cities? is being developed, that outlines the framework and elements for sustainable cities, and identifies priorities for action by various sectors and actors. Other recent progress includes: collaboration with the group of 40 cities known as C40; an international standard for measuring city GHG emissions that has been agreed with C40, ICLEI, OECD, UNEP, and UN-Habitat; an Urban Risk Assessment framework; the Mayors? Task Force on climate change, disaster risk and the urban poor; and a guide to adaptation in cities. Implementation of the Eco2 cities program in several pilot cities is underway. A new global initiative on municipal solid waste is also under development. Analytical work is underway that articulates a common definition and standardized measures/tools for sustainable cities, building on initiatives like the Global City Indicators Program. The Bank Group will continue its support to clients in sustainable urban growth and transport, water and sanitation, wastewater management, and climate resilience projects. We are exploring options for an Ocean Initiative (OI) with the world?s premier ocean-focused organizations, combining cutting edge knowledge with finance for workable solutions to meet country demands for improved marine resource management. Our clients are seeking catalytic funding to move towards rights-based fisheries management, increasing marine protected areas, improving coastal zone management and reducing marine pollution. In line with our open data and transparency agendas, the OI would support knowledge sharing and connecting practitioners. The Bank Group has accumulated considerable experience in supporting a variety of biodiversity programs around the globe ? from saving species to protecting key biodiversity areas as well as supporting civil society to advocate for biodiversity. Our investments and operations demonstrate that biodiversity is a key element of the solution to many global challenges, from food insecurity to climate change mitigation to fuel crises and water stress. Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem-based approaches ? employing a range of different institutional arrangements such as protected areas and payment for environmental services schemes, can spur and sustain clean, green and resilient development, generate jobs and attract private investment in the rural frontier, all while reducing vulnerability against natural disasters in an era of adaptation. SOCIAL INCLUSION AND GENDER The Bank Group is working to ensure that development benefits those who need it most, including women and youth. Women are critical to economic growth and job creation and gender equality is an area of priority focus for results under IDA16. IFC is helping increase access to finance and eliminating gender-based barriers to investment. IFC is also working with public and private partners to ensure that youth in developing countries acquire the skills necessary to meet the job opportunities that will emerge as these countries. We are also undertaking analytical work on how climate and other environmental trends affect households and communities, access to opportunities, vulnerability and outcomes. This provides bedrock information for building well-designed policy responses to help the poor and vulnerable adapt to environmental change. In engaging the private sector to create more inclusive business models that would provide goods, services, and livelihood opportunities to people at the base of the income pyramid IFC has deployed targeted investments and used its convening power to share knowledge and promote innovation across the business community. About 150 IFC clients today are using inclusive business models to provide direct benefits to the underserved population at the base of the pyramid, creating high development impact in financially sustainable and scalable ways. We will continue to assist developing countries in scaling-up, accelerating and expanding their initiatives leading to stronger pollution management and environmental health performance. We share good pollution management results and experiences with developing countries through, for example, extensive South-South collaboration and substantive environmental awareness events. An updated Sourcebook on Pollution Management is close to completion. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS Over 100 countries already successfully use Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEA) and Impact Assessments (IA) through directives, policies or laws. SEA and IA help ensure that policies, programs and projects are designed and implemented to have more sustainable outcomes while reducing poverty and advance green economy objectives. Their results are used to inform the development of future proposals. SEA and IA should be recognized as effective high level decision support processes that can assist in the implementation of political commitment to Sustainable Development and Green Economy initiatives. At the Bank Group, SEA is increasingly used in the forestry, mining, water and transport sectors in countries where we are working.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 We, members of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board, recognize the historic opportunity provided by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to reset the world on a sustainable development path. 2 We affirm that sustainable development is a top priority for our organizations, and reaffirm the continuing validity of the principles in the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and of Agenda 21, including the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. We recommit to a renewed system-wide effort, in partnership with the full range of governmental, civil society and private sector stakeholders, to support the realization of these principles. 3 Despite substantial improvement in many key areas of development and environment, the world has not made the progress towards sustainable development aspired to in the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and in subsequent related world conferences. 4 Over the past twenty years, the world has witnessed strong economic growth and significant progress toward attaining a number of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is of grave concern, however, that these positive trends have been accompanied by increasing disparities and inequalities, persistent gender inequality, social inequity, a growing deterioration of the environment, and recurrent economic, financial, energy and food crises. 5 At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (or Rio+20), renewed commitment and urgent action are therefore needed to lay a firm foundation for a longer-term process of redressing imbalances, agreeing on priorities, and reforming institutional arrangements at all levels, to bring about coherence and the integration of policies across the economic, environmental and social pillars, with human beings and their wellbeing at the centre. The Conference must also address the means of implementing outcomes, through the provision of resources, including for technological transformation and capacity building. 6 Charting the way forward to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development must start with the recognition that the world has changed in fundamental ways. Climate change is significantly altering the physical and human geography of the planet. There are major differences in population growth, age, sex structures, spatial distribution and patterns of movement; resource consumption has increased, and production patterns are more unsustainable. But there has also been wide-ranging technological progress, from renewable energy and energy efficiency, to innovative measures for adapting to climate change impacts, and new and efficient means for social networking, dialogue and participatory engagement, providing opportunities that were not available twenty years ago. 7 Against these changing parameters, Rio+20 must acknowledge that economic, social and environmental objectives are not independent variables, but are mutually supportive, with progress in each area facilitating advancement in the others. Our objectives should be to enhance equity, revitalize the global economy, and protect the planet and its ecosystems that support us so that all people, women, men and children, can live in dignity. 8 The sustainability of future growth and development will rely critically on innovation, improved economic, energy and natural resource efficiency, an open and supportive multilateral trading system, better fiscal policies providing incentives for sustainability, comprehensive wealth accounting and valuation of ecosystem services, equitable access and inclusive political processes and the capacity to create sufficient decent work. Growth must lead to strengthened resilience ? of households, ecosystems, and economies, and improved water, food and nutrition security. 9 Economic growth must be of high quality and inclusive. It should occur hand in hand with relevant efforts to accelerate progress in global health, gender equality and women?s empowerment, the realization of human rights, greater equity, improved access to and quality of social protection and the rule of law, and the fair distribution of the benefits of development. Policies must avoid trade protectionism and negative impacts especially on the poor and vulnerable groups such as refugees and internally displaced persons. These objectives are all key elements of the green economy approach, and we pledge the support of our organizations to Member States as they engage in this critical and transformational transition. 10 The shift to sustainable development presents challenges, but also offers opportunity for substantial investments, both public and private, in productive infrastructure, technological transformation, science, education and human capital development. The UN system stands ready to assist Member States as they formulate and implement the enabling policy and regulatory frameworks that are essential for such investment to take place, and to continue to strengthen its work at the country level. 11 In the current fragmented system, institutional reform is unquestionably needed at national, regional and international levels, to integrate the dimensions of sustainable development, improve effectiveness in implementation, urgently scale-up activities, and bring about further coordination and coherence of policy. 12 The UN system is determined to do its part on institutional reform, by improving system-wide coordination mechanisms, and by reviewing and improving policies and programmes, including through joint programming. But this may not be sufficient, and Rio+20 should consider continued efforts on broader reforms within the UN system, for example, the strengthening of institutions, mandates and regulatory frameworks, or making structural changes. 13 At a more specific level, from a range of priority issues, a number have emerged that warrant particular attention in the context of sustainable development at Rio+20. Among these are: energy, water, oceans, green jobs, sustainable cities, sustainable agriculture and food security, disaster risk reduction, and investing in health, education, youth, gender equality and women?s empowerment. 14 These issues require a coordinated approach by the UN system, stakeholders from government, civil society and the private sector, to find joint innovative and lasting solutions. The organizations of the UN system have been intensifying efforts and cooperation to address the challenges of the water, energy and global food security crises. Rio+20 will provide an appropriate platform to support selected initiatives, such as the Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which illustrate a collective renewed commitment to sustainable development.At Rio+20, we must build upon and scale up the achievements, best practices and lessons of the MDGs, and lay strong foundations for the post-2015 development agenda. We must chart a course for measurable progress towards sustainable development goals, using milestones that integrate the economic, environmental and social dimensions and a new generation of metrics to measure our achievements. The UN system stands ready to support the world?s nations and peoples to make sustainable development a reality.	3.520845
Defined as the change in position of an object (displacement) per unit of time. Velocity, unlike speed, takes into account the direction of travel relative to a base point. v = s/t (where v and s are vectors) Where (using SI units): v is the velocity of the body in metres per second (ms^-1) s is the displacement of the body in metres (m) t is the time taken to travel from the initial point to the final point in seconds (s) 1. (One dimension) If you start at point A and travel directly north to point B which is ten metres away, and it takes you five seconds to get there, your velocity will be 2ms^-1 due north. 2. (One dimension) If you travel west for a ten seconds at 1ms^-1, take a break for twenty seconds and then travel for another ten seconds at 1ms^-1, your velocity for the trip will be .05ms^-1 due west. 3. (Two dimension) If you start at point A and travel north at 3kmh^-1 for two hours, and then instantaneously change direction and travel due east for four hours at a speed of 2kmh^-1 to point B, your velocity for the trip is 10kmh^-1 N53°E (53°T) Change in position over change in time. A measure of how fast something is moving. Measured in m/s, ft/s, mph or km/h. The velocity of the roller coaster is 20 meters per second. Smackdown's version of Heat where it mostly features Cruiserweight action with such cruiserweights as Paul London, Billy Kidman, Spike Dudley, Funaki, Akio, etc. Chavo Guerrero vs. Billy Kidman is gonna be on Velocity this Saturday night!	3.257266
Carmel Mountain Preserve, a 400-acre mesa top, is truly one of San Diego County’s remaining natural wonders. When you hike its several miles of trails, you will be treated not only to ocean views, but to a landscape truly unlike any other. On its flat mesa top, there are huge patches of a hard gray moss, called ashy spike moss, that actually have an interesting purpose. You’ll also come upon puddles of water that settle in the mesa’s depressions, which are actually vernal pools — an amazing environment that hosts species found nowhere else. The Chaparral Lands Conservancy has called it “a special Noah’s Ark of nature surrounded by suburban development.” Every type of vegetation found on Carmel Mountain is “unique and imperiled,” it says. Its habitats — Southern maritime chaparral, coastal sage scrub, wet meadows and vernal pools — support more than two dozen rare species, some of which have been listed as federally endangered. Southern maritime chaparral is a habitat that occurs only on weathered sandstone formations that lie within the coastal fog belt, and exists only in San Diego County from La Jolla to Carlsbad. “Only about 15 percent of Southern maritime chaparral that historically occurred in San Diego and Orange counties remains, and most of this is located on Carmel Mountain, in Torrey Pines State Park and in Carlsbad and Encinitas,” said Rick Halsey of the California Chaparral Institute. Characteristic species of this habitat include chamise, white coast ceanothus — a wild lilac that can grow into huge specimens here — and mission manzanita. Endangered species — found only in San Diego and Orange counties — include white-flowering Del Mar manzanita and Orcutt’s spineflower. Threatened species include the yellow-flowering big-leaved crown-beard and shrubby Encinitas baccharis. The vernal pools, though, are even more precious. Rarely more than 6 inches deep, the pools fill with water only after rainfall and rarely remain filled longer than 45 days at a time. When dry, they simply appear to be lifeless bare spots in chaparral or coastal sage scrub. Half of the plant species growing in California’s remaining vernal pools are found nowhere else on the planet. “Because of their homely appearance, they provide an excellent example of how the importance of becoming familiar with native habitats and efforts to preserve them can violently collide with the desire to develop property by individuals unfamiliar with their value,” Halsey said. Indeed, the Carmel Mountain Preserve was dedicated in 1999 after being saved from development by a coalition spearheaded by the Carmel Mountain Conservancy. Some 97 percent of San Diego’s vernal pools, which once covered some 28,500 acres in the county, have been destroyed, and that naturally includes its rare species. Vernal pools, however, do also exist in northwest Baja. Both plants and animals of vernal pools must be able to withstand weeks of winter rains and summer drought. Animals that live here include spadefoot toads and their favorite food, the San Diego fairy shrimp. Living next to the vernal pools is the short-leaved dudleya, a tiny succulent that lives in only five places in the world, all in Del Mar and La Jolla, according to the Chaparral Lands Conservancy. When not in bloom, it looks like the marble-like iron pebbles that are also unique to North County coastal mesas, which helps it avoid being eaten by rabbits and rodents. When it blooms — more rainfall brings more blooms — tiny white and yellow flowers burst open. That ashy spike moss helps them thrive by preventing invasion of weeds and gophers, according to a placard on the trails.	3.096013
UU for kids Unitarian Universalists make a concerted effort to impart our values to our children. Here then are a UU child's easy way of remembering our principles: my seven principles: 1. each person is important (The inherent worth and dignity of every person) 2. be kind in all you do (Justice, equity and compassion in human relations) 3. we're free to learn together (Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations) 4. and search for what is TRUE. (A free and responsible search for truth and meaning) 5. all people need a voice. (The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large) 6. build a fair and peaceful world. (The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all) 7. we care for the Earth's lifeboat. (Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part) the sources of faith Unitarian Universalists get their values from many places. 1. awesome experiences of mystery, beauty, and belonging that all people feel.(Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life) 2. words and actions of wise and brave people that make us want to change things that are unjust or cruel, and to offer kindness and love instead.(Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion and the transforming power of love) 3. ideas from lots of different religions that help us figure out what is good and true and fair.(Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life) 4. Jewish and Christian teachings that encourage us to treat others the way we would like to be treated.(Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves) 5. use of science, common sense, and our own brains to think things out.(Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit) 6. teachings of people who celebrate nature and remind us to live in harmony with nature.(Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature)	3.229165
Memorial a lasting tribute to heroes who saved the world and changed it The World War II Memorial, sober and sunk low in a long frame of elms,rests between the two structures that anchor the Mall.The monument to America's first great warrior, George Washington, towers over it on one side. The statue of America's great uniter, Abraham Lincoln, looks on from the other. In such company, the location and initial look of the new memorial to those who fought in World War II had its doubters. It would trample on ground consecrated by the civil rights movement, some said. Its design smacked of imperialist architecture, others said. The controversy, settled in granite and bronze, came down to this: Was World War II -- the lives lost, the victories gained -- a hinge event of American history, on par with the founding and the Civil War? Or not? Historians say it was: The war transformed America, and, in turn, America transformed the world. "World War II was the seminal event of the 20th century," says Victor Davis Hanson, military historian and classicist at the University of California in Fresno and author of "Carnage and Culture," a study of the military pre-eminence of Western civilization. "Quite literally, Western civilization as we know it hung by a thread -- and was saved by the efforts of Americans." "The totality of it is what made it unique for the American experience," says Edward J. Drea, a historian of World War II who lives in Fairfax. "It affected everyone, of every class." From December 7, 1941, to Aug. 6, 1945, America spent 400,000 lives beating back German dictator Adolf Hitler's march across Europe and Japanese Emperor Hirohito's advance in the South Pacific. Sixteen million Americans served during the war, fully 10 percent of the population at the time. The movement of so many young men and so much materiel radically reshaped our society. The country literally was in flux, its industrial capacity energized like never before, its agrarian roots fading further from view. The population migrated northward and, drawn by a humming new industry centered on construction of aircraft, to California. Global war demanded a rapid acceleration in the technology of weaponry and medicine. Mr. Drea, who focuses on the South Pacific theater in books such as "MacArthur's Ultra: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan," notes that the war led to wider use of malaria suppressants such as quinine and the insecticide DDT, which helped stop typhus epidemics. The United States devoted all its energies to the war, rationing meat, sugar and metals on the home front. A shortage of shellac, used to manufacture phonograph records, stunted the recording of new music. Short supplies of rubber and gasoline -- and trains filled with soldiers -- knocked touring musicians off the road. Popular bandleader Glenn Miller sent his own musicians packing to form the Army Air Force Band and died in 1944 when a military flight disappeared over the English Channel. Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio and movie star Jimmy Stewart joined the war effort at the height of their careers by serving in the Army and Army Air Corps, respectively, and Mr. Stewart became a decorated pilot. Up to 40 percent of the movies Hollywood cranked out between 1941 and 1945 propagandized for the war. Hum-phrey Bogart squared off against the Nazis in 1943's "Action in the North Atlantic"; Cary Grant captained a submarine in "Destination Tokyo" the same year; and future president Ronald Reagan teamed with Errol Flynn in 1942's "Desperate Journey." Women flocked to jobs in the men's absence. Teenagers too young to fight also took jobs, setting in motion a new youth culture that would flourish as veterans and their wives created waves of new children for the next 20 years. After vanquishing European fascism and Japanese militarism, the postwar nation assumed the leading role in defending the world against the other great poison of the 20th century, the menace of Stalin and expansionist Soviet communism. "The self-destruction of Europe created the conditions for the ascendancy of the U.S. in world affairs," Mr. Hanson says, "and, tragically but necessarily, demanded a new responsibility to expend blood and treasure -- immediately after our greatest sacrifice -- to prevent the Soviet Union from capitalizing on the ruin of Europe." Other reverberations were no less significant, from the invention of modern Japan to the reconstruction of Europe, unprecedented acts of statecraft both. A broad American middle class arose at home, elevated by the GI Bill of Rights and linked, eventually, by a new interstate highway system and the commercial airline industry. American GIs helped saved the world, and those who survived came home still young men, in their early 20s. They were just getting started. In the 59 postwar years during which the Mall had no World War II memorial, modern America itself was their legacy. The good war British Prime Minister Winston Churchill famously said he "slept the sleep of the saved" after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. A reluctant America, with all its potential industrial might and manpower, finally would tip the balance in the Allies' favor. Yet Arnold Krammer, a history professor at Texas A&M University, says it was no sure thing. After World War I, America, isolationist in outlook, dramatically scaled back its standing army and produced little in the way of new weaponry. "We were unprepared," Mr. Krammer says. "The American military had 183,000 men and 488 machine guns in 1940." Mr. Drea says, "It wasn't inevitable; no one knew what would happen." The number of American conscripts would bloom to 8 million, culled from what Mr. Krammer calls, in a slightly irreverent tweaking of NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw's tribute book, "the bored generation." "They were coming out of the Great Depression," Mr. Krammer says. "Here was an opportunity for excitement. It was a chance for most boys to see what the rest of the world looked like. We were, after all, quite a rural country, no matter how many people lived in big cities." "We were still boys; that's the crazy thing," says M.D. Elevitch, 79, a native of Duluth, Minn., who fought in the 94th Division under Gen. George S. Patton. A volume of his correspondence, "Dog Tags Yapping: The WWII Letters of a Combat GI," was published last month. "I was totally innocent, inhibited," Mr. Elevitch recalls. Still, he adds, in words that might epitomize the mood of the country, "We knew right from the beginning what we needed to do." Peter Kuznick, a historian of the 20th century at American University, actively opposed the Vietnam War and remains a fierce critic of nuclear weapons. World War II, he says, is nonetheless unimpeachable. "If there's ever been a war in history in which one can identify good guys and bad guys, it's World War II," Mr. Kuznick says. Mr. Drea adds: "There was never a direct [foreign] threat to the survival of the republic before. At Pearl Harbor, there sure seemed to be one." Japan's surprise attack on the Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor mobilized a "sleeping giant," in Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto's prophetic phrase. "It felt to people at the time that this was a great war," Mr. Kuznick says. "It had to be won, and they were willing to sacrifice." 'A giant step' The approximately 400,000 U.S. troops killed in World War II are second only to the 620,000 of the Civil War, in which, of course, there was no foreign enemy. Mr. Elevitch was wounded by mortar fragments, his lungs taking in blood, and he underwent an emergency operation in a tent on a German battlefield. Like many other veterans, he did not speak of his experiences for decades. He broke his silence with a short story, "The Finger," published in 1989 and inspired by the sight of a disembodied digit. Reticent and scarred by battle, the soldiers came home feeling purposeful, at the least with a hopeful drive to "go on with our lives," Mr. Elevitch says. "We had a sense of confidence if we survived." "In some communities," President Franklin D. Roosevelt said in a 1942 "fireside chat" heard on radio, "employers dislike to employ women. In others they are reluctant to hire Negroes. ... We can no longer afford to indulge such prejudices and practices." Practically and morally, the war forced a re-examination of the treatment of blacks in America. Actor Ossie Davis, 86, who served as a surgical technician in the Army Medical Corps in Liberia, remembers segregated accommodations at the Army hospital there. Black servicemen protested, and the arrangements eventually changed. "The minute we came back, there was a feeling in the country that racism was a horrible disease and we had to move fast to get rid of it," says Mr. Davis, who will emcee the National Memorial Day Concert May 30 on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Roosevelt in 1941 had issued Executive Order 8802, a significant forerunner of the Civil Rights Act that prohibited racial discrimination in the defense industry and in government jobs. "We took a giant step toward civil rights," Mr. Krammer says. Two years after the war ended, Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, changing the face of the country's most popular sport. A year later, President Truman ended segregation in the military and the civil service with another executive order. Women go to work The war also drew women into the work force as a practical necessity. Historian David M. Kennedy, in his book "Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945," notes that "three-quarters of all women of working age were 'at home' as the war began." By war's end, about 19 million were in the work force, nearly 1 million of them here in Washington. Filmmaker Leslie Sewell's "Government Girls," showing May 30 at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, interviews several of those women, who worked in jobs from clerking to code breaking. "They changed Washington a lot, and they changed the whole idea of women's equality in work," Ms. Sewell says. "It also opened the door for black women. All of a sudden, they were able to become secretaries and administrative assistants and on up the ladder." Though such women were planting the seeds for permanent changes, they weren't aware of it then; their focus was on winning the war. When it ended in 1945, many left the work force. "They say, 'The war was everything, and we were doing our part to help the guys who were fighting overseas,' " Ms. Sewell says. "It seems so strange to people who didn't live through it, who can't appreciate the enormity of the effort," Mr. Drea says of America's determination to see World War II through to victory. Americans, by and large, were united in purpose and passion. The nation won great victories in Europe and the South Pacific. The war generation's reward was prosperity: college degrees paid for by the federal government; higher salaries; new homes in the suburbs outfitted with modern appliances. Events didn't stop churning, however. Mr. Kennedy writes of the year 1948: "The Russians had just exploded their own atomic bomb, and the Communists had recently taken power in China. Somehow the good war had not settled things to the degree that Roosevelt had promised." Today, World War II seems distant to, and perhaps unappreciated by, the children and grandchildren of the war generation. Mr. Hanson, the military historian, worries about how the war is taught in schools: with laserlike focus on the use of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the internment of Japanese in the United States, to the neglect of climactic battles. "Very little actual military history is being taught," he says, "and, thus, most of our youth know only the social or cultural consequences of the war but almost nothing about the war itself. "A very sad development, given the amazing sacrifices and skill shown by an entire generation of Americans." Even after the battles at the Bulge (December 1944-January 1945), where 19,000 U.S. troops died in the Ardennes forest of the German-Belgian border, and at the island of Okinawa (April-June 1945), where 13,000 died fighting the Japanese -- even after these staggering losses, which came at a time when the country was being told the war was almost over, the American public, already tested by a long Depression, didn't falter. Has the nation lost the energy -- the singleness of purpose, the resolve, the willingness to sacrifice -- that marked the World War II era? "None of us knows," Mr. Hanson says. "We are in year three of the so-called war on terror, so I suppose we shall soon find out." By John Solomon How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years Independent voices from the TWT Communities A collection of reader guest articles, thoughts and opinions by Communities writers and breaking news and information. A mother of three and a passionate conservative, Shirley Husar changes the game. This column will cover anything that has anything remotely to do with the game of baseball, from the game itself to mid-summer trades to offseason moves. Eye on Europe, the Middle East and Africa Benghazi: The anatomy of a scandal Vietnam Memorial adds four names Cinco de Mayo on the Mall NRA kicks off annual convention	3.110437
(1881 - 1973) Regarding the canon of art history, no other artist has exerted such influence as Pablo Picasso. Frequently dubbed the "dean of modernism," the Spanish artist was revolutionary in the way he challenged the conventions of painting. His stylistic pluralism, legendary reconfiguration of pictorial space and inexhaustible creative force have made Picasso one of the most revered artists of the 20th century. Influenced by symbolism and Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso developed his own independent style in Paris during his renowned Blue Period (1900-1904): motifs from everyday life...	3.422503
Make a Levitating Motor out of Pencils and Magnets - 7:30 AM How often, really, do you get to see something levitate? I did, at (where else?) Maker Faire New York last September. Chris Connors showed me this project. It consists of a base made out of pencils and 3D-printed connectors, with magnets placed to repel a rotating pencil equipped with its own magnets as well as a mess of magnet wire powered by small solar cells. The Mendocino Motor floats in its own magnetic field and converts light into electricity and magnetism, which are then converted into the motion of the motor. Building and studying this project provides the satisfaction of creating an amazing bit of technology, and the opportunity to explore magnetism, electromagnetism, electric motors, solar power generation, and personal manufacturing. Build the base that holds the magnets and provides a bearing point for the motor. Then wind the motor coils, and solder them to the solar cells. When the motor is assembled, you’ll balance it so it spins freely, and perform any troubleshooting to make it work properly. Want to learn more about Chris’s project? Check out the MAKE Projects writeup and the Thingiverse page where you can download the files to print your own connectors. Finally, watch a video of the motor in motion.	3.027952
Learn something new every day More Info... by email Process costing is a management accounting cost allocation method used by companies that produce copious amounts of homogenous or extremely similar consumer goods. Examples of these types of companies include food manufacturers, bottling companies, printing companies, and other similar businesses. Companies use process costing to allocate the business costs related to each process of production, because allocating costs to each individual good is too difficult and time consuming. Under cost allocation methods, management accountants determine the cost of operating each individual function used in the production process. The total process cost is divided by the number of items produced during each specific function. The dollar amount resulting from this calculation is allocated to each good produced by the process. The costs included in each process costing production system relate to the amount of direct materials used to produce goods, direct labor of employees running the process, and the amount of manufacturing overhead used in the production process. Manufacturing overhead often includes indirect materials, indirect labor, and the utilities used to run the production equipment. Each individual process has business costs allocated as goods enter into the production process. The costs are tracked until the goods leave the process and move through the production system. While production systems usually depend on the type of goods a company produces, similar production processes may be involved in these types of systems. For example, in magazine production, production processes include printing, cutting, and stapling. Each process usually adds costs to the goods produced in a process costing system. Process costing reports three types of inventories on a company’s financial statements: raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. Raw materials represent any economic resources or business inputs that have yet to be used in the production system. A work in process is a detailed breakout of goods that have been going through the production system but are not yet finished. Work-in-process inventories are valued by the number of processes the goods have gone through and the costs associated with producing the goods up to that point. Production companies may have various levels of work-in-process inventories that are listed on their balance sheet. Finished goods inventories are all goods produced that are available for sale to consumers. This inventories number also includes goods waiting to be moved to distributors or wholesalers.	3.536323
It came closer ... closer ... and then it started heading away. But you may not have noticed at all. An asteroid passed relatively close to Earth around 2:24 p.m. ET Friday. As scientists had been predicting all week, it did not hit. A different and unrelated small asteroid entered the atmosphere over Russia on Friday, hours before the much larger asteroid's fly-by, injuring about 1,000 people. Scientists say that incident was a pure coincidence. The larger asteroid, called 2012 DA14, never got closer than 17,100 miles to our planet's surface. Stargazers in Australia, Asia and Eastern Europe could see the asteroid with the aid of a telescope or binoculars. At the Gingin Observatory in Australia, the asteroid appeared as a bright white streak as viewers watched a live NASA video feed. Scientists are studying this asteroid so extensively that they can already predict its path for most of the 21st century, said Paul Chodas of NASA's Near Earth Object team. But it is only one of thousands of objects that are destined to one day enter our neighborhood in space. "There are lots of asteroids that we're watching that we haven't yet ruled out an Earth impact (for), but all of them have an impact probability that is very, very low," Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a press briefing. The long and short of it The asteroid is thought to be 45 meters -- about half a football field -- long. Current estimates suggest that the Russian meteor -- which was a tiny asteroid before it hit the Earth's atmosphere -- was only 15 meters wide, making it much harder to detect.	3.44755
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition - n. A form or part that is folded or coiled. - n. One of the convex folds of the surface of the brain. Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia - n. The act of rolling. or winding together, or of winding one part or thing on another; the motion or process of winding in and out. - n. The state of being rolled upon itself, or rolled or wound together. - n. A turn or winding; a fold; a gyration; an anfractuosity; a whorl: as, the convolutions of a vine; the convolutions of the intestines. - n. In anatomy, specifically, one of the gyri, gyres, or anfractuosities of the brain, especially of the cerebrum. See cuts under brain and corpus. - n. In mathematics, such a connection between the relations of any asyzygetic system that each is applied alternately in the aggregate of the remaining relations. - n. Something that is folded or twisted. - n. Any of the folds on the surface of the brain. - n. The shape of something rotating; a vortex. - n. mathematics A form of moving average. - n. computing A function which maps a tuple of sequences into a sequence of tuples. GNU Webster's 1913 - n. The act of rolling anything upon itself, or one thing upon another; a winding motion. - n. The state of being rolled upon itself, or rolled or doubled together; a tortuous or sinuous winding or fold, as of something rolled or folded upon itself. - n. (Anat.) An irregular, tortuous folding of an organ or part. - n. a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain - n. the action of coiling or twisting or winding together - n. the shape of something rotating rapidly - From Latin convolutus ("to roll together"), past participle of convolvere, from con- + volvere ("to roll"). (Wiktionary) “It was in 1861 that he announced his discovery of the seat of articulate speech in the left side of the frontal region of the brain, since known as the convolution of Broca.” “It is of small size, and consists of a square-shaped convolution, which is termed the precuneus or quadrate lobe.” “In front of this precentral convolution are the three frontal convolutions, and it would seem that the functions of these convolutions are higher movements and attention in fixation of the eyes; moreover, in the lowest frontal region, indicated by fine dots, we have Broca's convolution, which is associated with motor speech; above at the base of the second middle frontal convolution is the portion of cortex in which is localised the function of writing.” “M. Alain's expensive way of life, his clothes and mistresses, his dicing and racehorses, were all explained: he was in the pay of Buonaparte, a hired spy, and a man that held the strings of what I can only call a convolution of extremely fishy enterprises.” “The interior portion of the convolution is the more intellectual portion of the organ, while the exterior portion is that which holds the closest relation to the fibres of the _corpora striata_ in the middle lobe, and may therefore most properly be called the organ of language or of speech, the impairment of which produces aphasia, or loss of speech.” “In particular, Fourier analytic methods are particularly useful for studying operations such as convolution in frequency space (the domain of the frequency variable” “He looked again and decided that it was the purple haze of the hills made dark by a convolution of the cãnon wall at its back.” “At some length and terminological convolution on their part, making these exact same points to them, even that one about the computer program, with little effect … it is the most bizarre thing.” These user-created lists contain the word ‘convolution’. A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up. Abbe-Helmert crit..., a priori probability, alphabet, total correlation, three-dimensional..., theoretical frequ..., time reversal test, three-series theorem, theoretical variable, tetrachoric corre..., absolutely unbias..., absolute error and 4171 more... abducens.....draw..., ablation.....carr..., acetylcholine......., adrenalin.....nea..., afferent.....to c..., agnosia.....no kn..., alar.....wing-like, alexia.....no words, alveus.....canal, amacrine.....no l..., ambidextrous........, ambiguus.....doub... and 701 more... ruptured blood ve..., clot, pressure on a blo..., tumor, brain region, comprehension of ..., production of mea..., autonomic nervous..., conservation of t..., catecholamine, arousal, regulation of sleep and 564 more... -a unit of language consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Derivatives from Chapter 19 of Part One of English Words from Latin and Greek Elements "cerebral" cerebral terms Looking for tweets for convolution.	3.481378
Schools that implement strong nutrition standards for snacks sold at school increase student meal participation and school revenue, according to a study just published by the Rudd Center and the Harvard School of Public Health. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, provides support for efforts to implement strong national nutrition standards for all food sold at school while promoting student participation in the National School Lunch Program. Read more. Regardless of body weight, teens had high brain activity during food commercials compared to nonfood commercials, according to researchers from the University of Michigan, the Oregon Research Institute, and the Rudd Center. The study, which appears in the current issue of Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, may inform the current debates about the impact of food advertising on minors. Children see thousands of commercials each year designed to increase their desire for foods high in sugar, fat, and salt. Researchers analyzed how the advertising onslaught affects the brain by measuring the brain activity of teenagers while watching food and nonfood commercials. Regions of the brain linked to attention, reward, and taste were active for all participants, especially when food commercials aired. Overall, they recalled and liked food commercials better than nonfood commercials. Read more. Efforts to encourage healthy beverage choices by people receiving federal food assistance are paying off, according to a study published by the Rudd Center in Pediatrics. The study shows that purchases of 100 percent juice declined among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) after the program changed in 2007 to offer foods that better reflect dietary recommendations for Americans. While 100 percent fruit juices are widely marketed as healthy beverages, they contain the same amount of calories as soda and lack the fiber that is present in whole fruit. In addition, previous research in Pediatrics has shown that excessive consumption of 100 percent juice is associated with increased risk of weight gain. The WIC program is designed to help meet the needs of pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children who are at nutritional risk. Prior to the WIC food package revisions, the federal monthly allowances of 100 percent juice exceeded dietary recommendations for juice consumption in young children. New WIC food packages provide considerably less juice. Read more.	3.336462
Imitate is defined as to copy or use something as a model.(verb) An example of imitate is for a child to copy his older sibling's every move. See imitate in Webster's New World College Dictionary Origin: < L imitatus, pp. of imitari, to imitate, akin to aemulus: see emulate See imitate in American Heritage Dictionary 4 transitive verb im·i·tat·ed, im·i·tat·ing, im·i·tates Origin: Latin imitārī, imitāt-; see aim- in Indo-European roots. Learn more about imitate	3.141206
To touch something is to understand it – emotionally and cognitive. It´s one of our important six senses, which we use and need in our daily lives. But accidents or illnesses can disrupt us from our sense of touch Now European researchers of the projects NanoBioTact and NanoBioTouch delve deep into the mysteries of touch and have developed the first sensitive artificial finger. The main scientific aims of the projects are to radically improve understanding of the human mechano-transduction system and tissue engineered nanobiosensors. Therefore an international and multi disciplinary team of 13 scientific institutes, universities and companies put their knowledge together. “There are many potential applications of biometric tactile sensoring, for example in prosthetic limbs where you´ve got neuro-coupling which allows the limb to sense objects and also to feed back to the brain, to control the limb. Another area would be in robotics where you might want the capability to have sense the grip of objects, or intelligent haptic exploration of surfaces for example”, says Prof. Michael Adams, the coordinator of NanoBioTact. The scientists have already developed a prototype of the first sensitive artificial finger. It works with an array of pressure sensors that mimic the spatial resolution, sensitivity and dynamics of human neural tactile sensors and can be directly connected to the central nervous system. Combined with an artificial skin that mimics a human fingerprint, the device´s sensitivity to vibrations is improved. Depending on the quality of a textured surface, the biomimetic finger vibrates in different ways, when it slides across the surface. Thereby it produces different signals and once it will get used by patients, they could recognise if the surface is smooth or scratchy. “The sensors are working very much like the sensors are doing on your own finger”, says physicist Dr. Michael Ward from the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Birmingham. Putting the biomimetic finger on artificial limbs would take prostheses to the next level. “Compared to the hand prostheses which are currently on the market, an integrated sense of touch would be a major improvement. It would be a truly modern and biometric device which would give the patient the feeling as if it belonged to his own body”, says Dr. Lucia Beccai from the Centre for Micro-Robotics at the Italian Institute for Technology. But till the artificial finger will be available on large scale a lot of tests will have to be done. Nevertheless with the combination of computer and cognitive sciences, nano- and biotechnology the projects NanoBioTact and NanoBioTouch have already brought us a big step closer to artificial limbs with sensitive fingers! Connect Read Watch Broadcast Contact	3.48154
Racial Double Standards in Uncle Tom's Cabin By Catherine Mountcastle When Harriet Beecher Stowe published her novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, she gained instant notoriety. Her novel helped spread the reality of the cruelties and injustices of the American slavery system nationwide and eventually across the globe. However, Mrs. Stowe was not without critics. Shortly after the release of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, William Lloyd Garrison, a famous abolitionist and founder of the Liberator published a scathing review of Stowe’s novel arguing that her stance on slavery was a double standard. Stowe’s novel clearly does contain racial double standards; however, this attributed to the novels popularity amid a northern white audience in the mid-nineteenth century. William Lloyd Garrison was a well known abolitionist. His review of Stowe’s novel may have seemed shocking at the time of its publication since both he and Stowe were abolitionists. However, his accusations of racial double standards throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin are not far fetched. One of Stowe’s main criticisms throughout Uncle Tom’s Cabin is that slavery is unjust to slaves. She finds slavery to be an evil which should be eliminated form American society. She obligates blacks to end their own enslavement. Her opinion on how blacks should end their enslavement is extremely passive. She advocates that blacks should remain obedient and subservient to their masters while remaining pious and faithful to God. In the end, blacks will gain a greater freedom than the physical world has to offer them. By having faith in God and refusing to act out violently against their masters despite the hardships that they may have to endure, they will eventually be rewarded with eternal salvation. Stowe embodies these ideas in the character of Tom. Throughout Stowe’s novel, Tom places his faith in the Lord an accepts his fate no matter what happens. An excellent example of Tom’s unrelenting faith in the Lord and his refusal to act out violently against his master is his struggle with Simon Legree. Legree is an evil man and an extremely cruel master. However, no matter what he is threatened with Tom never physically fights back against Legree. This is demonstrated in Uncle Tom’s Cabin prior to Tom’s first beating. Tom says: Mas’r if you mean to kill me, kill me; but as to raising my hand agin any one here, I shall never,--I’ll die first! No! no! no! my soul an’t yours, Mas’r! Ye can’t buy it! it’s been bought and paid for, by one that is able to keep it;--no matter, no matter, you can’t harm me! (Stowe 508). These statements by Tom are a clear demonstration of Stowe’s beliefs, which are expressed throughout the novel. Tom is defiant against Legree, but it is for the safety of another individual, another one of God’s creatures. He never raises a hand in opposition to Legree, nor does he resist when Legree sends him to be whipped as punishment for his defiance. Instead, Tom boldly states his faith in the Lord, proclaiming that Legree may physically take his life, but he will never be able to own Tom’s soul because his soul belongs to the Lord. Garrison views Stowe’s beliefs as a racial double standard. He states his opinion at he very beginning of his review of the novel when he writes, “we are curious to know whether Mrs. Stowe is a believer in the duty of non-resistance for the white man, under all possible outrage and peril as well as for the black man” (Garrison). In other words, if white people were to be enslaved and treated under the same conditions which black people were in the mid-nineteenth century, would Stowe still advocate non-violence and piety as a solution to the problem? He then continues by pointing out that the reason he believes she advocates nonviolence, obedience and piety by slaves are because they are black. I agree with Garrisons accusation. I think Stowe’s beliefs stem primarily from her lack of first hand interaction with southern black slaves. She portrays her characters through the beliefs of a romantic racialist. Stowe writes, “the negro, it must be remembered, is an exotic of the most gorgeous and superb countries of the world, and he has, deep in heart a passion for all that is splendid, rich and fanciful” (Stowe 253). This depiction of “the negro” is a perfect demonstration of Stowe’s use of romantic racialism. She is making a generalization about an entire race. She views black people with the same stereotypes as most mid-nineteenth century white Americans did. What makes a black person different from a white person other than the color of their skin? It is easy to answer that question from a twenty-first century viewpoint. The answer is nothing. There is no difference between a black person and a white person except for the outside skin color. We are all human which means that blacks have the same mental capacity, same emotions same everything. However, in the ante-bellum time period the answer to the above question was much more difficult, because people truly believed that blacks were different from whites not only physically, but that they were inferior in intellect, morals, and maturity. I think that because Stowe was a white northern woman with little one-on-one contact between herself and southern slaves , she subconsciously prescribed to general stereotypes about black people and wrote them into her characters. Garrison not only highlights that Stowe’s romantic racial beliefs “is everywhere taken for granted, because the VICTIMS ARE BLACK” (Garrison), but he also argues against her religious stance when he asks: Is there one law of submission and non-resistance for the black man, and another law of rebellion and conflict for the white man? When it is the whites who are trodden in the dust, does Christ justify them in taking up arms to vindicate their rights? And when it is blacks who are thus threatened, does Christ require them to be patient, harmless, long-suffering, and forgiving? And are there two Christs? (Garrison) Garrison is addressing a main conflict which is present in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. If God/Christ are supposed to be just and fair, how can they make one group of people ”superior” to another? This issue is clearly addressed in Uncle Tom’s Cabin when Marie St. Clare is waiting for Tom to prepare the horses in order attend church. During this scene in the novel, Stowe delves into Mrs. St. Clares thoughts and shares them with her audience. She writes: perhaps as God chasteneth whom he loveth, he hath chosen poor Africa in the furnace of affection to make her the highest and noblest in that kingdom which he will set up, then every other kingdom has been tried, and failed; for the first shall be the last and the last first (Stowe 275). Marie is rationalizing the fate of slaves by pondering whether or not God had a greater purpose for them. Religion is a conflicting struggle throughout the novel as certain characters embrace it and other characters reject it. Garrison brings up the issue of religion in Uncle Tom’s Cabin because it seems hypocritical to say that slaves must behave and worship the Lord when in return for their piety they are beaten. However, it is okay for white people to beat a fellow human being, because they are white and the other is black. How can God allow that? I think it is very interesting how Garrison places religion and violence together in his statement. It is very fitting when you apply it to the American Revolution. It was okay for us as white colonialists to fight against the British monarchy for our independence and for our religious freedom. However, Stowe seems to think that it is not okay for blacks to fight against whites in order to gain their independence and religious freedom. This is extremely hypocritical. While I do agree with Garrison’s arguments that Uncle Tom’s Cabin is based on racial double standards, I think Stowe was very meticulous in how she presented her concepts to her white northern audience. In order for Stowe to get her message out to people, she had to create a novel that people would want to read. To do this, she had to make the issue of slavery palatable to her readers. Stowe had to prescribe to romantically racial concepts in order to not offend her audience. Stowes use of romantic radicalism worked. Her novel became a success across the world. However, the usage of romantic racialism in turn created racial double standards throughout the novel. William Lloyd Garrison’s complaint of racial double standards in Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a valid argument. I agree that Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe upholds a different set of morals for white people as compared to black people. However, I believe that this dichotomy of values for blacks versus whites is a result of the author’s desire to appeal to an audience in order to have her opinions voiced to the public and make them aware of the cruelties of slavery. 1.) Elbert, Sarah. Lecture Notes for History 351. 2.) Garrison, William. "Liberator," March 1852. 3.) Stowe, Harriet. Uncle Tom's Cabin or Life Among the Lowly. 1852. USA: Penguin Books, 1986. Last Updated: 8/24/10	3.53848
