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Waste is defined as something that is unwanted or unusable. According to the Office of National Statistics, a staggering 342m tonnes of waste is produced in the UK each year. Instead of going to landfill sites to be buried or burnt, a vast proportion of this waste could be cut using the following steps:
Reduce – change manufacturing processes so that less materials are used or change consumer habits so that less wasted material is bought
Reuse – choose goods and products that can be used again and reuse rubbish for other purposes
Recycle – make sure that waste is processed and made into another product wherever possible. Composting is also recycling: the nutrients in organic waste are processed and returned to the soil to help more plants to grow
Reducing your waste
Any building or environment where people live or work will produce a certain amount of waste, and children’s centres are no exception. Reducing waste may involve taking an in-depth look at the types of resources your centre buys and considering ways of cutting down. There are numerous ways a children’s centre can reduce the amount of waste produced and handle waste in a more environmentally friendly way. Does the centre recycle and, if so, what types of waste do you recycle? Could you recycle more or re-use materials such as paper and yoghurt pots? Instead of paying companies to remove your waste, by recycling it you will save money in the long-term as you won’t need to pay contractors to take it away. You may also be able to sell some of your metal and glass to companies who can recycle it.
Ensure that paper recycling bins are placed in every classroom and discuss with the children what they are and why they are needed. Encourage children to use both sides of paper and when they’re finished to use the recycling bins.
Composting is a great way of disposing of food waste in an environmentally friendly way. Place compost bins around the centre grounds and ask the children to help empty the food into the bins. Children could then draw pictures of the different foods which are composted. Ask children to look into their lunch box and identify what waste can be composted and what can’t. Explain how certain items such as yoghurt pots can be re-used to make paint pots etc.
Visit our Resources & Links to download a Rupert Bear themed waste dot to dot activity. This section also provides details of organisations that will be able to help your centre tackle the waste topic.
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Kenya - the Useful Plants Project
In Kenya, the Useful Plants Project aims to enhance the ex-situ conservation of plants that are beneficial to human wellbeing. Ex-situ conservation involves conserving seeds outside their native habitat and helps to protect plant life for our future.
The project is working closely with local communities to increase their capacity to propagate useful species.
The main objectives of the project in Kenya are to:
- identify the most useful plant species for conservation
- conserve these important plants ex-situ
- carry out research in order to support the conservation and sustainable use of selected useful species
- enhance the capacity of Government of Kenya (GoK) agencies and local growers to cultivate target species
Activities in Kenya
Through literature review and ethnobotanical surveys, investigating the use of plants within community groups, the project team have identified the most useful plant species.
Four nurseries have been selected for enhancement. They have been surveyed to discover which useful species were already propagated by the local people, identify those with propagation problems and highlight plants of particular interest.
The UPP team is running workshops in the communities to educate local people about the importance of conserving useful species and preserving local knowledge. Training is provided and teaches techniques for seed collecting, conservation and propagation, enhancing the ability of the local community to cultivate useful plants.
Outside Tharaka, the team collects nationwide; germination tests are carried out at the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) with assistance from the Genebank of Kenya, at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), where seeds are conserved. The seeds are duplicated at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank to ensure their long term conservation.
The Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT) is assisting with the propagation of difficult plants, while Kew scientists from the Jodrell Laboratory are collaborating with Kenyatta University to study the phytochemestry of the African satinwood (Zanthoxylum gilletii) in different geographical areas.
24-26 February 2010
Collaborators in Kenya
Institutes involved in the Project in Kenya are:
- The National Museums of Kenya (NMK)
- The Genebank of Kenya at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)
- Kenyatta University
- Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT)
People in Kenya
- Dr Helida Oyieke, Useful Plants Project Manager in Kenya
- Alice Wagura, Useful Plants Project Project Co-ordinator in Kenya
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How Reflective Listening Can Help You Communicate More Effectively
Reflective listening is a communication style that can be employed to steer a conversation toward being healthy and productive. It originates from the idea of “client-centered therapy,” the favored method of psychologist Carl Rogers.
This technique is a valuable tool in de-escalating arguments and clearing up confusion. When properly employed, reflective listening will enable you to have a conversation free from emotional triggers and regretful words. It can help you to create a situation where a reasonable understanding can be reached.
We’ve all been part of a conversation that has gone off track and strayed in to unfriendly territory. Once emotions start to flair, it seems that the risk of misunderstanding is high. If things continue to escalate without resolution, abusive language – and even violence – can ensue.
How It’s Done
In effect, reflective listening consists of respectfully listening to someone, thoughtfully considering what they are saying, and confirming with them that you understand what they have said. When a conversation turns volatile, this style of communication can be a saving grace. Follow these guidelines when practicing this method.
- Listen closely to what is being said – be present in the moment and allow the person to fully state their case.
- Observe the person’s body language as well as other cues that can clue you in to how they are feeling.
- Empathize – put yourself in the other person’s place as well as you can to try and understand where they are coming from.
- Restate what has been said and ask if your interpretation is accurate. Paraphrase, using your own words, to show that you are not just parroting what they’ve said, but that you understand.
- Focus on the issue at hand. If the conversation starts to divert from the main point of discussion, steer it back right away. Don’t banter or get sidetracked.
- Be specific. Say exactly what you mean.
- Reduce distractions. Reflective listening is optimally effective when the conversation can take place in a calm quiet environment. Minimize the presence of others, especially those who would interfere in your discussion.
- Acknowledge the other person’s feelings and treat them as valid.
- Stay calm and rational at all times.
How Not to Do It
- Don’t use criticism or judgmental statements. Your goal is to solve the problem at hand, not to assess the person’s character or morality.
- Don’t argue or engage in a debate-style conversation. This idea isn’t to find right or wrong, simply to cut through confusion and achieve true understanding.
- Don’t support them or agree with them if they are complaining. This is a way of enabling them to continue dwelling in the problem instead of working to solve it.
- Don’t feel sorry for the person. You want to empathize, not sympathize.
When you effectively use reflective listening, you avoid the usual pitfalls of communication and take control of the situation. By commandeering the conversation in a positive way, you create a safe place where constructive problem solving can happen.
By engaging someone in this way, you will encourage them to communicate openly in the future – you are setting a new mood for the way your interactions with this person will go.
You will become enlightened as to how they people are really feeling because and emotional behavior usually masks the real problem and conversations blow up into arguments or are ended without resolution because neither party wants to truly empathize or understand.
Successfully employing this method will likely get you noticed in a good way at work. Bosses will see you as a valuable leader if you are able to effectively manage disagreements.
Perhaps most rewardingly, people will want to confide in you because they trust that you will use your reflective listening skills to make them feel comfortable and understood.
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ATP hydrolysis in F1-ATPase
Why is F1Fo-ATP synthase so important?
F1Fo-ATP synthase, or ATP synthase for short, is one of the most abundant proteins in every organism. It is responsible for synthesizing the molecule adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP), the cells’ energy currency. ATP is depicted in Fig. 1 and used to power and sustain virtually all cellular processes needed to survive and reproduce. Even when at rest, the human body metabolizes more than half its body weight in ATP per day, this figure rising to many times the body weight under conditions of physical activity.
What do we know about F1Fo-ATP synthase?
Researchers have been trying to uncover the "secret" behind ATP synthase’s very efficient mode of operation for quite some time. Unfortunately, even after more than 30 years of study, we still don’t fully understand how F1Fo-ATPase really works. The protein consists of two coupled rotary molecular motors, called Fo and F1, respectively, the first one being membrane embedded and the latter one being solvent exposed.
One of the most important breakthroughs in the field was the determination of an atomic resolution X-ray crystal structure for the F1 part of ATP synthase. This allowed researchers, for the first time, to connect biochemical data to the three dimensional structure of the protein (Abrahams et al., Nature 370:621-628, 1994). The X-ray structure beautifully supported Paul Boyer’s "binding change mechanism" (Boyer, Bioch. Bioph. Acta 215-250, 1993) as the modus operandi for ATP synthase’s rotational catalytic cycle and lead to the 1997 Nobel Prize in chemistry for Boyer and Walker.
F1-ATPase in its simplest prokaryotic form (shown schematically in Fig. 2) consists of a hexameric assembly of alternating α and β subunits arranged in the shape of an orange. The central cavity of the hexamer is occupied by the central stalk formed by subunits γ, δ and ε. Due to a lack of high resolution structures for the Fo part of ATP synthase, much less is known about this subunit. It is currently thought that a transmembrane proton gradient drives rotation of the c-subunit ring of Fo which is then coupled to movement of the central stalk. The rotation of the latter eventually causes conformational changes in the catalytic sites located in F1 leading to the synthesis of ATP.
What are some of the missing pieces in our understanding of F1?
ATP synthase can be separated into its two constituent subunits F1 and Fo, which can then be studied individually. Solvated F1 is able to hydrolyze ATP and experiments pioneered by Noji et al. (Nature 386:299-302, 1997) have shown that ATP hydrolysis in F1 drives rotation of the central stalk. However, we don’t know if ATP hydrolysis itself or rather binding of ATP to the catalytic sites induces rotation. We would also like to know how the binding pockets cooperate during steady-state ATP hydrolysis to achieve their physiological catalysis rates. It has been suggested that ATP binding and product unbinding provide the main "power stroke" and that the actual catalytic step inside the binding pockets is equi-energetic, but, unfortunately, there is currently no consensus regarding this issue. In any case, since ATP in solution is a very stable molecule, the catalytic sites have to be able to lower the reaction barrier toward product formation considerably in order to cause efficient hydrolysis.
Computational Study of ATP hydrolysis in F1-ATPase
Our research focuses on investigating the ATP hydrolysis reaction and its interaction with the protein environment in the catalytic sites of F1-ATPase using computer simulations. To be able to study a chemical reaction inside the extended protein environment provided by the catalytic sites we employ combined quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) simulations to investigate both the βTP and βDP catalytic sites. Fig. 3 depicts the quantum mechanically treated region of the former. Quite surprisingly, our simulations show that there is a dramatic change in the reaction energetics in going from βTP (strongly endothermic) to βDP (approximately equi-energetic), despite the fact that the overall protein conformation is quite similar. In both βTP and βDP, the actual chemical reaction proceeds via a multi-center proton relay mechanism involving two water molecules. A careful study of the electrostatic interactions between the protein environment and the catalytic core region as well as several computational mutation studies identified the "arginine finger" residue αR373 as the most significant element involved in this change in energetics.
Several important conclusions can be drawn from our simulations: Efficient catalysis proceeds via a multi-center proton pathway and a major factor for ATPase’s efficiency is, therefore, the ability to provide the proper solvent environment by means of its catalytic binding pocket. Furthermore, the sidechain of the arginine finger residue αR373 is found to be a major element in signaling between catalytic sites to enforce cooperation since it controls the reaction barrier height as well as the reaction equilibrium of the ATP hydrolysis/synthesis reaction.
Zooming in on ATP hydrolysis in F1. Markus Dittrich and Klaus Schulten. Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes, 37:441-444, 2005.
ATP hydrolysis in the bTP and bDP catalytic sites of F1-ATPase. Markus Dittrich, Shigehiko Hayashi, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Journal, 87:2954-2967, 2004.
On the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis in F1-ATPase. Markus Dittrich, Shigehiko Hayashi, and Klaus Schulten. Biophysical Journal, 85:2253-2266, 2003.
Other QM/MM projects
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0234938. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Journal of scientists, physicists, mathematicians, engineers, inventors, nature, biology, technology, animal kingdoms, and science projects.
Kids to 12
If you have questions concerning this website, contact [email protected]
Make a Gas Balloon
by Jeanette Cain
2. Baking soda
3. Soft drink bottle
When a volcano erupts, it gives off gases. This experiment shows how the buildup of gas pressure can inflate a balloon. CAUTION: You will need an adult to help. There is also the possibility that putting too much gas-making mixture in the bottle can cause the balloon to explode!
This is what happens inside a volcano: gas pressure builds up causing an ernormous explosion to take place. This explosion often releases a deadly, hot gas cloud.
Place the funnel in the top of the bottle. Add some baking soda. (The funnel needs to be dry or the baking soda will stick to it.) Using the funnel, pour vinegar into the bottle.
This part requires steady, but quick hands: remove the funnel and quickly slip the balloon over the bottle's top. By now, the soda and vinegar are fizzing because they are giving off gas bubbles.
Your balloon begins to inflate due to the pressure (force) of the gas in the bottle; the more gas, the more the balloon inflates. CAUTION: Don't pop the balloon!
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BOSTON, Dec. 19 -- An experimental lab-on-a-chip can accurately detect cancer cells circulating in the blood, researchers here said.
The chip -- slightly more than 1.5 square inches in area -- detected circulating cancer cells in 115 of 116 blood samples from patients with metastatic cancer for a sensitivity of 99.1%, according to Daniel Haber, M.D., director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, and colleagues.
And it found no cancer cells in the blood of healthy volunteers, for a specificity of 100%, the researchers reported in the Dec. 20 issue of Nature.
"Clearly this has tremendous potential for early diagnosis," Dr. Haber said, but it also has the potential to allow physicians to monitor the success or failure of treatment more closely and to begin to solve some of the puzzles that surround metastasis.
Circulating tumor cells are found in patients even before a cancer has begun to spread, but they are rare -- as few as one in a billion hematologic cells even in the metastatic case -- and hard to isolate, the researchers said.
Current approaches use complicated analytic techniques -- including centrifuging and washing samples -- that generate very low yield and purity, they said.
In contrast, their "microfluidics" approach is highly sensitive, has a 99% yield, and a purity approaching 50%, compared with less than 1% for other methods, the researchers said.
The development of the chip "bring[s] us closer to having a fully automated instrument that can detect circulating tumor cells with exquisite sensitivity," said Jonathan Uhr, M.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, writing in an accompanying comment.
Dr. Uhr said such a device "would allow routine monitoring of blood for tumor cells as part of a medical examination, and could result in early detection and treatment."
The researchers said that a number of engineering challenges remain before the system can be used for clinical applications, although it could be used now for research.
Microchips have been used for a range of analytic chores, such as flow cytometry, but have not been applied to tasks where milliliter-sized samples of whole blood must be analyzed, he and colleagues noted.
On theoretical grounds, they concluded that a microchip array of 78,000 tiny silicon posts -- coated with an antibody to a molecule specific to tumor cells -- would overcome that barrier.
The posts were coated with an antibody to anti-epithelial-cell adhesion-molecule, or EpCAM, which is found on tumor cells, but not on blood cells.
Tests showed that when the researchers processed blood samples spiked with tumor cells, the EpCAM-coated posts captured them easily, although the posts also captured some white blood cells.
To test the chip in the real world, the researchers tested 116 blood samples from 68 patients with metastatic epithelial cancers including non-small-cell lung, prostate, pancreatic, breast, and colon, as well as 20 samples from healthy volunteers.
Except for one sample that was smaller than average -- 0.9 milliliters compared with 2.7 milliliters -- the system found circulating tumor cells in all samples from patients, but none in the samples from healthy volunteers.
In addition, circulating tumor cells were isolated in seven out of seven patients with early-stage prostate cancer.
In a separate analysis, Dr. Haber and colleagues tested sequential samples from nine patients undergoing treatment and found that the percentage change in the number of tumor cells they captured correlated well with percentage change in tumor size. (The Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.68, which was significant at P=0.03.)
"Much of cancer [drug] treatment now is trial and error," Dr. Haber said. The chip might potentially allow doctors to find the correct treatment more quickly.
One advantage of the system, Dr. Haber said, is that captured cells remain alive, opening the door to more detailed understanding of how they function and perhaps what causes some to become the root of new cancers while the majority commit cell suicide.
"We'd like to study exactly what they are," he said.
|The study was supported by the NIH and a Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist award. Dr. Haber reported no conflicts.|
Primary source: Nature
Nagrath S, et al "Isolation of rare circulating tumour cells in cancer patients by microchip technology" Nature 2007; 450: 1235-41.
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Definition of Aging
Aging: The process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated.
Research into aging: To sum up the state of research into aging is well beyond the confines of this space (and this writer's talents). However, here is one type of research into the genetics of aging.
A gene has been discovered that helps determine the life-span of the fruit fly Drosophila. When the gene is mutated (altered), it can extend the life-span of fruit flies. It doubles their life-span. The gene has been named Indy (for I'm not dead yet). It appears that the protein encoded by this gene transports and recycles metabolic byproducts. Defects in the gene may lead to production of a protein that renders metabolism less efficient so that its body functions as if the fruit fly were dieting, even though its eating habits are unchanged. Mutations in Indy thus appear to create a metabolic state that mimics caloric restriction, which has been shown to extend life-span.
Reference: Rogina B, Reenan RA, Nilsen SP, and Helfand SL. Extended life-span conferred by cotransporter gene mutations in Drosophila. Science Dec 15 2000: 2137-2140.
Some useful suggestions for extending life: No known substance can halt aging or extend life, but here are some useful tips for improving the chances of living a long time and staying healthy:
Last Editorial Review: 6/14/2012
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Fasting girls is a Victorian term for young females, usually preadolescent, who, it was claimed, were capable of surviving over indefinitely long periods of time without consuming any food or other nourishment. Fasting girls were not only girls who refused food but who also drew attention to their fast by claiming to have special religious and/or magical powers. The ability to survive without nourishment was attributed to some saints during the Middle Ages, including Catherine of Siena and Lidwina of Schiedam, and regarded as a miracle and a sign of sanctity. Numerous cases of fasting girls were reported in the late 19th century. Believers regarded such cases as miraculous. In some cases, the fasting girls also exhibited the appearance of stigmata. Doctors, however, ascribed the phenomenon to fraud and to hysteria on the part of the girl. Joan Jacobs Brumberg believes it to be an earlier incarnation of anorexia nervosa.
Mollie Fancher, otherwise known as the "Brooklyn Enigma," was extremely well known for her claim of not eating, or eating very little for extended periods of time. She attended a reputable school and by all reports was an excellent student. At age 16, she was diagnosed with dyspepsia. At around the age of 19, reports came out that she had abstained from eating for seven weeks. It was after two accidents in 1864 and 1865 that she became famous for her ability to abstain from food. As a result of the accidents Mollie Fancher lost her ability to see, touch, taste, and smell. She claimed to have powers that involved her being able to predict events as well as to read without the ability of sight. By the late 1870s she was claiming to eat little or nothing at all for many months. Her claim to abstinence from food lasted for 14 years. Doctors and people in the public began to question her abilities and wished to perform tests to determine the truthfullness of her claims. The claims to abstinence were never verified, and she died in February 1916.
A tragic case was that of Sarah Jacob (May 12, 1857-December 17, 1869), the "Welsh fasting girl," who claimed not to be eating any food at all after the age of twelve. A local vicar, initially skeptical, became convinced that the case was authentic. She enjoyed a long period of publicity, during which she received numerous gifts and donations from people who believed she was miraculous; but doctors were becoming increasingly skeptical about her claims. Doctors eventually proposed that she be monitored in a hospital environment to see whether her claims about fasting were true. In 1869, her parents agreed for a test to be conducted under strict supervision by nurses from Guy's Hospital. The nurses were instructed not to deny Sarah Jacob food if she asked for it, but to see that any she got was observed and recorded. After two weeks, she was showing clear signs of starvation. The vicar told the parents that she was failing and that the nurses ought to be sent away so that she could get food. The parents refused. They continued to refuse even when informed that the girl was dying, insisting that they had frequently seen her like this before and that lack of food had nothing to do with her symptoms. Sarah Jacob died of starvation a few days later because she had actually been consuming very little amounts of food, which she could no longer do under medical supervision.
Another tragic case was that of New Jersey's Lenora Eaton in 1881. Reputable citizens in Eaton's town promoted her as someone who had "lived without eating". During these times, Eaton was marked as a "special person and symbol of faith in the miraculous". When these claims were investigated and doctors were sent to help her, Eaton continued to refuse to eat and died after forty-five days.
In 1889, the Boston Globe ran a story, "Who Took the Cold Potato? Dr. Mary Walker Says the Fasting Girl Bit a Doughnut." Dr. Walker reported that Josephine Marie Bedard, known as the Tingwick girl, was a fraud. The evidence was circumstantial: "At the hotel I searched her clothing and found in one of her pockets a doughnut with a bite taken out of it.... On Fast day I had a lunch served to me... I left a platter with three pieces of fried potato on it. I went there and one of the pieces was gone... when I returned, Josephine had her handkerchief to her mouth." Asked whether that was all the evidence, she said "after I accused her of it she broke down and cried."
Writing in 1954, Bergen Evans called Therese Neumann (1898-1962) "the most famous of contemporary non-eaters. The number of ecclesiastical and medical dignitaries who have vouched for the truth of her claims is impressive.... millions of sober, sensible people believe beyond doubt that this woman does not eat or drink." She claimed that after 1927, nothing but the Eucharist had passed her lips. She was also a stigmatic. Evans said "The Roman Catholic church has never, officially, recognized her claims as true."
Because fasting girls were such a curiosity in the Victorian era, many companies and individuals rushed to put them on display. In the case of Josephine Marie Bedard, two different Boston-based enterprises, the Nickelodeon and Stone and Shaw's museum, competed in court for the right to "exhibit the girl" publicly. Still, even as she was used for blatant commercial gain, there was also an element of scientific inquiry in regarding Bedard as a medical phenomenon. This shows the general shift throughout the Victorian era from seeing the fasting girls as pious figures to seeing them as diseased ones, and from regarding religion as the ultimate authority to putting that faith in science and medicine.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Wasting Away -
Posted by M. Christian
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A group of individuals agreeing in common attributes, and designated by a common name; a conception subordinated to another conception, called a genus, or generic conception, from which it differs in containing or comprehending more attributes, and extending to fewer individuals. Thus, man is a species, under animal as a genus; and man, in its turn, may be regarded as a genus with respect to European, American, or the like, as species.
In science, a more or less permanent group of existing things or beings, associated according to attributes, or properties determined by scientific observation.
A sort; a kind; a variety; as, a species of low cunning; a species of generosity; a species of cloth.
An officinal mixture or compound powder of any kind; esp., one used for making an aromatic tea or tisane; a tea mixture.
A group of living things that appear to have common ancestry so closely related that their characteristics definitely separate them all from any other group; a further division of a genus.
n. (L. species, particular kind) a group of interbreeding individuals, not interbreeding with another such group, being a taxonomic unit including two names in binomial nomenclature, the generic name and specific epithet, similar and related species being grouped into a genus.
A group of organisms that differ from all other groups of organisms and that are capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring. This is the smallest unit of classification for plants and animals.
A group of closely related plants under the same Genus.
The lowest group of creatures in the tree of life. The hierarchy is as follows: Kingdom; Phylum; Class; Order; Family; Genus; Species. The species is the group of creatures which share a great number of similarities and share a common name with other groups.
a group of animals or plants of the same kind ....... back
A group of organisms (individuals) that can interbreed and reproduce with each other. Used to distinguish sexually reproducing organisms into groups. Individuals from two different species cannot have offspring. They are said to be reproductively isolated. The biologist Ernst Mayr formulated this definition of a species advancing our understanding of the mechanism of evolution of higher organisms. For microbes, the species definition does not properly apply, because they do not reproduce sexually, but have an efficient mechanism to exchange genetic material even between evolutionarily distant forms. This exchange of genes is known as horizontal gene transfer. Unlike sexual reproduction, it usually involves only a fraction of an organisms genome that is being transferred and is a mechanisms of increasing genetic variability among microorganisms that does not depend on cellular reproduction (cell division).
The scientific name of a plant; the genus name and the specific epithet together; also equal to the latin name or binomial
A reproductively isolated aggregate of interbreeding organisms.
In chemistry, a distinct kind of molecule, ion, or other structure.
Groups of actually (or potentially) interbreeding natural populations that are reproductively isolated from other such groups. Reproductive isolation implies that interbreeding between individuals of two species normally is prevented by intrinsic factors.
In biological systematics, group of organisms of common ancestry that are able to reproduce only among themselves and that are usually geographically distinct. See NT chemical species.
group of living things that share many common traits. Each species is different from every other species in one or more ways.
Term used to describe the group of like individuals. Classically species were defined as organisms that share certain characteristics.
kind or sort
a group of animals or plants that have one or more characteristics in common .............. back
A certain type of plant or animal
The division of animal classification below Genus. A group of animals having common attributes, designated by a common name, that has the same structure, and that can breed together.
a group of organisms that are very much alike and reproduce in their natural environment. We belong to the human species.
A cohesive historical lineage of ancestral-descendant populations of organisms that maintains its identity from other such lineages. A species comes into being at a branching event (when one lineage becomes one or more lineages), and ceases to exist either at a branching event (when it gives rise to new species) or when the lineage is terminated through extinction.
A group of animals or plants, whose members breed naturally only with each other.
a single kind of organism; white-tail and mule are different species of deer
more information for scientifically naming a plant. The species name follows the genus. Caesalpinia (genus) pulcherrima (species). Red bird-of-paradise (common name).
Level of taxonomy below Genus. The second part of a bird's scientific name is the species name. The species name is never capitalized.
a group of similar individuals that can breed among themselves. A biological category used to classify organisms.
A group of plants or animals that are uniquely distinguished from others, sharing various characteristics, and usually that are able to reproduce. Species are often broken down into additional subcategories, such as sub-species or varieties.
One of the major classifying categories of taxonomy, representing divisions of a genus, and sometimes further classified into subspecies.
Used when naming plants. Designates a specific species of the 'Genus' and is best described as the plant worlds equivalent to our Christian names (or first names). Will follow the Genus name and is usually in Latin. Note: Once a plants full name is used, i.e. Hedera helix, future listings will abbreviate the Genus name and follow it with the species name. An example would be, H. helix, as the next plant in a listing.
group of organisms which interbreed and are reproductively isolated from all other such groups.
The basic unit of taxonomic classification, designating a group of closely related individuals that are capable of interbreeding.
A group of organisms defined by their ability to interbreed with only each other.
A segment of a population-level lineage that is evolving separately from other such lineage segments as indicated by one or more lines of evidence (e.g., distinguishability, reproductive isolation, monophyly, etc.).
the most specific taxonomic classification; an interbreeding population of individual organisms; often abbreviated as 'sp.' in reference to a single species or 'spp.' when referencing several species
The fundamental biological classification consisting of very similar plants or animals.
genetically distinct population(s) that interbreed but are reproductively isolated from other such groups.
a group of individuals that share features and are able to interbreed under natural conditions to yield fertile offspring.
a group of populations capable of successfully interbreeding and reproductively isolated from other such populations (The White-tailed Deer is a common species of mammal found in the Pinelands.)
A biological type; on MSDSs, species refers to the test animals -- usually rats, mice, or rabbits -- which were used to obtain the toxicity test data reported.
A class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name; a category of biological classification ranking immediately below the genus or subgenus; comprising related organisms or populations potentially capable of interbreeding.
1. Freely interbreeding population of organisms. The organisms in a species usually share a large number of characters. Their offspring are fertile. (Some species can interbreed, but their offspring are infertile.) 2. Generally the lowest level in a taxonomy. A category of animals or plants below a genus. Sometimes breed is specified below it, such as for cultivated plants.
A group of organisms that are closely related
a taxonomic category of individuals or populations capable of breeding among themselves, but not usually with other individual or populations
A group of organisms with many common characteristics; a collection of closely related strains sufficiently different from all other strains to be recognized as a distinct unit.
Animals, plants or micro-organisms that are so similar that they are able to have offspring.
Group of similar individuals having a number of correlated characteristics and sharing a common gene pool. The species is the basic unit of taxonomy on which the binomial system has been established. The scientific name of a plant or animal gives the genus first and then the species as in Abies (genus) grandis (species). Species is both the singular and plural form of the word.
groups or individuals of closely connected plants within a genus.
a natural population that can breed and produce fertile offspring.
A distinct population that tends, in nature, not to mix reproductively with other populations.
a group of organisms that can breed or produce offspring
Taxonomic designation for the unique name of a living organism.
A group of individuals of common ancestry that closely resemble each other structurally and physiologically and that can interbreed, producing fertile offspring.
Part of the plant classification system. This is used to describe closely related plants. See also genus and family.
A class of individuals having some common characteristics or qualities.
The taxonomic unit (the most specific taxonomic category). It designates individuals with similar morphologic structures, who can reproduce with each other.
a particular kind of plant or animal; all members of a species share certain characteristics and are known by a specific name. A subspecies is a division of a species.
It is hard to define a species absolutely because the process of one species becoming two or changing into another species is so slow that there is no point at which one can say 'Now! It's a different species from yesterday!'. The most simple definition is a group of organisms that can breed together to produce fertile offspring. Species are the smallest unit of biological taxonomy, and are grouped together with similar species to form a genus.
The name given to a single kind of organism. Species can be divided into sub-species.
a group of interbreeding organisms that can produce offspring with the capacity for viable reproduction.
the smallest unit in biological classification. Members of the same species are able to breed among themselves successfully. Similar species are grouped within one genus.
A group of individuals with certain common characteristics
A group of individuals or populations that are similar in structure and physiology and are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. Separate species typically are different in structure and/or physiology from each other and normally do not interbreed. A species name is the second word of a scientific name and is not capitalized.
Living things such as plants and animals.
a genetic subdivision whose numbers are capable of mating and producing fertile progeny
Group of animals or plants subordinate in classification to genus that can interbreed and differ only in minor details.
A population of individuals that are more or less alike and that are able to breed and produce fertile offspring. A category of biological grouping just below the genus or subgenus level.
a group of biologically distinct organisms that are self-perpetuating
A naturally occurring population or group of potentially interbreeding populations that is reproductively isolated (i.e., cannot exchange genetic material) from such other groups. This definition does not apply to asexually reproducing forms such as many types of Monera or Protista, etc.
individuals of the same type which are able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring under natural conditions contributing to a common gene pool.
Living things that are grouped by their common attributes and can reproduce only among themselves. Human beings are one species; dogs are another.
distinct kinds of individual plants or animals that have common traits and share a common name.
Population of organisms that can interbreed and produce offspring that can also reproduce with one another. A closed gene pool.
Taxon for biological species based on binomial nomenclature, italicized and using genus and trivial name; e.g., Triceratops horridus, Tyrannosaurus rex.
a group of related plants or animals that can interbreed to produce offspring.
(SPE· cies). A population of interbreeding organisms that are capable of, and do under natural conditions, reproduce fertile offspring.
A group of organisms that are similar and can interbreed.
a group of animals that can have young who can also have young (this word should really be in a science glossary)
A group of animals and plants that have many things in common, and are different in at least one other way from all others.
a group of similar creatures that produce viable young when breeding.
A population or group of populations that are in reproductive contact but are reproductively isolated from all other populations.
A group of interbreeding plants or animals. Subspecies and races are subgroups of individuals of the same species in the process (called speciation) of becoming a separate species.
A distinct kind of wood.
Plants or animals that are the same as each other and breed only with one another.
A population of plants whose members are potentially able to breed with each other and which is reproductively isolated from other populations.
Living things of the same kind that are potentially able to breed together and produce fertile offspring (i.e., offspring that themselves can reproduce). Usually, different species cannot interbreed but this rule is not absolute (for example, a horse and donkey can interbreed to produce a mule, although this animal cannot reproduce, see hybrid). Even within one species, interbreeding may not always occur because of natural barriers. Among some plants and many micro-organisms, the concept of a species does not always work. In these groups, species that appear different may be able to successfully create offspring under certain circumstances.
a group of similar organisms that have a shared origin and the ability to breed freely with one another.
The basic category in the Linnaean sequence. A species may best be defined as a group of inter-breeding individuals with so many features in common that they form a distinct, and generally recognisable, group. In practice, the interbreeding criterion cannot always be used, for example with fossils, so species can often only be defined subjectively. One or more species are included in a genus. more on the species concept
a group of individuals taxonomically ordered according to common attributes and designated by a common name.
A single type of plant or animal, not a group like genus or family. Each species has a two-word scientific name that includes the name of the genus it belongs to and then the name of the species. Another way to think of this is the Genus is the "Generic" name and the Species is the "Specific" name.
a specific kind of something; "a species of molecule"; "a species of villainy"
a breeding population that can produce fertile offspring among its members, but not outside its group
a classification of life forms that share enough genetic traits that they can interbreed to produce offspring that are still able to breed
a collection of genetically similar individuals
a collection of organisms that evolved according to Darwin's Five Laws
a collection of populations, all genetically related
a constant succession of similar individuals that can reproduce together
a diagnosable cluster of individuals within which there is a parental pattern of ancestry and descent, beyond which there is not, and which exhibits a pattern of phylogenetic ancestry and descent among units of like kind
a distinct, qualitatively definite state of living matter
a freely interbreeding population whose members do not interbreed with those of other populations
a grouping of individuals that interbreed successfully
a group of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations reproductively isolated from other such populations
a group of animals or plants all of which are similar enough in form to be considered as minor variations of the same organism
a group of animals which can breed together, but who can't breed with others
a group of animals which have a number of features in common and which are not shared by any other group of animals
a group of animals with similar physical characteristics that can and do interbreed and share the same gene pool
a group of freely interbreeding individuals that will not interbreed with other members of the same genus in its natural environment
a group of individuals that can reproduce together
a group of insects having many characteristics in common which differ from all other forms in one or more ways
a group of living organisms (plants, animals, or microbes) that breed under natural and to which many human cultures have become adapted
a group of living organisms (plants, animals, or microbes) that breed under natural conditions and are reproductively isolated from other populations
a group of morphologically similar organisms that can and do interbreed, thus sharing the same gene pool
a group of morphologically similar organisms which can and do reproduce with one another
a group of organisms - plant, animal, or microbe - of a single kind
a group of organisms sharing a closely related common gene pool because of frequent interbreeding
a group of organisms so similar to one another that they can INTERBREED
a group of organisms that a) have the same evolutionary ancestor
a group of organisms that are so genetically similar that they can interbreed and produce fertile offspring
a group of organisms that can interbreed and create viable offspring
a group of organisms that can interbreed in nature to
a group of organisms that can willingly and successfully interbreed, creating reproductively capable offspring of a similar type
a group of organisms that have structural, functional, and developmental similarities and that are able to interbreed and produce fertile offspring
a group of organisms that interbreed naturally among themselves but not with individuals from other groups
a group of organisms that look alike and can breed among themselves and a genus is a broader division of classification
a group of organisms that normally interbreed in nature to produce fertile offspring
a group of organisms that recognize each other for the purpose of mating and fertilization
a group of organisms whose members can interbreed in nature and produce viable, offspring, though this concept cannot apply to organisms or to fossils
a group of organisms with a unique set of characteristics (body shape and behavior, for example) that distinguishes them from other organisms
a group of plants or animals that are genetically similar and so are able to reproduce with each other
a group of plants or animals that breed together but do not breed outside the group
a group of plants or animals whose genes are so similar that they can breed together and produce fertile offspring
a group of populations through which genes can flow and whose offspring have a fitness equal to the parents
a group of population s whose individual members would, if given the opportunity, interbreed
a group of populations whose individual members would, if given the opportunity, interbreed with individuals of other populations of that group
a group of related individuals or populations which are potentially capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring
a group of sexually-reproducing, interbreeding individuals that under normal conditions are unable to interbreed with another group
a group of similar organisms that can mate to produce fertile, viable offspring
a group or population of similar organisms that reproduce among themselves but do not naturally reproduce with any other kinds of organisms
a life form that cannot breed successfully other than with its own kind
a lineage (an ancestor descendant sequence) of populations or organisms that maintains its identity from other such lineages and which has its own evolutionary tendencies
a more finely tuned group whose members share the same general characteristics
an actually or potentially interbreeding population that does not interbreed with other such populations when there is opportunity to do so
an arbitrary class or cluster of organisms given a name as a handle
an array of populations which are actually or potentially interbreeding, and which are reproductively isolated from other such arrays under natural conditions'
an article from the Business (International) category
an assemblage of individuals agreeing with each other in all essential characters of vegetation and fructification, capable of reproducing perfect seed from which progeny can be reared
an evolved or evolving, genetically distinctive, reproductively isolated, natural population
an excellent diagnostic characteristic for S
an important biological grouping of organisms whose members have similar structures, normally interbreed, and produce fertile offspring
an intrabreeding population, which rarely breeds with a different breeding population
an isolated group of individuals whose sum of characters tends to keep constant by natural inbreeding
an organic form which, for periods of great and indefinite length as compared with the duration of human life, fluctuates only within narrow limits
a particular kind of organism
a pool of organisms that can exchange their genetic information
a population of beings that can reproduce sexually and produce fertile offspring
a population of individual organisms that can interbreed in nature, mating and producing fertile offspring in a natural setting
a population of indiviuals who interbreed, as opposed to a population of organisms who merely share the same environment
a population of organisms that can interbreed with eachother, not not other populations
a population of organisms which are capable, under natural conditions, of interbreeding and producing viable offspring, and which are reproductively isolated from other similar groups
a population that interbreeds and is reproductively isolated from other populations
a set of individuals who can interbreed and have fertile progeny
a set of populations capable of combining with each other but not with other similar sets of populations on the basis of affinity and co-direction in ecological speciation
a single lineage of ancestral descendant populations of organisms which maintains its identity from other such lineages and which has its own evolutionary tendencies and historical fate
a single organism, not a group
a single type of organism
a special group
a specific name given to a plant or animal
a subjective unit insofar as it is based on only a sample of the population and insofar as the point of separation where there is some overlap must be arbitrary
a group of related living things that have characteristics in common
a group of animals that mate together successfully; a naming classification
A unique group of animals, different from other groups.
A class of individuals or objects grouped by virtue of their common attributes and assigned a common name.
Populations of organisms that may interbreed and produce fertile offspring having similar structure, habits, and functions.
A group of related animals or plants that differ only in minor attributes; able to interbreed among themselves
A group of individuals that are capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring under natural conditions.
A basic taxonomic group consisting of individuals of common ancestry who strongly resemble each other physiologically and who interbreed, producing fertile offspring.
The sub-genus classification of salmonids being sampled.
a kind of organism; organisms that are very similar to one another; they usually reproduce only among themselves
One of the lowest principal biological classification units, which recognizes distinct (non-interbreeding) groups of similar organisms.
A particular group of plant or animal that can only reproduce with others of the same kind.
Usually, the smallest unit of classification; includes individuals which can breed with each other, produce viable offspring, have the same chromosome number, and share a common gene pool.
group of similar plants which can freely interbreed.
a group of similar plants or animals which will interbreed
A group of living things that is very closely related and can interbreed.
A gem with distinctive characteristics that are well defined.
A group of very similar plants that can freely interbreed and are signified by the second word of the botanical name. See Genus.
the smallest taxonomic unit defining a group of animals or plants that are unable to breed to produce fertile offspring.
the smallest taxonomic unit defining a group of animals that are unable to breed to produce fertile offspring. (see classification)
a certain kind of animals within a closely related group
subordinate classification to a genus; reproductively isolated organisms that have common characteristics, such as eastern white pine or white-tailed deer.
Generally regarded as a group or organisms that resemble each other to a greater degree than members of other groups and that form a reproductively isolated group that will not normally breed with members of another group.
The lowest-ranking common taxonomic rank. These names are not capitalized.
The lowest major level of classification.
a group of organisms that form an interbreeding population that is reproductively isolated from other populations
All the individuals in a population that can breed and produce fertile young.
A group of organisms different from all others in that they do not interbreed with any others.
a group of individuals or populations that are similar and are able to mate and have offspring.
A group of plants (or animals) showing intergradation among its individuals and having in common one or more characteristics which definitely separate it from any other group; a kind of plant distinct from other plants.
A group of similiar animals, reproductively isolated from all other such groups and able to breed and produce viable offspring.
a group of plants or animals that share common characteristics
A classification ranking just below the genus and made up of closely related plants that possibly can cross with one another.
organisms that can reproduce their own kind (see also Genus) (A distinct animal or plant group that shares similar characteristics and can produce offspring within its group.)
A population of organisms which are able to interbreed freely under natural conditions.
(singular or plural): A group of plants or animals whose members breed naturally only with each other and resemble each other more closely than they resemble members of any similar group.
A class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name; a logical division of a genus or more comprehensive class (Merriam-Webster 1996).
Most specific level of scientific classification; below Genus
the basic unit of classification which usually refers to one or several groups of plants or other living organisms that interbreed and maintain their distinctive identity through successive generations
A class of individual plants or animals having some common characteristics or qualities which makes them distinct from other classes of plants or animals.
the basic category of biological classification, ranking below the genus; a species consists of related organisms or populations potentially capable of interbreeding; a species is designated by a two part name consisting of its genus and a specific epithet; see also subspecies
a group of organisms (living things) capable of reproducing to give fertile off-spring.
momo Organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
A group of individuals biologically capable of interbreeding and which have a common ancestor.
Organisms that are genetically related, similar physically, and can reproduce viable offspring. This is the most useful taxonomical name because every living creature is assigned a unique species name, which is composed of two parts.
A class of plants or animals having common attributes and designated by a common name. Theoretically, plants or animals of different species cannot interbreed. However, occasionally this does not hold true.
Espèce Familienbezeichnung, f Especie A population or series of populations whose individuals have the potential to freely breed with one another and that is discontinuous in variation from other populations or series of populations; a fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking
A kind of plant that is distinct from other plants.
A group of organisms that are biologically capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring. It is the lowest normal taxonomic unit in use. Meagher, 1991
A population of morphologically similar organisms that can reproduce sexually among themselves but that cannot produce fertile offspring when mated with other organisms.
A group of organisms that have similar characteristics and can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
This is the defining identification of a living organism. Based upon taxonomy it is usually a latinised adjective or noun and is never capitalised and is usually italicised. Species may only have varieties after it, although the specific name may also be double-barreled.
the basic unit of biological classification. Generally defined as an aggregation of individuals similar in appearance and structure, mating freely and producing young that themselves mate freely and bear fertile offspring. Abbreviated to sp. for one species and spp. for two or more species.
A group of organisms with a unique set of characteristics (like beak shape and behaviour) that distinguishes them from other organisms. If they reproduce, individuals within the same species can produce offspring that can make more offspring.
Groups of plant or animal organisms that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. In the taxonomic hierarchy, 'species' joins with the higher level 'genus' to give the binomial term 'Genus species'.
A taxonomic category ranking which is beneath genus. Individuals of the same species are genetically, morphologically, and physiologically differentiated from any other population. The specific name is designated by an uncapitalized Latin noun or adjective, and it constitutes the second term in a scientific name.
group of related organisms or populations capable of interbreeding.
A group of organisms capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species (this is a simplified definition; species concept is much more complex). - A taxonomic rank below a genus, consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes( gene) or interbreeding.