Helping Teachers Improve Math and Science Achievement According to the Teaching Commission's report Teaching at Risk: A Call to Action, the U.S. job market is so scientifically and technologically based that math and science knowledge is critical for the health of our economy.17 While science and technology advance at lightning speed, stagnant math and science performance in schools shortchanges our students' future and endangers our prosperity and our nation's security. Improving Math and Science Instruction Around the Nation No Child Left Behind supports the belief that developing teachers' knowledge and skills in math and science will contribute substantially to the goal of improving student learning, and that students will perform better on assessments of math and science if their teachers have in-depth knowledge of the subjects they teach. In the United States, the professional preparation programs for many teachers at the elementary, middle school and high school levels include very little math and science. Only 43 percent of middle school students take science from teachers who have a major in science and are certified to teach science.18 No Child Left Behind requires that federal funds go only to those programs that are backed by evidence of their effectiveness. Over the last decade, researchers have scientifically proven the best ways to teach reading. We must do the same in math. We must work toward using research-based teaching methods. How well did students perform in 2003?19 The figures to the right show that 32 percent of fourth-graders and 29 percent of eight-graders performed at or above the Proficient level in 2003. The percentages of students performing at or above Basic in 2003 were 77 percent at grade 4 and 68 percent at grade 8. Note: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Source: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2003 Mathematics Assessment. No Child Left Behind Creates Math and Science Partnerships to Rally Every Sector of Society to Work With Schools to Increase Math and Science Excellence The Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) program is the signature program for improving math and science education in No Child Left Behind. This program provides funding to every state in the nation on a formula-grant basis to support high-quality professional development for math and science teachers. Each state is required to conduct a competitive grant program to support projects that are partnerships among science, engineering, and mathematics, and other high-tech departments at institutions of higher education, high-need school districts, and other interested organizations, with the purpose of enhancing the content knowledge of math and science teachers. Those interested in competing for funding under this program should contact their district for more information. \|For more information on the Math and Science Partnership program, visit: www.ed.gov/rschstat/research/progs/mathscience/index.html.\| The President Calls for Increasing the Ranks and Pay of Math and Science Teachers No Child Left Behind requires states to fill the nation's classrooms with teachers who are qualified to teach math and science by the end of the 2005-06 school year. In areas where there are critical shortages, President Bush supports paying math and science teachers more in order to help attract experienced and excellent teachers. Title II funds may be used to fund programs that attract teachers in areas of critical need. \| According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) on math:20 According to a recent international comparison on math and science:21	3.570864
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia In general, a nun is a female ascetic who chooses to voluntarily leave the world and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. The term "nun" is applicable to Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Buddhists, for example. The male equivalent of a nun is a monk. In Roman Catholicism a nun is the term for a female monastic regular, equivalent to that of a male monk. In the Catholic tradition, there are a number of different orders of nuns each with its own charism or special devotion. In general, when a person enters a convent she has a trial period (Noviciate) that lasts a number of years. Upon completion of this period she may take her vows. In the various branches of the Benedictine tradition (Benedictines, Cistercian and Trappists) nuns usually take formal vows of stability (that is, to remain a member of a single monastic community), obedience (to an abbess or prioress), and "conversion of life" (which includes the ideas of poverty and chastity) while in other groups like the "Poor Clares" (a Franciscan order) and cloistered Dominicans the three-fold vows of chastity, poverty and obedience are used. Nuns observe "papal enclosure" rules and their monasteries typically have walls and grilles separating the nuns from the outside world. The nuns rarely leave, though they may have visitors in specially built parlors that allow them to meet with outsiders. They are usually self-sufficient, earning money by selling jams or candies or baked goods by mail order, or by making liturgical items (vestments, candles, bread for Holy Communion). They sometimes undertake contemplative ministries – that is, a monastery of nuns is often associated with prayer for some particular good: supporting the missions of another order by prayer (the Maryknoll order has both missionary sisters and cloistered nuns; and the sisters of Daughters of Saint Paul are supported in their media ministry by the nuns of Daughters of Divine Wisdom), prayer for a diocese, etc. Technically, a convent is the home of a community of sisters – or, indeed, of priests and brothers, though this term is rarely used in the U.S. The term "monastery" is usually used by communities within the Benedictine family, and convent (when referring to a cloister) of certain other orders. A nun who is elected to head her monastery is termed an abbess if the monastery is an abbey, a prioress if it is a priory, or more generically may be referred to as the Mother Superior. The distinction between abbey and priory has to do with the terms used by a particular order or by the level of independence of the monastery. Roman Catholic Nun or Sister? "Nun" is not to be confused with "religious sister". Though commonly called nuns in informal conversation, women belonging to orders like the Sisters of Charity, Franciscans or Dominicans are religious sisters, not nuns. Nuns and sisters are distinguished by the type of vows they take (solemn vow vs. simple vow) and the focus of their good works. The type of vow that one must take to become a member of a religious community is decided by the Roman curia upon the approval that community. The religious community of a nun is referred to as a "religious order" while the religious community of a sister is referred to as an "institute" or "congregation". Nun and sister are mutually exclusive religious paths. To be a nun, one must a) live in a cloistered community or monastery; b) have taken the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience (as opposed to the perpetual simple vows of poverty, chastity and obedience taken by sisters); and c) recite the Liturgy of Hours, Divine Office, or other prayers together with her community. Nuns are restricted from leaving the cloister, though some may engage in limited teaching or other vocational work depending on the strictness of enforcement. Visitors are not allowed into the monastary to freely associate with nuns. In essence, the work of a nun is within the confines of her monastary, while the work of a sister is in the greater world. Both sisters and nuns are addressed as "Sister." Eastern Orthodox Christian In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is no distinction between a monastery for men and a monastery for women. In the Greek language both domiciles are called monasteries and the ascetics who live there are Monastics. In English, however, it is acceptable to use the terms "nun", "convent", and "abbess" simply for clarity and convenience. Orthodox monastics do not have "orders" as in the Catholic Church. Orthodox monks and nuns lead identical spiritual lives. There may be slight differences in the way a monastery functions internally but these are simply style differences (Gr. Typica) dependant on the Abbess or Abbot. The Abbess is the spiritual leader of the convent and her authority is absolute (no priest, bishop, or even patriarch can override an abbess within the walls of her monastery). There has always been fair equality between men and women in the Orthodox Church. Abbots and Abbesses rank in authority equal to bishops in many ways and were included in ecumenical councils. Abbesses hear confessions and dispense blessings on their charges though they still require the services of a presbyter (i.e., a priest) in order to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and other priestly functions. There have been, however, cases where nuns have functioned as deaconesses; though the last one to serve in that position was in the 19th century. There are a number of different levels that the nun passes through in her profession. When one enters a monastery the first three to five years are spent as a "novice". Novices may or may not dress in the black inner robe (Isorassa), this being dependent on the abbess’ wishes. The isorassa is the first part of the monastic "habit" of which there is only one style for Orthodox monastics (this is true in general, there have been a few slight regional variations over the centuries). Orthodox monastics, in general have little or no contact with the outside world, especially family. The pious family whose child decides to enter the monastic profession understands that their child will become "dead to the world" and therefore be unavailable. If a novice chooses to leave during the novitiate period no penalty is incurred. When the abbess deems the novice ready, the novice is asked to join the monastery. If she accepts she is "tonsured" in a formal service, she is given the outer robe (Exorassa) and veil to wear, and because she is now dead to the world she receives a new name. Nuns consider themselves part of a sisterhood, however, tonsured nuns are usually called "Mother". The next level for monastics takes place some years after the first tonsure when the abbess feels the nun has reached a level of discipline, dedication, and humility. Once again, in a formal service the nun is elevated to the "Schema" which is signified by additions to her "habit" of certain symbolic pieces. In addition, the abbess increases the nun’s prayer rule, she is allowed a more strict personal ascetic practice, and she is given more responsibility. The final stage, called "Megaloschemos" or "Great Schema" is reached by nuns whose Abbess feels they have reached a high level of excellence. In some monastic traditions the Great Schema is only given to monks and nuns on their death bed, while in others they may be elevated after as little as 25 years of service. Denominations that are directly descended from the Roman Catholic Church, such as the Lutherans, Anglicans, and even Calvinists continue to have small monastic communities. In some Anglican orders, there are nuns who have been ordained as priests. Nuns also appear in Buddhist traditions. While monks and nuns are celibate, it is not unusual for both to exist within the same monastery. There are many variations to the style of "Habit" worn by these monastics, however, most, male and female, shave their head. Other uses of the word nun - In biology, Nun is a genus of the hillstream loach, a type of small freshwater fish. - In Egyptian mythology, Nun is an alternate spelling for Nu, the name by which ancient Egyptians called both the mysterious underworld from where life was renewed and the primordeal god residing there. The name translates as "Abyss". - Nun is also the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. - Nun and Nunnery were also Elizabethan era slang for prostitutes and brothels. - Nun is also the name of the father of Joshua, the right-hand man and successor of Moses. - A nun buoy is a type of buoy. - Sister Wendy Beckett - The Sound of Music - The Singing Nun - Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis - Poor Clare nuns in Rockford, Illinois The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details	3.495229
Current computer graphics are fairly well known and understood. But how did we get here? The evolution of computer graphics is intertwined with textual display, and it is difficult to consider the two separately. An old saying has it that a picture is worth a thousand words. The exact quantification of the value of imagery versus text appears to vary somewhat with subject matter, and is probably better left to psychologists and social scientists. But there is little question of the kernel of truth in the saying, and it has been a driver of computer architecture for many years. Computer graphics are taken for granted today. But it has been a long and painful struggle, with hardware rarely keeping up with the demand for better images. In English, there are a relatively small number of characters which comprise text. The same is not true of images: graphics are computationally intensive. They always seem to take as much speed and memory as there are available. But the demand was high enough that early computer graphics could be fairly crude and still be in demand. From blinking lights to plotters Getting computers to type text was, in comparison, a simple process. Even in the early days of computing, there were existing devices which could translate a simple binary pattern into text. The military, for example, had used teletype machines for many years. Programming a computer to output the pattern that outputs the code for a textual character on a teletype machine is relatively simple. Early computers used mostly flashing lights, with punched cards or paper tape for input and output. When there is only room for a few hundred instructions, you take input and output in its simplest form. But sometimes the available technology drives applications, and sometimes, the need to do something becomes a driver of seeking new technology. The potential for getting a computer to produce a picture of the data wasn’t missed. It would be more valuable if the picture were produced rapidly enough for the user to interact, but even producing an image of some sort that represented the computer contents or calculations in the recent past had its merits. IBM was offering an output printer on its 701 model in 1952. It also offered a primitive graphics solution (the model 740 “Cathode Ray Tube Output Recorder”) in 1954. The 740 demonstrates just how big the demand for graphics was, and how minimal a capability was considered meaningful. The 740 was a cathode ray tube to which a camera could be attached. Digital-to-analog converters drove the cathode ray tube, slowly drawing lines, based on the digital outputs of the computer. This method gradually came to be known as “vector graphics,” to distinguish it from other technologies. Lines were plotted one point at a time. IBM justifiably bragged (at the time) that points were plotted at a rate of 8,000 per second, with a display accuracy of a given point of only 3%, but with good repeatability. You couldn’t reliably scale the resulting image, but the image would have at least conceptual value. Typically, the camera shutter was opened when the drawing started, and closed when it finished. At that time, the film could be developed, and the image could be viewed later the same day. Needless to say, this tech wasn't suitable for playing video games. Of course, one could maintain a simpler image on the display simply by repeating the drawing instructions at a fairly high rate. But this used most or all of the CPU time, and limited the detail which could be drawn. The 740 had a sister display, the 780, which had a long-persistence phosphor (20 seconds). While not as precise, when paralleled with the 740, it allowed the operator to verify that the image being produced was indeed the one desired. When you have to wait several hours for the film image to be developed, that’s a good idea. But there is another way to get an image with a slow computer, and one that will yield an image to the users much sooner: a plotter. Gene Seid and Robert Morton, two of the founders of CalComp, developed the idea in 1953, but lack of funding kept the device off the market until 1959. The idea is simple: drive a pen on two axes. That takes a pair of stepping motors, and something to put the pen down at the start of a line, and lift it again at the end. Software can calculate when the pen should be stepped in either axis to draw straight lines between two points, curved lines, or whatever. In time, fairly sophisticated software packages were developed which isolated the users from the plotter, and allowed them to describe the image in more human-friendly terms such as “m=1, plot y=mx+b for x=1 to 6,” and so on. If the plotter drew a shape, the shape could be filled with solid, dashed, or dotted lines to simulate black or grayscale. Calculating the bounds of the lines within the shape became a part of early plotting packages. Unless one is doing ray tracing, or something similar, the bounds for shading or color within a surface must still be calculated today, and the techniques still draw on these early methods. In time, plotters had additional pens added to do drawings in color. But the number of colors was limited, and the drawings were still vectors. Listing image by From PDP-1 to PS3, what a difference 45 years makes	3.797535
Read has also worked on the evolution of bacteria that resist antibiotics. In a provocative paper published last year, he suggested that typically prescribed doses of antibiotics can sometimes favor resistant strains. Smaller doses, which allow the immune system to kill resistant bacteria, could prove a better long-term approach. In infectious disease, individual bugs compete within a host, as do individuals in any population of organisms. If a drug or vaccine doesn't completely wipe out or prevent infection, the intervention can tip the evolutionary playing field and possibly favor not only bugs that resist that particular drug, but ones that spread faster, or cause more severe symptoms, Read said. The malaria findings, published in last week's issue of the journal PLoS Biology, are being taken seriously by vaccine researchers. "If there is an effect like this we need to be mindful of it and take steps to minimize this kind of impact," said Patrick Duffy, chief of the laboratory of malaria immunology and vaccination at the National Institutes of Health. The findings don't apply to most existing vaccines, such as those used against smallpox, measles, and mumps. Those prevent people from ever getting infected, so there's no opportunity for the viruses to evolve in immunized people, Read said. But the malaria parasite is a more complex organism and no vaccine being tested now can wipe it out. So far, the best scientists can do with vaccines is to stave off infection and ameliorate the symptoms, so that infected children are less likely to die. But vaccinated people still harbor the parasite, and, through mosquitoes, can spread it to others. Such imperfect vaccines are referred to as "leaky" because the pathogens can still multiply and evolve inside infected people. Other "leaky" vaccines may eventually be used to treat HIV. Evolution may also play a role in how other diseases react to vaccines. Whooping cough is one of them, Read said, since the vaccine can wear off. Researchers should also be vigilant about evolution of human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, he said. The current vaccine doesn't protect against all strains of the virus and may allow nontargeted strains to become more virulent. "We're moving into situations where parasites are evolving in the presence of immunized populations," he said. "We have to be sure we don't create situations where we're allowing hotter strains to spread." While the malaria parasite that infects humans can't be given to laboratory mice or rats, these animals can be infected with a different version of the parasite that in nature infects African rodents called thicket rats. For a vaccine in this mouse experiment, Read and collaborator Victoria Barclay chose a protein called AMA-1, which is the key component in several vaccines now in human trials in Africa. They allowed the parasite to spread through 10 different immunized mouse hosts. Then they let it infect unvaccinated mice. This new malaria parasite made unvaccinated mice much sicker than malaria that hadn't evolved in vaccinated hosts. Read said they are still trying to figure out the specific mechanism by which the malaria parasites became more aggressive and virulent. It's possible, he said, that the immune response prompted by the vaccine knocked out the weakest parasites, leaving the more aggressive, fast-spreading ones to grow without competition. NIH's Duffy said the results will influence how they conduct human vaccine trials now going on in several African countries. In Read's experiment, it was the unvaccinated mice that got the worst disease down the road. If things play out the way they did for Read's experimental mice, he said, the vaccines might benefit some people but make the situation more dangerous for those who remain unvaccinated. "We not only need to follow the people who we've given the vaccine to, but other people in the community," Duffy said. Researchers are exploring a number of different tactics for vaccine development, Duffy said. They're targeting the parasite in different stages of its complicated life cycle, including the phase in which it lives inside the mosquito. Some of these stages may be less likely than others to allow the parasite to evolve. He and Read agree that this new paper should increase awareness of evolution but not fuel irrational fears of vaccines. "Vaccines are still our best public health tool," Duffy said. "They are our most cost-effective way to improve public health." Contact Faye Flam at 215-854-4977, [email protected], or follow on Twitter @fayeflam. Read her blog at philly.com/evolution.	3.370531
[ A.K.A SEKMINËS – Seventh Sunday after Easter In Lithuania and in neighboring countries, traditions of Pentecost are related with the end of sowing and the start of summer labors. This is a spring gathering and shepherds' holiday. The most distinctive feature of Pentecost is nature worship. The power of nature was attributed to young, green birch trees. It was believed that the birch tree can pass her vitality to the soil, to animals, protect from illness and all evils. On the eve of Pentecost, village girls dispersed in fields and woods in search of flowers and greenery that were used to make wreaths. Young men picked branches off birch trees, which they placed around doors, gates, inside porches and in living rooms. Wreaths and bunches of flowers decorated the entire house. Tables were covered with linen tablecloths, garden paths were sprinkled with sand and greens. It was believed that the souls of the dead, while visiting homes on Pentecost, rested on birch tree branches. Shepherds decorated cows with birch wreaths, to keep them calm and together, be good milkers and to please the mistress of the house so she would be kind and generous throughout the year. The writer, B.Buraèas described this tradition of decorating the herds in his writings, saying that on the night before Pentecost, shepherds returning home with the herd dressed the animals with birch and marsh marigold wreaths. They even tied birch branches to cattle horns. In some regions women placed a piece of bread in a white linen kerchief, tied it with three double birch branches and tied this kerchief to their apron sash believing this to be a protection from snake bites. Whipping with bathing birch- rods in bathhouses was believed to chase all ailments out of the body. On Pentecost morning, the master of the house whipped his cows to make them more active while grazing in the fields. When Christianity came to Lithuania, churches began blessing grasses. Then on this holiday, churches were decorated with birch trees and other greenery. People arrived in church carrying bunches of greenery , which were blessed. These blessed greens were set on fire and their smoke was used to incense dying persons, new buildings and storm clouds. It was believed that smoke from Pentecost greens had the power to chase away evil spirits, protect buildings and send storm clouds away. Wayside crosses and ritual tables were also decorated with Pentecost greenery. J.Balys wrote in " Lithuanian Calendar Holidays" how plants are used in charmings. First of all, many wreaths were twined and each one was given a man's name. The largest wreath was given the name of the girl who wanted to know the name chosen name. The wreaths are thrown into the well or into the pond in the evening, so as not to be seen by anyone. Early in the morning the girl went to see if her wreath was beside the largest wreath. If it was, she would marry him. Before Pentecost one must twine a large wreath of cornflowers with three branches of rue in it. Before evening this wreath is placed on the girl's head and fastened to the hair so it would not fall off. He, who in a dream removes this wreath, will be the one too take away her virginity. N.Gimbutas in " Baltic Mythology" , wrote that there was tradition to go to the woods on Pentecost. A birch tree was picked out, decorated and taken into the village. About hundred years ago this was an important ritual which involved the entire community. On this holiday there are fire and water glorification rituals. The church on Pentecost blessed fire and water. In many regions holy water was sprinkled on grain seeds, so that they would sprout fast and that birds would not peck at the grain. Sprinkling with holy water was meant to keep insects away from the crops and keep ponds and rivers safe from drownings. To keep horses well and give them shinny coats, their food was also sprinkled with holy water. After Pentecost, according to the folk calendar, it was safe to swim in rivers and lakes, especially if these bodies of water were close to churches, they were blessed by the priests to protect the swimmers from drownings. Country folk poured holy water into their wells and ponds for Pentecost is one bright day in the shepherds' year. This day was begun by the blare of the herdsman's trumpet before sunrise, awakening the shepherds. That day, every shepherd planned to take his herd out at the earliest and play his small horn. Each shepherd made his own small horn for Pentecost from osier or alder wood and added a hollow cow's horn to give it a better As the animals were leaving the barn, they were incensed with burning, dried herbs by the mistress of the house. The herd grazed until noon, then the shepherds decorated the entire herd and themselves and returned to the village singing and playing their horns. Then the feasting began, hosted by the head herdsman. Shepherds' outings were organized on Pentecost, called shepherds' omelet, [ a.k.a. pautienë ]. In some regions shepherds stopped at homesteads in the morning to pick up prepared foods, while in others they asked for eggs, flour, butter, milk and salt so that they could bake their own omelet. In Dzûkija the following greeting was voiced, " happy Pentecost, spent happily and peacefully with horses neighing and cows mooing. I was sent to you by the oxen for bread, for milk by the cows, by sheep for flour, by hogs for bacon and fat, by the motley hens for eggs, by the rooster for pancakes and by the shepherds for money". If some households gave nothing, the returning herd was decorated with nettle wreaths and brooms tied to the cows' horns, so that everyone would know about the stinginess of that household.. However, most homeowners were generous because they knew that by not giving the cows' milk would be decreased. After collecting all he goodies, the shepherds went to feast, picnic in the woods. After the omelet was baked, the shepherds went into the forest, climbed a tree and called out to wolves and bears to come and have breakfast with them, saying, " if you do not come out now, you will never come out during the coming year". This is an ancient prayer, an incantation. In some regions of the Highlands [ a.k.a. Aukðtaitija ], shepherds were allowed to sleep in while the herding in the morning was carried out by girls. They herded out very early, before the larks awakened. Hearing the larks, village lads came out playing reed and pan pipes. They also brought food, lit bonfires. The important ritual was made up of a game called " Arrange a Wedding". The prettiest girl was chosen to play the bride and a lad was chosen to play the groom, while other girls dressed as bridesmaids. After the wedding rites, the newlyweds were taken to bed in a granary, a tent made of tree branches. After that came their awakening and the end of the wedding ritual games. People in ancient times believed that peoples' sexual love and fertility stimulate earth's productivity. On the second day of Pentecost, the hired hands together with the owner's sons carried on in the same manner as the shepherds. They provided drinks and music while maidens prepared the food. The maidens walked along fields of grain, singing songs with magical meanings: You osier, clover, Green bush, clover, How tall you grew, clover, At the first gate, clover, The sun rose, clover, At the second gate, clover, The moon trundled, clover, At the third gate, clover, The maiden walked, clover. Entire families visited the rye fields. Checked both theirs' and neighbors' fields and shared farming advice. In some regions, hired hands brewed beer before Pentecost so that they could treat the owners after their walks in the grain fields. Everyone gathers to eat and drink , while the young people sing and dance. Girls had separate amusements. They sat in a nice spot on a hill, twined wreaths, cast lots, told tales, sang and walked around grain fields. When Christianity spread throughout Lithuania, priests turned these ancient walkings around grain fields into blessings of the grain fields. People gathered in one farmstead upon the priests' arrival and went together to bless the grain fields. Feasting took place after the blessing. This tradition disappeared at the beginning of 20th century, when villages broke up into individual farms.	3.194707
There has been a fair amount written recently about the use of capacitors to "drop" the mains voltage down to values suitable for transistor circuitry. I was recently asked to explain some aspects of such circuitry and looking through my references, was taken by the fact that one of the circuits described looked remarkably familiar. Above are shown two circuits. Only the bare essentials are shown, things like surge limiting resistors are omitted......... Their similarities are self evident. Now, if we wish to analyze Fig. 1. in terms of current available, it is natural to think in terms of impedance. The reactance ( impedance ) of a capacitor is given by the formula ( 1 ) Xc = 1/2p fC where f is the frequency in Hz and C is the capacitance in Farads. We can now apply Ohms Law to this and we find that, in a circuit where there is capacitance only, ( 2 ) I = 2 p fCE where I is the AC current and E is the RMS value of the AC supply. As D1 is a half wave regulator, ( 3 ) Idc = p fCE. Let us see what a bit of simple arithmetic produces; Iím going to ignore things like voltage drop across diodes :- If we give C1 a value of 470 nf and an AC voltage of 230, equation (2) above gives us :- 2X p X 50 X 4.7 X 10-7 X 230 = an AC current value of 34 ma. If we use half wave rectification, as in Fig. 1, we should divide this by 2, i.e. 17ma. Taking Fig. 2, we would normally analyze it in terms of charge, it is after all, a charge pump, so we use classic capacitance theory, i.e. Q = CV = IT. ( Charge = Capacitance X Voltage = Current X Time ) or I = CV/T. As T = 1/f we can write this as Idc = CVf. If we were to apply the mains to such a circuit we could assume that, because the mains has "unlimited capacity", C1 charges up to twice the mains peak voltage ( i.e. 2(Ö 2 X 230 ) = 650 ), we then get :- Idc = 2 Ö 2( fCE ) or 2 x Ö 2 x 50 x 4.7 X 10-9 X 2.3 X 102 . This gives us a current of 15 ma. Now this isnít too much of a discrepancy but it bothers me. The two figures should be the same ! Where is my simple arithmetic going wrong ? David Ledgard suggested that, if we want to find out why the answers are different, we put the two formulae side by side and cancel out the common factors, So :- p fCE - - - - 2Ö 2( fCE ) ( p x 50 x 470 x 10-9 x 230 ) - - - - ( 2 x Ö 2 x 50 x 470 x 10-9 x 230 ) The result is :- ( p ) - - - - ( 2Ö 2 ) Now, p does not equal 2Ö 2 so this explains why the results are different but does illustrate that we will always get answers in that ratio, no matter what values are used for frequency, capacitance or voltage. The charge formula always gives a current value which is 10% below that calculated using the impedance formula. Which is correct ? It doesnít really matter ! The tolerances of capacitors are such that there can be a 10% variation anyway ! Nevertheless, I remain puzzled. The two formulae are well established. You might even say that they are pillars of the Electronic Establishment. They should be equally valid and if so the answers should be the sameÖÖ We have at least a couple of hundred folk in the B.A.E.C. and some of them must be smarter than me. Come on chaps ! Tell me the answer.	3.432577
\|Community-Scale Biomass Energy: The Facts\| Download a pdf of this article When community-scale biomass energy systems are well-designed, well-run, and sustainably supplied, it is a positive, proven, renewable energy option that can be practical and safe, can strengthen our economy and security, and can help ease the urgent strain on our planet’s ecosystem. And, in regions throughout the United States with abundant forest resources, it is available now. Community-scale biomass energy systems burn biological material—most often wood from low-quality trees—in highly efficient, high-temperature combustion systems to produce heat. Sometimes, these systems also produce a certain amount of electric power (this is called CHP, combined heat and power). But the most efficient use of biomass for energy is to provide space heating and domestic hot water. Community-scale systems typically provide this to single buildings, such as schools and hospitals, or to groups of buildings such as college campuses, industrial parks, or whole towns or cities through “district heating” systems. Community-scale biomass systems that produce heat or CHP are different from electric power plants, which are generally much larger and mainly produce electricity for broad distribution. Biomass-fueled technology is only about 20-25 percent efficient at producing electric power; at producing heat, it is 70-90 percent efficient. Power plants sometimes (though this is rare) sell the excess heat they generate, where it is economically feasible and if there is an appropriate user nearby; this is only 40-45 percent efficient. Technology is also being developed that can use biomass to produce liquid biofuels. Community-scale thermal applications are the most efficient biomass energy technologies—they do the best job of turning biomass fuel into energy, with the least waste. Systems of this type have been in use since the early 1980s, and have built a track record of safety and reliability. Today, a growing number of community-scale systems, most fueled with woodchips and some with wood pellets, are delivering heat and hot water to schools, businesses, colleges, hospitals, city centers, and whole communities across the northern United States, Canada, and north and central Europe. Biomass fuel can be used in a wide range of technologies, from home woodstoves to power plants. Because community-scale thermal systems combine high-efficiency combustion with sophisticated emission controls, this technology meets and exceeds all emission-safety standards, while providing heat energy at relatively stable fuel prices from a local fuel source. When wood fuel is harvested responsibly from well-managed forests, community-scale biomass energy is a sustainable whole system. It keeps energy dollars circulating in the local and regional economy, by using a renewable fuel that is harvested nearby—and its carbon emissions are re-captured as the forests that supply the fuel continue to grow. In contrast, fossil-fuel systems extract carbon that is buried underground in geological deposits, then add it to the atmosphere over time. Finally, by developing a reliable, local market for low-quality wood, biomass energy can create a new financial incentive for forestland owners to manage their forests for long-term productive health, lessening the pressure to “high-grade” (cut only the most valuable trees and leave the rest). The revenue stream for biomass fuel can help landowners make ends meet, also relieving the pressure to sell woodland for development. Benefits of Using Biomass at the Community Scale Modern Community-Scale Biomass Energy Systems Use Sophisticated Emission Controls Biomass energy systems emit 1/6 of the sulfur oxides, which contribute to acid rain, than do oil-fired systems. Nitrogen oxide emissions are about the same as oil. When Their Fuel Is Harvested Responsibly from Sustainably Managed Forests, Biomass Systems Can Be Low-Carbon, or Carbon Neutral Over Time Good forest management is essential to realizing the carbon benefits of biomass energy. Key factors include: where trees are harvested, how they are harvested, how this plays out over the landscape and over time, and whether management practices support long-term forest health. It is also important that biomass energy systems be well-designed and efficiently run. When these positive factors are in place, converting from oil- or gas-fired energy to biomass can reduce net CO2 emissions by 75-90 percent. A Well-Managed Biomass Fuel Industry, Coupled with Sustainable Growth in Demand, Creates New Incentives to Protect and Preserve the Working Forest Landscape Image Captions (from top to bottom) A typical below-grade woodchip storage bin at a public school. Woodchips being conveyed from the storage bin to to the boiler room. The 2010 installation of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont exemplifies a community-scale biomass application. Woodchips burning inside the combustion chamber of a biomass boiler. The chipping of low-grade wood from harvesting operations in the forest.	3.46809
Baby Humor Development It is during this time in a child’s life that they begin to closely watch their parent’s expressions. This is when they start to understand how to interpret when something is funny. The study was conducted in the U.S. where researchers studied a group of 30 babies in their own homes on two separate occasions. The first occasion was when the babies were 6 months old and the second was when they were one year old. The babies were studied initially while they watched their parents react to two ordinary events and later to two unordinary events. For the ordinary event the researcher read a picture book and showed a red ball to the babies. For the unordinary event the researcher bounced the picture book on her head and put the red ball on her nose. When the unordinary event occurred the parents were told to either point and laugh at the researcher or to stare without making an expression. At 6 months of age, during the absurd events, the babies watched their parents closely as they laughed and stared for a longer time than when the normal events took place. However, there was no distinct correlation between the babies’ reactions and their parents’ reactions. At 1 year of age, when the same events took place, the babies showed they had already developed a sense of humor by laughing when the absurd events took place even when their parents remained expressionless. Researchers suggest, “The combination of paying close attention to absurd events and to others laughing at those events when they are 6 months old may explain how babies develop the sense of humor they have when they’re a year old”. The study was presented at the British Psychological Society meeting in Glasgow, Scotland this September where researchers explained how humor is an important vehicle for understanding infant development. The study revealed that social referencing is a key ingredient to infant development; particularly in relation to emotional advice received by parents. The author of the study, Gina Mireault of Johnson State College, claims, “Our findings suggest that 6-month-olds are starting to see parents as a source of emotional information, and this is likely to be an important step on the way to being able to obtain emotional advice from parents when this is needed, which we know infants do at 8 months. By 12 months, infants seem to have had just enough life experience to make up their own minds — at least about what is absurdly funny.”	3.21802
The presence of a large multi-burner gas range at the heart of the cooking line is about as fundamental as it gets in any restaurant. That iron and stainless steel behemoth uses a lot of energy, throws a lot of heat, and requires a dedicated ventilation system just to keep the cooks from getting overwhelmed. For decades no proper chef would have it any other way. That’s beginning to change, and the catalyst of that change is the induction range. Induction cooking works in a completely different manner than traditional gas or electric ranges. Instead of using a superhot medium like burning gas or an electrically heated element, induction ranges use the energy created by two opposing magnetic fields driven by an electric current to make the metal in the cookware itself become hot. Sound a little geeky? It is, in a cool science project kind of way. For professional chefs, the most interesting thing about induction cooking are the practical advantages it can bring to the process, including: Precision temperature control. While there is certainly a steep learning curve in the beginning, once a chef gets an induction range dialed in based upon the numbers on the knob, you can be sure you’ll get consistent, perfectly even heat every time. This is especially beneficial for low temperature and simmering applications, because an induction range can maintain a much lower heat than a traditional gas or electric range. Speed. You’ve never seen a pot boil faster or oil heat up quicker than on an induction range. Because the metal of the pot or pan sitting on the burner becomes the heating agent instead of the medium, induction is by far the fastest way to heat whatever you’re cooking. Efficiency. An induction range uses a fraction of the energy used by a traditional range. There’s also almost zero energy waste since the energy used to heat food is created in the metal of the cookware instead of below it. This energy is also created by a relatively weak electrical current, which can be much more inexpensive than natural gas. Safety. An induction burner that’s turned on to full heat is still cool to the touch. As it heats metal cookware it will become hot, but the burner itself creates no heat. This makes induction much safer than traditional ranges. Some induction ranges even have automatic detectors that shut off the burner when there is no pan present, when the pan is empty, or when foreign objects fall onto the surface of the range. Ventilation. Because induction ranges don’t burn fuel like a gas range, minimal ventilation is needed, and much less heat is created, even if you’re running induction all day on a busy line. This can save any restaurant a boatload of money on the ventilation and cooling costs normally associated with a traditional gas range. Make sure you consult the local regulations in your community when deciding how much ventilation you need to install for an induction range. In general, however, the requirements should be a fraction of those for a gas range. Induction cooking isn’t for every restaurant. Some chefs don’t like the fact that cookware cools off rapidly when it’s not in contact with the burner – a distinct disadvantage for techniques that call for using the pan to flip or sautee ingredients as they cook. Induction also supports only certain types of cookware – usually stainless steel or cast iron – which means your aluminum cookware will be useless on an induction range. If you are interested in induction cooking, Vollrath has been a pioneer in developing induction ranges, countertop burners, and even chafers for the food service industry. So far another factor slowing the widespread adoption of induction technology in restaurants has been the cost of equipment. As energy prices, especially natural gas, continue to rise and the cost of quality induction equipment comes down, however, induction cooking starts to make more and more sense. Check out a full inventory of Vollrath induction equipment here.	3.04776
Earth Day is arriving next week--and guess what? Children fear that soon we won't be celebrating any additional Earth Days. In a survey commissioned by HabitatHeroes.com, more than half believe the earth will not be a good place to live when they grow up. One in three fear the demise of the planet. Sharon Lowe, mother of three, environmental activist, and creator of HabitatHeroes.com, offers these tips to help parents allay their kid's fears about the environment: -Communication is key. Parents need to be open and honest with their children. -Allow your children to ask questions. Acknowledge their fears as real, no matter how big or small. Explain in a manner they can relate to. Show them pictures. Visit websites like Habitat Heroes and engage in child friendly games and activities to help explain the issues in a way that is not scary. Habitat Heroes offers printable activity sheets and lesson plans which can help reinforce your conversations. You can also find out if your child's class is being educated about topics that they are fearful of. Many schools are taking the initiative to teach students about these environmental and social issues and how to cope. As with anything parents should always lead by example. Here are some simple ways to educate kids about being green. 1) Add more clothing before adding more heat. 2) Take off a layer of clothing before turning up the air conditioning. 3) Replace light bulbs with energy efficient ones. Make it an activity with the kids. 4) Turn off electrical appliances at the powerpoint, not just the switch. 5) Turn off the TV when you leave the room. 6) Turn off the lights when you leave the room. 7) Open up curtains and enjoy natural light. 8) Take recycled / hemp shopping bags with you instead of using plastic bags. 9) Place food scraps into a compost bin for your garden. You can turn that into a fun activity for the kids. They will love watching the worms! 10) Recycle plastics, glass and paper in the appropriate places. Check if your municipality or local stores recycle electronic goods and furniture. For more information check out Habitat Heores	3.662776
At statehood, the federal government promised all states that it would transfer title for all public lands within the states. The U.S. Supreme Court has called these promises “solemn compacts,” “bilateral (two-way) agreements,” and “solemn trusts” that must be performed “in a timely fashion.” With the vote of 35-15, SB1332 was changed from requiring that Washington turn over “public lands” to a demand that they do so. If it passes the Senate, it will place Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in the position that Utah Gov. Gary Herbert found himself in when he signed similar legislation last month, do they join the Western land war: 5 states fight D.C. for control of federal areas. The fight centers on the millions of acres of lands that were never turned over to the western states after they were admitted to the union. These lands are being held in “trust” for the “public” but they hold valuable resources that the states feel they have a right too. The following list shows what these states see as unequal treatment by the federal government. The percentage of land that is under the control of the feds west of the Mississippi is staggering and they want it turned over as promised in the Enabling Acts that brought these states into existence . - Nevada 84.5% - Alaska 69.1% - Utah 57.4% - Oregon 53.1% - Idaho 50.2% - Arizona 48.1% - California 45.3% - Wyoming 42.3% - New Mexico 41.8% - Colorado 36.6% Now compare that to other states and you will be able to understand why the western states feel that they must demand respect for their sovereignty and their lands as promised. - Connecticut 0.4% - Rhode Island 0.4% - Iowa 0.8% - New York 0.8% - Maine 1.1% - Kansas 1.2% - Nebraska 1.4% - Alabama 1.6% - Ohio 1.7% - Illinois 1.8% The argument has been the definition of a “timely manner” for turning over these lands but as you can see by the dates of admittance to the union these states have been more than patient with Washington’s failure to keep its promises. - Nevada Oct 31, 1864 - Alaska Jan 3, 1959 - Utah Jan 4, 1896 - Oregon Feb 14, 1859 - Idaho Jul 3, 1890 - Arizona Feb 14, 1912 - California Sep 9, 1850 - Wyoming Jul 10, 1890 - New Mexico Jan 6, 1912 - Colorado Aug 1, 1876 “The bill’s chief supporter said environmental constraints put on mining, logging and other resource industries limit how federally controlled public land can be used in the West, to the detriment of states’ economic prosperity.” “This will take the shackles off of us and allow us to prosper,” Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, said during a March committee hearing on the bill. “This will be a major game-changer.” “The Utah law and the Arizona bill both call for formation of a state commission to decide details of how the transfers of control of public land would work.” For State Sovereignty to mean anything then these western states must gain control over the lands within their borders. If you live in Arizona – act NOW. Not tomorrow or next week. Today, not tomorrow – right now. 1. Visit the link below for contact information for your Senator: 2. Click on your senator’s name and get their email address and TWO phone numbers – capitol and district offices. 3. CALL them. Best option – respectfully, yet firmly urge them to pass this bill. Let them know that you want them to stand up for the Constitution of the United States AND the Constitution of Arizona – they took an oath to both. 4. EMAIL them – even if call, you can still email too. Alternatively, just send them a firm but courteous email urging them to vote yes on this bill. 5. Do the same for the Governor’s office – 602) 542-4331 or (520) 628-6580 http://www.azgovernor.gov/Contact.asp 6. Report Back – when you get responses, let us know! We want people to be informed of what their delegates are saying and doing.	3.072638
Q: I have a plant that looks like a cattail, but it has a plume on top instead of a catkin. What is it? Mike – Cottonwood, AZ A: It sounds like you’ve got phragmites. Also known as “common reed,” certain invasive varieties of this plant have taken root on the East Coast, Midwest and Pacific Northwest – and, apparently, in your pond! To identify the species of phragmite in your pond, check out Cornell University’s “Morphological Differences” website here. Generally speaking, phragmite is a perennial wetland grass that can grow to 6 to 15 feet in height. Its stems, which are erect, smooth and hollow, measure nearly 1 inch in diameter and are topped with 12-inch-long dense panicles, or purple-brown pyramid-shaped plumes of flowers, that emerge between July and September. The leaves that arise from the stem are 10 to 20 inches long and up to 2 inches wide. The plants propagate mainly via an extensive network of underground rhizomes, or horizontal stems, that produce roots and shoots that grow as deep as 39 inches, with their root systems growing down another 3 feet. They’re hardy – and unfortunately, they can be tough to control. A Substantial Threat These invasive, non-native bad guys can do some serious damage to your lake or pond. Not only do they create tall, dense stands that crowd out native plants and animals, but they also block your shoreline views, create fire hazards from dry plant material, and reduce areas for swimming, fishing and hunting. They’re definitely not something you want on your property. Once phragmites has taken root in your lake or pond, you’ll need to develop a long-term management plan to control them. Unfortunately, because the plants spread through their rhizomes, they could be difficult to eradicate entirely. That’s where chemical and mechanical control can help. - Chemical control: First, you can spray an EPA-registered herbicide and surfactant product, like Kraken™ & Cide-Kick™ Combo, in the late summer or early fall. Mix the herbicide with 2 gallons of water, pour it into pond sprayer and spray on the plants with your Airmax® Pressurized Pond Sprayer, completely wetting the surface of the leaves. Allow the mixture to absorb into the plant and the root system – the most difficult part of the plant to kill – for two weeks. - Mechanical control: Once the herbicide has had a chance to soak into the phragmites’ root system and kill the plants, use a weed cutting and removal tool, like the Pond Logic® Pond Rake and Weed Cutter, to slice at the base of the plants and remove them. If you can control your pond’s or lake’s water line, you can also cut the phragmites 2 to 3 inches below the water surface to cut off the plant’s supply of oxygen and drown the plant. - Destroy what you’ve removed: To prevent the accidental spread of the plant, collect the cut material and bag it before disposing of it. In extreme cases, prescribed burning after herbicide treatment can provide additional control. Before you begin, check with your local environmental agency to see if a permit is required for the treatments of these buggers. Plan to repeat this routine several years in a row. Patches may emerge even after regular treatments, but once you’ve wiped out the majority of the phragmites, the plant will be much easier to control. Just remember: early detection is key! Pond Talk: How do you control phragmites in your lake or pond?	3.167741
This winter I’m taking a course on urban education. Our first topic: segregation and desegregation in schools. Firstly, what do we mean by segregation? As a working definition, I’ll offer that segregation is the spatial pattern of people across some attribute. So we could talk about segregation by race, by income, or by favorite ice cream flavor. Once we pick something to measure against, we find that every city is segregated according to this definition. What matters is in what way the segregation manifests and the consequences on the populace the pattern has. Segregation patterns can be uniform, with all groups distributed more or less evenly within a region, or clustered. Likewise, we could also calculate the extent to which subpopulations are isolated from each other—which also gives a rough estimation of how often members of one group is likely to run into someone outside of their group. I think when we talk about ‘segregated’ groups, we typically mean highly clustered populations that are isolated from the other groups in the city. I don’t think that clustered, isolated groups are necessarily bad on their own. I love visiting the North End and Chinatown. Because they’re both T-accessible, it’s easy for me to get there. (Though, both neighborhoods have had rough pasts.) And Harvard Square is the nicest place I’ve ever lived. Score one for segregation! Moral judgments aside, self-selection can have a big influence on patterns of segregation, at least it can in models. The positive feedback loops reinforce small, individual choice to generate large-scale patterning. Schelling’s model of segregation is a classic, good first example of what I mean. In this model individuals exhibit only a slight preference to have neighbors that are similar to them. The individuals in this model are not racist. (Or maybe they are. I don’t have a good functional definition of racism yet.) When individuals find themselves in a neighborhood that is too unlike themselves, they move somewhere else at random, possibly to a neighborhood more dissimilar from themselves than the last. Even with this mild, partially blind behavior, a totally segregated structure emerges. In more relaxed models that completely ignore race, even more realistic patterns of segregation form. In this class of model, individuals simply choose to live in the nicest area they can afford. As if by magic, isolated poor and rich neighborhoods form. Depending on the details of the model, wealthy suburbs appear spontaneously. If we use socioeconomic status as a proxy for race, it’s the same old story. Except this time, we have a systems-level mechanism that generates isolated, poor communities that lack the power to advocate for equitable resources and very rich communities with disproportionately high share of public goods insulated by a buffer of middle class individuals. Race was not the cause; money was. When was ask whether it’s morally justified for a white family to send their kid to a predominantly white school, I think it’s important to know what about the school is so attractive. Do all parents value differentiated cultural and social understanding across many kinds of experience? Are they likely to value it more than a pretty campus or reputation of success by its graduates? Sure, in some cases the choice may be motivated largely by racism. But I’d expect that in many cases, it’s mostly a matter of ensuring access to the most and best resources possible for their child. It just so happens that low-resource groups aggregate, even in the absence of race. I believe that diversity (of background, experience, perspective, and the like) is important in schools because, as has been mentioned a few times by others, students learn how to navigate social situations outside of school from the people they meet in school. But when we talk about diversity, do we really mean racial diversity? As an example, imagine that an elite, wealthy, mostly white college in the Northeast has recently been chastised for admitting a student body that is not sufficient diverse. Consequently, the school begins recruiting wealthy black students from Africa, some of whom attended the same boarding schools as students already enrolled in the college. In time, the student body comes to be half white, half black with an even mix in all classes and housing situations. In what sense, if any, has the college increased diversity on campus? Do you think the college has produced the diversity they were previously lacking? While I think that racial segregation is a problem, I don’t think race is necessarily the capital-C cause. In a world without racism, economic segregation will still exist. But I’m willing to bet that in a world with no financial disparity, a lot of the troubles we associate with racism would evaporate. And so, I think race will play a secondary part in the solution to segregation. In fact, I think that race may even obscure the issue of access to equitable education for all. (I’m not sure if that’s what we’re really trying to achieve, but I think it’s a good start.) Instead, I believe that the struggle of the American education system is one of power and status. As such, I think we should talk about resource allocation (including strategies that move students to resources as well as bringing more resources to students), causes and effects of socioeconomic segregation, and cultural and pedagogical practices that systematically discourage/motivate students to learn the skills required to become an informed and capable citizens.	3.320106