Creatures that are extremely similar to one another belong to the same species.
A group of organisms which are biologically capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring with each other but not with members of other species
The fundamental category of biological classification, ranking below the genus and in some species composed of subspecies or varieties; of various definitions, the most common is the "Biological Species Concept" "Species are actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups."
Numbers of domains present in a variety of selected taxa ( animal, archaea, bacteria, fungi, plants and protozoa) are shown in annotation pages.
All plants and animals are divided into groups with similar characteristics. The basic building block for this division is the species. Organisms of the same species can interbreed. Species with common characteristics are grouped into a genus (plural genera). Genera with similar characteristics are grouped into a family. Each species is given a scientific name of two words, the genus and species. These names are latin so they can be recognized worldwide. Common names, on the other hand, vary from nation to nation, and even within a nation. Examples: Species: Mallard Scientific Name: Anus platyrhynchos Species: Northern Pintail Scientific Name: Anus acuta Both the Mallard and Pintail are in the same genus Anus and are also grouped into the family of ducks, geese, and swans.
individual plants bearing certain characters in common.
the fundamental and unique category in the classification of all living things, for example, the song sparrow, the bluebird, the monarch butterfly, the azure butterfly, the lion, the tiger, etc.
A taxonomic level above genotype. All creatures in a species are similar on a functional and structural level, but not necessarily in all instruction positions on their genome. Species can be used to study clouds around an archetype ( quasispecies) in genome space.
A biological classification that combines organisms sharing common characteristics and are able to mate and produce fertile offspring.
a subdivision of a genus—second word in a plant's botanical name such as Rosa moschata—musk rose
a population of individuals that are more or less alike, and that breed and produce fertile offspring under natural conditions.
One or more animals which closely resemble one another. A group of them together forms a genus.
The category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus consisting of related organisms capable of interbreeding.
Organisms that are capable of interbreeding and is designated by a binomial term in Latin. The species designation of timber wolf or gray wolf is Canis lupus.
A group of organisms which resemble each other to a greater degree than members of other groups and which form a reproductively isolated group that will not normally breed with member of another group. Similar species are grouped into genera, genera are grouped into families, families into orders, orders into classes, classes into phyla (for animals) and divisions (for plants), these are grouped into Kingdoms.
a group of individuals that share certain physical characteristics and are capable of producing fertile offspring.
A group of living organisms that can interbreed to produce viable offspring.
A category of biological classification; a class of individuals having common attributes and designated by a common name. "Species" is always properly used with the "s" when referring to trees or other biological classifications.
a biological species is a group of individuals that can actually or theoretically interbreed successfully with one another but not with members of other groups or species.
a class of individual organisms having some common characteristics or qualities; usually similar or alike in appearance; always able to breed among themselves; by some defintions unable to breed with members of other species. The following papers by Kenneth Cumming provide more information: On the Changing Definition of the Term "Species" | Patterns of Speciation | Reticulate Evolution
A group of organisms that is formally recognized as distinct from other groups; also a taxon of the rank of species, i.e., a category below genus.
Species is a group of living things that can mate to produce fertile offspring.
groups of animals with shared characteristics that can reproduce and produce fertile offspring Red-headed and red-bellied woodpeckers are two different species of woodpeckers.
One or more populations of interbreeding or potentially interbreeding organisms that are reproductively isolated in nature from all other organisms. Populations of individuals capable of interbreeding and producing viable, fertile offspring. The least inclusive taxonomic category commonly used. PICTURE
One kind of organism. Of sexually reproducing organisms, one or more natural populations in which individuals are interbreeding and are reproductively isolated from other such groups.
A population or series of populations whose individuals have the potential to freely breed with one another and that is discontinuous in variation from other populations or series of populations; a fundamental category of taxonomic classification that ranks below genus.
A group containing all the individulas of a particular kind of plant.
the basic lower unit of classification. Biological species refers to individuals capable of interbreeding.
a "kind" of bird, usually referring to a group of interbreeding natural populations which are reproductively isolated from other such groups; a species represents a unique evolutionary lineage
A distinction for a specific type of animals. For example, geese are a species and ducks are a species. There may be many breeds of each species. Typically species cannot interbreed successfully, for example a duck and a goose can not produce offspring together. If species can cross the offspring are typically sterile like a mule (horse x donkey).
The “global family†of a organism, that can breed or reproduce with one another (“global family†refers to all of the human, rabbits, cats, dogs; etc; they all are the same, no matter the color of fur or eyes; etc.)
(both singular and plural) a natural population or group of populations that are reproductively isolated and transmit specific characteristics from parent to offspring.
a group of individuals that has similar characteristics and breeds only with another member of the same group
Group of organisms with common or similar characteristics and capable of inter breeding.
A reproductively isolated group of interbreeding organisms.
The main category of taxonomic classification into which living organisms are subdivided, comprising a group of similar individuals having a number of correlated characteristics.
a group of closely related organisms capable of mating and producing fertile offspring.
A group of natural relations that can interbreed.
Difficult to define rigorously in two or three lines. Defined very simply in a phylogenetic context, species are the smallest lineages that are mutually exclusive of other lineages. The internal branches of a phylogeny may be viewed as ancestral species. Note, however, that the unit lineages of a gene phylogeny are not species (see also terminal).
a singular or plural term for a population or series of populations of organisms that are capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species. Includes a number of cases: endemic species: a species originating in, or belonging to, a particular region. Both "endemic" and "indigenous" are preferred over "native." exotic species: a species introduced accidentally or intentionally to a region beyond its natural range. "Exotic" is preferred over "alien," "foreign" and "non-native.' subspecies: a subdivision of a species. A population or series of populations occupying a discrete range and differing genetically from other subspecies of the same species.
Taxa) Richness: A biological index of river health, species ( taxa) richness is the number of species or taxa present in a biological sample.
A group of similar animals that are isolated reproductively and produce viable offspring. They may include on or more subspecies.
All of the organisms that are capable of interbreeding with each other under natural conditions to produce fertile offsprings (bisexual organisms) or all of the morphologically and genetically similar descendants of some inferred ancestral individual (asexual organisms).
The species is the primary or fundamental concept in the understanding of the forms of life. It is the basic unit in classification. Species are combined into genera and variations or subordinate forms of these may be distinguished as subspecies, variety and form in descending order of the botanical hierarchy.
A basic taxonomic category.
members of a species of plants or animals can breed with another member and produce fertile (capable of reproducing) offspring. In this way, a species maintains its ‘separateness' from other species; for example, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna are two distinct tuna species, whereas the general term ‘tuna' includes all tuna species.
a type of animal or plant.
The species designations of animals under study.
The taxanomic category subordinate to a genus. A group of like individuals. The second part of a scientific name identifies a particular species. (See Genus)
Species: Organisms with similar phenetic and genetic characteristics that can mate and produce viable offspring that can also mate and produce viable offspring.
Biological _ A small group of organisms formally recognized by the scientific community as distinct from other groups. legal _ refers to joint policy of the USFWS and NMFS that considers a species as defined by the ESA to include biological species, subspecies, and DPSs.
(spee´ shees) [L.: kind] • The basic lower unit of classification, consisting of a population or series of populations of closely related and similar organisms. The more narrowly defined "biological species" consists of individuals capable of interbreeding freely with each other but not with members of other species.
Taxonomic groups, usually defined by inability to interbreed and produce viable offspring. Species are reproductively isolated from each other. Genes in one species cannot combine with genes from another species and produce a successfully reproducing vehicle (individual).
A group of individuals, usually identifiable by a set of distinctive features, with a unique evolutionary history. Classically, the members of a species can interbreed only with each other to produce fertile offspring.
a class or specific type of organism; a group of individuals related by descent, and able to breed among themselves but not with other animals
(sp' sh z) The category of organization for taxonomy below genus, representing animals capable of interbreeding with each other. The scientific name for a species is generally written with the genus in binomial form. Example: Homo sapiens.
the basic unit of Linnaean classification; a taxonomic subdivision of genus represented by plants that can freely interbreed but rarely with other species. In the scientific name Sambucus nigra, the genus is Sambucus and the species epithet is nigra ; together Sambucus nigra constitutes the species
A group of animals or plants having common characteristics and able to breed together to produce fertile (capable of reproducing) offspring, so that they maintain their ‘separateness' from other groups. For example, yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna are two distinct tuna species, whereas general terms like ‘tuna' and ‘trout' each represent groups of species.
a taxon comprising one or more populations of individuals capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring.
seeing, appearance, shape, kind or quality
the smallest classification group of organisms. organisms of the same species mate and produce healthy young
subdivision of biological classification composed of related organisms that share common characteristics and can interbreed.
Group within a genus, the members of which share similar characteristics and can breed successfully together.
The basic unit of biological classification. This definition is open to very wide interpretation and what one person regards as just another species, may be seen by someone else, to be a totally separate genus or only a form.
A group of plants or animals that have certain common features which set them apart from others.
The species, an adjective, often refers to a place, the plant's characteristics/appearance, or the name of the person credited with discovering it. Species is abbreviated sp. or spp.
Different definitions are available dependent upon the characters being used to define a species. See also biological species concept, morphospecies concept and phylogenetic species concept.... More
A group of animals that have the same characteristics
a group of organisms capable of interbreeding to produce fertile offspring
A group of plants, animals, or microorganisms that have a high degree of similarity and generally can interbreed only among themselves.
a group of similar organisms whose members can breed with one another to produce fertile offspring.
the second or specific part of the scientific name of a plant
Organisms in the same genus that have similar characteristics.
The subdivision of Genus; the second name in Latin nomenclature i.e. Acer PALMATUM.
A group of organisms that can interbreed with each other and produce fertile offspring. It is the fundamental unit of biological evolution.
A population or series of populations of closely related and similar organisms. The individuals within a species are able to interbreed freely with each other, producing healthy, fertile offspring. Members of a species are not able to interbreed successfully with members of other species.
(1) a group of organisms that have a unique set of characteristics (like body shape and behavior) that distinguishes them from other organisms. If they reproduce, individuals within the same species can produce fertile offspring. (2) the basic unit of biological classification. Scientists refer to species using both their genus and species name. The house cat, for example, is called Felis catus.
the taxonomic division of freely interbreeding population of wild or naturally occurring individuals below genus.
Living things of the same kind that are potentially capable of breeding and producing fertile offspring. Theoretically, plants or animals of different species cannot interbreed. However, occasionally this does not hold true.
Database entry containing a sequence and associated information. Not necessarily consistent with a taxonomic species
Any subspecies of fish, wildlife, or plants, and any distinct population segment of any species or vertebrate fish or wildlife that interbreeds when mature.
A group of animals that under normal conditions can have offspring together.
in the same or like form or kind. There are many species of finches available today, and many look a lot a like. Always know what species of finch you have before attempting to locate a mate. Society Finches and Zebra Finches are examples of two different species.
pl. A category of classification, ranking below a genus, consisting of closely related organisms capable of interbreeding. An organism belonging to a species is represented by an uncapitalized Latin name and a capitalized genus name, as in Hyacinthoides non-scripta, the Bluebell.
all the populations of organisms that are capable of breeding under natural conditions and that are reproductively isolated from other organisms; the basic lower unit of biological classification.
the basic unit of taxonomy. A species is defined as a group of individuals that are genetically related and can interbreed to produce fertile young of the same kind.
the basic category of biological classif ication, designating a single kind of animal or plant. Abbreviation: sp. &endash; plural: spp.
The most basic level by which plants and animals may be grouped. Scientists have an ongoing friendly debate about how to define a species. One commonly held view is that the group is the lowest level of organisms that can breed with one another and that cannot breed freely with other groups of plants and animals. As technology allows researchers to peer ever more deeply into the genetic makeup of organisms, the definition comes under increasing challenge. Perhaps the most valuable characteristic of a species is the fact that it’s the basic unit of classification.
a group of very similar plants. Species are grouped together into Genera.
A gem with distinct characteristics that are well defined.
a group of organisms that breed with each other to produce fertile offspring.
A distinct group of organisms that interbreed to produce organisms substatively the same as the parents. Species roses are roses that appear naturally in the wild - at least most of them are.
As usually used within this article, a species is a reproductively isolated group of organisms capable of interbreeding in the wild and producing viable, fertile offspring. This is known as the Biological Species Concept (BSC). An alternative statement of the BSC defines a species as the most inclusive group of sexual and cross-fertilizing individuals which share a common gene pool. However, this concept breaks down for asexual species, fossil species, and even sexual species in many cases. In reality there are only degrees of reproductive and genetic isolation, so species are not absolute entities. Joseph Boxhorn has given a more detailed analysis of the species concept in the "Observed Instances of Speciation" FAQ. Note, the BSC has interesting implications for the nature of the last universal common ancestor of all life, especially if horizontal genetic transfer was extensive then (as it is today between the different unicellular "species" of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes).
a subdivision of a genus, almost identifcal organisms, a clone
A group of interbreeding populations that are more or less reproductively isolated from all other kinds of organisms.
division of plants or herbs which contain individuals capable of reproducing with each other.
A classification of related organisms that can freely interbreed.
A group of similar organisms within the same genus which are usually capable of interbreeding, and are distinctly different from other members of the genus.
a group of organisms which normally can interbreed
organisms that successfully reproduce among themselves and cannot reproduce successfully with other organisms.
A group of similar fish that can freely interbreed.
A group of animals or plants that are the same and breed together, eg. the New Zealand robin.
a single kind of plant or animal; about 34,000 species of spiders known so far worldwide in a little over 100 families; presumably many more species are undiscovered
The smallest unit of classification. Individuals in a species are assumed to have emanated from a single original genetic source and are sexually compatible with each other.
A group of generally related tree species for which similar management practices have been developed.
Depending on how they were listed under the ESA, species is defined as species, subspecies, distinct population segment (DPS), or Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU).
A set of creatures which, in their natural setting, breed among themselves.
Different types of plants e.g. cocksfoot and ryegrass are different species
Species generally grouped for marketing convenience and identified with a single commercial name. (See ASTM D 1165, Standard Nomenclature of Domestic Hardwoods and Softwoods, for commercial practice in the United States and Canada.)
a group of organisms that are similar in structure and can mate and produce fertile offspring
species is a group of living things that breed with each other in nature and produce offspring that can also breed. Coyotes can breed together, and the pups can breed when they grow up, so all coyotes are one species. Bobcats can't breed with coyotes, so they're a different species. In nature, living things in the same species usually look pretty much alike.
A taxon of the rank of species; in the hierarchy of biological classification the category below genus; the basic unit of biological classification; the lowest principal category of zoological classification.
Organism classification that includes individuals that share the same heredity, are similar in morphology and behaviour, and can produce similar offspring.
A subdivion of a genus in the classification of plants. Species of plants are distinguished by the characteristics of fruits,flowers, leaves, bark and wood.
The basic unit of classification in biology. Examples are the bald eagle, the polar bear, the monarch butterfly, and the tawny mole cricket. The word is both singular (a species) and plural (two species). Species are grouped into genera, and genera are grouped into family. The words kind, sort, type, strain, and variety are not part of this classification even though newspaper reporters often use them as if they were.
A group of related organisms with common characteristics that are capable of interbreeding. Loblolly and Virginia pine are examples of two different tree species.
A group of biological organisms that interbreed to produce fertile offspring or possess common characteristics derived from a common gene pool.
groups of actually or potentially interbreeding natural populations which are reporductively isolated from other such groups
The unit of classification for a plant having particular characteristics. In the botanical name of the plant, the species is identified by the second word of the name: for example Acer palmatum.
One or more populations of freely interbreeding organisms which are reproductively isolated (for reasons other than geography) from other closely related populations. A more modern definition might be a chronologically continuous genome which is isolated from other genomes by non-geographical factors. See also subspecies and species complex.
the basic unit of Linnaean classification; a taxonomic subdivision of genus represented by plants that can freely interbreed but rarely with other species. In the Latin name Ulmus americana, the genus is Ulmus and the species epithet is americana; together Ulmus americana constitutes the species
taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
Group of animals or plants with common characteristics
A taxonomic category subordinate to a genus (or subgenus) and superior to a subspecies or variety, composed of individuals possessing common characters distinguishing them from other categories of individuals of the same taxonomic level. In taxonomic nomenclature, species are designated by the genus name followed by a Latin or Latinised adjective or noun.
In the same or like form or kind. For the purposes of the CWCP, we refer to scientific animal groupings of genus and then a subgroup called "species."
A group of living things that can interact to produce offspring like themselves. Tigers do not have lion cubs, and an eagle and owl cannot interact to produce offspring like themselves.
Is a group of similar organisms with the ability to interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
distinct populations of plants or animals that can and do interbreed and produce fertile offspring
A species is a fundamental category of taxonomic classification ranking after genus and consisting of organisms capable of interbreeding.
A category of closely related and similar organisms. More narrowly defined, a population of individuals capable of interbreeding but not of breeding with members of another species.
A group of individuals that interbreed with each other but not with other such groups. There are however many definitions of species.
a natural group of plants composed of similar individuals that can produce similar offspring.
The basic unit of living things, consisting of a group of individuals which all look more or less alike and which can all breed with each other to produce another generation of similar creatures. Many species are subdivided into sub-species. These normally inhabit different areas and they may differ in appearance, but they can still all interbreed.
a group of living things that share common biological characteristics
Plant species are usually variable in the wild and may be split into three botanically recognized but occasionally overlapping subdivisions; the subspecies (subsp.), the variety (var.) and the form (forma, f.).
Biological classification comprising related organisms that share common characteristics and are capable of interbreeding.
Type of plant genetically different from others.
taxonomic division that generally refers to a group of animals which are similar in structure and descent and are able to breed among themselves.
A population or group of potentially interbreeding populations that is reproductively isolated from other such populations or groups.
A separate and integral reproductive community. (Eldrege)
A group of plants with very similar characteristics; and, a plant originally found in the wild and not the result of hybridisation or plant breeding by horticulturalists
A group of related organisms having common characteristics and capable of interbreeding. Loblolly and Virginia pine are common tree species that can interbreed.
a group of grasses with similar form and/or reproductive mechanisms; the basic unit of biological classification.
A distinct kind of plant.
A fundamental biological classification, comprising a subdivision of a genus and consisting of a number of plants or animals all of which have a high degree of similarity, can generally interbreed only among themselves, and show persistent differences from members of allied species.
An established classification into which similar individuals in the plant or animal kingdom are placed. A species is described as a morphologically distinctive and genetically isolated natural population.
A particular type of plant, animal, or other organism. Species differ from one another in at least one characteristic, and generally do not interbreed. In biology, species is a category that's part of the scientific system for grouping together related plants, animals and other organisms (kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species).
Used to refer to individual gems that have distinct characteristics which may be defined and verified.
A group of animals or plants that share similiar characteristics such as can reproduce.
individuals that are grouped together by having common characteristics and that are capable of interbreeding
A group of organisms different fro...
Basic classification unit of plants comprised of individuals that are recognized as distinct from other species, and which can freely interbreed among themselves.
A set of individuals sharing distinctive characteristics likely to produce common, fertile descendents. The notion of species is used in its broadest sense here and refers not only to species proper but also to subspecies, isolated geographic populations, strains and varieties, whether plant or animal.
a genetically distinctive group of natural populations that share a common gene pool that are reproductively isolated from all other such groups.
a group of closely related individuals that have the potential to reproduce with each other; a unit of classification.
A "species" is generally accepted as a group of individuals that look the same and can breed with each other but not usually with individuals of another species. "Species" is the the lowest level of plant classification. This is part of the science called " taxonomy". Scientists refer to living things by a combined "genus" and "species" name, using Latin terms. For example, people are called " Homo sapiens". A white pine would be called " Pinus strobus". A scientist anywhere in the world can look up information about any living organism by knowing the Latin or scientific name. The genus name is always capitalized. The species name is usually not capitalized. Incidentally, the word " specie" is incorrect. " Species" is the correct singular and plural form of the word. [To return to previous page, click your browser's BACK button then scroll through the page to your last location
In biology a species generally taken to be either the lowest level of taxonomic classification or a group of interbreeding individuals that are reproductively isolated from other organisms. A species in biology is not a "kind" in Plato's sense of the word.
This is the scientific, taxonomic name of a living thing.
In plant classification, a group of plants with common characteristics that can cross-breed with one another.
a group of organisms that mate freely in nature and can produce viable offspring
Populations whose individuals freely breed with one another and vary only slightly from one another.
The basic category of biological classification consisting of similar organisms that are capable of mating and reproduction
is one of the most specific of several levels of classification for a plant. They are ranked in levels from largest to smallest groupings first by kingdom, then by phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
The name of a category that is part of the scientific classification of all organisms. The category species is located in the classification system after kingdom, phylum, class, order, family and genus. Humans, for example, belong to the species sapiens and are identified by the scientific name Homo (genus) sapiens (species).
A group of closely related organisms that are capable of interbreeding and are reproductively isolated from other groups of organisms (in other words, they can breed among themselves and not with others); the basic unit of biological classification.
Major subdivision of a genus of plants. A biological classification composed of related plant individuals.
The type of wood, such as spruce or fir. Each species has different characteristics as well as strengths and weaknesses.
A group of organisms that can interbreed under natural conditions to produce fertile offspring
A group of organisms consisting of similar individuals capable of exchanging genes or interbreeding. See also "classification."
(n) A group of animals or plants within a genus differing only in minor details form the others, and able to breed with each other but not with other groups
An internationally established botanical classification of trees.
a genetically distinct group, consisting of related individuals that resemble each other in appearance and behavior, and can breed among themselves but not, with some exceptions, with other species
1. In biological classifications, it is the lowest and most basic unit of the Linnaean taxonomic hierarchy (although it is also divisible into subspecies), and one of the two required titles of a binomial name. In nature, a species is a group of organisms that breed only amongst themselves and produce offspring that are also capable of reproducing. 2. In chemistry, a group of constituents or molecules, that share major chemical similarities. For example, Hg0 and Hg+2, or CO and CO2.
Abbreviated to spp. (singular = sp.). A group of individuals which interbreed with each other, but generally not with other species.
A fundamental category of taxonomic classification, ranking below a genus.
A group of related organisms which are capable of interbreeding.
In classification, a species is a group of closely related organisms that can reproduce. A group of similar species forms a genus. In the scientific name of an organism, the second name is its species (for example, people are Homo sapiens - our species is sapiens).
The biological species concept is the most widely accepted method for categorizing living species, especially for vertebrates. It defines a species as members of populations that actually or potentially interbreed in nature, not according to similarity of appearance. Although appearance is helpful in identifying species, it does not define a biological species.
A single, distinct class of living creature with features that distinguish it from others.
a group of plants or animals that are of the same type or origin
A group of interbreeding individuals, not interbreeding with another such group, being a taxonomic unit including two names in binomial nomenclature, the generic name and specific epithet, similar and related species being grouped into a genus. From the Latin, species, "particular kind."
Related strains of a plant that occur naturally.
A group of organisms that are biologically capable of exchanging genes with each other but are incapable of exchanging genes with other such groups.
n: The boundaries of this taxonomic level (the most precise in the hierarchical system of binomial nomenclature ) are hotly debated among scientists and there is little real consensus about where to draw the lines between species, subspecies, morphs, races, variants, etc. In general, a species is a group of organisms that resemble one another in appearance, general behavior, ecological niche, chemical makeup and processes, and genetic structure. Organisms that reproduce sexually are classified as members of the same species only if they can actually or potentially interbreed with one another and produce fertile offspring. It should be noted that some (though quite few) taxonomists believe the species level of classification is frequently invalid and these scientists only recognize classifications down to the level of genus (again, these taxonomists represent a very small minority view).
Fundamental unit of biological taxonomy. Generally spoken, two individuals belong to the same species if they can produce fertile offspring
The basic category of biological classification, displaying a high degree of mutual similarity determined by a consensus of informed opinion; a subcategory of genus. ( 16)
Group of closely related individuals, resembling one another in certain inherited characteristics.
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. Species is the smallest group of classification. A species generally consists of all the individual organisms of a natural population which are able to interbreed, generally sharing similar appearance, characteristics and genetics due to having relatively recent common ancestors.
Species (used as a noun) in metaphysics are defined by their genus (genos) and differentia (diaphora).
The Species film series is the group of films that take place in the Species universe.
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This armor can be identified by its decoration as having belonged to Pedro II (reigned 1683–1706). The decoration includes the crowned monogram PR for Pedro Rex (Pedro the King) and the cross of the commander of the Order of Christ, a hereditary office held by the kings of Portugal.Harquebusiers were armored cavalrymen generally equipped with a carbine (known as a harquebus) carried at the right side on a shoulder belt, a pair of pistols holstered at the front of the saddle, and a sword. This form of armor, consisting of a triple-barred helmet, a cuirass with a bulletproof reinforcing breastplate, and an elbow gaunlet, was commonplace in England up to about 1645. The armor of King Pedro is significant not only as a very late example of this type but also as the probable work of the London armorer Richard Holden. A very similar armor made by Holden in 1686 for James II of England (reigned 1685–88) is in the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London. The armor is shown with an associated buff coat. This sturdy leather defense, which provided effective protection against sword cuts, was worn throughout the seventeenth century, first in conjunction with armor and later alone.
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February has been named Dental Health Awareness and Prevention Month in North Dakota.
The proclamation, which was made by Governor Jack Dalrymple on Thursday, promotes the encouragement of families to review preventive measures to ensure healthy teeth, gums and mouths.
"Dental health is often an area of health care that is overlooked, but is so important for a person's overall health," said Kimberlie Yineman, director of the North Dakota Department of Health's Oral Health Program. "By increasing awareness, we are hoping that we can prevent serious long-term health issues."
According to the proclamation made by Dalrymple, "tooth decay affects more than one-fourth of U.S. children ages 2 to 5 years and half of those ages 12 to 15 years, and 20 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19 years currently have untreated decay."
The Department of Health encourages everyone to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, floss once a day, visit a dentist regularly for checkups, and to get a professional cleaning on a regular basis.
"It's also important for parents to make sure that children are taking care of their teeth," Yineman said, adding that limiting sugary snacks, soda and sports drinks between meals are among the simple ways to ensure good dental health.
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readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
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Saving Women’s Lives: Strategies for Improving Breast Cancer Detection and Diagnosis
FIGURE 3-4 Mammographic sensitivity increases with a woman’s age.
screens, but a higher percentage of abnormal mammograms, biopsies, and false-positive findings. Therefore—if judged by rates of false positives—the apparent performance of a mammography service or individual radiologist would be influenced by the proportion of how many women are receiving their first mammogram.
Performance and Volume
A relationship between the volume of procedures performed and the outcome of those procedures has been established for many complex medical procedures, particularly in surgery and oncology.55 Many studies have suggested that the volume of mammograms read by a radiologist is correlated with accuracy, and mammography volume standards are mandated by federal law. However, relatively few studies have directly compared the number of mammograms read by a radiologist and the accuracy of their interpretations. The results of these are variable, and are shown in Table 3-4. The most comprehensive study to date was the analysis by Beam and his colleagues in 2003,12 which indicated that the volume of mammograms interpreted by a radiologist accounts for less than 2.5 percent of the variation. This means that more than 97 percent of inconsistency in interpretation is due to other factors.
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readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
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as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
rizes some of the more robust findings by listing some phyla from which rRNAs were studied to the right and the inferred branching patterns of the rRNAs on the left, with the implied appearance of some design elements in metazoan body plans indicated. A few of the design elements require comment. For present purposes, the unqualified terms "hemocoel" and "coelom" refer to fluid-filled spaces usually used as hydrostatic skeletons—the former being developed from the topological position of the blastocoel, the latter being developed within mesoderm. Spaces devoted only to serving organs (commonly as ducts or as buffering against solid tissues) are termed "organ hemocoels" or ''organ coeloms." "Seriation" refers to longitudinal repetition of organs, muscles, or other features but not necessarily in a correlated fashion, while "segmentation" refers to serial repetition with correlation among organ systems.
Many of the metazoan relationships indicated in Figure 4 are quite conventional, such as the sequence of choanoflagellates/poriferans/cnidarians/platyhelminths, the sister-group relationship of platyhelminths with higher metazoans, and the sister-group relationship of protostomes with deuterostomes. Less conventional, though hardly shocking, is the sister-group relationship of the arthropods with the unresolved cluster of protostomes, which includes mollusks and annelids. This is a particularly important branching, because it suggests that the last common ancestor of the protostomes was hemocoelic and that the coelom(s) of the deuterostomes arose independently of the coelom(s) of the protostomes. This branching also suggests that arthropod and annelid segmentation arose independently. The next deeper branching, between protostomes and deuterostomes, suggests that while their last common ancestor was not coelomic and need not have been hemocoelic, it did have a blood-vascular system. Other interpretations are possible but they are less parsimonious.
Late Precambrian Body Plans. The list of phyla on the right of Figure 4 indicates the body plans of the living organisms studied but certainly does not indicate the body plans of the common ancestors deeper within the branching pattern. On present evidence all of the branching between the choanoflagellate/poriferan and the arthropod/unresolved protostome branches occurred during the Precambian. The bilaterian traces of the Vendian must have been made by descendants of the platyhelminth/higher metazoan branch. The simple earliest trails require active worms with some hydrostatic system, possibly a tissue skeleton, or fluid in part; the relief indicated by these traces implies a non-flat body and that, in turn, a blood-vascular system. Such a worm, a vascularized "roundish flatworm," acoelomate (except possibly for organ spaces), probably
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The Old Town of Narva
The capital of Estonia - Tallinn (Old Town) is told to be a city, built in gothic style; Tartu is told to be a town of classicist style (university, buildings of the central part of the town). Up to the World War II, Narva was famous for its universal style where the gothic, baroque and classicism were mixed. Later, when Narva started expanding and its suburbs were actively built, the Old Town began to be called the Old Narva. Its story began with the terrible fire in 1659, after which only three houses and the fortress remained. After this accident, stone buildings were only allowed to be built in the central part of the town. Incomes from the flourishing trade allowed to erect the stone buildings and, at the same time, build them at breakneck speed. Thus, in two decades, the new stone town centre extended for approximately twenty hectares. For Narva of the 17th century, the two-stored plastered buildings with plentifully decorated portals (main entrances) and the majestic weathercocks were typical. Houses' corner towers (bay windows) were one of the characteristic features of Narva architecture. The heart of the Old Narva was at the Town Hall's square. Town Hall, a striking example of the classicism, was the most important building at the square. At the southern side of the square, the vazhnya was situated (Board of Weights and Measures). There were Baroque residential constructions beside it. Moreover, there also was a chemist's shop. The exchange building (1695-1704), situated across the Town Hall, was opposite the vazhnya and the chemist's shop. The house of the burggraf Jurgen Thunder (in the Middle Ages, the town's head with military and court duties) situated in the eastern part of the square, at the corner of the Suur and Ruutli streets, across the Town Hall's building. Narva's Old Town was destroyed because of the Soviet Union's air force's bombing attacks on March 6 and 8, 1944. In summer 1944, when German forces were retreating, they blew up a few churches, Ivangorod's fortress, Krenholm manufactory's production buildings and many houses. The majority of Old Narva buildings' walls remained after the artillery and bombing attacks. First, the roofs and interior structures of the buildings were destroyed. A part of Old Narva was planned to be reconstructed soon after the war, and the whole Old Narva was taken under State's protection in 1947. In 1950, however, Narva town authorities decided to pull down building's ruins, situated in the town centre. As a result, only three buildings were reconstructed - Narva Town Hall and two houses. Until the last moment it was planned to reconstruct Peter the Great's house and the exchange building. After all, its walls were also pulled down. It is frequently asked why Old Narva was not reconstructed. However, there is no direct response. Then, the walls' destruction was grounded on the necessity of obliterating wars' vestiges. It was also said that the vagabondage was settling among the ruins.
Certainly, huge expenses, needed for its restoration were the main reason of the rejection of Old Narva reconstruction. At last, the point of the ideological causes is that the Old Town represented the culture of the West town architecture and, by taking the ruins away, it became possible to built there the Soviet town. Today, blue and yellow Narva flag is hung out in the anniversary of the bombing of Narva on March 6.
The Town Hall
Being built at the end of 60ies of the 17th century, Narva Town Hall was the most representative public-service building in Narva. Swedish king Charles XI gave an order to the town authorities to build the Town Hall. The project of the master George Teuffel from Lubeck formed the basis of the building, the construction of which started in 1688. After three years, at the latest in 1691, the building was finished when a gold-plated forged weathercock in the form of a crane was put at the top of the tower (it was made by master Grabben). Interior furnishing lasted for another four years. In succeeding years, the clock was installed at the attic, building of the stairs in the Town Hall was finished and portal, brought from Stockholm, was set. Grate of the artistic smithery that connected stairs and handrails (at that time it was gold-plated) and the door-bell (metal ring striking against the door used as a door-bell) were finished last. Indoor wall painting beautified the Town Hall in abundance. During the World War II, the Town Hall was severely damaged: the tower, the roof, the flooring were destroyed, the stairs and the figures at the portal got considerable damages. During the renovation works in the Town Hall (1956-1963), the tower was rebuilt, and the building attained the new roof; the facade and the portal were reconstructed, and the grate that connected stairs and handrails was restored. During the reconstruction, festive entrance hall was only kept from the all-indoor decoration where the stair and the ceiling girders, decorated with the painting were restored. Today the Town Hall is a three-stored stone building with a huge socle store. Elevation of the building is divided by eight Tuscan pilasters where there is a high roof with a well-proportioned tower and baroque cupola, crowning it. There is a crane, the symbol of the vigilance, at the top of the tower. The windows lie in the same plane with an outside wall, which is typical for Narva town. The building is beautified by the portal with three figures that are symbols of three ethical principles: equity, wisdom and moderation. Exactly on the basis of these principles, justice in the Town Hall had to be administered. Historical town's emblem was situated among the figures: at the dark blue escutcheon, there were sword, sabre and three shots that are the symbols of importance of the town as a fortress at the border of the East (sabre) and the West (sword). Two fishes were represented between the symbols of the boundary town. According to one of the hypothesis, they represent the fishery, given to the town by its rulers. In the old days, Estonian ponds were renowned for its fair amount of fish. According to the folk rumours, Peter the Great, while ratifying the emblem of the town in 1585, said: "Be silent as fishes are, and thus you will be obedient to the new rule."
After the renovation works in the Town Hall (1960-1963), there resided the Palace of Pioneers in the name of Victor Kingisepp. For the recent years, the Town Hall is abandoned. However, in the distant prospect, it is planned to become a representative building of town counc
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|Bailey's Ecoregions and Subregions of the
United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
What this map layer shows:
Ecoregions defined by common climatic and vegetation characteristics,
shown as domains, divisions, provinces and sections.
Ecoregions are ecosystems of regional extent. Bailey's ecoregions distinguish
areas that share common climatic and vegetation characteristics. A
four-level hierarchy is used to differentiate the ecoregions, with the
broadest classification being the domain. Domains are groups of related
climates and are differentiated based on precipitation and temperature.
There are four domains used for worldwide ecoregion classification and
all four appear in the United States: the polar domain, the humid temperate
domain, the dry domain, and the humid tropical domain. Divisions represent
the climates within domains and are differentiated based on precipitation
levels and patterns as well as temperature. Divisions are subdivided
into provinces, which are differentiated based on vegetation or other
natural land covers. Mountainous areas that exhibit different ecological
zones based on elevation are identified at the province level. The
finest level of detail is described by subregions, called sections,
which are subdivisions of provinces based on terrain features.
The purpose of ecological land classification is to provide information
for both the development of resources and the conservation of the environment.
Government and private land managers use this information to estimate
ecosystem productivity, to determine probable responses to land management
practices, and to address environmental issues over large areas, such
as air pollution, forest disease, or threats to biodiversity. This
map layer was compiled by the USDA
The Bailey's Ecoregions and Subregions of the United States, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands map layer shows the ecoregion domains,
divisions, provinces, and sections for this area. Further information
on domains, divisions, and provinces is available from the USDA Forest
Service Rocky Mountain Research Station page describing Ecoregions
of the United States, and detailed information on sections is available
through the USDA Forest Service page, Ecological
Subregions of the United States.
The National Atlas also includes a map layer showing Omernik's
Level III Ecoregions, which are defined by a wide variety of characteristics,
including vegetation, animal life, geology, soils, water, climate,
and human land use, as well as other living and non-living ecosystem components.
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Lovelace, the rockhopper penguin that answers life's questions in the animated film "Happy Feet", probably would be just as stumped as the researchers who reported Friday that the population of his northern relatives has declined by 90 percent over the last 50 years.
The population of northern rockhopper penguins once reached into the millions, but now the largest colonies are estimated at between 32,000 to 65,000 pairs on Gough Island, and 40,000 to 50,000 pairs on Tristan da Cunha Island, according to a study in the journal Bird Conservation International.
Those two South Atlantic islands, which are British overseas territories, account for more than 80 percent of the total species population.
"Historically, we know that penguins were exploited by people, and that wild dogs and pigs probably had an impact on their numbers," Richard Cuthbert of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and lead author of the paper, said in a statement. "However, these factors cannot explain the staggering declines since the 1950s, when we have lost upwards of a million birds from Gough and Tristan."
"The declines at Gough since the 1950s are equivalent to losing 100 birds every day for the last 50 years", he added.
"With more than half the world’s penguins facing varying degrees of extinction, it is imperative that we establish the exact reason why the Northern Rockhopper Penguin is sliding towards oblivion," he said. "Understanding what's driving the decline of this bird will help us understand more about other threatened species in the Southern Ocean."
Possible factors, the researchers said, include climate change, shifts in marine ecosystems and overfishing.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds accused British government agencies of internal bickering that has delayed any action to protect the species.
"They are completely disinterested," RSPB staffer Sarah Sanders said of the government. "It's ridiculous and embarrassing. We are meant to be world leaders in biodiversity conservation and we can't even decide who is responsible for the overseas territories."
Other penguin species had been considered in generally good health until recently. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service last December proposed listing the African penguin as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and five others as threatened: the yellow-eyed penguin, the white-flippered penguin, the Fiordland crested penguin and the erect-crested penguin, all from New Zealand; as well as the Humboldt penguin of Chile and Peru.
© 2013 msnbc.com Reprints
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September is Preparedness Month ~ Be prepared for wildfires ~
Posted on 9/2/2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cecily Fong
September 2, 2008
Bismarck, ND - With fall fire season nearly upon us, the ND Department of Emergency Services (NDDES) reminds North Dakotans that dry conditions exist in many areas of the state and the risk of wild fire continues to be high. It is important to be aware of a few important factors that will ensure that you and your family are safe.
Learn and teach safe fire practices.
Build fires away from nearby trees or bushes.
Always have a way to extinguish the fire quickly and completely.
Never leave a fire--even a cigarette--burning unattended.
Avoid open burning completely, and especially during dry season.
Always be ready for an emergency evacuation.
Know where to go and what to bring with you.
Plan several escape routes in case roads are blocked by a wildfire.
Children should be aware of evacuation routes and families should practice them together.
Know how to report a fire.
Be aware of your surroundings so you can give a good and accurate location.
Give an approximate size and describe any homes or structures that may be threatened.
Stay on the line to help give further information as requested.
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Optical fibers are circular dielectric wave-guides that can transport optical energy and information. They have a central core surrounded by a concentric cladding with slightly lower (by ≈ 1%) refractive index. Fibers are typically made of silica with index-modifying dopants such as GeO2. A protective coating of one or two layers of cushioning material (such as acrylate) is used to reduce cross talk between adjacent fibers and the loss-increasing microbending that occurs when fibers are pressed against rough surfaces.
For greater environmental protection, fibers are commonly incorporated into cables. Typical cables have a polyethylene sheath that encases the fiber within a strength member such as steel or Kevlar strands.
The Fiber as a Dielectric Wave-Guide: Fiber Modes
Since the core has a higher index of refraction than the cladding, light will be confined to the core if the angular condition for total internal reflectance is met. The fiber geometry and composition determine the discrete set of electromagnetic fields, or fiber modes, which can propagate in the fiber.
There are two broad classifications of modes: radiation modes and guided modes. Radiation modes carry energy out of the core; the energy is quickly dissipated. Guided modes are confined to the core, and propagate energy along the fiber, transporting information and power. If the fiber core is large enough, it can support many simultaneous guided modes. Each guided mode has its own distinct velocity and can be further decomposed into orthogonal linearly polarized components. Any field distribution within the fiber can be expressed as a combination of the modes. The two lowest-order guided modes of a circularly symmetrical fiber designated LP01 and LP11 are illustrated in Figure 1.
When light is launched into a fiber, the modes are excited to varying degrees depending on the conditions of the launch input cone angle, spot size, axial centration and the like. The distribution of energy among the modes evolves with distance as energy is exchanged between them. In particular, energy can be coupled from guided to radiation modes by perturbations such as microbending and twisting of the fiber increasing the attenuation.
Bandwidth of an optical fiber determines the data rate. The mechanism that limits a fibers bandwidth is known as dispersion. Dispersion is the spreading of the optical pulses as they travel down the fiber. The result is that pulses then begin to spread into one another and the symbols become indistinguishable. There are two main categories of dispersion, intermodal and intramodal.Figure 1aLP01 Mode DistributionFigure 1bLP11 Mode DistributionFigure 1DispersionFigure 2Cross section view of optical fiber and single fiber cable.
As its name implies, intermodal dispersion is a phenomenon between different modes in an optical fiber. Therefore this category of dispersion only applies to mulitmode fiber. Since all the different propagating modes have different group velocities, the time it takes each mode to travel a fixed distance is also different. Therefore as an optical pulse travels down a multimode fiber, the pulses begin to spread, until they eventually spread into one another. This effect limits both the bandwidth of multimode fiber as well as the distance it can transport data.
Intramodal Dispersion, sometimes called material dispersion, is a result of material properties of optical fiber and applies to both single-mode and multimode fibers. There are two distinct types of intramodal dispersion: chromatic dispersion and polarization-mode dispersion.
The index of refraction varies depending upon wavelength. Therefore, different wavelengths will travel down an optical fiber at different velocities. This is known as Chromatic Dispersion.
This principle implies that a pulse with a wider FWHM will spread more than a pulse with a narrower FWHM. Dispersion limits both the bandwidth and the distance that information can be supported. This is why for long communications links it is desirable to use a laser with a very narrow line width. Distributed Feedback (DFB) lasers are popular for communications because they have a single longitudinal mode with a very narrow line width.