July 18, 2012 Since the Industrial Revolution, ocean acidity has risen by 30 percent as a direct result of fossil-fuel burning and deforestation. And within the last 50 years, human industry has caused the world’s oceans to experience a sharp increase in acidity that rivals levels seen when ancient carbon cycles triggered mass extinctions, which took out more than 90 percent of the oceans’ species and more than 75 percent of terrestrial species. Rising ocean acidity is now considered to be just as much of a formidable threat to the health of Earth’s environment as the atmospheric climate changes brought on by pumping out greenhouse gases. Scientists are now trying to understand what that means for the future survival of marine and terrestrial organisms. In June, ScienceNOW reported that out of the 35 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide released annually through fossil fuel use, one-third of those emissions diffuse into the surface layer of the ocean. The effects those emissions will have on the biosphere is sobering, as rising ocean acidity will completely upset the balance of marine life in the world’s oceans and will subsequently affect humans and animals who benefit from the oceans’ food resources. The damage to marine life is due in large part to the fact that higher acidity dissolves naturally-occurring calcium carbonate that many marine species–including plankton, sea urchins, shellfish and coral–use to construct their shells and external skeletons. Studies conducted off Arctic regions have shown that the combination of melting sea ice, atmospheric carbon dioxide and subsequently hotter, CO2-saturated surface waters has led to the undersaturation of calcium carbonate in ocean waters. The reduction in the amount of calcium carbonate in the ocean spells out disaster for the organisms that rely on those nutrients to build their protective shells and body structures. The link between ocean acidity and calcium carbonate is a directly inverse relationship, which allows scientists to use the oceans’ calcium carbonate saturation levels to measure just how acidic the waters are. In a study by the University of Hawaii at Manoa published earlier this year, researchers calculated that the level of calcium carbonate saturation in the world’s oceans has fallen faster in the last 200 years than has been seen in the last 21,000 years–signaling an extraordinary rise in ocean acidity to levels higher than would ever occur naturally. The authors of the study continued on to say that currently only 50 percent of the world’s ocean waters are saturated with enough calcium carbonate to support coral reef growth and maintenance, but by 2100, that proportion is expected to drop to a mere five percent, putting most of the world’s beautiful and diverse coral reef habitats in danger. In the face of so much mounting and discouraging evidence that the oceans are on a trajectory toward irreparable marine life damage, a new study offers hope that certain species may be able to adapt quick enough to keep pace with the changing make-up of Earth’s waters. In a study published last week in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers from the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies found that baby clownfish (Amphiprion melanopus) are able to cope with increased acidity if their parents also lived in higher acidic water, a remarkable finding after a study conducted last year on another clownfish species (Amphiprion percula) suggested acidic waters reduced the fish’s sense of smell, making it likely for the fish to mistakenly swim toward predators. But the new study will require further research to determine whether or not the adaptive abilities of the clownfish are also present in more environmentally-sensitive marine species. While the news that at least some baby fish may be able to adapt to changes provides optimism, there is still much to learn about the process. It is unclear through what mechanism clownfish are able to pass along this trait to their offspring so quickly, evolutionarily speaking. Organisms capable of generation-to-generation adaptations could have an advantage in the coming decades, as anthropogenic emissions push Earth to non-natural extremes and place new stresses on the biosphere. Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.	3.804067
The creation of dead zones begins when nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilizers used on land, and from raw or poorly treated sewage, wash into streams, into rivers, and to the sea. Thus fertilized, single celled drifting algae in the sea reproduce – bloom — until they reach abnormal densities. The algae subsequently die and fall to the ocean floor, where they spark an explosion of bacteria that decompose them. The bacteria deplete the oxygen in the sea water to levels so low that little else can survive. Thus, a dead zone is created. Fish can sometimes swim away from these dead zones, or algae blooms, but other sea life like clams and crabs cannot. 3 things you can do to help shrink dead zones: 1. Consider using organic compost or other natural fertilizers instead of commercial products on your lawn and garden 2. Buy locally grown food to support small-scale, regional farmers. 3. Get involved in local efforts to reduce commercial fertilizer use. Other great ways you can make a difference. LINKS & VIDEOS Dr. Nancy Rabalais The rise of global dead zones. Dead zones, from fertilizer, cause fish die-offs.	4.069045
Genetic Variations: Drug Metabolism SNPs When a person takes medication, many proteins in his or her body interact with the drug as it is transported throughout the body, absorbed into tissues, metabolized into more active forms or toxic byproducts, and excreted. If an individual has SNPs in any one or more of these proteins, they may alter the time the body is exposed to active forms of a drug or to any of its toxic byproducts. Researchers now have the tools to study how genetic variations can influence an individual person's response to a drug. They can even capture information on metabolism-related genetic variations that occur among different genders or ethnic groups. The data they are collecting should help to explain why certain persons within a population may have different side effects in response to the same drug or some may respond to therapy better or worse than others.	3.285599
According to Christopher Clark and Nancy Hewitt, “Both failures and successes were inherent in the task of rebuilding the nation following the Civil War: vigilante violence, often fatal conflict over the right of African American men to vote, courageous African American insistence on self-determination and participation in the political process, and federal intervention in the South to help assure freedpeople’s rights. The Union victory in 1865 had settled two major debates but left everything else in doubt. The United States of America was preserved; slavery was dead, and African Americans were now free. But who would hold and exercise economic and political power in the postwar South? What kind of labor system would replace slavery? Who would lead the South politically? What would freedom mean for the four million former slaves? Answers to these questions were widely contested and would emerge only after two decades of intense political and social struggle, a struggle that contemporaries hopefully called Reconstruction. Racial conflicts in the former Confederacy continued to disrupt efforts at reunification, and a protracted financial crisis dashed hopes for a quick economic recovery. In response, northern political and business leaders focused their efforts on revitalizing the economy through reconciliation between North and South rather than protecting racial advancement in either region. Thus… the old planter aristocracy – under the protection of a revived Democratic Party – returned to power, controlling a nonslave but still exploitative system of agricultural labor. The failure of Reconstruction to transform southern race relations shaped the nation as a whole. Still, it was freedpeople who paid the highest price. Outgunned, both figuratively and literally, they were left with few alternatives. Yet they did not give up. Those who remained in the South established a dense network of autonomous community-based institutions, including black schools, churches, and businesses, to keep their democratic hopes alive within an oppressive and racist system.” (From Clark, Christopher and Nancy A. Hewitt. Who Built America, Volume I, pages 589-590.) The 1869 Virginia Constitution, unlike previous state charters, mandated public education. Virginia’s position on public education – let alone its position on educating blacks – had been tenuous at best. The state had long resisted a system of free schools, despite the efforts of some of its more famous citizens. Thomas Jefferson’s unsuccessful campaign for free schools had yielded little more than a literary fund for indigent children. All of that changed when Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867 demanding that southern states ratify new constitutions guaranteeing black suffrage. Once these constitutions met with congressional approval and after the state approved the Fourteenth Amendment, Congress promised re-admittance into the Union. Responding to the Reconstruction Act, Virginians registered voters and called an election to decide if the state would call a convention to revise the state’s constitution. In 1867 226 Fairfax County blacks registered to vote – voting unanimously in favor of a constitutional convention. In 1869, they returned to the polls and voted for adoption of the Constitution. At the 1867-1868 Constitutional Convention, education proved to be one of the most hotly debated topics, (the state’s war debt was the other top issue). Though delegates largely consisted of northern immigrants and freedmen easily approved a public school system, they were strongly divided over the question of integration. Many northern immigrants viewed public schools as the foundation of a democratic society and a key to reconstruction of the South. The question broke along racial lines. Black members introduced resolutions ensuring equal access to education “without distinction of color.” White delegates never took these suggestions seriously. Even radicals who supported desegregation voted against such resolutions. Mindful of widespread sentiment against mixed schools, they did not want to risk ratification. In the end, while most assumed public schools would be segregated, no language could be agreed upon and the question was not resolved until the legislature revisited the issue in 1870. While blacks lost their campaign for mixed schools, they still passed a milestone in gaining access to public education. However, as a result of poor political and financial support, Virginia’s first public schools for both blacks and whites were grossly inadequate. Many did not have heat or toilets, schools were small and scattered; also the average term was less than the five months mandated by the Virginia Constitution, and attendance, which was not required was sparse. Despite these conditions – and those for black children were considerably worse than those for whites – still there were now public schools in which both black and white children learned. The William Jasper family, 1808-1870 [Talking Points] • William Jasper, an African American, was probably born in 1808 not far from George Washington’s plantation in Mount Vernon. He was born a slave on the plantation of William Hayward Foote’s Hayfield plantation. Foote was one of the richest men in Fairfax County—when he died he owned 50 slaves. • Jasper worked on a plantation that grew wheat and corn, and raised horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. Slaves at Hayfield, including Jasper, are likely to have had skills as farmers, blacksmiths, and carpenters. • Jasper and his family were not sold south to booming cotton and sugar plantations, as were many other slaves. • According to his will, Foote decided to free his slaves on or soon after his death in 1846. At this time Jasper, in his thirties, was valued by appraisers to be worth $350. Foote’s will also freed Jasper’s wife Sara, in her mid-twenties, and their two daughters who were six and four. They were actually freed in the early 1850’s. • It is important to note that the Jaspers were free blacks in Virginia before the Civil War. But even as free blacks they faced numerous obstacles. They could not: own a gun, obtain an education, vote, conduct business freely, worship in religious services unless supervised by whites. Also they might be captured by slave traders and sold back into slavery. • The Jaspers wanted to stay in Virginia near friends and family, so in 1853 and 1858 they chose to register as free blacks in Fairfax County to prove that they were free. This meant they could travel and gain employment. • In 1860 William Jasper purchased 13 acres of land near the Hayfield Plantation. It is likely that he put together the $200 to pay a white farmer and slave owner for the land from his work as a farmer. • The Jaspers probably did not stay on their newly bought land during the Civil War -- and it is also likely that what they had on this land, including buildings, animals and crops, was lost during the war.	3.732171
On September 9, 2010, an explosion of an 30-inch natural gas pipeline rocked a residential neighborhood in San Bruno, California. The tremendous blast and following blaze killed at least seven people and destroyed 53 homes. Firefighters overwhelmed by the intense heat from the 60-foot inferno could only try to keep flames from spreading to other homes until utility workers managed to shut down the gas main an hour and a half later. It is unclear what caused the explosion, although residents reported smelling gas prior to the blast. An investigation into the cause of the explosion may take up to a year. Natural gas is an important part of America’s energy infrastructure, and deadly explosions such as this are uncommon. In this week’s online current events activity you will learn more about natural gas, how we collect and distribute it, and how we use it. All About Natural Gas It’s easy to confuse the term “natural gas” with our short form of the word gasoline. In fact, they are very different. To learn what natural gas is, where it comes from, and how we use it, visit NaturalGas.org, an educational web site covering a variety of topics about the natural gas industry. The best place to begin any learning activity is usually the overview. First, read the Background section of the site, which explains what natural gas is, gives its chemical composition, and explains how natural gas is formed. What are some of the characteristics of natural gas? What is the primary component in natural gas? Why is mercaptan added to natural gas? What is the difference between “dry” and “wet” natural gas? Where is natural gas typically found in the earth? Next, learn about the History of natural gas as a fuel source. How did ancient civilizations discover natural gas, and what did they do with it? What was the first country to use natural gas commercially, and how did they produce it? Who was the first American to dig a natural gas well? Who was Robert Bunsen and what did he invent? Natural gas is a fossil fuel, not a renewable energy resource. How much natural gas is left in North America? Find out by reading the Resources section. Why is it difficult to estimate the amount of natural gas in the ground? Give one estimate for the total number of cubic feet available. In what areas of the United States is natural gas plentiful? Finally, learn about the Uses of Natural Gas which, according to the Energy Information Administration, accounts for 24 percent of total energy consumed in the United States. Read about Residential and Commercial uses of natural gas, such as water heating, space heating, and cooking. Learn how natural gas is increasingly used in the Transportation industry, and it is a cleaner burning fuel than gasoline or diesel. Also read how natural gas is used for Electric Generation. For which of these uses do you think natural gas utilization is likely to increase in the near future? Natural Gas Distribution Let us focus now on the distribution of natural gas—how it gets from the well to our homes and businesses. For that, visit California’s Energy Story web site and read Chapter 9: Natural Gas Distribution System. This page describes a network of pipes, from larger pipes (like the one that exploded in San Bruno, California) to smaller pipes that reach residential homes. What do people use for gas who live in rural areas outside the gas pipe networks? How many miles of pipeline are there in America? Find out at Pipeline101. What is the difference between a gathering line and a transmission line? Are gathering lines used offshore, or only on land? Natural gas pipelines are part of America’s energy infrastructure in populated areas. The nation’s electric grid, the highway system, fiber optic data, wireless telephone networks, water pipelines, and even local sewage pipes are other examples of the infrastructure that delivers a high standard of living. It is easy to take these services for granted. In a current or recent issue of the e-edition, look for stories and articles about local utilities and infrastructure. You may find notices about maintenance and repair work, or you may find news about infrastructure failures of one kind or another. Collect several of these stories over the course of a week, then write an essay explaining what your life would be like if water, electricity, mobile communications, natural gas, or any other type of utility or service because unavailable for a whole month. What aspects of your daily routine would change?	3.539017
Tornadoes and Climate Change: Huge Stakes, Huge Unknowns Posted: 12:05 PM EDT on May 23, 2013 We currently do not know how tornadoes and severe thunderstorms may be changing due to climate change, nor is there hope that we will be able to do so in the foreseeable future. It does not appear that there has been an increase in U.S. tornadoes stronger than EF-0 in recent decades, but climate change appears to be causing more extreme years--both high and low--of late. We may see an increase in the number of severe thunderstorms over the U.S. by late this century. Read This Blog Entry Other Featured Blogs: Did you know that... Large golf ball-sized hail was produced from thunderstorms over the eastern United States on this date in 1988. Also, in 1990, a cloudburst washed topsoil and large rocks into the town of Culdesac, Idaho. More Weather Education Resources	3.015788
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Description of the Examination The Analyzing and Interpreting Literature examination covers material usually taught in a general two-semester undergraduate course in literature. Although the examination does not require familiarity with specific works, it does assume that candidates have read widely and perceptively in poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. The questions are based on passages supplied in the test. These passages have been selected so that no previous experience with them is required to answer the questions. The passages are taken primarily from American and British literature. The examination contains approximately 80 multiple-choice questions to be answered in 90 minutes. Some of these are pretest questions that will not be scored. Any time candidates spend taking tutorials and providing personal information is additional to actual testing time. Because writing about literary texts is central to the study of literature, some colleges may require candidates to take an optional essay section in addition to the multiple-choice section. The essay section is 90 minutes long and is made up of two 45-minute questions. One question asks candidates to analyze a short poem, the other asks them to apply a given generalization about literature (such as the function of a theme or a technique) to a novel, short story, or play that they have read. The essay section is still administered in a paper-and-pencil format; the essay responses are graded by the institution, not by the College Board. Knowledge and Skills Required Questions on the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature examination require candidates to demonstrate the following abilities. - Ability to read prose, poetry, and drama with understanding - Ability to analyze the elements of a literary passage and to respond to nuances of meaning, tone, imagery, and style - Ability to interpret metaphors, to recognize rhetorical and stylistic devices, to perceive relationships between parts and wholes, and to grasp a speaker's or author's attitudes - Knowledge of the means by which literary effects are achieved - Familiarity with the basic terminology used to discuss literary texts The examination emphasizes comprehension, interpretation, and analysis of literary works. A specific knowledge of historical context (authors and movements) is not required, but a broad knowledge of literature gained through reading widely and a familiarity with basic literary terminology is assumed. The following outline indicates the relative emphasis given to the various types of literature and the periods from which the passages are taken. The approximate percentage of exam questions per classification is noted within each main category. 35%–45% Prose (fiction and nonfiction) 50%–65% British Literature 30%–45% American Literature 5%–15% Works in translation 3%–7% Classical and pre-Renaissance 20%–30% Renaissance and 17th Century 35%–45% 18th and 19th Centuries 25%–35% 20th and 21st Centuries CLEP® Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Examination Guide [PDF Download] The Analyzing and Interpreting Literature exam includes questions on passages taken from American and British literature. Want to get a feel for the tests? Try out sample questions from actual CLEP exams in the subject of your choice. Find out if your institution accepts CLEP.	3.072718
The struggle for emancipation in the Civil War produced some memorable cartoons. One such example appeared in Harper’s Weekly in its issue of August 16, 1862. The caption for the cartoon reads, “DROWNING GENTLEMAN. ‘Take that Rope away, you darned Nigger! What decent White Man, do you suppose, is going to allow himself to be saved by a confounded Nig — ‘ (Goes down, consistent to the last.)” Of course, the point of the cartoon was to criticize people in the North that opposed letting African Americans get more directly involved in the war, especially as soldiers. By late summer 1862, it was increasingly clear that the Union could not win the war if it did make war on slavery and enlist the slaves themselves in the fight. While this idea still faced considerable opposition, its opponents increasingly looked as ridiculous as the drowning man in this cartoon.	3.578431
Over the last ten thousand years, virtually every aspect of human culture has changed. The food we eat, the homes and shelters we live in, the clothes we wear, our language, music, stories, science, technology, social organization have all changed in fundamental ways that make modern cultures unrecognizably different from hunter-gatherer cultures. One aspect of human culture has remained unchanged over the last ten thousand years – all humans have retained a basic ability to recognize and interpret footprints on a beach. When you look at footprints on a beach, what you see and the way you interpret them is essentially exactly what a hunter-gatherer would have seen and interpreted a hundred thousand years ago. We still use the same reasoning to understand what we are looking at. The hunter-gatherer may have been a more sophisticated tracker, but looking at human footprints on a beach may be one of the few aspects, perhaps the only aspect, of human culture that links us with hunter-gatherer cultures more than a hundred thousand years ago. The art of tracking is the one aspect of hunter-gatherer culture that can be applied in a modern context. It is also the one aspect of hunter-gatherer culture that all modern humans can identify with. Not only can traditional trackers benefit by working as trackers in a modern economy. By sharing their tracking expertise, people from other modern cultures can benefit by learning more about the roots of science. The implications for community participation in science are far-reaching. Imagine communities throughout the world gathering data... from remote villages in the Kalahari, the Congo, Australia and Mongolia,... to school children in New York's Central Park, to London, Paris, Tokyo, New Delhi and Beijing... citizens gathering data on birds, animals, plants... millions of people all over the world sharing their data on the Internet (the Cloud), creating a worldwide network to monitor the global ecosystem in real time. The Origin of Science looks at practical applications of the art of tracking in a modern context. These examples demonstrate continuity between "indigenous knowledge" and modern Western science. It demonstrates the ease with which traditional trackers, who cannot read or write, can adopt and take ownership of modern computer technology. These examples break down barriers between conventional notions of "science" and "indigenous knowledge" and between literate and pre-literate cultures. Breaking down these barriers challenges us to redefine the boundaries of science.	3.534142
Capital punishment has been the law in Oklahoma since 1804 when Congress made the criminal laws of the United States applicable in the Louisiana Purchase, which included present Oklahoma. These legal codes included the crime of "willful murder," carrying the death penalty. Through the years Congress found other offenses, including rape, that merited capital punishment as well. Until Oklahoma 1907 statehood, capital crimes committed in Indian Territory were tried in the federal courts for Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas. However, the U.S. Federal District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, presided over by notorious Judge Isaac C. Parker, was Indian Territory's most famous criminal venue, with seventy-nine men going to the gallows under sentence of his court. In 1889 Congress established a U.S. district court at Muskogee, the first federal court resident in Indian Territory. However, the court did not have jurisdiction of capital offenses, which continued to be tried in the federal courts for Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas. In 1890 aterritorial government, with its own judicial structure, was established for Oklahoma Territory. Until statehood, capital crimes committed in Oklahoma Territory were prosecuted in the territorial courts. In 1895 Congress gave the Muskogee court, as of September 1, 1896, exclusive jurisdiction of all offenses committed against the laws of the United States in Indian Territory and repealed the jurisdiction of the Arkansas, Kansas, and Texas federal courts. One man was hanged under sentence of the Oklahoma Territory courts, and nine men and one woman went to the gallows under sentence of the Indian Territory court. From statehood until 19l5 executions were by hanging in the county of conviction. The records are not perfect, but the number of people hanged between statehood and 1915 is probably six, all men accused of murder. The fact that the number was not higher is because of Lee Cruce, Oklahoma's second governor. Cruce was an inveterate foe of the death penalty. The best information is that only one person was executed during his term in office (1911-15), while at least twenty-two murderers escaped the hangman's noose. Cruce's successor, Robert L. Williams, did not share Cruce's view on capital punishment, and executions began again when Williams took office. The first year of Williams's term also saw Oklahoma change from hanging to electrocution as a method of execution. In 1915 Henry Bookman, convicted in McIntosh County for murder, was the first person to be electrocuted in Oklahoma. The first execution for an offense other than homicide occurred in 1930. James Edward Forrest was put to death for rape, and subsequently there were executions for robbery with firearms and for kidnapping. In the late 1920s and during the 1930s there were as many as three on the same day. In 1972, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty, as then administered, unconstitutional, eighty-two persons, all male, had died in Oklahoma's electric chair. After the Supreme Court's ruling, states began attempting to enact constitutional death penalty statutes. Gov. David Boren convened a special session of the legislature in July 1976 to restore the capital punishment in Oklahoma. The legislators overwhelmingly voted in favor, 45 to1 in the senate, and 93 to 5 in the house. The first execution under the new law occurred in 1990. From 1915 to March 2004, Oklahoma had executed 156 individuals, including three women. Between 1915 and 1966 eighty-two died by electrocution, and one was hanged. Seventy-three died from lethal injection between September 1990 and March 2004. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ruth Fisk Bowman, "Death By Hanging: The Crimes and Execution of Arthur Gooch," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 62 (Summer 1984). "Capital Punishment," Vertical File, Oklahoma Room, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "Capital Punishment, Oklahoma," Vertical File, Jan Eric Cartwright Memorial Library, Capitol Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Louis Coleman, "'We Are Making History': The Execution of William Going," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 76 (1998). Von Russell Creel, "Capital Punishment and the United States Court for the Indian Territory," The Chronicles of Oklahoma 81 (Summer 2003). Bob Gregory, "They Died For Their Sins," Oklahoma Monthly (December 1976). Von Russell Creel © Oklahoma Historical Society	3.406051
Ecological burns at Jocassee Gorges to restore habitat, improve safety Many species and ecosystems require fire periodically to ensure their survival, and that’s why prescribed burns will again be a part of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources’ management of the Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges in 2008. "The objective of the controlled burns, which will likely begin in January, is to maintain the ecological integrity of these lands," said Mark Hall, S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wildlife biologist and forest planner, "and to provide for human safety by reducing the amount of fuel on the natural area, thereby reducing the chance of catastrophic wildfire. For many of these ecosystems, it’s not a matter of 'if' they will burn, but rather 'when.' We like to choose the 'when.'" Burning will be done when the weather is suitable to allow for a safe burn, including the rapid rising and dispersal of smoke, Hall said. Once weather conditions are right for the burn, it should take four to eight hours for the active burning to be completed, although scattered stumps, logs and dead trees may smolder slowly through the night. Fires will be surrounded by fire breaks, which include existing preserve roads, streams, plowed fire breaks and breaks put in with hand tools in sensitive areas. "Through the centuries, many native plants, animals and habitats in the southeastern United States have adapted to the presence of recurring fire," Hall said. "Many species and ecosystems are now rare because of fire suppression, and they actually need fire to ensure their survival. We’ve burned more than 1,500 acres in the last three years to help restore natural process in the system." Hall emphasized that since controlled burning requires careful timing and a thorough knowledge of weather and fire behavior, highly trained fire personnel with the DNR and S.C. Forestry Commission will manage and conduct all aspects of the controlled burns. "Besides the ecological benefits of prescribed fire, it also has the added benefit of reducing fuel on the forest floor and lessening the chances of a catastrophic fire, which can threaten homes and people," Hall said. "Because fire has been suppressed for so long in some places, you get dangerous buildups of fuel and increase the chances for a wildfire that can destroy property and lives. The wildfires we’ve seen across the United States in the last 15 years, due in large part to past fire suppression, underscore the need for prescribed fire." By using a controlled burn—when wind, temperature and humidity conditions are appropriate to remove some of the forest fuel like leaves, pine needles and twigs—fire managers can greatly reduce the chances of a catastrophic wildfire. After controlled burns are completed, the homes and properties close to Jocassee Gorges will be much less likely to be in the path of a wildfire, because the fuel is reduced or eliminated. Optimal weather conditions will be chosen for smoke dispersal, but Hall advised that during these controlled burns nearby residents will certainly see and smell smoke. The smoke usually disappears by the end of the day. "People become upset when there is smoke in the air if they don’t know the reason for the fire," Hall said. "That’s why we’re trying to get the word out about prescribed fire. If we carefully plan and conduct a burn when weather conditions favor smoke dispersal, this reduces smoke-related problems. Dealing with a little bit of smoke now is infinitely better than trying to control a raging wildfire later." Waterfalls, green salamanders, black bear, uncommon plants such as Oconee bells and many long-range vistas are just a few of the natural wonders that may be found in the 33,000-acre Jim Timmerman Natural Resources Area at Jocassee Gorges in Pickens and Oconee counties. More information on the Jocassee Gorges may be obtained by calling the Clemson DNR office at (864) 654-1671, extension 22. DNR protects and manages South Carolina’s natural resources by making wise and balanced decisions for the benefit of the state’s natural resources and its people.	3.392577
Exceptions are a means of breaking out of the normal flow of control of a code block in order to handle errors or other exceptional conditions. An exception is The Python interpreter raises an exception when it detects a run-time error (such as division by zero). A Python program can also explicitly raise an exception with the raise statement. Exception handlers are specified with the try ... except statement. The try ... finally statement specifies cleanup code which does not handle the exception, but is executed whether an exception occurred or not in the preceding code. Python uses the ``termination'' When an exception is not handled at all, the interpreter terminates execution of the program, or returns to its interactive main loop. In either case, it prints a stack backtrace, except when the exception is Exceptions are identified by string objects or class instances. Selection of a matching except clause is based on object identity (i.e., two different string objects with the same value represent different exceptions!) For string exceptions, the except clause must reference the same string object. For class exceptions, the except clause must reference the same class or a base class of it. When an exception is raised, an object (maybe None) is passed as the exception's ``parameter'' or ``value''; this object does not affect the selection of an exception handler, but is passed to the selected exception handler as additional information. For class exceptions, this object must be an instance of the exception class See also the description of the try statement in section 7.4 and raise statement in section 6.8.	4.091446
The cerebrum, the largest part of the brain, is separated into the right and left hemispheres. The right hemisphere is in charge of the functions on the left-side of the body, as well as many cognitive functions. A right-side stroke happens when the brain’s blood supply is interrupted in this area. Without oxygen and nutrients from blood, the brain tissue quickly dies. A stroke is a serious condition. It requires emergency care. There are two main types of stroke: An ischemic stroke (the more common form) is caused by a sudden decrease in blood flow to a region of the brain, which may be due to: - A clot that forms in another part of the body (eg, heart or neck) breaking off and blocking the flow in a blood vessel supplying the brain (embolus) - A clot that forms in an artery that supplies blood to the brain (thrombus) - A tear in an artery supplying blood to the brain (arterial dissection) A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a burst blood vessel that results in bleeding in the brain. Examples of risk factors that you can control or treat include: Certain conditions, such as: - High blood pressure - High cholesterol - High levels of the amino acid homocysteine (may result in the formation of blood clots) - Atherosclerosis (narrowing of the arteries due to build-up of plaque) - Atrial fibrillation (abnormal heart rhythm) - Metabolic syndrome - Type 2 diabetes - Alcohol or drug abuse - Medicines (eg, long-term use of birth control pills ) - Lifestyle factors (eg, smoking , physical inactivity, diet) Risk factors that you cannot control include: - History of having a stroke, heart attack , or other type of cardiovascular disease - History of having a transient ischemic attack (TIA)—With a TIA, stroke-like symptoms often resolve within minutes (always in 24 hours). They may signal a very high risk of having a stroke in the future. - Age: 60 or older - Family members who have had a stroke - Gender: males - Race: Black, Asian, Hispanic - Blood disorder that increases clotting - Heart valve disease (eg, mitral stenosis ) The immediate symptoms of a right-side stroke come on suddenly and may include: - Weakness or numbness of face, arm, or leg, especially on the left side of the body - Loss of balance, coordination problems - Vision problems, especially on the left-side of vision in both eyes - Difficulty swallowing If you or someone you know has any of these symptoms, call 911 right away. A stroke needs to be treated as soon as possible. Longer-lasting effects of the stroke may include problems with: - Left-sided weakness and/or sensory problems - Speaking and swallowing - Vision (eg, inability for the brain to take in information from the left visual field) - Perception and spatial relations - Attention span, comprehension, problem solving, judgment - Interactions with other people - Activities of daily living (eg, going to the bathroom) - Mental health (eg, depression , frustration, impulsivity) The doctor will make a diagnosis as quickly as possible. Tests may include: - Exam of nervous system - Computed tomography (CT) scan —a type of x-ray that uses a computer to make pictures of the brain - CT angiogram—a type of CT scan which evaluates the blood vessels in the brain and/or neck - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan —a test that uses magnetic waves to make pictures of the brain - Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) scan —a type of MRI scan which evaluates the blood vessels in the brain and/or neck - Angiogram —a test that uses a catheter (tube) and x-ray machine to assess the heart and its blood supply - Heart function tests (eg, electrocardiogram , echocardiogram ) - Doppler ultrasound —a test that uses sound waves to examine the blood vessels - Blood tests - Tests to check the level of oxygen in the blood - Kidney function tests - Tests to evaluate the ability to swallow Immediate treatment is needed to potentially: - Dissolve a clot causing an ischemic stroke - Stop the bleeding during a hemorrhagic stroke In some cases, oxygen therapy is needed. Medicines may be given right away for an ischemic stroke to: - Dissolve clots and prevent new ones from forming - Thin blood - Control blood pressure - Reduce brain swelling - Treat an irregular heart rate Cholesterol medicines called statins may also be given. For a hemorrhagic stroke, the doctor may give medicines to: - Work against any blood-thinning drugs that you may regularly take - Reduce how your brain reacts to bleeding - Control blood pressure - Prevent seizures For an ischemic stroke, procedures may be done to: - Reroute blood supply around a blocked artery - Remove the clot or deliver clot-dissolving medicine (embolectomy) - Remove fatty deposits from a carotid artery (major arteries in the neck that lead to the brain) ( carotid artery endarterectomy ) - Widen carotid artery and add a mesh tube to keep it open ( angioplasty and stenting ) For a hemorrhagic stroke, the doctor may: - Remove a piece of the skull ( craniotomy ) to relieve pressure on the brain and remove blood clot - Place a clip on or a tiny coil in the aneurysm to stop it from bleeding A rehabilitation program focuses on: - Physical therapy—to regain as much movement as possible - Occupational therapy—to assist in everyday tasks and self-care - Speech therapy—to improve swallowing and speech challenges - Psychological therapy—to help adjust to life after the stroke To help reduce your chance of having a stroke, take the following steps: - Exercise regularly . - Eat a healthy diet that includes fruit, vegetables, whole grains, and fish. - Maintain a healthy weight. - If you drink alcohol , drink only in moderation (1-2 drinks per day). - If you smoke, quit . - If you have a chronic condition, like high blood pressure or diabetes, get proper treatment. - If recommended by your doctor, take a low-dose aspirin every day. - If you are at risk for having a stroke, talk to your doctor about taking statin medicines . - Reviewer: Rimas Lukas, MD - Review Date: 06/2012 - - Update Date: 00/61/2012 -	3.669547
The thick durable sea ice that routinely cloaked much of the Arctic Ocean in colder decades in the 20th century is increasingly relegated to a few clotted places along northern Canada and Greenland, according to the latest satellite analysis of the warming region. The following video gives you a fascinating view of one patch of sea ice through 90 days, provided by a webcam left behind by researchers who annually set up camp near the North Pole to check ocean and ice conditions up close. The new analysis, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research on Tuesday, is the latest of many findings supporting the idea that the region has shifted to a new state in which seasonal ice, which forms in winter and melts in the summer, dominates. This is the main reason biologists have concerns for the long-term welfare of polar bears, which have a harder time sustaining their weight and reproducing when summertime ice is thin. At the same time, the shift bodes well for shippers, like the German company Beluga, that have plans to start sending goods from Asia to northern Europe through the fabled, but long impassible, Northern Sea Route over Russia. The study, conducted by scientists from NASA, the University of Washington and the California Institute of Technology estimated changes from 2003 to 2008 in the total volume and thickness of what’s called multi-year ice, the yards-thick floes that can persist through a summer (here’s some video I shot while standing on a mix of old and thinner ice in 2003), and seasonal ice, which can grow to 6 feet in thickness in winter but vanishes in summer. For a look at how this summer’s Arctic sea-ice season may unfold, visit Sea Ice Outlook 2009, where more than a dozen groups of ice researchers are posting experimental forecasts of how the ice is likely to fare. There’s a strong consensus that the season will see much less sea ice than the average for the period monitored by satellites (from 1979 onward), but is unlikely to see the extent of open water measured in 2007. To get a sense of how the views of Arctic experts have coalesced around a rising human influence on the region’s climate, you can scan previous stories from 2001, 2005, and 2007 on ice trends and possible causes.	3.357439
Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years. Dragons don’t communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures. Striped dragons come in a dazzling array of colors complemented by an intricate pattern of stripes. These bright colors and patterns help attract their favorite food, insects. Because their prey is so tiny, striped dragons must spend a large portion of their day eating. The color of the offspring is usually determined by the dragon’s mate.	3.464591
As a graduate student working for LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory), one of my responsibilities was maintaining date-time code, including accounting for leap seconds, and calculating dates and time thousands of years in the past. What is a leap second? Well, the Earth's rotation rate is slowing down. So, as time goes on the length of the day is longer. This rate is very slow. Every few years, the added length must be taken into account, much like the leap day takes into account that the orbital period of the Earth around the Sun is not exactly 365 days. When a leap second must be inserted is not predictable. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service is tasked with making observations of the Earth, and producing a twice-yearly report on whether a leap second is due to be added. This comes out by email, and on their website. The report gives a 6-month or so lead time before the leap second is inserted, at midnight on Jan 1 and on Jul 1. So, apparently, a leap second was inserted last night: all standard atomic clocks around the world paused for a second. This caused all sorts of havoc with computers and networking devices, causing lots of sites to go down. Notably, Google was prepared.	3.266065
A few weeks ago, I traveled to Israel with my ten-year-old daughter Sage, to participate in the olive harvest. This was my long-awaited opportunity to do hands-on research for a picture book I’m writing and illustrating about an ancient olive tree. I couldn’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get out in the olive grove. There’s something special about hands-on research. In this age of unprecedented convenience, we have the technological ability to access information from all over the world in a matter of seconds. But information obtained this way can lack authenticity, and often appears out of context. Rarely do I have the opportunity to physically experience what I’m drawing or writing about. But there’s no substitute for direct experience when it comes to bringing a story to life. The morning after we arrived at Kibbutz Gezer, a half a dozen olive pickers gathered by the side of the road that encircles the kibbutz. Inside the circle, the homes for approximately 400 people are clustered together. Outside the circle are grassy meadows; a baseball field; swimming pool; a field of eggplants; a tel – an ancient town filled in over the centuries by debris until it becomes a flat-topped, man-made hill, now the site of an archeological excavation – and of course, the olive groves. Hundreds of trees of approximately 30 years of age stood in grassy rows. Most were heavy with fruit, their branches drooping under the weight of colorful clusters of olives. The harvest technique is simple: we spread black plastic tarps under the trees, and used small hand-held rakes to “comb” the olives from the branches. Most of the fruit could be reached either from the ground or by climbing a few steps up the trunk. The trees are pruned to stay low, and the limbs are encouraged to spread out like a basket, so that every part of the tree receives maximum sunlight. It is said that if an olive tree is pruned properly, there’s enough space between the branches to allow a bird to fly through. Olive trees are uniquely dependent upon humans for this pruning – they cannot thrive without it. An olive tree that is well-pruned can continue to regenerate from its roots virtually indefinitely, with a lifespan of two thousand years or even longer. Thus the olive tree has been a symbol of renewal for millennia. Olive fruits are firm and smooth, with a chalky skin that turns shiny when you rub it. Each fruit is a unique blend of color ranging from pale yellow-green to soft mauve to dark purple-grey. Some are faintly spotted. When they fall to the ground, they slowly turn to charcoal blue as the fruit begins to dry and wrinkle under the hot sun. I dared myself to bite into one, with the anticipated bitter results. Olives must be soaked and cured before they become edible. During our breaks we picnicked on fresh bread dipped in hummus, olive oil, homemade tzchug and za’ater; pickled green olives; oil-cured black olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a cultured yogurt-like cheese. We tried to make up olive songs and olive jokes – but none are worth repeating here. The olive grove is a peaceful place. Each tree is uniquely-shaped, and has its own special character. The soft branches wave in the breeze like hair, causing the tree to change color slightly as each leaf reveals its silvery-white underside. The blend of colors in an olive tree is a painter’s challenge – for this artist at least. Flocks of doves rose from the trees and turned as one into the sunshine. The air in the grove is sweet, as if the trees have cleansed the air of all impurities. Olive leaves are known for their powerful healing properties. According to Wikipedia, olive leaf and olive leaf extracts (OLE), are now marketed as anti-aging, immunostimular, and antibiotic agents. Other reference books claim olive leaf extract is effective against viral infections, parasites, fungi, and even “super-infections” that resist antibiotics. How ironic, in this peaceful place among young trees that promise to live for so long, to hear the concussions of rockets in the distance – for even as we harvested the fruit of the tree that symbolizes peace, hundreds of rockets from Gaza were being fired at the nearby cities of Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, and Rishon Letzion. And Israel was retaliating with “Operation Pillar of Cloud”, a targeted defensive operation that took place the week we were there. Truly, Israel is a land of paradox – of cultural, artistic and spiritual riches; unparalleled innovations in education, medicine, agriculture, technology, and energy conservation – not to mention wonderful people – yet Israel is also a troubled place, with internal rifts, economic problems, and seemingly-intractable conflicts with its Arab neighbors. Traveling in Israel, it is not unusual to feel conflicting emotions. Even as we worked in such a bucolic place as the olive grove, we were all aware of the location of the closest bomb shelter, which had been unlocked that week for rapid entry. And we all knew that beyond the “green line” (the disputed border between Israel and the West Bank), Palestinians were harvesting olive trees just like ours. This is not the first century, or even the first millennium, in which olive trees have been implicated in matters of territorial conflict. For the olive tree is native to a region that is rife with inescapable complexities. Rooted in a shifting tapestry of peoples and conquests, the olive tree stands constant as a living organism of renewal and peace. I loved the olive grove, and got into a groove with my yellow rake. The conversation was lively: there were kibbutz members who had come to help, along with dogs of all shapes and sizes. There were friends from Jerusalem, a traveling post-grad student from the U.S., and visitors from Norway. Everyone was in good spirits as we gathered up the tarps and poured the fruit into crates. These would be taken to the olive press at nearby Latroun. An olive press is a huge industrial machine that is necessarily communal; no one can own their own olive press. At Latroun, we saw Jews and Arabs alike waiting for the yield of their harvest, chatting in English, Hebrew, and Arabic as the olives were pressed, separated by centrifuge into pomace and oil, and finally decanted into containers. The leftover “mash” of fiber and pits is sometimes pressed into dry cakes to be burned as fuel – a great idea! Hours after the picking was done, at the end of the day I returned to the olive grove to sketch. I did pencil drawings and brush drawings, trying to capture the shapes of the trees, the texture of the leaves. I tested a few colors, and tried to catch the contour of the land. Birds twittered from opposite sides of the grove, calling to each other. Dogs barked in the distance as the sun went down, mingled with the sound of a child’s laughter. In the hush that followed, the peace of the olive grove was palpable. My daughter sat beside me with her own drawing book, both of us sitting on torn pieces of cardboard on the ground while we sketched. She drew a twisted olive trunk, then switched to fashion designs. I hope when she grows up, she’ll remember that day. In addition to the jug of fresh olive oil I brought home, I also harvested something else: photos, sketches, notes, and memories. These impressions from my week of picking olives will be gathered and pressed, spun and separated into the many components of a book. This book has taken its time to ripen and grow, but I hope in the end it will be worth it. The more I learn about olives, the more there is to know – from cultivation techniques to nutritional and medicinal benefits, from historical facts to political implications. And the more I learn about olives, the more I love them. Special thanks to Dani Livney and all the wonderful folks at Kibbutz Gezer for making this trip possible. We hope to return next year to pick olives again! חג החנוכה שמח! We are about to celebrate Chanukah, the festival of light that remembers each year the miracle of oil – olive oil – in a story that is rooted a mere bike ride’s distance from Gezer. The Maccabean graves in nearby Modi’in is where the Hasmoneans, who ruled a Jewish dynasty in Israel, have been buried in the ground for more than 2,100 years. Some of the olive trees that lived then are still alive today. Happy Holidays to all –	3.000728
Handbook of Engaged Learning Projects Subject/Content Area: Science, Language Arts, Math, and Social Target Audience: This multigrade level unit will involve third and sixth grade students. This is an interactive, interdisciplinary, thematic project. This is appropriate for students at all ability levels. Program requires hardware/software for Internet access. Project Goal: When posed with the problem of destruction of the rainforest, students will develop interpersonal skills, research skills, content objectives, technical skills, and higher order thinking skills. Learner Outcomes: Through cooperative activities, students will be able to: - Demonstrate the ability to collect data using various technologies (Internet, CD ROM, computer software/hardware, and e-mail). - Analyze the impact of specific human activities on the destruction of tropical rainforests. - Organize and analyze collected information gained through interaction - Explain the important biological, social, and aesthetic values of the tropical rainforest to their environment. Alignment with Standards (National - Science Standards: 7, 15, 18 - Language Arts: 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11 - Math: 4, 6 - Geography: 1, 2, 4, 8, 14, 16, 18 Assessment of Students: Students' performance will be assessed formatively through teacher observations. Students and teachers will cooperatively develop a rubric for the final product. Summative evaluation will include self-evaluation and teacher evaluation. Author: Patti Furlano, Joyce Nelson, Teri Rakes and Amy Willis, Braceville Elementary School, Braceville, IL. of Engaged Learning Projects sponsored by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Education Office and Friends of Fermilab. Funded by the North Central Regional Technology in Education Consortium based at the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL). Created: August, 1997	3.507962