Polarization Mode Dispersion (PMD) is actually another form of material dispersion. Single-mode fiber supports a mode, which consists of two orthogonal polarization modes. Ideally, the core of an optical fiber is perfectly circular. However, the fact that in reality, the core is not perfectly circular, and mechanical stresses such as bending introduce birefringency in the fiber, causes one of the orthogonal polarization-modes to travel faster than the other, hence causing dispersion of the optical pulse.
Light power propagating in a fiber decays exponentially with length due to absorption and scattering losses. Attenuation is the single most important factor determining the cost of fiber optic telecommunication systems, as it determines spacing of repeaters needed to maintain acceptable signal levels.
In the near infrared and visible regions, the small absorption losses of pure silica are due to tails of absorption bands in the far infrared and ultraviolet. Impurities notably water in the form of hydroxyl ions are much more dominant causes of absorption in commercial fibers. Recent improvements in fiber purity have reduced attenuation losses. State-of-the-art systems can have attenuation on the order of 0.1 dB/km.
Scattering can couple energy from guided to radiation modes, causing loss of energy from the fiber. There are unavoidable Rayleigh scattering losses from small-scale index fluctuations frozen into the fiber when it solidifies. This produces attenuation proportional to l/λ4. Irregularities in core diameter and geometry or changes in fiber axis direction also cause scattering. Any process that imposes dimensional irregularities such as microbending increases scattering and hence attenuation.
Typical Spectral Attenuation in SilicaFigure 3DispersionFigure 4Typical Spectral Attenuation in Silica
Numerical Aperture (NA)
The Numerical Aperture (NA) of a fiber is defined as the sine of the largest angle an incident ray can have for total internal reflectance in the core. Rays launched outside the angle specified by a fibers NA will excite radiation modes of the fiber. A higher core index, with respect to the cladding, means larger NA. However, increasing NA causes higher scattering loss from greater concentrations of dopant. A fibers NA can be determined by measuring the divergence angle of the light cone it emits when all its modes are excited.Figure 5Numerical Aperture
Qualitatively, NA is a measure of the light gathering ability of a fiber. It also indicates how easy it is to couple light into a fiber.
The Normalized Frequency Parameter of a fiber, also called the V number, is a useful specification. Many fiber parameters can be expressed in terms of V, such as: the number of modes at a given wavelength, mode cut off conditions, and propagation constants. For example, the number of guided modes in a step index multimode fiber is given by V2/2, and a step index fiber becomes single-mode for a given wavelength when V<2.405. Mathematically, V=2π·NA·a/λ where a is the fiber core radius.
The outer sheath of fiber cables can be removed using electrical cable stripping tools, and scissors or a razor blade can trim the Kevlar strength member. However, the fiber coating must be very carefully removed to avoid damaging the fiber surface flaws and scratches are the cause of most fiber failures. The coating can be removed using our F-STR fiber strippers.
End surface quality is one of the most important factors affecting fiber connector and splice losses. Quality endfaces can be obtained by polishing or by cleaving. Polishing is employed in connector terminations when the fiber is secured in a ferrule by epoxy. The following describes the popular connectors and their endface preparation styles.
Fiber Optic Connector Types
SMA due to its stainless steel structure and low-precision threaded fiber locking mechanism, this connector is used mainly in applications requiring the coupling of high-power laser beams into large-core multimode fibers. Typical applications include laser beam delivery systems in medical, bio-medical, and industrial applications. The typical insertion loss of an SMA connector is greater than 1 dB.
ST the ST connector is used extensively both in the field and in indoor fiber optic LAN applications. Its high-precision, ceramic ferrule allows its use with both multimode and single-mode fibers. The bayonet style, keyed coupling mechanism featuring push and turn locking of the connector, prevents over tightening and damaging of the fiber end. The insertion loss of the ST connector is less than 0.5 dB, with typical values of 0.3 dB being routinely achieved. Drilled-out, metallic ST connectors, with insertion losses of >1 dB, are used with Newports large-core (>140 µm) fibers.
FC the FC has become the connector of choice for single-mode fibers and is mainly used in fiber-optic instruments, SM fiber optic components, and in high-speed fiber optic communication links. This high-precision, ceramic ferrule connector is equipped with an anti-rotation key, reducing fiber endface damage and rotational alignment sensitivity of the fiber. The key is also used for repeatable alignment of fibers in the optimal, minimal-loss position. Multimode versions of this connector are also available. The typical insertion loss of the FC connector is around 0.3 dB. Drilled-out, metallic FC connectors, having insertion losses of >1 dB, are being used with Newports large-core (>140 µm) fibers.
SC the SC connector is becoming increasingly popular in single-mode fiber optic telecom and analog CATV, field deployed links. The high-precision, ceramic ferrule construction is optimal for aligning single-mode optical fibers. The connectors outer square profile combined with its push-pull coupling mechanism, allow for greater connector packaging density in instruments and patch panels. The keyed outer body prevents rotational sensitivity and fiber endface damage. Multimode versions of this connector are also available. The typical insertion loss of the SC connector is around 0.3 dB.
Connector Endface Preparation
Once the optical fiber is terminated with a particular connector, the connector endface preparation will determine what the connector return loss, also known as back reflection, will be. The back reflection is the ratio between the light propagating through the connector in the forward direction and the light reflected back into the light source by the connector surface. Minimizing back reflection is of great importance in high-speed and analog fiber optic links, utilizing narrow line width sources such as DFB lasers, which are prone to mode hopping and fluctuations in their output.Figure 6Connector EndfacesFigure 7A typical F-BK3 cleave is clean, flat and perpendicular.
Flat Polish a flat polish of the connector surface will result in a back reflection of about -16 dB (4%).
PC Polish the Physical Contact (PC) polish results in a slightly curved connector surface, forcing the fiber ends of mating connector pairs into physical contact with each other. This eliminates the fiber-to-air interface, there by resulting in back reflections of -30 to -40 dB. The PC polish is the most popular connector endface preparation, used in most applications.
SPC and UPC Polish in the Super PC (SPC) and Ultra PC (UPC) polish, an extended polishing cycle enhances the surface quality of the connector, resulting in back reflections of -40 to -55 dB and < -55dB, respectively. These polish types are used in high-speed, digital fiber optic transmission systems.
APC Polish the Angled PC (APC) polish, adds an 8 degree angle to the connector endface. Back reflections of <-60 dB can routinely be accomplished with this polish.
Fiber Cleaving is the fastest way to achieve a mirror-flat fiber end it takes only seconds. The basic principle involves placing the fiber under tension, scribing with a diamond or carbide blade perpendicular to the axis, and then pulling the fiber apart to produce a clean break. Our F-BK3 or FK11 Cleavers make the process especially quick and easy. It is wise to inspect fiber ends after polishing or cleaving.
Coupling Light into Fibers
Good coupling efficiency requires precise positioning of the fiber to center the core in the focused laser beam. For multimode fibers, with their large cores, fiber positioners (e.g., Newports FP Series) can achieve good coupling efficiency. Single-mode fibers require more elaborate couplers with submicron positioning resolution, like the ULTRAlign and 562F stainless steel positioners and the F-915 and F-1015 Couplers. These are also useful with multimode fibers when maximum coupling efficiency is required.
The characteristics of the focused beam must match the fiber parameters for good coupling efficiency. For multimode fibers this is straightforward. General guidelines are:
The focused spot should be comparable to the core size.
The incident cone angle should not exceed the arcsine of the NA of the fiber (e.g. 23° for 0.2 NA and 35° for 0.3 NA).
To maximize coupling into a single-mode fiber, you must match the incident field distribution to that of the fiber mode. For example, the mode profile of the HE11 mode of a step index fiber can be approximated by a Gaussian distribution with a 1/e width w given by:
where: d is the core diameter, and
V is the V-number.
For our F-SV fiber, for which V = 2, the Gaussian width is approximately 28% larger than the core diameter, so the light should be focused to a spot size 1.28 times the core diameter at the fiber surface. For a Gaussian laser beam, the required beam diameter D incident upon focusing lens of focal length f to produce a focused spot of diameter w is D = 4λf/(πw). Given the laser beam waist and divergence, its easy to determine the distance needed between the focusing lens and the laser to expand the beam to the required diameter.
The mode field diameter is now given to provide easier matching of lens to optical fiber for a Gaussian beam.
A high numerical aperture lens must collimate the diverging output beam of a laser diode. Newports F-L Series Diode Laser Focusing Lenses, are AR-coated for high transmittance at popular laser diode wavelengths and with numerical apertures up to 0.5 are useful for collimating or focusing.
Mode Scrambling and Filtering
Many multimode fiber experiments are sensitive to the distribution of power among the fibers modes. This is determined by the launching optics, fiber perturbations, and the fibers length. Mode scrambling is a technique that distributes the optical power in a fiber among all the guided modes. Mode filtering simulates the effects of kilometer lengths of fiber by attenuating higher-order fiber modes.Figure 8Launching conditions in a multimode optical fiber.
One scrambling technique is to splice a length of graded-index fiber between two pieces of step-index fiber this ensures that the downstream fibers core is overfilled regardless of launch conditions. Mode filtering can be achieved by wrapping a fiber several times around a finger-sized mandrel; bending sheds the high-order modes.
One way to achieve both scrambling and filtering is to introduce microbending to cause rapid coupling between all fiber modes and attenuation of high-order modes. One approach is to place a stripped section of fiber in a box filled with lead shot. A more precise way is to use Newports FM-1 Mode Scrambler. This specially designed tool uses a calibrated mechanism to introduce microbending for mode scrambling and filtering.
(a) Overfilled (b) UnderfilledFigure 9A schematic of Coupling of light into an optical fiberFigure 10Mode scrambler for optical fibers. The bends tend to couple out higher-order and radiation modes and to distribute the light into a distribution of modes that will remain stable over long distances.
Cladding Mode Removal
Some light is invariably launched into a fibers cladding. Though cladding modes dissipate rapidly with fiber length, they can interfere with measurements. For example, the output of a single-mode fiber will not have a Gaussian distribution if light is propagating in the cladding. You can remove cladding modes by stripping a length of fiber coating and immersing the bare fiber in an index matching fluid such as glycerin.
Common Optical Parameters
The following is a list of common optical parameters associated with fiber optic components. Please call or visit Newports website for application notes on how to measure these parameters.Figure 11
Port Configuration: Number of input ports x number of output ports. e.g. 2 x 2
Coupling Ratio: The ratio of the power at an output port to the launched power expressed in dB. e.g. -10log (P2/P1).
Isolation: The ratio of the power at an output port in the transmitted wavelength band to that in the extinguished wavelength band, expressed in dB.
Directivity: The ratio of the power returned to any other input port to the launched power, expressed in dB. e.g.-10log (P4/P1).
Bandwidth: The range of operating wavelengths over which performance parameters are specified.
Excess Loss: The ratio of the total power at all output ports to the launched power, expressed in dB. e.g. -10log [(P2+P3)/P1].
Uniformity: The difference between maximum and minimum insertion losses.
Extinction Ratio: The ratio of the residual power in an extinguished polarization state to the transmitted power, expressed in dB.
Return Loss: The ratio of the power returned to the input port to the launched power, expressed in dB. e.g.-10log (P5/P1).
Polarization-Dependent Loss (PDL): The maximum (peak-to-peak) variation in insertion loss as the input polarization varies, expressed in dB.
Fiber Optic Communications
The theoretical bandwidth of optical fiber transmission in the 1550 nm window alone is on the order of terabits. Current fiber optic systems have not even begun to utilize the enormous potential bandwidth that is possible.
There are two methods that are employed to achieve an increase in bandwidth. The first is known as Time Division Multiplexing or TDM. Multiple channels are transmitted on a single carrier by increasing the modulation rate and allotting a time slot to each channel. However, more sophisticated high-speed electronics, at both the transmitting and receiving ends of the communications link, are required when increasing the bit rate of a system. And as the bit rate increases, inherent modulation limiting characteristics of optical fibers become dominant. Chromatic and polarization mode dispersion cause pulse spreading, which affects the signal quality over longer transmission distances.
An alternate method for increasing the capacity of fiber optic communications systems is known as wavelength division multiplexing, or WDM. By this method, capacity can be increased by using more than one optical carrier (wavelength) on a single fiber. Therefore, adding a second transmitter and receiver to an optical fiber can double the bandwidth of that communications system. This method of increasing the capacity of an optical system has appeal for a variety of reasons. If a system were to increase in capacity using TDM alone, the existing transmitter and receiver would be replaced with a faster and more expensive transmitter/receiver pair. Using WDM, the existing transmitter and receiver do not need to be replaced. A second transmitter/receiver pair of a different wavelength is simply added. This is done by coupling, or multiplexing the output of the two lasers into a single fiber. At the receiving end, the two wavelengths are then separated, or demultiplexed, and each optical carrier is routed to its own receiver. For transmission systems using a 1310 nm laser, a second laser at 1550 nm is usually added. The reason for choosing these wavelengths is that they lie in the windows or ranges of least attenuation. This allows the signal to travel a longer distance.
The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) has proposed a set of closely spaced wavelengths in the 1550 nm window. This method of WDM is known as Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing, or DWDM. These different wavelengths or channels, are spaced 100 GHz apart, which is approximately 0.8 nm. This set of channels is commonly known as the ITU-T grid, and is specified in frequency. The reason the 1550 nm window was chosen by the ITU is twofold: it is in one of the windows that has the smallest amount of attenuation; and it also lies in the band in which erbium doped optical amplifiers operate.
ITU-T DWDM Grid
The following diagram is a conceptual example of a fiber optic network.
The All-Optical Network
The all-optical network will be the next evolution in optical communications. Current DWDM systems are point-to-point links meaning that the signals have a single distinct starting and ending point. Research is being performed to help these networks evolve into fully configurable networks, which are not limited to fixed point-to-point links.
Transparency in the optical layer opens many possibilities for the future. Digital and analog transmission can occur on the same fiber. Different bit rates using different protocols will all travel together. Current research is being performed on reconfiguring an optical network in real time. Wavelength selective switching allows wavelengths to be routed through the network individually. Some of the applications of this are for network restoration and redundancy, which may reduce or entirely eliminate the need for an entire back up system to help the network recover from failures such as equipment malfunctions or fiber breaks. A reconfigurable network may offer bandwidth on demand to configure itself to optimize for traffic bottlenecks. The future may also include wavelength translation to convert traffic on one wavelength to another wavelength in the optical domain.
All optical switching is still in the research phase; however, researchers are looking for ways to create reliable, low loss switches with fast switching speeds. Investigation into the possibility of optical packet switching and other novel technologies are currently underway. The all-optical network may be just around the corner.
Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs)
Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) is a subset of Photonic Crystals. The field of PCF was first explored in the latter half of 1990's and quickly evolved into a commercial technology. PCFs are generally divided into two main categories: Index Guiding Fibers that have a solid core, and Photonic Bandgap Fibers that have periodic microstructured elements and a core of low index material (e.g. hollow core). They can provide characteristics that ordinary optical fiber cannot, such as: single-mode operation from the UV to IR with large mode-field diameters, exceptionally high nonlinearity, numerical aperture (NA) ranging from very low to about 0.9, and optimized dispersion properties. Applications of PCFs are found in a wide range of research fields like spectroscopy, metrology, biomedicine, imaging, telecommunication, industrial machining, and military.
Fabrication and CharacteristicsFigure 12Close-up view of PCF preform
The typical starting point for manufacturing of an index guided PCF is an array of hollow capillary silica tubes bundled around a pure silica rod replacing the center capillary. For Photonic Bandgap (PBG) Fibers, one or more capillary tubes may simply be left out in the center of the preform in order to create a hollow 'defect' core. A sleeving tube surrounds the entire assembly that forms the preform. In a fiber draw tower, the preform is heated to around 2000°C and it is carefully pulled into fiber with the aid of gravity and pressure. Typical outer fiber diameter is 125 µm, but diameters from 80 to around 700 µm are routinely fabricated. This fiber maintains the structure of the preform, but now on a microscopic scale. Standard protective polymer coatings are applied to the fibers in order to improve handling characteristics.Figure 13Most PCF fiber can be connectorized too. Call Newport for more information.
The dispersion characteristics of PCFs can be manipulated to create fibers having zero, low, or anomalous dispersion at visible wavelengths. The dispersion can also be flattened. Combining these features with small mode field areas results in outstanding nonlinear fibers. By altering the pattern of air holes or the materials used, it is possible to manipulate other characteristics of PCFs, such as the single-mode cut-off wavelength, the NA, and the nonlinear coefficient. The design flexibility is very large, and designers can use many different, fascinating, and odd air hole patterns to achieve specific PCF parameters. The triangular arrangement of round air holes in the cladding is typically used to create single-mode fibers. Increasing the air-filling fraction in the cladding typically leads to multimode behavior. An elliptical core can create a highly birefringent fiber that is polarization maintaining.
Silica provides superior fiber performance for most applications with wavelengths between 200 and 2500 nm, but use of other materials can enhance specific parameters like nonlinearity or wave-guiding outside this spectral region. Furthermore, a long list of dopants can be added to silica. Doped silica is now used in a variety of fiber lasers and amplifiers; these could be combined with the unique capabilities of PCFs to provide even more useful devices.
Coupling, splicing and connectorization of PCFs are other important issues because the fibers may have extreme parameters of mode field area and NA; coupling methods are in some cases very different from standard fiber methods. However, users may strip and cleave the PCFs with standard fiber tools. For laboratory use, the fibers are typically just cleaved and used with "open" ends. In such cases, it is important to avoid direct exposure of the fiber ends to any liquids since the capillary forces in the holes may draw the liquids several centimeters into the fiber, and thus disturb the wave-guiding properties.
PCFs can be spliced to standard fibers (and take advantage of the various connector schemes of such fibers), or the PCFs may be connectorized directly. Newport provides both PCFs spliced to standard fibers and directly connectorized on a semi-custom basis. Note that the mechanical strength of splices, the connectorized fiber core offset and connector-to-connector coupling are not always the same as standard fibers.
Directly connectorized fibers may furthermore provide beam expansion to lower the fiber end facet intensity and reduce the risk of damage at high power levels. Call Newport for more details.
Newport's F-SM, and F-NL Series are index guided fibers. Similar to conventional fibers, index guiding PCFs transport light through a solid core by total internal reflection. The microstructured air-filled region in PCFs effectively lowers the index of the cladding effectively creating a step-index optical fiber. The fiber behaves in many ways like standard step-index fibers, but it has a number of advantages. Index guiding PCFs are made of undoped silica that provides very low losses, sustains high powers and temperature levels, and may withstand nuclear radiation. Depending on PCF design, the air in the cladding may be utilized to yield fibers with extremely low or extremely high index steps.Figure 14Schematic of an index guided PCFFigure 15Cross section of triangular cladding PCF
A typical cross section of an index guided PCF is shown in Fig 14 and 15. The PCF consists of a triangular lattice of air holes where the core is defined by a missing air hole. The pitch is labeled Λ, and measures the period of the hole structure (the distance between the centers of neighboring air holes). The hole size is labeled d, and measures the diameter of the holes. Figure 16Cross section of air-clad PCF
Some PCFs have a cladding refractive index that exhibits a strong wavelength dependence. Together with the inherently large design flexibility, PCFs allow for a whole range of novel properties to be explored. Such properties include endlessly single-mode fibers (F-SM Series), extremely nonlinear fibers and fibers with anomalous dispersion in the visible wavelength region (F-NL Series).
A unique feature of PCFs is that a single fiber may support single-mode operation over a wavelength range from around 300 nm to beyond 2000 nm even for large mode field areas (of several hundred µm2). This allows PCFs to be utilized for transmission of very high powers with high beam quality without running into nonlinear or damage barriers (several hundred Watts for CW operation). On the other hand, the highly nonlinear fibers made as single-mode fibers have extremely small mode field areas (typically around 3 µm2) and confine light to the core region efficiently.
Compared to standard fiber technology, where the light is guided using solid glasses with different refractive indices, several new properties may be realized using PCF technology. For example:
- Fibers that are single-mode in a very broad spectral range (in principle all wavelengths)
- Very small mode sizes may be obtained (down to approx. 1 µm)
- Very large mode sizes may be obtained (up to 25 µm or larger)
- Zero dispersion wavelengths below 1300 nm is possible (down to approx. 600 nm)
- Exceptionally large birefringence close to 10-2 can be realized
- Very high numerical apertures up to 0.9 may be obtained
Hence, PCFs are ideally suited for applications requiring large non-linearities, broadband operation with single-mode guidance, large mode areas, light collection from a large solid angle, etc.Figure 17Large Mode Area fiber (F-SM Series)Figure 18Near field image of F-SM fiber at 1550 nmFigure 19Mode structure of F-SM20 fiber
Formation of broad continuous spectra through propagation of short femto or picosecond-range high power pulses through nonlinear media (also known as supercontinuum generation, or SCG) was first observed in 1970 and has since then been studied extensively in many different materials. The term supercontinuum does not cover a specific phenomenon but rather a plethora of nonlinear effects leading to considerable spectral broadening of optical pulses and thereby potentially octave-spanning output. The involved nonlinear effects depend on the dispersion in the material and count effects like self-phase modulation (SPM), Raman Scattering, phase matching and solitons.
Results on SCG in PCFs have previously been presented with pumping in the anomalous dispersion regime or at the zero-dispersion wavelength in both the visible and the infrared wavelength range. Most experiments utilize femtosecond pumping as this results in spectacularly broad spectra. Picosecond pumping yields more narrow spectra, but does so with far cheaper laser sources and is therefore commercially interesting.
Although SCG can be observed in a drop of water given enough pumping power, PCFs are ideal media for SCG as the dispersion can be designed to facilitate continuum generation in a specific region. In this way, it is possible to convert light to both higher and lower wavelength, just like super wide spectra covering more than an octave is achievable at previously unthinkable low power levels.
Practical Supercontinuum Tips
SCG-800 and SCG-800-CARS (see Supercontinuum Generation Fiber Devices ) are ideal in generating supercontinuum using an ultrafast laser. When coupling light from a femtosecond laser into a crystal fiber, a number of issues regarding pulse distortion must be addressed to achieve the optimum performance. In this section, we discuss the precautions taken to couple light from a Ti:Sapphire Laser into a 1.7 µm core PCF.
The first issue to be addressed is the 4% reflection from the fiber surface, which can lead to a distortion of the pulse train and in severe cases will stop the laser from mode-locking. Cleaving the fiber at an angle can minimize back reflections. However, we recommend that the problem be avoided by the use of a Faraday Isolator. Coupling out a small portion of the beam and directing it to Newport's PulseScout Autocorrelators (see PulseScout Autocorrelator) allows for real-time monitoring of the pulse width and beam quality.
The femtosecond pulses are easily coupled into the fiber through standard microscope objectives. Magnifications of 40x and 60x provide good results. Aspheric ball lenses can also be used, but as these are not achromatic, they should not be used with short femtosecond pulses due to the broad spectral range of these pulses. The dispersion in the microscope objective should be compensated using a precompensating prism or grating compressor in order to launch the shortest possible (i.e. highest intensity) pulse into the fiber. The diameter of the laser beam should match the aperture of the microscope objective. This is easily achieved with a standard telescope.
Nonlinear effects are inherently very sensitive to variations in the input power, thus a very stable mount is needed. To avoid displacement of the fiber end due to thermal, acoustic and other unwanted effects, the fiber should be mounted as close to the end as possible. Gluing the fiber to the mount, or using a connectorized fiber, can create further stability.
If polarization-maintaining fibers are used, the polarization axis of the linearly polarized femtosecond pulses should coincide with one of the principal axes in the fiber. The relative orientation of the axes can be controlled either by a half-wave plate or by rotating the fiber. To find the principal axis one can measure the polarization state of the output and rotate the half-wave plate or the fiber until the output is linearly polarized.
When using the above described alignment procedure, coupling efficiencies well above 40% are routinely achieved.
Geometry and Strength of F-SM Fibers
In order to screen the fibers from microbending losses, the F-SM Series are fabricated with large cladding diameters for the largest core sizes. All fibers have a single-layer acrylate coating, and have been proof tested with a tension of at least 5.0 N.
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First a meteor exploded over Russia, followed closely by an asteroid fly-by. Now, two comets are expected to put on a naked-eye spectacle for sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere.
Up first is Comet Pan-STARRS, which gets its funky name from the telescope credited with discovering it in June 2001: the Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System in Hawaii.
The comet is already visible through telescopes in the Southern Hemisphere, and it should swing into view over the Northern Hemisphere beginning around March 8.
It's hard to predict exactly how bright Pan-STARRS will be, but you should be able to see it without binoculars or telescopes, said Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program. It should be about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper.
"There is a chance that it will be a little brighter than this, but likewise, it might not get quite that bright," said Karl Battams of the Naval Research Lab.
Part of the brightness will depend on how close Pan-STARRS gets to the sun. Comets are made up of water, ice, dust and other elements and minerals, all loosely packed together, Battams said. As a comet gets closer to the sun, the sun's heat causes these elements to melt, spewing out dust and gas in a brilliant tail.
"The closer it gets, the more intense the radiation and the more elements will be melted," he said.
Pan-STARRS is expected to get fairly close to the sun. That's bad news for the comet, but it could be a boon for sky watchers if the comet is brighter and easier to see.
Pan-STARRS also could fall apart and fizzle. But if it survives its sunbath, we should be able to see it low on the horizon in the western sky for a couple of weeks, Battams said.
"About half an hour after sunset would be a good time for people take a look," he said.
Here are some key dates:
March 5: Pan-STARRS will be closest to Earth;
March 10: The comet will pass closest to the sun;
March 12 and 13: The best dates to look for Pan-STARRS; it should emerge in the western sunset sky not far from the crescent moon.
Battams has these viewing tips:
1) Safety first: Don't try to look at the comet until the sun sets. Do not look at the sun using regular binoculars or telescopes. Ever! You'll burn up your eyes.
2) Comet Pan-STARRS will stay close to the horizon, so you'll need to get away from trees and buildings.
3) Look carefully! The sky will still be bright at dusk, which can make it hard to spot comets.
4) If the skies are clear, and you are away from city light pollution, you may be able to see the comet with your bare eyes. If not, use binoculars.
5) If you can't escape the city, try using binoculars.
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The avant-garde movements of the early 20th century ushered in a revolution on many fronts: a revolution in the arts, a revolution in political values, and a revolution in thinking itself. In this course, we examine central literary and artistic works of the European avant-garde, studying the movements of Italian futurism, German expressionism, Dada, and French surrealism. At the heart of this course is an inquiry into the crucial nexus of art and politics. What constitutes the central critiques made by the various avant-garde movements? In what ways did these movements induce social and political change? What legacy have they left on our thinking today? Finally, what can we make of the complexities of the avant-garde? How can we understand the futurist leaning toward fascism, the anarchist stance in Dada, and the gender violence in expressionist art and literature? Attention is paid to the visual and verbal arts. We read the genres of poetry, prose, and drama, as well as manifestoes and political tracts. We also view slides of painting, photography, photomontage and performance art. Works by Andr� Breton, Leonora Carrington, Franz Kafka, Mina Loy, F.T. Marinetti, Tristan Tzara, and Frank Wedekind, amongst others. Theoretical texts by Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Peter B�rger, and Georg Luk�cs.
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Water from space is 'raining' onto a planet-forming disc at supersonic speeds, new observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope reveal. The unprecedented detail of the observations at this early stage of the disc's formation could help reveal which of two competing theories of planet formation is correct.
Planets form when matter clumps together in swirling discs of gas and dust, called protoplanetary discs, around infant stars. But many details of how this works are still not known. For example, some scientists think giant planets can form in just a few thousand years, while others argue it takes millions of years.
Now, astronomers led by Dan Watson of the University of Rochester in New York, US, have gained an unprecedented view of a protoplanetary disc at the young age of just a few hundred thousand years old.
They used the Spitzer Space Telescope to examine the spectrum of infrared light coming from the vicinity of an embryonic star called IRAS 4B, which lies about 1000 light years from Earth.
At this very early stage, an outer cocoon of gas and dust called an envelope still surrounds the star and its swirling disc.
Previous observations in the microwave portion of the spectrum suggested that this large cocoon is contracting and sending material onto the disc. But the inner region, where the disc meets the cocoon, could not be seen at these wavelengths.
The Spitzer observations probe this inner region and reveal infrared light emitted by massive amounts of water vapour - the equivalent of five times the content of the Earth's oceans.
The vapour is too hot to be explained by the embryonic star's radiation alone, suggesting another process must be heating it up.
The team believes ice from the cocoon is pelting the disc at a rate faster than the speed of sound there, creating a shock front. "The sonic boom that it endures when it lands on the disc heats it up very efficiently" and vaporises it, Watson told New Scientist.
This supersonic shock "has been searched for and theorised about for decades", Watson says. It is a short-lived phenomenon that only occurs during the first few hundred thousand years of the star and disc formation, while the envelope is still feeding the disc.
The light emitted as the icy particles hit the disc can be used to learn more about the disc itself at this early stage, which could shed light on how planets form.
Most astronomers believe planets form according to a model known as "core accretion", in which small particles snowball into larger and larger objects over millions of years.
A competing idea, called "disc instability", is that turbulence in the disc can cause matter to collapse into planets extremely quickly, producing gas giants such as Jupiter in just a few thousand years.
"If you wanted to test between those scenarios, one of the most important places to look would be the stage we're looking at now," Watson says.
Future observations of such young discs could reveal how turbulent the discs are, and thus whether they boast the conditions required for disc instability, he says. "The whole subject of the very beginnings of the development of solar systems is open to study now," Watson says.
Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington in Seattle, US, agrees. "It's interesting to have a new peek into a period of history of what appears to be a forming planetary system, potentially at a timescale that we've never seen before," he told New Scientist. "It forms another important clue to how planetary systems form."
Journal reference: Nature (vol 448, p 1026)
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Barking Up The Wrong Tree
Mon Mar 19 19:02:04 GMT 2012 by Tony Marshallsay
Having been schooled in the theory of planet formation by agglomeration of dust particles over a period of thousands or millions of years, I have recently ceased believing in it for a number of reasons:
1. If agglomeration works so well, why has the Asteroid Belt not agglomerated to a planet?Of course, recent examination by spacecraft has revealed that, while some asteroids are solid, other "potatoes" are, indeed, agglomerates.
2. The agglomeration theory cannot easily - if at all - explain retrograde planetary spins
3. It is difficult to see how agglomeration and an exceedingly slow increase in self-gravity pressure could result in the creation of "rocky" planets like our Earth, with molten iron cores including heavier, radioactive elements to generate internal heating, since any heat generated by the compression process would be dissipated into space over such a long time, making fusion reactions extremely unlikely.
Accordingly, I have come to the opinion that planets of all types are formed initially not over an exceedingly long time but rather almost instantly as core shards of exploding supernovae.
This view, again, has several implications, viz:
A. Outer core shards consisting of light materials would likely be small, lose heat very quickly and cool into misshapes before being able to become spherical under self-gravity.
B. Inner core shards, on the other hand, would have sufficient thermal capacity and radioactive material to maintain heat long enough to develop a spherical shape and the composition of our Earth (we might thus consider the Earth to be a microcosm of a stellar core, albeit under far less heat and pressure).
C. The shards would be flung in all directions, resulting in the multitude of "free planets" recently observed by Japanese investigators.
D. Some of those free planets would inevitably - sooner or later - become trapped in the gravitational fields of stars, creating planetary systems, such as our own Solar System.
E. The inconsistencies of size and composition of the Solar System's planets can then easily be explained by considering the planets as having been captured "missiles" from various supernovae, perhaps even in other galaxies (do the math - it's possible, even at incredibly slow speeds, when you take a few billion years into consideration).
F. A "Gas Giant" can be formed by a heavy, rocky "seed" gathering a thick coat of gas through happening to have been ejected in the direction of a large gas cloud.
Opinions on the above are welcome (I am becoming accustomed to brickbats descending upon my head from a great height!).
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
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| 3.905187 |
American civil religion
American civil religion is a term given to a shared set of certain fundamental beliefs, values, holidays, and rituals by those who live in the United States of America. These shared values and holidays are based upon, parallel to, but independent of the theological tenets of each specific denomination or religious belief. The notion of a civil religion originated in the United States due to its origins as a religiously diverse nation. From the Pilgrim founders and the other Puritan groups to the numerous other groups fleeing religious persecution, the American nation had a unique experience and developed a system that allowed for maximum freedom of religion for individuals and groups while allowing no one religious denomination to dominate. In this context, the nation developed a religious, primarily Protestant ethos and set of values based on religion but not overtly based on any one tradition.
The term was coined by sociologist Robert Bellah in 1967. The article in which the term is coined, "Civil Religion in America," sparked one of the most controversial debates in United States sociology. Soon after the paper was published, the topic became the major focus at religious sociology conferences and numerous articles and books were written on the subject. The debate reached it peak with the American Bicentennial celebration in 1976.
The American civil religion emerged as a means to permit the creation of a distinct national set of values that was not tied to a specific confession. It permitted religion to play a fundamental role in shaping the moral vision of the country but in a way that removed theological concerns from the public arena.
The United States was settled in part by religious dissenters from the established Church of England, who desired a civil society founded on a different religious vision. Consequently, there has never been a state church in the United States and individual state churches have not existed in the United States since the early nineteenth century. Religious denominations compete with one another for allegiance in the public square. These facts have created a public discourse which accepts regular displays of religious piety by political leaders but in a vocabulary which captures the common values embraced by diverse religious traditions but eschews the particular theological tenets. Unlike countries with established state churches, where the specific religious basis of political discourse is held in common and therefore taken for granted, American civil society developed a way of discussing the intersection of religious and political values in non-theological terms.
Three periods of crisis
In the book The Broken Covenant Bellah argued that America has experienced three periods when a large number of Americans were cynical about the American creed:
Once in each of the last three centuries America has faced a time of trial, a time of testing so severe that … the existence of our nation has been called in question … the spiritual glue that had bound the nation together in previous years had simply collapsed.
Creation of the term
Bellah's ideas about civil religion were not novel. Before Bellah wrote his paper in 1967 coining the term "American civil religion" several prominent scholars had alluded to the concept. But there was no common conceptual term to describe, interpret or analyze civic religious faith in America.
Alexis de Tocqueville
The French thinker Alexis de Tocqueville has a special place in the understanding of the role of religion in American history. In addition to defining the economic factors that separated British culture from that of the Americans, Tocqueville found the role of religion in these societies to be significantly different. He found that many of the differences between the Americans and the English stemmed from diverse spiritual practices and freedoms. In Democracy of America Tocqueville stated:
Religion in American takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must be regarded as the first of their political institutions; for if it does not impart a taste for freedom, it facilitates the use of it. Indeed, it is in this same point of view that the inhabitants of the United States themselves look upon religious belief. I do not know whether all Americans have a sincere faith in their religion for who can search the human heart?—but I am certain that they hold it to be indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions. This opinion is not peculiar to a class of citizens or to a party, but it belongs to the whole nation and to every rank of society.
Throughout his career, Tocqueville promoted the importance of religious freedom and education without religious influence. The importance he placed on educational innovation led to his strong defense of religious freedom:
They all attributed the peaceful dominion of religion in their country mainly to the separation of church and state. I do not hesitate to affirm that during my stay in America I did not meet a single individual, of the clergy or the laity, who was not of the same opinion on this point.
He viewed religious independence as not a threat to society, but as an inspiration for further social freedoms, and believed the basic freedoms of education, religion, and the press to ultimately foster the spirit of freedom worldwide.
Yet Tocqueville believed religion to be essential to human success, particularly in democracies:
Despotism may govern without faith, but liberty cannot. Religion is much more necessary in the republic … than in the monarchy … it is more needed in democratic republics than in any others. How is it possible that society should escape destruction if the moral tie is not strengthened in proportion as the political tie is relaxed? And what can be done with a people who are their own masters if they are not submissive to the Deity?
Tocqueville saw in America the realization of the idea that inspired him.
Scholarly progenitors of this idea include John Dewey who spoke of "common faith" (1934); Robin Williams's American Society: A Sociological Interpretation, (1951) which stated there was a "common religion" in America; Lloyd Warner's analysis of the Memorial Day celebrations in "Yankee City" (1953 ); Martin Marty's "religion in general" (1959); Will Herberg who spoke of "the American Way of Life" (1960, 1974); Sidney Mead's "religion of the Republic" (1963); and G. K. Chesterton advanced the thesis that the United States was "the only nation … founded on a creed" and also coined the phrase "a nation with a soul of a church."
In the same period, several distinguished historians such as Yehoshua Arieli, Daniel Boorstin, and Ralph Gabriel "assessed the religious dimension of 'nationalism', the 'American creed', 'cultural religion' and the 'democratic faith'".
Today, according to social scientist Rondald Wimberley and William Swatos, there seems to be a firm consensus among social scientists that there is a part of Americanism that is especially religious in nature, which may be termed "civil religion." But this religious nature is less significant than the "transcendent universal religion of the nation" which late eighteenth century French intellectuals such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about.
Robert Bellah and colleagues
Bellah and fellow scholar Martin E. Marty studied civil religion as a cultural phenomenon, attempting to identify the actual tenets of civil religion in the United States of America, or to study civil religion as a phenomenon of cultural anthropology. Marty wrote that Americans approved of "religion in general" without being particularly concerned about the content of that faith, and attempted to distinguish "priestly" and "prophetic" roles within the practice of American civil religion, which he preferred to call the "public theology." Bellah wrote that civil religion was "an institutionalized collection of sacred beliefs about the American nation." He identified the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Civil Rights Movement as three decisive historical events that impacted the content and imagery of civil religion in the United States. He also identified several modalities within U.S. civil religion related to the biblical categories of the priesthood, prophets, and wisdom tradition.
Empirical evidence supporting Bellah
Ronald Wimberley (1976) and other researchers collected large surveys and factor analytic studies which gave empirical support to Bellah's argument that civil religion is a distinct cultural phenomena within American society which is not embodied in American politics or denominational religion.
Examples of civil religious beliefs are reflected in statements used in the research such as the following:
- "America is God's chosen nation today."
- "A president's authority...is from God."
- "Social justice cannot only be based on laws; it must also come from religion."
- "God can be known through the experiences of the American people."
- "Holidays like the Fourth of July are religious as well as patriotic."
Later research sought to determine who embraces views that could be characterized as part of the American civil religion. In a 1978 study by James Christenson and Ronald Wimberley, the researchers found that a wide cross section of American citizens have such beliefs. In general though, college graduates and political or religious liberals appear to be somewhat less likely to embrace civil religion. Protestants and Catholics have the same level of civil religiosity. Religions that were created in the United States, the Mormons, Adventists, and Pentecostals, have the highest civil religiosity. Jews, Unitarians and those with no religious preference have the lowest civil religion. Even though there is variation in the scores, the "great majority" of Americans are found to share the types of civil religious beliefs which Bellah identified.
Further research found that civil religion plays a role in people's preferences for political candidates and policy positions. In 1980 Ronald Wimberley found that civil religious beliefs were more important than loyalties to a political party in predicting support for Nixon over McGovern with a sample of Sunday morning church goers who were surveyed near the election date and a general group of residents in the same community. In 1982 James Christenson and Ronald Wimberley found that civil religion was second only to occupation in predicting a person's political views.
While some have argued that Christianity is the national faith …few have realized that there actually exists alongside … the churches an elaborate and well-institutionalized civil religion in America -Robert Bellah
Civil religion is neither bona fide religion nor ordinary patriotism, but a new alloy formed by blending religion with nationalism. If civil religions were bona fide religions then one would expect to find a soft side to them, teaching love of neighbor and upholding peace and compassion. But this is not the case. -Stjepan Mestrovic
All links Retrieved July 7, 2008.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Robert Neelly Bellah, "Civil Religion in America" Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 96 (1) (Winter 1967): 1–21 From the issue entitled "Religion in America".
- ↑ Dana Evan Kaplan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism.(Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 0521822041), 118.
- ↑ Stjepan Meštrović. The Road from Paradise. (University Press of Kentucky, 1993 ISBN 0813118271), 129
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Marcela Cristi. From Civil to Political Religion: The Intersection of Culture, Religion and Politics. (University Press, 2001 ISBN 0889203687)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 William H. Swatos. Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. (Rowman Altamira, 1998. ISBN 0761989560), 94. "The article caused an almost unprecedented burst of excitement among sociologists and other scholars of religion."
- ↑ Richard T. Hughes. Myths America Lives By. (University of Illinois Press, 2004. ISBN 0252072200), 3
- ↑ Robert Neelly. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. (University of Chicago Press, 1992), 1
- ↑ French Ministry of Culture, Alexis de Tocqueville. General Council for La Manche. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
- ↑ Gerald A. Parsons, "From nationalism to internationalism: civil religion and the festival of Saint Catherine of Siena, 1940-2003." Journal of Church and State (September 22, 2004)
- ↑ Stjepan Gabriel Meštrović. The Road from Paradise: Prospects for Democracy in Eastern Europe. (University Press of Kentucky, 1993. ISBN 0813118271), 125, 130
American civil religion
- Bellah, Robert Neelly, "Civil Religion in America." Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 96 (1) (Winter 1967): 1–21. From the issue entitled Religion in America.
- Bellah, Robert Neelly. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial. University of Chicago Press, 1985. ISBN 0226041999
- Canipe, Lee, "Under God and anti-communist: how the Pledge of Allegiance got religion in Cold-War America." Journal of Church and State (March 22, 2002 .}
- Cloud, Matthew W., "One nation, under God": tolerable acknowledgment of religion or unconstitutional cold war propaganda cloaked in American civil religion?" Journal of Church and State 46 (2)(March 22, 2004): 311 ISSN 0021-969X .
- Edwords, Frederick, "The religious character of American patriotism." The Humanist (November/December 1987): 20–24, 36
- Gehrig, Gail. American Civil Religion: An Assessment. Society for Scientific Study, 1981. ISBN 0932566022
- Hughes, Richard T. Myths America Lives By. University of Illinois Press, 2004. ISBN 0252072200
- Jewett, Robert, and John Shelton Lawrence. Captain America And The Crusade Against Evil: The Dilemma of Zealous Nationalism. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, ISBN 0802828590, specifically talks about American civil religion, referencing Jones's book, American Civil Religion. 328.
- Jones, Donald G. and Russell E. Richey. American Civil Religion. Mellen University Press, 1990 (Original published in 1974 by Harper). ISBN 0773499970
- Mathisen, James A. "Twenty Years After Bellah: Whatever Happened to American Civil Religion?"
Sociological Analysis 50 (2) (1989):29–46
- Levinson, Sanford, 1979 "The Constitution" in American Civil Religion." The Supreme Court Review (1979): 123–151.
- Luckmann, Thomas. The Invisible Religion. 1967 Published the same year as Bellah's article.