Novgorod First Chronicle \|\|This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. (September 2011)\| The Novgorod First Chronicle (Russian: Новгородская первая летопись) or The Chronicle of Novgorod, 1016-1471 is the most ancient extant chronicle of the Novgorod Republic. It reflects a tradition different from the Kievan Primary Chronicle. As was first demonstrated by Aleksey Shakhmatov, the later editions of the chronicle reflect the lost Primary Kievan Code (Начальный Киевский свод) of the late 11th century, which contained much valuable data suppressed in the later Primary Chronicle. The earliest extant copy of the chronicle is the so-called Synod Scroll, dated to the second half of the 13th century, first printed in 1841 and currently preserved in the State Historical Museum. It is the earliest known manuscript of a major East Slavic chronicle, predating the Laurentian Codex of the Primary Chronicle by almost a century. In the 14th century, the Synod Scroll was continued by the monks of the Yuriev Monastery in Novgorod. Other important copies of the Novgorod First Chronicle include the Academic Scroll (241 lists, 1444), Commission Scroll (320 lists, mid-15th century), Trinity Scroll (1563), and Tolstoy Scroll (208 lists, 1720s).	3.076566
\|\|This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2011)\| Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. However, it has been defined to mean the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, and is in common usage a reference to the core's either complete or partial collapse. "Core melt accident" and "partial core melt" are the analogous technical terms for a meltdown. A core melt accident occurs when the heat generated by a nuclear reactor exceeds the heat removed by the cooling systems to the point where at least one nuclear fuel element exceeds its melting point. This differs from a fuel element failure, which is not caused by high temperatures. A meltdown may be caused by a loss of coolant, loss of coolant pressure, or low coolant flow rate or be the result of a criticality excursion in which the reactor is operated at a power level that exceeds its design limits. Alternately, in a reactor plant such as the RBMK-1000, an external fire may endanger the core, leading to a meltdown. Once the fuel elements of a reactor begin to melt, the fuel cladding has been breached, and the nuclear fuel (such as uranium, plutonium, or thorium) and fission products (such as cesium-137, krypton-88, or iodine-131) within the fuel elements can leach out into the coolant. Subsequent failures can permit these radioisotopes to breach further layers of containment. Superheated steam and hot metal inside the core can lead to fuel-coolant interactions, hydrogen explosions, or water hammer, any of which could destroy parts of the containment. A meltdown is considered very serious because of the potential, however remote, that radioactive materials could breach all containment and escape (or be released) into the environment, resulting in radioactive contamination and fallout, and potentially leading to radiation poisoning of people and animals nearby. Nuclear power plants generate electricity by heating fluid via a nuclear reaction to run a generator. If the heat from that reaction is not removed adequately, the fuel assemblies in a reactor core can melt. A core damage incident can occur even after a reactor is shut down because the fuel continues to produce decay heat. A core damage accident is caused by the loss of sufficient cooling for the nuclear fuel within the reactor core. The reason may be one of several factors, including a loss-of-pressure-control accident, a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA), an uncontrolled power excursion or, in reactors without a pressure vessel, a fire within the reactor core. Failures in control systems may cause a series of events resulting in loss of cooling. Contemporary safety principles of defense in depth ensure that multiple layers of safety systems are always present to make such accidents unlikely. The containment building is the last of several safeguards that prevent the release of radioactivity to the environment. Many commercial reactors are contained within a 1.2-to-2.4-metre (3.9 to 7.9 ft) thick pre-stressed, steel-reinforced, air-tight concrete structure that can withstand hurricane-force winds and severe earthquakes. - In a loss-of-coolant accident, either the physical loss of coolant (which is typically deionized water, an inert gas, NaK, or liquid sodium) or the loss of a method to ensure a sufficient flow rate of the coolant occurs. A loss-of-coolant accident and a loss-of-pressure-control accident are closely related in some reactors. In a pressurized water reactor, a LOCA can also cause a "steam bubble" to form in the core due to excessive heating of stalled coolant or by the subsequent loss-of-pressure-control accident caused by a rapid loss of coolant. In a loss-of-forced-circulation accident, a gas cooled reactor's circulators (generally motor or steam driven turbines) fail to circulate the gas coolant within the core, and heat transfer is impeded by this loss of forced circulation, though natural circulation through convection will keep the fuel cool as long as the reactor is not depressurized. - In a loss-of-pressure-control accident, the pressure of the confined coolant falls below specification without the means to restore it. In some cases this may reduce the heat transfer efficiency (when using an inert gas as a coolant) and in others may form an insulating "bubble" of steam surrounding the fuel assemblies (for pressurized water reactors). In the latter case, due to localized heating of the "steam bubble" due to decay heat, the pressure required to collapse the "steam bubble" may exceed reactor design specifications until the reactor has had time to cool down. (This event is less likely to occur in boiling water reactors, where the core may be deliberately depressurized so that the Emergency Core Cooling System may be turned on). In a depressurization fault, a gas-cooled reactor loses gas pressure within the core, reducing heat transfer efficiency and posing a challenge to the cooling of fuel; however, as long as at least one gas circulator is available, the fuel will be kept cool. - In an uncontrolled power excursion accident, a sudden power spike in the reactor exceeds reactor design specifications due to a sudden increase in reactor reactivity. An uncontrolled power excursion occurs due to significantly altering a parameter that affects the neutron multiplication rate of a chain reaction (examples include ejecting a control rod or significantly altering the nuclear characteristics of the moderator, such as by rapid cooling). In extreme cases the reactor may proceed to a condition known as prompt critical. This is especially a problem in reactors that have a positive void coefficient of reactivity, a positive temperature coefficient, are overmoderated, or can trap excess quantities of deleterious fission products within their fuel or moderators. Many of these characteristics are present in the RBMK design, and the Chernobyl disaster was caused by such deficiencies as well as by severe operator negligence. Western light water reactors are not subject to very large uncontrolled power excursions because loss of coolant decreases, rather than increases, core reactivity (a negative void coefficient of reactivity); "transients," as the minor power fluctuations within Western light water reactors are called, are limited to momentary increases in reactivity that will rapidly decrease with time (approximately 200% - 250% of maximum neutronic power for a few seconds in the event of a complete rapid shutdown failure combined with a transient). - Core-based fires endanger the core and can cause the fuel assemblies to melt. A fire may be caused by air entering a graphite moderated reactor, or a liquid-sodium cooled reactor. Graphite is also subject to accumulation of Wigner energy, which can overheat the graphite (as happened at the Windscale fire). Light water reactors do not have flammable cores or moderators and are not subject to core fires. Gas-cooled civilian reactors, such as the Magnox, UNGG, and AGCR type reactors, keep their cores blanketed with non reactive carbon dioxide gas, which cannot support a fire. Modern gas-cooled civilian reactors use helium, which cannot burn, and have fuel that can withstand high temperatures without melting (such as the High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor). - Byzantine faults and cascading failures within instrumentation and control systems may cause severe problems in reactor operation, potentially leading to core damage if not mitigated. For example, the Browns Ferry fire damaged control cables and required the plant operators to manually activate cooling systems. The Three Mile Island accident was caused by a stuck-open pilot-operated pressure relief valve combined with a deceptive water level gauge that misled reactor operators, which resulted in core damage. Light water reactors (LWRs) Before the core of a light water nuclear reactor can be damaged, two precursor events must have already occurred: - A limiting fault (or a set of compounded emergency conditions) that leads to the failure of heat removal within the core (the loss of cooling). Low water level uncovers the core, allowing it to heat up. - Failure of the Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS). The ECCS is designed to rapidly cool the core and make it safe in the event of the maximum fault (the design basis accident) that nuclear regulators and plant engineers could imagine. There are at least two copies of the ECCS built for every reactor. Each division (copy) of the ECCS is capable, by itself, of responding to the design basis accident. The latest reactors have as many as four divisions of the ECCS. This is the principle of redundancy, or duplication. As long as at least one ECCS division functions, no core damage can occur. Each of the several divisions of the ECCS has several internal "trains" of components. Thus the ECCS divisions themselves have internal redundancy – and can withstand failures of components within them. The Three Mile Island accident was a compounded group of emergencies that led to core damage. What led to this was an erroneous decision by operators to shut down the ECCS during an emergency condition due to gauge readings that were either incorrect or misinterpreted; this caused another emergency condition that, several hours after the fact, led to core exposure and a core damage incident. If the ECCS had been allowed to function, it would have prevented both exposure and core damage. During the Fukushima incident the emergency cooling system had also been manually shut down several minutes after it started. If such a limiting fault were to occur, and a complete failure of all ECCS divisions were to occur, both Kuan, et al and Haskin, et al describe six stages between the start of the limiting fault (the loss of cooling) and the potential escape of molten corium into the containment (a so-called "full meltdown"): - Uncovering of the Core – In the event of a transient, upset, emergency, or limiting fault, LWRs are designed to automatically SCRAM (a SCRAM being the immediate and full insertion of all control rods) and spin up the ECCS. This greatly reduces reactor thermal power (but does not remove it completely); this delays core becoming uncovered, which is defined as the point when the fuel rods are no longer covered by coolant and can begin to heat up. As Kuan states: "In a small-break LOCA with no emergency core coolant injection, core uncovery [sic] generally begins approximately an hour after the initiation of the break. If the reactor coolant pumps are not running, the upper part of the core will be exposed to a steam environment and heatup of the core will begin. However, if the coolant pumps are running, the core will be cooled by a two-phase mixture of steam and water, and heatup of the fuel rods will be delayed until almost all of the water in the two-phase mixture is vaporized. The TMI-2 accident showed that operation of reactor coolant pumps may be sustained for up to approximately two hours to deliver a two phase mixture that can prevent core heatup." - Pre-damage heat up – "In the absence of a two-phase mixture going through the core or of water addition to the core to compensate water boiloff, the fuel rods in a steam environment will heat up at a rate between 0.3 °C/s (0.5 °F/s) and 1 °C/s (1.8 °F/s) (3)." - Fuel ballooning and bursting – "In less than half an hour, the peak core temperature would reach 1,100 K (1,520 °F). At this temperature the zircaloy cladding of the fuel rods may balloon and burst. This is the first stage of core damage. Cladding ballooning may block a substantial portion of the flow area of the core and restrict the flow of coolant. However complete blockage of the core is unlikely because not all fuel rods balloon at the same axial location. In this case, sufficient water addition can cool the core and stop core damage progression." - Rapid oxidation – "The next stage of core damage, beginning at approximately 1,500 K (2,240 °F), is the rapid oxidation of the Zircaloy by steam. In the oxidation process, hydrogen is produced and a large amount of heat is released. Above 1,500 K (2,240 °F), the power from oxidation exceeds that from decay heat (4,5) unless the oxidation rate is limited by the supply of either zircaloy or steam." - Debris bed formation – "When the temperature in the core reaches about 1,700 K (2,600 °F), molten control materials [1,6] will flow to and solidify in the space between the lower parts of the fuel rods where the temperature is comparatively low. Above 1,700 K (2,600 °F), the core temperature may escalate in a few minutes to the melting point of zircaloy [2,150 K (3,410 °F)] due to increased oxidation rate. When the oxidized cladding breaks, the molten zircaloy, along with dissolved UO2 [1,7] would flow downward and freeze in the cooler, lower region of the core. Together with solidified control materials from earlier down-flows, the relocated zircaloy and UO2 would form the lower crust of a developing cohesive debris bed." - (Corium) Relocation to the lower plenum – "In scenarios of small-break LOCAs, there is generally a pool of water in the lower plenum of the vessel at the time of core relocation. Release of molten core materials into water always generates large amounts of steam. If the molten stream of core materials breaks up rapidly in water, there is also a possibility of a steam explosion. During relocation, any unoxidized zirconium in the molten material may also be oxidized by steam, and in the process hydrogen is produced. Recriticality also may be a concern if the control materials are left behind in the core and the relocated material breaks up in unborated water in the lower plenum." At the point at which the corium relocates to the lower plenum, Haskin, et al relate that the possibility exists for an incident called a fuel-coolant interaction (FCI) to substantially stress or breach the primary pressure boundary when the corium relocates to the lower plenum of the reactor pressure vessel ("RPV"). This is because the lower plenum of the RPV may have a substantial quantity of water - the reactor coolant - in it, and, assuming the primary system has not been depressurized, the water will likely be in the liquid phase, and consequently dense, and at a vastly lower temperature than the corium. Since corium is a liquid metal-ceramic eutectic at temperatures of 2,200 to 3,200 K (3,500 to 5,300 °F), its fall into liquid water at 550 to 600 K (530 to 620 °F) may cause an extremely rapid evolution of steam that could cause a sudden extreme overpressure and consequent gross structural failure of the primary system or RPV. Though most modern studies hold that it is physically infeasible, or at least extraordinarily unlikely, Haskin, et al state that that there exists a remote possibility of an extremely violent FCI leading to something referred to as an alpha-mode failure, or the gross failure of the RPV itself, and subsequent ejection of the upper plenum of the RPV as a missile against the inside of the containment, which would likely lead to the failure of the containment and release of the fission products of the core to the outside environment without any substantial decay having taken place. Breach of the Primary Pressure Boundary There are several possibilities as to how the primary pressure boundary could be breached by corium. - Steam Explosion As previously described, FCI could lead to an overpressure event leading to RPV fail, and thus, primary pressure boundary fail. Haskin, et al. report that in the event of a steam explosion, failure of the lower plenum is far more likely than ejection of the upper plenum in the alpha-mode. In the even of lower plenum failure, debris at varied temperatures can be expected to be projected into the cavity below the core. The containment may be subject to overpressure, though this is not likely to fail the containment. The alpha-mode failure will lead to the consequences previously discussed. - Pressurized Melt Ejection (PME) It is quite possible, especially in pressurized water reactors, that the primary loop will remain pressurized following corium relocation to the lower plenum. As such, pressure stresses on the RPV will be present in addition to the weight stress that the molten corium places on the lower plenum of the RPV; when the metal of the RPV weakens sufficiently due to the heat of the molten corium, it is likely that the liquid corium will be discharged under pressure out of the bottom of the RPV in a pressurized stream, together with entrained gases. This mode of corium ejection may lead to direct containment heating (DCH). Severe Accident Ex-Vessel Interactions and Challenges to Containment Haskin, et al identify six modes by which the containment could be credibly challenged; some of these modes are not applicable to core melt accidents. - Dynamic pressure (shockwaves) - Internal missiles - External missiles (not applicable to core melt accidents) Standard failure modes If the melted core penetrates the pressure vessel, there are theories and speculations as to what may then occur. In modern Russian plants, there is a "core catching device" in the bottom of the containment building, the melted core is supposed to hit a thick layer of a "sacrificial metal" which would melt, dilute the core and increase the heat conductivity, and finally the diluted core can be cooled down by water circulating in the floor. However there has never been any full-scale testing of this device. In Western plants there is an airtight containment building. Though radiation would be at a high level within the containment, doses outside of it would be lower. Containment buildings are designed for the orderly release of pressure without releasing radionuclides, through a pressure release valve and filters. Hydrogen/oxygen recombiners also are installed within the containment to prevent gas explosions. In a melting event, one spot or area on the RPV will become hotter than other areas, and will eventually melt. When it melts, corium will pour into the cavity under the reactor. Though the cavity is designed to remain dry, several NUREG-class documents advise operators to flood the cavity in the event of a fuel melt incident. This water will become steam and pressurize the containment. Automatic water sprays will pump large quantities of water into the steamy environment to keep the pressure down. Catalytic recombiners will rapidly convert the hydrogen and oxygen back into water. One positive effect of the corium falling into water is that it is cooled and returns to a solid state. Extensive water spray systems within the containment along with the ECCS, when it is reactivated, will allow operators to spray water within the containment to cool the core on the floor and reduce it to a low temperature. These procedures are intended to prevent release of radiation. In the Three Mile Island event in 1979, a theoretical person standing at the plant property line during the entire event would have received a dose of approximately 2 millisieverts (200 millirem), between a chest X-ray's and a CT scan's worth of radiation. This was due to outgassing by an uncontrolled system that, today, would have been backfitted with activated carbon and HEPA filters to prevent radionuclide release. However in case of Fukushima incident this design also at least partially failed: large amounts of highly radioactive water were produced and nuclear fuel has possibly melted through the base of the pressure vessels. Cooling will take quite a while, until the natural decay heat of the corium reduces to the point where natural convection and conduction of heat to the containment walls and re-radiation of heat from the containment allows for water spray systems to be shut down and the reactor put into safe storage. The containment can be sealed with release of extremely limited offsite radioactivity and release of pressure within the containment. After a number of years for fission products to decay - probably around a decade - the containment can be reopened for decontamination and demolition. Unexpected failure modes Another scenario sees a buildup of hydrogen, which may lead to a detonation event, as happened for three reactors during Fukushima incident. Catalytic hydrogen recombiners located within containment are designed to prevent this from occurring; however, prior to the installation of these recombiners in the 1980s, the Three Mile Island containment (in 1979) suffered a massive hydrogen explosion event in the accident there. The containment withstood the pressure and no radioactivity was released. However, in Fukushima recombiners did not work due the absence of power and hydrogen detonation breached the containment. Speculative failure modes One scenario consists of the reactor pressure vessel failing all at once, with the entire mass of corium dropping into a pool of water (for example, coolant or moderator) and causing extremely rapid generation of steam. The pressure rise within the containment could threaten integrity if rupture disks could not relieve the stress. Exposed flammable substances could burn, but there are few, if any, flammable substances within the containment. Another theory called an 'alpha mode' failure by the 1975 Rasmussen (WASH-1400) study asserted steam could produce enough pressure to blow the head off the reactor pressure vessel (RPV). The containment could be threatened if the RPV head collided with it. (The WASH-1400 report was replaced by better-based[original research?] newer studies, and now the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has disavowed them all and is preparing the overarching State-of-the-Art Reactor Consequence Analyses [SOARCA] study - see the Disclaimer in NUREG-1150.) It has not been determined to what extent a molten mass can melt through a structure (although that was tested in the Loss-of-Fluid-Test Reactor described in Test Area North's fact sheet). The Three Mile Island accident provided some real-life experience, with an actual molten core within an actual structure; the molten corium failed to melt through the Reactor Pressure Vessel after over six hours of exposure, due to dilution of the melt by the control rods and other reactor internals, validating the emphasis on defense in depth against core damage incidents. Some believe a molten reactor core could actually penetrate the reactor pressure vessel and containment structure and burn downwards into the earth beneath, to the level of the groundwater. By 1970, there were doubts about the ability of the emergency cooling systems of a nuclear reactor to prevent a loss of coolant accident and the consequent meltdown of the fuel core; the subject proved popular in the technical and the popular presses. In 1971, in the article Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing, former Manhattan Project (1942–1946) nuclear physicist Ralph Lapp used the term "China syndrome" to describe a possible burn-through, after a loss of coolant accident, of the nuclear fuel rods and core components melting the containment structures, and the subsequent escape of radioactive material(s) into the atmosphere and environment; the hypothesis derived from a 1967 report by a group of nuclear physicists, headed by W. K. Ergen. The geographic, planet-piercing concept of the China syndrome derives from the misperception that China is the antipode of the United States; to many Americans, it is the “the other side of the world”. Moreover, the hypothetical transit of a meltdown product to the other side of the Earth (i.e. China) ignores the fact that the Earth's gravity tends to pull all masses towards its center. Assuming a meltdown product could persist in a mobile molten form for long enough to reach the center of the Earth; gravity would prevent it continuing to the other side. Other reactor types Other types of reactors have different capabilities and safety profiles than the LWR does. Advanced varieties of several of these reactors have the potential to be inherently safe. CANDU reactors CANDU reactors, Canadian-invented deuterium-uranium design, are designed with at least one, and generally two, large low-temperature and low-pressure water reservoirs around their fuel/coolant channels. The first is the bulk heavy-water moderator (a separate system from the coolant), and the second is the light-water-filled shield tank. These backup heat sinks are sufficient to prevent either the fuel meltdown in the first place (using the moderator heat sink), or the breaching of the core vessel should the moderator eventually boil off (using the shield tank heat sink). Other failure modes aside from fuel melt will probably occur in a CANDU rather than a meltdown, such as deformation of the calandria into a non-critical configuration. All CANDU reactors are located within standard Western containments as well. Gas-cooled reactors One type of Western reactor, known as the advanced gas-cooled reactor (or AGCR), built by the United Kingdom, is not very vulnerable to loss-of-cooling accidents or to core damage except in the most extreme of circumstances. By virtue of the relatively inert coolant (carbon dioxide), the large volume and high pressure of the coolant, and the relatively high heat transfer efficiency of the reactor, the time frame for core damage in the event of a limiting fault is measured in days. Restoration of some means of coolant flow will prevent core damage from occurring. Other types of highly advanced gas cooled reactors, generally known as high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) such as the Japanese High Temperature Test Reactor and the United States' Very High Temperature Reactor, are inherently safe, meaning that meltdown or other forms of core damage are physically impossible, due to the structure of the core, which consists of hexagonal prismatic blocks of silicon carbide reinforced graphite infused with TRISO or QUADRISO pellets of uranium, thorium, or mixed oxide buried underground in a helium-filled steel pressure vessel within a concrete containment. Though this type of reactor is not susceptible to meltdown, additional capabilities of heat removal are provided by using regular atmospheric airflow as a means of backup heat removal, by having it pass through a heat exchanger and rising into the atmosphere due to convection, achieving full residual heat removal. The VHTR is scheduled to be prototyped and tested at Idaho National Laboratory within the next decade (as of 2009) as the design selected for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant by the US Department of Energy. This reactor will use a gas as a coolant, which can then be used for process heat (such as in hydrogen production) or for the driving of gas turbines and the generation of electricity. A similar highly advanced gas cooled reactor originally designed by West Germany (the AVR reactor) and now developed by South Africa is known as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. It is an inherently safe design, meaning that core damage is physically impossible, due to the design of the fuel (spherical graphite "pebbles" arranged in a bed within a metal RPV and filled with TRISO (or QUADRISO) pellets of uranium, thorium, or mixed oxide within). A prototype of a very similar type of reactor has been built by the Chinese, HTR-10, and has worked beyond researchers' expectations, leading the Chinese to announce plans to build a pair of follow-on, full-scale 250 MWe, inherently safe, power production reactors based on the same concept. (See Nuclear power in the People's Republic of China for more information.) Experimental or conceptual designs Some design concepts for nuclear reactors emphasize resistance to meltdown and operating safety. The PIUS (process inherent ultimate safety) designs, originally engineered by the Swedes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, are LWRs that by virtue of their design are resistant to core damage. No units have ever been built. Power reactors, including the Deployable Electrical Energy Reactor, a larger-scale mobile version of the TRIGA for power generation in disaster areas and on military missions, and the TRIGA Power System, a small power plant and heat source for small and remote community use, have been put forward by interested engineers, and share the safety characteristics of the TRIGA due to the uranium zirconium hydride fuel used. The Hydrogen Moderated Self-regulating Nuclear Power Module, a reactor that uses uranium hydride as a moderator and fuel, similar in chemistry and safety to the TRIGA, also possesses these extreme safety and stability characteristics, and has attracted a good deal of interest in recent times. The liquid fluoride thermal reactor is designed to naturally have its core in a molten state, as a eutectic mix of thorium and fluorine salts. As such, a molten core is reflective of the normal and safe state of operation of this reactor type. In the event the core overheats, a metal plug will melt, and the molten salt core will drain into tanks where it will cool in a non-critical configuration. Since the core is liquid, and already melted, it cannot be damaged. Advanced liquid metal reactors, such as the U.S. Integral Fast Reactor and the Russian BN-350, BN-600, and BN-800, all have a coolant with very high heat capacity, sodium metal. As such, they can withstand a loss of cooling without SCRAM and a loss of heat sink without SCRAM, qualifying them as inherently safe. Soviet Union-designed reactors Soviet designed RBMKs, found only in Russia and the CIS and now shut down everywhere except Russia, do not have containment buildings, are naturally unstable (tending to dangerous power fluctuations), and also have ECCS systems that are considered grossly inadequate by Western safety standards. The reactor from the Chernobyl Disaster was a RBMK reactor. RBMK ECCS systems only have one division and have less than sufficient redundancy within that division. Though the large core size of the RBMK makes it less energy-dense than the Western LWR core, it makes it harder to cool. The RBMK is moderated by graphite. In the presence of both steam and oxygen, at high temperatures, graphite forms synthesis gas and with the water gas shift reaction the resultant hydrogen burns explosively. If oxygen contacts hot graphite, it will burn. The RBMK tends towards dangerous power fluctuations. Control rods used to be tipped with graphite, a material that slows neutrons and thus speeds up the chain reaction. Water is used as a coolant, but not a moderator. If the water boils away, cooling is lost, but moderation continues. This is termed a positive void coefficient of reactivity. Control rods can become stuck if the reactor suddenly heats up and they are moving. Xenon-135, a neutron absorbent fission product, has a tendency to build up in the core and burn off unpredictably in the event of low power operation. This can lead to inaccurate neutronic and thermal power ratings. The RBMK does not have any containment above the core. The only substantial solid barrier above the fuel is the upper part of the core, called the upper biological shield, which is a piece of concrete interpenetrated with control rods and with access holes for refueling while online. Other parts of the RBMK were shielded better than the core itself. Rapid shutdown (SCRAM) takes 10 to 15 seconds. Western reactors take 1 - 2.5 seconds. Western aid has been given to provide certain real-time safety monitoring capacities to the human staff. Whether this extends to automatic initiation of emergency cooling is not known. Training has been provided in safety assessment from Western sources, and Russian reactors have evolved in result to the weaknesses that were in the RBMK. However, numerous RBMKs still operate. It is safe to say that it might be possible to stop a loss-of-coolant event prior to core damage occurring, but that any core damage incidents will probably assure massive release of radioactive materials. Further, dangerous power fluctuations are natural to the design. Lithuania joined the EU recently, and upon acceding, it has been required to shut the two RBMKs that it has at Ignalina NPP, as such reactors are totally incompatible with the nuclear safety standards of Europe. It will be replacing them with some safer form of reactor. The MKER is a modern Russian-engineered channel type reactor that is a distant descendant of the RBMK. It approaches the concept from a different and superior direction, optimizing the benefits, and fixing the flaws of the original RBMK design. There are several unique features of the MKER's design that make it a credible and interesting option: One unique benefit of the MKER's design is that in the event of a challenge to cooling within the core - a pipe break of a channel, the channel can be isolated from the plenums supplying water, decreasing the potential for common-mode failures. The lower power density of the core greatly enhances thermal regulation. Graphite moderation enhances neutronic characteristics beyond light water ranges. The passive emergency cooling system provides a high level of protection by using natural phenomena to cool the core rather than depending on motor-driven pumps. The containment structure is modern and designed to withstand a very high level of punishment. Refueling is accomplished while online, ensuring that outages are for maintenance only and are very few and far between. 97-99% uptime is a definite possibility. Lower enrichment fuels can be used, and high burnup can be achieved due to the moderator design. Neutronics characteristics have been revamped to optimize for purely civilian fuel fertilization and recycling. Due to the enhanced quality control of parts, advanced computer controls, comprehensive passive emergency core cooling system, and very strong containment structure, along with a negative void coefficient and a fast acting rapid shutdown system, the MKER's safety can generally be regarded as being in the range of the Western Generation III reactors, and the unique benefits of the design may enhance its competitiveness in countries considering full fuel-cycle options for nuclear development. The VVER is a pressurized light water reactor that is far more stable and safe than the RBMK. This is because it uses light water as a moderator (rather than graphite), has well understood operating characteristics, and has a negative void coefficient of reactivity. In addition, some have been built with more than marginal containments, some have quality ECCS systems, and some have been upgraded to international standards of control and instrumentation. Present generations of VVERs (the VVER-1000) are built to Western-equivalent levels of instrumentation, control, and containment systems. However, even with these positive developments, certain older VVER models raise a high level of concern, especially the VVER-440 V230. The VVER-440 V230 has no containment building, but only has a structure capable of confining steam surrounding the RPV. This is a volume of thin steel, perhaps an inch or two in thickness, grossly insufficient by Western standards. - Has no ECCS. Can survive at most one 4 inch pipe break (there are many pipes greater than 4 inches within the design). - Has six steam generator loops, adding unnecessary complexity. - However, apparently steam generator loops can be isolated, in the event that a break occurs in one of these loops. The plant can remain operating with one isolated loop - a feature found in few Western reactors. The interior of the pressure vessel is plain alloy steel, exposed to water. This can lead to rust, if the reactor is exposed to water. One point of distinction in which the VVER surpasses the West is the reactor water cleanup facility - built, no doubt, to deal with the enormous volume of rust within the primary coolant loop - the product of the slow corrosion of the RPV. This model is viewed as having inadequate process control systems. Bulgaria had a number of VVER-440 V230 models, but they opted to shut them down upon joining the EU rather than backfit them, and are instead building new VVER-1000 models. Many non-EU states maintain V230 models, including Russia and the CIS. Many of these states - rather than abandoning the reactors entirely - have opted to install an ECCS, develop standard procedures, and install proper instrumentation and control systems. Though confinements cannot be transformed into containments, the risk of a limiting fault resulting in core damage can be greatly reduced. The VVER-440 V213 model was built to the first set of Soviet nuclear safety standards. It possesses a modest containment building, and the ECCS systems, though not completely to Western standards, are reasonably comprehensive. Many VVER-440 V213 models possessed by former Soviet bloc countries have been upgraded to fully automated Western-style instrumentation and control systems, improving safety to Western levels for accident prevention - but not for accident containment, which is of a modest level compared to Western plants. These reactors are regarded as "safe enough" by Western standards to continue operation without major modifications, though most owners have performed major modifications to bring them up to generally equivalent levels of nuclear safety. During the 1970s, Finland built two VVER-440 V213 models to Western standards with a large-volume full containment and world-class instrumentation, control standards and an ECCS with multiply redundant and diversified components. In addition, passive safety features such as 900-tonne ice condensers have been installed, making these two units safety-wise the most advanced VVER-440's in the world. The VVER-1000 type has a definitely adequate Western-style containment, the ECCS is sufficient by Western standards, and instrumentation and control has been markedly improved to Western 1970s-era levels. Chernobyl disaster In the Chernobyl disaster the fuel became non-critical when it melted and flowed away from the graphite moderator - however, it took considerable time to cool. The molten core of Chernobyl (that part that did not vaporize in the fire) flowed in a channel created by the structure of its reactor building and froze in place before a core-concrete interaction could happen. In the basement of the reactor at Chernobyl, a large "elephant's foot" of congealed core material was found. Time delay, and prevention of direct emission to the atmosphere, would have reduced the radiological release. If the basement of the reactor building had been penetrated, the groundwater would be severely contaminated, and its flow could carry the contamination far afield. The Chernobyl reactor was an RBMK type. The disaster was caused by a power excursion that led to a meltdown and extensive offsite consequences. Operator error and a faulty shutdown system led to a sudden, massive spike in the neutron multiplication rate, a sudden decrease in the neutron period, and a consequent increase in neutron population; thus, core heat flux very rapidly increased to unsafe levels. This caused the water coolant to flash to steam, causing a sudden overpressure within the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), leading to granulation of the upper portion of the core and the ejection of the upper plenum of said pressure vessel along with core debris from the reactor building in a widely dispersed pattern. The lower portion of the reactor remained somewhat intact; the graphite neutron moderator was exposed to oxygen containing air; heat from the power excursion in addition to residual heat flux from the remaining fuel rods left without coolant induced oxidation in the moderator; this in turn evolved more heat and contributed to the melting of the fuel rods and the outgassing of the fission products contained therein. The liquefied remains of the fuel rods flowed through a drainage pipe into the basement of the reactor building and solidified in a mass later dubbed corium, though the primary threat to the public safety was the dispersed core ejecta and the gasses evolved from the oxidation of the moderator. Although the Chernobyl accident had dire off-site effects, much of the radioactivity remained within the building. If the building were to fail and dust was to be released into the environment then the release of a given mass of fission products which have aged for twenty years would have a smaller effect than the release of the same mass of fission products (in the same chemical and physical form) which had only undergone a short cooling time (such as one hour) after the nuclear reaction has been terminated. However, if a nuclear reaction was to occur again within the Chernobyl plant (for instance if rainwater was to collect and act as a moderator) then the new fission products would have a higher specific activity and thus pose a greater threat if they were released. To prevent a post-accident nuclear reaction, steps have been taken, such as adding neutron poisons to key parts of the basement. The effects of a nuclear meltdown depend on the safety features designed into a reactor. A modern reactor is designed both to make a meltdown unlikely, and to contain one should it occur. In a modern reactor, a nuclear meltdown, whether partial or total, should be contained inside the reactor's containment structure. Thus (assuming that no other major disasters occur) while the meltdown will severely damage the reactor itself, possibly contaminating the whole structure with highly radioactive material, a meltdown alone should not lead to significant radiation release or danger to the public. In practice, however, a nuclear meltdown is often part of a larger chain of disasters (although there have been so few meltdowns in the history of nuclear power that there is not a large pool of statistical information from which to draw a credible conclusion as to what "often" happens in such circumstances). For example, in the Chernobyl accident, by the time the core melted, there had already been a large steam explosion and graphite fire and major release of radioactive contamination (as with almost all Soviet reactors, there was no containment structure at Chernobyl). Also, before a possible meltdown occurs, pressure can already be rising in the reactor, and to prevent a meltdown by restoring the cooling of the core, operators are allowed to reduce the pressure in the reactor by releasing (radioactive) steam into the environment. This enables them to inject additional cooling water into the reactor again. Reactor design Although pressurized water reactors are more susceptible to nuclear meltdown in the absence of active safety measures, this is not a universal feature of civilian nuclear reactors. Much of the research in civilian nuclear reactors is for designs with passive nuclear safety features that may be less susceptible to meltdown, even if all emergency systems failed. For example, pebble bed reactors are designed so that complete loss of coolant for an indefinite period does not result in the reactor overheating. The General Electric ESBWR and Westinghouse AP1000 have passively activated safety systems. The CANDU reactor has two low-temperature and low-pressure water systems surrounding the fuel (i.e. moderator and shield tank) that act as back-up heat sinks and preclude meltdowns and core-breaching scenarios. Fast breeder reactors are more susceptible to meltdown than other reactor types, due to the larger quantity of fissile material and the higher neutron flux inside the reactor core, which makes it more difficult to control the reaction. Accidental fires are widely acknowledged to be risk factors that can contribute to a nuclear meltdown. United States There have been at least eight meltdowns in the history of the United States. All are widely called "partial meltdowns." - BORAX-I was a test reactor designed to explore criticality excursions and observe if a reactor would self limit. In the final test, it was deliberately destroyed and revealed that the reactor reached much higher temperatures than were predicted at the time. - The reactor at EBR-I suffered a partial meltdown during a coolant flow test on November 29, 1955. - The Sodium Reactor Experiment in Santa Susana Field Laboratory was an experimental nuclear reactor which operated from 1957 to 1964 and was the first commercial power plant in the world to experience a core meltdown in July 1959. - Stationary Low-Power Reactor Number One (SL-1) was a United States Army experimental nuclear power reactor which underwent a criticality excursion, a steam explosion, and a meltdown on January 3, 1961, killing three operators. - The SNAP8ER reactor at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory experienced damage to 80% of its fuel in an accident in 1964. - The partial meltdown at the Fermi 1 experimental fast breeder reactor, in 1966, required the reactor to be repaired, though it never achieved full operation afterward. - The SNAP8DR reactor at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory experienced damage to approximately a third of its fuel in an accident in 1969. - The Three Mile Island accident, in 1979, referred to in the press as a "partial core melt," led to the permanent shutdown of that reactor. Soviet Union In the most serious example, the Chernobyl disaster, design flaws and operator negligence led to a power excursion that subsequently caused a meltdown. According to a report released by the Chernobyl Forum (consisting of numerous United Nations agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization; the World Bank; and the Governments of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia) the disaster killed twenty-eight people due to acute radiation syndrome, could possibly result in up to four thousand fatal cancers at an unknown time in the future and required the permanent evacuation of an exclusion zone around the reactor. During the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, three of the power plant's six reactors reportedly suffered meltdowns. Most of the fuel in the reactor No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant melted. TEPCO believes No.2 and No.3 reactors were similarly affected. On May 24, 2011, TEPCO reported that all three reactors melted down. Meltdown incidents - There was also a fatal core meltdown at SL-1, an experimental U.S. military reactor in Idaho. Large-scale nuclear meltdowns at civilian nuclear power plants include: - the Lucens reactor, Switzerland, in 1969. - the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania, U.S.A., in 1979. - the Chernobyl disaster at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, USSR, in 1986. - the Fukushima I nuclear accidents following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, March 2011. Other core meltdowns have occurred at: - NRX (military), Ontario, Canada, in 1952 - BORAX-I (experimental), Idaho, U.S.A., in 1954 - EBR-I (military), Idaho, U.S.A., in 1955 - Windscale (military), Sellafield, England, in 1957 (see Windscale fire) - Sodium Reactor Experiment, (civilian), California, U.S.A., in 1959 - Fermi 1 (civilian), Michigan, U.S.A., in 1966 - Chapelcross nuclear power station (civilian), Scotland, in 1967 - Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant (civilian), France, in 1969 - A1 plant, (civilian) at Jaslovské Bohunice, Czechoslovakia, in 1977 - Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant (civilian), France, in 1980 China Syndrome The China syndrome (loss-of-coolant accident) is a fictional nuclear reactor operations accident characterized by the severe meltdown of the core components of the reactor, which then burn through the containment vessel and the housing building, then notionally through the crust and body of the Earth until reaching the other side, which in the United States is jokingly referred to as being China. The system design of the nuclear power plants built in the late 1960s raised questions of operational safety, and raised the concern that a severe reactor accident could release large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere and environment. By 1970, there were doubts about the ability of the emergency cooling systems of a nuclear reactor to prevent a loss of coolant accident and the consequent meltdown of the fuel core; the subject proved popular in the technical and the popular presses. In 1971, in the article Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing, former Manhattan Project (1942–1946) nuclear physicist Ralph Lapp used the term "China syndrome" to describe a possible burn-through, after a loss of coolant accident, of the nuclear fuel rods and core components melting the containment structures, and the subsequent escape of radioactive material(s) into the atmosphere and environment; the hypothesis derived from a 1967 report by a group of nuclear physicists, headed by W. K. Ergen. In the event, Lapp’s hypothetical nuclear accident was cinematically adapted as The China Syndrome (1979). The geographic, planet-piercing concept of the China syndrome derives from the misperception that China is the antipode of the United States; to many Americans, it is the “the other side of the world”. Moreover, the hypothetical transit of a meltdown product to the other side of the Earth (i.e. China) ignores the fact that the Earth's gravity tends to pull all masses towards its center. Assuming a meltdown product could persist in a mobile molten form for long enough to reach the center of the Earth; momentum loss due to friction (fluid viscosity) would prevent it continuing to the other side. See also - Behavior of nuclear fuel during a reactor accident - Chernobyl compared to other radioactivity releases - Chernobyl disaster effects - High-level radioactive waste management - International Nuclear Event Scale - List of civilian nuclear accidents - Lists of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents - Nuclear fuel response to reactor accidents - Nuclear safety - Nuclear power - Nuclear power debate - Martin Fackler (June 1, 2011). "Report Finds Japan Underestimated Tsunami Danger". New York Times. - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (2007). IAEA Safety Glossary: Terminology Used in Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (2007edition ed.). Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency. ISBN 92-0-100707-8. Retrieved 2009-08-17. - United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) (2009-09-14). "Glossary". Website. Rockville, Maryland, USA: Federal Government of the United States. pp. See Entries for Letter M and Entries for Letter N. Retrieved 2009-10-03. - Reactor safety study: an assessment of accident risks in U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, Volume 1 - Hewitt, Geoffrey Frederick; Collier, John Gordon (2000). "4.6.1 Design Basis Accident for the AGR: Depressurization Fault". Introduction to nuclear power (in Technical English). London, UK: Taylor & Francis. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-56032-454-6. Retrieved 2010-06-05. - "Earthquake Report No. 91". JAIF. May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011. - Kuan, P.; Hanson, D. J., Odar, F. (1991). Managing water addition to a degraded core. Retrieved 2010-11-22. - Haskin, F.E.; Camp, A.L. (1994). Perspectives on Reactor Safety (NUREG/CR-6042) (Reactor Safety Course R-800), 1st Edition. Beltsville, MD: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. p. 3.1–5. Retrieved 2010-11-23. - Haskin, F.E.; Camp, A.L. (1994). Perspectives on Reactor Safety (NUREG/CR-6042) (Reactor Safety Course R-800), 1st Edition. Beltsville, MD: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. pp. 3.5–1 to 3.5–4. Retrieved 2010-12-24. - Haskin, F.E.; Camp, A.L. (1994). Perspectives on Reactor Safety (NUREG/CR-6042) (Reactor Safety Course R-800), 1st Edition. Beltsville, MD: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. pp. 3.5–4 to 3.5–5. Retrieved 2010-12-24. - ANS : Public Information : Resources : Special Topics : History at Three Mile Island : What Happened and What Didn't in the TMI-2 Accident - Nuclear Industry in Russia Sells Safety, Taught by Chernobyl - 'Melt-through' at Fukushima? / Govt. suggests situation worse than meltdown http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110607005367.htm - Test Area North - Walker, J. Samuel (2004). Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective (Berkeley: University of California Press), p. 11. - Lapp, Ralph E. "Thoughts on nuclear plumbing." The New York Times, 12 December 1971, pg. E11. - "China Syndrome". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 11, 2012. - Presenter: Martha Raddatz (15 March 2011). "ABC World News". ABC. - Allen, P.J.; J.Q. Howieson, H.S. Shapiro, J.T. Rogers, P. Mostert and R.W. van Otterloo (April–June 1990). "Summary of CANDU 6 Probabilistic Safety Assessment Study Results". Nuclear Safety 31 (2): 202–214. - http://www.insc.anl.gov/neisb/neisb4/NEISB_1.1.html INL VVER Sourcebook - Partial Fuel Meltdown Events - ANL-W Reactor History: BORAX I - Wald, Matthew L. (2011-03-11). "Japan Expands Evacuation Around Nuclear Plant". The New York Times. - The Chernobyl Forum: 2003-2005 (2006-04). "Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts". International Atomic Energy Agency. p. 14. Retrieved 2011-01-26. - The Chernobyl Forum: 2003-2005 (2006-04). "Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts". International Atomic Energy Agency. p. 16. Retrieved 2011-01-26. - Hiroko Tabuchi (May 24, 2011). "Company Believes 3 Reactors Melted Down in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-05-25.	4.173419