- Neelly, Robert. The Broken Covenant: American Civil Religion in Time of Trial, second ed. University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN 0226041999
- Swatos, William H., Encyclopedia of Religion and Society. AltaMira Press, 1998, ISBN 0761989560, 95. Civil Religion entry
- Further information: American exceptionalism
- Churchill, Ward. "The Ghosts of 9-1-1: Reflections on History, Justice and Roosting Chickens."
(Spring 2005)
- Lipset, Seymour Martin. American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. ISBN 0393316149
- Book reviews of: Seymour Martin Lipset's American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword Part 1, The Washington Post, The Weekly Standard,', Foreign Affairs,', The Guardian, New Statesman & Society, etc. . accessdate 2008-07-07.
- Zinn, Howard. "The Power and the Glory Myths of American exceptionalism." bostonreview.net accessdate 2006-07-16
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| 3.60476 |
a. Synoptic history
An extratropical low pressure system formed just east of the Turks and
Caicos Islands near 0000 UTC 25 October in response to an upper level
cyclone interacting with a frontal system. The low initially moved
northwestward, and in combination with a strong surface high to the north
developed into a gale center six hours later. By 1800 UTC that day it had
developed sufficient organized convection to be classified using the
Herbert-Poteat subtropical cyclone classification system, and the best track
of the subtropical storm begins at this time
(Table 1 and Figure 1).
Upon becoming a subtropical storm, the cyclone turned northward. This
motion continued for 24 h while the system slowly intensified. The storm
jogged north-northwestward late on 26 October, followed by a
north-northeastward turn and acceleration on the 27th. During
this time, satellite imagery indicated intermittent bursts of central
convection while Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft indicated a
large (75-100 n mi) radius of maximum winds. This evolution was in contrast
to that of Hurricane Michael a week-and-a-half before. Although of similar
origin to the subtropical storm, Michael developed persistent central
convection and completed a transition to a warm-core hurricane.
After reaching a 50 kt intensity early on 27 October, little change in
strength occurred during the next 24 h. The storm turned northeastward and
accelerated further on the 28th in response to a large and cold
upper-level cyclone moving southward over southeastern Canada. A last burst
of organized convection late on the 28th allowed the storm to reach
a peak intensity of 55 kt. A strong cold front moving southward off the New
England coast then intruded into the system, and the storm became
extratropical near Sable Island, Nova Scotia, around 0600 UTC 29 October.
The extratropical center weakened rapidly and lost its identity near eastern
Nova Scotia later that day. It should be noted that the large cyclonic
circulation that absorbed the subtropical storm was responsible for heavy
early-season snowfalls over portions of the New England states and
b. Meteorological statistics
Table 1 shows the best track positions and intensities
for the subtropical storm, with the track plotted in
Figure 1. Figure 2
and Figure 3 depict the curves of minimum central
sea-level pressure and maximum sustained one-minute average "surface" (10 m
above ground level) winds, respectively, as a function of time. These
figures also contain the data on which the curves are based: satellite-based
Hebert-Poteat and experimental extratropical transition intensity (Miller
and Lander, 1997) estimates from the Tropical Analysis and Forecast Branch
(TAFB), the Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) of the National Environmental
Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS), and the Air Force Weather
Agency (AFWA), as well as data from aircraft, ships, buoys and land stations.
The Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters flew two mission into the storm with
a total of four center fixes. Central pressures on both flights were in the
997-1000 mb range, and the maximum flight level (1500 ft) winds were 60 kt
on the first flight and 61 kt on the second. A weak temperature gradient
was observed in the system on the first flight, suggesting that the cyclone
still had some baroclinic characteristics. The second flight showed a
uniform airmass within 100 n mi the center with temperatures of about
The storm had a large envelope, and many ships reported 34 kt or higher
winds. Table 2 summaries these observations.
There were few observations near the central core. Canadian buoy 44137
reported winds 160/39 kt with a pressure of 979.1 mb at 0200 UTC 29 October,
which is the basis for the lowest pressure. Other reports from this buoy
indicate that the winds increased in the last hour before the center passed,
suggesting that some kind of inner wind maximum was present even as the
storm was becoming extratropical. Earlier, a drifting buoy about 35 n mi
southeast of the center reported a pressure of 996.6 mb at 2051 UTC 27
October, which showed that the storm had begun to deepen.
Sable Island, Nova Scotia, reported a pressure of 980.6 mb as the center
passed over at 0600 UTC on the 29th. Maximum sustained winds were
35 kt after the center passage at 0700 and 0800 UTC. Several other stations
in eastern Nova Scotia and southwestern Newfoundland reported sustained
35-50 kt winds around 1200 UTC on the 29th.
The maximum intensity of this system is uncertain. Satellite intensity
estimates late on the 28th and early on the 29th along
with a 35-40 kt forward motion indicate the possibility of 65-75 kt
sustained winds. However, this is not supported by surface observations
near the center early on the 29th. The maximum intensity is
estimated to have been 55 kt.
c. Casualty and damage statistics
No reports of casualties or damage have been received at the National
Hurricane Center (NHC).
d. Forecast and warning critique
No advisories were written on this storm, as a decision was made
operationally to handle it in marine forecasts as an extratropical storm.
Post-analysis of satellite imagery and of 27 October aircraft data are the
basis for classifying the system now as subtropical. Due to the operational
handling, there are no formal NHC forecasts to verify. Large-scale
numerical models generally performed well in forecasting the genesis and
motion of this cyclone. The models did mostly underestimate the
intensification that occurred north of the Gulf Stream. However, this
strengthening was fairly well forecast by the GFDL model.
No tropical cyclone watches or warnings were issued for this storm. Marine
gale and storm warnings were issued in high seas and offshore forecasts from
Marine Prediction Center and the TAFB of the TPC. Gale warnings were also
issued for portions of the North Carolina coastal waters by local National
Weather Service offices.
Miller, D. W and M. A. Lander, 1997: Intensity estimation of tropical
cyclones during extratropical transition. JTWC/SATOPSTN-97/002, Joint
Typhoon Warning Center/Satellite Operations, Nimitz Hill, Guam, 9 pp.
Best track, Subtropical Storm, 25-29 October 2000.
|Lat. (°N)||Lon. (°W)
|25 / 0000||21.5|| 69.5||1009|| 30|| extratropical low|
|25 / 0600||22.5|| 70.0||1007|| 35||extratropical gale|
|25 / 1200||23.5|| 70.9||1006|| 35||"|
|25 / 1800||24.5|| 71.7||1005|| 35||subtropical storm|
|26 / 0000||25.7|| 71.7||1004|| 35||"|
|26 / 0600||26.6|| 71.7|| 1003|| 35||"|
|26 / 1200||27.4|| 71.8|| 1002|| 40||"|
|26 / 1800||28.3|| 72.1|| 1000|| 45||"|
|27 / 0000||29.2|| 72.5|| 997|| 50||"|
|27 / 0600||30.0|| 72.6|| 997||50||"|
|27 / 1200||30.9|| 72.5|| 997||50||"|
|27 / 1800||32.6|| 71.6|| 996||50||"|
|28 / 0000||34.2|| 70.7|| 994||50||"|
|28 / 0600||35.7|| 69.9|| 992||50||"|
|28 / 1200||36.5|| 68.1|| 990|| 50||"|
|28 / 1800||38.0|| 65.5|| 984|| 55||"|
|29 / 0000||40.5|| 62.6|| 978|| 55||"|
|29 / 0600||44.0|| 60.0|| 980|| 50||extratropical|
|29 / 1200||46.0|| 59.5|| 992|| 45||"|
|29 / 1800|| ||absorbed into larger extratropical low|
|29 / 0200||41.7||61.6||976||55||minimum pressure|
Selected ship and buoy observations of subtropical storm or greater winds
associated with the subtropical storm, 25-29 October 2000.
|Dock Express 20||25/1200||27.0||68.9||050/45||1009.0|
|Splendour of the Seas||25/1800||28.6||65.2||070/40||1015.0|
a 8 minute average wind
b 10 minute average wind
Best track for the subtropical storm, 25-29 October 2000.
Best track minimum central pressure curve for the subtropical storm, 25-29
Best track maximum sustained 1-minute 10 meter wind speed curve for the
subtropical storm, 25-29 October 2000. Vertical black bars denote wind
ranges in subtropical and extratropical satellite intensity estimates.
| 3.090148 |
Silver birch tree © Bob Press
Slender, open crowned tree up to 30m tall but usually about half this size.
The large branches are pointed upwards but the smaller ones and twigs are hanging down, giving a graceful, weeping appearance.
Silvery white, developing large black diamond-shaped fissures.
Young shoots have pale warts.
Roughly oval or triangular to diamond-shaped with a tapered tip and rounded. The edges are toothed or double-toothed. Both surfaces are dotted with tiny glands.
Slender males are loosely hanging and pale yellow. Female catkins are 2–3cm long and stand upright.
They are loosely hanging and break up when ripe to release small, winged seeds.
Silver birch leaves and catkins.© Robert Vidéki, Doronicum Kft., Hungary
Silver birch tree bark.© Università di Trieste, Dipartimento di Biologia. Photo: Andrea Moro
Silver birch tree bark.© Bob Press
Silver birch tree cones.© Tom DeGomez, University of Arizona, United States
Silver birch tree.© Bob Press
These diagrams explain some of the important tree and plant parts.
These diagrams show the different leaf shapes you might come across on your survey. Leaf shapes are important for identifying trees.
The way leaves are arranged on a stem can be important for identifying trees.
These definitions explain some of the trickier words and phrases used in these pages.
Alternate – the arrangement of leaves on a stem - the leaves attach at different but alternating points, rather than opposite points.
Anther – the part of the stamen that contains pollen.
Apex – the top or end; the tip of a leaf for example.
Bract – a leaf-like structure, usually found below the flower or fruit.
Bud scale – usually a type of modified leaf that encloses and protects a bud.
Catkin – slender inflorescences made up of small flowers, usually reduced to the male and female parts. Catkins are typical of wind-pollinated trees.
Coniferous – trees that have cones, and needle or scale-like leaves.
Crown – in a tree, everything above the trunk.
Deciduous – a tree that sheds its leaves all at once in the autumn.
Evergreen – a tree that retains its leaves all year round.
Girth – the circumference of something, like the trunk of a tree.
Gland (of a leaf) – a small organ on a leaf that gives out oils or similar substances.
Inflorescence – the arrangement of all the flowers on a tree. The shape is used to help identify the plant.
Key – a tool used to identify groups and species of living things.
Leaflet – a subdivision of a leaf - it may look like a leaf but is attached to the leaf stalk or midrib, not to the shoot.
Lobe – a rounded or pointed section of a leaf, not divided into a leaflet.
Margin – the edge of a leaf.
Midrib – the central vein of a leaf.
Native – a tree that occurs naturally in an area, as opposed to a non-native tree that has been introduced.
Opposite – the arrangement of leaves on a stem - the leaves attach in pairs at the same point, opposite each other, rather than attaching at alternate points.
Palmate – a leaf shape in which the lobes or leaflets radiate from a single point, like fingers from a hand.
Petals – usually larger and more brightly coloured than sepals.
Pinnate – a leaf shape in which the lobes or leaflets are arranged on both sides of the stalk or midrib like a feather.
Pollarded – when the upper branches of a tree have been cut back to encourage new growth.
Sepals – the outermost parts of a flower which cover and protect the flower when it is in bud. They are usually green.
Side shoots – short, spur-like shoots growing from the main shoots.
Spike – an elongated cluster of flowers; a type of inflorescence.
Stalk – the structure that supports the blade of a leaf.
Stigma – the part at the end of the style. It is covered with a sticky substance that pollen adheres to.
Stipule – a small, leaf-like structure, found where the leaf connects to the stem.
Style – a tube-like structure in the centre of a flower that supports the stigma.
Trunk – the woody stem of a tree, before the branches.
Urban forest – the trees in our towns and cities.
Whorl – 3 or more leaves or needles circling around a stem.
| 3.46215 |
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Bob Kuska, NIDCR
Mouse study explains bacterium's unique role in periodontitis
NIH-supported study solves the mystery of a devious oral bacterium
Scientists say they have solved in mice the mystery of how an unusual bacterium can trigger the common dental condition periodontitis while residing in low numbers in the space between tooth and gum.
The researchers report that the microbe Porphyromonas gingivalis hacks into the front-line immune cells that police the space between tooth and gum, known as the subgingival crevice, and reprograms them to create living conditions more to its microbial liking. As more immune cells are co-opted to follow the wrong program, the usually benign bacterial residents of the subgingival crevice — not P. gingivalis, as long suspected — opportunistically rise up in number, altering their community dynamics and prompting them to infect the tooth's supportive structures, or periodontium.
The study in the Nov. 17 issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe was supported by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR), part of the National Institutes of Health.
"As the other bacteria attack, and immune cells counterattack, progressively damaging the integrity of the tooth in the process, P. gingivalis sits in the shadows and feasts on the inflammatory spoils," said George Hajishengallis, D.D.S., Ph.D., a researcher at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry and a co-lead author on the study. "This is one ingenious little bug."
According to Hajishengallis, their discovery marks the first documented case in microbiology of a keystone species, or more specifically, a keystone pathogen. Coined by ecologists in the late 1960s, the keystone concept refers to a low-abundance species that exercises a disproportionate influence on its environment. In this case, low-abundance P. gingivalis shapes a microbial community and catalyzes the onset of an oral disease.
The next step is to test whether P. gingivalis follows a comparable evolutionary strategy in people. If so, they already have in their sights drugs that can be applied topically to the affected tooth to block this keystone pathogen from reprogramming the immune cells, providing a more targeted approach to prevent and/or treat periodontitis.
Periodontitis has afflicted humans from time immemorial, and today remains one of the most common causes of tooth loss worldwide. An estimated 53 million American adults have the condition, approximately 2 out of every 10 adults, at a total annual healthcare expenditure of more than $14 billion.
In the late 1970s, P. gingivalis became a subject of research interest when scientists noticed this rod-shaped anaerobe popping up consistently at low levels in studies that explored the microbiology of periodontitis. Further laboratory work showed that this late colonizer of the subgingival crevice arrives bearing an extensive arsenal of noxious chemicals. The assumption being, P. gingivalis employs them selectively to thwart the native, or innate, immune cells that patrol the gingival crevice and keep bacterial levels in balance.
But showing that P. gingivalis actually can cause periodontitis has remained scientifically tricky. The assumption has been that the bacterium could directly cause damage to the periodontium in animal models, independent of periodontitis and its natural disease process. Moreover, scientists have found themselves traversing new conceptual territory to explain how such a low-abundance — some say stealth — pathogen could wreak such havoc in the mouth.
The research story has picked up in recent years as scientists have gained more technologically sophisticated tools to study P. gingivalis, and more biological information from which to form workable hypotheses.
A case in point is the progress in understanding how immune cells process incoming information to respond to the threat at hand. Studies show that some incoming defense signals converge within innate immune cells, a process called signaling crosstalk, which helps them to coordinate their early internal response to infection.
Last year, Hajishengallis and colleagues reported in mouse studies that P. gingivalis has learned through the millennia to exploit this crosstalk. The bacterium does so by jointly activating convergent defense signals involving the Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2), which helps to recognize pathogens, and the C5a receptor that is a part of the complement system that will respond to the threat.
"P. gingivalis exploits both receptors to induce a signal with an emergent property," explained Hajishengallis. "In other words, the property doesnít emerge from manipulating just one receptor. Both must be punched."
Hajishengallis said the emergent property impairs the affected immune cell from killing P. gingivalis. It also seems to initiate low-level inflammation that serves no immunological purpose other than possibly to generate nutrients for P. gingivalis.
This discovery pointed to an evasion mechanism that P. gingivalis employs to subvert innate immunity. Left unanswered was the larger question of whether this stealth mechanism also played a role in causing periodontitis.
To get their answer, the scientists revisited two unexplained laboratory observations. First, after mice are inoculated with P. gingivalis and develop advanced periodontitis, the levels of normally benign , or commensal, bacteria increase in the affected periodontium. Secondly, P. gingivalis is extremely difficult to detect at the site of the disease. These observations and last yearís finding on signaling crosstalk suggested that P. gingivalis might compromise the immune system, but the commensals infect the periodontium.
In the current paper, that's exactly what they found. The scientists report that mice bred to produce immune cells without C5a receptors — meaning P. gingivalis can't co-opt their innate immunity — did not develop periodontitis after being inoculated with the bacterium. Commensal levels also remained within the range typically seen in the subgingival space.
In healthy mice kept under conventional laboratory conditions, the opposite was true when inoculated with P. gingivalis. The mice developed active periodontitis and its characteristic damage of the periodontium. They also had increased commensal levels and hardly detectable P. gingivalis.
"In contrast, mice bred to be germ-free were resistant to periodontitis after they were colonized by P. gingivalis," noted Michael Curtis, Ph.D., a co-lead author on the study and a scientist at Queen Mary University in London. "This was especially telling because these mice lacked the normal commensal bacteria in their mouths. In other words, in these sterile animals, P. gingivalis had no bacterial accomplices capable of causing periodontitis."
"There is one key word that explains everything: homeostasis," said Richard Darveau, M.S., Ph.D., a scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle and another co-lead author on the paper. "Periodontal health is a matter of maintaining homeostasis, or equilibrium, among the bacterial inhabitants of the subgingival space and innate immunity cells. P. gingivalis is a master at disrupting homeostasis. Although this bacterium certainly is not the only cause of periodontitis, it stands out as a major culprit."
The scientists say their findings have encouraging therapeutic implications, in part because the microbial conditions in mice likely will be comparable in humans. They point to studies in monkeys that indicate the comparability.
They also note their findings provide a molecular target with tremendous specificity. "To counteract P. gingivalis and the negative outcomes that it orchestrates in patients, we will need most likely to target one of the signaling receptors," said John Lambris, Ph.D., an author on the paper and the Dr. Ralph and Sallie Weaver Professor of Research Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. "P. gingivalis needs to manipulate both to work its tricks."
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) is the Nationís leading funder of research on oral, dental, and craniofacial health.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.
NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health ®
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Using climatic trends for sustainable agriculture
This activity provides opportunities for students to:
- consider the value of weather and climate information to inform management practices
- propose management strategies for resources based on these predictions
- use the Internet as a source of up-to-date information
- predict trends in climatic conditions as a result of El Niño or La Niña events.
Earth and Beyond
6.3 Students argue a position regarding stewardship of the earth and beyond, and consider the implications of using renewable and non-renewable resources.
- information on the Long Paddock website
- ‘Australia's Variable Rainfall Poster' relative to historical records 1890-2004
The poster shows a series of colourful maps providing a record of El Niño cycles in Australia 1890-2004.
Time: 60 minutes
- Accessing resources
- Interpreting data
- Discussing thinking
Before beginning, check that students understand the meanings of these terms:
- Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)
- El Niño
- La Niña
(These terms are explained at the top of the poster; or go to ‘Help’ on the Long Paddock website).
Students access the information available on the Long Paddock web site to complete this activity (or, alternatively, the poster can be used to access most of the information required to complete the activity).
Students use this information for the following activities (described in detail in the free activity sheet, Understanding Australia’s Climate):
- Describe rainfall conditions in the area where they live, at various times during the twentieth century.
- Describe trends in the Southern Oscillation Index during the 1990s and determine climate variability and when El Niño or La Niña conditions may have occurred.
- Relate El Niño or La Niña events to local events such as drought, flood, bushfires and fluctuations in animal and plant populations.
- Relate climate variability to adaptations of local plant and animal species.
- Describe farming practices that can cater for climate variability.
At the conclusion of the activity students brainstorm the implications of El Niño and La Niña effects for pasture and crop management.
Some questions that may prompt discussion include:
- What conditions do we associate with El Niño?
- What conditions do we associate with La Niña?
- How does drought affect pasture growth and rejuvenation?
- How might periods of heavy rain affect the soil?
- What implications does this have for cropping practices (e.g. what is grown, when it is grown, when it is harvested, etc.)?
- What precautions should be taken to ensure that pastures suffer limited effects from degradation as a result of their management during drought conditions?
Students may focus on the implications of El Niño/La Niña climatic variations for one particular aspect of land management. For example:
- Numbers of livestock on grazing properties
- Control of pest plants or animals
- Reducing risk from bushfires
- Control of soil erosion
Prepare a brief report or essay about how management practices might differ during El Niño/La Niña phases, or what might be done to prepare for climate extremes.
Gathering information about student learning
Sources of information could include:
- students’ completed activity sheets
- anecdotal records of students’ contributions to the brainstorming session
- students’ presentations.
Last updated 31 August 2010
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Contact: Ken Kingery, NSCL, Office: 517-908-7482, [email protected]
Published January 4, 2012
For Immediate Release
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The recent measurement of the mass of the short-lived rare isotope manganese-66 has made it possible for nuclear astrophysicists to pin down the underlying heating elements of one of the universe’s most fantastic phenomena—accreting neutron stars.
Out in the cold depths of space, billions of the densest objects known to man sit quietly while their nuclear decomposition processes play out. But some of them are hungry. Some neutron stars sit close enough to a neighboring star for its immense gravity to begin pulling matter from its neighbor into its own mass in an ongoing thermonuclear process. But sooner or later, the fuel for the neutron star is exhausted and it begins to cool rapidly. Through observations of this cooling process and measurements taken at nuclear physics laboratories such as the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), scientists can deduce the inner workings of neutron stars.
In the recent experiment at NSCL, researchers measured the mass of manganese-66, which sits right next to iron-66 on the nuclear chart. Based on the newly discovered mass and previous measurements of iron-66, scientists can determine where in the crust of a neutron star the layer of iron-66 lies, which is one of two heating elements in neutron stars.
“On earth, iron-66 is a rare short-lived isotope with a half-life of about 400 ms,” said Alfredo Estrade, postdoctoral researcher with St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Canada, and GSI in Darmstadt, Germany, and lead author of the study. “However, it also is part of the crust of accreting neutron stars, where it becomes stable due to its high density and it heats the crust by capturing electrons.”
Scientists at NSCL calculated the mass of manganese-66 by doing a time-of-flight experiment. Krypton-86 was accelerated up to 40 percent of the speed of light and smashed into a thin foil of beryllium. Some of the ions shattered after hitting other nuclei in the foil, creating a smorgasborg of new isotopes and particles. The facility then filtered out about 100 desired types of isotopes, some of which they wanted to measure and others that they used for calibrations.
The filtered isotopes traveled down the beamline where they were caught by a detector that identified which isotope was which. Due to their different masses, the different isotopes took different amounts of time to complete their journey. By identifying manganese-66 and measuring the time it took to run the course, the scientists could determine its weight to within one part in 100,000.
The resulting mass was different than what theorists had predicted for the rare isotope, which changes the models of how neutron stars are structured. The result was a bit of a surprise.
“The mass difference between iron-66 and manganese-66 allows us determines the depth needed to induce the heating reactions and therefore the location of the heat source associated with this reaction inside a neutron star,” explained Hendrik Schatz, nuclear astrophysicist at NSCL and Principle Investigator for the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA), who worked on the paper along with Milan Matos, a postdoctoral researcher at Louisiana State University stationed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “With this new measurement, all of the critical heat sources now can be located within a neutron star. The heat source turns out to be located much closer to the surface than was assumed before based on theoretical predictions of the mass difference between iron-66 and manganese-66.”
Michigan State University has been working to advance the common good in uncommon ways for more than 150 years. One of the top research universities in the world, MSU focuses its vast resources on creating solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges.
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NASADAD urges a letter-writing campaign to the makers of home pregnancy tests to ask them to place warnings on their test kits which advise women about the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy. Read More
(Letter used with the permission of Rob Morrison, NASADAD)
September 9, 2012 - International FASD Awareness Day
Every year on September 9, communities throughout the world observe International FASD Awareness Day. Events are often held at 9:09 am, the 9th minute of the 9th hour of the 9th day of the 9th month of the year. This date and time is used to remind women not to drink during the nine months of pregnancy. The first FAS Awareness Day was held on 9/9/99. Since then, the Federal government and many State and local governments have officially recognized FASD Awareness Day.
Individuals, organizations, and communities have been active every year organizing events to promote FASD awareness and increase compassion for individuals with an FASD. If you would like more information or ideas for your September 9th programming, please visit a website that was established to promote International FASD Awareness Day: FASDay.com. Our OASAS FASD web pages also contain many downloadable FASD materials that can be used to promote your FASD education and awareness activities.
Alcohol consumption among pregnant women is still an important public health concern. A July 2012 CDC report examining alcohol use and binge drinking among pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age (18-44 years) in the United States found that 7.6 percent of pregnant women (or 1 in 13), and 51.5 percent of non-pregnant women (or 1 in 2) reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days.
Clearly, pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age who misuse alcohol are an important population for education and intervention. Because no safe level of alcohol during pregnancy has been established, and alcohol is known to cause birth defects, developmental disabilities, and other adverse pregnancy outcomes, women who are pregnant or who might become pregnant should refrain from drinking any alcohol at any time during pregnancy. Women who are contemplating becoming pregnant, or are sexually active, should refrain from drinking because they could become pregnant and not know for several weeks or more. FASD is 100 percent preventable if alcohol is not consumed during pregnancy, so why take the risk?
Meet Jasmine Suarez-O’Connor, a young adult living with FASD
Jasmine Suarez-O’Connor is the 20 year old daughter of Dianne and Mickey O’Connor. Dianne works part-time in the OASAS Prevention Services Bureau in Albany on a statewide FASD prevention initiative called Project CHOICES.
Jasmine was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) when she was three years old. With many supports, Jasmine graduated Scotia-Glenville High School in June 2008. Along with her mother and older sister, Jasmine was an opening plenary speaker, for the “Sharing Personal Stories” panel at the annual 2008 Building FASD State Systems national meeting. In 2009, Jasmine and her mother Dianne were featured in a Patient Education Video produced by the American Congress of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (ACOG) of NYS. This video has been viewed in hospitals and medical settings across the United States in over 1,000 locations.
In 2009, Jasmine was nominated for a seat on the SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence FASD Expert Panel. The role of the Expert Panel is to provide oversight, advice, and guidance to the Center based on the member’s professional expertise and/or personal experience with FASD. Jasmine brings her voice to the Expert Panel on how FASD has affected her life, finding ways to help families and caregivers living with FASD lead successful lives, and getting the word out to the college population about alcohol use and pregnancy.
Jasmine, along with another young adult with FASD and is also a member of the Expert Panel, launched the national “Self Advocates with FASD in Action” (SAFA) group. Jasmine helped to plan the first-ever conference by and for individuals with an FASD during the 2011 Building FASD State Systems meeting. This past year Jasmine was nominated by the FASD Center for Excellence to take part in the development of a Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) to be titled Addressing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). This publication will be issued by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) in early 2012.
Jasmine currently co-presents with her mother at various conferences, training workshops, and advocacy sessions across NY. In 2010, Jasmine was featured by the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS) about her experiences, in their series “Get to Know Me: My Life with FASD.” Learn More.
2009 FASD Prevention Poster Contest
At a special ceremony on June 3, three Johanna Perrin Middle School students from Fairport, NY were recognized for winning the First FASD Prevention Poster Contest. The Poster Contest was designed to help educate students in grades 6-12 from across the state, and to raise awareness among the general public about the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. The culmination of the contest coincided with the annual observance of Alcohol and other Drug-related Birth Defects Awareness Week in May.
The winning students are Corteney Miller, Tessa Ooyama and Daniel Pariso. These three 7th grade students were selected from over 100 designs submitted by students through their local Councils on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. The awards ceremony included the 7th grade health classes at Johanna Perrin Middle School, the parents of the three winning students, their health teachers, and other school administrators, including the Principal and School District Superintendent. Awards were presented by Jennifer Faringer, Director of the Rochester area National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and Margo Singer, State FASD Coordinator at OASAS. OASAS has produced a FASD prevention poster which includes the art work of all three recipients. To order copies of the poster in bulk at no charge, contact Margo Singer at 518-457-4384 or email [email protected].
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1 GCC The GCC command invokes the GNU C compiler. GCC file-spec 2 Parameters file-spec A C source file. If no input file extension is specified, GNU C assumes .C as the default extension unless the /PLUS qualifier is given, in which case .CC is assumed as the default extension. If an extension of .CPP is given, then the source file is assumed to be the output of the preprocessor, and thus the preprocessor is not executed. If an extension of .S is given, then the source file is assumed to be the assembly code output of the compiler, and only the assembler is called to generate an object file. 2 Qualifiers GNU C command qualifiers modify the way the compiler handles the compilation. The following is the list of available qualifiers for GNU C: /CASE_HACK /CC1_OPTIONS=(option [,option...]]) /DEBUG /DEFINE=(identifier[=definition][,...]) /G_FLOAT /INCLUDE_DIRECTORY=(path [,path...]]) /LIST[=filename] /MACHINE_CODE /OBJECT[=filename] /OPTIMIZE /PLUS /PROFILE[=identifier] /SCAN=(file[,file...]) /SHOW[=option] /UNDEFINE=(identifier[,identifier,...]) /VERBOSE /VERSION /WARNING 2 Linking When linking programs compiled with GNU C, you should include the GNU C library before the VAX C library. For example, LINK object-file,GNU_CC:GCCLIB/LIB,SYS$LIBRARY:VAXCRTL/LIB You can also link your program with the shared VAX C library. This can reduce the size of the .EXE file, as well as make it smaller when it's running. For example, $ LINK object-file, GNU_CC:GCCLIB/LIB,SYS$INPUT/OPT SYS$SHARE:VAXCRTL/SHARE (If you use the second example and type it in by hand, be sure to type ^Z after the last carriage return). A simpler alternative would be to place the single line: SYS$SHARE:VAXCRTL/SHARE into a file called VAXCRTL.OPT, and then use the link command: $ LINK object-file, GNU_CC:GCCLIB/LIB,VAXCRTL.OPT/OPT If a program has been compiled with /G_FLOAT, then the linking instructions are slightly different. If you are linking with the non-shared library, then the command that you should use would be: LINK object-file,GNU_CC:GCCLIB/LIB,SYS$LIBRARY:VAXCRTLG/LIB - ,SYS$LIBRARY:VAXCRTL/LIB Note that both VAXCRTL and VAXCRTLG must be linked to. If you are using the shared VAX C library, then you should use a command like: $ LINK object-file, GNU_CC:GCCLIB/LIB,SYS$INPUT:/OPTIONS SYS$SHARE:VAXCRTLG/SHARE In the case of the sharable library, only one library needs to be linked to. 2 /CASE_HACK /[NO]CASE_HACK D=/CASE_HACK Since the VMS Linker and Librarian are not case sensitive with respect to symbol names, a "case-hack" is appended to a symbol name when the symbol contains upper case characters. There are cases where this is undesirable, (mainly when using certain applications where modules have been precompiled, perhaps in another language) and we want to compile without case hacking. In these cases the /NOCASE_HACK switch disables case hacking. 2 /CC1_OPTIONS This specifies additional switches to the compiler itself which cannot be set by means of the compiler driver. 2 /DEBUG /DEBUG includes additional information in the object file output so that the program can be debugged with the VAX Symbolic Debugger. To use the debugger it is also necessary to link the debugger to your program, which is done by specifying the /DEBUG qualifier to the link command. With the debugger it is possible to set breakpoints, examine variables, and set variables to new values. See the VAX Symbolic Debugger manual for more information, or type "HELP" from the debugger prompt. 2 /DEFINE /DEFINE=(identifier[=definition][,...]) /DEFINE defines a string or macro ('definition') to be substituted for every occurrence of a given string ('identifier') in a program. It is equivalent to the #define preprocessor directive. All definitions and identifiers are converted to uppercase unless they are in quotation marks. The simple form of the /DEFINE qualifier: /DEFINE=vms results in a definition equivalent to the preprocessor directive: #define VMS 1 You must enclose macro definitions in quotation marks, as in this example: /DEFINE="C(x)=((x) & 0xff)" This definition is the same as the preprocessor definition: #define C(x) ((x) & 0xff) If more than one /DEFINE is present on the GCC command line, only the last /DEFINE is used. If both /DEFINE and /UNDEFINE are present on a command line, /DEFINE is evaluated before /UNDEFINE. 2 /G_FLOAT Instructs the compiler to use "G" floating point arithmetic instead of "D". The difference is that double precision has a range of approximately +/-0.56e-308 to +/-0.9 e+308, with approximately 15 decimal digits precision. "D" floating point has the same range as single precision floating point, with approximately 17 decimal digits precision. If you use the /G_FLOAT qualifier, the linking instructions are different. See "Linking" for further details. 2 /LIST /LIST[=list_file_name] This does not generate a listing file in the usual sense, however it does direct the compiler to save the preprocessor output. If a file is not specified, then this output is written into a file with the same name as the source file and an extension of .CPP. 2 /INCLUDE_DIRECTORY /INCLUDE_DIRECTORY=(path [,path...]) The /INCLUDE_DIRECTORY qualifier provides additional directories to search for user-defined include files. 'path' can be either a logical name or a directory specification. There are two forms for specifying include files - #include "file-spec" and #include <file-spec>. For the #include "file-spec" form, the search order is: 1. The directory containing the source file. 2. The directories in the /INCLUDE qualifier (if any). 3. The directory (or directories) specified in the logical name GNU_CC_INCLUDE. 4. The directory (or directories) specified in the logical name SYS$LIBRARY. For the #include <file-spec> form, the search order is: 1. The directories specified in the /INCLUDE qualifier (if any). 2. The directory (or directories) specified in the logical name GNU_CC_INCLUDE. 3. The directory (or directories) specified in the logical name SYS$LIBRARY. 2 /MACHINE_CODE Tells GNU C to output the machine code generated by the compiler. The machine code is output to a file with the same name as the input file, with the extension .S. An object file is still generated, unless /NOOBJ is also specified. 2 /OBJECT /OBJECT[=filename] /NOOBJECT Controls whether or not an object file is generated by the compiler. 2 /OPTIMIZE /[NO]OPTIMIZE Controls whether optimization is performed by the compiler. By default, optimization is on. /NOOPTIMIZE turns optimization off. 2 /PLUS Instructs the compiler driver to use the GNU-C++ compiler instead of the GNU-C compiler. Note that the default extension of source files is .CC when this qualifier is in effect. 2 /PROFILE /PROFILE[=identifier] Instructs the compiler to generate function profiling code. You must link your program to the profiler when you use this options. The profile statistics are automatically printed out on the terminal during image exit. (i.e. no modifications to your source file are required in order to use the profiler). There are three identifiers that can be used with the /PROFILE switch. These are ALL, FUNCTION, and BLOCK. If /PROFILE is given without an identifier, then FUNCTION is assumed. 3 Block_Profiler The block profiler counts how many times control of the program passes certain points in your program. This is useful in determining which portions of a program would benefit from recoding for optimization. The report for the block profiler contains the function name, file name, PC, and the source file line number as well as the count of how many times control has passed through the specified source line. 3 Function_Profiler The function profiler counts how many times each function is entered, and keeps track of how much CPU time is used within each function. You should be careful about interpreting the results of profiles where there are inline functions. When a function is included as inline, then there is no call to the internal data collection routine used by the profiler, and thus there will be no record of this function being called. The compiler does generate a callable version of each inline function, and if this called version is used, then the profiler's data collection routine will be called. 2 /SCAN /SCAN=(file[,file...]) This qualifier supplies a list of files that will be read as input, and the output will be discarded before processing the regular input file. Because the output generated from the files is discarded, the only effect of this qualifier is to make the macros defined in the files available for use in the main input. 2 /SHOW /SHOW[=option] This causes the preprocessor to generate information other than the preprocessed input file. When this qualifier is used, no assembly code and no object file is generated. The output of the preprocessor is placed in the file specified by the /LIST qualifier, if present. If the /LIST qualifier is not present, then the output is placed in a file with the same name as the input file with an extension that depends upon which option that is selected. 3 DEFINITIONS This option causes the preprocessor to dump a list of all of the definitions to the output file. This is useful for debugging purposes, since it lets you determine whether or not everything has been defined properly. If the default file name is used for the output, the extension will be .DEF. 3 RULES This option causes the preprocessor to output a rule suitable for MAKE, describing the dependencies of the main source file. The preprocessor outputs one MAKE rule containing the object file name for that source file, a colon, and the names of all the concluded files. If there are many included files then the rule is split into several lines using the '\'-newline. When using this option, only files included with the "#include "file" directive are mentioned. If the default file name is used for the output, a null extension will be used. 3 ALL This option is similar to RULES, except that it also mentions files included with the "#include <file.h>" directive. If the default file name is used for the output, a null extension will be used. 2 /UNDEFINE /UNDEFINE cancels a macro definition. Thus, it is the same as the #undef preprocessor directive. If more than one /UNDEFINE is present on the GCC command line, only the last /UNDEFINE is used. If both /DEFINE and /UNDEFINE are present on a command line, /DEFINE is evaluated before /UNDEFINE. 2 /VERBOSE Controls whether the user sees the invocation command strings for the preprocessor, compiler, and assembler. The compiler also outputs some statistics on time spent in its various phases. 2 /VERSION Causes the preprocessor and the compiler to identify themselves by their version numbers, and in the case of the compiler, the version number of the compiler that built it. 2 /WARNING When this qualifier is present, warnings about usage that should be avoided are given by the compiler. For more information, see "Using and Porting the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)", in the section on command line options, under "-Wall". Warnings are also generated by the preprocessor when this qualifier is given. 2 Known_Incompatibilities_with_VAX-C There are several known incompatibilities between GNU-C and VAX-C. Some common ones will be briefly described here. A complete description can be found in "Using and Porting the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC)" in the chapter entitled "Using GCC on VMS". GNU-C provides case hacking as a means of giving case sensitivity to symbol names. The case hack is a hexadecimal number appended to the symbol name, with a bit being set for each upper case letter. Symbols with all lower case, or symbols that have a dollar sign ("$") are not case hacked. There are times that this is undesirable, namely when you wish to link your program against a precompiled library which was compiled with a non-GNU-C compiler. X-windows (or DECWindows) is an example of this. In these instances, the /NOCASE_HACK switch should be used. If you require case hacking in some cases, but not in others (i.e. Libg++ with DECWindows), then it is recommended that you develop a header file which will define all mixed case functions that should not have a case hack as the lower case equivalents. GNU-C does not provide the globaldef and globalref mechanism which is used by VAX-C to coerce the VMS linker to include certain object modules from a library. There are assembler hacks, which are available to the user through the macros defined in gnu_hacks.h, which effectively give you the ability to perform these functions. While not syntactically identical, they do provide most of the functionality. Note that globaldefs of enums is not supported in the way that it is under VAX-C. This can be easily simulated, however, by globaldefing an integer variable, and then globalvaluing all of the enumerated states. Furthermore, the way that globalvalue is currently implemented, the data type of the globalvalue variable is seen to the compiler to be a pointer to the data type that you specify. This is necessary in order to make the compiler correctly address the globalvalue variables.
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The orangutan is the only strictly arboreal ape and the largest tree-living mammal in the world.
Although other apes do climb and build sleeping nests in the trees, they are primarily terrestrial (spending their lives on the ground).
Even the bright reddish-brown hair colour is unique to the orangutan.
They have the most remarkable ability to travel through the forest treetops. Each night building a new nest out of leaves and branches in the very tops of the trees – sometimes as much as 100 feet above the ground.
Almost all of the food they eat grow in the treetops and the frequent rains fill the leaves, supplying them with drinking water.
When water is difficult to find, they chew leaves to make a sponge to soak up the droplets in tree cavities. Although, when it rains hard, they might make an umbrella for out of big leaves.
Some might say orangutans have four hands instead of two hands and two feet.
These appendages make them graceful and agile while climbing through the trees, but makes walking on the ground somewhat slow and awkward. This is why they are at a great disadvantage on the ground, and rarely comes down from the treetops.
Recent studies show that some orangutans fashion tools to aid in the difficult task of foraging for food and have even been observed using sticks to catch fishing lines.
Orangutans emit a variety of calls and vocalisation including the 'long call' of males to attract females or discourage other males and the kiss-squeak, often made when observers get too close.
To hear these and other calls, visit the Zurich's University Anthropological Institute & Museum here.
For recent news articles on orangutan behaviour, click here.
Photos: Sue Floyed, Fleur Butcher
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ORLANDO - Mosquito populations are exploding throughout the entire Orange County area as a result of the heavy rains we recently experienced. Orange County Mosquito Control has increased spraying in all areas of the county in an attempt to control the populations. The usual precautions with mosquito repellents, long sleeves, long pants are critically important now.
Throughout the year, OCHD works with Orange County Mosquito Control, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and state universities, to monitor for the presence of illnesses carried by mosquitoes. This "It is important for people to be aware that standing water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes and can lead to an increase in the insects. There are simple measures to reduce the chances of contracting a mosquito-borne illness," said Dr. Kevin M. Sherin, Director of the Orange County Health Department.
Orange County residents and visitors should remain diligent in protecting themselves from mosquito bites by following the "5 D’s," which include:
- DRAINAGE – Check around your home to rid the area of standing water, where mosquitoes can lay their eggs.
- DEET – When the potential exists for exposure to mosquitoes, repellents containing DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide, or N,N-diethyl-3- methylbenzamide) are recommended. Picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus are other repellent options.
- DRESS – Wear clothing that covers most of your skin.
- DUSK and DAWN – Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active.
Tips on Eliminating Mosquito Breeding Sites
- DRAIN standing water to stop mosquitoes from multiplying.
- DISCARD: Old tires, drums, bottles, cans, pots and pans, broken appliances and other items that aren't being used.
- EMPTY and CLEAN: Birdbaths and pet's water bowls at least once or twice a week.
- PROTECT: Boats and vehicles from rain with tarps that don't accumulate water.
- MAINTAIN: The water balance (pool chemistry) of swimming pools. Empty plastic swimming pools when not in use.
Symptoms of mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus (WNV), St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE), and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) may include headache, fever, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, and confusion. Physicians should contact their county health department if they suspect an individual may have a mosquito-borne illness. Department of Health (DOH) laboratories provide testing services for physicians treating patients with clinical signs of mosquito-borne illnesses.
For more information on mosquito-borne diseases, visit the DOH Environmental Health website at http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Environment/medicine/arboviral/index.html
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There are many types of smartcards. Phonecards are one type of smart-cards. Generally, a smart-card is any type of pocket-sized card (like credit cards) with an embedded chip on one side. This chip is actually a microcontroller with a non-volatile memory of specific size.