Roman siege engines \|This article is part of the series on: Military of ancient Rome (portal) 753 BC – AD erals \|Roman navy (fleets, admirals)\| \|Lists of wars and battles\| \|Decorations and punishments\| \|Military engineering (castra, siege engines, arches, roads)\| \|Strategy and tactics\| \|Frontiers and fortifications (limes, Hadrian's Wall)\| Roman siege engines were, for the most part, adapted from Hellenistic siege technology. Relatively small efforts were made to develop the technology; however, the Romans brought an unrelentingly aggressive style to siege warfare that brought them repeated success. Up to the 1st century BC the Romans utilized siege weapons only as required and relied for the most part on ladders, towers and rams to assault a fortified town. Ballistae were also employed, but held no permanent place within a legion's roster, until later in the Republic, and were used sparingly. Julius Caesar took great interest in the integration of advanced siege engines, organizing their use for optimal battlefield efficiency. Army engineering corps To facilitate this organization and the army’s self-sufficiency, an engineering corps was developed. An officer of engineers, or praefectus fabrum, is referenced in armies of the Late Republic, but this post is not verifiable in all accounts and may have simply been a military advisor on the personal staff of a commanding officer. There were legion architects (whose rank is yet unknown) who were responsible for the construction of war machines who would also assure that all artillery constructions in the field were level. Ensuring that constructions were level was the job of the libratores, who would also launch missiles and other projectiles (on occasion) during battle (Le Bohec 1994: 52). The engineering corps was in charge of massive production, frequently prefabricating artillery and siege equipment to facilitate its transportation. Roman artillery was very efficient at that time, and during a siege the Romans would attack the weakest area of their enemy’s defenses and attempt to breach the walls at that point. To support this effort, artillery fire would commence, with three main objectives: to cause damage to defenses, casualties among the opposing army, and loss of enemy morale. It would also provide cover fire for troops building siege ramps or those in siege towers. There were machines called tormenta , which would launch (sometimes incendiary) projectiles such as javelins, arrows, rocks, or beams. These devices were on wheeled platforms to follow the line’s advance. All were “predicated on a principle of physics: a lever was inserted into a skein of twisted horsehair to increase torsion, and when the arm was released, a considerable amount of energy was thus freed”. It was later stated that sinew, instead of twisted hair, provided a better “spring.” These weapons were high-maintenance devices and vulnerable to having their leather, sinew, or hemp skeins affected by wet or even damp, which would cause them to slacken and lose tension, rendering the engine useless. It is somewhat difficult to clearly define and describe Roman artillery, as names are easily confused and historians still do not agree on all definitions. Perhaps best known are the ballista, the onager, and the scorpio. After the absorption of the Ancient Greek City states into the Roman Republic in 146 BC, some advanced Greek technology began to spread across many areas of Roman influence. This included the hugely advantageous military advances the Greeks had made (most notably by Dionysus of Syracuse), as well as all the scientific, mathematical, political and artistic developments. The Romans 'inherited' the torsion powered Ballistae which had by now spread to several cities around the Mediterranean, all of which became Roman spoils of war in time, including one from Pergamum, which was depicted among a pile of 'trophy' weapons in relief on a balustrade. The torsion ballista, developed by Alexander, was a far more complicated weapon than its predecessor, and the Romans developed it even further. Every century (group of 60-100 men) in the Roman army had a ballista by the 1st century AD. It was the command of the chief of the ballista, under whom were the artillery experts, or doctores ballistarum and finally, the artillerymen, or ballistarii. Ballistae were heavy missile weapons, hurling large rocks great distances to damage rampart walls. They resembled large crossbows, rather than catapults. They were powered by two horizontal like arms, which were inserted into two vertical and tightly wound "skein" springs contained in a rectangular frame structure making up the head or principal part of the weapon. The arms were drawn rearward with a winch lever to further twist the skeins and thus gain the torsion power to cast a projectile. It has been said that the whirring sound of a ballista-fired stone struck fear and dread into the hearts of those inside the walls of besieged cities. The stones chosen to be used in the ballista had to be a particular sort. According to Vegetius river stones were best, since they are round, smooth, and dense. Ballista stones found at the site of Masada were chiseled to make them as round as possible. Early Roman ballista The early Roman ballistae were made of wood, and held together with iron plates around the frames and iron nails in the stand. The main stand had a slider on the top, into which were loaded the bolts or stone 'shot'. Attached to this, at the back, was a pair of winches and a claw, used to ratchet the bowstring back to the armed firing position. A slider passed through the field frames of the weapon, in which were located the torsion springs (rope made of animal sinew), which were twisted around the bow arms, which in turn were attached to the bowstring. Drawing the bowstring back with the winches twisted the already taut springs, storing the energy to fire the projectiles. The ballista was a highly accurate weapon (there are many accounts right from its early history of single soldiers being picked off by the operators), but some design aspects meant it could compromise its accuracy for range. The lightweight bolts could not gain the high momentum of the stones over the same distance as those thrown by the later onagers, trebuchets, or mangonels; these could be as heavy as 90-135 kg (200-300 pounds). The Romans continued the development of the Ballista, and it became a highly-prized and valued weapon in the army of the Roman Empire. It was used, just before the start of the Empire, by Julius Caesar during his conquest of Gaul and on both of his expeditions to Britain. Both attempted invasions of Britain and the siege of Alesia are recorded in his own Commentarii (journal), The Gallic Wars (De Bello Gallico). It was also used in the Roman siege of Masada. First invasion of Britain The first invasion of Britain took place in 55 BC, after a rapid and successful initial conquest of Gaul, in part as an exploratory expedition, and more practically to try and put an end to the re-enforcements sent by the native Britons to fight the Romans in Gaul. A total of eighty transports, carrying two legions attempted to land on the British shore, only to be driven back by the many British warriors assembled along the shoreline. The ships had to unload their troops on the beach, as it was the only one suitable for many kilometers, yet the massed ranks of British charioteers and javeliners were making it impossible. Seeing this, Caesar ordered the warships – which were swifter and easier to handle than the transports, and likely to impress the natives more by their unfamiliar appearance – to be removed a short distance from the others, and then be rowed hard and run ashore on the enemy’s right flank, from which position the slings, bows and artillery could be used by men on deck to drive them back. This manoeuvre was highly successful. Scared by the strange shape of the warships, the motion of the oars, and the unfamiliar machines, the natives halted and then retreated a little. (Caesar, The Conquest of Gaul, p. 99) Siege of Alesia In Gaul, the stronghold of Alesia was under a Roman siege in 52 BC, and surrounded by Roman fortifications. As was standard siege technique at the time, ballistae were placed up in the towers with other soldiers armed with either bows or slings. The Onager The onager was a post-classical Roman siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine, similar to that of an onager (wild ass). It is a type of catapult that uses torsional pressure, generally from twisted rope, to store energy for the shot. The onager consisted of a frame placed on the ground to whose front end a vertical frame of solid timber was rigidly fixed; through the vertical frame ran an axle, which had a single stout spoke. On the extremity of the spoke was a sling used to launch a projectile. In action the spoke was forced down, against the tension of twisted ropes or other springs, by a windlass, and then suddenly released. The spoke thus kicked the crosspiece of the vertical frame, and the projectile at its extreme end was shot forward. The onagers of the Roman Empire were mainly used for besieging forts or settlements. They would often be loaded with large stones or rocks that could be covered with a flammable substance and set alight. In the Middle Ages (recorded from around 1200 C.E.) a less powerful version of the onager was used that employed a fixed bowl rather than a sling, so that many small projectiles could be thrown, as opposed to a single large one. This engine was sometimes called the mangonel, although the same name may have been used for a variety of siege engines. The scorpio was a crossbow-like device that fired smaller arrows with deadly accuracy used both in the field and in sieges. They were so-named for their deadly, armor-piercing sting and could be operated by just one or two men. Scorpions were meant to kill and injure enemy troops, rather than break down enemy fortifications. Thanks to their smaller size, they could be mounted on or in siege towers. During the Siege of Amida, a scorpion-fired arrow killed the son of Grumbate, king of the Chionitae, when he was approaching the city to surrender. There has been some research done into the existence of the self-loading, serial-fire scorpio or polybolos. Legionaries either side would continuously keep turning cranks which turned a chain, which operated the various mechanisms to load and fire the catapult. All that was needed was for another soldier to keep feeding in more arrows. Breaking the walls Battering rams Roman battering rams, or aries, were an effective weapon for breaking down an enemy’s walls, as well as their morale. Under Roman law, any defenders who failed to surrender before the first ram touched their wall were denied any rights. The moment they heard the ram hit the wall, those inside the city knew that the siege proper had begun and there was no turning back. It is an immense beam, similar to a ship’s mast, with one end covered with iron shaped into a ram’s head; hence its name. It is suspended from another beam like a balance arm by cables around its middle, and this in turn is supported at both ends by posts fixed in the ground. It is drawn back by a huge number of men who then push it forward in unison with all their might so that it hits the wall with its iron head. There is no tower strong enough nor any wall thick enough to withstand repeated blows of this kind, and many cannot resist the first shock. For protection, a battering ram was suspended in a mobile shelter called a tortoise, or testudo. According to Vegetius, it was given this name because the ram would swing out of the shelter much like a tortoise’s head comes out of its shell. Such shelters would provide the men within protection against missiles and incendiary devices. They were constructed from a framework of strong timbers with planks and wicker hurdles on the sides. The entire shelter would then be covered with a fireproof material such as uncured hides. According to Apollodorus of Damascus, the shelter should be fixed to the ground while the ram was being used to both prevent skidding and strain on the axles from the weight of the moving apparatus. This would also increase the strength of the impact on the walls. Siege towers According to Josephus, the Roman siege towers at Jotapata were 50 feet high and iron-plated to protect them from fire; those at Masada were reported to be 75 feet high. It was possible to have many different devices on siege towers, such as artillery, draw bridges and rams. Those at the top of the tower were to keep defenders off the walls while those below them attempted to breach the wall using ramps. Following a basic design, details of tower construction varied from siege to siege and there is no known treatise which specifies at which level siege equipment should be placed. Vegetius noted that, “besiegers sometimes built a tower with another turret inside it that could suddenly be raised by ropes and pulleys to over-top the wall”. Mines could be dug under city walls as a means of entering a city secretly and capturing it but were more frequently constructed to weaken city walls. Once dug, sappers would underpin the walls with wood and cause the walls to collapse by firing the supports with resin, sulfur and other incendiary materials. - Goldsworthy 2000: 144 - Keppie 1984: 99 - Le Bohec 1994: 138 - Catapulta at LegionXXIV - Le Bohec 1994: p. 138 - Le Bohec 1994: p. 49 - Garrison 1997. - Goldsworthy 2000: 191 - Siege weapons at roman-empire.net - Goldsworthy 2000: p. 145 - Gilliver 1999: p. 140 - Le Bohec 1994: p. 139 - Gilliver 1999: pp. 134-135 - Gilliver 1999: p. 138 - Gilliver 1999: pp. 136-137. - Gilliver 1999: 138 - Gilliver 1999: 140 - James V. Garrison (1997). "Casting stones: ballista, stones as weapons, and death by stoning". Brigham Young University Studies 36 (3): 351–352. - Gilliver, C.M. (1999). The Roman Art of War. Charleston, SC: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-1939-0. - Goldsworthy, Adrian (2000). Roman Warfare. London: Cassell. ISBN 0-304-35265-9. - Keppie, Lawrence (1984). The Making of the Roman Army from Empire to Republic. Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble Books. ISBN 0-389-20447-1. - Le Bohec, Yann (1994). The Imperial Roman Army. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. ISBN 0-7134-7166-2. See also	3.668884
Signal-to-noise ratio (often abbreviated SNR or S/N) is a measure used in science and engineering that compares the level of a desired signal to the level of background noise. It is defined as the ratio of signal power to the noise power. A ratio higher than 1:1 indicates more signal than noise. While SNR is commonly quoted for electrical signals, it can be applied to any form of signal (such as isotope levels in an ice core or biochemical signaling between cells). Signal-to-noise ratio is sometimes used informally to refer to the ratio of useful information to false or irrelevant data in a conversation or exchange. For example, in online discussion forums and other online communities, off-topic posts and spam are regarded as "noise" that interferes with the "signal" of appropriate discussion. where P is average power. Both signal and noise power must be measured at the same or equivalent points in a system, and within the same system bandwidth. If the signal and the noise are measured across the same impedance, then the SNR can be obtained by calculating the square of the amplitude ratio: where A is root mean square (RMS) amplitude (for example, RMS voltage). Because many signals have a very wide dynamic range, SNRs are often expressed using the logarithmic decibel scale. In decibels, the SNR is defined as which may equivalently be written using amplitude ratios as The concepts of signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range are closely related. Dynamic range measures the ratio between the strongest un-distorted signal on a channel and the minimum discernable signal, which for most purposes is the noise level. SNR measures the ratio between an arbitrary signal level (not necessarily the most powerful signal possible) and noise. Measuring signal-to-noise ratios requires the selection of a representative or reference signal. In audio engineering, the reference signal is usually a sine wave at a standardized nominal or alignment level, such as 1 kHz at +4 dBu (1.228 VRMS). SNR is usually taken to indicate an average signal-to-noise ratio, as it is possible that (near) instantaneous signal-to-noise ratios will be considerably different. The concept can be understood as normalizing the noise level to 1 (0 dB) and measuring how far the signal 'stands out'. Difference from conventional power In Physics power (physics) of an ac signal is defined as But in Signal Processing and Communication we usually assume that so that usually we don't include that resistance term while measuring power or energy of a signal. This usually causes some confusions among readers but the resistance term is not significant for operations performed in signal processing. Most of cases the power of a signal would be where 'A' is the amplitude of the ac signal. In some places people just use as the constant term doesn't affect much during the calculations. Alternative definition where is the signal mean or expected value and is the standard deviation of the noise, or an estimate thereof.[note 2] Notice that such an alternative definition is only useful for variables that are always non-negative (such as photon counts and luminance). Thus it is commonly used in image processing, where the SNR of an image is usually calculated as the ratio of the mean pixel value to the standard deviation of the pixel values over a given neighborhood. Sometimes SNR is defined as the square of the alternative definition above. The Rose criterion (named after Albert Rose) states that an SNR of at least 5 is needed to be able to distinguish image features at 100% certainty. An SNR less than 5 means less than 100% certainty in identifying image details. SNR for various modulation systems Amplitude modulation Channel signal-to-noise ratio is given by where W is the bandwidth and ka is modulation index Output signal-to-noise ratio (of AM receiver) is given by Frequency modulation Channel signal-to-noise ratio is given by Output signal-to-noise ratio is given by Improving SNR in practice All real measurements are disturbed by noise. This includes electronic noise, but can also include external events that affect the measured phenomenon — wind, vibrations, gravitational attraction of the moon, variations of temperature, variations of humidity, etc., depending on what is measured and of the sensitivity of the device. It is often possible to reduce the noise by controlling the environment. Otherwise, when the characteristics of the noise are known and are different from the signals, it is possible to filter it or to process the signal. For example, it is sometimes possible to use a lock-in amplifier to modulate and confine the signal within a very narrow bandwidth and then filter the detected signal to the narrow band where it resides, thereby eliminating most of the broadband noise. When the signal is constant or periodic and the noise is random, it is possible to enhance the SNR by averaging the measurement. In this case the noise goes down as the square root of the number of averaged samples. Digital signals When a measurement is digitised, the number of bits used to represent the measurement determines the maximum possible signal-to-noise ratio. This is because the minimum possible noise level is the error caused by the quantization of the signal, sometimes called Quantization noise. This noise level is non-linear and signal-dependent; different calculations exist for different signal models. Quantization noise is modeled as an analog error signal summed with the signal before quantization ("additive noise"). This theoretical maximum SNR assumes a perfect input signal. If the input signal is already noisy (as is usually the case), the signal's noise may be larger than the quantization noise. Real analog-to-digital converters also have other sources of noise that further decrease the SNR compared to the theoretical maximum from the idealized quantization noise, including the intentional addition of dither. Although noise levels in a digital system can be expressed using SNR, it is more common to use Eb/No, the energy per bit per noise power spectral density. The modulation error ratio (MER) is a measure of the SNR in a digitally modulated signal. Fixed point Assuming a uniform distribution of input signal values, the quantization noise is a uniformly distributed random signal with a peak-to-peak amplitude of one quantization level, making the amplitude ratio 2n/1. The formula is then: This relationship is the origin of statements like "16-bit audio has a dynamic range of 96 dB". Each extra quantization bit increases the dynamic range by roughly 6 dB. Assuming a full-scale sine wave signal (that is, the quantizer is designed such that it has the same minimum and maximum values as the input signal), the quantization noise approximates a sawtooth wave with peak-to-peak amplitude of one quantization level and uniform distribution. In this case, the SNR is approximately Floating point Note that the dynamic range is much larger than fixed-point, but at a cost of a worse signal-to-noise ratio. This makes floating-point preferable in situations where the dynamic range is large or unpredictable. Fixed-point's simpler implementations can be used with no signal quality disadvantage in systems where dynamic range is less than 6.02m. The very large dynamic range of floating-point can be a disadvantage, since it requires more forethought in designing algorithms. Optical SNR Optical signals have a carrier frequency that is much higher than the modulation frequency (about 200 THz and more). This way the noise covers a bandwidth that is much wider than the signal itself. The resulting signal influence relies mainly on the filtering of the noise. To describe the signal quality without taking the receiver into account, the optical SNR (OSNR) is used. The OSNR is the ratio between the signal power and the noise power in a given bandwidth. Most commonly a reference bandwidth of 0.1 nm is used. This bandwidth is independent of the modulation format, the frequency and the receiver. For instance an OSNR of 20dB/0.1 nm could be given, even the signal of 40 GBit DPSK would not fit in this bandwidth. OSNR is measured with an optical spectrum analyzer. See also - The connection between optical power and voltage in an imaging system is linear. This usually means that the SNR of the electrical signal is calculated by the 10 log rule. With an interferometric system, however, where interest lies in the signal from one arm only, the field of the electromagnetic wave is proportional to the voltage (assuming that the intensity in the second, the reference arm is constant). Therefore the optical power of the measurement arm is directly proportional to the electrical power and electrical signals from optical interferometry are following the 20 log rule. - The exact methods may vary between fields. For example, if the signal data are known to be constant, then can be calculated using the standard deviation of the signal. If the signal data are not constant, then can be calculated from data where the signal is zero or relatively constant. - Often special filters are used to weight the noise: DIN-A, DIN-B, DIN-C, DIN-D, CCIR-601; for video, special filters such as comb filters may be used. - Maximum possible full scale signal can be charged as peak-to-peak or as RMS. Audio uses RMS, Video P-P, which gave +9 dB more SNR for video. - Michael A. Choma, Marinko V. Sarunic, Changhuei Yang, Joseph A. Izatt. Sensitivity advantage of swept source and Fourier domain optical coherence tomography. Optics Express, 11(18). Sept 2003. - D. J. Schroeder (1999). Astronomical optics (2nd ed.). Academic Press. p. 433. ISBN 978-0-12-629810-9. - Bushberg, J. T., et al., The Essential Physics of Medical Imaging, (2e). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006, p. 280. - Rafael C. González, Richard Eugene Woods (2008). Digital image processing. Prentice Hall. p. 354. ISBN 0-13-168728-X. - Tania Stathaki (2008). Image fusion: algorithms and applications. Academic Press. p. 471. ISBN 0-12-372529-1. - Jitendra R. Raol (2009). Multi-Sensor Data Fusion: Theory and Practice. CRC Press. ISBN 1-4398-0003-0. - John C. Russ (2007). The image processing handbook. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-7254-2. - Defining and Testing Dynamic Parameters in High-Speed ADCs — Maxim Integrated Products Application note 728 - Fixed-Point vs. Floating-Point DSP for Superior Audio — Rane Corporation technical library - Taking the Mystery out of the Infamous Formula,"SNR = 6.02N + 1.76dB," and Why You Should Care. Analog Devices - ADC and DAC Glossary – Maxim Integrated Products - Understand SINAD, ENOB, SNR, THD, THD + N, and SFDR so you don't get lost in the noise floor – Analog Devices - The Relationship of dynamic range to data word size in digital audio processing - Calculation of signal-to-noise ratio, noise voltage, and noise level - Learning by simulations – a simulation showing the improvement of the SNR by time averaging - Dynamic Performance Testing of Digital Audio D/A Converters - Fundamental theorem of analog circuits: a minimum level of power must be dissipated to maintain a level of SNR	4.258197
July 24, 2011 The photo above shows a lovely group of mushrooms nestled against the trunk of a eucalyptus tree. The association between the fungi and the tree however is no accident. This is a mutualistic relationship, where the two species assist each other, and in fact probably would be poorer without each other. Mutualism is any relationship between two species of organisms that benefits both species. Up to a quarter of the mushrooms you see while walking through the woods actually make their living through a mutualistic relationship with the trees in the forest. Remember of course that the mushroom is just the reproductive structure of a far more extensive organism consisting of a highly intertwined mass of fine white threads called a mycelium. The word mycorrhiza is derived from the Classical Greek words for "mushroom" and "root." In a mycorrhizal association, the fungal hyphae of an underground mycelium are in contact with plant roots but without the fungus parasitizing the plant. While it's clear that the majority of plants form mycorrhizas, the exact percentage is uncertain, but it's likely to lie somewhere between 80 and 90 percent. When the fungus’ mycelium envelopes the roots of the tree the effect is to greatly increase the soil area covered by the tree’s root system. This essentially extends the plant’s reach to water and nutrients, allowing it to utilize more of the soil’s resources. This mutualistic association provides the fungus with a relatively constant and direct access to carbohydrates, such as glucose and sucrose, supplied by the plant. In return the plant gains the benefits of the mycelium's higher absorptive capacity for water and mineral nutrients (due to comparatively large surface area of mycelium-to-root ratio), thus improving the plant's mineral absorption capabilities. Photo taken on May 7, 2011. Photo details: Camera Maker: Canon; Camera Model: Canon EOS 50D; Focal Length: 70.0mm; Aperture: f/10.0; Exposure Time: 0.013 s (1/80); ISO equiv: 1250; Exposure Bias: -1.00 EV; Metering Mode: Matrix; Exposure: aperture priority (semi-auto); White Balance: Auto; Flash Fired: No (enforced); Orientation: Normal; Color Space: sRGB.	3.403056
Peel-and-Stick Solar Cells Available in Near Future The NREL and Stanford are teaming up to develop peel-and-stick solar cells, which could become devices to charge battery operated products, such as cell phones, in the future. Peel-and-stick, or water-assisted transfer printing (WTP), technologies were developed by the Stanford group and have been used before for nanowire based electronics, but the Stanford-NREL (U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory) partnership has conducted the first successful demonstration using actual thin film solar cells. The university and NREL showed that thin-film solar cells less than one-micron thick can be removed from a silicon substrate used for fabrication by dipping them in water at room temperature. Then, after exposure to heat of about 90°C for a few seconds, they can attach to almost any surface. NREL’s cells could be made easily on Stanford’s peel off substrate. NREL’s amorphous silicon cells were fabricated on nickel-coated Si/SiO2 wafers. A thermal release tape attached to the top of the solar cell serves as a temporary transfer holder. An optional transparent protection layer is spin-casted in between the thermal tape and the solar cell to prevent contamination when the device is dipped in water. The result is a thin strip much like a bumper sticker: the user can peel off the handler and apply the solar cell directly to a surface. The cells’ ability to adhere to a universal substrate is unusual; most thin-film cells must be affixed to a special substrate. The peel-and-stick approach allows the use of flexible polymer substrates and high processing temperatures. The resulting flexible, lightweight, and transparent devices then can be integrated onto curved surfaces such as military helmets and portable electronics, transistors and sensors.	3.470589
Thursday, April 26, 2012 - 15:21 in Paleontology & Archaeology One of the most debated developments in human history is the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies. Scientists have now shown that agriculture spread to Northern Europe via migration from Southern Europe. - Genes shed light on spread of agriculture in Stone Age EuropeThu, 26 Apr 2012, 16:27:50 EDT - Europe's first farmers replaced their Stone Age hunter-gatherer forerunnersThu, 3 Sep 2009, 16:18:12 EDT - Northern hunters slowed down advance of Neolithic farmersThu, 3 Feb 2011, 9:33:40 EST - Ancient cooking pots reveal gradual transition to agricultureMon, 24 Oct 2011, 17:35:00 EDT - Jawbone found in England is from the earliest known modern human in northwestern EuropeWed, 2 Nov 2011, 17:38:40 EDT	3.609064
Just recently it was reported that biologists from the University of Nevada at Reno have been routinely observing unusually large goldfish in the pristine waters of Lake Tahoe in Northern California. This phenomenon has caught the attention of the California State Fish and Game Department who have instituted routine patrols to seek out what they consider to be a dangerous invasive species. The scientists speculate that the giant goldfish were introduced in the Lake Tahoe by so-called “aquarium dumpers,” well-meaning people who when they were no longer able to care for their pet fish, decided to abandon them in Lake Tahoe where they believed they would live out their lives in a safe and pleasant environment in the company of many other species of fish and crustaceans. Some experts questioned whether a goldfish could survive the frigid winters that characterize this deep, high-mountain lake. However, reality proved to be stranger than fiction when the goldfish not only survived, but thrived in the harsh Alpine climate. Thanks to the nutrient-rich effluent making its way into Lake Tahoe, the goldfish not only thrived but were also genetically transformed as a consequence of the metabolites of psychotropic pharmaceuticals that were present in the sewage emanating from affluent neighborhoods along the lakeshore. They adapted splendidly and in no time at all they quickly blended into the local culture and adopted the habits and customs of the local residents. Now the goldfish are regularly seen enjoying the recreational facilities throughout the area, although they curiously prefer to avoid being seen at restaurants and tackle shops. This is not by any means the first time giant goldfish have been seen in freshwater lakes. This trophy giant goldfish was caught by Raphaël Biagini, a legendary French “Carpiste,” who reeled in the monster “poisson rouge” from the waters of Lac de St. Cassien, a man-made reservoir in southern France. This is the same lake where a 75-pound world record carp was caught some 25 years ago. It is not clear how a tiny fish that normally graces home aquariums grew to such gargantuan size. Some locals familiar with the story attribute the fish’s extraordinary size with an incident that occurred a few years back when a barge laden with Camembert cheese capsized during a squall and sank with its cargo into the depths of Lake St. Cassien. The nutrient-rich cheese provided a source of food for several stray goldfish that, like Nemo, had been flushed down the toilet and somehow survived their transit through the sewage treatment plant. The discarded goldfish soon happened upon the sunken cache of cheese and began to feed on it. It appears that the Camembert rind that they devoured is coated with Penicillium candidum mold, which had the effect of strengthening their natural immunity and allowed them to grow to a colossal size that rendered them invulnerable to natural predators (except M. Biagini). Illustration by Kim Harris Story by Don Rudisuhle	3.093683
The oldest form of runic scripts, Elder Futhark is named for the first six runes in its alphabet, F, U, Th, A,R, and K. It was used in the North West of Europe from around the second to the eighth centuries AD and has been found on numerous artefacts ranging from jewellry and amulets to tools, weapons and the ever-popular runestone. From the sixth century, Younger Futhark began to develop out of the Elder form before it became prominent in scandinavia from the late eighth century. Later still the Anglo-Saxons and the Frisians developed it further into Anglo-Saxon Futhark. Unlike other forms of runes, the skill of reading Elder Futhark was lost overtime until it was rediscovered with its decipherment in 1865 by the Norwegian Sophus Bugge. The Elder Futhark alphabet consists of twenty-four runes which are traditionally set out in three groups known as aett. The alphabetic order which gives the script its name is first attested from around 400 AD. The direction of the text tends to vary in the earliest inscriptions but it later appears to settle into running from left to right. There are no word divisions in the majority of inscriptions except in a few cases where a series of dots were used to separate words. The angular shapes that the runes are formed by are probably the result of the original incisions make by writing materials like those made by the reed implements to form cuneiform. The alphabet itself is believed to be a derivation from Italic alphabets, possibly a form of Etruscan or Raetic or even Latin. There was a popular theory previously that the alphabet was derived from the Greek alphabet via the Gothic. However, the date of early inscriptions predates the Gothic communications with the Greeks and so this theory has been ruled out. It is believed that development of Elder Futhark was composed by a single person or group around the first century AD. The definite purpose for its invention is unknown but epigraphic purposes have been suggested alongside the magical, practical and the playful. Baeksted (1952) suggests use in graffiti. The runes for F, A, G, T, M, and L appear to be identical to old Italic or Latin alphabetic forms. There is also some correspondence in the runes for U, R, K, H, S, B, and O. The rest of the runes are likely adaptations from other sources or original innovations with the creation of the scripts. The rune names are based on the sounds of the runes themselves but also have a basis in mythology, nature and the environment, daily life and the human condition. As mentioned, inscriptions are found on a range of artefacts between the Carpathians and Lappland with the majority of examples hailing from Denmark. The oldest inscription found dates to 160 AD and is found on the Vimose Comb reading simply HARJA. The longest inscription found consists of 200 characters and dates to the eighth century Eggjum stone containing a stanza of Norse poetry. Younger Futhark developed out of Elder Futhark in a transitional phase dating from around 650-800 AD. It is also known as Scandinavian runes and is referred to in the Book of Ballymore as the ‘Ogham of the Scandinavians’. It is a reduced form of Elder Futhark and is found in inscriptions from Scandinavia and Viking Age settlements. Younger Futhark is also known as the alphabet of the Norsemen and is believed to have been developed for use in trade and diplomatic contracts. The alphabet consists of only sixteen characters which were in use from the ninth to the twelfth centuries. Its format consisted of distinct sounds and minimal pairs. One key rule in the younger Futhark texts is the avoidance of having the same rune twice in consecutive order. Younger Futhark actual includes two scripts. The first is made up of long-branch runes which are believed to have been used for documentation on stone. The second script is made up of short-twig runes which were likely used for everyday uses, for private and official messages on wood. The short-twig forms include nine runes which appear as simplified variants of the long branch runes. The Younger Futhark developed later into a range of additional scripts including Halsinge Runes, Middle Age Runes, and Latinised Dalecarlian Futhark. Some Examples of Futhark Inscriptions: Kalleby Runestone - The Kalleby Runestone dates to the Iron Age and includes a short text. It was found in Sweden in the region of Bohuslan and is believed to have been produced in the fifth century AD. It is an example of Period I Elder Futhark (150-550 AD). It reads: þrawijan * haitinaz was Yearning was imposed (on him). / Þrawija’s (monument). (I/he) was commanded/called. / (I/He) was promised to þrawija Vadstena Bracteate - The Vadstena Bracteate is a gold C-bracteate found in Sweden dating to around 500AD. It consists of an image of a four-legged animals with a man’s head above it with a bird separated by a line. This image is commonly associated with the Norse God Odin. The inscription reads: tuwatuwa; fuþarkgw; hnijïpzs; tbemlŋo[d] The translation is highly debated Skåäng Runestone- The Skåäng Runestone is an elaborate stone dating to around the sixth century. It hails from Sweden and contains two inscriptions. The first inscription consists of Younger Futhark while the second is of Elder Futhark. The inscriptions reads: §A Harja, Leugaz §B Skammhals ok Olof þau letu gæra mærki þausi æftiR Svæin, faður sinn. Guð hialpi salu hans §A Harja, Leugaz §B Skammhals and Ólôf, they had these landmarks made in memory of Sveinn, their father. May God help his soul Istaby Runestone - The Istaby Runestone is found amoung the Rundata catalog (DR 359) and is a proto-Norse runestone found in Sweden dating to the Vendel era. It is currently located in the Swedish Museum of National Antiquities in Stockholm. It is an example of Period II Elder Futhark (550-700 AD). It reads: AP Aftr Hariwulfa. Haþuwulfz HeruwulfizAQ Haþuwulfz Heruwulfiz aftr HariwulfaB wrait runaz þaiaz AP In memory of Hariwulfar. Haþuwulfar, Heruwulfar’s son,AQ Haþuwulf(a)r, Heruwulfar’s son, in memory of HariwulfarB wrote these runes. Spearhead of Kovel - The Spearhead of Kovel is the head of a lance found in 1858 in Ukraine. It dates to around the third century AD and measures 15.5cm. The inscription on its blade reads from right to left TILARIDS meaning ‘thither rider’, which is interpreted as either the name of a warrior or of the spear itself. It is believed to be Gothic in origin. - Futhark, a Handbook of Rune Magic - Elder Futhark - Runes: An Introduction - A practical guide to the runes: their uses in divination and magick - Norwegian runes and runic inscriptions - Runes and runic inscriptions: collected essays - Runes and Germanic Linguistics - The Magick of Runes (ankhafnakhonsu.net) - The Language of Trees: Ogham (Archaic Irish Script) (graecomuse.wordpress.com) - Runes in Christian Contexts (wolfslair88.wordpress.com) - Swedish Runic Corpus On-line (scienceblogs.com) - Surviving Material Evidence (wolfslair88.wordpress.com) - Runes in Manuscripts (wolfslair88.wordpress.com) Note that this website can be followed by pressing the ‘Follow by Email’ option on the right hand side of the screen	3.782174
White Roofs or Green Roofs? By Ian Montangees The Difference Between White Roofs and Green Roofs in Terms of Their Positive Contribution to Global Warming Reduction – by Ian Montangees A number of people have asked about the difference between green roofs and white roofs in contributing to global warming reduction in a positive way. The short answer is that they are both good in their different ways and in any particular situation it depends on what you are wanting to achieve as both types produce positive outcomes. Green roofs are roofs covered with vegetation planted in a bed of soil and growing media which may be 150 mm thick, and has a waterproof membrane underneath. Green roofs help towards global warming reduction partly by increasing the insulation of a roof from the addition of a layer of soil and this reduces energy consumed by air conditioning in summer and to a lesser extent by heating in winter, which gives reductions in emissions from electricity power generation. In summer the plants can provide some additional cooling by shading and by evaporation of moisture, provided that the vegetation is thick enough and is kept alive. - A planted roof can be visually attractive, a way of introducing green space into an urban environment, which can be softening and visually restful. For example, in some locations green roofs are used as recreational green space at ground level on top of a building underneath. A green roof can add value to a property. - Green roofs even out storm water runoff from roofs during heavy rainfalls because the rain takes longer to percolate through the soil, easing the load on storm water drains. In this way green roofs perform similar to storm water detention tanks that are often required on new buildings to help even out peak rainfall runoffs. However, green roofs are expensive to install and require buildings that are strong enough to take the extra load of the green roof soil. White roofs help global warming reduction by: - Directly reflecting sunlight back into space and help cool the planet mimicking way that the polar icecaps do. - Reducing electricity use by air conditioning systems in summer, and typically producing an overall annual savings in both energy and emissions (summer cooling savings minus winter heating penalty equals overall savings) compared to a dark roof. - Zero cost, often, when the choice to use white is made at the design stage or during regular maintenance - Can be applied onto a wide range of roofs - White paint is typically cheaper than dark paint - It is a win-win solution that gives an effective action plan that many people can do themselves instead of waiting for others to take action. I have written elsewhere in Happyzine about the science and benefits and simplicity of white roofs so I won’t repeat it in this article. A couple of studies have compared both white roofs and green roofs with traditional dark roofs, such as one carried out at the University of Columbia’s Centre for Climate Systems Research in 2010, which was commissioned by Con Edison, one of the largest energy companies in the US. An earlier study was carried out by Walmart, the largest retailer in the US. Thanks to the following environmentally responsible businesses for supporting Happyzine: Nelson’s busy organic shop – healthy food, happy people, great service, caring for the environment. Corner Tasman & Grove Streets, Nelson. Ph 03 548 3650. The Columbia study found that both white and green roofs perform equally well in preventing the heat island effect, which is the heat concentration found in many cities resulting from replacing vegetation with man-made buildings and roads that absorb sunlight and convert it into heat. The study was carried out on adjacent roofs of Con Edison. The green roof (using 21,000 plants), the white roof and the dark roof each had embedded sensors to measure heat flows through the roof structure. It was found that both white roofs and green roofs produced significant energy savings compared to a standard dark roof, that the green roof savings were greater than the white, which is to be expected considering the amount of insulation 150 mm of soil would provide. Note that these studies did not include for the amount of global cooling produced by the white roofs directly reflecting sunlight back into space, which green roofs do not offer, and which has been found to be a very effective mechnism for global warming reduction in other studies with that focus. The emphasis of the Columbia study was more focused on energy savings that also put money in your pocket, and did not include for global cooling of the planet. The goal of the study was to provide the best science to help these companies make choices and cost-benefit estimates in how they might achieve better energy efficiency. Which perhaps gives understanding to why companies like Con Edison and Walmart have embraced white roofs, with Con Edison having installed 25,000 square metre of white roof at the time this report was written, with at least a further 22,000 m2 planned by the end of 2010, and Walmart has had a policy of installing white roofs on all its new stores since 1999, and by 2010 more than 75 percent of the chain’s 4,268 outlets in the United States now have them. So in summary, both white roofs and green roofs are good choices for helping reduce global warming, and in any particular situation it depends on what one is trying to achieve as both types produce different outcomes while also helping to save the many species threatened by our man-made climate change. So yea for white roofs! and yea for green roofs! We all have our parts to play. Never before has mankind been faced with such a stark choice in future outcomes. May we learn to quickly evolve to overcome our motivation based on self interest only, that seems to have lead us to this situation with global warming. May we learn to include along with self interest a motivation to also do what is b est for the greater whole. May we come to know that we are all connected, part of one big family, whether we realise it or not (I can’t put petrol in my car without the emissions affecting someone’s weather in Africa), and come to know it is in our self interest to also do what is best for the greater good, for our economies and our civilisation are much more fragile than we might currently understand them to be, and their future survival depends on our present actions. (As usual, my comments are offered to the best of my understanding at the time and are my opinion only.) by Ian Montangees – www.whiteroofs.org.nz LAUNCH YOUR GREEN DREAM: Check out our August Green Dream Launch Pad Courses – with Ted Speaker Majora Carter!	3.160535
What GIS does One common misconception is that a GIS is simply a computer package to make maps. While maps are one product of a GIS, there is much more that a GIS can do. GIS has become recognized as a tool of unlimited potential. At the most basic level, a GIS manages information about locations and their physical relationships to each other. It also looks at how things move through space, whether they are animals, humans, or pollutants. A GIS then combines information about where things are with what things are. This management of spatial information allows a GIS to create new knowledge about something. A GIS is called a system, because rather than than just software, it is an integration of five basic components: The most important component of a GIS. People make a GIS work. These include not just technical specialists to run the system, but planners, managers, scientists, and engineers. People must develop procedures and define the tasks of a GIS Data is a very important, and often the most expensive component of a GIS. Data includes any information that relates to geography and specialty fields. This could include information about air and water quality, parcels, flood zones, or census data. The quality and accuracy of data is an important consideration, as is information describing the data itself, or metadata. Hardware is the computer system on which a GIS operates. GIS software runs on a wide range of hardware types. GIS software provides the functions and tools needed to store, analyze, and display geographic information. It can include other non-GIS software such as databases, drawing, and statistical software. A successful GIS operates requires well-designed implementation plans and business rules describing how the technology is applied GIS can be useful in discovering sources of environmental pollution. By displaying potential contaminating sources in an area, you can quickly assess visual relationships that could help identify possible pollution sources. This map shows the waters off of Bellows Air Station and the locations of cesspools, septic tanks, streams and storm drains. These sources may have contributed to elevated levels of enterococcus bacteria at DOH monitoring stations in Waimanalo Bay. Underground Injection Control Line The Underground Injection Control (UIC) Line is a line that separates areas above drinking water and non-drinking water groundwater resources. It is meant to protect Hawaii's precious aquifers from possible contamination by chemical, physical, radioactive, or biological material due to injection well activity. Well construction is permitted and regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Branch 's UIC Program based on the potential for contamination due to the siting of injection wells. Click here for more information about the UIC Program and UIC permits. To use the map below, use the navigation tools to zoom to your area of interest. Click on the map to find the UIC Code for that location: Code1 - BELOW (makai) UIC LINE - Underlying aquifer not considered drinking water source - Wider variety of wells allowed - Injection wells need UIC Permit or Permit Exemption - Permit limitations are imposed Code100 - ABOVE (mauka) UIC LINE - Underlying aquifer considered drinking water source - Limited types of injection wells allowed - Injection wells need UIC Permit or Permit Exemption - Permit limitations are imposed and requirements are more stringent View Larger Map Using GIS to discover historic areas of contamination The Department’s Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response (HEER) Office has been investigating soil contamination from Historic sugar plantation sites in Hawaii for a number of years. When a HEER staff member came across photos taken in 1914 showing a plantation worker standing amidst containers marked “poison” at Kilauea, Kauai, efforts began to investigate the site. The Kilauea Sugar Company had operated at this location from 1877 to 1971. After the plantation had closed, the land was put up for sale and later developed into a residential community. The HEER Office obtained old fire insurance maps of the site showing buildings that were formerly used for pesticide mixing and storage. Although these buildings had been torn down since, several other original warehouse buildings in the area were surprisingly still standing. The scanned maps were overlaid onto an aerial image of the area and georeferenced using the warehouses as reference points. Since the map image was now properly spatially located, it could be placed on a parcel layer showing property boundaries. This allowed the property owners and addresses in the area to be identified. HEER staff contacted property owners and conducted soil testing in the vicinity of the former pesticide mixing/storage facility. Soil samples showed high levels of arsenic and moderate levels of dioxin residues. These levels exceeded State and Federal Environmental Action Levels (EALs) at two residential properties and in a stormwater drainage ditch behind a commercial warehouse. An extensive cleanup program began, resulting in the removal of 814 tons of contaminated soil in the area. Sampling of other properties in the community showed that the surface and subsurface soils did not pose a health risk. The contaminated soils were removed and replaced with new clean soil. The drainage ditch was capped with a concrete barrier to provide stormwater drainage while continuing to isolate any additional contaminated soils. 230 air samples were taken throughout the process and showed no detection of any contaminants being released by the work. This project involved the cooperation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Hawaii Deparment of Health, the Kilauea Community, and the County of Kauai. Cleanup activities were completed on September 17, 2012. The HEER Office will oversee implementation of Environmental Hazard Management Plans to ensure long-term protectiveness of the remedies at the affected properties. A story detailing the discovery of the Kilauea site and its resolution was recently published in the Hawaii Journal of Public Health. It can be found If you have any questions, please contact: Environmental Planning Office 919 Ala Moana Blvd., Room 312 Honolulu, HI 96814 Back to Top of Page Last update: 10 April 2013	3.436038
Definitions and Services According to the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) 2004 Household Food Security Report, nearly 650,000 Missourians experience food insecurity – approximately a third of them also experience hunger. This means that their access to enough food is limited by a lack of money and other resources. A 1997 study by the Midwest Assistance Program funded by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Solid Waste Management Program http://www.dnr.mo.gov/env/swmp/index.html, found that food accounted for 18.7% or over 1,033,000 tons of waste disposed in Missouri landfills. http://www.dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub2072.pdf A study by the Community Childhood Hunger Identification Project reports that most low-income families must receive food assistance from several sources, relying on Federal food assistance programs as well as emergency food programs. Even with Federal assistance and the work of charities and nonprofit organizations, nearly 20 percent of the requests for emergency food assistance go unmet. In a study by the USDA for the period ending December 2002, it was reported that 34.9 million people in U.S. households were food insecure, with 13.1 million of them being children. The data showed that 11.1 percent of U.S. households reported that at some time during the year they were uncertain of having, or were unable to acquire, adequate food to meet their basic needs. Of these, about 3.8 million households were food insecure to the extent that one or more household members went hungry at least some time during the year. Yet, it is estimated that approximately one-fourth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 96 billion pounds of food ending up in landfills. Millions of people could have benefited from those lost resources. The four most common methods of food recovery are: - Field Gleaning - The collection of crops from farmers' fields that have already been mechanically harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. - Perishable Food Rescue or Salvage – The collection of perishable produce from wholesale and retail sources. - Food Rescue - The collection of prepared foods from the food service industry. - Nonperishable Food Collection - The collection of processed foods with long shelf lives. - Food Banks provide food to other organizations like food pantries, soup kitchens, hunger relief centers, or other food or feeding centers. Usually, food banks do not distribute food directly to individuals. - Food Pantries distribute food to low-income and unemployed households to take home. - Soup Kitchens provide meals to the needy and the homeless on a regular basis. In addition to perishable and non-perishable commercial foods donated by retailers, manufacturers, food service establishments, etc., many of the agencies listed in this booklet distribute USDA commodities made available through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Under TEFAP, commodity foods are distributed to organizations (i.e., soup kitchens) in the state that use them in congregate feeding facilities for the needy, including the homeless, and to organizations (i.e., food pantries) that provide them to eligible households for home consumption. To be eligible to take commodities home, households must meet established income requirements or participate in another government program such as Food Stamps, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI); Medicaid, or reside in public housing. There are many worthwhile organizations, not included in this booklet, that provide food assistance directly to the needy. Contact the local food bank to find the location of a food pantry or soup kitchen in your area. To obtain contact information go to the Second Harvest website and enter your Zip Code where it says "Find your local food bank or food rescue organization." The operation of a good food recovery program is three-fold: - Locate unsold or unmerchantable food and fresh produce. - Coordinate its transportation and storage. - Distribute it to the needy. There are various ways to get involved in the fight against hunger and demonstrate commitment to the community. Food Service Professionals - Organize a food drive and donate food to a local food bank or pantry. - Donate excess prepared food from restaurants, school cafeterias or catered events. - Assist organizations in training their volunteers in safe food-handling practices. - Work independently or with existing organizations to assist ongoing food recovery efforts. - Support or develop a community or regional coalition against hunger. - Develop a community financial fund to fight hunger. - Plan tours of food recovery facilities or arrange for knowledgeable speakers to increase community awareness of hunger and poverty problems, and what people are doing to address them. Youth Service Groups and Volunteer Organizations - Work on their own or with existing organizations to assist on-going food recovery efforts. - Organize essay, oratorical or art contests for school children to focus on a child's view of hunger and its consequences. - Sponsor a community garden that gives a portion of the harvest to food banks, soup kitchens, and other food recovery programs. - Supply gardening tools and harvesting equipment for local gardening and gleaning efforts. - Volunteer at the food recovery program closest to you. - Attend food safety training sessions so you are better prepared to volunteer in a soup kitchen or shelter. - Suggest that organizations you belong to or businesses you work for sponsor food recovery programs. - Join or form a community walk/run to benefit a food recovery program. Businesses and Corporations - Encourage, recognize, and reward employees and other individuals for volunteer service to the community. Increase employee awareness of local hunger and provide training to make employees more useful volunteers. - Sponsor radio and television air time for community organizations that address hunger. - Donate excess prepared and processed food from the employee cafeteria or from special events to local food recovery programs. - Donate transportation, maintenance work, or computer service. - Prepare legal information on donor considerations such as “Good Samaritan” laws and food safety and quality.	3.697567
Classification of Burns What are the classifications of burns? Burns are classified as first-, second-, or third-degree, depending on how deep and severe they penetrate the skin's surface. First-degree (superficial) burns First-degree burns affect only the epidermis, or outer layer of skin. The burn site is red, painful, dry, and with no blisters. Mild sunburn is an example. Long-term tissue damage is rare and usually consists of an increase or decrease in the skin color. Second-degree (partial thickness) burns Second-degree burns involve the epidermis and part of the dermis layer of skin. The burn site appears red, blistered, and may be swollen and painful. Third-degree (full thickness) burns Third-degree burns destroy the epidermis and dermis. Third-degree burns may also damage the underlying bones, muscles, and tendons. The burn site appears white or charred. There is no sensation in the area since the nerve endings are destroyed.	3.892369
What is the basic foundation for a family unit? A family is more than a household unit. In the Bible, every family represented a microcosm of the community within which it lived. Therefore, when families failed, the community itself failed. In times of crisis, families were relied upon to support and strengthen the community. For example, Moses was charged to offer the following order to his followers: "Make sure there isn't a man or woman among your families or tribes who turns away from the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 29:18)." The family served as a keeper of the core values of the community in which it lived. Thus, family is something more than a household unit. A family is more than a political or religious concept. According to the Bible, "family" is not a man-made concept. Rather, it originates from the mind of God. As recorded in the book of Genesis, family is an intentional creation of the creator, and it is directly blessed by God. No sooner after God create man and woman that he blessed them and told them to create a family: "God blessed them," states Genesis 1:28, continuing, "He said to them, 'Have children and increase your numbers.'" The concept of family predates politics and organized religions. So, rather than simply being a political or religious concept, family is an undeniably divine concept. A family is more than an Old Testament biblical teaching. Even deep into the New Testament, the concept of family is valued as a foundation that was especially designed by God. Paul verifies this fact in his letter to the Ephesians, commenting, "I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named (Ephesians 3:14-15)." The New Testament reminds us that you will find families in heaven and earth, and in ancient and modern day times. Families are a universal concept that supersedes the Old Testament. What is a family? It is an important part of today's society. Family is more than a domestic unit that is only defined by the number of parents and children. It connects us to others outside of our households. Your bloodline is only one part of your family construct. Although your family unit is defined by you, it is measured by your community. Your culture, religion, and language are also important ingredients and they will bind you with others of like conviction. Family is natural and spiritual. Forged in the mind of God, it is and will forever be divinely created. Timothy Houston is an author, minister, and motivational speaker who is committed to guiding positive life changes in families and communities. For questions, comments or more information, go to www.tlhouston.com.	3.179021