Pinout configuration of telecard smart-cards
First of all, let's see the pinout of those phonecards. If you take a closer look to the parallelogram chip, you will notice that there are lines which separates the surface into 6 or 8 areas:
Each one of these areas is a pin used either to provide power to the embedded microcontroller, or to interface this microcontroller with the outside world. For the telecards, these pins are:
1: VCC, the 5 volts supply for the microcontroller
4: Reserved for Future Use
6: VPP, programming voltage (5 or 21 volts if NMOS card)
7: I/O pin
8: Reserved for Future Use
Short description: Number 1 and 5 are for the chip's power supply, which is 5 volts. Number 3 and 7 are the clock and data pins for the interface: By providing pulses to the clock pin, the corresponding bit of the current memory position of the chip appears at the I/O pin, it is THAT simple. Finally, the Reset pin: This pin is used to reset the memory position counter.
The communication protocol
Like any other interface, smart cards have their own interface protocol. For the telecards, this protocol is very simple. One thing that I must mention is that this page talks about only the Greek second generation phonecards with 128 bits memory and 5-bytes octal counter! For more information regarding other types of phonecards, check out the references section of this circuit.
Let's take a look now the available 4 operations that we can do with a phonecard:
1 Reading the phonecard memory
During the reading operation, the reset pin must be held LOW. There is an internal memory position counter (MPC) which increases each time a pulse is applied to the clock pin. The MPC increases during the positive edge of the clock pulse. During the negative edge, the data of the memory position that the MPC points appears at the I/O pin. Here is the timing diagram of this operation:
2 Resetting the MPC (Memory Position Counter)
There is no direct method to define which memory position bit we want to perform a read operation. The only way is to reset the counter and start again reading from memory position #0. It is very important to run a cold reset sequence before start reading the phonecard, because there is no other reliable method to determine in which memory position the MPC points at. The sequence to do a cold-reset is this:
After this sequence, the Memory Position Counter will become 0, and the very first bit of the card memory (position 0) will appear at the I/O pin. You can immediately read this bit and go on reading the rest of the card memory as explained before.
Here is the timing diagram of the reset sequence:
3 Write to the memory card
With this command you can write to the octal counter in the card's memory position which holds the calling units. Later on we will discuss about the memory mapping of the phonecards. In short, the octal counter is a 4 or 5 bytes long counter which holds the calling units that a telecard has. I do not know for the other smartcards, but as far as the phonecards are concerned, you can only decrease this value. This makes absolute sense of course. Should the embedded microcontroller had allowed someone to increase this octal counter, then we could increase this counter whenever a phonecard ran out of calling units and refill it again. The octal counter can ONLY be decreased... No other operation is allowed.
Although the write sequence is common for all phone cards, the counter may differ from country to country. Go to the references section to get more info. I will only discuss about the 2nd generation Greek phonecards. These cards have a 5-byte long octal counter and a write command can only turn aces into zeros. Here is the write sequence:
After this sequence is ended, the unwritten memory position bit will be erased and the new value will automatically appear at the I/O pin. Here is a timing diagram of this sequence during which the ace (1) bit of the current memory position is written so that it becomes zero (0):
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Hearing loss affects an estimated 50 million Americans. Some hearing loss is temporary, and may be caused by short exposures to loud noises, but for many people, it is permanent. Hearing Health Foundation, the largest private funder of hearing research, has organized a Consortium of researchers through the Hearing Research Project, with a goal of accelerating the timeline for a genuine cure for most types of acquired hearing loss. The cure focuses on the specialized cells that make hearing possible.
Hair cells located in the inner ear turn sounds into electrical signals that transmit the sound information to the brain. In humans, exposure to loud noises, age and even some medications can damage or even kill these hair cells, thus causing permanent hearing loss. But birds and fish are able to spontaneously regrow their damaged hair cells, leading scientists to discover how this ability can be replicated in humans.
As a college student, Katharine Simpson began to notice she was missing sounds - but ignored the symptoms until she drove through a toll road pass and didn't hear the transponder beep. Her younger brother had already experienced hearing loss in his teens, and Simpson discovered her hearing patterns matched the loss her brother had experienced years before.
While coming to terms with her hearing loss, Simpson started seeking out researchers and scientists, reading any information on new developments that she could find, giving her hope for a cure.
"Part of the reason I wanted - or, needed, rather - to embrace my hearing loss is my little brother," Simpson says. "I watched how hard it was for him to grow up with hearing loss, and he still struggles with it to this day."
Simpson's friends helped her manage her hearing loss in social situations, and began choosing to eat at quieter restaurants and turning on the closed captioning for shows on television. But movie theaters, noisy bars and nightclubs and even whispered conversations are difficult for Simpson to hear. The hope for a cure for both herself and her brother helps her stay strong.
The Hearing Research Project is looking to discover what prevents regeneration of hair cells in human ears, and what can be done to promote regeneration.
"Hearing Health Foundation is ideally positioned to lead this world-class consortium and deliver on the goal of a cure," says Andrea Boidman, executive director of the foundation. "For too many years, biomedical research has been conducted in relative isolation, one researcher or one institution working alone to tackle a major health issue. So we developed the consortium model to accelerate the path to the cure by eliminating repetitive work and fostering cooperation among scientists, rather than competition."
The Consortium is comprised of 14 talented and creative researchers who are already established in the area of cell regeneration in the ear. These researchers, who have been working individually on significant contributions to the field of cell regeneration, have pledged, through the HRP, to work collaboratively with each other. They will not only share information but also work together on the HRP-funded projects.
Expediting the timeline to a cure for permanent hearing loss is the goal for the Hearing Research Project. The promise of a real, biologic cure is focused on the inner ear hair cells that make hearing possible. To learn more, visit www.hearingrestorationproject.org.
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Little Green Sedge (Carex viridula)
Little Green Sedge Species Description
This species is native to North America north of Mexico.
Allergenicity: Little Green Sedge (Carex viridula) is a moderate allergen.
Pollination: Occurs in following seasons depending on latitude and elevation: Spring to Summer.
Angiosperm - Flowering Monocot: Plants in this group have one embryonic leave (single cotyledon). This group include the grasses, lilies, orchids and palms.
Grass/Grass-like: Any plant characterized by parallel-veined leaves that arise from nodes in the stem, wrap around it for a distance, and leave, especially those grown as ground cover rather than for grain.
Perennial: Living for many years.
Wetland Plant: Plants growing in aquatic or wetland habitats. These include all known floating, submerged, and emergent taxa, plus those that are found in permanently or seasonally wet habitats.
Herbaceous Stem: Not woody, lacking lignified tissues.
Little Green Sedge Species Usage
More Little Green Sedge (Carex viridula) imagesby Jessie M. Harris from BONAP
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Facts about Adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey: Statistical Tables for Program Planning
The Population Council began its work on adolescents in the mid-1990s, and has emphasized the need to look beyond the health sector in addressing adolescents' needs, focusing on early marriage, livelihoods, schooling, and social structure. The Council has especially concerned itself with the adolescent girl, whose world contracts at this stage in her life, as limitations on her autonomy, mobility, opportunity, and power increase.
One challenge to moving beyond the health sector has been that comprehensive data on adolescents in developing countries have not been easily accessible nor compiled with this multisectoral view in mind. To fill this void, the Population Council began analyzing Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data in a way that could clearly illustrate the diversity of adolescents' lives. It is the Council's goal that these analyses be used to improve understanding about the adolescent experience and to build interventions based on fact rather than assumption. These analyses are presented in 46 individual country reports; each report consists of 14 data tables* and commentary highlighting some of the more noteworthy information.
Annexes: Selected DHS data on 10–14-year-olds
The period of early adolescence is one of both extreme vulnerability and enormous opportunity in the developing world and is deserving of special attention. Although early adolescence often is marked by energy, creativity, and resilience, it may also be the stage at which young adolescents are pulled out of school, start working, begin substance abuse (primarily alcohol and tobacco use), initiate sexual activity, and, in some regions, get married and start having children. It is vital to reach this age group when health behaviors and gender norms still are malleable.
There is a dearth of data on very young adolescents (VYAs)—those 10–14 years old—as adolescents ages 10–19 often are grouped together in statistical reporting, and 10–14-year-olds typically are excluded from reproductive health surveys. To learn more about the lives and needs of VYAs, Council researchers returned to the Demographic and Health Survey, focusing particularly on the presence of potentially protective structures (such as family and school) and access to media. Forty-nine country reports were presented and disseminated at the World Health Organization’s Technical Meeting on 10–14-year-olds, “Very Young Adolescents: The Hidden Young People,” held in April 2003. The reports are intended to complement the above-mentioned series, “Facts about adolescents from the Demographic and Health Survey,” and are best considered in conjunction with those reports to view young adolescents’ experiences in context.
Both French and English versions are available for West African countries where noted. The Council will produce updated reports as new data become available. The reports are available in PDF format. If you would like copies sent to you, please e-mail [email protected].
* List of table titles
Table 1 Urban–rural residence and population distribution
Table 2 Parental survival status and residence in household
Table 3 Characteristics of head of household
Table 4 Educational enrollment and attainment
Table 5 Educational enrollment and attainment in urban areas
Table 6 Educational enrollment and attainment in rural areas
Table 7 Educational enrollment in urban and rural areas: Comparison summary
Table 8 Marital status
Table 9 Sexuality and childbearing
Table 10 Educational enrollment and work status
Table 11 Awareness and use of modern contraceptive methods
Table 12 Awareness of HIV/AIDS
Table 13 Experience with sexually transmitted diseases
Table 14 Female genital circumcision
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From a Welsh Galileo to Somali Culture, This Is the Heritage That Shaped Wales; from the Welshman Who Observed the Moon at the Same Time as Galileo to the Family Who Were the First to Provide the Royal Navy with Steam Coal, Wales Is Awash with Lost Stories of Historical Achievement. Nowamajor Investment Will Help Uncover the Country's Lesser-Known Legends
Byline: Aled Blake reports
GALILEO GALILEI may have been more familiar with the moon than most of his contemporaries, but he had probably never heard of Carmarthenshire. So, in all likelihood, he would have been unaware that, as he gazed into the heavens, his activities were being emulated by the distinguished scholar Sir William Lower at his family home in Trefenty.
Sir William worked closely with Thomas Harriott, who, in 1609, produced the UK's first telescope - just a year after Galileo did the same.
And Wales' contribution to the embryonic space race didn't end there.
In the 1850s, Swansea's John Dillwyn Llewellyn took one of the earliest photographs of the moon from the Penllergaer Observatory - which he built for his daughter's 16th birthday.
A couple of decades later came the birth of celestial photography, by Denbigh-born Isaac Roberts - arguably the most important contribution to science by a man named Isaac since a certain Mr Newton sat underneath an apple tree.
The technique, which captured star clusters and nebulae and detailed interstellar gas clouds and galaxies, was pioneered in 1888.
With his technology, Roberts was the first person to identify the spiral shape of the Andromeda Nebula - Earth's neighbouring galaxy.
But Denbigh was not only the home to pioneering scientists such as Isaac Roberts.
From being a residence for royal princes to a refuge for a Royalist garrison during the Civil War - in fact Denbych translates as small fortress - the small market town has had a colourful history dating back before the Normans.
The town is first mentioned in records in the years following the Norman Conquest when it became a border town guarding the approach to the Hiraethog Hills and Snowdonia.
The town has a history of esteemed residents. One of many Denbigh men who were well regarded during the …
Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: From a Welsh Galileo to Somali Culture, This Is the Heritage That Shaped Wales; from the Welshman Who Observed the Moon at the Same Time as Galileo to the Family Who Were the First to Provide the Royal Navy with Steam Coal, Wales Is Awash with Lost Stories of Historical Achievement. Nowamajor Investment Will Help Uncover the Country's Lesser-Known Legends. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales). Publication date: February 25, 2009. Page number: 18. © 2009 MGN Ltd. COPYRIGHT 2009 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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Beth Dunning's Story
"S" Is for Poetry
Each year our first-grade students research different ocean animals; this year we decided to research seals. My students spent three weeks researching, writing, sharing, editing, and then writing again. When it was finally done, we had a class book…ONE class book. I mentioned to another teacher about all of the hard work my students had done on their book. I wanted each of them to take their research home, but I couldn’t afford to make copies for each student. She suggested having my students write an acrostic poem about seals with one of ReadWriteThink.org’s student interactives.
Because of the wide range of ability levels in my class, I began the activity in a whole-group setting before we went to the computer lab. Students wrote one word that reminded them of seals on a sticky note and then we sorted the words by the letter they began with, paying special attention to words that began with the letters s, e, a, and l. Then, we worked together to create a class acrostic poem about seals, and afterward students worked on individual acrostic poems.
We went to the computer lab to use the interactive Acrostic Poems tool. When students got to the “brainstorming” page, I brought out the list of words we had created in the classroom. Students were able to look at our original list and choose which words they wanted to use. I gave students the option to use the poem they had created earlier in the day or to create a new one using the words they had recently brainstormed. Once the poems were written, students hit the “print” button and couldn’t wait to see the finished product!
Since then, my students have also used the interactive Diamante Poems tool to create poems about sharks, turtles, armadillos, and much, much more. Thanks, ReadWriteThink.org, for making my kids want to write and write and write…. I just hope I have enough ink to keep up with them!
Grades K – 12 | Student Interactive | Writing Poetry
This online tool enables students to learn about and write acrostic poems. Elements of the writing process are also included.
Grades 3 – 12 | Game & Tool
Diamante poems are poems where the longest line comes in the middle, creating a diamond-like shape. The Diamante Poems tool helps children write these patterned poems.
Sticky Note Chart
Students used sticky notes to brainstorm about seals before writing their Acrostic Poems.
Students brainstormed words about seals and we wrote them on the seal to take with us to the computer lab.
I have been teaching for five years, four of which have been in first grade. One of my passions is bringing the world into my classroom. If I can manage to get it there, it’s in there…no matter what! I have been married for 16 years, and I have three children: two daughters and a son. I enjoy spending time with my family at the ranch, volunteering, and scrapbooking.
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What We See Can Affect Our Perception Of Pain
By manipulating the appearance of a chronically achy hand, researchers have found they could increase or decrease the pain and swelling in patients moving their symptomatic limbs. The findings “” reported in the November 25th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication “” reveal a profound top-down effect of body image on body tissues, according to the researchers.
"The brain is capable of many wonderful things based on its perception of how the body is doing and the risks to which the body seems to be exposed," said G. Lorimer Moseley, who is now at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Australia. (The work was done at the University of Oxford.)
In the study, the researchers asked ten right-handed patients with chronic pain and dysfunction in one arm to watch their own arm while they performed a standardized set of ten hand movements. The participants repeated the movements under four conditions: with no visual manipulation, while looking through binoculars with no magnification, while looking through binoculars that doubled the apparent size of their arm, and while looking through inverted binoculars that reduced the apparent size of their arm.
While the patients’ pain was always worse after movement than it was before, the extent to which the pain worsened depended on what people saw. Specifically, the pain increased more when participants viewed a magnified image of their arm during the movements, and “” perhaps more surprisingly “” the pain became less when their arm was seen through inverted binoculars that minimized its size.
The degree of swelling too was less when people watched a "minified" image of their arm during movements than when they watched a magnified or normal image, the researchers reported.
They aren’t yet sure how this phenomenon works at the level of neurons. However, the researchers said, a possible philosophical explanation comes from the notion that protective responses””including the experience of pain””are activated according to the brain’s implicit perception of danger level. "If it looks bigger, it looks sorer and more swollen," Moseley said. "Therefore, the brain acts to protect it."
While he said the findings don’t mean that pain is any less real, they may lead to a new therapeutic approach for reducing pain. His team is now testing visual manipulations as an analgesic strategy for use in clinical settings.
The researchers include G. Lorimer Moseley, University of Oxford, UK, Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia; Timothy J. Parsons, University of Oxford, UK; and Charles Spence, University of Oxford, UK.
On the Net:
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Representative Theory of Perception, also known as Indirect realism, epistemological dualism, and The veil of perception, is a philosophical concept. It states that we do not (and cannot) perceive the external world directly; instead we know only our ideas or interpretations of objects in the world.
Thus, a barrier or a veil of perception prevents first-hand knowledge of anything beyond it. The "veil" exists between the mind and the existing world.
The debate then occurs about where our ideas come from, and what this place is like. An indirect realist believes our ideas come from sense data of a real, material, external world (unlike idealists). The doctrine states that in any act of perception, the immediate (direct) object of perception is only a sense-datum that represents an external object.
Aristotle was the first to provide an in-depth description of indirect realism. In On the Soul he describes how the eye must be affected by changes in an intervening medium rather than by objects themselves. He then speculates on how these sense impressions can form our experience of seeing and reasons that an endless regress would occur unless the sense itself were self aware. He concludes by proposing that the mind is the things it thinks. He calls the images in the mind "ideas".
The way that indirect realism involves intermediate stages between objects and perceptions immediately raises a question: How well do sense-data represent external objects, properties, and events? Indirect realism creates deep epistemological problems, such as solipsism and the problem of the external world. Nonetheless, Indirect realism has been popular in the history of philosophy and has been developed by many philosophers including Bertrand Russell, Baruch Spinoza, René Descartes, and John Locke.
Representationalism is one of the key assumptions of cognitivism in psychology.
Potential results of representative realism
A problem with representationalism is that if simple data flow and information processing
is assumed then something in the brain, described as a homunculus
, must be viewing the perception. This suggests that some physical effect or phenomenon other than simple data flow and information processing
might be involved in perception. This was not an issue for the rationalist
philosophers such as Descartes, since Cartesian dualism
held that there is a supernatural "homunculus" in the form of the soul. For those who doubt dualism, explaining precisely what it is that sees the representation is problematic. But if the transfer of information into a "mind" is thought to be the only explanation of how we indeed see, then it falls afoul of the homunculus fallacy
which would suggest that either representationalism is an incomplete or invalid description of perception or some supernatural intervention or non-materialist
explanation is needed. Aristotle realised this and simply proposed that ideas themselves (representations) must be aware - in other words that there is no further transfer of sense impressions beyond ideas.
A further difficulty is that, since we only have knowledge of the representations of our perceptions, how is it possible to show that they resemble in any significant way the objects to which they are supposed to correspond? Any creature with a representation in its brain would need to interact with the objects that are represented to identify them with the representation. According to this theory, the external world is only to be inferred
, the person needing to learn about the relations between their electrochemical perceptions and the world.
A difficulty arises when attempting to explain reference
using representationalism. If I say "I see the Eiffel Tower" at a time when I am indeed looking at the Eiffel Tower, to what does the term "Eiffel Tower" refer? One might wish to say it refers to the Eiffel Tower, but since in the representational account we do not really see the tower, presumably the reference is to our sense experience
. But this would mean that when I refer to the Eiffel Tower, I am referring to my sense experience, and when you refer to the Tower, you are referring to your sense experience. Therefore when we each refer to the Eiffel Tower, we are not referring to the same thing — an apparent absurdity. The problem is similar to each of us seeing a picture of the Eiffel Tower on our own television, where we should be aware that our televisions might be different.
A representationalist would respond by pointing out that the apparent difficulty resides in the unnecessarily ambiguous use of the term "see" in the above scenario. If I say "I see the Eiffel Tower", I am referring to the process of interpreting the sense-data I am receiving from the Eiffel Tower in an act of mental representation. The term "Eiffel Tower" refers to the Eiffel Tower, and not to the mental representation of the Tower, which is the result of the act of "seeing". Thus, both of us can refer to the same object while making our own unique representations of that object.
Representative realism does, unlike naïve realism
, take into account sense data
(the way in which the object is interpreted, not simply the objective, mathematical object) - this induces the veil of perception wherein we are unsure the table we look at exists due to there being no direct objective proof of its existence. In other words, the table I'm looking at appears to have a particular shape to me, due to my angle of vision, and to have a particular colour due to the way in which the light bounces off it relative to my position, and that appearance differs from the appearance of the table as seen by the person next to me. Each of us sees not the actual table, but an appearance
of it which merely represents
an actual table out there.
The representative theory of perception states that we do not perceive the external world directly; instead we perceive our personal interpretation of an object by way of sense data. A naïve realist assumes she sees the dog upon perceiving a dog, whereas a representative realist assumes she sees a sensory representation of the dog upon perceiving a dog.
The external world is real and continues to exist unobserved. But we are only aware of it indirectly. Our perception of the external world is mediated by way of sense data such as photons and sound waves. We perceive a representation of reality (not the reality itself); this has been given many names: ideas, sense data, percept or appearance.
Thus representative realism is the idea that our perceptions are directly caused by the intrinsic qualities of objects, and based on these perceptions we can infer things about these objects.
The 17th century philosopher John Locke most prominently advocated this theory. The term he used was not "sense-datum" but "idea." "Idea" as used in the theory of perception is a technical term, meaning roughly the same thing as sense-datum, and this article does not discuss any differences in meaning that the two terms might have.
John Locke thought objects had two classes of qualities:
- Primary qualities are qualities which are 'explanatorily basic' - which is to say, they can be referred to as the explanation for other qualities or phenomena without requiring explanation themselves - and they are distinct in that our sensory experience of them resembles them in reality. (For example, one perceives an object as spherical precisely because of the way the atoms of the sphere are arranged.) Primary qualities cannot be removed by either thought or physical action, and include mass, movement, and, controversially, solidity (although later proponents of the distinction between primary and secondary qualities usually discount solidity).
- Secondary qualities are qualities which one's experience does not directly resemble; for example, when one sees an object as red, the sensation of seeing redness is not produced by some quality of redness in the object, but by the arrangement of atoms on the surface of the object which reflects and absorbs light in a particular way. Secondary qualities include colour, smell, and taste.
In contemporary philosophy, epistemological dualism has come under sustained attack by
philosophers like Wittgenstein
(the private language argument
) and Wilfrid Sellars
in his seminal essay "Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind."
Indirect realism is argued to be problematical because of Ryle's regress
and the apparent need for a homunculus
. These problems have led some philosophers to abandon realism
and suggest the existence of dualism
and others to propose, or suggest through emergentism
, that some form of new physics is operating in the brain such as quantum mind
, space-time theories of consciousness
- Online papers on representationalism, by various authors, compiled by David Chalmers
- Harold I. Brown, "Direct Realism, Indirect Realism, and Epistemology". Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, Vol. 52, No. 2. (Jun., 1992), pp. 341-363.
- What Do We Perceive and How Do We Perceive It? (PDF file)
- Neurological explanation for paranormal experiences
- The Representationalism Web Site
- McCreery, C., "Perception and Hallucination: the Case for Continuity.” Oxford: Oxford Forum (2006). An analysis of empirical arguments for representationalism. Online PDF
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Five great grains with promise for the future
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, grains account for more than half of the calories consumed by people in developing countries. Yet, over the last few decades, grain production has been narrowed to only a limited number of varieties – wheat, for example, has over 200,000 varieties, yet only a few genetic lines are being used. Such dependence on a limited number of crops has proven problematic, especially because of rising food prices, climate change, and health concerns.
Today, Nourishing the Planet highlights five grains which are not yet as well known, but provide promising alternatives.
Both a grain and a green, amaranth was once as fundamental to the Central and South American diet as corn and beans. Yet after the height of its cultivation during the Aztec civilization, this food has largely disappeared. Now, the non-governmental organization Alternativas y Procesos de Participación Social (Alternatives and Projects for Civil Society) has organized over 1,100 Mexican families in the effort to recover this valuable crop.
Although the plant is beautiful, with brilliantly colored flowers and large green leaves, it is also extremely hardy and able to survive in very arid conditions. Amaranth is highly nutritious, with high fiber and protein content, as well as lysine, an essential amino acid which most cereal crops lack. The plant is extremely versatile – it can be eaten as a vegetable, dried and used as a spice, or turned into a gluten-free flour. The leaves of amaranth are also edible, and possess higher levels of iron than spinach, and toasted amaranth seeds are often used to make traditional sweet foods.
The native Mexicans from over sixty farming villages working with the Alternativas cooperatives have integrated amaranth into their cropping system, and have banded together to begin producing amaranth food products. Rising levels in both production and demand for this nutritious crop are promising for both local people’s incomes and the health of people worldwide.
2. Dista Rice
In Madagascar, rice accounts for about 70 percent of the diet for small farmers, and plays an important part in religious and ritual activities. There are many different types of rice, but one variety, a pale pink grain discovered in only 2000, has become wildly popular and provides great potential for local Malagasy farmers.
The Dista rice, named after the farmer who first discovered and cultivated it, is very rich in vitamins and produces consistently high yields. Malagasy farmers have also been using System of Rice Intensification (SRI) methods to further increase their harvests. SRI, which was developed in Madagascar in the 1980s, helps farmers to grow stronger and higher-yielding crops while using less water, fertilizers and pesticides. As harvests have increased to 8-10 tons of rice per hectare (about 2.5 acres) for farmers using the SRI methods, more than 200 farmers have organized into cooperatives to sell their rice and raise money to purchase equipment.
According to Slow Food International, demand for Dista rice is now equal to that of native or imported white rice. As Malagasy farmers continue to improve their production and increase harvests, they are able to improve both their lives and their environment.
To learn more about SRI and Dista rice, see “Madagascar’s ‘Magic Rice ’- Dista Rice.”
Freekeh (also known as farik) is a type of wheat which is harvested prematurely and roasted. It is very nutritious, with high fiber and protein content, as well as rich in nutrients such as calcium and iron. Freekeh is used in a number of dishes across the Middle East, and is beginning to see an emergence in Western markets as well.
Freekeh is a specialty of the Jabal ‘Amel region of Lebanon, where the seeds have been passed down within families for generations. A combination of the area’s unique soil composition and processing methods gives the green cereal its characteristic toasted aroma. Freekeh production in Jabal ‘Amel is now being threatened however by large quantities of industrially produced freekeh from Syria and by subsidies from the Lebanese government for tobacco cultivation.
In an inspiring program, Slow Food Beirut, Oxfam Italia, and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity have partnered together to revive the production of freekeh in its native region, while also helping to improve the living conditions for the citizens of Jabal ‘Amel. This area was particularly hard hit during conflict in 2006. By working with the remaining local producers, this project aims to establish sustainable and successful freekeh production in the region, which can also improve the livelihoods of the local farmers.
Red fife wheat was first introduced to the country in 1842, when a farmer from Glasgow sent some seeds to his friend in Ontario. Its adaptability to extreme weather and the Canadian cold allowed it to flourish, and within twenty years, the wheat was being grown across Canada.
Over time, the popularity of the wheat diminished, as farmers shifted towards growing hybrids of the Red Fife by the 1920s.
This changed in 1988, when Sharon Rempel, an environmental activist who was working at the time to recreate the wheat crops being grown during the 1880s at The Keremos Grist Mill historical site, received a pound of Red Fife seeds from a plant breeder. After planting half of the seeds in the heritage wheat garden at The Keremos Grist Mill, the benefits of the variety quickly gained attention.
Besides being very adaptable to a wide range of growing conditions, including the arctic cold of the Canadian plains, Red Fife is very productive without requiring high inputs of chemicals, and its flour has become very popular among bakers, who value it for its high quality and strong taste, perfect for making sourdough bread. Since being reintroduced, nearly 1 million pounds of Red Fife was harvested in Canada in 2007, from that original one pound of seeds in 1988.
Although millet is only beginning to enter Western food markets, it is already a central part of diets in Africa and Asia. Finger millet, an indigenous variety which originated in the highlands of Ethiopia and Uganda and then spread to India and South Asia approximately 4,000 years ago, is one of the most widely cultivated varieties, and one of the most nutritious grains of the world’s major cereal crops.
Nearly 4.5 million tons of finger millet is produced annually, which provides important nutrients to people across East Africa and South Asia. Millet is high in starch and iron, and its proteins are easily digested.
Millet survives well in dry areas and its grain is resistant to rot and insects, making it an important crop in food security strategies of many poor farming communities. It is very labor-intensive to harvest, and policymakers have recently snubbed it as a “poor person’s crop,” leading to a decline in production. It is currently undergoing a resurgence, however, as yields in India have increased by 50 percent in the past 50 years and acreage is increasing in Nepal by 8 percent annually. In Kenya, millet sells for twice the price of sorghum and maize, and half of all cropland in Uganda is currently dedicated to millet production.
As awareness of this important crop and its nutritional value increase, farmers in other dry areas of the world may also be able to start cultivating it, holding great promise in helping to feed the world’s population.
To read more on finger millet, see “Finger Millet: A Once and Future Staple.”
Jenna Banning is a research in tern with the Nourishing the Planet project.
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See what questions
a doctor would ask.
Forceps: Forceps are a hand-held medical instrument with a beak used during surgery to grasp tissues for dissection and suturing. Most surgical forceps have a serrated surface tip, or teeth for firmly grasping tissue without a crushing force. Forceps may also be used for picking up objects. Forceps are commonly known as tweezers outside the medical community.
These devices are types of the medical device Forceps:
These other medical devices are related to Forceps:
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Parsing XML Documents
To manipulate an XML document, XML parser is needed. The parser loads the document into the computer's memory. Once the document is loaded, its data can be manipulated using the appropriate parser.
We will soon discuss APIs and parsers for accessing XML documents using serially accesss mode (SAX) and random access mode (DOM). The specifications to ensure the validity of XML documents are DTDs and the Schemas.
DOM: Document Object Model
The XML Document Object Model (XML DOM) defines a standard way to access and manipulate XML documents using any programming language (and a parser for that language).
The DOM presents an XML document as a tree-structure (a node tree), with the elements, attributes, and text defined as nodes. DOM provides access to the information stored in your XML document as a hierarchical object model.
The DOM converts an XML document into a collection of objects in a object model in a tree structure (which can be manipulated in any way ). The textual information in XML document gets turned into a bunch of tree nodes and an user can easily traverse through any part of the object tree, any time. This makes easier to modify the data, to remove it, or even to insert a new one. This mechanism is also known as the random access protocol .
DOM is very useful when the document is small. DOM reads the entire XML structure and holds the object tree in memory, so it is much more CPU and memory intensive. The DOM is most suited for interactive applications because the entire object model is present in memory, where it can be accessed and manipulated by the user.
SAX: Simple API for XML
This API was an innovation, made on the XML-DEV mailing list through a product collaboration, rather than being a product of the W3C.
SAX (Simple API for XML) like DOM gives access to the information stored in XML documents using any programming language (and a parser for that language).
This standard API works in serial access mode to parse XML documents. This is a very fast-to-execute mechanism employed to read and write XML data comparing to its competitors. SAX tells the application, what is in the document by notifying through a stream of parsing events. Application then processes those events to act on data.
SAX is also called as an event-driven protocol, because it implements the technique to register the handler to invoke the callback methods whenever an event is generated. Event is generated when the parser encounters a new XML tag or encounters an error, or wants to tell anything else. SAX is memory-efficient to a great extend.
SAX is very useful when the document is large.
DOM reads the entire XML structure and holds the object tree in memory, so it is much more CPU and memory intensive. For that reason, the SAX API are preferred for server-side applications and data filters that do not require any memory intensive representation of the data.
If you are facing any programming issue, such as compilation errors or not able to find the code you are looking for.
Ask your questions, our development team will try to give answers to your questions.
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Sure-Fire Strategies for Handling Difficult Students
- Grades: PreK–K, 1–2, 3–5, 6–8
This article was excerpted from Learning to Teach...Not Just for Beginners: The Essential Guide for All Teachers by Linda Shalaway.
Effective teachers discipline with encouragement and kind words much more often than rebukes or reprimands. The goal is to help students feel good about themselves and their behavior in the classroom.
Inevitably, though, misbehavior happens. When it does, keep the collected wisdom of experienced teachers in mind:
- Take a deep breath and try to remain calm. It's natural to be overcome with frustration, resentment, and anger. But when you are, you become less rational, and your agitation becomes contagious.
- Try to set a positive tone and model an appropriate response, even if it means you must take a few moments to compose yourself. Acknowledge that you need time to think, time to respond. "This is upsetting me, too, but I need a few minutes to think before we talk about it."
- Make sure students understand that it's their misbehavior you dislike, not them. "I like you, Jason. Right now, your behavior is unacceptable."
- Give the misbehaving student a chance to respond positively by explaining not only what he or she is doing wrong, but also what he or she can do to correct it.
- Never resort to blame or ridicule.
- Avoid win-lose conflicts. Emphasize problem-solving instead of punishment.
- Insist that students accept responsibility for their behavior.
- Try to remain courteous in the face of hostility or anger. Showing students that you care about them and their problems will help you earn their respect and establish rapport.
- Treat all students respectfully and politely. Be consistent in what you let them say and do. Be careful not to favor certain students.
- Be an attentive listener. Encourage students to talk out feelings and concerns and help them clarify their comments by restating them.
- Model the behavior you expect from your students. Are you as considerate of your students' feelings as you want them to be of others? Are you as organized and on-task as you tell them to be? Are your classroom rules clear and easy for students to follow?
- Specifically describe misbehavior and help students understand the consequences of misbehavior. Very young children may even need your explanations modeled or acted out.
- Be aware of cultural differences. For example, a student who stares at the floor while you speak to him or her would be viewed as defiant in some cultures and respectful in others.
- Discourage cliques and other antisocial behavior. Offer cooperative activities to encourage group identity.
- Teach students personal and social skills — communicating, listening, helping, and sharing, for example.
- Teach students academic survival skills, such as paying attention, following directions, asking for help when they really need it, and volunteering to answer.
- Avoid labeling students as "good" or "bad." Instead describe their behavior as "positive," "acceptable," "disruptive," or "unacceptable."
- Focus on recognizing and rewarding acceptable behavior more than punishing misbehavior.
- Ignore or minimize minor problems instead of disrupting the class. A glance, a directed question, or your proximity may be enough to stop misbehavior.
- Where reprimands are necessary, state them quickly and without disrupting the class.
- When it's necessary to speak to a student about his or her behavior, try to speak in private; this is especially true of adolescents who must "perform" for their peers. Public reprimands or lectures often trigger exaggerated, face-saving performances.
When Personalities Clash . . .
Sometimes, despite our best intentions, we find ourselves actively disliking one of the students in our charge. The student may be rude, disrespectful, disruptive, obnoxious, or otherwise annoying. It's just human nature; some personalities clash. But instead of feeling guilty about our feelings, we can take positive steps to improve them, says school psychologist and teacher Shelley Krapes. Here are some of her suggestions:
- Try to understand where the behavior is coming from. Is the student distressed by a death, divorce, new baby, learning disability, or some other overwhelming experience? Speaking to the student's parents or guardian may shed light on underlying causes and help you develop sympathy through understanding.
- Help yourself manage negative feelings by reflecting on a past situation in your life where a similar conflict occurred. Discuss the situation with a friend or by writing your thoughts in a journal. Making and understanding these connections can help you let go of some of your current hostility or resentment.
- Use positive strategies when dealing with the child. One such strategy is addressing specific behaviors with precise language that describes what needs to be done. In addition, try to seat the student near to you or a helpful student, praise the student liberally but sincerely, give the student choices to promote self-worth and feelings of control, be firm and consistent about your rules, and express displeasure with the student's behavior without criticizing the student.
- Set a goal. If the situation between you and the child has not improved after two or three months of your best effort, it may be time to recommend professional/psychological/educational testing. Some problems are very complex and beyond your control.
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Was The Race To The Moon Real?; June 1994; Scientific American Magazine; by Logsdon, Dupas; 8 Page(s)
Twenty-five years ago, on July 20, 1969, Neil A. Armstrong took the first footsteps on the surface of the moon. That event marked a political and technological victory for the U.S. in its cold war rivalry with the U.S.S.R. In the years that followed, the Soviet government insisted that the Soviet Union had never planned a lunar landing. Hence, it argued, the contest to send humans to the moon was a onesided exercise. The reality is otherwise; recently declassified information from that era and testimony of key participants in the Soviet space program under Khrushchev and Brezhnev prove that the moon race was indeed real.
New evidence reveals that personal rivalries, shifting political alliances and bureaucratic inefficiencies bred failure and delays within the Soviet lunar-landing program. In contrast, the American effort received consistently strong political and public support. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and its contractor teams also benefited from a pool of skilled and highly motivated workers and managers. Despite an early Soviet lead in human space exploration, these factors, along with more generous and effective allocation of resources, enabled the U.S. to win the competition to be first to the moon.
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Apr. 1, 2003 After years of frustrating searches for genes that contribute to mental illness, researchers at Johns Hopkins studying families with a severe form of manic depressive illness, called psychotic bipolar disorder, may be one step closer to finding the genetic underpinnings of both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
"Finding a gene for bipolar disorder is like finding a needle in a haystack, but by focusing our search on families with a distinctive form of the illness we were able to pinpoint a region of the genome where disease genes are likely to be found," said James Potash, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins and lead author of a report on the study in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Although genes are unlikely to tell the whole story of major psychiatric diseases, the persistent frequency of mental illness in about 1 percent of the global human population, regardless of cultural or ethnic differences, and its tendency to run in families have always pointed to a strong genetic role. "But pinning down that role is complicated by the many variations in symptoms, even within the same family," says Potash. "There are probably many different genes and environmental factors that can cause any given mental illness."
Motivated by previous suggestions that certain broad regions of the DNA sequence, especially on human chromosomes 13 and 22, may contain genes that contribute to both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, Potash and colleagues focused on those families with the psychotic form of bipolar disorder. Like bipolar disorder, psychotic bipolar disorder is characterized by see-sawing episodes of depression and mania, but it is distinctive because these mood changes often are accompanied by such psychotic symptoms as hallucinations and delusions.
The concept for the new study is that of two slightly overlapping circles, explains Potash. In one circle are all of the genes that contribute to schizophrenia. The other circle has all of the genes that contribute to bipolar disorder, while the intersection of the two circles contains genes that are common to both diseases as well as for psychotic bipolar disorder.
The researchers carefully evaluated and took blood samples from 65 patients with bipolar disorder and from their extended families. They extracted blood cell DNA and scanned it with DNA probes, looking for matching sequences that are more likely to appear in those with mental illness than in those without it. By noting where these markers lay on chromosomes, the researchers were able to narrow in on where the genes were located.
Out of 65 bipolar disorder families studied, the 10 families in which 3 or more members had psychotic bipolar disorder showed strong genetic "linkage" to specific regions on chromosomes 13 and 22. These results differed significantly from those for all 65 families, which showed little or no linkage evidence in these two regions.
"These results confirmed our expectation that genes for the psychotic form of bipolar disorder are likely to be found in the same regions that show linkage to both bipolar disorder as a whole and to schizophrenia," says Potash.
One important implication of the study is that these "overlap genes" may contribute to brain abnormalities that are shared by bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and could help explain why the same anti-psychotic medications are effective treatments for both diseases, says Potash.
Authors on the report are Potash, Dean MacKinnon, Sylvia Simpson, Francis McMahon, J. Raymond DePaulo, Melvin McInnis, Peter Zandi, Virginia Willour, Tsuo-H. Lan, Yuqing Huo, Dimitrios Avramopoulos, Yin Shugart.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the Stanley Medical Research Institute, the Dana Foundation, the Alexander Wilson Schweizer Fund, the Affective Disorders Fund and the George Browne Laboratory Fund.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
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Oct. 18, 2010 An enzyme that keeps intestinal bacteria out of the bloodstream may also play an important role in maintaining the normal microbial population of the gastrointestinal system. Since the loss of beneficial bacteria that usually results from antibiotic therapy can sometimes lead to serious health problems, a treatment that maintains microbial levels could have significant benefits.
"Our mouse studies confirmed that giving this enzyme by mouth keeps the gut healthy, in terms of the microbes that usually live there," says Richard Hodin, MD, of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Surgery, senior author of the report in the November issue of the journal Gut. "This could prevent infection with dangerous bacteria like Salmonella and C. difficile, which can occur when the normal bacterial population becomes depleted, and may lead to development of a supplement to maintain intestinal health whenever someone takes an antibiotic."
Virtually all higher animals maintain a population of microbes -- primarily bacteria -- in their digestive tracts. These organisms are not only harmless, they also benefit their host by helping with digestion, and their presence prevents the more pathogenic bacteria that may be present from proliferating. Because antibiotics kill all non-resistant bacteria, including those residing in the intestines, the usual balance of beneficial versus harmful microbes is destroyed, leading to problems ranging from diarrhea to infections with dangerous antibiotic-resistant organisms.
A 2008 study by members of Hodin's team that investigated why intestinal bacteria and their toxins do not pass into the bloodstream found that intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP), an enzyme produced by the intestinal lining, blocks the activity of a toxic molecule found on many pathogenic bacteria. Because that study and findings by other groups showed that IAP acts against several bacterial toxins, the MGH researchers looked at whether the enzyme directly interacted with intestinal bacteria.
Studies of mice lacking the gene for IAP revealed that the animals had reduced levels of all intestinal bacteria and practically none of the common beneficial strains of E. coli. In fact, the most common E. coli strain would not grow if introduced into these knockout mice. But when the animals received oral doses of IAP, beneficial E. coli proliferated quickly after other microbial species were killed by antibiotics. Experiments with normal mice infected with an antibiotic-resistant Salmonella strain showed that IAP treatment significantly reduced Salmonella levels in the animals' feces. Although only 20 percent of animals not treated with IAP survived, 70 percent of those receiving the enzyme were alive 7 days later.
"We believe that IAP rapidly restores E. coli and other beneficial bacteria after antibiotic treatment and that the higher numbers of these bacteria prevent colonization by Salmonella or other pathogens by competing for nutrients and attachment sites," says Mahdu Malo, PhD, MBBS, of MGH Surgery, corresponding and first author of the Gut paper. "We need to test this approach in larger animals before planning a human clinical trial, but this approach has the potential of solving a common, often serious health problem."
Malo is an assistant professor of Surgery, and Hodin, a professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Additional co-authors of the Gut report are Sayeda Nasrin Alam, Golam Mosafa, Nur Mohammad, Kathryn Chen, Angela Moss, Sundaram Ramasamy, Adnan Faruqui, Sarah Hodin, Premoda Malo, Farzad Ebrahimi and Brishti Biswas, MGH Surgery; Skye Zeller, Paul Johnson and Elizabeth Hohmann, MGH Infectious Disease; Shaw Warren, MGH Pediatrics; Sonoko Narisawa and Jose Luis Millan, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute; Jeffrey Kaplan, New Jersey Dental School; and Christopher Kitts, California Polytechnic State University. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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- M. S. Malo, S. N. Alam, G. Mostafa, S. J. Zeller, P. V. Johnson, N. Mohammad, K. T. Chen, A. K. Moss, S. Ramasamy, A. Faruqui, S. Hodin, P. S. Malo, F. Ebrahimi, B. Biswas, S. Narisawa, J. L. Millan, H. S. Warren, J. B. Kaplan, C. L. Kitts, E. L. Hohmann, R. A. Hodin. Intestinal alkaline phosphatase preserves the normal homeostasis of gut microbiota. Gut, 2010; 59 (11): 1476 DOI: 10.1136/gut.2010.211706
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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Aug. 11, 2011 Scientists have found a potential new mechanism to stimulate the body's own ability to fight cancer using Baculillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) -- the germ commonly used to inoculate against tuberculosis (TB).