Giuseppe Donati invented the modern 10-hole ocarina. Although oceanography has been recognized as a formal scientific discipline for only 150 years, the quest for this understanding and its practical application to commerce and war - often unwitting - goes back much further. History of the odometer. In the late 19th century, commercial offices for conducting business first appeared in the United States. See also - Office Machinary Ellen Ochoa invented the optical analysis system. Tuan Vo-Dinh invented optical diagnostic equipment. Vo-Dinh's patents were for a badge worn on a worker's shirt that recorded exposure to toxic chemicals and for a optical scanner that would read that badge. David Paul Gregg first envisioned the optical or laser disc in 1958 and patented it in 1969. The inventors behind the first oral contraceptives. Dr Wilhelm Reich invented the orgone accumulator. Today's dynamic o-ring was the result of experimental work done in the early 1930's by Mr. Niels Christensen. Ole Evinrude invented the outboard motor. The first historical record of an oven being built refers to a stove built in 1490 made entirely of brick and tile. If you cannot find what you want by invention, try by the inventor.	3.197001
World Wetlands Day – Healthy forests, healthy wetlands 01 February 2011 \| News story Wetlands, such as mangroves, peat forests and freshwater swamp forests, are home to a wealth of biodiversity. To mark this year’s World Wetlands Day on Wednesday 2 February, IUCN is highlighting the role and importance of forests in wetlands, of particular poignancy as 2011 is the International Year of Forests. This year’s World Wetlands Day also marks the 40th Anniversary of the Ramsar Convention. Ramsar protected wetland sites cover an area of 186 million hectares, about the size of Mexico, the largest protected area network in the world. Wetlands provide many services, such as food, fresh water and fuel, and fulfill vital roles in carbon storage, pollution control and protection from natural hazards, such as floods and storms. Water supplies are dependent on healthy wetlands; healthy forests help to support and protect wetlands. Yet, there are worrying signs that wetlands are being lost at a higher rate than any other ecosystem. According to The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, 50% of our wetlands globally have been lost over the last century. Widespread degradation and loss is triggered by the development of infrastructure, land conversion, deforestation and the introduction of invasive species. Investing in forests within wetlands goes a long way. For example, New York City found that it could avoid spending US$ 4-6 billion on water treatment plants (plus annual maintenance costs) by investing just US$ 1 billion on protecting forests in water catchment areas. Switzerland saves around US$ 64 million a year by using untreated groundwater, naturally filtered through forested watersheds. Forests function as a filter, storage and purifier in water catchments. • “Water is the irreplaceable source of life and wetlands are the source of water for the vast majority of the world's people,” says Julia Marton-Lefèvre, IUCN Director General. “Wetlands are not only natural infrastructure that store and clean water, regulate flows and protect coasts. They are also food bowls for millions of people around the world and their major source of livelihood – farming, fisheries and food security all depend on healthy wetlands.” • “Investment needs to be made to secure the water resources we currently have and, as part of this, decision makers need to recognize the vital services that a healthy natural environment provides, particularly as communities adapt to the effects of climate change,” says Mark Smith, Head IUCN Water Programme. “Demand for energy and food is growing as populations expand, driving up the demand for water. Now, more than ever, we must invest in natural infrastructure, such as forests and wetlands, that will safeguard water resources for people and nature.” Notes to editors: World Wetlands Day marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Each year since 1997, government agencies, non-governmental organizations and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. For more information contact: Nicki Chadwick, Media Relations Officer, t +41 22 999 0229, m +41 79 528 3486, e [email protected] Claire Warmenbol, Water Programme Communications Officer, t +41 22 999 0188, e [email protected]	3.610864
“Throughout the history of the United States, public officials have used the rule of law to deny equal opportunities to African Americans.” Strong language, almost shocking in its clarity. It’s how Elaine Gross of ERASE Racism begins her January “Message from the President.” ERASE Racism is a regional organization (based in Nassau County on Long Island, NY) that leads public policy advocacy campaigns to promote racial equity in areas such as housing, community development, public school education and public health. Its M.O. is to work directly against the formal, legalized barriers to equity and the disparate impacts of seemingly benign policies and actions. If public officials have used the rule of law to deny equal opportunities to African Americans, as her introductory statement charges, one must direct efforts to re-design the rules of law to be more equitable. Sometimes the problem is badly conceived law, other times it’s badly implemented law enforcement, but the two together have led to wide disparities in housing, community development, public school education, and public health. Working with data and the power of persuasion, “we expose forms of racial discrimination and advocate for laws and policies that help eliminate racial disparities,” Ms. Gross says. Three important victories: Through its participation in a governor-appointed Regional Economic Development Council, ERASE Racism was a leader in inserting policy language that “increases the diversity of Long Island housing stock by producing affordable non-age restricted rental housing, affirmatively marketed, and without residency requirements.” Its research report, “Long Island Fair Housing: A State of Inequity,” along with a press conference and coverage from Newsday, Long Island’s daily newspaper, educated a largely-surprised Long Island audience on the extent of housing segregation throughout Nassau and Suffolk counties. Momentum was created and co-operation gained from Nassau county leadership at the highest levels, resulting in new “fair housing” laws that provide an administrative enforcement system and strong civil penalties for violations. In marking the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Supreme Court school desegregation case, ERASE Racism brought together local colleges and universities, developed a conference and monograph, “Brown v. Board of Education: The Unfinished Agenda,” which attracted over 600 people. It increasingly engages those in the region about the need for structural changes in the public education system. One current project: developing an index to monitor disparities on the input side of public education, such as disparate college readiness curriculum, disparate teacher quality, and disparate levels of poverty, all of which in turn correlate with disparate student outcomes. In discussing these with me, Ms. Gross concluded with these important lessons. “It’s very easy to miss the mark in addressing structural impediments to equity if one is not looking very specifically at race. One can substitute the language of economic disparities, or talk of the benefits of diversity, but one still has to look at the racial equity impact of policy decisions. And in doing that one has to be straightforward and persistent. It’s not only the work that gets you into headlines that’s important, it’s laying the groundwork, building the relationships, connecting with people who can do the heavy lifting that’s important. And having funders that recognize the value of these steps.” February 3, 2012 / Steven E. Mayer, Ph.D.	3.084301
Hot Weather Gets Scientists' Attention Originally published on Wed July 11, 2012 5:30 am RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Across America people are sweltering through extreme heat this year, continuing a long-term trend of rising temperatures. Inevitably, many are wondering if the scorching heat is due to global warming. Scientists are expected to dig into the data and grapple with that in the months to come. They've already taken a stab at a possible connection with last year's extreme weather events, like the blistering drought in Texas. NPR's Richard Harris reports. RICHARD HARRIS, BYLINE: Weather researchers from around the world are now taking stock of what happened in 2011. It was not the hottest year on record, but it was still in the top 15. Jessica Blunden from the National Climatic Data Center says 2011 had its own memorable characteristics. JESSICA BLUNDEN: People may very well remember this year as a year of extreme weather and climate. HARRIS: There were devastating droughts in Africa, Mexico, and Texas. In Thailand, massive flooding kept people's houses underwater for two months. BLUNDEN: Here in the United States, we had one of our busiest and most destructive seasons on record in 2011. There were seven different tornado and severe weather outbreaks that each caused more than a billion dollars in damages. HARRIS: So what's going on here? Federal climate scientist, Tom Karl, said one major feature of the global weather last year was a La Nina event. That's a period of cooler Pacific Ocean temperatures and it has effects around the globe, primarily in producing floods in some parts of the world and droughts in others. TOM KARL: By no means did it explain all of the activity in 2011, but it certainly influenced a considerable part of the climate and weather. HARRIS: Karl and Blunden are part of a huge multinational effort to sum up last year's weather and say what it all means. They provided an update by conference call. Clearly, long-term temperature trends are climbing as you'd expect as a result of global warming. Tom Peterson from the Federal Climate Data Center says the effort now is to look more closely at individual events. TOM PETERSON: You've probably all heard the term you can't attribute any single event to global warming, and while that's true, the focus of the science now is evolving and moving onto how is the probability of event change. HARRIS: And there researchers report some progress. For example, last year's record-breaking drought in Texas wasn't simply the result of La Nina. Peter Stott from the British Meteorology Office says today's much warmer planet played a huge role as well, according to the study the group released on Tuesday. PETER STOTT: The result that they find is really quite striking, in that they find that such a heat wave is now about 20 times more likely during a La Nina year than it was during the 1960s. HARRIS: A second study found that an extraordinary warm spell in London last November was 60 times more likely to occur on our warming planet than it would have been over the last 350 years. But that's not to say everything is related to climate change. There's no clear link between the spate of tornadoes and global warming, and devastating floods in Thailand last year, turn out to be the result of poor land use practices. Even so, Kate Willett of the British Weather Service says there is a global trend consistent with what scientists expect climate change to bring. KATE WILLETT: So, in simple terms, we can say that the dry regions are getting drier and the wet regions are getting wetter. HARRIS: This year's extreme events are different from last year's, but they all fit into a coherent picture of global change. Richard Harris, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.	3.150493
You can't touch it, but it affects how you feel. You can't see it, but it might be there when you look at yourself in the mirror. You can't hear it, but it's there when you talk about yourself or when you think about yourself. What is this important but mysterious thing? It's your self-esteem! What Is Self-Esteem? Self-esteem can have a big part to play in how you feel about yourself and also how much you enjoy things or worry about things. To understand self-esteem, it helps to break the term into two words. Let's first take a look at the word esteem (say: ess-teem), which means that someone or something is important, special, or valuable. For example, if you really admire your friend's dad because he volunteers at the fire department, it means you hold him in high esteem. And the special trophy for the most valuable player on a team is often called an esteemed trophy. This means the trophy stands for an important accomplishment. And self means, well, yourself! So put the two words together and it's easier to see what self-esteem is. It's how much you value yourself and how important you think you are. It's how you see yourself and how you feel about the things you can do. Self-esteem isn't about bragging, it’s about getting to know what you are good at and not so good at. A lot of us think about how much we like other people or things, but don't really think much about whether we like ourselves. It's not about thinking you're perfect, because nobody is perfect. Even if you think some other kids are good at everything, you can be sure they have things they're good at and things that are difficult for them. The most important thing to know about self-esteem is that it means seeing yourself in a positive way that's realistic, which means that it's the truth. So if you know you're really good at piano but can't draw so well, you can still have great self-esteem! Self-esteem isn't like a cool pair of sneakers you really want but can wait until your next birthday to get. All kids have self-esteem, and having healthy or positive self-esteem is really important. It can help you hold your head high and feel proud of yourself and what you can do, even when things don't seem to be going so well. Self-esteem gives you the courage to try new things and the power to believe in yourself. It lets you respect yourself, even when you make mistakes. And when you respect yourself, adults and other kids usually respect you, too. Having positive self-esteem can also help you can learn to make healthy choices about your mind and body. If you think you're important, you'll be less likely to follow the crowd if your friends are doing something wrong or dangerous. If you have positive self-esteem, you know you're smart enough to make your own decisions. You value your safety, your feelings, your health — your whole self! Positive self-esteem helps you know that every part of you is worth caring for and protecting. How Kids Get Self-Esteem Babies don't see themselves in a good or bad way. They don't think "I'm great!" when they let out a big burp or worry "Oh, no, this diaper makes my legs look weird!" Instead, people around a baby help him or her develop self-esteem. How? By encouraging the baby when he or she learns to crawl, walk, or talk. They often say, "Good job. Good for you!" Or, they might just smile and look proud. When people take good care of a baby, that also helps him or her feel loved and valuable. As kids get older, they can have a bigger role in developing their own self-esteem. Working hard to finish a project or assignment, getting a higher grade on a math test, or trying out for a new sport are all things kids can be proud of for trying. Some kids are not very athletic, but they might be good readers or know how to do magic tricks or are really good friends or help other people out — these are all accomplishments that help kids feel good about themselves. A kid's family and other people in his or her life — like coaches, teachers, and classmates — also can boost self-esteem. They can help a kid figure out how to do things or notice his or her good qualities. They can believe in the kid and encourage him or her to try again when something doesn't go right the first time. It's all part of kids learning to see themselves in a positive way, to feel proud of what they've done, and to be confident that there's a lot more they can do. Maybe you know kids with low self-esteem who don't think very highly of themselves or seem to criticize themselves too much. This can also be called negative self-esteem, and it's the opposite of positive self-esteem. Maybe you have low self-esteem sometimes and don't always feel very good about yourself or think you're important. Sometimes a kid will have low self-esteem if his mother or father doesn't encourage him enough or if there is a lot of yelling at home. Other times, a kid's self-esteem can be hurt in the classroom. A teacher or other kids might make a kid feel like he or she isn't smart, or maybe there are mean kids who say hurtful things about the way a kid looks or acts. For some kids, classes at school can seem so hard that they can't keep up or get the grades they'd hoped for. This can make them feel bad about themselves and hurt their self-esteem. When some kids do well and win prizes and awards, other kids might feel like they’re not as good or there's something wrong with them. Some kids have positive self-esteem but then something happens in their lives to change that. For example: If a kid moves and doesn't make friends right away at the new school, he or she might start to feel bad and think they are not a good friend. Kids whose parents divorce might find that this can affect self-esteem. They may feel bad when a parent can't give them attention or come to their game, or they might feel that if they had behaved better or kept their room clean, their parents would not have split up. Kids who look different from other kids may not feel good about themselves because they feel "different" or someone makes fun of them. A kid who's dealing with an illness, such as cancer, diabetes, or asthma, might feel different and less confident than before. Kids who have learning differences or know they have trouble reading a book report aloud might start losing confidence and focus too much on things they're not good at. Even going through the body changes of puberty — something that everybody does — can affect a kid's self-esteem. Of course it's OK to have ups and downs in your feelings, but having low self-esteem isn't OK. Feeling like you're not important can make you sad and can keep you from trying new things. It can keep you from making friends or affect how hard you try at school. Having strong self-esteem is also a very big part of growing up. As you get older and face tough decisions — especially under peer pressure — the more self-esteem you have, the better. It's important to like yourself. If you think you might have low self-esteem, try talking to an adult you trust about it. He or she may be able to help you come up with some good ideas for building your self-esteem. Self-esteem can improve when you start trying things you thought were too hard and then do well at them, or when a parent, family member, or other adult encourages you, is patient, and helps you get back on track. When you start to do well, self-esteem will skyrocket! Here are a few other things that you can try to increase your self-esteem: Make a list of the stuff you're good at. It can be anything from drawing or singing to playing a sport or telling a good joke. If you're having trouble with your list, ask your mom or dad to help you with it. Then add a few things to the list that you'd like to be good at. Your mom or dad can help you plan a way to work on those skills or talents. Give yourself three compliments every day. Don't just say, "I'm so great." Be specific about something good about yourself, like, "I was a good friend to Jill today" or "I did better on that test than I thought I would." While you're at it, before you go to bed every night, list three things in your day that really made you happy or that you feel thankful for. Remember that your body is your own, no matter what shape, size, or color it is. If you are worried about your weight or size, you can check with your doctor to make sure you're healthy. Remind yourself of things about your body that are cool, like, "My legs are strong and I can skate really well." Remember that there are things about yourself you can't change. You should accept and love these things — such as skin color and shoe size — because they are part of you. When you hear negative comments in your head, tell yourself to stop. Remind yourself of things you're good at and if you can't think of anything, ask someone else! You can also learn a new skill (for example, karate, dance, a musical instrument) so you can feel good about that! By focusing on the good things you do and all your great qualities, you learn to love and accept yourself — the main ingredients for strong self-esteem! Even if you've got room for improvement (and who doesn't?), knowing what you're good at and that you're valuable and special to the people that care about you can really help you deal with growing up. Part of growing up is learning to focus on your strengths and to accept and work on your weaknesses — and that, in a nutshell, is self-esteem!	3.207623
Many things just seem to come naturally to some people. Maybe you know a girl who's a natural at sports — put her in a uniform and she's off and running. Some people are naturals at playing an instrument; it's like they were born knowing how to count in 4/4 time. Others are naturals at math; give them a test on theorems or equations and they're happy. But some people have a problem with something that you'd think would come naturally to everyone: breathing. When someone has asthma, it can make breathing very difficult. And when it's hard to breathe, it can affect a person's game, that trumpet solo, and even the all-important geometry test. What Is Asthma? Asthma (pronounced: az-muh) is a lung condition that causes difficulty breathing. Asthma is a common condition: About 7 million kids and teens in the United States have it. Asthma affects the bronchial (pronounced: brahn-kee-ul) tubes, also known as airways. When a person breathes normally, air is taken in through the nose or mouth and then goes into the trachea (windpipe), passing through the bronchial tubes, into the lungs, and finally back out again. But people with asthma have airways that are inflamed. This means that they swell and produce lots of thick mucus. They are also overly sensitive, or hyperreactive, to certain things, like exercise, dust, or cigarette smoke. This hyperreactivity causes the smooth muscle that surrounds the airways to tighten up. The combination of airway inflammation and muscle tightening narrows the airways and makes it difficult for air to move through. In most people with asthma, the difficulty breathing happens periodically. When it does happen, it is known as an asthma flare-up also known as an asthma attack, flare, episode, or exacerbation. Someone having an asthma flare-up may cough, wheeze (make a whistling sound while breathing), be short of breath, and feel an intense tightness in the chest. Many people with asthma compare a flare-up to the sensation of trying to breathe through a straw —it feels extremely hard to get air in and out of their lungs. An asthma flare-up can last for several hours or longer if a person doesn't use asthma medication. When an asthma flare-up is over, the person usually feels better. Between flare-ups, breathing can seem completely normal, or a person may continue to have some symptoms, such as coughing. Some people with asthma feel as if they are always short of breath. Others may only cough at night or while exercising and they might never have a noticeable flare-up. What Causes It? No one knows exactly what causes asthma. It's thought to be a combination of environmental and genetic (hereditary) factors. A teen with asthma may have a parent or other close relative who has asthma or had it as a child. Teens who are overweight may be more likely to have asthma, although a person doesn't have to be overweight to have it. Asthma isn't contagious, so you can't catch it from someone who has it. Asthma symptoms can be brought on by dozens of different things, and what causes asthma flare-ups in one person might not bother another at all. The things that set off asthma symptoms are called triggers. These are some common triggers: Allergens. Some people with asthma find that allergens — certain substances that cause an allergic reaction in some people — can be a major trigger. Common allergens are dust mites (microscopic bugs that live in dust), molds, pollen, animal dander, and cockroaches. Airborne irritants and pollutants. Certain substances in the air, such as chalk dust or smoke, can trigger asthma because they irritate the airways. Cigarette smoke is a major cause of asthma symptoms, and not just for smokers — secondhand smoke can trigger asthma symptoms in people who are around smokers. Scented products such as perfumes, cosmetics, and cleaning solutions can trigger symptoms, as can strong odors from fresh paint or gasoline fumes. And high levels of air pollutants such as ozone may irritate the sensitive tissues in the bronchial tubes and can aggravate the symptoms of asthma in some people with the condition. Exercise. Some people have what's called exercise-induced asthma, which is triggered by physical activity. Although it can be especially frustrating, most cases of exercise-induced asthma can be treated so that people can still enjoy the sports they love. Weather. Cold or dry air can sometimes trigger asthma symptoms in certain people, as can extreme heat or humidity. Respiratory tract infections. Colds, flu, and other viral infections can trigger asthma in some people. Lots of other things can trigger asthma symptoms. For example, a girl's asthma can get worse just before her period. And even laughing, crying, and yelling can sometimes cause the airways to tighten in sensitive lungs, triggering an asthma flare-up. Many people with asthma are diagnosed with the condition when they're kids, but some don't find out that they have it until their teen years or even later. In diagnosing asthma, a doctor will ask about any concerns and symptoms you have, your past health, your family's health, any medications you're taking, any allergies you may have, and other issues. This is called the medical history. The doctor will also perform a physical exam and may recommend that you take some tests, such as spirometry (pronounced: spye-rah-muh-tree) and peak flow meter tests, which involve blowing into devices that can measure how well your lungs are performing. Your doctor may also recommend allergy tests to see if allergies are causing your symptoms, or special exercise tests to see whether your asthma symptoms may be brought on by physical activity. Doctors occasionally use X-rays in diagnosing asthma, but these are usually only to rule out other possible problems. Your family doctor may refer you to a specialist for diagnosis and treatment. Doctors who specialize in the treatment of asthma include those who have been trained in the fields of allergy, immunology (how the immune system works), and pulmonology (affecting the lungs). There's no cure for asthma, but it can usually be managed and flare-ups can be prevented. Asthma is treated in two ways: by avoiding potential triggers and with medication. Teens who have asthma need to avoid the things that can cause their symptoms. Of course, some things that can cause symptoms can't be completely avoided (like catching a cold!), but people can control their exposure to some triggers, such as pet dander, for example. In the case of exercise-induced asthma, the trigger (physical activity) needs to be managed rather than avoided. Exercise can help a person stay healthier overall, and doctors can help athletes find treatments that allow them to them participate in their sports. Doctors treat every asthma case individually because the severity of each person's asthma and what triggers the symptoms are different. For this reason, doctors have a variety of treatment medications at their disposal. Most asthma medications are inhaled (which means that a person takes the medication by breathing it into the lungs), but asthma medications can also take the form of pills or liquids. They fall into two categories: Rescue medicationsthat act quickly to halt asthma symptoms once they start. Some medications can be used as needed to stop asthma symptoms (such as wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath) when a person first notices them. These medications act fast to stop the symptoms, but they're not long lasting. They are also known as "reliever," "quick-relief, " or "fast-acting" medications. Controller medicationsto manage asthma and prevent symptoms from occurring in the first place. Many people with asthma need to take medication every day to control the condition overall. Controller medications (also called "preventive" or "maintenance" medications) work differently from rescue medications. They treat the problem of airway inflammation instead of the symptoms (coughing, wheezing, etc.) that it causes. Controller medications are slow acting and can take days or even weeks to begin working. Although you may not notice them working in the same way as rescue medications, regular use of controller medications should lessen your need for the rescue medications. Doctors also prescribe controller medications as a way to minimize any permanent lung changes that may be associated with having asthma. Some people with asthma rely only on rescue medications; others use rescue medications together with controller medications to keep their asthma in check overall. Each person needs to work closely with a doctor to create an asthma action plan that's right for them. In addition to avoiding triggers and treating symptoms, people with asthma usually need to monitor their condition to prevent flare-ups and help their doctors adjust medications if necessary. Two of the tools doctors give people to do this are: Peak flow meter. This handheld device measures how well a person can blow out air from the lungs. A peak flow meter reading that falls in the meter's green (or good) zone means the airways are open. A reading in the yellow zone means there's potential for an asthma flare-up. A reading in the red zone means the flare-up is serious and could mean that a person needs medication or treatment immediately — maybe even a trip to the doctor or emergency room. Teens who take daily medicine to control their asthma symptoms should use a peak flow meter at least one to two times a day and whenever they are having symptoms. Asthma diary. Keeping a diary can also be an effective way to help prevent problems. A daily log of peak flow meter readings, times when symptoms occur, and when medications are taken can help a doctor develop the most appropriate treatment methods. Dealing With Asthma The best way to control asthma is prevention. Although medications can play an essential role in preventing flare-ups, environmental control is also very important. Here are some things you can do to help prevent coming into contact with the allergens or irritants that cause your asthma flare-ups: Keep your environment clear of potential allergens. For example, if dust is a trigger for you, vacuum (or remove) rugs and drapes where dust mites can hide. Placing pillows and mattresses in dust-proof covers can help. If pets trigger your symptoms, keep a pet-free household. If you can't part with Fido or Fluffy, keep certain rooms pet free and bathe your pet frequently to get rid of dander. Pay attention to the weather and take precautions when you know weather or air pollution conditions may affect you. You may need to stay indoors or limit your exercise to indoor activities. Don't smoke (or, if you're a smoker, quit). Smoking is always a bad idea for the lungs, but it's especially bad for someone who has asthma. Be smart about exercise. It's a great way to keep the body and mind healthy, so if you're prone to exercise-induced asthma flare-ups, talk to your doctor about how to manage your symptoms. If you get flare-ups during a game or workout, stop what you're doing until the flare-up has cleared or you've taken rescue medication. When the symptoms have gone, you can start exercising again. Asthma doesn't have to prevent you from doing what you love! Sure, it takes a bit of work (and remembering!) but if you follow your asthma action plan, take your medications properly, recognize your symptoms and triggers, and check in with your doctor regularly, you can do anything that other teens do. That includes any sports activity, even cross-country skiing, swimming, or playing basketball.	3.732881
Mind-body medicine and stress management Tradition-tested therapies for modern lives By Marcia Murphy, LCSW What is Mind-Body Medicine? Mind-Body Medicine explores the influence of the mind and emotions on the body and immune system, and vice versa. Mind-body specialists are typically therapists or other mental health professionals who examine the effects of the mind – thoughts, attitudes and beliefs – on physical health and well-being. Specialists use a variety of techniques to promote health, such as talk therapy, deep breathing, guided imagery, relaxation therapy, meditation and yoga. Using these techniques, mind-body medicine helps direct energies toward healing and health. Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), according to Dr. Kenneth Pelletier, is “the study of the intricate interaction of consciousness (psycho), brain and central nervous system (neuro), and the body’s defenses against external infection and internal aberrant cell division (immunology).” Dr. Pelletier serves as a medical and business consultant to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization and major corporations, such as IBM and Disney. When we are under stress, our immune system becomes suppressed and our natural ability to fight disease is compromised unless we take steps to manage the stress in our lives. Mental strength and physical strength are interconnected. Dr. Candace Pert, the author of Molecules of Emotion and a research professor in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., expressed it well when she wrote, “The body isn’t there simply to carry the head.” Her research has shown that “when emotions are expressed, that is to say, when the biochemicals that are the substrate of emotion are flowing freely, all systems are united and made whole. When emotions are repressed, denied or not allowed to be whatever they may be, our network pathways get blocked, stopping the flow of the vital, “feel-good,” unifying chemicals that run both our biology and our behavior.” “Stress makes you physically sick,” explains Steven Maier, professor of psychology at the University of Colorado. Researchers know that behavioral and psychological events can influence the immune system. The immune system sends signals to the brain “that potently alter neural activity and, thereby, alter everything that flows from neural activity, mainly behavior, thought and mood,” said Maier. The immune system also activates a classic stress response, releasing stress hormones such as cortisol. Not only does stress produce the expected biochemical stress response, it also produces predictable behavioral changes, including decreased food and water intake. Ancient wellness traditions have understood the mind-body interaction for centuries and have incorporated it into their approaches and therapies. In India for example, the yogic philosophy teaches that the body, breath, emotion and mind are inextricably linked. The Chinese systems of Qi Gong and Tai Chi have also taught this principle for centuries. Mind-body medicine can benefit a cancer patient by ensuring that the patient understands that he/she is not defined by the illness. At Cancer Treatment Centers of America® patients are treated as whole persons, and are surrounded by a multi-disciplinary team of experts, including a medical oncologist, registered dietician, naturopathic physician, chiropractor and mind-body therapist. We encourage our patients who participate in our mind-body therapies to take advantage of the stress management techniques we offer. Some of those techniques include: Allowing an objective third party to listen to a patient’s feelings can be life changing. A therapist may be able to point out distorted thinking and re-orient the patient toward a more positive and helpful direction. Dr. Andrew Weil said, “Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health. If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be simply to learn how to breathe correctly. There is no single more powerful – or more simple – daily practice to further your health and well-being than breath work.” This is one of the greatest and quickest activities for reducing stress. Laughter works because it gets your brain thinking and working in a different way. It distracts you from having a stressed mindset. As you start to smile and chuckle, the stress begins to dissipate. Keep taking the laughter medicine until you feel relaxed and recharged. Rest is essential for a healthy life-balance. Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Only in very recent times have modern heating, lighting, and communication and entertainment technologies enabled and encouraged us to keep unnatural waking and working hours. This behavior is at odds with our biological preferences. This strategy builds on deep breathing, and takes it a step further. When you meditate, your brain initiates a sort of functioning that is similar to sleep, but carries some added benefits that aren’t achieved in any other state, such as the release of certain hormones. The practice of guided imagery is somewhat more time-consuming, but is a great way to reduce stress and relax the body. Some people find it easier to practice guided imagery than meditation, because it is easier to focus on something rather than on nothing. Playing natural sounds in the background during guided imagery promotes a more immersive experience. Progressive muscle relaxation: Tensing, then releasing, all the muscle groups in the body can produce feelings of increased relaxation in minutes, with no special training or equipment. Start by tensing all the muscles of the face, hold a tight grimace for ten seconds, then completely relax for ten seconds. Repeat this procedure in the neck area, then the shoulder area, and so on, throughout the rest of the body. Listening to music results in numerous health benefits for people with a range of conditions, both mild and severe. Studies have shown that listening to certain classical music can help lower blood pressure, relieve muscle tension and promote deep breathing. The array of stress management techniques – from acupuncture to walking – is extensive enough to provide something that will appeal to, and work for, just about everyone. Marcia Murphy, LCSW, is a mind-body therapist at Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Western Regional Medical Center. Murphy joined the Mind-Body Medicine Department at CTCA in 2010 after a deeply personal experience with cancer.	3.09259
When the Crusaders came to Latvian land they had to look for a suitable place to establish a base of operations. Since the mouth of river Daugava was a perfect place for merchants and port making they first landed on the shores of Riga Bay and sailed in the inner waters of the Daugava. The place around the mouth of Daugava was perfect because it was located in the center between territories of four Latvian tribes and could be supported from Germany by supply ships. The Christian missionary Meinard came along with merchants who knew the land before and brought him to the Livonian town of Ikšķile. Ikšķile is located further from Riga, the German could not get the permission to establish a trade base there because they had to deal with trade rivals from the Duchy of Polock. The local Livonians had to pay fees to Polock or risk bloody attack. This was not a full time enslavement and the annexation of Livonian lands from Polock. It was rather close to protection payment as practiced by criminal gangs to extract money from weak shopkeepers. The Russians did not interfere much in local Livonian politics or their religion. The Germans on the other hand wanted more power on Livonians mainly their land. Meinard became the first Bishop on the Ikšķile he built the stone first church and stone palace in Latvia. There was records of Scandinavian built wooden church in Courland but its remains were never found. There was a wooden Orthodox Church in Jersika but no stone buildings built by Latvians themselves are not found until this day. The church of Ikšķile now lies in ruins and is located on the separate island in the result of flooding done by the Riga Hydroelectric power plant. As already mentioned in some previous post the mission of baptizing local Livonians was not successful. When Livonians discovered that Germans will be another oppressor far worse than Russians, they rejected the Christianity by simply “washing it away” in Daugava. Meinard was forced to ask to the Pope for permission to organize Crusade. But he died in 1196 giving his job to his heir Bishop Berthold. He started to organize Crusade and managed to get justification for his war by getting a bulla (the sacred church delclaration against its enemies) against Livonian issued by the Pope. In year 1198 he on the horseback accompanied by knights approached Livonian castle of Sala. He demanded Livonians to baptize immediately. The Livonians refused and Berthold returned at the “spot of Riga” (ad locum Rige), because the castle was located on the island and Berthold needed ships to attack it. Livonians realising the danger decided to make preventive attack by joining forces and surprise the crusaders at their weakspot. The battle resulted in defeat on both sides- Livonians were forced to flee, but the Berthold was killed. Livonians were forced to pay fees but Crusaders needed a new much better leader. In year 1198 the new more greater and powerful leader came to Latvian lands. The new Bishop Albert had everything to manage Crusade against Latvian Pagans. At this same year the new Roman Pole Innocent III recognized as the most glorious Middle Age Pope was elected. They both had much in common- they willed for supreme power, they both organized Crusades and were far better diplomats than secular kings of their time. However they both suffered a crucial failure; Pope Innocent III was swindled by greedy Venetian merchants who diverted the Fourth Crusade (1204) from the Holy Land to Constantinople compromising the whole idea of Crusades because a Christian capitol was destroyed in the name of Holy War. Same thing happened to Albert when he was forced to give protection rights to the greedy knights of the Brothers of the sword. Albert outlived Innocent III by 14 years (Innocent III died in 1216) dying in 1229. The last resting place of both great church leaders is unknown until this day. Albert did not rush to Latvian land; he wanted to “study the circumstances without the help of army first”. He first went to Gotland where he recruited men for his Crusade and then came back to Germany where he looked for more Crusaders. The Pope Innocent III issued bulla against Livonian barbarians “who gives the God’s honour to dull creatures and bushes”. In 1200 he finally entered the Latvian land visiting Crusader outposts at Ikšķile and Sala. He was attacked by Livonians on the way and escaped defeat with difficulty because according to Chronicle of Henry he was not supported by German knights. This however doubtful giving question where the 500 German knights whom Albert brought with him were hiding when Albert was in danger? That can be more a propagandist claim by Chronicler Henry making Albert’s achievements too great. The historian Indriķis Šterns insists that the story of Bishop Albert recruiting more than hundred men to Latvian land is a propagandist claim. He rather entered the river Daugava alone without Crusaders or with smaller amount of them. Albert at year 1200 already started to move to the site of Riga. The German merchants already may have even a wooden settlement there. Albert knowing that this is the best spot decided to establish his base there. The site of Riga was not first settled by Germans- there were small Livonian villages there already. He requested the Pope Innocent III for giving monopoly rights to the port of Riga. It was done but the document is not preserved until this day, giving no details about it. But it sure was the juridical basis for Albert to start “building the city of Riga” in 1201 as claimed in Chronicle of Henry. So the year 1201 is officially considered as the founding date of Latvia. At year 2001 Riga celebrated the 800 year birthday. Albert moved his residence from Ikšķile to Riga. The first citizens of Riga were German merchants, Russian merchants, clergyman and Crusader knights as well as local Livonians. Riga started as a small German trade settlement absorbing nearby Livonian villages, gaining more emigrants from Germany and Western Europe and becoming a strong natural center of Latvian land. Riga has no clear date of founding because there were settlements before 1201 and there is no official founding document. The Bishop Albert also cannot be clearly called as the founder of Riga because he in reality just moved his residence to Riga were first settlements were already built. As Indriķis Šterns insists Riga can be compared to Rome which also started as an group of small settlements joined by the Romans, and founded with no documents and claimed to be built by two brothers Romulus and Rem. However this does not prevent us from considering that Riga founded in 1201 by Bishop Albert because the every good legend has the legacy of making history. Šterns,Indriķis. (2002) Latvijas vēsture, 1180-1290: krustakari. Riga: Latvijas vēstures instūta apgāds. Zeids, Teodors (Ed.) (1978). Feodālā Rīga. Riga: Latvijas PSR Zinātņu akadēmija. Vēstures institūts. Caune, Andris, Ose, Ieva. (2010) Latvijas viduslaiku mūra baznīcas : 12. gs. beigas – 16. gs. sākums : enciklopēdija. Riga: Latvijas vēstures institūta apgāds.	3.399287
The Whole Story of Half a Girl tells the tale of Sonia Nadhamuni, a half Indian and half Jewish American girl, whose life is turned upside down when her father loses his job and Sonia and her little sister are forced to leave private school to attend the local public school. The two schools are worlds apart. At her old school everyone hung out together, but now Sonia must decide between hanging out with the popular crowd or with a group of kids who bus in from a different town. There are other elements to the story that make The Whole Story of Half a Girl compelling for Middle Grades readers: - Cultural identity - Boy/Girl relationships The Whole Story of Half a Girl is a great choice for MG readers (especially girls) who are struggling with navigating social pressures while trying to remain true to themselves. Blog you later!	3.192546
The documentary explores Taino history & the Contemporary Indigenous Caribbean Identity Dance of the Mountain People: Indigenous Taino Music By Roberto Mukaro Borrero Traditional rhythms and melodies, ancient language, the sounds of the tropical forest - Indigenous Peoples music from the Caribbean island region. A Boriken Taino, Mukaro uses wood (maiohuakan), turtle shell (hikotea), and skin drums as well as flutes (bahio, okarina), rattle (maraka), sea shell horns (guamo), gourd rasps (guahei), chants, and the natural sounds of Mother Earth (Atabeira / Kaguana) to lead listeners on a musical journey to the indigenous Caribbean... This is the traditional style music of the Taino People, the very first "Native Americans" to meet Columbus in 1492. Buy CD - $12.97 Writer José Barreiro shares insights and his personal journey in the making of “TAINO” a novel. This novel, based on a true story, penetrates the historical veil that still enshrines the "discovery." MUSIC CD: TAINO LOG DRUMMING by Edwin Maguey Cedeno - Taino tel: (203) 296-0944 We need to listen to a wider range of voices. We need to hear from those whose lands and rights were taken away by those who "discovered" them. Their stories, too often suppressed, tell of 500 years of courageous struggle, and the lasting wisdom of native peoples. Understanding what really happened to them in 1492 is key to understanding why people suffer the same injustices today. Before the day is over, an Indigenous person will be killed or displaced, simply because he or she has a different culture. TAINO REVIVAL - Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics. Read - Roberto Mukaro Agueibana Borrero - "Rethinking Taino: A Taino Perspective. INDIGENOUS RESURGENCE IN THE CONTEMPORARY CARIBBEAN - Amerindian Survival and Revival FULL CIRCLE: A TAINO STORY by Travis Neff Mr. Neff has embarked on an exploration on the lost people of the Lucayan-Taino Indians. Based on the poetic novel "The Lucayans" by Sandra Riley; combined with the interviews of research scholars throughout South Florida, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico, this new film blends the scientific study and dramatic portrayal of their way of life. This website was first launched on August 4, 2008 – it has come a long way thanks to you – the community. The premise for this website from its very beginning and which still applies today is to tell the story of my ancestors, the Taino people, in the form of a documentary. I have relied and still depend on you to share your stories and your thoughts to help shape this documentary. You have taught me a lot and we’ve only scratched the surface. This experience – this website – has become much more than I expected and I hope you feel the same as well. It has been a place of trials and tribulations, a place to have a voice sometimes filled with frustration, tears and anger but for the most part a place to rejoice, to contemplate, to think at peace whether you identify as a Taino or not. I believe that for the most part people do not generally take time to celebrate their successes, big or small….milestones. Let me offer our community some things to celebrate – we have now over a thousand members (think of all the other thousands of people we have yet to meet!), we have been able to bring our opinions respectfully to the table – and its seems like we are actually LISTENING! I celebrate - realizing that my sole mission isn’t just to complete a documentary – it’s to continue a journey with you. Although we may not meet eye-to-eye or face-to-face – but destiny has brought us here - together. You have been patient with me – you have nourished me – you have guided me – you have literally taken me into your arms and welcomed me into your hearts – I AM BLESSED AND I CELEBRATE. Este sitio web fue puesto en marcha el 4 de agosto de 2008 – y a tenido exito gracias a ustedes la comunidad. La idea de este sitio web era y sigue siendo un lugar donde se puede contar las historias de mis antepasados, los Tainos, con el fin de produccir un documental. He confiado y todavía dependo de ustedes para compartir sus historias y sus pensamientos para ayudar a formar este documental. Ustedes me han enseñado mucho y apenas hemos rasguñado la superficie. Este experiencia - este Web site - se ha convertido en mucho más para mi y espero que a sido igual para usteds. Ha sido un lugar de ensayos y tribulaciones, un lugar donde sus voces han sido llenos de frustración y lagrimas pero en general un lugar para disfrutar, comtemplar, pensar en la paz - sea usted identificado como Taino o no. Creo yo que en general la gente no celebraran sus trabajos de éxitos, sean grandes o pequeños. Déjeme ofrecer a nuestra comunidad algunas cosas para celebrar - ahora tenemos sobre mil miembros (piense en el resto de millares de gente que tenemos todavía encontrarse!)¡, hemos podido traer nuestras opiniones respetuoso a la mesa - y se parece que si ESTAMOS ESCUCHANDO realmente! Celebro - realizando que mi única misión no es solamente terminar este documental - pero continuar y siguir este viaje de amistad con ustedes. Aunque a veces no hemos visto ojo-a-ojo o cara a cara – se que el destino nos ha traído aquí – juntos por un razon. Ustedes han sido paciente conmigo - ustedes han sido mis guias - ustedes me han tomado literalmente en sus brazos y me han dado la bienvenida en sus corazones - ME BENDICEN Y CELEBRO. Las reglas del foro simple - ¡RESPETO! Respete a todos la personas en este foro. ¡RECUERDE! NO EN ESTE WEB SITE…. es inaceptable atacar personas/o gentes por su ideas, religión, sexualidad, capacidades físicas, etc. Falta de respeto a las personas de este foro – Su participación será terminada. Código de conducta - No utilice las áreas públicas para sus propios promociones es decir no spam a la comunidad. En su página del perfil usted puedeser sus promociones, siempre y cuando no son pornografía libre y se adhieren a los términos del servicio de Ning. There are forum rules that boil down to one thing: RESPECT! Please respect each others' right to opinion. Be open minded to those who are different from you. This includes any and all subjects whether it be religion, gender, sexuality, physical abilities, etc. As with all guidelines failure to comply makes the moderators unfriendly....REMEMBER! NOT ON THIS WEBSITE.... which means your participation in these forums will be terminated. Code of Conduct Don’t use the public areas for promotions. In other words don’t spam the community with links to your site. If you offer a service or have a website that is relevant to a conversation or piece of content then you may mention it, but please use discretion. On your profile page you can go nuts with the promotions, so long as they are porn free and adhere to the Ning terms of service. All content submissions must be TAINO related. If your submission does not deal directly with OUR GOALS then chances are we’ll pull it down. If you think we’ve pulled something of yours down unjustly let us know. We’re only human and we make mistakes sometimes. Thank You Community! Dr. Osvaldo Garcia-Goyco Las Colecciones Arqueológicas Caribeñas del Smithsonian El Proyecto Smithsonian de Legado Indígena del Caribe The Smithsonian’s Caribbean Indigenous Legacies Project explores the culture, history and legacy of the Native peoples of the Caribbean. Dr. JUAN MARTINEZ CRUZADO, Geneticist "Our study showed there was assimilation, but the people were not extinguished. Their political and social structure was but the genes were not.” WATCH VIDEO BELOW “An 80-90% loss is a significant and horrifying loss. It is so horrifying that it obscures the fact that 10 to 20% of the Taínos survived.” Dr. Lynne Guitar, Independent Scholar “Reclaiming Indigenous Heritage in the Dominican Republic” Proyecto Smithsonian de Legado Indígena del Caribe Beyond Extinction: Caribbean Indigeneity (WATCH VIDEO BELOW) (SEE VIDEO BELOW) "It is an appropriate time to spotlight the need for research about ourselves as Caribbean people." - Dr. Joseph Palacio shares insights about the Garifuna, the Taino and the myth of extinction as part of the Caribbean Indigenous Legacies Project-Proyecto Legado Indígena en el Caribe being conducted by the Smithsonian Latino Center, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution. Aug. 10, 2010 Thank you to my supporters & to all who were able to attend the film screening it was a great success!! UN Headquarters Celebrates Indigenous Filmmaking. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (fourth from right) and Sha Zukang (fourth from left), Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, pose for a group photo with participants of UN Headquarters' event to celebrate indigenous filmmaking, in honour of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. Pictured from left: Roberto Múkaro Agueibana Borrero, Kevin Tarrent, Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, Reaghan Tarbell, Alex Zacarias, and Per-Josef Idivuoma. JAYUYA 2010 - The Borikén 2010 Peace and Dignity Run began on the 17th of July with the sounding of many guamo (conch shell horns) at sunrise in the Yunke Rainforest. Alex Zacarías, director de la película - Producción: Rocío Started by Roberto Mukaro Borrero Apr 13. Started by Alex Zacarias Apr 2. Started by Wilson Yukiyu Rivera Feb 26. Started by Filip AncientNative Rosario Feb 21. Started by Roberto Mukaro Borrero Feb 20. Started by Hiram Dec 15, 2012. Started by Guataubayayel. Last reply by Guataubayayel Apr 16. Started by scv Sep 24, 2012. Posted by Natalie Hartmann on May 14, 2013 at 11:03pm Agradecemos de corazón a la encargada del Bosque Estatal Susua Sra .Weetsy Cordero .Por toda su cooperación en esta actividad de Areyto CONCILIO TAINO GUATU-MA-CU A BORIKEN ""Nosotros somos los descendientes del pueblo nativo… Posted by Iris Antongiorgi Concepcion on April 4, 2013 at 2:04pm Comunicación de los Taínos con el más allá. Sebastián Robiou Lamarche,PH.D posee un Doctorado en Historia de Puerto Rico y el Caribe del Centro de Estudios Avanzados de Puerto Rico y el Caribe. Es fundador y presidente de Fundación Educativa, Inc. Organiza encuentros y coloquios de tema cultural e históricos. Ha publicado trabajos sobre temas arqueológicos e…Continue Posted by Iris Antongiorgi Concepcion on April 4, 2013 at 1:47pm Seems like I never am home. I keep getting dreams of things I hav ner seen, but I don't feel strange about them. I have had the same dreams all my life. Now I have a way to express these dreams and they are leading me on the road home. I don't know why I feel this is so, but it is easier to accept it than to ignore it. It will not go away. So I decided to look into the past. I have to know where I came from. Searching my family I find that the documents are confusing. My Great…Continue Posted by Sonia Martinez Ortiz on March 15, 2013 at 9:47pm The map above is an incomplete list of known Taínos, some of which were Caciques (Male tribal chiefs) or Cacicas (Female tribal chiefs) and the locations are not specific but general areas. Taíno society was divided into two classes: naborias (commoners) and nitaínos (nobles). Both were governed by chiefs known as Caciques (male) or Cacicas/Caciquesa (female), who was the maximum authority in a Yucayeque (village). The chiefs were advised by priests/healers known as bohiques. El mapa demuestra una lista incompleta de Taínos conocidos, algunos cuyo eran los caciques (jefes de la tribu de sexo masculino) o Cacicas (jefes de la tribu de sexo femenino) y las localizaciones son áreas no específicas sino generales. Below Incomplete List of Caciques de Borikén/Puerto Rico Lista de Caciques de Borikén Agüeybaná: Puerto Rico's head cacique who was chief over all the other caciques of Boriken at the time of discovery. His yucayeque or village was on the Guayanilloa Bay area. Abey: yucayeque in Salinas Alonso: minor cacique in Otoao (Utuado). Aramaná: yucayeque around the río Coa (Toa) Arasibo: yucayeque in the area of río Abacoa (río Grande de Arecibo) Aymamón: yucayeque on the río Culebrinas/Western Puerto Rico Cacimar: of Caribe ancentry, his yucayeque was in Vieques. Caguax: yucayeque by the río Turabo Canóbana: yucayeque by the río Cayniabón (río Grande de Loíza) Cagüana: minor cacique in Utuado area Cayey: yucayeque in Cayey Dagüao: yucayeque at río Santiago (Naguabo) Doña María: daughter of cacique Bagnamanay , her Taíno name is unkown Güamaní: yucayeque possibly around Guayama o Manatí Güarionex: One of the more important caciques, his yucayeque was in Utuado. Güaybaná: Fought the Spaniards with Güarionex Güaraca: yucayeque in Güayaney Jayuya: yucayeque near present day Jayuya. Jumacao: cacique for the village of Macao. The area is nowadays the town of Humacao, named after the cacique. Orocobix of the Yucayeque in Jatibonicu Mayagoex from the Mayagüez area. TAINO NAMES OF ISLANDS The maps of the time of the discovery and subsequent ones, were not very precise due to the rudimentary cartography in those times. Some of the islands, specially those of the archipelago of the Bahamas, were known by different names, which tends to confuse. Still, there is diversity of opinions with regard to these and to their geographic positions between the cronologists and writers of the conquest. Abacoa. Island of Andros, the largest of the Bahamas. Abaco. The island of Gran Abaco, one of the greater ones of the Bahamas. Abaque. Island next to Cape Shark in Española. Abeyanay. Island named for its coffin shape, to the south of Ponce. Amona. The island of La Mona, populated by the Taínos at the time of the discovery. Ay, Ay. The island Santa Cruz, Southeast of Puerto Rico. From here, the Caribs sent their expeditions and attacks against Vieques and Puerto Rico. Babeque. Great island of Inagua, located north between Cuba and Española. Bahamá. Island to the north of the archipelago of the same name. Nowadays the name is written without accent in the last vowel. Baneque. Name of an island (Boriken), mentioned in the diary of Columbus of 1492, who the lucayos mentioned as being located east-southeast of its archipelago and where gold abounded. Bieke. The Island Municipality of Vieques, Southeast of Puerto Rico, also well-known as Small land. Bi means small and ke is earth, land: the small Earth. Several Carib caciques, who attacked Puerto Rico frequently settled here. Biminí. Small island near Miami in Florida, also well-known as Baminí. It was discovered and explored by the expedition directed by Ponce de Leon in 1513. The fountain of youth, mentioned in an indigenous fable; was not found in Biminí. Bohio. The oldest written reference on the Caribs is in the diary of the first trip of Christopher Columbus. Here, the words caniba and Carib were registered and directions given to him by some Indians in the sense that to the East of the Caribbean Sea was an island inhabited by ferocious cannibals, well-known as Bohio. Borriken, Borrigal. Breton mentions this island in his dictionary of 1665- 1666 as the name given to Puerto Rico by the Arawak women of the Caribbean. Boyuca. Another possible indigenous name for the island of Biminí. Camito. Island from 3 to 4 leagues of length located North of Española, between Guaonabo and Cabo Rojo. Caobana. Indigenous name of Cuba, composed by the root word Coa - place and bana - big, large, or great. Cayman. Various small islands South of Cuba. Cayri. The island of Dominica, important caribbean bastion. Cicheo. Oviedo mentions this name as the name of the island of Desecheo. Cuba. The largest island of all in the Antilles. The name Cuaba and Cuba were derived from the name Caobana. Cubagua. Small island south of the island Margarita, in Venezuela. Curateo. The island of Guana. Exuma. Island of the Bahamas and name of a reef north of it. Guanabo. Island east of Haití, probably the island of Gonave. Guanaja. Island of Pinos, south of the occidental part of Cuba. Guanahaní. Name of the island which was the first place where Christopher Columbus arrived on in his first voyage to the new world in 1492. He named it San Salvador and it is acutally known as Cat Island of the Bahamas and not Watling Island. Guanay. Island North of Española, the first to be discovered by Columbus in the Antilles. Guanimá. The island Eleuthera in the archipelago of the Bahamas. Haití, Aytí. Indigenous name of Española. Means rough earth. Iabaquen. The island of New Providence, where Nassau is located, the capital of the Bahamas. Inagua. The large island of Inagua, also known as Babeque. Jamayca. Large island South of Cuba. The name means: place with water. Kiskeya, Quisqueya. Ancient name for Española, also known as Aytí. Also, the oriental region of the island. Means: high land, large. Lucaioneque. In Door Roggeveen's map, it is the island of Abaco or Lucaya. Lucayas. The islands known today as the Bahamas. Lucayas is a corruption of Yucayas. Maguelles. Small island in the zone of La Parguera, Puerto Rico. Manegua. Possible name of the island Watling and also of Cayo Ron. Matininá. The island of Martinica. Mayaguana. Small island of the Bahamas, situated between the island of Acklin and those of Caicos. In some maps, named as Mariguana. Mayaguón. Name of the island of the Lucayas. Ocamanirí. The round island. Ojuna. Another name for Rum Cay. Oribá. The island Oruba. Oubao Moin. Means: Island of Blood; and it was how the caribs called Puerto Rico. Saba. Small island of Barlovento, south of St. Martin. Sabana. Name of the archipelago North of Sagua Grande in Cuba. Samaná. Cay Atwood, Northeast of Crooked Island in the Bahamas. Saometo. Another name for Crooked Island. According to Navarrete it is Inagua Grande. Columbus called it Isabela. Saona. Small island South of the orient of the Dominican Republic. Sibukeira. The island of Guadalupe, principal dwelling of the caribs in the Lesser Antilles. Sikeo. Mountenous island East of Rincón, Puerto Rico, known as Desecheo. Si for ti; high; ke for earth; o for mountain. Siguatío. The large island of Abaco. Toeya. Catalina Island, South of Española. Yabaque. The island Acklin in the Bahamas, South of Watling Island. Yaguna. Another name for the island Mayaguana. Yucayas. Original indigenous name for the Lucayas, actually known as The Bahamas. Yucayú. The small island of Abaco. Yuma. Crooked Island. Yumeta. Name of Long Island, named Fernandina by Columbus.	3.107383