The findings are published online in the British Journal of Cancer on August 10, 2011.
The researchers, Dr Wai Liu and Professor Angus Dalgleish from St George's, University of London, say this new data suggests a mechanism by which vaccines could enhance the anti-cancer activity of currently available therapies. However, they warn that this is an early-stage study and that there is much more research to be done before patients will benefit.
In laboratory-based experiments conducted with human tumour cells outside of the body, the researchers showed that a small amount of BCG can instruct white blood cells to produce chemicals called cytokines. These make tumour cells more likely to be detected by the body's immune system.
"Cancerous cells are known to camouflage themselves as healthy cells. This means our blood cells responsible for immunity aren't able to recognise the cancerous cells as being a problem and so the disease is able to continue to spread," explains lead researcher Dr Wai Liu. "This study found that a small quantity of BCG -- similar to the amount that is administered in a TB inoculation -- can help the immune system recognise the cancer cells as 'foreign'. The immune system can then attack these cells in the same way it would any other infection."
The cytokines produced as a consequence of the BCG jab set off a chain of events that begins with the hijacking of the tumour and forcing it to switch off its camouflage. This renders it visible to the body's immune system, and so the white blood cells responsible for destroying 'foreign' cells now have targets to attack.
The researchers tested the BCG injection on human cells from lung, breast, colon, pancreatic and skin cancer. Their research showed that in three of the cancer types -- lung, breast and colon -- the restoration of their visibility to immune cells was increased. Within the limits of the laboratory-based study, those cancer cells with reduced camouflage were then successfully targeted by white cells responsible for killing cancer cells.
Scientific knowledge around using drugs to stimulate the body's natural defences against cancer is becoming more prominent. The researchers believe that these findings provide more evidence that, in the future, this treatment method may provide further options for patients that could be used in combination with existing cancer drug treatment.
"Using the body's own immune system is a relatively new way of thinking in the development of cancer treatments, and scientists are still building up a knowledge base about it. If successful, this method of treatment could be used in combination with existing cancer drugs. It could potentially see patients taking less medication, having fewer and less severe side effects and recovering quicker," says Dr Liu.
"This research is at an early stage of investigation, and so far has analysed the reaction of human blood outside of the body, so more work is needed before these findings can be used in practice. The next stage will be to develop a compound suitable for clinical trials," he concludes.
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- W M Liu, D W Fowler, A M Gravett, P Smith, A G Dalgleish. Supernatants from lymphocytes stimulated with Bacillus Calmette-Guerin can modify the antigenicity of tumours and stimulate allogeneic T-cell responses. British Journal of Cancer, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2011.306
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Aug. 20, 2012 Botany is plagued by the same problem as the rest of science and society: our ability to generate data quickly and cheaply is surpassing our ability to access and analyze it. In this age of big data, scientists facing too much information rely on computers to search large data sets for patterns that are beyond the capability of humans to recognize -- but computers can only interpret data based on the strict set of rules in their programming.
New tools called ontologies provide the rules computers need to transform information into knowledge, by attaching meaning to data, thereby making those data retrievable by computers and more understandable to human beings. Ontology, from the Greek word for the study of being or existence, traditionally falls within the purview of philosophy, but the term is now used by computer and information scientists to describe a strategy for representing knowledge in a consistent fashion. An ontology in this contemporary sense is a description of the types of entities within a given domain and the relationships among them.
A new article in this month's American Journal of Botany by Ramona Walls (New York Botanical Garden) and colleagues describes how scientists build ontologies such as the Plant Ontology (PO) and how these tools can transform plant science by facilitating new ways of gathering and exploring data.
When data from many divergent sources, such as data about some specific plant organ, are associated or "tagged" with particular terms from a single ontology or set of interrelated ontologies, the data become easier to find, and computers can use the logical relationships in the ontologies to correctly combine the information from the different databases. Moreover, computers can also use ontologies to aggregate data associated with the different subclasses or parts of entities.
For example, suppose a researcher is searching online for all examples of gene expression in a leaf. Any botanist performing this search would include experiments that described gene expression in petioles and midribs or in a frond. However, a search engine would not know that it needs to include these terms in its search -- unless it was told that a frond is a type of leaf, and that every petiole and every midrib are parts of some leaf. It is this information that ontologies provide.
The article in the American Journal of Botany by Walls and colleagues describes what ontologies are, why they are relevant to plant science, and some of the basic principles of ontology development. It includes an overview of the ontologies that are relevant to botany, with a more detailed description of the PO and the challenges of building an ontology that covers all green plants. The article also describes four keys areas of plant science that could benefit from the use of ontologies: (1) comparative genetics, genomics, phenomics, and development; (2) taxonomy and systematics; (3) semantic applications; and (4) education. Although most of the examples in this article are drawn from plant science, the principles could apply to any group of organisms, and the article should be of interest to zoologists as well.
As genomic and phenomic data become available for more species, many different research groups are embarking on the annotation of their data and images with ontology terms. At the same time, cross-species queries are becoming more common, causing more researchers in plant science to turn to ontologies. Ontology developers are working with the scientists who generate data to make sure ontologies accurately reflect current science, and with database developers and publishers to find ways to make it easier for scientist to associate their data with ontologies.
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- R. L. Walls, B. Athreya, L. Cooper, J. Elser, M. A. Gandolfo, P. Jaiswal, C. J. Mungall, J. Preece, S. Rensing, B. Smith, D. W. Stevenson. Ontologies as integrative tools for plant science. American Journal of Botany, 2012; 99 (8): 1263 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1200222
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Climate change has already pushed the nation's wildlife into crisis, according to a report released Wednesday from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), and further catastrophe, including widespread extinction, can only be curbed with swift action to curb the carbon pollution that has the planet sweltering.
Entitled Wildlife in a Warming World: Confronting the Climate Crisis, the report looks at 8 regions across the U.S. where "the underlying climatic conditions to which species have been accustomed for thousands of years," the report explains, have been upturned by human-caused climate change.
“Some of America’s most iconic species—from moose to sandhill cranes to sea turtles – are seeing their homes transformed by rapid climate change,” stated Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist at the National Wildlife Federation.
Feb 15, 2013 Living on Earth: STARVING POLAR BEARS Polar Bears have long been the poster species for the problem of climate change. But a new paper in Conservation Letters argues that supplemental feeding may be necessary to prevent polar bear populations from going extinct. Polar bear expert Andrew Derocher from the University of Alberta joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss how we can save the largest bear on the planet.http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.html?programID=13-P13-00007&segmentID=2
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How deep is your love for this song? Go deeper.
Humble (and Racist) Beginnings
In 1859, Bryant’s Minstrels needed to spice up their act. Their material was growing stale; audiences were tired of the same old song and dance. So the troupe owners asked one of the performers, Daniel Decatur Emmett, to put together a new “walk-around.” Walk-arounds were audience favorites, high-energy finales in which the cast members took turns trying to out-sing or dance the performer before them. Emmett accepted the assignment, and legend has it that within a day he had written “Dixie.”
The song was like many other minstrel show songs of the time. It was narrated by a Southern slave who told a tale about “Ole Missus” and her husband Will. The specifics of the tale were not important, though. In fact, if you read the lyrics today, it’s hard to understand why audiences found them so hilarious. But that’s because the humor in minstrel show songs had little to do with the words sung. Instead, audiences were entertained by the manner in which the song and dance routines were performed. In minstrel shows, white actors put on blackface by covering their faces with burnt cork and then talked, sang, and danced in a manner believed typical of African slaves.
These imitations were grotesque stereotypes, crude and racist. And “Dixie” was typical of the formula. Emmett’s narrator sang in the broken English believed typical of slaves (“Old Missus marry Will-de-weaber / Willium was a gay deceaber”), and the words suggested that slaves were fat and happy in their lives (“Dar's buck-wheat cakes an 'Ingen' batter, makes you fat or a little fatter”). Most important, the song suggested that, contrary to all the talk of reformers and abolitionists, slaves were not interested in trading slavery for freedom. Far from it, according to the song: they wished they were “in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!”
Despite what you may think, though, Dan Emmett was no friend of slavery—his father worked on the Underground Railroad. But that did not prevent him from writing a song aimed at tickling the same racist funny bone. Nor did it prevent Northern audiences from enjoying the song. In fact, shortly after it debuted at Mechanics’ Hall in New York City, the song became a national hit. By 1860, people throughout the country were “whistlin’ Dixie.”
But almost as quickly as “Dixie” became a hit, it was surrounded by controversy. Southern secessionists, intent on withdrawing from the Union now that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president, embraced the song as an anthem. Most of the lyrics were unimportant, but one line in particular resonated with their cause: “In Dixie Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie.” And so when South Carolinians met in a special convention to decide whether to withdraw from the Union, a band played “Dixie” every time a delegate voted in favor of secession. And two months later, when Jefferson Davis was inaugurated president of the Confederate States of America, the band also played “Dixie.”
By the time the Civil War had commenced, “Dixie” was the Confederacy’s unofficial anthem. One Confederate officer, Lester Pike, even wrote a new set of lyrics, transforming the song into a battle cry:
Southrons, hear your Country call you
Up, lest worse than death befall you
To arms! To arms! To arms, in Dixie
It’s easy to see why Southerners believed it was their song. After all, the song’s setting was a Southern plantation. And “Dixie” was a common nickname for the South, although it’s not exactly clear why. Some believe the label may have come from ten-dollar bank notes circulated by a New Orleans bank. Referred to as “Dix”—French for ten—they were only accepted as payment for transactions in regions close to New Orleans. In other words, “Dixie Land” was that part of the Deep South that honored these notes as tender.
Others argue, however, that Dixie became another name for the South after Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon completed their survey in 1773, establishing the border between Pennsylvania and Virginia. Since slavery was soon abolished in Pennsylvania, the Mason-Dixon Line became the border between free and slave states.
Yet others have argued that “Dixie Land” was a paradise-like plantation owned by a generous Manhattan slave-owner named “Mr. Dix” (or in some places “Mr. Dixy” or “Mr. Dixie”) in the early part of the century, before slavery became illegal in New York in 1827. Allegedly rumors circulated around that time among slaves that he was a master so kind that his own slaves refused to leave or run away. Hence “Dixie Land” grew to be known as a place of refuge and happiness for slaves somewhere in the North.
War of the Words
However it originated, folks came to associate Dixie with the South, and “Dixie Land” became known as a distinctive region that had built its economy on slave labor and that stretched from Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas. But that did not prevent Northerners from arguing that they had an equal claim on the song. After all, it had been written by a Northerner (Emmett was from Ohio) and debuted in a Northern city (New York was about as Union as it gets). Heck, even Abe Lincoln loved “Dixie;” he had used it regularly on whistle stops during his 1860 campaign. And so after Southerners adopted the song for their secession soundtrack, Northerner Francis J. Crosby answered with a set of pro-Union lyrics:
On! ye patriots to the battle
Hear Fort Moultrie's canon rattle
Then away, then away, then away to the fight!
Go meet those Southern Traitors with iron will
And should your courage falter boys
Remember Bunker Hill
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
The stars and stripes forever!
Hurrah! Hurrah! Our Union shall not sever!
In Crosby’s rendition, Northern soldiers were told that their battle against Southern rebellion was actually part of a larger war launched in 1775. Fort Moultrie was the Patriot fort outside Charleston, South Carolina, that had played such a dramatic role in the defense of the city against British invaders during the American Revolution. Now that South Carolina was the center of insurrection, Crosby urged Northern soldiers to remember these nation-founding battles—Fort Moultrie and Bunker Hill—and meet the Southern traitors with an iron will. They were fighting to preserve the Union that earlier Patriots had secured through revolution; if they adopted their forefathers’ courage, “our union shall not sever.”
In the end, the North won the musical battle as well as the military war. Shortly after announcing the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, Lincoln ordered the band to strike up “Dixie.” The song, he said, had been “fairly captured.” While some few may say Lincoln had the song played as a way to rub in his victory, and others say that he told the band to play “Dixie” because he missed hearing it himself, most historians agree that it was in fact part of a broader political plan. Once the war was over, Lincoln wanted nothing more than the successful reunion of two American peoples ravaged by war. Having the band play “Dixie” was symbolic of his desire to bring the broken pieces of their great nation back together.
Just a Little Bit of History Repeating
But all of the controversy surrounding the song did not end when Lee surrendered at Appomattox Courthouse. Roughly a century later, “Dixie” excited a new set of arguments. This second round of debates began in the 1960s when African American students at Southern universities objected to the playing of “Dixie” at school events. The song was implicitly racist, they argued, rooted in the minstrel tradition that grotesquely mocked slaves and their degraded lives. And as the anthem of the Confederacy, the song represented the South’s attempts to retain several million African Americans in perpetual bondage.
Nonsense, answered the songs’ defenders; “Dixie” was just a harmless expression of Southern heritage. However it might have originated or been heard 100 years before, it had become nothing more than a celebration of the South, a proud and distinctive part of America. Banning “Dixie,” they said, was “political correctness” run wild, an overly sensitive reaction to an important expression of the South’s culture and history.
The argument was not restricted to college campuses. Several politicians joined the students in arguing that the song should be banned from public ceremonies, just as many countered that the song was a harmless piece of Americana. Even Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist included “Dixie” on the song list for the sing-along he hosted every year at a legal conference.
So which is it? Is the song a racist and painful expression of past sins? Or is it an important piece of American history and culture, an expression of the “Old South” that can be sung without endorsing the attitudes that may have originally lain beneath it?
The debate continues to be waged today, and some of these questions are more easily answered than others. Despite 19th-century attempts to rewrite the song’s history, “Dixie” is not exactly a positive expression of the Old South. It was not written on some Southern porch, nor did it emerge from some ancient folk melody. It was written by a Northerner and first performed in a New York theater, and many historians argue that it was intended to be an ironic parody of Southern values, a joke at the plantation owners’ expense. But clearly the South had a different idea of what the song meant. It was not only set within Southern culture, it became an anthem as the Confederacy launched its war for separation from the Union (another reason it should no longer be celebrated, some say).
There’s no denying the racist tone of the old minstrel song. With its crude portrait of slaves and cheery view of slave life, the song celebrates rather than mourns a tragic part of American history. But on the other hand, the part of the song most commonly sung today is the refrain, which, in isolation, makes a more simple statement: “I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!”
Old Song, New Views
On top of all the other controversy surrounding “Dixie, recent research suggests that the song may be representative of a different legacy of racism: America’s failure for centuries to acknowledge all of the contributions to American life made by African Americans. According to some historians, Daniel Emmett did not actually write the song; they claim he learned “Dixie” from members of the Snowden Family Band, a group of African American performers that lived near his family farm in Ohio. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Emmett knew the Snowdens; in fact, later in his career he actually performed alongside them. And the Snowden family has long maintained that their ancestors wrote the famous minstrel hit, although no claims were made to this effect during Emmett’s lifetime.
Not every music historian has embraced this theory. In fact, most argue that the evidence is more circumstantial than verifiable. Yet the possibility serves as a reminder that African Americans’ contributions to our national culture were buried for centuries. And if ultimately proven true, the Snowdens’ authorship would provide yet another, albeit ironic, example of the enormous impact African Americans made not only on American music, but also Southern identity.
It seems as though we may be in the same place as we were 150 years ago in terms of the song’s place in American society. Is “Dixie” another reminder of America’s painful past that should be mourned rather than celebrated? Or is it an important expression of Southern culture that deserves to be honored and performed?
Ultimately, it’s for you to decide. In the meantime, you might begin by asking a different set of questions. What sort of historical artifact is the song? What does it tell us about American culture and the ways in which 19th-century Americans composed and used music? What does it say about American popular entertainment and both Northern and Southern audiences? What does the song say about its composer, a Northerner and son of an abolitionist? What does it say about Abe Lincoln? And what might it say about the Snowdens and other African American families like them? To play or not to play “Dixie”—somehow that is still the question.
Next Page: Technique
Previous Page: Lyrics
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Brora: the industrial capital of Sutherland
A small pocket of Jurassic rocks containing coal on the east coast of Sutherland at Brora gave rise to its place in history as the industrial capital of the Highlands. Coal was mined here for 400 years. The first reference to coal in Brora occurs in a Sutherland Charter of 1529. The last pit closed in 1974. Coal powered a range of local industries including brickworks, textile making, distilleries and of course salt panning. No trace of the coal industry upon which the one-time prosperity of Brora so largely depended, now remains.
“The ancient glory of Brora...laid bare”
These words from the Inverness Advertiser in 1869 were reporting an
event in which “the sand banks along the shore have been considerably
encroached upon, and at Port Cheaniraidh (winter port), a mile to the
west of the river, the action of the sea against the banks has laid
bare a row of buildings which must have been for ages lain imbedded
in the sea… Numbers of people flock to visit this long hidden relic
of the ancient glory of Brora”. Read more about recent uncovering
of long hidden buildings and new discoveries about Brora’s former salt
pan sites in our Archaeology pages.
Local participation and events are the foundation and the strength of the Brora Saltpans Project. Find out more - and find yourself! on our Gallery pages.
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The AutoCAD Command System:
The first thing to understand about AutoCAD is how the command system operates.
Everything in AutoCAD is achieved by issuing a command. Generally, commands are entered by:
In some cases, a particular command can be entered in any one of those three ways depending on your personal preference. To complicate the matter further, some commands can be typed in with an abbreviated alias, which is often the quickest way to get the command started. Once a command has been issued, AutoCAD displays a prompt (or instruction) on the command line indicating your options for proceeding with that command.
To see how the command process operates, watch the command line as you click on any toolbar button. You will see the corresponding command printed at the command prompt and then, as AutoCAD responds to the command, it will display some kind of instruction or prompt (on the same line) and then wait for you to respond. Remember to press the
key if you wish to cancel the command (unless you want to carry it through to see what happens).
The Command Line Prompt always follows the same “pattern”.
AutoCAD first tells you what it expects you to do (“enter a point”, “type in a value”, etc). If there are other alternative actions you can take as part of that command sequence, then those are listed next within square brackets, each separated by a slash character. You can select any of those alternative options by typing the capitalized letters only of the option. At the end of the prompt line, if appropriate, AutoCAD displays the default answer to the prompt within angle brackets. If you simply press the Enter key, AutoCAD will use that default value.
To develop your understanding of this process further, choose any of the drawing tools, click the button while watching the command prompt, and then pick points in the drawing area in response to the prompts. You should be able to draw things with very little further explanation!
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Open House: An informal, unstructured Public Meeting during which information stations with exhibits convey important project information and Department of Transportation and consultant personnel are available to answer the public’s questions.
Ordinary High Water (OHW): The ordinary high water mark is the elevation at which US Army Corps of Engineers jurisdiction begins. The OHW mark is the line on the shore established by the fluctuations of water and indicated by physical characteristics such as an impressed natural line, shelving, a vegetation change or debris lines.
Ozone: A colorless gas with a sweet odor. Ozone is not a direct emission from transportation sources but rather a secondary pollutant formed when hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) combine in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is associated with smog or haze conditions. Although ozone in the upper atmosphere protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays, ground level ozone produces an unhealthy environment in which to live.
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Problems of Philosophy
Chapter 5 - Knowledge by Acquaintance and Knowledge by Description
After distinguishing two types of knowledge, knowledge of things and knowledge of truths, Russell devotes this fifth chapter to an elucidation of knowledge of things. He further distinguishes two types of knowledge of things, knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description. We have knowledge by acquaintance when we are directly aware of a thing, without any inference. We are immediately conscious and acquainted with a color or hardness of a table before us, our sense-data. Since acquaintance with things is logically independent from any knowledge of truths, we can be acquainted with something immediately without knowing any truth about it. I can know the color of a table "perfectly and completely when I see it" and not know any truth about the color in itself. The other type of knowledge of things is called knowledge by description. When we say we have knowledge of the table itself, a physical object, we refer to a kind of knowledge other than immediate, direct knowledge. "The physical object which causes such-and-such sense-data" is a phrase that describes the table by way of sense-data. We only have a description of the table. Knowledge by description is predicated on something with which we are acquainted, sense-data, and some knowledge of truths, like knowing that "such- and-such sense-data are caused by the physical object." Thus, knowledge by description allows us to infer knowledge about the actual world via the things that can be known to us, things with which we have direct acquaintance (our subjective sense-data).
According to this outline, knowledge by acquaintance forms the bedrock for all of our other knowledge. Sense-data is not the only instance of things with which we can be immediately acquainted. For how would we recall the past, Russell argues, if we could only know what was immediately present to our senses. Beyond sense-data, we also have "acquaintance by memory." Remembering what we were immediately aware of makes it so that we are still immediately aware of that past, perceived thing. We may therefore access many past things with the same requisite immediacy. Beyond sense-data and memories, we possess "acquaintance by introspection." When we are aware of an awareness, like in the case of hunger, "my desiring food" becomes an object of acquaintance. Introspective acquaintance is a kind of acquaintance with our own minds that may be understood as self-consciousness. However, this self-consciousness is really more like a consciousness of a feeling or a particular thought; the awareness rarely includes the explicit use of "I," which would identify the Self as a subject. Russell abandons this strand of knowledge, knowledge of the Self, as a probable but unclear dimension of acquaintance.
Russell summarizes our acquaintance with things as follows: "We have acquaintance in sensation with the data of the outer senses, and in introspection with the data of what may be called the inner sense—thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.; we have acquaintance in memory with things which have been data either of the outer senses or of the inner sense. Further, it is probable, though not certain, that we have acquaintance with Self, as that which is aware of things or has desires towards things." All these objects of acquaintance are particulars, concrete, existing things. Russell cautions that we can also have acquaintance with abstract, general ideas called universals. He addresses universals more fully later in chapter 9.
Russell allocates the rest of the chapter to explaining how the complicated theory of knowledge by description actually works. The most conspicuous things that are known to us by description are physical objects and other people's minds. We approach a case of having knowledge by description when we know "that there is an object answering to a definite description, though we are not acquainted with any such object." Russell offers several illustrations in the service of understanding knowledge by description. He claims that it is important to understand this kind of knowledge because our language uses depends so heavily on it. When we say common words or proper names, we are really relying on the meanings implicit in descriptive knowledge. The thought connoted by the use of a proper name can only really be explicitly expressed through a description or proposition.
Bismarck, or "the first Chancellor of the German Empire," is Russell's most cogent example. Imagine that there is a proposition, or statement, made about Bismarck. If Bismarck is the speaker, admitting that he has a kind of direct acquaintance with his own self, Bismarck might have voiced his name in order to make a self-referential judgment, of which his name is a constituent. In this simplest case, the "proper name has the direct use which it always wishes to have, as simply standing for a certain object, and not for a description of the object." If one of Bismarck's friends who knew him directly was the speaker of the statement, then we would say that the speaker had knowledge by description. The speaker is acquainted with sense-data which he infers corresponds with Bismarck's body. The body or physical object representing the mind is "only known as the body and the mind connected with these sense-data," which is the vital description. Since the sense-data corresponding to Bismarck change from moment to moment and with perspective, the speaker knows which various descriptions are valid.
Still more removed from direct acquaintance, imagine that someone like you or I comes along and makes a statement about Bismarck that is a description based on a "more or less vague mass of historical knowledge." We say that Bismarck was the "first Chancellor of the German Empire." In order to make a valid description applicable to the physical object, Bismarck's body, we must find a relation between some particular with which we have acquaintance and the physical object, the particular with which we wish to have an indirect acquaintance. We must make such a reference in order to secure a meaningful description.
To usefully distinguish particulars from universals, Russell posits the example of "the most long-lived of men," a description which wholly consists of universals. We assume that the description must apply to some man, but we have no way of inferring any judgment about him. Russell remarks, "all knowledge of truths, as we shall show, demands acquaintance with things which are of an essentially different character from sense-data, the things which are sometimes called 'abstract ideas', but which we shall call 'universals'." The description composed only of universals gives no knowledge by acquaintance with which we might anchor an inference about the longest-lived man. A further statement about Bismarck, like "The first Chancellor of the German Empire was an astute diplomatist," is a statement that contains particulars and asserts a judgment that we can only make in virtue of some acquaintance (like something heard or read).
Statements about things known by description function in our language as statements about the "actual thing described;" that is, we intend to refer to that thing. We intend to say something with the direct authority that only Bismarck himself could have when he makes a statement about himself, something with which he has direct acquaintance. Yet, there is a spectrum of removal from acquaintance with the relevant particulars: from Bismarck himself, "there is Bismarck to people who knew him; Bismarck to those who only know of him through history" and at a far end of the spectrum "the longest lived of men." At the latter end, we can only make propositions that are logically deducible from universals, and at the former end, we come as close as possible to direct acquaintance and can make many propositions identifying the actual object. It is now clear how knowledge gained by description is reducible to knowledge by acquaintance. Russell calls this observation his fundamental principle in the study of "propositions containing descriptions": "Every proposition which we can understand must be composed wholly of constituents with which we are acquainted."
Indirect knowledge of some particulars seems necessary if we are to expressively attach meanings to the words we commonly use. When we say something referring to Julius Caesar, we clearly have no direct acquaintance with the man. Rather, we are thinking of such descriptions as "the man who was assassinated on the Ides of March" or "the founder of the Roman Empire." Since we have no way of being directly acquainted with Julius Caesar, our knowledge by description allows us to gain knowledge of "things which we have never experienced." It allows us to overstep the boundaries of our private, immediate experiences and engage a public knowledge and public language.
This knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description theory was a famous epistemological problem-solver for Russell. Its innovative character allowed him to shift to his moderate realism, a realism ruled by a more definite categorization of objects. It is a theory of knowledge that considers our practice of language to be meaningful and worthy of detailed analysis. Russell contemplates how we construct a sense of meaning about objects remote from our experience. The realm of acquaintance offers the most secure references for our understanding of the world. Knowledge by description allows us to draw inferences from our realm of acquaintance but leaves us in a more vulnerable position. Since knowledge by description also depends on truths, we are prone to error about our descriptive knowledge if we are somehow mistaken about a proposition that we have taken to be true.
Critics of this theory have held that Russell's hypothesis of knowledge by description is confusing. His comments when defining sense-data, that the physical world is unknowable to us, contradict his theory of knowledge by descriptions. He implies that "knowledge by description" is not really a form of knowledge since we can only know those things with which we are acquainted and we cannot be acquainted with physical objects. Russell's theory amounts to the proposition that our acquaintance with mental objects appears related in a distant way to physical objects and renders us obliquely acquainted with the physical world. Sense-data are our subjective representations of the external world, and they negotiate this indirect contact.
While innovative, Russell's theory of knowledge by description is not an attractive theory of knowledge. It is clearly unappealing because our impressions of the real world, on his view, are commensurate with muddy representations of reality. Though we have direct access to these representations, it seems impossible to have any kind of direct experience of reality. Reality, rather, consists in unconscious, inferential pieces of reasoning.
Readers' Notes allow users to add their own analysis and insights to our SparkNotes—and to discuss those ideas with one another. Have a novel take or think we left something out? Add a Readers' Note!
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The idea that many athletes need to learn to breathe properly might sound ridiculous at first. But many young athletes are breathing improperly during their workouts, thus failing to maximize their strength training.
Think of how many bright red faces you’ve seen at the gym. That doesn’t necessarily mean their owners are having a great workout. It could mean they’re breathing backwards, or not at all. “Breathing backwards” refers to those who take in a big gulp of air as they struggle to lift the weight, exhaling after they finally get to the top of the exercise. “Not at all” refers to the Valsalva maneuver, which is the practice of forcefully exhaling against a closed airway. Weightlifters commonly use this technique, believing the trapped air in the body helps stabilize the spine during a lift, preventing injury.
This is actually dangerously inaccurate. In fact, “a study published in the June 1986 issue of the journal Spine found that the Valsalva maneuver actually increases the pressure of the spine,” says personal trainer and Livestrong.com contributor Kimberly Wonderly. “Dr. Michael Hall, a family physician for DuBois Regional Medical Center in DuBois, Pennsylvania, states that the Valsalva maneuver increases your risk of stroke, raises the amount of pressure within your eyes and greatly elevates your blood pressure.” Breathing in this manner also risks dizziness and fatigue, either of which would probably end your workout early.
Wonderly continues, “Proper breathing brings focus to both your breath and your body, which allows your body to signal you if a lift poses a risk of injury through improper form or too much resistance.”
Let’s break down proper breathing techniques for the Bench Press as an example of when you should inhale and exhale:
In short, the rule is to exhale when you exert force [push the bar] and inhale as you relax [lower the bar]. This pattern of breathing will allow you to focus on your form and engage the muscles needed to complete the exercise.
Like a sport-specific skill, proper breathing can take time and practice to master. But in the end, it’s worth it, and you’ll notice benefits in your workouts. For more help in mastering your breathing technique during strength training, tweet us at @STACKMedia.
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A concussion is a minor traumatic brain injury that may occur when the head hits an object, or a moving object strikes the head.
It can affect how the brain works for a while. A concussion can lead to a bad headache, changes in alertness, or loss of consciousness .
Causes, incidence, and risk factors:
A concussion can result from a fall, sports activities, or car accidents. A big movement of the brain (called jarring) in any direction can cause a person to lose alertness (become unconscious). How long the person stays unconscious may be a sign of the severity of the concussion.
Concussions do not always result in loss of consciousness. Most people who have a concussion never pass out. But they may describe seeing all white, black, or stars. A person can also have a concussion and not realize it.
Symptoms of a concussion range from mild to severe. They can include:
- Acting confused, feeling spacey, or not thinking straight
- Being drowsy, hard to wake up, or similar changes
Loss of consciousness
- Memory loss (amnesia ) of events before the injury or right after
- Nausea and vomiting
- Seeing flashing lights
- Feeling like you have "lost time"
The following are emergency symptoms of a concussion. Seek medical care right away if there are:
- Changes in alertness and consciousness
- Confusion that does not go away
- Muscle weakness on one or both sides
- Persistent confusion
- Pupils of the eyes that are not equal in size
- Remaining unconsciousness (coma)
- Repeated vomiting
- Unequal pupils
- Unusual eye movements
- Walking or balance problems
- Unconsciousness (coma) that continues
Head injuries that cause a concussion often occur with injury to the neck and spine. Take special care when moving people who have had a head injury.
While recovering from a concussion, the person may:
- Be withdrawn, easily upset, or confused
- Have a hard time with tasks that require remembering or concentrating
- Have mild headaches
- Be less tolerant of noise
- Be very tired
Signs and tests:
The doctor will perform a physical exam. The person's nervous system will be checked. There may be changes in the person's pupil size, thinking ability, coordination, and reflexes.
Tests that may be ordered include:
A more serious head injury that involves bleeding or brain damage must be treated in a hospital.
For a mild head injury no treatment may be needed. But be aware that the symptoms of a head injury can show up later.
- Friends or family may need to keep an eye on adults for symptoms after they are released from the emergency room or doctor’s office.
- Parents or caregivers of children need to keep an eye on a child for symptoms after a head injury.
- Both adults and children must follow the health care provider’s instructions about when the person can return to sports.
After even a mild concussion:
- Do not do activities that can cause further head injury.
- Avoid tasks that require concentration or complicated thinking. These include reading, homework, and preparing reports.
- Avoid bright lights and loud sounds. These can overstimulate the brain.
Recovering from a concussion takes time.
- It may take days, weeks, or even months.
- The person have trouble concentrating and may be unable to remember things. The person may be irritable, have headaches, dizziness, blurry vision, and nausea that comes and goes.
- Adults should get help from family or friends before making important decisions. This is because reasoning and thinking processes may be impaired.
In a small group of patients, symptoms of the concussion do not go away. The risk of long-term changes in the brain is high if the person has more than one brain injury
Seizures may occur after more severe head injuries.
Calling your health care provider:
Call the health care provider if a head injury causes changes in alertness or produces any other worrisome symptoms.
If symptoms do not go away or are not improving after 2 or 3 weeks, talk to the doctor.
Call the doctor right away if the following symptoms occur:
- Changes in behavior or unusual behavior
- Changes in speech (slurred, difficult to understand, does not make sense)
- Difficulty waking up or becoming more sleepy
- Double vision or blurred vision
- Fluid or blood leaking from the nose or ears
- Headache that is getting worse, lasts a long time, or does not get better with over-the-counter pain relievers
- Problems walking or talking
- Seizures (jerking of the arms or legs without control)
- Vomiting more than three times
Not all head injuries can be prevented. But the following simple steps can help keep you and your child safe:
- Always use safety equipment during activities that could cause a head injury. These include seat belts, bicycle or motorcycle helmets, and hard hats.
- Learn and follow bicycle safety recommendations.
- Do not drink and drive. Do not allow yourself to be driven by someone who you know or suspect has been drinking alcohol or is otherwise impaired.
Biros MH, Heegard WG. Head injury. In: Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, et al., eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Mosby; 2009:chap 38.
Hunt T, Asplund C. Concussion assessment and management. Clin Sports Med. 2009;5-17.
Landry GL. Head and neck injuries. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BF, St. Geme JW III, et al., eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics.19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2011:chap 680.
|Review Date: 1/1/2013|
Reviewed By: Jacob L. Heller, MD, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc., Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, David R. Eltz, Stephanie Slon, and Nissi Wang.
The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997-
A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
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- Introduction to Hubble
- The Current Science Instruments
- Mission Operations and Observations
- Previous Instruments
- Technical Overview
Introduction to Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a cooperative program of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to operate a space-based observatory for the benefit of the international astronomical community. HST is an observatory first envisioned in the 1940s, designed and built in the 1970s and 80s, and operational since the 1990. Since its preliminary inception, HST was designed to be a different type of mission for NASA -- a long-term, space-based observatory. To accomplish this goal and protect the spacecraft against instrument and equipment failures, NASA planned on regular servicing missions. Hubble has special grapple fixtures, 76 handholds, and is stabilized in all three axes. HST is a 2.4-meter reflecting telescope, which was deployed in low-Earth orbit (600 kilometers) by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on 25 April 1990.
Responsibility for conducting and coordinating the science operations of the Hubble Space Telescope rests with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) on the Johns Hopkins University Homewood Campus in Baltimore, Maryland. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA).
HST's current complement of science instruments includes three cameras, two spectrographs, and fine guidance sensors (primarily used for accurate pointing, but also for astrometric observations). Because of HST's location above the Earth's atmosphere, these science instruments can produce high-resolution images of astronomical objects. Ground-based telescopes are limited in their resolution by the Earth’s atmosphere, which causes a variable distortion in the images. Hubble can observe ultraviolet radiation, which is blocked by the atmosphere and therefore unavailable to ground-based telescopes. In the infrared portion of the spectrum, the Earth’s atmosphere adds a great deal of background, which is absent in Hubble observations.
When originally planned in the early 1970s, the Large Space Telescope program called for return to Earth, refurbishment, and re-launch every 5 years, with on-orbit servicing every 2.5 years. Hardware lifetime and reliability requirements were based on that 2.5-year interval between servicing missions. In the late 70s, contamination and structural loading concerns associated with return to Earth aboard the shuttle eliminated the concept of ground return from the program. NASA decided that on-orbit servicing might be adequate to maintain HST for its 15-year design life. A three-year cycle of on-orbit servicing was adopted. HST servicing missions in December 1993, February 1997, December 1999, March 2002 and May 2009 were enormous successes and validated the concept of on-orbit servicing of Hubble.
The years since the launch of HST in 1990 have been momentous, with the discovery of spherical aberration in its main mirror and the search for a practical solution. The STS-61 (Endeavour) mission of December 1993 corrected the effects of spherical aberration and fully restored the functionality of HST. Since then, servicing missions have regularly provided opportunities to repair aging and failed equipment as well as incorporate new technologies in the telescope, especially in the Science Instruments that are the heart of its operations.
See OPO's Hubble Primer for more information about HST.
The Current Science Instruments
Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
A spectrograph spreads out the light gathered by a telescope so that it can be analyzed to determine such properties of celestial objects as chemical composition and abundances, temperature, radial velocity, rotational velocity, and magnetic fields. The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) can study these objects across a spectral range from the UV (115 nanometers) through the visible red and the near-IR (1000 nanometers).
STIS uses three detectors: a cesium iodide photocathode Multi-Anode Microchannel Array (MAMA) for 115 to 170 nm, a cesium telluride MAMA for 165 to 310 nm, and a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) for 165 to 1000 nm. All three detectors have a 1024 X 1024 pixel format. The field of view for each MAMA is 25 X 25 arc-seconds, and the field of view of the CCD is 52 X 52 arc-seconds.
The main advance in STIS is its capability for two-dimensional rather than one-dimensional spectroscopy. For example, it is possible to record the spectrum of many locations in a galaxy simultaneously, rather than observing one location at a time. STIS can also record a broader span of wavelengths in the spectrum of a star at one time. As a result, STIS is much more efficient at obtaining scientific data than the earlier HST spectrographs.
A power supply in STIS failed in August 2004, rendering it inoperable. During the servicing mission in 2009, astronauts successfully repaired the STIS by removing the circuit card containing the failed power supply and replacing it with a new card. Since STIS was not designed for in-orbit repair of internal electronics, this task was a substantial challenge for the astronaut crew.
Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer
The Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) is an HST instrument providing the capability for infrared imaging and spectroscopic observations of astronomical targets. NICMOS detects light with wavelengths between 0.8 and 2.5 microns - longer than the human-eye limit.
The sensitive HgCdTe arrays that comprise the infrared detectors in NICMOS must operate at very cold temperatures. After its deployment, NICMOS kept its detectors cold inside a cryogenic dewar (a thermally insulated container much like a thermos bottle) containing frozen nitrogen ice. NICMOS is HST's first cryogenic instrument.
The frozen nitrogen ice cryogen in NICMOS was exhausted in early 1999, rendering the Instrument inoperable at that time. An alternate means of cooling the NICMOS was developed and installed in the March 2002 servicing mission. This device uses a mechanical cooler to cool the detectors to the low temperatures necessary for operations. The technology for this cooler was not available when the instrument was originally designed, but fortunately became available in time to support the reactivation of the instrument.
Since late 2008, the NICMOS Cooling System (NCS) has experienced difficulties maintaining the instrument’s nominal scientific operating state, in which the detectors are maintained at ~ 77K. Repeated restart attempts have demonstrated that it is not possible to restart the NCS in a cold state immediately following safing events. The main culprit for the problems is believed to be water ice in the primary (circulator) loop of the NCS. An inefficient approach to this problem would be to put the NCS through a several-month warm-up/cooldown cycle and hope that there is an opportunity for science prior to the next payload safing event.
The only feasible path towards satisfactory operation of NICMOS is to remove the putative water by venting the existing contaminated Ne coolant and replacing it with a fresh charge, which is available onboard but has never actually been used on-orbit. Based on the Cycle 18 proposal review results, STScI and Goddard HST Project, with the concurrence of NASA Headquarters, have decided that NICMOS will not be available for science in Cycle 18. A decision on the availability of NICMOS beyond Cycle 18 has not yet been made and awaits further discussion.
Advanced Camera for Surveys
The ACS is a camera designed to provide HST with a deep, wide-field survey capability from the visible to near-IR, imaging from the near-UV to the near-IR with the point-spread function critically sampled at 6300 Å, and solar blind far-UV imaging. The primary design goal of the ACS Wide-Field Channel is to achieve a factor of 10 improvement in discovery efficiency, compared to WFPC2, where discovery efficiency is defined as the product of imaging area and instrument throughput. These gains are a direct result of improved technology since the HST was launched in 1990. The Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) used as detectors in the ACS, are more sensitive than those of the late 80s and early 90s, and also have many more pixels, capturing more of the sky in each exposure. The wide field camera in the ACS is a 16 megapixel camera.
The ACS was installed during the March 2002 servicing mission. As a result of the improved sensitivity it instantly became the most heavily used Hubble instrument. It has been used for surveys of varying breadths and depths, as well as for detailed studies of specific objects. The ACS worked well until January 2007, at which time a failure in the electronics for the CCDs occurred and has prevented use of those detectors. Engineers and astronauts then developed an approach to remove and replace the failed electronics, which was carried out during the 2009 servicing mission. As with the STIS repair, the ACS repair was challenging, since the instrument was not designed originally with this type of repair in mind.
Fine Guidance Sensors
The Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS), in addition to being an integral part of the HST Pointing Control System (PCS), provide HST observers with the capability of precision astrometry and milliarcsecond resolution over a wide range of magnitudes (3 < V < 16.8). Its two observing modes - Position Mode and Transfer Mode - have been used to determine the parallax and proper motion of astrometric targets to a precision of 0.2 mas, and to detect duplicity or structure around targets as close as 8 mas (visual orbits can be determined for binaries as close as 12 mas).
Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
The Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) is a fourth-generation instrument that was installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during the 2009 servicing mission. COS is designed to perform high sensitivity, moderate- and low-resolution spectroscopy of astronomical objects in the 115-320 nm wavelength range. It significantly enhances the spectroscopic capabilities of HST at ultraviolet wavelengths, and provides observers with unparalleled opportunities for observing faint sources of ultraviolet light. The primary science objectives of the COS are the study of the origins of large scale structure in the Universe, the formation and evolution of galaxies, the origin of stellar and planetary systems, and the cold interstellar medium.
The COS achieves its improved sensitivity through advanced detectors and optical fabrication techniques. At UV wavelengths even the best mirrors do not reflect all light incident upon them. Previous spectrographs have required multiple (5 or more) reflections in order to display the spectrum on the detector. A substantial portion of the COS improvement in sensitivity is due to an optical design that requires only a single reflection inside the instrument, reducing the losses due to imperfect reflectivity. This design is possible only with advanced techniques for fabrication, which were not available when earlier generations of HST spectrographs were designed.
COS has a far-UV and near-UV channel that use different detectors: two side-by-side 16384 x 1024 pixel Cross-Delay Line Microchannel Plates (MCPs) for the far-UV, 115 to 205 nm, and a 1024x1024 pixel cesium telluride MAMA for the near-UV,170 to 320 nm. The far-UV detector is similar to detectors flown on the FUSE spacecraft, and takes advantage of improved technology over the past decade. The near-UV detector is a spare STIS detector.