Song Dynasty (960–1279) of China was a period of Chinese history marked by commercial expansion, economic prosperity, and revolutionary new Private trade grew and a market economy began to link the coastal provinces with the interior. The enormous population growth rate from increased agricultural cultivation in the 10th to 11th centuries doubled China's overall population, which rose above 100 million people (compared to the earlier , with some 50 million Beyond domestic profits made in China, merchants engaged in overseas trade by investing money in trading vessels that docked at foreign ports as far away as East . The world's first development of the banknote , or printed paper money (see Jiaozi ), was established on a massive scale. Combined with a unified tax system and efficient trade routes by road and canal, this meant the development of a true nationwide market system in China. Although much of the revenue in the central was consumed by the needs of the military defense , government taxes imposed on the rising commercial base in China refilled the monetary coffers of the Song government. For certain production items and marketed goods, the Song government imposed monopolies in order to boost revenues and secure resources that were vital to the empire's security, such as steel, iron, and chemical components for gunpowder Massive Expansion of ploughland The Song government encouraged people to reclaim barren lands and put them under cultivation. Anyone who opened up new lands and paid taxes were granted permanent possession of the new land. Under this policy, the cultivated land in the Song Dynasty is estimated to have reached a peak number of 720 million mu , and was not surpassed by later Ming and Qing Dynasties. Prominent statesman and economist Wang issued the Law and Decree on Irrigation in 1069 that encouraged expansion of the irrigation system in China. By 1076, about 10,800 irrigation projects were completed, which irrigated more than 36 million mu of public and private land. irrigation projects included dredging the Yellow River at northern China and artificial silt land in the Lake Tai As a result of this policy, the crop in China Improvements in Farm Tools, Seeds and Fertilizer The Song Dynasty inherited the curved iron plough invented in the (618–907) as described in detail in Lu Guimeng's The Classic of the Plough . The Song Dynasty improved on the Tang Dynasty curved iron plough and invented a special steel plough design specificily for reclaiming wasteland. The wasteland plough was not made of iron, but of stronger steel, the blade was shorter but thicker, and particularly effective in cutting through reeds and roots in wetlands in the valley. A tool designed to facilitate seedling called "seedling horse" was invented in Song Dynasty; it was made of jujube paulownia wood. Song Dynasty farms used bamboo water wheels to harness the flow energy of rivers to raise water for irrigation of farmland. The water wheel was about 30 chi in diameter, with ten bamboo watering tubes fastened at its perimeter. Some farmers even used three stage watering wheels to lift water to a height of over 30 chi High yield Champa paddy seeds, Korean yellow paddy, Indian green pea , and Middle East were introduced into China during this period, greatly enhancing the variety of farm produce. Song farmers emphasized the importance of night soil . They understood that using night soil could transform barren wasteland into fertile farmland. Chen Pu wrote in his Book of Agriculture of 1149: "The common saying that farmland becomes exhausted after seeding three to five years is not right, if frequently top up with new soil and cure with night soil, then the land becomes more fertile". introduced from Hainan Island into Song Dynasty tribute tea, the big Cotton flowers were collected, pits removed, beaten loose with bamboo bows, and drawn into yarns and weaved into cloth called "jibei"." The cotton jibei made in Hainan has great variety, the cloth has great width, often dyed into brilliant colors, stitching up two pieces make a bedspread, stitching four pieces make a curtain Hemp was also widely planted and made into linen. Independent mulberry farms flourished in the Mount Dongting region in Suzhou. mulberry farmers did not make a living on farmland, but instead they grew mulberry trees and bred silkworm to harvest silk. first appeared in China during the Warring States Period During the Song Dynasty, Lake Tai valley was famous for the sugarcanes cultivated. Song writer Wang described in great detail the method of cultivating sugarcane and how to make cane sugar flour from sugarcane in his monography "Classic of Sugar" in 1154, the first book about sugar technology in China. plantation in the Song Dynasty was three times the size that it was during the Tang Dynasty. According to a survey in 1162, tea plantations were spread across 66 prefectures in 244 counties. The Beiyuan Plantation (North Park Plantation) was an imperial tea plantation in Fujian prefacture. It produced more than forty varieties of tribute tea for the imperial court. Only the very tip of tender tea leaves were picked, processed and pressed into tea cakes, embossed with dragon pattern, known as "dragon tea cakes". With the growth of cities, high value vegetable farms sprung up in the suburbs. In southern China, on average one mu farm land supported one man, while in the north about three for one man, while one mu of vegetable farm supported three men. Flower nurseries also flourished. Peony the favourite of the rich and powerful. Up to ninety varieties of peony were cultivated. Jasmine and crabapple from Persia were also Organization, investment, and trade During the Song Dynasty, the merchant class became more sophisticated, well-respected and organized than in earlier periods of China. Their accumulated wealth often rivaled that of the administered the affairs of government. For their organizational skills, Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais state that Song Dynasty ...set up partnerships and joint stock companies, with a separation of owners (shareholders) and In the large cities, merchants were organized into guilds according to the type of product sold; they periodically set prices and arranged sales from wholesalers to When the government requisitioned goods or assessed taxes, it dealt with the guild heads. Although large government run industries and large privately-owned dominated the market system of urban China during the Song period, there was a plethora of small private businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the large suburbs and rural areas that thrived off the economic boom of the period. There was even a large black market in China during the Song period, which was actually enhanced once the Jurchens conquered northern China and established the Jin Dynasty example, around 1160 AD there was an annual black market smuggling of some 70 to 80 thousand cattle . There were multitudes of successful small kilns shops owned by local families, along with oil presses, wine -making shops, small local paper-making businesses, etc. There was also room for small economic success with the "inn keeper, the petty diviner, the drug seller, the cloth trader," and many others. Rural families that sold a large agricultural surplus to the market not only could afford to buy more charcoal, tea, oil, and wine, but they could also amass enough funds to establish secondary means of production for generating more wealth. Besides necessary agricultural foodstuffs, farming families could often produce wine, charcoal, paper, textiles, and other goods they sold through brokers. Farmers in Suzhou often specialized in raising bombyx mori to produce silk wares, while in Fujian, Sichuan, and Guangdong farmers often grew sugarcane. In order to ensure the prosperity of rural areas, technical applications for public works projects and improved agricultural techniques were essential. The system of China had to be furnished with multitudes of wheelwrights and square-pallet chain pumps that could lift water from lower planes to higher irrigation planes. For clothing, silken robes worn by the wealthy and elite while hemp was worn by the poor; by the late Song clothes were also in use. Shipment of all these materials and goods was aided by the 10th century innovation of the canal pound in China; the Song scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) wrote that the building of pound lock gates at Zhenzhou (presumably Kuozhou along the Yangtze) during the 1020s and 1030s freed up the use of five hundred working laborers at the canal each year, amounting to the saving of up to 1,250,000 strings of cash annually. He wrote that the old method of hauling boats over limited the size of the cargo to 300 tan of rice per vessel (roughly 21 tons/21337 kg), but after the pound locks were introduced, boats carrying 400 tan (roughly 28 tons/28449 kg) could then be used. Shen wrote that by his time (c. 1080) government boats could carry cargo weights of up to 700 tan (49½ tons/50294 kg), while private boats could hold as much as 800 bags, each weighing 2 tan (i.e. a total of 113 tons/114813 kg). Sea trade abroad to the South East , the Hindu world , and the East African world brought merchants great fortune. Although the massive amount of indigenous trade along the Grand Canal, River, its tributaries and lakes, and other canal systems trumped the commercial gains of overseas trade, there were still many large seaports during the Song period that bolstered the economy, such as Quanzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, and Xiamen. These seaports, now heavily connected to the hinterland via canal, lake, and river traffic, acted as a long string of large market centers for the sale of cash crops produced in the interior. The high demand in China for foreign luxury goods and spices coming from the East facilitated the growth of Chinese maritime trade abroad during the Song period. Along with the mining industry, the shipbuilding industry of Fujian province during the Song period increased its production exponentially as maritime trade was given more importance and as the province's population growth began to increase dramatically. The Song capital at Hangzhou had a large canal that connected its waterways directly to the seaport at Mingzhou (modern Ningbo), the center where many of the foreign imported goods were shipped out to the rest of the country. Despite the installation of fire stations and a large fire fighting force, fires continued to threaten the city of Hangzhou and the various businesses within it. In safeguarding stored supplies and providing rented space for merchants and shopkeepers to keep their surplus goods safe from city fires, the rich families of Hangzhou, palace eunuchs, and empresses had large warehouses the northeast walls; these warehouses were surrounded by channels of water on all sides and were heavily guarded by hired night watchmen. Shipbuilders generated means of employment for many skilled craftsmen, while sailors for ship crews found many opportunities of employment as more families had enough capital to purchase boats and invest in commercial trading abroad. Foreigners and merchants from abroad had an impact on the economy from within China as well. For example, many Muslims went to Song China not only to trade, but dominated the import and export industry and in some cases became officials of economic regulations. For Chinese maritime merchants, however, there was risk involved in such long overseas ventures to foreign trade posts and seaports as far away as In order to reduce the risk of losing money instead of gaining it on maritime trade missions abroad: [Song era] investors usually divided their investment among many ships, and each ship had many investors behind One observer thought eagerness to invest in overseas trade was leading to an outflow of copper cash. He wrote, "People along the coast are on intimate terms with the merchants who engage in overseas trade, either because they are fellow-countrymen or personal acquaintances...[They give the merchants] money to take with them on their ships for purchase and return conveyance of foreign goods. They invest from ten to a hundred strings of cash, and regularly make profits of several hundred percent." Wealthy landholders were still typically those who were able to educate their sons to the highest degree. Hence small groups of prominent families in any given local county would gain national spotlight for having sons travel far off to be educated and appointed as ministers of the state. Yet downward social mobility was always an issue with the matter of divided inheritance. Suggesting ways to increase a family's property, Yuan Cai (1140–1190) wrote in the late 12th century that those who obtained office with decent salaries shouldn't convert it to gold and silver, but instead could watch their values grow with investment: For instance, if he had 100,000 strings worth of gold and silver and used this money to buy productive property, in a year he would gain 10,000 strings; after ten years or so, he would have regained the 100,000 strings and what would be divided among the family would be interest. If it were invested in a pawn broking business, in three years the interest would equal the He would still have the 100,000 strings, and the rest, being interest, could be divided. Moreover, it could be doubled again in another three years, ad infinitum. (1031–1095), a minister of finance, was of the same opinion; in his understanding of the velocity of circulation, he stated in 1077: The utility of money derives from circulation and loan-making. A village of ten households may have 100,000 coins. If the cash is stored in the household of one individual, even after a century, the sum remains 100,000. If the coins are circulated through business transactions so that every individual of the ten households can enjoy the utility of the 100,000 coins, then the utility will amount to that of 1,000,000 cash. If circulation continues without stop, the utility of the cash will be beyond The author Zhu Yu wrote in his (萍洲可談; Pingzhou Table Talks) of 1119 AD about the organization, maritime practices, and government standards of seagoing vessels, their merchants, and sailing crews. His book stated: According to government regulations concerning seagoing ships, the larger ones can carry several hundred men, and the smaller ones may have more than a hundred men on One of the most important merchants is chosen to be Leader (Gang Shou), another is Deputy Leader (Fu Gang Shou), and a third is Business Manager (Za Shi). The Superintendent of Merchant Shipping gives them an unofficially sealed red certificate permitting them to use the light bamboo for punishing their company when Should anyone die at sea, his property becomes forfeit to the government...The ship's pilots are acquainted with the configuration of the coasts; at night they steer by the stars, and in the day-time by the sun. In dark weather they look at the south-pointing needle (i.e. the magnetic compass). They also use a line a hundred feet long with a hook at the end which they let down to take samples of mud from the sea-bottom; by its (appearance and) smell they can determine their Foreign travelers to China often made remarks on the economic strength of the country. The later Muslim Moroccan Berber traveler Ibn Batutta (1304–1377) wrote about many of his travel experiences in places across the Eurasian world, including China at the farthest eastern extremity. describing lavish Chinese ships holding palatial cabins and saloons, along with the life of Chinese ship crews and captains, Among the inhabitants of China there are those who own numerous ships, on which they send their agents to foreign For nowhere in the world are there to be found people richer than the Chinese. Steel and iron industries Accompanying the widespread printing of paper money was the beginnings of what one might term an early Chinese industrial revolution . For example the historian Robert Hartwell estimated that per capita iron sixfold between 806 and 1078, such that, by 1078 China was producing 127000000 kg (125,000 t) in weight of iron per year. However, historian Donald Wagner questions Hartwell's method used to estimate these figures (i.e. by using Song tax and quota receipts). In the smelting process of using huge bellows driven by waterwheels , massive amounts of charcoal were used in the production process, leading to a wide range of deforestation in northern China. However, by the end of the 11th century the Chinese discovered that using could replace the role of charcoal, hence many acres of forested land in northern China were spared from the steel and iron industry with this switch of resources. Iron and steel of this period were used to mass produce ploughs needles, pins, nails for ships, musical cymbals , chains for suspension bridges , Buddhist statues, and other routine items for an indigenous mass market. Iron was also a necessary manufacturing component for the production processes of salt and copper. Many newly constructed canals linked the major iron and steel production centers to the capital city's main market. This was also extended to trade with the outside world, which greatly expanded with the high level of Chinese maritime activity abroad during the Southern Song Through many written petitions central government by regional administrators of the Song Empire, historical scholars can piece evidence together to appropriate the size and scope of the Chinese iron during the Song era. The famed magistrate Bao Qingtian (999–1062) wrote of the iron industry at Hancheng, Tongzhou Prefecture, along the Yellow River in what is today eastern Shaanxi province, with iron smelting households that were overseen by government regulators. He wrote that 700 such households were acting as iron smelters, with 200 having the most adequate amount of government support, such as charcoal supplies and skilled craftsmen (the iron households hired local unskilled labor themselves). Bao's complaint to the throne was that government laws against private smelting in Shaanxi hindered profits of the industry, so the government finally heeded his plea and lifted the ban on private smelting for Shaanxi in 1055. The result of this was an increase in profit (with lower prices for iron) as well as production; 100,000 jin ) of iron was produced annually in Shaanxi in the 1040s AD, increasing to 600,000 jin produced annually by the 1110s, furbished by the revival of the industry in 1112. Although the iron smelters of Shaanxi were managed and supplied by the government, there were many independent smelters operated and owned by rich families. While acting as governor of Xuzhou in 1078, the famous Song poet and statesman Su Shi (1037–1101) wrote that in the Liguo Industrial Prefecture under his administered region, there were 36 iron smelters run by different local families, each employing a work force of several hundred people to mine ore, produce their own charcoal, and smelt During the Song period, there was a great deal of organized labor and bureaucracy involved in the extraction of resources from the various provinces in China. The production of sulfur , which the Chinese called 'vitriol liquid', was extracted from pyrite and used for purposes as well as for the creation of gunpowder . This was done by roasting iron pyrites, converting the sulphide , as the ore was piled up with coal briquettes in an earthenware furnace with a type of still-head to send the sulphur over as vapour, after which it would solidify and crystallize historical text of the Song Shi (History of the Song, compiled in 1345 AD) stated that the major producer of sulfur in the Tang and Song dynasties was the Jin Zhou sub-provincial administrative region (modern Linfen in southern bureaucrats appointed to the region managed the industrial processing and sale of it, and the amount created and distributed from the years 996 to 997 alone was 405,000 jin (roughly 200 tons). It was recorded that in 1076 AD the Song Dynasty government held a strict commercial monopoly on sulfur production, and if dye houses and government workshops sold their products to private dealers in the black market they were subject to meted penalties by government authorities. before this point, in 1067 AD, the Song government had issued an edict that the people living in Shanxi and Hebei were forbidden to sell foreigners any products containing saltpetre and sulfur. This act by the Song government displayed their fears of the grave potential of gunpowder weapons being developed by Song China's territorial enemies as well (i.e. the Tanguts Zhou was in close proximity to the Song capital at Kaifeng, the latter became the largest producer of gunpowder during the Northern Song period. sulfur from pyrite instead of natural sulfur (along with ehanced ), the Chinese were able to shift the use of gunpowder from an incendiary use into an explosive one for early . There were large manufacturing plants in the Song Dynasty for the purpose of making 'fire-weapons' employing the use of gunpowder, such as fire and fire arrows . While engaged in a war with the Mongols, in the year 1259 the official Li Zengbo wrote in his Ko Zhai Za Gao, Xu Gao Hou that the city of Qingzhou was manufacturing one to two thousand strong iron-cased bomb shells a month, dispatching to Xiangyang and Yingzhou about ten to twenty thousand such bombs at a time. One of the main armories for the storage of gunpowder and weapons was located at Weiyang , which accidentally caught fire and produced a massive explosion in 1280 AD. This arrangement of allowing competitive industry to flourish in some regions while setting up its opposite of strict government-regulated and monopolized production and trade in others was not exclusive to iron manufacturing. In the beginning of the Song Dynasty, the government supported competitive silk mill and brocade workshops in the eastern provinces and in the capital city of Kaifeng. However, at the same time the government established strict legal prohibition on the merchant trade of privately produced silk in Sichuan This prohibition dealt an economic blow to Sichuan that caused a small rebellion (which was subdued), yet in the Song Dynasty Sichuan was well-known for its independent industries and cultivated oranges . The reforms of the Chancellor Wang (1021–1086) sparked heated debate amongst ministers of court when he nationalized industries manufacturing, processing, and distributing tea , and wine . The state monopoly on Sichuan tea was the prime source of revenue for the state's purchase of horses in Qinghai for the Song army's cavalry forces. restrictions on the private manufacture and trade of salt were even criticized in a famous poem by Su Shi while the opposing politically-charged faction at court gained advantage and lost favor, Wang Anshi's reforms were continually abandoned and reinstated. Despite this political quarrel, the Song Empire's main source of revenue continued to come from state-managed monopolies and indirect . As for private entrepreneurship, great profits could still be pursued by the merchants in the luxury item trades and specialized regional production. For example, the silk producers of Raoyang County, Shenzhou Prefecture, southern Hebei province were especially known for producing silken headwear for the Song emperor and high court officials in the capital. Copper resources and receipts of deposit The root of the development of the banknote goes back to the earlier Tang Dynasty (618–907), when the government outlawed the use of bolts of as currency, which increased the use of coinage as money. By the year 1085 the output of copper currency was driven to a rate of 6 billion coins a year up from 5.86 billion in 1080 (compared to just 327 million coins minted annually in the Tang Dynasty 's prosperous Tianbao period of 742–755, and only 220 million coins minted annually from 118 BC to 5 AD during the Han Dynasty ). The expansion of the economy was unprecedented in China: the output of coinage currency in the earlier year of 997 AD, which was only 800 million coins a year. In the year 1120 alone, the Song government collected 18,000,000 ounces of silver in taxes. With many 9th century Tang era merchants avoiding the weight and bulk of so many copper coins in each transaction, this led them to using trading receipts from deposit shops where goods or money were left previously. Merchants would deposit copper currency into the stores of wealthy families and prominent , whereupon they would receive receipts that could be cashed in a number of nearby towns by accredited persons. Since the 10th century, the early Song government began issuing their own receipts of deposit, yet this was restricted mainly to their monopolized salt industry and trade. first official regional paper-printed money can be traced back to the year 1024, in Sichuan Robert Temple says that the Sichuan bills can be traced back to 1023; before that year, sixteen private businesses ' issued notes of exchange, but in that year the Song government took over this enterprise under an Although the output of copper currency had expanded immensely by 1085, some fifty copper mines were shut down between the years 1078 and 1085.Ch'en, 615. Although there were on average more copper mines found in Northern Song China than in the previous Tang Dynasty, this case was reversed during the Southern Song with a sharp decline and depletion of mined copper deposits by 1165.Ch'en, 615–616. Even though copper cash was abundant in the late 11th century, Chancellor Wang Anshi's tax substitution for corvée labor and government takeover of agricultural finance loans meant that people now had to find additional cash, driving up the price of copper money which would become scarce.Ch'en, 619. To make matters worse, large amounts of government-issued copper currency exited the country via international trade, while the Liao and Western Xia pursued the exchange of their iron-minted coins for Song copper coins.Ch'en, 621. As evidenced by an 1103 decree, the Song government became cautious about its outflow of iron currency into the Liao Empire when it ordered that the iron was to be alloyed with tin in the smelting process, thus depriving the Liao of a chance to melt down the currency to make iron weapons. government attempted to prohibit the use of copper currency in border regions and in seaports, but the Song-issued copper coin became common in the Liao, Western Xia, Japanese, and Southeast Asian The Song government would turn to other types of material for its currency in order to ease the demand on the government mint, including the issuing of iron coinage and paper banknotes.Ch'en, 620. In the year 976, the percentage of issued currency using copper coinage was 65%; after 1135, this had dropped significantly to 54%, a government attempt to debase the copper The world's first paper money The central government soon observed the economic advantages of printing paper money, issuing a monopoly right of several of the deposit shops to the issuance of these certificates of deposit. By the early 12th century, the amount of banknotes issued in a single year amounted to an annual rate of 26 million strings of cash coins. By the 1120s the central government officially stepped in and produced their own state-issued paper money (using woodblock printing Even before this point, the Song government was amassing large amounts of paper tribute . It was recorded that each year before 1101 AD, the prefecture of Xinan (modern Xi-xian, Anhui) alone would send 1,500,000 sheets of paper in seven different varieties to the capital at Kaifeng. In that year of 1101, the Emperor Huizong of Song lessen the amount of paper taken in the tribute quota, because it was causing detrimental effects and creating heavy burdens on the people of the region. However, the government still needed masses of paper product for the exchange certificates and the state's new issuing of paper money. For the printing of paper money alone, the Song court established several government-run factories in the cities of Huizhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Anqi. The size of the workforce employed in these paper money factories were quite large, as it was recorded in 1175 AD that the factory at Hangzhou alone employed more than a thousand workers a day. However, the government issues of paper money were not yet nationwide standards of currency at that point; issues of banknotes were limited to regional zones of the empire, and were valid for use only in a designated and temporary limit of 3-year's time. The geographic limitation changed between the years 1265 and 1274, when the late Southern Song government finally produced a nationwide standard currency of paper money, once its widespread circulation was backed by gold or silver. The range of varying values for these banknotes was perhaps from one string of cash to one hundred at the most. Ever since 1107, the government printed money in no less than six ink colors and printed notes with intricate designs and sometimes even with mixture of unique fiber in the paper to avoid counterfeiting subsequent Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties would issue their own paper money as well. Even the Southern Song's contemporary of the Jin to the north caught on to this trend and issued their own paper money. At the archeological there was a printing plate found that dated to the year 1214, which produced notes that measured 10 cm by 19 cm in size and were worth a hundred strings of 80 cash coins. -Jin issued paper money bore a , the number of the series, and a warning label that counterfeiters would be decapitated, and the denouncer rewarded with three hundred strings Urban employment and businesses Within the cities there were a multitude of professions and places of work to choose from, if one weren't strictly inheriting a profession of his paternal line. Sinologist historians are fortunate enough to have a wide variety of written sources describing minute details about each location and the businesses within the cities of Song China. For example, in the alleys and avenues around the East Gate of the Xiangguo Temple in Kaifeng, historian Stephen H. West quotes one source: Along the Temple Eastgate Avenue...are to be found shops specializing in cloth caps with pointed tails, belts and waiststraps, books, caps and flowers as well as the vegetarian tea meal of the Ding family...South of the temple are the brothels of Manager's Alley...The nuns and the brocade workers live in Embroidery Alley...On the north is Small Sweetwater Alley...There are a particularly large number of Southern restaurants inside the alley, as well as a plethora of brothels. Similarly, in the "Pleasure District" along the Horse Guild Avenue, near a Zoroastrian temple West quotes the same source, Dongjing meng Hua lu In addition to the household gates and shops that line the two sides of New Fengqiu Gate Street...military encampments of the various brigades and columns [of the Imperial Guard] are situated in facing pairs along approximately ten li of the approach to the gate. Other wards, alleys, and confined open spaces crisscross the area, numbering in the tens of thousands—none knows their real number. In every single place, the gates are squeezed up against each other, each with its own tea wards, wineshops, stages, and food and drink. Normally the small business households of the marketplace simply purchase [prepared] food and drink at food stores; they do not cook at home. For northern food there are the Shi Feng style dried meat cubes...made of various stewed items...for southern food, the House of Jin at Temple Bridge...and the House of Zhou at Ninebends...are acknowledged to be the finest. The night markets close after the third watch only to reopen at the West points out that Kaifeng shopkeepers rarely had time to eat at home, so they chose to go out and eat at a variety of places such as restaurants, temples, and food stalls. Restaurant on this new clientele, while restaurants that catered to regional cooking targeted customers such as merchants and officials who came from regions of China where cuisine styles and flavors were drastically different than those commonly served in the capital. The pleasure district mentioned above—where stunts, games, theatrical stage performances, taverns and singing girl houses were located—was teeming with food stalls where business could be had virtually all night. West makes a direct connection between the success of the theatre industry and the food industry in the cities. Of the fifty some theatres within the pleasure districts of Kaifeng, four of these could entertain audiences of several thousand each, drawing huge crowds which would then give nearby businesses an enormous potential customer base. Besides food, traders in eagles and hawks, precious paintings well as shops selling bolts of silk and cloth, jewelry of pearls, horn, gold and silver, hair ornaments, combs, caps, scarves, and aromatic incense thrived in The Song Dynasty actively promoted overseas trade. About fifty countries carried out overseas trade with the Song Dynasty, among them Ceylon, Langkasuka, Mait, Samboja, Borneo, Kelantan, Champa, Chenla, Bengtrao, Java, India, Calicut, Lambri, Bengal, Kurum, Gujara, Mecca, Misr, Bagdad, Iraq, Aman, Almoravid dynasty, Sicily, Morroco,Tanzania, Somalia, Ryukyu, Korea, and Pearls, ivory, rhinocero horns, frankincense, agalloch eaglewood, coral, agate, hawksbill turtle shell, gardenia, and rose were imported from the Arabs and Samboja, herbal medicine from Java, costusroot from Foloan (Kuala Sungai Berang) cotton cloth, cotton yarn from Mait, and ginseng, silver, copper, and quick silver from Korea. promote overseas trade and maximize government profits in control of imported goods, in 971 the government established a Maritine Trade Supervisorate at Guangzhou, in 999 established a second one at Hangzhou, a third at Mingzhou (now Ningbo city), followed by Quanzhou (Zaitung) in 1079, Huating County (now part of Shanghai) in 1113, and Jiangyin in 1145. Initially the Maritime Trade Supervisorate was subordinate under the Department of Transportation or prefecture official, later made into a separate agency with its own supervisor. The roles of the Maritime Trade - Taxation of imported goods, tax rate varied over the Song Dynasty, from 10% to as high as 40%; however, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong (1048 – 1085), the tax rate for imports was lowered to 6.67%. The tax was goods in kind, not money. - Government purchase and sale of imported goods. In 976, all imported goods from overseas merchants had to be sold only to the government, private sales was prohibited, penalty for violation depended on the quantity of goods involved, and the highest penalty was tattooing of the face and forced labor. Later the 100% rule was relaxed somewhat. The Maritime Trade Superisorate purchased a portion of the finest quality goods, for example 60% for pearls, 40% for rhinocero horn; the low quality leftover goods were allowed to be traded in the market. The purchase rate applied to after tax goods, then paid in money, not according to market price, but according to a government-accessed "fare value". In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Maritime Trade Supervisorates were short of funds and were not paid on time, causing huge losses in profits for overseas merchants; the volume of incoming ships also dropped. - Issue foreign trade permits for local merchants. - Ebrey, 156. - Ebrey, 167. - Qi Xia, Economy of the Song Dynasty, Part I, Chapter 1, page 65 ISBN 7-80127-462-8/F - Qi Xia, Economy of the Song Dynasty, p86 - Qi Xia, Economy of the Song Dynasty, p84-96 - Robert Temple, The Genius of China, p19 - Qi Xia, p135 - Qi Xia, 156 - Zhou Qufei, p228 - Ji Xianlin, - Qi Xia 856 - Xiong Fan (Song Dynasty) Xuanhe Beiyuan Dragon Tea - Qi Xia,180 - Ebrey et al., 157. - Embree, 339-340. - Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, - Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 347. - Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 352. - Rossabi, 77–78. - Fairbank, 89. - Rossabi, 79. - Fairbank, 92. - Walton, 89. - Gernet, 34-37. - Gernet, 37. - Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, - BBC article about Islam in China - Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 465. - Shen, 158. - Ebrey et al., 159. - Ebrey et al., 162. - Yang, 47. - Needham, Volume 4, Part 1, 279. - Needham, Volume 4, Part 3, 470. - Ebrey et al., 158. - Wagner (2001), 175–197. - Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, - Embree, 339. - Wagner, 181. - Wagner, 182. - Wagner 182-183. - Wagner, 178-179. - Yunming, 487-489. - Yunming, 489. - Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 126. - Yunming, 489-490. - Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 173-174. - Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 209-210. - Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 23. - Ebrey, 164. - Smith, 77. - Gernet, 18. - Friedman et al., 3. - Sadao, 588. - Bowman, 105. - Ebrey, Cambridge Illustrated History of China, - Gernet, 80. - Morton, 97. - Benn, 55. - Temple, 117. - Bol (2001), p. 111. - Ebrey et al., 156. - Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 47. - Needham, Volume 5, Part 1, 48. - Temple, 117–118. - Gernet, 80-81. - West, 71. - West, 72. - West, 72–73. - West, 74. - Gernet, 133. - West, 70. - Gernet, 184. - West, 76. - West, 75–76. - Zhao Rukua (赵汝适 Song Dynasty), Zhufanzhi (诸番志) - Zhao Yanwei (赵彦卫Song dynasty) Yun Lu Man Chao (云麓漫钞) p88 Zhong Hua Book Co ISBN 7101012256 - Qi Xia, p1175-1178 - Guan Luqian, 140-142 - Guan, p143 - Benn, Charles (2002). China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN - Bol, Peter K. "Whither the Emperor? Emperor Huizong, the New Policies, and the Tang-Song Transition," Journal of Song and Yuan Studies, Vol. 31 (2001), pp. 103-34. - Bowman, John S. (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. New York: Columbia University Press. - Ch'en, Jerome. "Sung Bronzes—An Economic Analysis," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Volume 28, Number 3, 1965): 613–626. - Ebrey, Walthall, Palais, (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin - Ebrey, Patricia Buckley (1999). The Cambridge Illustrated History of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-43519-6 (hardback); ISBN 0-521-66991-X (paperback). - Embree, Ainslie Thomas (1997). Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching. Armonk: ME Sharpe, Inc. - Fairbank, John King and Merle Goldman (1992). China: A New History; Second Enlarged Edition (2006). Cambridge: MA; London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN - Friedman, Edward, Paul G. Pickowicz, Mark Selden. (1991). Chinese Village, Socialist State. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN - Gernet, Jacques (1962). Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250-1276. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-0720-0 - Hartwell, Robert (1966). Markets, Technology and the Structure of Enterprise in the Development of the Eleventh Century Chinese Iron and Steel Industry. Journal of Economic History - Ji Xianlin, (1997) History of Cane Sugar in China, ISBN 7-80127-284-6/K - Morton, Scott and Charlton Lewis (2005). China: Its History and Culture: Fourth Edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. - Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 1, Physics.. Cambridge University Press. - Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering. Cambridge University Press. - Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Cambridge University Press - Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Part 1. Cambridge University Press - Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 7, Military Technology; the Gunpowder Epic. Cambridge University - Qi Xia (1999), 漆侠, 中国经济通史. 宋代经济卷 /Zhongguo jing ji tong shi. Song dai jing ji juan [Econony of the Song Dynasty] vol I, II ISBN - Rossabi, Morris (1988). Khubilai Khan: His Life and Times. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN - Sadao, Nishijima. (1986). "The Economic and Social History of Former Han," in Cambridge History of China: Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220, 545-607. Edited by Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521243270. - Shen, Fuwei (1996). Cultural flow between China and the outside world. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN - Smith, Paul J. (1993) "State Power and Economic Activism during the New Policies, 1068–1085' The Tea and Horse Trade and the 'Green Sprouts' Loan Policy," in Ordering the World: Approaches to State and Society in Sung Dynasty China, ed. Robert P. Hymes, 76–128. Berkeley: Berkeley University of California Press. ISBN - Temple, Robert. (1986). The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention. With a forward by Joseph Needham. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671620282. - Wagner, Donald B. "The Administration of the Iron Industry in Eleventh-Century China," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (Volume 44 2001): 175-197. - Walton, Linda (1999). Academies and Society in Southern Sung China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. - West, Stephen H. "Playing With Food: Performance, Food, and The Aesthetics of Artificiality in The Sung and Yuan," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (Volume 57, Number 1, 1997): - Yang, Lien-sheng. "Economic Justification for Spending-An Uncommon Idea in Traditional China," Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies (Volume 20, Number 1/2, 1957): 36–52. - Yunming, Zhang (1986). Isis: The History of Science Society: Ancient Chinese Sulfur Manufacturing Processes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. - Zhou Qufei, (1178) Ling Wai Dai Da(Report from Lingnan), Zhong Hua Book Co ISBN7-101-01665-0/K	4.026905
A new study released on Thursday finds teachers are concerned that the amount and types of electronic media that children interact with at home may be harming their performance in the classroom. Common Sense Media, a think tank focused on children's media use, polled 685 public and private elementary and high school classroom teachers on how children's increasing use of television, video games, texting, social networking, music and other forms of media is affecting their performance in school. The study found that 71% of teachers polled said students' media use hurts their attention spans in school, while 59% said students' use of entertainment media has also harmed their ability to communicate face to face. A slightly smaller amount, 58%, said they believe it's had a negative impact on their writing skills, according to the study conducted by Knowledge Networks May 5-17. Nearly half of the teachers surveyed also said their students' use of media at home is hurting the quality of their homework. "Many teachers think students spend so much time with media that they neglect their homework and aren't prepared in class," according to the report, which noted that children between the ages of 8 and 18 spend more than seven-and-a-half hours a day using media for fun. Elementary school teachers pointed to video games, television, and computer games as causing the most problems for their students, while teachers said middle and high school students are more negatively impacted by texting and social networking. Two-thirds of teachers also said they believe that entertainment media has a "very" or "somewhat" negative impact on students' sexualization. Still, teachers did point to some benefits from students' increased use of entertainment media at home with 63% saying it has helped students find information more quickly and efficiently, while a minority, 34%, said they believe it has improved students' ability to multitask. "We know that our children learn from the media they consume. This survey is yet another reminder of how critical it is to consistently guide our kids to make good media choices and balance the amount of time they spend with any media and all of their other activities," Common Sense Media founder and CEO James Steyer said in a statement. Image courtesy of Flickr, woodleywonderworks - Congress Demands to Know if Google Glass Will Violate Your Privacy - How to Get Google Fiber—Without Google - A Staggering Share of Americans Would Use Google Glass if They Could - What the AP Subpoena Scandal Means for Your Electronic Privacy This article originally published at National Journal here	3.026808
Visualizing 1 + 1/x Date: 10/10/2003 at 21:25:38 From: Mary Subject: logic How can I show that the sum of a positive number and its reciprocal is at least two? Date: 10/11/2003 at 06:06:27 From: Doctor Luis Subject: Re: logic Hi Mary, Adding a positive number x > 0 and its reciprocal 1/x gives you the function f(x) = x + 1/x If you're familiar with calculus, you can see that solving for the extrema points gives you f'(x) = 1 - 1/x^2 = 0 1 = 1/x^2 x^2 = 1 x = 1 (reject negative root since x > 0) Since f"(x) = 2/x^3 is positive for x>0, we know that f(x) is concave upward. This means that the critical point x=1 gives you a minimum. This minimum value is f(1) = 1 + 1/1 = 2. In the following diagram, I've graphed the two functions y = x + 1/x and y = 2. Even if you are not familiar with calculus maybe you can follow the following chain of reasoning: The square of any nonzero real number is positive. As an inspired guess, pick x-1 as the real number to be squared. Then, (x-1)^2 >= 0 (True for all x. Equality holds only for x=1.) x^2 - 2x + 1 >= 0 x^2 + 1 >= 2x Now, let x > 0, since we are only interested in positive numbers. This means that 1/x > 0 too. So, we can multiply by 1/x without reversing the sign of our inequality: (1/x)(x^2 + 1) >= (1/x)(2x) x + 1/x >= 2 This proves that the sum of x > 0 and its reciprocal 1/x adds up to at least 2. I hope this helped! Let us know if you have any more questions. - Doctor Luis, The Math Forum http://mathforum.org/dr.math/ Search the Dr. Math Library: Ask Dr. MathTM © 1994-2013 The Math Forum	3.22665
Like other pulmonate land snails, most slugs have two pairs of 'feelers' or tentacles on their head. The upper pair is light sensing, while the lower pair provides the sense of smell. Both pairs are retractable, and can be regrown if lost. On top of the slug, behind the head, is the saddle-shaped mantle, and under this are the genital opening and anus. On one side (almost always the right hand side) of the mantle is a respiratory opening, which is easy to see when open, but difficult to see when closed. This opening is known as the pneumostome. Within the mantle in some species is a very small, rather flat shell. Like other snails, a slug moves by rhythmic waves of muscular contraction on the underside of its foot. It simultaneously secretes a layer of mucus on which it travels, which helps prevent damage to the foot tissues. Some slug species hibernate underground during the winter in temperate climates, but in other species, the adults die in the autumn. In rural southern Italy, the garden slug Arion hortensis was used to treat gastritis, stomach ulcers or peptic ulcers by swallowing it whole and alive. Given that it is now known that most peptic ulcers are caused by Helicobacter pylori, the merit of swallowing a live slug is questionable. A clear mucus produced by the slug is also used to treat various skin conditions including dermatitis, warts, inflammations, calluses, acne and wounds.	3.437999
In the muted light of an open doorway and a rosette window, two Jewish men are shown walking through the entry porch of the Regensburg synagogue. Altdorfer made two etchings of the temple just before it was destroyed on February 22, 1519: this view and one of the interior nave. Emperor Maximilian had long been a protector of the Jews in the imperial cities, extracting from them substantial taxes in exchange. Within weeks of his death, however, the city of Regensburg, which blamed its economic troubles on its prosperous Jewish community, expelled the Jews. Altdorfer, a member of the Outer Council, was one of those chosen to inform the Jews that they had two hours to empty out the synagogue and five days to leave the city. The date of the demolition inscribed at the top of the print suggests that Altdorfer made the preparatory sketches, as well as the etchings themselves, with the knowledge that the building was to be destroyed. The prints appear to have been quickly produced, quite possibly during the five days prior to the temple's destruction: the plate was not evenly etched, particularly in the areas of dense hatching, where the individual lines lose clarity. In addition, the slightly tipsy vaults appear to have been traced freehand rather than with a compass. Despite the seemingly sensitive portrayal, the print was not intended as a sympathetic rendering of an aspect of Jewish culture, but rather as a much more dispassionate recording of the site. It is thus the first portrait of an actual architectural monument in European printmaking.	4.039868