Wide Field Camera 3
The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) is also a fourth generation instrument that was installed during the 2009 servicing mission. Equipped with state-of-the-art detectors and optics, WFC3 provides wide-field imaging with continuous spectral coverage from the ultraviolet into the infrared, dramatically increasing both the survey power and the panchromatic science capabilities of HST.
The WFC3 has two camera channels: the UVIS channel that operates in the ultraviolet and visible bands (from about 200 to 1000 nm), and the IR channel that operates in the infrared (from 900 to 1700 nm). The performance of the two channels was designed to complement the performance of the ACS. The UVIS channel provides the largest field of view and best sensitivity of any ultraviolet camera HST has had. This is feasible as a result of continued improvement in the performance of Charge Coupled Devices designed for astronomical use. The IR channel on WFC3 represents a major improvement on the capabilities of the NICMOS, primarily as a result of the availability of much larger detectors, 1 megapixel in the WFC3/IR vs. 0.06 megapixels for the NICMOS. In addition, modern IR detectors like that in the WFC3 have benefited from improvements over the last decade in design and fabrication.
Mission Operations and Observations:
Although HST operates around the clock, not all of its time is spent observing. Each orbit lasts about 95 minutes, with time allocated for housekeeping functions and for observations. "Housekeeping" functions includes turning the telescope to acquire a new target, switching communications antennas and data transmission modes, receiving command loads and downlinking data, calibrating the instruments and similar activities. On average, the telescope spends about 50% of the time observing astronomical targets. About 50% of the time the view to celestial targets is blocked by the Earth, and that time is used to carry out these support functions.
Each year the STScI solicits ideas for scientific programs from the worldwide astronomical community. All astronomers are free to submit proposals for observations. Typically, 700-1200 proposals are submitted each year. A series of panels, involving roughly 100 astronomers from around the world, are convened to recommend which of the proposals to carry out over the next year. There is only sufficient time in a year to schedule about 1/5 of the proposals that are submitted, so the competition for Hubble observing time is tight.
After proposals are chosen, the observers submit detailed observation plans. The STScI uses these to develop a yearlong observing plan, spreading the observations evenly throughout the period and taking into account scientific reasons that may require some observations to be at a specific time. This long-range plan incorporates calibrations and engineering activities, as well as the scientific observations. This plan is then used as the basis for detailed scheduling of the telescope, which is done one week at a time. Each event is translated into a series of commands to be sent to the onboard computers. Computer loads are uplinked several times a day to keep the telescope operating efficiently.
When possible, two scientific instruments are used simultaneously to observe adjacent target regions of the sky. For example, while a spectrograph is focused on a chosen star or nebula, a camera can image a sky region offset slightly from the main viewing target. During observations the Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) track their respective guide stars to keep the telescope pointed steadily at the right target.
Engineering and scientific data from HST, as well as uplinked operational commands, are transmitted through the Tracking Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system and its companion ground station at White Sands, New Mexico. Up to 24 hours of commands can be stored in the onboard computers. Data can be broadcast from HST to the ground stations immediately or stored on a solid-state recorder and downlinked later.
The observer on the ground can examine the "raw" images and other data within a few minutes for a quick-look analysis. Within 24 hours, GSFC formats the data for delivery to the STScI. STScI is responsible for calibrating the data and providing them to the astronomer who requested the observations. The astronomer has a year to analyze the data from the proposed program, draw conclusions, and publish the results. After one year the data become accessible to all astronomers. The STScI maintains an archive of all data taken by HST. This archive has become an important research tool in itself. Astronomers regularly check the archive to determine whether data in it can be used for a new problem they are working on. Frequently they find that there are HST data relevant for their research, and they can then download these data free of charge.
Hubble has proven to be an enormously successful program, providing new insight into the mysteries of the Universe.
Previously Flown Instruments:
- Wide Field Planetary Camera
- Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
- Faint Object Spectrograph
- Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph
- Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement
- Faint Object Camera
- High Speed Photometer
Wide Field/Planetary Camera
The Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC1) was used from April 1990 to November 1993, to obtain high resolution images of astronomical objects over a relatively wide field of view and a broad range of wavelengths (1150 to 11,000 Angstroms).
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
The original Wide Field/Planetary Camera (WF/PC1) was replaced by WFPC2 on the STS-61 shuttle mission in December 1993. WFPC2 was a spare instrument developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, at the time of HST launch. It consisted of four cameras. The relay mirrors in WFPC2 were spherically aberrated in just the right way to correct for the spherically aberrated primary mirror of the observatory. (HST's primary mirror is 2 microns too flat at the edge, so the corrective optics within WFPC2 were too high by that same amount.). The "heart'' of WFPC2 consisted of an L-shaped trio of wide-field sensors and a smaller, high resolution ("planetary") camera tucked in the square's remaining corner.
WFPC2 was removed in the May 2009 servicing mission and replaced by the Wide-Field Camera 3 (WFC3).
Faint Object Spectrograph
A spectrograph spreads out the light gathered by a telescope so that it can be analyzed to determine such properties of celestial objects as chemical composition and abundances, temperature, radial velocity, rotational velocity, and magnetic fields. The Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) was one of the original instruments on Hubble; it was replaced by NICMOS during the second servicing mission in 1997. The FOS examined fainter objects than the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS), and could study these objects across a much wider spectral range -- from the UV (1150 Angstroms) through the visible red and the near-IR (8000 Angstroms).
The FOS used two 512-element Digicon sensors (light intensifiers). The "blue" tube was sensitive from 1150 to 5500 Angstroms (UV to yellow). The "red" tube was sensitive from 1800 to 8000 Angstroms (longer UV through red). Light entered the FOS through any of 11 different apertures from 0.1 to about 1.0 arc-seconds in diameter. There were also two occulting devices to block out light from the center of an object while allowing the light from just outside the center to pass on through. This could allow analysis of the shells of gas around red giant stars of the faint galaxies around a quasar.
The FOS had two modes of operation: low resolution and high resolution. At low resolution, it could reach 26th magnitude in one hour with a resolving power of 250. At high resolution, the FOS could reach only 22nd magnitude in an hour (before noise becomes a problem), but the resolving power was increased to 1300.
Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph
The Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS) was one of the original instruments on Hubble; it failed in 1997, shortly before being replaced by STIS during the second servicing mission. As a spectrograph, HRS also separated incoming light into its spectral components so that the composition, temperature, motion, and other chemical and physical properties of the objects could be analyzed. The HRS contrasted with the FOS in that it concentrated entirely on UV spectroscopy and traded the extremely faint objects for the ability to analyze very fine spectral detail. Like the FOS, the HRS used two 521-channel Digicon electronic light detectors, but the detectors of the HRS were deliberately blind to visible light. One tube was sensitive from 1050 to 1700 Angstroms; while the other was sensitive from 1150 to 3200 Angstroms.
The HRS also had three resolution modes: low, medium, and high. "Low resolution" for the HRS was 2000 -- higher than the best resolution available on the FOS. Examining a feature at 1200 Angstroms, the HRS could resolve detail of 0.6 Angstroms and could examine objects down to 19th magnitude. At medium resolution of 20,000; that same spectral feature at 1200 Angstroms could be seen in detail down to 0.06 Angstroms, but the object would have to be brighter than 16th magnitude to be studied. High resolution for the HRS was 100,000, allowing a spectral line at 1200 Angstroms to be resolved down to 0.012 Angstroms. However, "high resolution" could be applied only to objects of 14th magnitude or brighter. The HRS could also discriminate between variations in light from objects as rapid as 100 milliseconds apart.
Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement
COSTAR was not a science instrument; it was a corrective optics package that displaced the High Speed Photometer during the first servicing mission to HST. COSTAR was designed to optically correct the effects of the primary mirror's aberration for the Faint Object Camera (FOC), the High Resolution Spectrograph (HRS), and the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS). All the other instruments that have been installed since HST's initial deployment, have been designed with their own corrective optics. When all of the first-generation instruments were replaced by other instruments, COSTAR was no longer be needed and was removed from Hubble during the 2009 servicing mission.
Faint Object Camera
The Faint Object Camera (FOC) was built by the European Space Agency as one of the original science instruments on Hubble. It was replaced by ACS during the servicing mission in 2002.
There were two complete detector systems for the FOC. Each used an image intensifier tube to produced an image on a phosphor screen that is 100,000 times brighter than the light received. This phosphor image was then scanned by a sensitive electron-bombarded silicon (EBS) television camera. This system was so sensitive that objects brighter than 21st magnitude had to be dimmed by the camera's filter systems to avoid saturating the detectors. Even with a broad-band filter, the brightest object that could be accurately measured was 20th magnitude.
The FOC offered three different focal ratios: f/48, f/96, and f/288 on a standard television picture format. The f/48 image measured 22 X 22 arc-seconds and yielded a resolution (pixel size) of 0.043 arc-seconds. The f/96 mode provided an image of 11 X 11 arc-seconds on each side and a resolution of 0.022 arc-seconds. The f/288 field of view was 3.6 X 3.6 arc-seconds square, with resolution down to 0.0072 arc-seconds.
High Speed Photometer
The High Speed Photometer (HSP) was one of the four original axial instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The HSP was designed to make very rapid photometric observations of astrophysical sources in a variety of filters and passbands from the near ultraviolet to the visible. The HSP was removed from HST during the first servicing mission in December, 1993.
For more complete technical information about HST and its instruments, see the HST Primer.
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What is lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning occurs when you absorb too much lead by breathing or swallowing a substance with lead in it, such as paint, dust, water, or food. Lead can damage almost every organ system.
In children, too much lead in the body can cause lasting problems with growth and development. These can affect behavior, hearing, and learning and can slow the child's growth.
In adults, lead poisoning can damage the brain and Reference nervous system Opens New Window, the stomach, and the kidneys. It can also cause Reference high blood pressure Opens New Window and other health problems.
Although it isn't normal to have lead in your body, a small amount is present in most people. Environmental laws have reduced lead exposure in the United States, but it is still a health risk, especially for young children.
What causes lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning is usually caused by months or years of exposure to small amounts of lead at home, work, or day care. It can also happen very quickly with exposure to a large amount of lead. Many things can contain or be contaminated with lead: paint, air, water, soil, food, and manufactured goods.
The most common source of lead exposure for children is Reference lead-based paint Opens New Window and the dust and soil that are contaminated by it. This can be a problem in older homes and buildings.
Adults are most often exposed to lead at work or while doing hobbies that involve lead.
Who is at highest risk of lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning can occur at any age, but children are most likely to be affected by high lead levels. Children at highest risk include those who:
- Live in or regularly visit homes or buildings built before 1978. These buildings may have lead-based paint. The risk is even higher in buildings built before 1950, when lead-based paint was more commonly used.
- Are immigrants, refugees, or adoptees from other countries.Reference 1 They may have been exposed to higher lead levels in these countries.
- Are 6 years old or younger. Young children are at higher risk because:
- They often put their hands and objects in their mouths.
- They sometimes swallow nonfood items.
- Their bodies absorb lead at a higher rate.
- Their brains are developing quickly.
Others at risk for lead poisoning include people who:
- Drink water that flows through pipes that were soldered with lead.
- Work with lead either in their job or as a hobby (for example, metal smelters, pottery makers, and stained glass artists).
- Eat food from cans made with lead solder. These types of cans aren't made in the United States.
- Cook or store food in ceramic containers. Some ceramic glaze contains lead that may not have been properly fired or cured.
- Eat or breathe traditional or folk remedies that contain lead, such as some herbs and vitamins from other countries.
- Live in communities with a lot of industrial pollution.
What are the symptoms?
You may not notice any symptoms at first. The effects are easy to miss and may seem related to other conditions. The higher the amount of lead in the body, the more severe the symptoms are.
In children, symptoms can include:
- Slightly lower intelligence and smaller size compared to children of the same age.
- Behavior problems, such as acting angry, moody, or hyperactive.
- Learning problems.
- Lack of energy, and not feeling hungry.
In adults, lead poisoning can cause:
- Changes in behavior, mood, personality, and sleep patterns.
- Memory loss and trouble thinking clearly.
- Weakness and muscle problems.
Severe cases can cause seizures, paralysis, and coma.
How is lead poisoning diagnosed?
The doctor will ask questions and do a physical exam to look for signs of lead poisoning. If your doctor suspects lead poisoning, he or she will do a blood test to find out the amount of lead in the blood.
Diagnosing lead poisoning is difficult, because the symptoms can be caused by many diseases. Most children with lead poisoning don't have symptoms until their blood lead levels are very high.
In the United States, there are screening programs to check lead levels in children who are likely to be exposed to lead. Whether your child needs to be tested depends in part on where you live, how old your housing is, and other risk factors. Talk to your child's doctor about whether your child is at risk and should be screened.
Adults usually aren't screened for lead poisoning unless they have a job that involves working with lead. For these workers, companies usually are required to provide testing.
If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and have a family member who works with lead, you may want to ask your doctor about your risk for lead poisoning. But in general, experts don't recommend routine testing for lead in pregnant women who don't have symptoms.Reference 2
How is it treated?
Treatment for lead poisoning includes removing the source of lead, getting good nutrition, and, in some cases, having chelation therapy.
Removing the source of lead. Old paint chips and dirt are the most common sources of lead in the home. Lead-based paint, and the dirt and dust that come along with it, should be removed by professionals. In the workplace, removal usually means removing lead dust that's in the air and making sure that people don't bring contaminated dust or dirt on their clothing into their homes or other places.
Good nutrition. Eating foods that have enough iron and other vitamins and minerals may be enough to reduce lead levels in the body. A person who eats a balanced, nutritious diet may absorb less lead than someone with a poor diet.
Reference Chelation therapy Opens New Window. If removing the lead source and getting good nutrition don't work, or if lead levels are very high, you may need to take chelating medicines. These medicines bind to lead in the body and help remove it.
If blood lead levels don't come down with treatment, home and work areas may need to be rechecked. Call your local health department to see what inspection services are offered in your area.
The best way to avoid lead poisoning is to prevent it. Treatment cannot reverse any damage that has already occurred. But there are many Reference ways to reduce your exposure—and your child's—before it causes symptoms.
|By:||Reference Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: Reference July 26, 2012|
|Medical Review:||Reference John Pope, MD - Pediatrics
Reference R. Steven Tharratt, MD, MPVM, FACP, FCCP - Pulmonology, Critical Care Medicine, Medical Toxicology
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Chocolate may be good for the heart, scientists have said, following a large study that found that those who eat more of it are less likely to suffer heart disease and strokes.
Why chocolate lovers should be better off than those who shun it is not clear. It contains antioxidant flavonoids, known to be protective, but also sugar and — especially in the forms popular in the UK — milk powder, which are implicated in weight gain. Obesity is a well-established cause of serious heart problems.
Dieticians suggested that eating chocolate might be helpful because people find it relaxing.
The study was presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Paris and was published online by the British Medical Journal. It was undertaken by Oscar Franco and colleagues from Cambridge University, who wanted to try to establish whether a long-speculated association between eating chocolate and reduced risk of heart disease was real.
The scientists carried out a review of all the relevant and most convincing evidence they could find — seven studies involving more than 100,000 people. They compared the rates of heart disease in those who ate the most chocolate with those who ate the least.
Five of the seven studies found chocolate — eaten in a variety of forms, from sweet bars to chocolate biscuits and drinking cocoa — to be protective.
They concluded that the “highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37 percent reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels.”
The studies did not differentiate between dark, milk and white chocolate. They also found no effect on heart failure.
The authors are cautious about the results, warning that chocolate is high in calories — about 500 for every 100g — which can cause people to put on weight and lead to heart disease. However, they think the possible benefits should be further explored, including ways to reduce the fat and sugar content of chocolate.
“This paper doesn’t really say eat chocolate to improve heart health. Nor do the authors conclude this either. What they seem to say is, those who don’t deny themselves a sweet treat of chocolate — white or brown — have better cardiovascular outcomes,” said Catherine Collins, a dietician at St George’s hospital in London.
“I do feel that the perceived relaxing effect of chocolate ... [is] perhaps akin to modest alcohol consumption — a relaxing treat, perceived as a ‘de-stressor’ and a food whose cost base is so low it’s affordable by virtually all,” she said.
In the UK, she said, any benefit must be almost entirely due to this relaxation effect, because the cocoa content in products sold in Britain is much lower than in -continental chocolate and many people eat it in the shape of chocolate-covered sweet bars, which have very little flavonoid content.
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An illustration of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Credit: NASA JPL
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been trekking across the Martian surface for the past half decade, surviving dust storms, sand traps, and three freezing winters with only minor setbacks.
Now Spirit, having just received much
fanfare in celebration of its five-year anniversary on the planet, appears to
be running awry, and its operating team is concerned. It plans to conduct
diagnostic tests on the rover later this week.
Engineers first noticed Spirit’s peculiar behavior on Sunday. The rover had radioed to say that it had received its driving commands for the day, but strangely, it had not moved. While NASA says that this can happen for a number of reasons, the rover also failed to record its day’s activities to its nonvolatile memory–storage that is retained even when the rover is powered off. The next day, the team asked the rover to determine its orientation by locating the sun. Spirit found the sun, but it inaccurately reported its location.
The Spirit team does not yet have an explanation for why the rover may be a little out of whack, but one hypothesis is that it could be suffering the fleeting effects of cosmic rays hitting its electronics. Diagnostic tests should provide a more definitive answer soon.
Spirit, like Opportunity, is a warrior of the Red Planet. Both rovers, launched in January 2004, were scheduled to last a minimum of three months and a maximum of six. Now, after five years, the rovers have turned Mars into what seems like a next-door neighbor–not the alien planet that it once was.
Since landing, the rovers have made important scientific discoveries. Spirit discovered deposits of salts and minerals such as sulfur and silica, which only form with water. This happened when it inadvertently dug a trench behind itself while dragging a broken right front wheel. This video highlights Spirit’s adventures:
crater-exploring rover, was fortunate to land on exposed bedrock that was
determined to be laid down in water some 3.5 to 4 billion years ago. This was the first
evidence of ancient surface water. It also discovered tiny balls of material
that appear to have formed in the presence of water. This video highlights Opportunity’s activities:
Scott Maxwell, a rover driver at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says that “the mission just keeps getting better and better the longer it goes.”
“Mars is such a
complex place, and these are such capable vehicles that there will never come a time when we’re done; five years
from now there is going to be some wonderful, tantalizing thing just beyond our
reach that we didn’t quite get to,” adds Steve Squyres, principal investigator of the rovers at Cornell University.
Videos by NASA
Smaller design teams can now prototype and deploy faster.
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Pricing Carbon Emissions
A bill before Congress may prove a costly way to reduce greenhouse gases.
- Friday, June 5, 2009
- By Kevin Bullis
Experts are applauding a sweeping energy bill currently before the United States Congress, saying that it could lead to significant cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions and improve the likelihood of a comprehensive international agreement to cut greenhouse gases. "It's real climate-change legislation that's being taken seriously," says Gilbert Metcalf, a professor of economics at Tufts University. But many warn that the bill's market-based mechanisms and more conventional regulations could make these emissions reductions more expensive than they need to be.
The bill, officially called the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, is also referred to as the Waxman-Markey Bill, after its sponsors, Henry Waxman (D-Ca.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.). The legislation would establish a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gases, an approach favored by most economists over conventional regulatory approaches because it provides a great deal of flexibility in how emissions targets are met. But it also contains mandates that could significantly reduce the cost savings that the cap and trade approach is supposed to provide.
In a cap and trade system, the government sets a cap on total emissions of greenhouse gases from various industrial and utility sources, including power plants burning fossil fuels to generate electricity. It then issues allowances to polluters allowing them to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases; total emissions are meant to stay under the cap. Over a period of time, the government gradually reduces the cap and the number of allowances until it reaches its target. If companies' emissions exceed their allowances, they must buy more.
Economists like the system because companies can choose to either lower their emissions, such as by investing in new technology, or buy more allowances from the government or from companies that don't need them--whichever makes the best economic sense. It is meant to create a carbon market, putting a value on emissions.
In the proposed energy bill, the government will set caps to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 (compared with 2005 levels) and by 80 percent by 2050--targets chosen to prevent the worst effects of climate change. Setting caps will make electricity more expensive, as companies turn to cleaner technologies to meet ever lower caps or have to spend money to buy allowances from others with lower emissions. But the bill has some provisions for cushioning the blow, especially at first. For one thing, it gives away most of the allowances rather than charging for them, and it also requires that any profits gained from these free allowances be passed on to electricity customers. It also allows companies to buy "offsets" that permit them to pay to reduce emissions outside the United States.
If the program is designed right, there are fewer allowances than the total emissions when the program starts. At first, when the caps are relatively easy to meet, the prices for allowances on the carbon market will be low. But eventually, they will get higher as the allowances become scarcer. In an ideal world, companies will predict what the price of the allowances will be, and plan accordingly.
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We hear so much about toxins in fish, you’re probably wondering – what exactly is safe to eat? According to Health magazine, experts say that most seafood is healthy to eat twice a week. It contains high-quality protein, heart-healthy omega-3s, and low levels of saturated fat. Some types also contain pollutants such as mercury, which could harm developing babies. It is important to avoid these. Luckily, it’s pretty easy to do. Here’s how.
- Think small. Tim Fitzgerald is a scientist and senior policy specialist with the Environmental Defense Fund. He says that the best way to reduce exposure to contaminants is to cut back on eating big fish. Pollutants from the atmosphere regularly settle into the ocean, and fish that grow large - like shark, marlin and Chilean sea bass - accumulate more contaminants in their bodies during their long lives.
- Also: Mix it up. You want to eat a variety of seafood to lower the risks of contaminants. For example, if you like tuna, eat it only once a week because it’s a bigger fish. Then choose something smaller, such as shrimp, for your next meal.
Whatever you do, don’t stop eating all seafood out of fear. Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian is a director with the Harvard School of Public Health. He says that eating fish is the single best dietary change you can make to reduce your risk of heart disease. Studies show that the abundant omega-3 fats in seafood help your heart by lowering blood-fat levels, slowing the buildup of plaque in your arteries, and lowering blood pressure. Also, the Environmental Defense Fund has come up with a new “Super Green” list of seafood that’s both low in contaminants, great sources of omega-3s, and easy on the planet – meaning they’re not caught by trawls and dredges, which damage the ocean floor. This list includes farmed muscles, oysters and trout, wild Alaskan salmon, pole-caught Albacore tuna, and wild Pacific sardines. So go ahead and enjoy them.
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Peerumade, Kottayam, Punalur, Tiruvalla and Alappuzha are those stations in the State which have witnessed significant reduction in rainfall during the last century.
Y.E.A. Raj, Deputy Director-General, Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, revealed this during a special address at the Kerala Environment Congress 2012 here.
The topic of his address was ‘Extent of climate change over India and its projected impact on Indian agriculture.’
Climate change in respect of individual stations manifests with mixed trends with positive and negative changes, he said. For instance, positive trends are available from stations such as Kochi (100.6 mm) and Kasaragode (153.5 mm) in the State.
“It must be stated here that rainfall series for individual months/seasons in some of the series may have shown a significant trend.
In some other cases, these trends would have manifested only recently.
“A more detailed analysis of time series must be performed to detect and analyse such incidence,” Raj said.
The scenario of significant climate change, especially global warming, is now well documented and the evidence incontrovertible. However, in the Indian context, there appears to be no clear signal of such change at least in crucial parameters such as rainfall and occurrence of cyclonic storms. Projected climate change based on various models suggests steady increase in temperature and, at a later stage, slight increase in rainfall.
The effect on agriculture is likely to be mixed, Raj said. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere initially favours agricultural production.
But increase in temperature would have exactly the reverse effect. The situation is fluid and could even be seen to be contradictory at times.
This calls for learnt and measures responses based on scientific facts free from transnational biases.
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Most people know Guantanamo Bay as the US military prison located in Cuba, but few know the American presence in this bay goes back to 1898.
Guantanamo Bay is a 45 square mile area located on the eastern end of Cuba. Christopher Columbus described the bay as "a broad bay with dark water, of unsuspected dimensions," during his second voyage to the new world. Spanish settlers later took control of the area from the native people, and the British would later seize control in 1741.
During the Spanish-American war in1898, a US fleet took shelter in the Bay from summer hurricane weather. After the Spanish-American war, the US government signed a perpetual lease with the first president of Cuba in 1903. It left Cuba with sovereignty of the land, but gave the US "complete jurisdiction and control" of the area. This lease was reaffirmed in a 1934 treaty. The authenticity of the lease is still debated today.
The United States used the bay as coal refueling station and a harbor for its military. During WWII it served as a strategic base for escorting cargo ships to the Panama Canal. Over the years the Bay went through many transformations and redesigns, including dry docks, airfields, and eventually the construction of the today's military prisons. Guantanamo Bay is known today for "War on Terror" prisons, but has been an important military location for a great portion US history.
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University of Idaho Geologists Take Preventative Measures Before Potential Earthquake
Monday, July 11 2011
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – Grand Teton National Park is a spectacular site along the Wyoming-Idaho border. The park brings in nearly 4 million visitors a year and creates a scenic background for those who live there.
While the beauty is stunning, it’s tempered by the potential of danger from beneath the ground. The majestic mountain range sits on an active fault line that could one day lead to a severe earthquake.
The University of Idaho and the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security are working together with local officials to identify areas that would be most affected in Idaho’s Teton County in the event of an earthquake. The results of the survey will allow county leaders and citizens the opportunity to better protect government buildings and private property before an earthquake hits.
“With eastern Idaho’s risk from earthquakes, it is important to have the best information so that emergency managers can be prepared and make informed decisions,” said Brig. Gen. Bill Shawver, director of Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security. “This project is a great cooperative effort between Teton County, the University of Idaho and BHS that will increase the ability of emergency managers to plan for earthquakes.”
Teton County’s governmental seat is the city of Driggs, roughly 20 miles west of the Teton fault. While this fault has been seismically quiet in recorded historic time, geologists believe it could generate a magnitude 7.2 earthquake at some point in the future.
“Such an earthquake could produce heavy damage in Teton County to structures not built to seismic standards,” explained Bill Phillips, research geologist for the Idaho Geological Survey. “The amount of damage during earthquakes also is influenced by local soil and rock conditions. We are constructing a map of these conditions in Teton County so that emergency planners can be better prepared.”
During the week of July 18-22, geologists will be in the field using seismographs and geophone sensors in 25 places around Teton County to determine what type of soil and bedrock make up the area and how those areas would react during potential earthquake activity.
Results from the survey will be given to the county’s emergency services center.
The survey is funded by the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security through the Earthquake Hazard Reduction grant program. For more information on the survey, contact Bill Phillips from the University of Idaho at (208) 301-8794, or Greg Adams from Teton County at (208) 354-2703.
# # #
About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s land-grant institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year. The University of Idaho is classified by the prestigious Carnegie Foundation as high research activity. The student population of 12,000 includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars, who select from more than 130 degree options in the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Art and Architecture; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Law; Letters, Arts and Social Sciences; Natural Resources; and Science. The university also is charged with the statewide mission for medical education through the WWAMI program. The university combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities and focuses on helping students to succeed and become leaders. It is home to the Vandals, and competes in the Western Athletic Conference. For more information, visit www.uidaho.edu
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Omphalocele repair - series
Omphalocele is an abdominal wall defect at the base of the umbilical cord (umbilicus); the infant is born with a sac protruding through the defect which contains small intestine, liver, and large intestine. Omphalocele is frequently associated with other birth defects, such as heart defects, imperforate anus, urinary problems, and genetic defects. Omphalocele is very similar to gastroschisis, except that the organs are enclosed in a sac.
Omphalocele is a life-threatening event requiring immediate intervention. The infant may be born underweight (small for gestational age) due to stress from this condition before birth.
Immediately after delivery, the exposed organs are covered with warm, moist, sterile dressings. A tube is inserted into the stomach (nasogastric tube, also called NG tube) to keep the stomach empty to prevent choking on or breathing in (aspiration) stomach contents into the lungs. The surgery is done as soon as the infant is stable.
While the baby is deep asleep and pain-free (under general anesthesia) an incision is made to remove the sac membrane. The bowel is examined closely for signs of damage or additional birth defects. Damaged or defective portions are removed and the healthy edges stitched together. A tube is inserted into the stomach (gastrostomy tube) and out through the skin. The organs are replaced into the abdominal cavity and the incision closed, if possible.
The infant is cared for post-operatively in a neonatal intensive care unit. The baby is placed in an isolette (incubator) to keep warm and prevent infection. Oxygen is given and mechanical ventilation is often required. Intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and pain medications will be given. A nasogastric tube will be in place to keep the stomach emptied of gastric secretions. Feedings are started by nasogastric tube as soon as bowel function resumes. Feedings are started very slowly and often infants are reluctant to feed. These babies may need feeding therapy and lots of encouragement.
Last reviewed 11/7/2011 by Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Univeristy of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.
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College living can undoubtedly be exciting. For most students attending schools outside of their home town or state, it's their first opportunity to be independent. For many students, this is the first time they are away from their homes, families and friends for any significant period. While college provides new and exciting opportunities, it also introduces a myriad of new safety hazards, especially to students living in dormitories, apartments and other community locations.
Although a student may have been the safest person in their school, house or neighborhood, an impeccable safety record doesn't safeguard someone against the actions of other residents in shared college housing facilities. Therefore, it is extremely important to develop and practice an escape route should there be a fire.
Fire is the third leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States. A residential fire occurs every 82 seconds in this country, and once burning, the size of a fire doubles every 30 seconds. If a fire should occur in your building, evacuate as soon as possible. Do not try to act bravely or put the fire out. That is a fight too easily lost, and is just not worth it.
If you have an escape plan, follow it at the first sign or smell of a fire. Never exit a door if it feels hot to the touch, as flames are likely on the other side. It is also a good idea to know where all the fire extinguishers are located in the building.
In community living facilities, everyone must do their part to make their dwelling a safer place. Here are a few easy steps you can take to help prevent fire through electrical hazards:
- Look for the UL Mark on all products. It means samples of the product have been tested for safety.
- Make sure outlets are not overloaded.
- Check electrical wires and cords on appliances, tools, lamps, etc., to make sure they are not worn or frayed.
- Never run electrical wires or extension cords under carpets or heavy items, and never bunch them up behind a hot appliance.
- Unplug appliances when not in use.
- Have building management install at least one smoke alarm on each level, and make sure they are maintained and tested regularly.
Fire is a chemical reaction involving fuel, oxygen and heat. Take away any of these three elements and a fire cannot last. There are four classifications of fires dependent on their fuels:
- Class A -- Ordinary materials like wood, paper, cloth, rubber and plastics. Most home fires fall into this category.
- Class B -- Combustible liquids such as gasoline, kerosene, alcohol, paint and propane. These tend to be more severe and dangerous than Class A fires because the liquid fuel is highly flammable and can propagate easily.
- Class C -- Electrical equipment like appliances, switches and power tools. These fires are extremely dangerous due to added shock hazards and because the source is energized. An energized fire source supplies a steady and constant ignition condition.
- Class D -- Combustible metals like magnesium, titanium, potassium and sodium. These fires burn at a very high temperature and can react violently with water or other chemicals.
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Second World Assembly on Ageing Madrid, Spain 8 -12 April 2002
No safety net for older migrants and refugees
"Older refugees have been invisible for too long."
- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata (1999)
Older refugees represent some 11.5 per cent of refugee populations and, in some cases, they may represent as much as 30 percent. The majority of older refugees are women.
These are people who have lost more than just family or belongings, and in interviews conducted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), it is apparent that for many, there is no reason to live.
The figures tell little, however, of individual hardship and suffering. Typical is the case of an old man sitting alone, weeping, in a camp in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Clutching his few belongings and refusing to move, he seemed to have lost the will to live. Or the 86 year-old Kosovo Serb woman, living by herself in Pristina, who had been brutally beaten by three teenagers. The media, for the most part, do not cover the particular situations of older persons in need, and such images and stories are rarely known. But they are real, and so is the painful situation of so many older refugees.
Older refugees commonly encounter three main problems: social disintegration, negative social selection and chronic dependency.
· Social disintegration occurs when, due to economic decline, the formal or informal social support systems erode; or when war, flight or insecurity cause families to become separated and dispersed. In either case, the number of elderly persons in need increases.
· Negative social selection occurs when refugee camps and collection centres empty over a period of time. Those who are young, healthy and able-bodied are the first to depart, leaving behind the weak and the vulnerable. The plight of the elderly is particularly wretched. Often they have nowhere to go and no one to care for them.
· Chronic dependency can occur when solitary older persons, unable to secure state benefits or family support, become dependent on UNHCR for long periods of time. In this situation, UNHCR faces a particular challenge. At the same time that UNHCR is working to ensure that the older person's experience of exile is not deepened by poverty and destitution, it must also discourage chronic dependency - by helping them to regularize their status and obtain access to all possible benefits, entitlements and rights.
In 2000, to address these problems, the Standing Committee of UNHCR approved its Policy on Older Refugees. Based on the 1991 United Nations Principles for Older Persons, the policy stresses that older refugees should not be seen solely as passive recipients of assistance; on the contrary, they should be seen as a valuable resource with much to offer. These are people with a wealth of accumulated experience and knowledge, and they are well able to participate in decisions and activities that affect their own lives and those of their families and communities.
Older refugees often serve as formal and informal leaders of communities. They provide guidance and advice, and they transmit traditions, skills and crafts to other generations, thus preserving the culture of the dispossessed and displaced. They make active contributions to the well-being of their family members, and only become totally dependent in the final stages of frailty, disability and illness.
Older persons have taken the lead in returning to countries as far afield as Croatia and Liberia, and once back home they are often able to contribute to peace and reconciliation measures. Making full use of the capabilities and talents of older refugees and realizing their potential is an essential component of the programmes of UNHCR.
Although older refugees may have specific needs, UNHCR has found that they can best be assisted within overall protection and assistance programmes rather than through the establishment of separate services. For example, older refugees may need food that is easily digestible, but that need can better be met through appropriate planning within existing programmes.
The needs of older refugees are also met most effectively within the context of family and the community. Therefore the capacity of families and communities to meet their own needs and incorporate older people within them should be strengthened.
"Migrants... tend to be paid low wages, receive few or no benefits, and work without even minimal safety and health protection. ... Clearly, we must work together to ensure that migrants live in dignity and safety."
-United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
They migrated from their homes, usually in the countryside, when they were younger, in search of new jobs and opportunities. But after spending years working in low-paying positions, many older migrants find themselves living anonymously in crowded apartments in growing cities, with little support from either their families or from the government.
According to available data, one in every 50 persons - some 150 million total - live permanently or temporarily outside their country of origin. This number includes 80 to 97 million workers and their dependants, some 14 million recognized refugees, and permanent immigrants.
According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, migrant worker earnings sent back to home countries accounted for $77 billion in 1997, second only to world petroleum exports in international trade monetary flows.
Where the extended family network once helped older people in the rural community, older migrants find that these traditional social networks are non-existent, and there are few alternatives to replace them in the cities. The situation becomes critical, especially when the older migrant becomes ill or disabled.
The problems that older migrants face are generally the problems that most older poor people have, and efforts to assist the older poor will help migrants as well. These efforts include providing better access to social protection, designing measures to sustain
economic and health security, establishing community centres for older persons, and helping families share living spaces with older family members who are in need.
For older migrants who have moved to another country, the situation is different, often depending on how well they have integrated into their new country. As legal international migrants from earlier decades grow older, governments can assist them, for example, by extending social protection and ensuring pension rights. They can help them become part of their new communities by breaking down language barriers and ensuring that they receive services.
The situation of ageing migrants who perform illegal work is different since they fall outside the realm of social protection and have no access to pension schemes or adequate health services. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has identified the plight of these migrants as a significant cause for concern. The ILO is working to ensure that older migrants receive treatment equal to that of national workers, and that the rights that they have acquired are maintained after transfer of residence from one country to another.
This article was based on information provided by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
For further information, please contact:
UN Department of Public Information
Tel: (212) 963-0499
Published by the United Nations Department of Public Information DPI/2264 March 2002Back to Table of Contents
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Disparities affecting children cloud economic good news story
Despite widespread economic upturn in South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (SEE/CIS) since the late ‘90s, one in four children under 15 is still living in extreme income poverty according to a UNICEF report.
The Innocenti Social Monitor 2006: Understanding Child Poverty in South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States finds that while the number of children under 15 living in extreme poverty has decreased from 32 million to 18 million, stark disparities in child well-being and opportunities exist: the share of children now living in extreme poverty ranges from 5 per cent in some SEE countries to a startling 80 per cent in the poorest Central Asia countries.
Analysis of data from rural and urban settings, from households of different sizes and structures, throws up disparities within countries that particularly affect children in families where there are more than two siblings.
Official data for Bosnia and Herzegovina say that extreme poverty (persons with annual consumption bellow 772 BAM per capita) is not reported, but that because of statistical probability can be supposed that it is less than 5 per cent. Based on absolute poverty line (persons with annual consumption bellow 2223 BAM per capita), among the poorest group in BIH, as reported in the official government report from 2004, are families with three and more siblings (66 % households are poor), refugees and displaced persons (37% families are poor), households with two children (32% families are poor) , families in which the head of the household is younger than 25 (29 of them are poor), unemployed and families in which the head of the household has only primary education (25%).
Direct income support in the form of state transfers for households with children are widespread in the region, much occurring in the form of pensions. However, income support targeted on children is often of too low value to have a significant impact on poverty reduction “Child poverty should be the number one concern of governments in the region,” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of
The fact that increase of family leads a family to poverty in BIH is alarming. Additionally alarming is the fact that the risk of falling into poverty, for families with two or more children, is increasing in the last several years.
In 2005/2006, Economic Policy and Planning Unit (EPPU) BIH, together with UNICEF and Save the Children UK, have undertaken a research on socio-economic policy impact to child rights. The first step was to assess the impact of eventual increase in electricity price to benefit of children and families. In the research the parents agreed that increase of price of electricity would predominantly affect habits and living standards of children.” In our everyday life, everything affects children. They feel the irresponsibility and immaturity of adults who decide on their behalf.” “The increase in price of electricity affect young people the most, because parents, maybe not knowingly, begin economizing on clothing, schooling, even provisions.” “Children suffer because of poverty...Chidren already do not have normal conditions for development (education, nutrition, hygiene, leisure time and similar)“ – these are some statements of parents who participated in the research. One of the boys who participated in the focus groups discussion told a story about his schoolmate who had to leave the school after the first year because he couldn't afford to buy books, shoes, transportation and other necessities. He went to visit him in his village and he found him keeping sheep. One of the fathers in Mostar, who has a child with special needs said in the research that in case of increase in price of electricity „he couldn't afford the hearing device for his child, which would affect him significantly. His schooling would be questionable, because he couldn't hear, and all progress so far would be diminished.“ Interviewed representatives of educational institutions believe that changes in using electricity caused by increase in price would affect quality and duration of classes. In some elementary schools, school representatives even mentioned effects of economizing electricity expenditure, for example through shortening the classes.
The UNICEF’s Social Monitor 2006 report argues that the future of the region depends on a healthy and educated generation, which will require a better use of resources and more generous support from the international community.
To address the challenges posed by the persistence of child poverty in the region, the report calls on governments to work towards:
• More and better public spending on social services (health, education and social infrastructure); reforms of the budget allocation principles to ensure adequately resources targeted in those regions and population groups most in need;
• Better targeting and higher levels of social transfers to families with young children in order to provide effective protection from poverty and discourage institutionalization;
• A policy shift away from the widespread practice of placing children in institutions in some countries of the region, as well as a firm statement of intent to devote more policy efforts and resources to provide social support for families in crisis UNICEF works with families and communities in the region to mitigate the fallout of poverty.
Policy and legislative reforms to protect all children and all their rights are the cornerstone of UNICEF’s programme with governments to support the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and achieve the Millennium Development Goals in each country.
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There are more than 4.2 million teenagers in Mozambique. For many, poverty, HIV/AIDS and limited education opportunities have made adolescence a particularly challenging period.
Yet, an increasing number of them are getting involved in finding solutions to their own problems and in creating new opportunities to voice their concerns through media programmes, youth groups or community theatre.
However, access to secondary school is limited and remains the privilege of mostly urban children. Only eight per cent of children of secondary school age attend high school. There are not enough secondary schools in the country and most are located in towns.
To cope with overcrowding, schools have introduced morning, afternoon and evening shifts in both secondary and primary schools. It is not uncommon to see students in class at 10 pm.
Pressure to leave school, especially for girls, comes from different fronts. Girls often have to drop out to take care of younger siblings or sick family members. Many also drop out when they get married at an early age – around 18 per cent of 20 to 24 year-old women have been married before the age of 15.
Adolescence also carries other risks. By the age of 14, a third of Mozambican children have become sexually active but knowledge of HIV prevention methods is low. Twelve per cent of young women and 27 per cent of young men aged 15–24 reported using condoms during their last sexual relation. Girls and young women are three times more likely to be HIV-positive than boys and young men.
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Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter
At 54.6 million km away at its closest, the fastest travel to Mars from Earth using current technology (and no small bit of math) takes around 214 days — that’s about 30 weeks, or 7 months. A robotic explorer like Curiosity may not have any issues with that, but it’d be a tough journey for a human crew. Developing a quicker, more efficient method of propulsion for interplanetary voyages is essential for future human exploration missions… and right now a research team at the University of Alabama in Huntsville is doing just that.
This summer, UAHuntsville researchers, partnered with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and Boeing, are laying the groundwork for a propulsion system that uses powerful pulses of nuclear fusion created within hollow 2-inch-wide “pucks” of lithium deuteride. And like hockey pucks, the plan is to “slapshot” them with plasma energy, fusing the lithium and hydrogen atoms inside and releasing enough force to ultimately propel a spacecraft — an effect known as “Z-pinch”.
“If this works,” said Dr. Jason Cassibry, an associate professor of engineering at UAH, “we could reach Mars in six to eight weeks instead of six to eight months.”
The key component to the UAH research is the Decade Module 2 — a massive device used by the Department of Defense for weapons testing in the 90s. Delivered last month to UAH (some assembly required) the DM2 will allow the team to test Z-pinch creation and confinement methods, and then utilize the data to hopefully get to the next step: fusion of lithium-deuterium pellets to create propulsion controlled via an electromagnetic field “nozzle”.
Although a rocket powered by Z-pinch fusion wouldn’t be used to actually leave Earth’s surface — it would run out of fuel within minutes — once in space it could be fired up to efficiently spiral out of orbit, coast at high speed and then slow down at the desired location, just like conventional rockets except… better.