\|Clark, James Gardner (1922-2007)\| A notorious foe of the African American freedom struggle, James Clark served as sheriff of Dallas County, Alabama, from 1955 to 1967. After years of antagonizing local civil rights workers, Clark clashed with Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) during 1965 voting rights protests in Selma, Alabama. Clark’s brutality became a rallying point for King, who said: ‘‘Until Sheriff Clark is removed, the evils of Selma will not be removed’’ (Herbers, ‘‘Dr. King Urges’’). Clark was born in Alabama in 1922. Prior to serving as sheriff, he worked as an assistant revenue commissioner for the state of Alabama. In February 1963 the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee began a voter education and registration campaign in Selma, the seat of Dallas County, where a mere 242 of the 15,000 eligible African American voters were registered. By October 1963 Clark had arrested hundreds of civil rights activists. Frustrated by their limited success, in December 1964 local black activists asked King and SCLC to come to Selma. Aware of the violence that Clark and his officers routinely employed, King believed that a confrontation in Selma might attract the national attention necessary to pressure President Lyndon B. Johnson to call for voting rights legislation. On 2 January 1965, SCLC sent staff members to begin a protest campaign. After initially refraining from violent confrontations, on 19 January Clark pulled Amelia Boynton, a local black civil rights activist, out of a voter registration line and pushed her down the street into a waiting patrol car. King denounced Clark: ‘‘It is a tragedy when a man becomes so depraved and so sick that he will grab a woman and push and shove and all but kick her in the process as if he were dealing with some wayward dog’’ (King, 20 January 1965). A week later, Clark’s violent behavior landed him on the front page of the New York Times, when a cameraman captured him beating a 53 year-old woman over the head with his nightstick as two officers held her down. Clark’s brutal tactics prompted a federal court to issue a restraining order prohibiting Clark from employing intimidation and harassment. Clark was fined later that year for violating the order by interfering with registration applicants. In the weeks following Boynton’s arrest, King was also arrested, along with hundreds of black citizens seeking to exercise their constitutional rights. Commenting on how effective Clark’s racist aggression was at attracting popular attention, one SCLC staff member reportedly said: ‘‘We should put him on the staff’’ (Garrow, Bearing, 381). The showdown between Clark and civil rights activists climaxed on 7 March 1965, when Clark and his men brutally attacked civil rights demonstrators seeking to march from Selma to Montgomery. National television coverage of Clark’s deputies using clubs, whips, and tear gas prompted Johnson to submit legislation that became the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The violent events of 1965 eventually turned Clark’s constituency against him, and in 1966 he lost his bid for reelection to as county sheriff to Selma’s public safety director, Wilson Baker, a moderate who had disapproved of Clark’s tactics. After losing the election, Clark became active with the John Birch Society, touring the country to speak about his experience in Selma. Fager, Selma, 1965, 1974. Garrow, Bearing the Cross, 1986. Garrow, Protest at Selma, 1978. John Herbers, ‘‘Dr. King Urges Selma Negroes to Wage a More Militant Drive,’’ New York Times, 18 February 1965. King, Statement against Sheriff Clark, 20 January 1965, MLKJP-GAMK.	3.376415
Work continues on readying Curiosity for surface operations on Mars, with characterisation phase well underway. The week has seen the rover’s Chemistry and Camera system – ChemCam – undergoing its calibration tests using a target system located towards the back of the rover, while scientists have been looking for candidates for the first full test firing of the system at a suitable surface target. ChemCam is a complex system split between Curiosity’s mast and body. The mast unit is the large box-like unit at the top of the mast. It contains a laser unit, a remote micro-imager (RMI) and a telescope for focusing both. The body unit carries three spectrographs for chemical analysis and has its own power supply and an electronic interface to the rover’s central computer system. ChemCam has two main functions, split between the laser system (the Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), to give it its proper name) and the Remote Micro-Imager (RMI). LIBS is designed to fire series of laser pulses at a target spot smaller than 1 millimetre on the surface of rocks and soils, vaporizing it. Light from the resultant plasma is captured by the telescope and sent via fibre-optics to the on-board spectrographs for analysis, which should provide information in unprecedented detail about minerals and micro structures in Martian rocks. Additionally, the laser can be used to remove dust from the surfaces of rocks, allowing the drill on Curiosity’s hand to obtain samples of the rock free from surface contaminants. The RMI provides black-and-white images at 1024×1024 resolution in a 0.02 radian (1.1 degree) field of view – approximately equivalent to a 1500mm lens on a 35mm camera. RMI has two functions. In the first, it will be used in conjunction with LIBS to identify suitable targets and target locations (targets can be selected autonomously or via Earth-based selection and command). Working independently of LIBS, it will be used to obtain close-up images in support of robot arm-mounted experiments or provide images of very distant objects. This week, ChemCam was calibrated using a target system mounted on the rear section of the rover, mounted below the UHF antenna. As a result of this, ChemCam was confirmed ready for operations, and is expected to make it first test-firing on an actual Martian rock sample on Saturday August 18th. The sample is provisionally designated N165, and sits a short distance from the rover. ChemCam is a joint US / French experiment, with the US Los Alamos National Laboratory providing the body unit, the French national space agency (CNES) proving the mast unit (RMI, laser, etc.) and JPL the fibre-optic link between the two. Use the page numbers below left to continue reading	3.477476
Beauty and the Beast, 1991 Beauty and the Beast was based on the traditional French fairy tale “La Belle et la Bête” by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Walt Disney had discussed the possible animation of this classic tale in the late 1940s, but could not find a satisfactory way to deal with the tale’s imprisonment sequence. In 1989, producer Don Hahn took the project off the shelf and created one of the Disney Studio’s masterworks. As occurred in the case of several Disney animated productions, Beauty and the Beast was transformed into a highly successful stage adaptation in 1994. View all items from Beauty and the Beast, 1991 »	3.055107
The first weekend of April brought a pair of Cattle Egrets (Bubulcus ibis) to Prairie Ridge Ecostation. What are Cattle Egrets? They are small white herons that hunt for insects and other small animals in pastures and along roadsides. Why are they named Cattle Egrets? Their name refers to their habit of following cattle or other large grazing animals. They do this to catch any small animals the grazers stir up. What do the egrets eat? Other than large insects, Cattle Egrets will eat many small animals including worms, frogs, and lizards. Are Cattle Egrets rare? These egrets can be quite common in the Eastern United States. Curiously, they made their way here from Africa and were unknown in North America until the 1940's. We have had fun watching the Cattle Egrets here at Prairie Ridge. Have you seen any Cattle Egrets recently? If you have, please e-mail us and let us know where and when. For more information about Cattle Egrets visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Find out more about the natural happenings at Prairie Ridge at our What Time Is It In Nature Archive.	3.180244
Examples of patterns of dyslexia in four different people . ‘You don’t hear what is said, you hear something else’. This pattern causes sounds to be distorted in the ear. . A pattern contains sounds and noises and the way in which they are perceived. This causes sounds and noises to be perceived in a distorted way. . You can’t read. . Not being able to distinguish letters, he perceives a group of letters as one block. He can’t clearly perceive the outlines of a separate letter. For example, the difference between ‘m’ and ‘n’, ‘b’ and ‘p’, ‘o’ and ‘a’ is difficult to see. . If he wants to read a letter, it’s as if there is a barrier on his forehead, so that the information can’t get through to the brain. The process of taking in information stops at the forehead. . ‘You can’t see letters’. This activates a pattern in connection with the functioning of the brain whereby the letter he thinks he is reading is retrieved from the brain. This letter is stored as chemical data. This reacts with substances so that the letter is distorted. The information retrieved becomes something unfamiliar and creates an additional confusion, so that a totally different letter is read or written. When this happens for various subsequent letters, we get bizarre words. . He doesn’t see the space between the words. Consequently he will link up the words. He loses words, he simple doesn’t see them. For example, he sees the first and the third word from a series of three words. He doesn’t see the second. This pattern isn’t in the form of a concept, like for example ‘you don’t see spaces between words’, nor in the form of an image. However, when I sense the pattern, I do know the meaning of the contents. . An inclination to make two letters into one whole, for example ‘kk’ in ‘bookkeeper’ becomes ‘k’, ‘nn’ in ‘nanny’ becomes ‘n’. . You can’t write letters. . ‘You can’t write’. This activates another pattern: the letters are not visible, the eyes don’t see how the letters are written. There is a signal from the brain that influences the movement of the hand during writing, so that a wrong letter is written. . You may not see letters (the letters can be vaguely perceived). . The letters belong together; everything is one block, there is no separation. . You may not see a word. A word can only be perceived vaguely or isn’t visible, not seeing a word that is there, skipping it. . When seeing a letter or a word, a signal is sent to the brain so that the eyes are influenced and perceive vaguely or perceive something else. . ‘You make mistakes, you can’t write without mistakes, there are always mistakes’. This activates a pattern regarding the functioning of the brain that causes retrieved data from the brain to react with the substance, so that the data is distorted and a mistake is written. . ‘Insecurity when reading or writing. A doubt crops up when reading or writing. Not being sure of the letters or the words. No longer knowing how something is written’. This activates a pattern regarding the functioning of the brain that causes the brain functions to stop when retrieving data, so that no information can be retrieved from the brain, so that he can’t know. . The letters dance, the eyes don’t see. This activates a pattern that causes a signal to be sent to the brain, so that the eyes don’t perceive perfectly. . A mistake occurs during the conversion of a letter into chemical data in the brain. Distorted data are stored in the brain when learning about letters and words and the structure of language. . ‘You can’t remember words, you can’t remember spelling’. This causes information to be lost in the brain. . ‘You can’t form words’. This causes an absence of feeling for language and it prevents an automatism from coming after the rules concerning the construction of words have been learnt for some time. . You can’t distinguish letters (in a word), you see one whole. . Everything is one block. . Not being able to see a sharp outline. Not being able to perceive a letter in a clearly defined way, perceiving vaguely. . The eyes don’t see, the eyes can’t distinguish. . You can’t read, you can’t see, you can’t write. . You can’t read, you don’t see the letters, it happens in a stumbling way. You skip parts, you don’t see the words. . The letters stand close together, you can’t see the difference between them. . Not being able to see a word, not being able to see a text. When she sees a text, then she doesn’t see some words and she sees other words instead of the ones that are there. The text is formed in the brain, the signal picked up by the eyes is formed in the brain, so that she sees something else. . You may not be able to read, you have to be stupid, you may not read. . When she has read a sentence, then she immediately forgets it, and she rereads the sentence. . Not being able to distinguish words (or a sequence of letters), like for example, the word ‘block’ is seen by her as ‘bolck’. . Not wanting to make an effort when the level of reading becomes more difficult (for example, she skips difficult words). . ‘You can’t remember’. This prevents her from knowing the words she reads and then she just reads something at random. . The brain can’t follow anymore. When a text is read, a signal is given to the brain as a result of which the brain functioning is briefly interrupted. . When processing information in connection with language, a wrong chemical process in the brain starts so that data are converted into chemical compounds in a wrong way. . Misinterpreting a letter. When seeing a letter, a signal is sent to the brain, as a result of which the formula of the chemical encoding of the letter is changed, so that another letter is perceived. . The brain processes for converting data into chemicals are functioning randomly and don’t follow a fixed formula, so that mistakes occur. . Not being able to remember a word. She keeps the word in mind and when she starts to write, she has forgotten the word. . You can’t write, you can’t form letters. This activates a pattern that blocks the motor system of the hands so that she starts to write slowly and consequently loses words, because the writing can’t keep up with the thinking. . There is a space of time between hearing and writing. In this space of time, the sound is changed in the brain, so that she writes something else or some letters aren’t heard correctly, hence writing wrong. . You don’t know how you write something, therefore you just write something. You don’t think, you can’t think. You act on impulse, you just write something at random. . When she reads something, there is a signal from the brain to the eyes, so that the view is interrupted for a moment, and she perceives another letter than the one that is there. The eyes perceive a letter in a distorted way. . Hastily, quickly, quickly. Thinking too little before she writes something down, writing something at random as a result of which there are mistakes. . You can’t learn a language, you can’t master a language. . You may not know letters, you may not be able to write. . You don’t have an insight in a language, you can’t remember spelling rules. . Not being able to think when writing. The brain processes that normally occur when reasoning about language, stop. . ‘You may not write’ combined with a signal to the brain as a result of which the processes for retrieving data are temporarily interrupted. . When she sees or has to write a letter, then a signal is sent to a wrong location in the brain (where another letter is stored) so that wrong data is retrieved. . Not being able to remember words, not being able to remember the sequence of words. A wrong formula of how letters are interconnected is stored in the brain (according to the rules of a language). . Not being able to assess words correctly. Misunderstanding words, turning words around, hearing different words. . Words in the sentences get lost. Words that don’t succeed are linked together so that a word in between is omitted. . You can’t understand the words (i.e. difficult words). . Not being able to understand special sounds (əɪ, ʊ, ɑʊ, …) sχ, χ, … or hear them correctly and therefore turning them into another sound or another spelling, namely writing them as you hear them. . When a sound is heard, then it is looked up in the brain, but when it isn’t found, another sound is used. . Not knowing what to do with long words. Not being able to overlook the whole and therefore splitting up compulsively. Not being able to understand a long word, not being able to understand too many letters linked together. Hence, a word has to be split up. . When she sees or hears a word: doubting the meaning, not being able to place it immediately, and not being able to write it as a result. . Not knowing how she has to write something, not being able to remember how she has to write something. This activates a pattern in connection with the functioning of the brain: the brain functions are interrupted briefly when retrieving data, as a result of which the information retrieved gets lost once more (she has forgotten once again) and hence she writes something different. Or there is a mistake when addressing the location of a word and another word is retrieved from the brain. . ‘You can’t remember’, activates a pattern in connection with the functioning of the brain that prevents letters, words and spelling rules from being stored in the brain. The brain processes are briefly interrupted so that the information doesn’t get lost. . Data are normally converted into chemical information and these chemical compounds react with other chemicals and the end product is stored in the brain. A pattern causes the data to be converted into a wrong chemical form and hence these substances react with wrong chemical compounds for storage so that they are stored at a wrong location. When a word has to be remembered once again, then the word can’t be found anymore because it is stored at a wrong location. Therefore words aren’t recognized when reading and she doesn’t know how to write words either, because she doesn’t remember. It’s as if it’s a new word and then she just writes something at random. . The letters are linked together. There is no distinction between two or more letters. The letters are perceived as one block. The letters aren’t perceived separately. . You can’t see. . The letters dance. . A pattern clouds the eyes: the eyes can’t perceive some letters sharply. There is a signal in the brain that causes the electrical signaling to the eyes by the nervous system to pass in thrusts, so that the letters are otherwise perceived differently, since the eyes don’t perceive continuously, but with very small pauses. Hence it’s difficult to distinguish letters that look alike. . There is a catch in the eyes when writing (the transmission once again happens in thrusts, with interruptions) and in the motor system: the muscles of the hand are blocked and contorted, hence writing slowly and with difficulty due to an altered functioning of the brain. . When writing, he can no longer see the letters that have already been written correctly due to the catch in the eyes. The letters that have already been written, become one block, so that he can’t trust this to write the next letters. He can’t perceive clearly what he has already written. . The knowledge of the form of the letters comes through from the brain too slowly: the brain slows down during the process of retrieving information from the brain, so that he writes more slowly. . Yet another memory blockage: the letters don’t emerge from the brain during writing. Hence doubting very much about the right letters. . A pattern makes him lose parts of what is dictated: he doesn’t hear some parts. He thinks he has already written parts that are not there yet. He hears things that aren’t there, so that he writes things that aren’t dictated (this information is stored in the form of image in the pattern, not in concept form). . You have to write mistakes. . ‘It’s not like this, it’s different’. This makes him doubt about the spelling of a letter when writing. . He has to deform the letters, he has to write another letter than the one it has to be (pattern in the form of an image). . He can’t see the whole (pattern in the form of an image). . He can’t remember. He can’t remember the spelling of a word. He can’t remember the rules of spelling. It confuses him. He can’t think logically with regard to the rules of a language. Hence he writes things as he hears them. . When he has to remember or apply the rules, there is a very unpleasant feeling in his head and his thinking blocks. He simply writes what he hears in order to escape this. . ‘You can’t write’ activates a pattern that blocks the brain when reasoning when he writes. The brain processes that normally take place when reasoning (retrieving and comparing data very quickly), are blocked. Person 4: Patterns of dyslexia combined with poor language abilities. . Letters belong together, letters are one whole. An image of letters that flow into one another. (This pattern will cause letters to flow into each other when looking at it, so that it’s difficult to perceive the separate letters of a word). . A pattern with an image of a horizontal beam. This beam has to represent a collection of letters (a word), but the individual letters can’t be distinguished. . ‘You can’t see’. It’s fixed in the pattern that it’s about letters that have become faint. The outlining of a letter has become faint as a result, so that the form of a letter is difficult to distinguish. . The letters dance, you can’t see the letters. . ‘You don’t write’ and the joint of the wrist going tense, so that it’s difficult to form letters. . ‘You can’t understand’. It’s about writing, the writing of a language. ‘You can’t understand how the letters belong together’. . A pattern with the formula of a chemical. This chemical has to do with the storage of letters in the brain. There is another variation of the chemical according to the kind of letter, so that it is stored at another address in the brain according to the kind of letter. The variant of the chemical isn’t present for some letters, so that some letters are understood with great difficulty. . An image of a sentence that consists of separate parts (words). There is confusion about the words and how they belong together. Hence, he will split up the words the wrong way or link them the wrong way, or add or omit words. . The letters of a words are not clearly visible, hence letters at the end and in the middle of a word are omitted or added, it is difficult to perceive whether there is an ‘i’, ‘ɪ’ of ‘ɛ’, or, for example, he doesn’t see whether there is a single or a double ‘n’ or ‘d’ or whatever, and whether there is an ‘e’ or ‘a’ or whatever at the end of the word. . There is confusion about difficult combinations of letters. He can’t understand this, like for example, the sound ‘χt’. So, he’ll write a sound he doesn’t understand in the way he hears it. For example, he can’t understand the sound ‘əɪ’, and he’ll write something else. . There is confusion about difficult combinations of parts of words. He has difficulty distinguishing between the separate parts, like for example ‘responsible’. So, he’ll write: ‘resonsile’. . ‘You can’t learn a language’. Knowledge with regard to language is very poorly stored in the brain. Hence when having to remember language (when reading and writing), the knowledge isn’t an automatism and he has to think hard how to read and write time and again. . When he sees or hears a word (for example in a dictation), it’s not immediately clear how he has to read or write this word. He has to analyze the word letter by letter, he has to think about it. Little or no knowledge of words and combinations of letters is stored in his brain (and in the energies around him). He has to analyze a word letter by letter time and again. . You can’t understand the rules of a language. Hence writing something at random. . You can’t learn a language, you don’t know how to write. Together with this, there is a feeling of confusion. . In the same way he doesn’t see all the parts of a word, he doesn’t hear all parts of a word either. For example, he doesn’t see the ending, therefore he will write the word wrong. . He can in fact understand the rules about the endings of verbs in Dutch (the dt-rule), but he has difficulty applying it because he has difficulty perceiving whether a ‘d’ or a ‘t’ or a ‘dt’ has been written. . There is confusion about letters, there is confusion about words, there is confusion about language. There isn’t any feeling for language, for how a language is put together, both with regard to vocabulary and to grammar. Language is something confusing. He can’t understand the rules or the context of a language. . ‘You can’t remember’. This is about difficult combinations of letters. . ‘You can’t understand language’ and the rules concerning language aren’t or are insufficiently stored in the brain. The normal processes for storage are blocked. . You can’t understand the words in the context of a language (= grammar). And a feeling of confusion, not knowing how it has to be done. . Confusion about words. He can’t understand the structure of a word, he can’t understand the formation of words. Therefore he will write something at random. . You can’t recognize words.	3.532206
Plants modified with protectant genes designed to kill resistant insects can extend the usefulness of currently used pest-control methods and delay the development of pesticide-resistant bugs, according to Purdue University scientists and their collaborators from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Monsanto Co., the University of Illinois and the University of California, Davis. The researchers' findings appear in this month's issue of the Journal of Theoretical Biology. "We always thought that it would take a Michael Jordan of toxins - a superstar of toxins to effectively halt insect resistance to the current generation of insecticides," said Barry Pittendrigh, a Purdue associate professor of entomology and lead author of the study. "We found that moderately effective genetically engineered protectants used in plants in the buffer zone around the main crops can play a major role in insect control, and they should be easier to identify than highly effective protectants. "You don't find a superstar very often, but it may not be difficult to find good players, or worthwhile insect-control agents." Farmers who use bioengineered crop protectants also use a buffer, or refuge, around the outside of fields that contains plants lacking the high-toxicity genetic modification in the main field that kills most insects. The refuge, usually about 20 percent of the acreage planted, delays development of insects resistant to the main-field, high-toxicity protectants, but some individuals in the destructive insect group have genes that allow them to survive. Using a computer model, the scientists determined that within a refuge, one could add a moderate plant protectant, or journeyman player, that kills 30 p Contact: Susan Steeves	3.344324
This comment has been deleted Images courtesy Peter Vrsansky, Slovak Academy of Sciences Published August 30, 2012 A glowing green cockroach would seem much easier to kill than our more familiar kitchen pests, but this particular insect evolved its own set of lights to avoid exactly such predatory attention, according to a new study. Luchihormetica luckae glows to mimic the bioluminescent click beetle, whose glow warns predators of its toxicity. For one thing, while many life-forms have evolved their own flashiness, most are found in the deep-sea—making bioluminescence a relatively rare trait on land. But L. luckae is particularly rare, in that it glows to mimic another insect. Other uses of bioluminescence in the insect world, as in the case of the common firefly, are more attuned to attracting mates—lighting up to find love in the dark simply saves time. Unfortunately, it also makes one much more visible to predators. "Bioluminescence is like any evolutionary tool—there is no single use for it. It can attract, deter, or even be used as an invisibility cloak of sorts," said Olivia Judson, an evolutionary biologist and author of Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation. Land Animals Glowed Later Than Thought? The scientists studied an L. luckae cockroach collected in 1939 and housed at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The team employed new technology to scan and analyze the biological mechanism responsible for the luminescence. They determined that the wavelengths of light released from both the click beetle and L. luckae—though developed via distinct evolutionary processes—are precisely the same. The new research may also provide evidence for a much later evolution of land-based bioluminescence, according to the study authors. That's because click beetles evolved their predator-deterring glow only 65 million years ago—recently compared with the 400-million-year-old development of underwater bioluminescence. (See a prehistoric time line.) Glowing Roach a Flash in the Pan? L. luckae could prove to be a flash in the evolutionary-science pan. The one specimen analyzed in the study had been collected from a very specific region recently decimated by volcanic eruption. Scientists now consider the creature so rare that collecting further specimens could cause its extinction. So chances are you won't be finding these little glowing pests raiding your cabinets. The glowing-cockroach study appeared recently in the journal Naturwissenschaften. >>Look for Olivia Judson's writing on bioluminescence in a future issue of National Geographic magazine. These six scientists were snubbed for awards or robbed of credit for discoveries … because they were women. Scientists can control the self-assembly of molecules to build nano-size flowers in the lab, a new study says. Global warming is causing more extreme weather. But when it comes to tornadoes, it could go either way.	3.427882
(Latin septuagesima, the seventieth). Septuagesima is the ninth Sunday before Easter, the third before Lent known among the Greeks as "Sunday of the Prodigal" from the Gospel, Luke 15, which they read on this day, called also Dominica Circumdederunt by the Latins, from the first word of the Introit of the Mass. In liturgical literature the name "Septuagesima" occurs for the first time in the Gelasian Sacramentary. Why the day (or the week, or the period) has the name Septuagesima, and the next Sunday Sexagesima, etc., is a matter of dispute among writers. It is certainly not the seventieth day before Easter, still less is the next Sunday the sixtieth, fiftieth, etc. Amularius, "De eccl. Off.", I, I, would make the Septuagesima mystically represent the Babylonian Captivity of seventy years, would have it begin with this Sunday on which the Sacramentaries and Antiphonaries give the Introit "Circumdederunt me undique" and end with the Saturday after Easter, when the Church sings "Eduxit Dominus populum suum." Perhaps the word is only one of a numerical series: Quadragesima, Quinquagesima, etc. Again, it may simply denote the earliest day on which some Christians began the forty days of Lent, excluding Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday from the observance of the fast. Septuagesima is today inaugurated in the Roman Martyrology by the words: "Septuagesima Sunday, on which the canticle of the Lord, Alleluja, ceases to be said". On the Saturday preceding, the Roman Breviary notes that after the "Benedicamus" of Vespers two Alleluias are to be added, that thenceforth it is to be omitted till Easter, and in its place "Laus tibi Domine" is to be said at the beginning of the Office. Formerly the farewell to the Alleluia was quite solemn. In an Antiphonary of the Church of St. Cornelius at Compiègne we find two special antiphons. Spain had a short Office consisting of a hymn, chapter, antiphon, and sequence. Missals in Germany up to the fifteenth century had a beautiful sequence. In French churches they sang the hymn "Alleluia, dulce carmen" (Guéranger, IV, 14) which was well-known among the Anglo-Saxons (Rock, IV, 69). The "Te Deum" is not recited at Matins, except on feasts. The lessons of the first Nocturn are taken from Genesis, relating the fall and subsequent misery of man and thus giving a fit preparation for the Lenten season. In the Mass of Sunday and ferias the Gloria in Excelsis is entirely omitted. In all Masses a Tract is added to the Gradual. APA citation. (1912). Septuagesima. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13721b.htm MLA citation. "Septuagesima." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13721b.htm>. Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Paul Soffing. In Memory of Frederick Geiger. Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.	3.073668
Our main goal here is to give a quick visual summary that is at once convincing and data rich. These employ some of the most basic tools of visual data analysis and should probably become form part of the basic vocabulary of an experimental mathematician. Note that traditionally one would run a test such as the Anderson-Darling test (which we have done) for the continuous uniform distribution and associate a particular probability with each of our sets of probability, but unless the probability values are extremely high or low it is difficult to interpret these statistics. Experimentally, we want to test graphically the hypothesis of normality and randomness (or non-periodicity) for our numbers. Because the statistics themselves do not fall into the nicest of distributions, we have chosen to plot only the associated probabilities. We include two different types of graphs here. A quantile-quantile plot is used to examine the distribution of our data and scatter plots are used to check for correlations between statistics. The first is a quantile-quantile plot of the chi square base 10 probability values versus a a discrete uniform distribution. For this graph we have placed the probabilities obtained from our square roots and plotted them against a perfectly uniform distribution. Finding nothing here is equivalent to seeing that the graph is a straight line with slope 1. This is a crude but effective way of seeing the data. The disadvantage is that the data are really plotted along a one dimensional curve and as such it may be impossible to see more subtle patterns. The other graphs are examples of scatter plots. The first scatter plot shows that nothing interesting is occurring. We are again looking at probability values this time derived from the discrete Cramer-von Mises (CVM) test base 10,000. For each cube root we have plotted the point , where is the CVM base 10,000 probability associated with the first 2500 digits of the cube root of i and is the probability associated with the next 2500 digits. A look at the graph reveals that we have now plotted our data on a two dimensional surface and there is a lot more `structure' to be seen. Still, it is not hard to convince oneself that there is little or no relationship between the probabilities of the first 2500 digits and the second 2500 digits. The last graph is similar to the second. Here we have plotted the probabilities associated with the Anderson-Stephens statistic of the first 10,000 digits versus the first 20,000 digits. We expect to find a correlation between these tests since there is a 10,000 digit overlap. In fact, although the effect is slight, one can definitely see the thinning out of points from the upper left hand corner and lower right hand corner. Figure 1: Graphs 1-3	3.561444
Q: What does it mean if my cat has a cold? A: When I was in veterinary school, I was taught to not call upper respiratory infections in cats a “cold.” The argument was that it gives the impression that they get the same disease we get. Throughout years of practice, however, I have learned that the easiest way to describe the upper respiratory complex to a client is to indeed call it a “cold.” The cat cold is akin to most aspects of feline living, though; cats are not humans in cat-suits and truly make up their own rules. Feline upper respiratory disease is made up of a complex network of bacteria and viruses that are commonly found in the environment. Most, if not all cats, have been exposed to these pathogens at birth. Feline herpes virus is the biggest culprit for the development of chronic sinusitis and conjunctivitis in cats, with acute outbreaks commonly occurring during periods of developmental stress or transition (for example, during the first week of being placed in a new home). In this sense, the cat cold behaves very similarly to the human cold, but the bugs are different. It is important to remember that cat colds are usually self-limiting, just like human colds. If you give a bright and alert sneezing kitten some time, the sneezing will likely go away. Veterinary advice or treatment should be sought, however, if any thick or yellow/green discharge appears from the eyes or nose, or if the cat or kitten stops eating or is lethargic. It is possible for more severe cases to develop fevers and/or pneumonia, but this is rare. Some cats need antibiotics if secondary bacterial infections are suspected. However, it is important to note that oral anti-virals in cats are reserved for refractory or severe cases due to expense and the potential for side effects. Ocular anti-viral therapy for concurrent conjunctivitis is much more commonly used but must be administered multiple times per day. Finally, another form of treatment is L-lysine, an important amino acid, which has been shown to decrease viral DNA replication thereby speeding up healing time and reducing the ability for cats to shed the virus in a multi-cat household. Overall, prevention is the key. Regular visits to your veterinarian and completion of the core vaccination protocol in kittens and adult cats will lessen the severity of clinical signs associated with the cat cold for the life of the cat. Some cats may be predisposed to catching the cold, such as “smushed-face” kitties (for example, Persians) or cats that are constantly introduced to strays and/or environmental stressors. The cat’s ability to fight colds improves as the cat matures and many will never have a cold their entire life. Perhaps yet another reason cats have it better than us…	3.033798
When the joint surfaces of an elbow are separated, the elbow is dislocated. Elbow dislocations can be complete or partial. In a complete dislocation, the joint surfaces are completely separated. In a partial dislocation, the joint surfaces are only partly separated. A partial dislocation is also called a subluxation. The elbow is both a hinge joint and a ball and socket joint. As muscles contract and relax, two unique motions occur at the elbow. - Bending occurs through a hinge joint that allows the elbow to bend and straighten. This is called flexion and extension, respectively. - Rotation occurs though a ball and socket joint that allows the hand to be rotated palm up and palm down. This is called pronation and supination, respectively. Injuries and dislocations to the elbow can affect either of these motions. Elbow dislocations are not common. Elbow dislocations typically occur when a person falls onto an outstretched hand. When the hand hits the ground, the force is sent to the elbow. Usually, there is a turning motion in this force. This can drive and rotate the elbow out of its socket. Elbow dislocations can also happen in car accidents when the passengers reach forward to cushion the impact. The force that is sent through the arm can dislocate the elbow, just as in a fall. The elbow is stable because of the combined stabilizing effects of bone surfaces, ligaments, and muscles. When an elbow dislocates, any or all of these structures can be injured to different degrees. A complex dislocation can have severe bone and ligament injuries. In the most severe dislocations, the blood vessels and nerves that travel across the elbow may be injured. If this happens, there is a risk of losing the arm. Some people are born with greater laxity or looseness in their ligaments. These people are at greater risk for dislocating their elbows. Some people are born with an ulna bone that has a shallow groove for the elbow hinge joint. They have a slightly higher risk for dislocation. A complete elbow dislocation is extremely painful and very obvious. The arm will look deformed and may have an odd twist at the elbow. The doctor will examine the arm. He will check for tenderness, swelling, and deformity. He will evaluate the skin and circulation to the arm. Pulses at the wrist will be checked. If the artery is injured at the time of dislocation, the hand will be cool to touch and may have a white or purple hue. This is caused by the lack of warm blood reaching the hand. It is also important to check the nerve supply to the hand. If nerves have been injured during the dislocation, some or all of the hand may be numb and not able to move. An X-ray is necessary to determine if there is a bone injury. X-rays can also help show the direction of the dislocation. X-rays are the best way to confirm that the elbow is dislocated. If bone detail is difficult to identify on an X-ray, a computed tomography (CT) scan may be done. If it is important to evaluate the ligaments, a magnetic resonance image (MRI) can be helpful. First, however, the doctor will set the elbow, without waiting for the CT scan or MRI. These studies are usually taken after the dislocated elbow has been put back in place. An elbow dislocation should be considered an emergency injury. The goal of immediate treatment of a dislocated elbow is to return the elbow to its normal alignment. The long- term goal is to restore function to the arm. Simple elbow dislocations are treated by keeping the elbow immobile in a splint or sling for two to three weeks, followed by early motion exercises. If the elbow is kept immobile for a long time, the ability to move the elbow fully (range of motion) may be affected. Physical therapy can be helpful during this period of recovery. Some people will never be able to fully open (extend) the arm, even after physical therapy. Fortunately, the elbow can work very well even without full range of motion. Once the elbow's range of motion improves, the doctor or physical therapist may add a strengthening program. X-rays may be taken periodically while the elbow recovers to ensure that the bones of the elbow joint remains well aligned. After surgery, the elbow may be protected with an external hinge. This device protects the elbow from dislocating again. If blood vessel or nerve injuries are associated with the elbow dislocation, additional surgery may be needed to repair the blood vessels and nerves and repair bone and ligament injuries. Late reconstructive surgery can successfully restore motion to some stiff elbows. This surgery removes scar tissue and extra bone growth. It also removes obstacles to movement. Over time, there is an increased risk for arthritis in the elbow joint if the alignment of the bones is not good; the elbow does not move and rotate normally; or the elbow continues to dislocate. Treatment for simple dislocations is usually straightforward and the results are usually good. Some people with complex dislocations still have some type of permanent disability at the elbow. Treatment is evolving to improve results for these people. One of the areas being researched is the best time to schedule surgery for the treatment of a complex dislocation. For some patients with complex dislocations, it seems that a slight delay for final surgery may improve results by allowing swelling to decrease. The dislocation still needs to be reduced right away, but then a brace, splint, or external fixation frame may rest the elbow for about a week before a specialist surgeon attempts major reconstructive surgery. Moving the elbow early appears to be good for recovery for both kinds of dislocations. Early movement with complex dislocations can be difficult, however. Pain management techniques encourage early movement. Improved therapy and rehabilitation techniques, such as continuous motion machines, dynamic splinting (spring-loaded assist devices), and progressive static splinting can improve results. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons 6300 N. River Road Rosemont, IL 60018	3.603641
One sauropod deserves another. After briefly profiling the as-yet-little-known Qiaowanlong last week, it’s only natural to follow up with Rapetosaurus krausei – another recently-named Mesozoic herbivore that altered our understanding of the forms some sauropod lineages took. Paleontologists Kristina Curry Rogers and Catherine Forster named Rapetosaurus in 2001. As the researchers dubbed the dinosaur in the paper’s title, the sauropod was among “the last of the dinosaur titans.” At somewhere between 66 and 70 million years old, Rapetosaurus roamed Madagascar during what we can look back at and call the waning days of the Cretaceous. And the record of this dinosaur is particularly rich among its kind – scattered remains of multiple individuals, including articulated specimens, have been found within a ten square kilometers of Madagascar’s Cretaceous exposures. Among the various sauropod lineages, Curry Rogers and Forster concluded, Rapetosaurus belonged to the titanosaur branch. This widespread group of long-necked leaf-munchers included some of the largest dinosaurs of all time, including the 100 foot plus Argentinosaurus, although adult Rapetosaurus stretched a more modest 50 feet or so. And unlike other titanosaurs, Rapetosaurus had a peculiar skull that superficially resembled those of diplodocid dinosaurs such as Apatosaurus and Diplodocus itself. In a 2004 follow-up focused on the head of Rapetosaurus, Curry Rogers and Forster drew from two partial skulls to fill out the dinosaur’s anatomy and compare the sauropod to other titanosaurs. While closely-related dinosaur had relatively deep, stocky skulls, Rapetosaurus had a longer, more slender cranium with the nasal opening up between the eyes. Not all titanosaurs followed the same anatomical rules. Given the number of titanosaurs paleontologists have named, and how few skulls have been found, there may have been even more skeletal diversity than we presently understand. Despite being some of the largest and most impressive dinosaurs, titanosaurs are still prehistoric enigmas. Previous entries in the Dinosaur Alphabet series: Q is for Qiaowanlong P is for Pelecanimimus O is for Ojoceratops N is for Nqwebasaurus M is for Montanoceratops L is for Leaellynasaura K is for Kileskus J is for Juravenator A-I at Dinosaur Tracking. Curry Rogers, K., Forster, C. 2001. The last of the dinosaur titans: a new sauropod from Madagascar. Nature. 412: 530-534 Curry Rogers, K., Forster, C. 2004. The skull of Rapetosaurus krausei (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) form the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24, 1: 121-144 Curry Rogers, K. 2009. The postcranial osteology of Rapetosaurus krausei (Sauropoda: Titanosauria) from the Late Cretaceous of Madagascar. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29, 4: 1046-1086	3.425979
Deep within the labyrinth of Monash University's Clayton campus in Melbourne is a metallurgy laboratory so significant in what it is doing that it has attracted some of the biggest companies in the global aerospace industry from the other side of the world. They are keeping close to the technology that could make this laboratory the genesis of the next generation of aerospace manufacturing. They are also keeping close to a scientist in whose hands their futures may well sit. When Professor Xinhua Wu, recognised internationally as a leader in advanced light metals research, agreed to head the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, her research moved with her from the UK to Melbourne. Such is the importance placed on her work that the giants of European aerospace – Bombardier, Airbus, European Space Agency and SAFRAN-Microturbo – followed. At stake for these European aircraft manufacturers is finding the technological means to ward off increasingly aggressive competition from new manufacturers in Brazil, Canada, China, India and Russia, while concurrently meeting stringent greenhouse reduction targets imposed by the European Union. Manufacturers are looking for new materials that are lighter yet stronger, cheaper to manufacture, reliably safe and which will also help them halve aviation's overall carbon emissions by 2050. For Professor Wu and her centre it means changing the very nature of metals such as titanium, aluminium and magnesium, modifying their fine-scale structures to give them new and improved characteristics. It requires advanced industrial research underpinned by fundamental science that is exploring new paradigms in metals and their properties. A spokesperson for SAFRAN-Microturbo said the company followed Professor Wu to Australia because of her focus on the industrial applicability of fundamental research. This is a critical industry–academia link and for the European Union companies, an essential relationship through which to keep ahead of rivals. One of the centre's projects is a new aluminium alloy that will make an aircraft 30 to 40 per cent lighter, twice as fuel-efficient and still structurally as strong. It is already known this can be achieved by adding a tiny amount of a rare element such as scandium to the aluminium when it is alloyed. Just a fraction of a per cent of scandium or other rare earth element is enough to make aluminium stronger, less prone to corrosion and easier to weld. Russia used such an aluminium-scandium alloy for its MiG fighter planes during the Cold War era. But from a commercial perspective, the alloy is prohibitively expensive. The scientific challenge that Professor Wu's centre has taken on is to determine how scandium works when added to aluminium alloys, and to then find a cheaper substitute. "We are working at the atomic level. In metallurgy, just a few atoms in a million added to an alloy can influence engineering at the macro-scale; how we control the homogeneity of metal sheeting when it is rolled, or the integrity of the metal when it is fabricated into a component." However, Professor Wu says the key factor with such industrial research is achieving this economically. "From just a materials research perspective, without worrying about costs, we can make the most wonderful metal and alloy materials. But the goal is not just to develop stronger, lighter, more durable and more stable metals. They must also be produced through more efficient and cheaper manufacturing with lower energy consumption, both during construction and during the aircraft's operational life over 25 or more years. We have to create new materials that not only have the best performance but are also the cheapest. "This is what makes industrial science exciting. Yes, the fundamental science must be good, but it is the industrial science that has to deliver this material, functionally and cost-effectively, to industry. And it doesn't stop with developing the material; new manufacturing processes have to be designed for each new material developed." Professor Wu's approach to science has been strongly influenced by the 20 years she worked with the Rolls-Royce aerospace division – "a technology-driven company and world leader in materials technology and manufacturing". It has imbued her with a robust 'can-do' attitude, which is why other major European companies have set up collaborations with her and her centre. "It is because we deliver on the promise," Professor Wu says. Her own special field of interest is titanium metallurgy. Aside from the offer by Monash to replicate her research facilities in Melbourne, the other attraction of moving from the UK was that Australia has 51 per cent of the world's known titanium ore deposits. She was keen to apply her metals science closer to its raw materials. Professor Wu has been involved extensively in developing titanium and titanium aluminide (TiAl) alloys, and in advanced powder processing for titanium and nickel alloy powders. Her most recent research has been into the development of innovative manufacturing technologies such as 'laser additive' manufacturing and net-shape hot isostatic pressing (HIPping), which are able to produce complex 3-D components from computer designs in a single step. It is anticipated that this alone will reduce material wastage by 90 per cent, cut overall manufacturing costs by 30 to 50 per cent, and reduce the lead time from 24 to three months for titanium, nickel, aluminium and steel components. This is the advanced technology that Professor Wu has brought to the ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals, which is a collaboration of six universities and more than 100 researchers. Professor Wu wants to build an Australian aerospace industry from this core research. "It is a global industry. It doesn't matter where you are," she says. "Industry will follow the delivery of innovation and science." Already her team has developed several new engine components for one of the European aerospace companies, and these are undergoing early evaluation trials. "If they pass – if they are lighter, equally durable and cheaper to manufacture – this company is prepared to offer an exclusive six-year manufacturing deal for an Australian company to manufacture these components. This demonstrates the incentives on offer to encourage Australian manufacturers to take up the challenge, noting the preference for new technology manufacturing to be close to the innovation and science. "We are delivering on the science and innovation, but so far haven't found a manufacturing partner. We realise there are no existing companies with the expertise, but that is what we are providing … in abundance. We need a far-sighted company willing to invest in this." It is an interesting challenge, coming at a time when the traditional manufacturing sectors in many of the world's so-called rich countries are suffering a crisis of confidence. Professor Wu is trying to overcome this by articulating her belief in the 'third industrial revolution': the discovery of new materials and engineering these materials at the molecular or 'nano-structural' level. Coupled with this is the emergence of laser additive manufacturing and net-shape HIPping technologies, which she says set free the production of complex 3-D components from the shackles of dated manufacturing practice and can bring manufacturing from low-cost economies to the innovative, high-technology ones. In her own work Professor Wu believes she has a two-year edge on rival researchers elsewhere. "If in this time we cannot establish manufacturing capability in Australia, the science will move on … and with it the industry that Australia could have had." This is an industry, she points out, that globally generates US$539 billion of GDP per year and desperately needs revitalising. It was estimated by the industry's umbrella body, the Air Transport Action Group, that to reach the target of improving average fleet fuel efficiency by 1.5 per cent per annum from 2010 to 2020, the world's airlines would have to buy 12,000 new-generation aircraft at a cost of US$1.3 trillion. Further, it would take an investment of ˇ100 billion to deliver the technology required to meet the 2050 Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe target to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 75 per cent and nitrous oxide emissions by 90 per cent. "These are the stark realities that these companies are facing," Professor Wu says. "And from these realities are the massive opportunities being presented to us." Explore further: Research paves the way for accurate manufacturing of complex parts for aerospace and car industries	3.15755
Reading Shakespeare has dramatic effect on human brainDecember 18th, 2006 in Medicine & Health / Medical research Research at the University of Liverpool has found that Shakespearean language excites positive brain activity, adding further drama to the bard's plays and poetry. Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence. This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say. Professor Philip Davis, from the University's School of English, said: "The brain reacts to reading a phrase such as ‘he godded me' from the tragedy of Coriolanus, in a similar way to putting a jigsaw puzzle together. If it is easy to see which pieces slot together you become bored of the game, but if the pieces don't appear to fit, when we know they should, the brain becomes excited. By throwing odd words into seemingly normal sentences, Shakespeare surprises the brain and catches it off guard in a manner that produces a sudden burst of activity - a sense of drama created out of the simplest of things." Experts believe that this heightened brain activity may be one of the reasons why Shakespeare's plays have such a dramatic impact on their readers. Professor Neil Roberts, from the University's Magnetic Resonance and Image Analysis Research Centre, (MARIARC), explains: "The effect on the brain is a bit like a magic trick; we know what the trick means but not how it happened. Instead of being confused by this in a negative sense, the brain is positively excited. The brain signature is relatively uneventful when we understand the meaning of a word but when the word changes the grammar of the whole sentence, brain readings suddenly peak. The brain is then forced to retrace its thinking process in order to understand what it is supposed to make of this unusual word." Professor Roberts and Professor Davis together with Dr Guillaune Thierry, from the University of Wales, Bangor, monitored 20 participants using an electroencephalogram (EEG) as they read selected lines from Shakespeare's plays. In this initial test electrodes were placed on the subject's scalp to measure brain responses. Professor Roberts said: "EEG gives graph-like measurements and when the brain reads a sentence that does not make semantic sense it registers what we call a N400 effect – a negative wave modulation. When the brain reads a grammatically incorrect sentence it registers a P600 effect – an effect which continues to last after the word that triggered it was first read." Researchers also found that when participants read the word producing the functional shift there was no N400 effect indicating that the meaning was accepted but a P600 effect was observed which indicates a positive re-evaluation of the word. The team is now using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMI) to test which areas of the brain are most affected and the kind of impact it could have in maintaining healthy brain activity. Professor Davis added: "This interdisciplinary work is good for brain science because it offers permanent scripts of the human mind working moment-to-moment. It is good for literature as it illustrates primary human thinking. Through the two disciplines, we may discover new insights into the very motions of the mind." Source: University of Liverpool "Reading Shakespeare has dramatic effect on human brain." December 18th, 2006. http://phys.org/news85664210.html	3.044879

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