“It’s equivalent to 20 percent of the world’s power output in a tiny bolt of lightning no bigger than your finger. It’s a tremendous amount of energy in a tiny period of time, just a hundred billionths of a second.”
– Dr. Jason Cassibry on the Z-pinch effect
In fact, according to a UAHuntsville news release, a pulsed fusion engine is pretty much the same thing as a regular rocket engine: a “flying tea kettle.” Cold material goes in, gets energized and hot gas pushes out. The difference is how much and what kind of cold material is used, and how forceful the push out is.
Everything else is just rocket science.
Read more on the University of Huntsville news site here and on al.com. Also, Paul Gilster at Centauri Dreams has a nice write-up about the research as well as a little history of Z-pinch fusion technology… check it out. Top image: Mars imaged with Hubble’s Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 in March 1995.
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CHAPTER 9 - SUBMERGED ORIFICES
12. Orifice Check Structures
Occasionally, at a given site, the canal water surface level should be checked up to a specified elevation while simultaneously measuring the rate of flow. The combined checking and measuring functions can be provided by orifice check structures which are built into the canals as in-line structures (figure 9-7). One or more orifice openings of the necessary size are constructed in the lower portion of a wall that extends across the canal at the upstream end of the check-type structure. These orifices are used to measure the discharge. A second wall with one or more gated openings is constructed at the downstream end of the structure. This downstream control is used to check the canal water surface to the desired elevation. Two stilling wells are located outside of the structure. One is connected to a piezometer in the canal upstream from the orifice wall, and the other is connected to a piezometer in the basin between the upstream and downstream walls. In small orifice check structures, staff gages are used in place of piezometer and stilling wells. In either case, the differential head acting across the orifice can be determined, and with knowledge of the orifice dimensions and characteristics, the rate of flow can be determined.
The coefficients of discharge that should be used to compute the rate of flow are difficult to determine analytically because of different degrees of suppression at the bottom and sides and between the orifice openings. Computed discharge tables are ordinarily provided for each structure, but usually a statement is included that a field rating is necessary to ensure accurate results. In general, the recommended practice is that field ratings be made by current meter data and that discharge curves be prepared. For maximum potential accuracy, care must be exercised to prevent either excessively small gate openings or small differential head readings that cause large errors of precision of head or gate opening effects on discharge measurement.
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The story of Jonah has great theological import. It concerns a disobedient prophet who rejected his divine commission, was cast overboard in a storm and swallowed by a great fish, rescued in a marvelous manner, and returned to his starting point. Now he obeys and goes to Nineveh, the capital of Israel’s ancient enemy. The Ninevites listen to his message of doom and repent immediately. All, from king to lowliest subject, humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes. Seeing their repentance, God does not carry out the punishment planned for them. At this, Jonah complains, angry because the Lord spares them. This fascinating story caricatures a narrow mentality which would see God’s interest extending only to Israel, whereas God is presented as concerned with and merciful to even the inhabitants of Nineveh (4:11), the capital of the Assyrian empire which brought the Northern Kingdom of Israel to an end and devastated Jerusalem in 701. The Lord is free to “repent” and change his mind. Jonah seems to realize this possibility and wants no part in it (4:2; cf. Ex 34:6). But the story also conveys something of the ineluctable character of the prophetic calling.
The book is replete with irony, wherein much of its humor lies. The name “Jonah” means “dove” in Hebrew, but Jonah’s character is anything but dove-like. Jonah is commanded to go east to Nineveh but flees toward the westernmost possible point (1:2–3), only to be swallowed by a great fish and dumped back at this starting point (2:1, 11). The sailors pray to their gods, but Jonah is asleep in the hold (1:5–6). The prophet’s preaching is a minimum message of destruction, while it is the king of Nineveh who calls for repentance and conversion (3:4–10); the instant conversion of the Ninevites is greeted by Jonah with anger and sulking (4:1). He reproaches the Lord in words that echo Israel’s traditional praise of his mercy (4:2; cf. Ex 34:6–7). Jonah is concerned about the loss of the gourd but not about the possible destruction of 120,000 Ninevites (4:10–11).
Unlike other prophetic books, this is not a collection of oracles but the story of a disobedient, narrow-minded prophet who is angry at the outcome of the sole message he delivers (3:4). It is difficult to date but almost certainly is postexilic and may reflect the somewhat narrow, nationalistic reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah. As to genre, it has been classified in various ways, such as parable or satire. The “sign” of Jonah is interpreted in two ways in the New Testament: His experience of three days and nights in the fish is a “type” of the experience of the Son of Man (Mt 12:39–40), and the Ninevites’ reaction to the preaching of Jonah is contrasted with the failure of Jesus’ generation to obey the preaching of one who is “greater than Jonah” (Mt 12:41–42; Lk 11:29–32).
The Book of Jonah may be divided as follows:
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The USB to Serial Adapter - Generally
A USB to serial adapter, also referred to as a USB serial converter or USB RS232 adapter is a small electronic device which can convert a USB signal to serial RS232 data signals. RS232 is the type which is in many older PCs and is referred to as a serial COM port.
A USB to serial adapter typically converts between USB and either RS232, RS485, RS422 or TCP signals, however some USB to serial adapter / USB RS232 serial converter designs have other special conversion features.
Even the USB to serial adapter RS232 standard is an older communication protocol it is still used by many modern USB to serial adapter devices in both business and consumer markets and is also often used for personal and office USB to serial adapter devices. More recently most new computers do not have a COM port so a USB serial adapter is often used to connect many types of devices. A USB to serial adapter is a very useful device for connecting equipment such as USB to serial adapter printers, scanners, scales and GPS devices, but also most USB to serial business and consumer equipment. A USB to serial adapter is typically either a RS232 USB serial adapter, a RS485 USB serial adapter or a RS422 USB serial adapter. Many new USB to serial adapter devices are today designed with a multiple USB to serial adapter RS232/RS485 and even USB to serial adapter RS422 interface, which makes it very convenient since you then can use it for both RS232 and RS485 products.
The USB serial adapter protocol has been around for many years and is a very reliable protocol. The USB serial adapter is usually used in industrial, office and business environments however also often as a consumer product for connecting USB serial products to personal computers. The RS485 USB to serial adapter is most often only used in industrial environments, labs and similar facilities since the RS485 USB to serial adapter protocol is very useful in these environments.
The USB to serial adapter is made in a variety of models and types, the standard non-isolated USB to serial adapter is most commonly used in business, office and laboratory environments. The isolated USB to serial adapter is often used in industrial environments due to its resistance to voltage spikes and ground loops.
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When the invader appears honest citizens must choose sides. Forced at length to defend their own homes and firesides, Massachusetts and Connecticut now felt the recoil of unpatriotic behavior. Instead of trusting their governors with the local defense as the administration had done with States which upheld the war, the President now insisted upon retaining the exclusive control of military movements. Because Massachusetts and Connecticut had refused to subject their militia to the orders of the War Department, Monroe declined to pay their expenses. The cry was raised by peace men in consequence that the National Government had abandoned New England to the common enemy. Upon this false assumptionfor false, candor must pronounce it, inasmuch as government was maturing all the while a consistent plan of local defensethe Massachusetts loaders made hasty proclamation that no choice was left between submitting to the enemy, which could not be thought of, and appropriating to the defense of the States the revenues derived from her people, which had hitherto been spent elsewhere. The Massachusetts Legislature appropriated $1,000,000 to support a State army of 10,000 men. And Otis, who inspired these measures, brought Massachusetts to the point of instituting a delegate convention of Eastern Statesthis convention to meet at Hartford. A Hartford convention was no new project to Otis's own mind.
The day for assembling was fixt at December 15th. Twelve delegates were appointed by the Massachusetts Legislature, men of worth and respectability, chief of whom were Cabot and Otis. In Connecticut, whose Legislature was not slow to denounce Monroe's conscription plan as barbarous and unconstitutional, a congenial delegation of seven was made upGoodrich and Hillhouse, hoary men of national renown, at the head. Rhode Island's Legislature added four more to the list. So deep-rooted, however, was the national distrust of this movement that Vermont and New Hampshire shrank from giving the convention a public sanction. New Hampshire had a Republican council; while in Vermont the Plattsburg victory stirred the Union spirit; Chittenden himself having changed in official tone after the war became a defensive one. Violent county conventions representing fractions of towns chose, however, three delegates, two in New Hampshire and one in Vermont, whose credentials being accepted by the convention, the whole number of delegates assembled at Hartford was twenty-six.
This Hartford Convention remains famous in American history only as a powerful menstruum in national politics. What its most earnest projectors had hoped for was left but half done; but that half work condemned to political infamy twenty-six gentlemen highly respectable. Lawyers, they were, of State eminence, for the most part, and all of high social character, but inclined, like men of ability most used to courts than conventions, to treat constituencies like clients, and spend great pains over phraseology. Perhaps, indeed, these had been selected purposely to play the lion's part, that moderate fellow-citizens, Unionists at heart, whose conversion was essential, might not quake at the roar of the convention. Quincy was not there, nor the stout-hearted Pickeringof whose readiness to become a rebel unless the Constitution could be altered, flagrante bello, to suit his views, there can be little doubt. Delegates like the present were prudent rather than earnest, better talkers than actors; men by no means calculated for bold measures.
What bold measures were possible? one may ask. Pickering's Confederacy of 18042 would have embraced New York, perhaps Pennsylvania. But these Eastern Federalists, with that clannishness at which Hamilton himself had marveled, were now circumscribed within the limits of New England, and of that section, moreover, but three States out of five had delegations at Hartford worthy of the name. The first effort to assemble a New England convention was, we have seen in 1808-9. The second, if John Quincy Adams may be believed, was in 1812, immediately after the declaration of war against Great Britain, and that project Dexter defeated by a speech in Faneuil Hall. The third, and present, tho partially successful, by bringing delegates into conference, was, like the Stamp Act Congress, or the Annapolis Conference of 1786, an instrument necessarily for later and riper designs. The American Confederacy, the American Union, are each the product of begetting conventions; nor without prudence were States now forbidden to enter into agreements or compacts with one another without the consent of Congress. The Hartford Convention may well have justified dire forebodings, for it did not dissolve finally, as a mass-meeting might have done, upon a full report, but contingently adjourned to Boston.
Organized on the appointed day in Hartford, then a town of four thousand inhabitants, by the choice of George Cabot as president, and Theodore Dwight as secretary, the present convention remained in close session for three continuous weeks. Of irregular political assemblies the worst may be suspected when proceedings are conducted in secrecy; and never, certainly, were doors shut more closely upon a delegate, and professedly a popular convention, than upon this one; not even doorkeeper or messenger gaining access to the discussion. Inviolable secrecy was enjoined upon every member, including the secretary, at the first meeting, and once more before they dispersed, notwithstanding the acceptance of their final report. The injunction was never removed. Not before a single State legislature whose sanction of this report was desired, not to any body of those constituents whose votes were indispensable to the ultimate ends, if these ends were legally pursued, was that report elucidated. Four years afterward, when the Hartford Convention and its projectors bent under the full blast of popular displeasure, Cabot delivered to his native State the sealed journal of its proceedings, which had remained in his exclusive custody; but that when opened was found to be a meager sketch of formal proceedings, and no more; making no record of yeas and nays, stating none of the amendments offered to the various reports, attaching the name of no author to a single proposition, in fine, carefully suppressing all means of ascertaining the expression or belief of individual delegates.
Casual letters of contemporaries are preserved sufficient to show that representative Federalists labored with these delegates to procure a separation of the States, but how many more of the same strain President Cabot may have torn up one can only conjecture. That twenty-six public men should have consented to leave no ampler means of vindicating to their own age, and to posterity, themselves and their motives, may evince a noble disinterestedness, sublime confidence in the rectitude of their own intentions, a comforting reliance upon "the Searcher of Hearts," but certainly an astonishing ignorance of human nature in this our inquisitive republic. Assembling amid rumors of treason and the execration of all the country west of the Hudson, its members watched by an army officer who had been conveniently stationed in the vicinity, the Hartford Convention, hardening into stone, preserves for all ages a sphinxlike mystery. The labors of this convention, whatever they were, ended with a report and resolutions, signed by the delegates present, and adopted on the day before final adjournment. Report and resolutions disappointed, doubtless, both citizens who had wished a new declaration of independence, and citizens who had feared it. Neither Virginia nor Kentucky could, with propriety, condemn the heresies of State sovereignty which supplied the false logic of this report, and an imperfect experience of this Federal Union may excuse in Otis and his associates theoretical errors which Jefferson and Madison while in the opposition had, first inculcated. Constitutional amendments were here proposed which, not utterly objectionable under other circumstances, must have been deemed at this time an insult to those officially responsible for the national safety, and only admissible as a humiliation of the majority. It requires little imagination to read, in report and resolutions, a menace to the Union in its hour of tribulation, a demand for the purse and sword, to which only a craven Congress could have yielded, and a threat of local armies which, with the avowed purpose of mutual aid, might in some not remote contingency be turned against foes American not less than British.
1 From Schouler's "History of the United States." By permission of the author and of his publishers, Dodd, Mead & Company.Copyright, 1880-1891.
2 Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State in Adams's Cabinet, and afterward Senator from Pennsylvania, is here referred to. He came into serious disagreement with Adams and was summarily removed. Out of this rupture and the bad feeling that ensued, came what is known as Pickering's Confederacy.
THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS
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Free US Law DictionaryBETA
A creditor is a party (e.g. person, organization, company, or government) that has a claim to the services of a second party. The first party, in general, has provided some property or service to the second party under the assumption (usually enforced by contract) that the second party will return an equivalent property or service. The second party is frequently called a debtor or borrower.
The term creditor is frequently used in the financial world, especially in reference to short term loans, long term bonds, and mortgages. In law, a person who has a money judgment entered in their favor by a court is called a judgement creditor.
The term creditor derives from the notion of credit. In modern America, credit refers to a rating which indicates the likelihood a borrower will pay back his or her loan. In earlier times, credit also referred to reputation or trustworthiness.
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Previously just the worry of climate scientists, environmentalists, doomsday prognosticators, and gas-price watchers, climate change is starting to worry some others— public health specialists, who say that global warming could affect large swaths of the population.
In a paper published in the journal PLoS Medicine Tuesday, a group of European public health experts write that climate change could alter "patterns of physical activity and food availability, and in some cases [bring] direct physical harm." Slight temperature increases could also change disease distribution in colder regions and make hotter regions less hospitable to humans.
"Certain subgroups are at more risk—mainly the young, the old, and the poor," says Peter Byass, director of the Umea Centre for Global Health Research in Sweden. "The middle age and wealthy will be better off. It's a crude way of looking at it, but it's not so far off the mark."
That means more prevalence of diseases that affect the poor, such as malaria and dengue fever, and heat stroke in drought-afflicted areas.
For years, scientists have warned about more extreme hurricanes and weather patterns, but until recently, not much emphasis was put on less noticeable changes.
"I don't think there's a big gang of global health experts saying [climate change] is unimportant," he says. "But I don't think people have been making the connections that need to be made between public health and climate change."
Byass' paper isn't the first time health officials have pondered the human toll of climate change. In March, a group of doctors suggested that the incidence of asthma and other lung respiratory illnesses could increase, due to longer pollen seasons and increasing ranges of disease-causing molds and mosquitoes.
"At this point, we might not be able to stop climate change, but we can be a bit prepared as to what the consequences might be," he says.
It's something people in his field are increasingly worried about. At last year's "Durban Climate Meeting," a United Nations convention to discuss climate change, people focused on health issues had their say. The unpredictability of climate change—there are many models of what might happen over the next century—makes Byass' and his colleagues' jobs much harder, he says.
"I think it's pretty clear that things won't stay the same, so we can talk about the what-ifs of different climate change [theories], but it's hard to say for sure what will happen," he says.
The United Nations has been placing more of an emphasis on climate change, with many of its member countries asking the world's largest carbon producers—China, India, and the United States—to enter legally-binding agreements to reduce emissions. This year, government officials will meet in Doha to continue negotiating.
Late last year, officials from around the world met in Durban, South Africa at what is now known as the "Durban Climate Meeting," in which officials from India, the United States, and China agreed to continue negotiating legally-binding carbon emission rules.
"It's about behaving in a way that's responsible for the planet. One would hope the United Nations could help get everyone together," Byass says. Countries must be willing to take an economic hit in becoming more energy efficient. "Protecting the future of the planet has a price tag, there's no doubt about that."
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Researching the History of Agriculture in Vermont
You can get a good background on the general agricultural history of Vermont by reading A Short History of Vermont Barns [link] and looking at the Barn Census Powerpoint presentation (Click Here to open the presentation in a new window. If the presentation does not display correctly, Click Here to download the presentation as a PPT file. The file is large; 54 megabytes.) Barn design was influenced by local tradition, availability of materials, and the specific demands of different types of farming in different periods of history. With a little background you can decipher the clues that the building gives you. Depending on your time and interest, you can also consult the Long History of Vermont Agriculture [link] and the other publications listed in the Resources section. Doing a little reading before you look at your first barn will make it easier to understand what you are looking at, how it functioned, and when it was built. The Visual Glossary [link] and Vermont Agricultural Property Types [link] give more detailed information on the whole array of historic agricultural buildings in Vermont, from corn cribs to silos, to mink sheds and potato barns.
Researching the History of Your Community
Although the majority of your time will be spent out and about, exploring the different parts of your community while looking for barns and other agricultural structures, it is worthwhile to first spend some time researching your community’s history to become familiar with the influences that shaped its agricultural past. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Historical research is a great way to really get a feel for the way your community developed and may provide clues as to what barns (either general types or specific instances) may hold special significance in your community. Historical research can answer questions such as: What crops and livestock were common in the area? At one time were there especially large or significant farming operations nearby? If so, what were their names and locations? What ethnic groups settled and farmed the area? What influences did they have on the way different agricultural structures were designed? How did agriculture cause the community to grow and change? How did technologies (like railroads and electricity) or events (like wars or the Great Depression) change agriculture in your community?
To conduct research, a good place to start is your town library or community historical society. You may want to look for county, town, or other local histories that have been published. Also interesting are historic photograph files that may have images of older farms and newspaper clipping folders that may contain historical agricultural news of the community. Two widely available 19th century map sources, the Wallings maps and Beers atlases, include symbols that indicate properties with buildings, including owner names.
The Division for Historic Preservation has been conducting inventories of historic buildings since the early 1970’s. The information for two counties – Addison and Rutland- has been published in book form. Offprints of single town sections are available for free upon request, while supplies last. Please call 828-1220 to request a copy of your town section (Only available for Addison and Rutland county towns; for more information see the 'Related Information' section of the website.) The Division’s office in Montpelier has a Resource Room with files on over 40,000 historic buildings in Vermont, and the public is welcome to visit and use the records. Copies of those records are available on CD, and the Division is working on distributing them to libraries, starting with the larger libraries in each region. Town Clerks and local libraries often have a binder with paper copies of the records for their town.
Other sources of information can include town clerks, local historians, college and university libraries and history departments, and the Vermont Historical Society www.vermonthistory.org. The Vermont Landscape Images Project [link] contains an on-line archive of historic photos, organized by town. Part of the fun of historical research is playing detective – finding out who might have the type of information you’re looking for and talking with them to see how their insight applies to the questions you have. Don’t be afraid to be creative in where you look for information. When researching your community’s agricultural history, you can’t go wrong if you always keep in mind the six basic questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how.
Farmers who own or used to own the barn you are surveying will undoubtedly be the best source of specific information about the age and evolution of the structure. They may know dates of construction, how the barn was used and how it changed over time. They will often know the family history of the farm, including stories that bring the history of the barn alive.
In the Field – What You’ll Need
Now that you have a better understanding of the agricultural history of your community, it’s time to get out there and find some barns! A little organization at this step can make things run very smoothly, so here are some suggestions about supplies you may need and ways to conduct your piece of the census.
First, get some good road maps of the area you’ll be surveying. You can contact your town office or the Agency of Transportation to see what free maps are available. You can also download maps from the Vermont Center for Geographic Information website [link]. VCGI offrs a variety of maps, including maps of town highways [link]. Plan a route that covers all the roads in the area you’ve chosen. Barn Census volunteers can work individually or in groups. If you are working in a group that is going to split up to divide the work, each smaller group should be assigned their own sector on the map so that it’s less likely that work will be duplicated.
Next, you should gather the supplies that you’ll want to bring with you. We recommend:
- Blank survey worksheets [link] (you’ll need one sheet for every barn you survey, so make sure to print and bring extras!)
- A hard writing surface, like a clipboard or notebook
- A digital camera
- Letter of introduction [link] (Please open the file, fill in your name and print it out. You may want multiple copies)
- A dashboard sign [link] identifying your vehicle as participating in the Vermont Barn Census
- A copy of this manual
You may also want to bring:
- Cell Phone
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NASA's Curiosity landing blazes trail for humans on Mars
The most technologically advanced space robot ever built -- the 5 foot tall Curiosity contains a total of 10 scientific instruments, including a robotic arm with a power drill -- landed on Mars last night, beginning a mission eight years in the making to search for signs of past life on the Red planet.
An image taken by rover Curiosity on August 6, 2012 of Mount Sharp on Mars. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
US President Barack Obama praised NASA’s successful landing of the car-sized rover Curiosity that travelled 570 million-km over eight months to reach our neighbour planet.
"Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history," Obama said.
Equipped with ten instruments, including a laser that can zap rocks from a distance and a mobile organic chemistry lab, Curiosity gives scientists the opportunity to learn more than they ever have about Mars.
It also furthers the possibility of one day sending humans to Mars to investigate first-hand. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden noted that Obama wants to be able to send humans to Mars by the 2030s.
The Curiosity Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) captured the rover's descent to the surface of the Red Planet. The instrument shot 4 fps video from heatshield separation to the ground. Source: YouTube.
“Today, the wheels of Curiosity have begun to blaze the trail for human footprints on Mars,” Bolden said at a press conference immediately following the release of the first few images from a new, and until now, unexplored part of Mars.
Secrets of a Martian mountain
Curiosity landed next to a strip of dunes in Gale Crater, a desirable destination given signs that water, a key requirement for life as we know it, once carved channels along the crater’s wall. At the centre of the 154-km-wide crater rests Mount Sharp, a 5.8 kilometre mountain that rivals Mount Kilimanjaro in height. Scientists believe the mountain’s layers of sediment could hold clues to the planet’s ancient history, including whether it held microbial life.
Able to roll over obstacles 2 feet high and travel up to about 200 metres per day, the nuclear powered mobile laboratory will eventually be digging, drilling and investigating the Martian landscape for at least the next two years in search of the building blocks of life: carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen.
But before the exploration begins, scientists at NASA intend to perform a few weeks of health checks on the machine that just survived the most epic landing in the history of robotic space travel.
This view of Gale Crater is made up of a combination of data from three Mars orbiters. The circle in the top left corner indicates the area where scientists aimed Curiosity’s landing. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/MSSS.
Surviving seven minutes of terror
Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California twitched and hunched forward nervously as they waited for confirmations that Curiosity had survived the technological challenge of landing on the surface of Mars.
Scientists had dubbed the descent into the Martian atmosphere the “seven minutes of terror” due to the intricate and tightly choreographed maneuvers required for a safe landing, including slowing down from 20,921 km per hour to zero in just a few minutes.
A heat-shield protected the one-tonne Curiosity from a 1600 degrees Celsius blaze that engulfed it at the force of impact with the Martian atmosphere.
Because the Martian atmosphere is so thin, a supersonic parachute, weighing only 100 pounds but able to withstand 65,000 pounds of pressure, then needed to slow down its descent, but even it could only do so much. To enable a safe landing, NASA equipped the rover with a “rocket-propelled backpack” to lower it down to the surface on cables.
Photo of parachute landing
Today NASA released a photo of the parachute landing that was snapped by a spacecraft that’s been orbiting Mars for six years. In a testament to advanced planning, the commands to take the photo had to be uploaded 72 hours prior.
"Guess you could consider us the closest thing to paparazzi on Mars," said Sarah Milkovich, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) investigation scientist at NASA's JPL.
"We definitely caught NASA's newest celebrity in the act."
Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univiversity of Arizona.
Astronomer, lecturer, and author Phil Plait, who blogs for the popular Discover Magazine blog Bad Astronomy, wrote about the “sheer amazingness” of capturing a photo of the 16-metre-wide parachute.
“Here we have a picture taken by a camera on board a space probe that’s been orbiting Mars for six years, reset and re-aimed by programmers hundreds of millions of kilometers away using math and science pioneered centuries ago, so that it could catch the fleeting view of another machine we humans flung across space, traveling hundreds of million of kilometers to another world at mind-bending speeds, only to gently – and perfectly – touch down on the surface mere minutes later.”
NASA erupts in cheers
The landing depended on the perfect execution of a computer already given its commands, while scientists could only wait for a delayed signal back on Earth on how it all went. It takes fourteen minutes for a signal to reach Earth from Mars.
Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California celebrate the landing of NASA's rover Curiosity on Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
When word of the safe landing reached Earth, scientists at NASA jumped out of their chairs and threw their hands up in the air in joy, erupting in cheers, hugs and tears.
A few minutes later they received the first three photos taken by Curiosity, black-and-white images of the rover’s wheel on the rocky surface of Mars.
“I can’t believe this. This is unbelievable,” said Allen Chen, the deputy head of the rover’s descent and landing team.
In Times Square, hundreds gathered to watch the NASA live stream of the team in California overseeing the landing. When NASA released the images online, their website crashed due to an unprecedented number of hits.
Mission manager at NASA's JPL Michael Watkins said that he loves these first few images the most.
“Here we are seeing a part of Mars that we've never seen before,” he said in a news conference this morning.
Better resolution photos should be arriving in the next few days along with black-and-white panoramas and the first colour images.
Working on Mars time
Hundreds of thousands of scientists and engineers contributed to this $2.5 billion mission to Mars. All together seven countries collaborated, including Canada, Finland, Spain, Russia, France, Germany, and the United States.
Scientists at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) spent years working on a device aboard Curiosity. A new alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, designed by a team of researchers at Guelph University in Ontario, will measure chemicals in the rocks.
Director-general of space exploration at CSA Gilles Leclerc told the Associated Press that workers celebrated the landing last night.
“Well, we’re Canadians, eh? So it was less enthusiastic but I would say it was as emotional as it was in the U.S. But there were cheers indeed and it was again a great moment.”
There are 300 or more engineers and 400 scientists working on Curiosity’s mission on Mars. Watkins called it a kind of immersion training, as the team will not only be learning how to operate the vehicle, but how to work with each other.
They will be working on Mars time for the next three months and experiencing a kind of inter-planetary jet lag as a day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.
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Gulf War syndrome is a widely used term to refer to the unexplained illnesses occurring in Gulf War veterans.
The following are the most common symptoms of Gulf War syndrome. However, each person experiences symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
According to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, at least 12 percent of Gulf War veterans are currently receiving some form of disability compensation because of Gulf War syndrome.
Possible causes include:
While there is no specific treatment for Gulf War syndrome, research suggests than an approach called cognitive-behavioral therapy may help patients with non-specific symptoms syndromes lead more productive lives by actively managing their symptoms.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting a two-year, scientifically controlled study to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy for veterans with these symptoms.
Research into Gulf War syndrome, which remains controversial, is taking place in research centers around the country.
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In programming, classification of a particular type of information. It is easy for humans to distinguish between different types of data. We can usually tell at a glance whether a number is a percentage, a time, or an amount of money. We do this through special symbols -- %, :, and $ -- that indicate the data's type. Similarly, a computer uses special internal codes to keep track of the different types of data it processes.
Most programming languages require the programmer to declare the data type of every data object, and most database systems require the user to specify the type of each data field. The available data types vary from one programming language to another, and from one database application to another, but the following usually exist in one form or another:
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Campbell County, Georgia was a county of the U.S. state of Georgia from 1828 to 1931. It was created by the state legislature on December 20, 1828 from land taken from Fayette, Coweta, and Carroll counties, and from the half of DeKalb County which became Fulton County soon afterward. Georgia's Cherokee Land Lottery of 1832 also added to the county. The county was named for Duncan G. Campbell, one of the U.S. commissioners responsible for the Treaty of Indian Springs.
The original county seat was Campbellton; however, when the Atlanta & West Point Railroad began to plan its route, the town's residents said no due to noise concerns. The tracks were laid through Fairburn instead, which flourished while Campbellton died out, and Fairburn soon became the new county seat in 1870. The Campbell County Courthouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The northwestern half of Campbell (and a bit more of Carroll) became Douglas County in 1870, divided on October 17 at the Chattahoochee River. The remainder of Campbell County was ceded to Fulton County at the end of 1931, along with Milton County, to save money. The legislation creating the merger was enacted on August 9, 1929, with Milton being added to the process in 1931.
Campbell County is a former county.
Note: Campbell was annexed to Fulton in 1932.
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Primary Health Care in Action
Madagascar in numbers1
- Life expectancy (both sexes, 2006): 59 years
- Gross National Product per capita (PPP in international $, 2006): 870
- Per capita total expenditure on health (PPP in international $, 2005): 33
- Number of physicians (per 10 000 population, 2005): 3
MADAGASCAR PRIMARY HEALTH DRIVE ACHIEVES MIXED RESULTS2
- Life expectancy has increased since 1990, polio has been eradicated and infant mortality is declining
- Islanders have never been more motivated to look after their health
- Only 60–70% of the population has ready access to primary health care services
- Health centres in a poor state of disrepair
When the first batch of 1500 young health aides was dispatched in 1980 to Madagascar’s villages, it was thought to herald a new era in health care for the island nation off the south-east coast of Africa.
The project was the centrepiece of the country’s primary health care programme, launched in 1978 with high hopes of meeting the Alma-Ata goal of providing health for all by 2000.
The ‘health for all’ idea was not to eradicate every disease, but to attain an acceptable level of health, equitably distributed throughout the world. The results in Madagascar, however, have been mixed, with strong advances in some areas and little progress in others.
On the plus side, islanders today have never been more motivated to look after their health, says Professor Dieudonné Randrianarimanana, cabinet director of the Madagascar Ministry of Health, Family Planning and Social Protection.
HEALTH HAS IMPROVED
Currently, average life expectancy is 59 years which represents an increase of about 6 years from its 1990 level. Poliomyelitis has been eradicated. Officials there say the prevalence of leprosy is less than 1 per 10 000; and infant mortality is decreasing (in 2006 the probability of dying in the first year of life was down to 72 deaths per 1000 live births compared with 84 in 2000 and 103 in 1990).
But 30 years on, only 60–70% of the population has ready access to primary health care, officials say. Many people still have to walk 10 kilometres or more to receive treatment, though mobile health centres have been introduced in remote and sparsely populated areas.
Like Randrianarimanana, nurse Florentine Odette Razanandrianina has experienced the ups and downs of primary health care. She arrived in the village of Ambohimiarintsoa, 200 kilometres from the capital Antananarivo, in October 2006 to run the health clinic.
She provides twice-weekly prenatal and postnatal check-ups. She also offers child immunization and vaccination, family planning services and disease treatment.
But five of the centre’s seven small rooms are in a poor state of repair and lack sufficient equipment, Razanandrianina says. “We have five mattresses for only one bed. Consequently, we are often obliged to let patients sleep on the mattresses placed directly on the soil.”
HEALTH WORKERS RECEIVE MIXED RECEPTION
There are many other health centres in a similarly poor state of disrepair across Madagascar, officials admit.
Also, frictions can arise when modern practices are perceived as counter to traditional customs. Since moving to the village, Razanandrianina’s efforts to teach people about the need for personal hygiene have not always been welcome.
Despite these setbacks, Razanandrianina has not curtailed her efforts. For example, when people from villages further away have chosen not to attend vaccination clinics, she has gone to them.
“Every time we visit the remotest villages, people wait for us in a group. They really appreciate our visits,” Razanandrianina says.
This is an abridged version of an article published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization in June 2008.
1World Health Statistics 2008, Online version: http://www.who.int/whosis/data/Search.jsp (accessed on 26/09/2008)
2Primary health care: back to basics in Madagascar, WHO Bulletin, Vol 86 (6), http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/86/6/08-010608/en/index.html
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The ungulates and their relatives are a puzzling group, including animals as diverse as whales and hippos, elephants and hyraxes, horses and tapirs, giraffes and sheep. What they have in common is that many of them walk around on their toenails. The phylogeny (family relationships) of the ungulates is a constantly shifting terrain, but genetic analysis is beginning to help sort out this enigmatic group of animals.
At WhoZoo, elephants, hippos and rhinos have been grouped for convenience as "large herbivores," but this is an artifical grouping; these animals actually represent three different branches of hooved animals. The simplified family tree below is redrawn from the cladograms and other information at the University of California Museum of Paleontology Web Site and from an article on mammalian phylogeny in Nature (1 February 2001).
The three main branches of the tree below are the Cetartiodactyla, the Perissodactyla and a part of the recently defined Superorder Afrotheria, which includes the Orders Proboscidea (elephants), Sirenia (manatees and sea cows) and Hyracoidea (hyraxes). In the Perissodactyla, the major axis of the leg lines up with the middle toe (the third digit), while in the hooved members of the Cetartiodactyla, this axis falls between two toes (the third and fourth digits). Because of molecular evidence that indicates similarities between hippos and whales, the Order Cetartiodactyla combines two former orders: the Cetacea (whales and dolphins) and the Artiodactyla. The Ruminants are a large and successful subgroup of the Cetartiodactyla with complex stomachs and the habit of chewing a cud -- a chunk of food that has been swallowed once and then brought back up into the mouth for additional processing. Of the ruminants, the Bovids constitute the largest and most diverse group, including cattle, antelope, sheep and goats. Pointers indicate taxa with representatives at the Fort Worth Zoo. For groups including animals with an informational page or a picture at WhoZoo, there is a link from the group name to one representative of the group.
University of California Museum of Paleontology.
Murphy, et al. Molecular phylogenetics and the origins of placental mammals. Nature 409 (1 February 2001): 614-618.
For more information on specific ungulates, see
The Ultimate Ungulate Page.
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I posted a couple of weeks ago about our progress with determining importance and main idea/details in informational text. If you're interested, you can read about that here. While we continue to work on this, we have layered in work on note taking and text structures. I will eventually share some of that work, but today I want to share some of the main idea stuff.
What I found when we started, was that the kids struggled with one main idea, let alone two. So, I backtracked a bit to get that solid, before pushing for that 5th grade standard of finding more than one (it will be coming!). Since I'm a pretty linear thinker, I approached it from the sequence of modeling, doing as a whole class, trying alone, then getting in small groups to do it together. They did a really nice job. Here are the kids as they began working alone in short text, rocking those post-its:
They're so diligent, and I swear the rest of the class was doing the same! They are the greatest class ever. They had a choice of three short articles that we had already worked with in other ways, so they were somewhat familiar. As they worked, I conferred with them to get a sense of who might be finding it tricky and who was on the road to getting it. This helped me to group them for the small group portion of this work.
Once I had a sense of how to group them, their task was to get together, share their work with one another, and collaboratively generate a main idea that they felt was most accurate. This was great to observe--I'm so proud of their ability to listen to one another and speak kindly to one another when they disagree. Once they did this, the worked together to determine the most important/key details to support this main idea. They then put this together on a large chart paper to then present to the group.
Here, you can see a main idea that one of the groups came up with. This group read an article called "Alaska: State of Extremes". This main idea is pretty accurate:
"One main idea is that Alaska is extreme because it stands out from the other 49 states." True. However, we talked subsequently about paraphrasing to show understanding. (foreshadowing our note taking work) For example, here, using something other than extreme (extraordinary/exceptional/unusual characteristics, etc.), would be closer to extreme than stands out. In any event, they're on the right track. Here are the key ideas/supports that fit nicely with their main idea:
And here is one that is a bit awkward:
In this one, they were looking at a section of the text that was about how the capitol is tricky to even get to, because there are no roads and it's very isolated, the point being that in most states, the capitol is accessible and not isolated. This idea was not as explicit in the text as the other three, so they needed to do a bit more work here. They were able to hint that they understood this in conversation, but had trouble articulating it in a way that was clear. They were pulling this together with the idea of Alaska not being part of the contiguous US as well. That's ok! We will get there, little people.
By the way, these adorable people decided to stay in for recess to fancy up the poster with all of the patterns and such, since I was pretty clear that the sketching and doodling done in workshop should be in service of the work itself (sometimes it is, right?). In this case, they just wanted to make it look nice, so we had lunch together while they decorated it. I love these kids--they are kids I am willing to give up my lunch to hang out with, which, if you know me, says something.
I have other examples, but you get the idea. We will be working on the 2 main ideas as we keep going with note taking, text structures and summarization. I'm loving this unit, though I'm fumbling in the dark a bit since it's new to our curriculum (not info. text, just the particular unit itself). We have a wonderful staff developer from Teachers College coming in mid-December to help us with the final phase, which is to do with research. She has a great blog if you are interested: indent . There's a nice post about annotating that I found very helpful.
And now I will leave you with a picture of another main idea on this chilly Saturday morning. I sure needed this by the end of conference week:
Need I say more? Our jobs are awesome in so many ways :)
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In 1991 the Galileo spacecraft photographed the asteroid, Gaspra. This picture shows the asteroid in false color. Gaspra circles the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
Click on image for full size
Japan And U.S. Join Together for Asteroid Expedition
News story originally written on June 20, 1997
The first asteroid collection mission has been set. Japan and the United States will put joint efforts into the MUSES-C mission to be launched in January 2002 from Kagoshima Space Center, Japan. This will allow the spacecraft to arrive at the NEREUS asteroid in September 2003.
Nereus is a small asteroid approximately one mile in diameter. It was discovered in 1982. At its closest point to the Sun, its orbit takes it just inside the orbit of the Earth.
The MUSES-C spacecraft contains a miniature robotic rover that will conduct surface measurements of the rocky asteroid. The rover weighs less than 2.2 pounds. It is to date the smallest ever flown in space. Asteroid samples will also be taken during the mission and will be returned in January 2006 by a parachute-borne recovery capsule.
This mission is extremely important. If successful, it will grant Earth-bound scientists first-hand information about the materials that helped form the inner, rocky planets more than four billion years ago. Isotopic measurements of the asteroid samples may even unlock information about cosmological beginnings.
Dr. Jurgen Rahe, director of Solar System Exploration at NASA headquarters expressed excitement about the mission by saying, "This ambitious mission is an opportunity for two spacefaring nations to combine their expertise and achieve something truly
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Many living things undergo a process known as development
in which a single cell replicates and divides to form a multicellular organism
with various structures and functions that the original cell did not have.
You are one such organism, growing from a fertilized egg cell in your mother's
womb to the full-sized adult you are today. Along the way, your cells
changed from having features like the original fertilized egg to having
those of the developed cells that make up human tissues like nerve
and skin. This process is known as differentiation.
Plants are also multicellular organisms, and they too undergo this differentiation process. There are many similarities between the way plants and animals like yourself differentiate, and therefore, they make excellent creatures to study the cycle of growth and development.
You will be studying this cycle in a lab in the next few days, and to be ready for it, there are some ideas with which you need to be familiar. The following questions will help you do so.
1. What function does DNA play in all organisms?
2. How does fertilization occur in flowering plants and what does it produce?
3. Why is there identical DNA in all cells of the same plant (provided there are no mutations)?
4. What occurs during cellular differentiation?
5. Does a developing plant embryo undergo differentiation? Explain your answer.
6. What is germination?
7. Describe the physical appearance and function of the radicle and hypocotyl in germinating and sprouting seeds?
8. How can cells create tissues that have different morphology and physiology in spite of the fact that the DNA in all the cells in any organism are identical?
9. Make a labeled diagram of a young radicle and identify the regions where you think the most growth is taking place?
10. If respiration rate (consumption of O2/min/mg tissue) is directly related to rate of growth in a plant, what part of the radicle would have the highest respiration rate? Explain your answer.
11. Hormones play a critical role in the growth and development of plants as well as other organisms; what are the specific hormones that influence radicle development and what effect do they have?.
12. Pick two embryonic plant structures and decide on an interesting question you could ask about their respective developmental rates; then write a hypothesis that addresses your question (explaining why it does) and write a brief summary of a procedure you could use to test it.
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American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A state of open, armed, often prolonged conflict carried on between nations, states, or parties.
- n. The period of such conflict.
- n. The techniques and procedures of war; military science.
- n. A condition of active antagonism or contention: a war of words; a price war.
- n. A concerted effort or campaign to combat or put an end to something considered injurious: the war against acid rain.
- v. To wage or carry on warfare.
- v. To be in a state of hostility or rivalry; contend.
- idiom. at war In an active state of conflict or contention.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A contest beween nations or states (international war), or between parties in the same state (civil war), carried on by force of arms. International or public war is always understood to be authorized by the sovereign powers of the nations engaged in it; when it is carried into the territories of the antagonist it is called an aggressive or offensive war, and when carried on to resist such aggression it is called
defensive. Certain usages or rights of war have come to be generally recognized and defined under the name of the Laws of War, which in general (but subject to some humane restrictions which in recent times have been greatly increased) permit the destruction or capture of armed enemies, the destruction of property likely to be serviceablo to them, the stoppage of all their channels of traffic, and the appropriation of everything in an enemy's country necessary for the support and subsistence of the invading army. On the other hand, though an enemy may be starved into surrender, wounding, except in battle, mutilation, and all cruel and wanton devastation are contrary to the usages of war, as are also bombarding an unprotected town, the use of poison in any way, and torture to extort information from an enemy: but it is admitted that an enemy may be put to death for certain acts which are in themselves not criminal, and it may be even highly patriotic and praiseworthy, but are injurious to the invaders, such as firing on the invaders although not regularly enrolled in an organized military force, or seeking to impair the invaders' lines of communication.
- n. A state of active opposition, hostility, or contest: as, to be at war (that is, engaged in active hostilities).
- n. Any kind of contest or conflict; contention; strife: as, a wordy war.
- n. The profession of arms; the art of war.
- n. Forces; army. Compare battle.
- n. Warlike outfit.
- n. Specifically— In Roman history, the war between Sulla and Marius (commencing 88 b. c.) or that between Pompey and Cæsar (commencing 49 b. c.)
- n. In English history, the war of the great rebellion. See rebellion.
- n. In United States history, the war of secession. See secession.
- n. of 1828–9, ending in the defeat of Turkey;
- n. of 1853–6 (see Crimean);
- n. of 1877–8, between Russia and its allies (Rumania, etc.) and Turkey, resulting in the defeat of Turkey and the reconstruction of southeastern Europe.
- n. 343–341 b. c.
- n. 326–304 b. c.
- n. 298–290 b. c., ending in the triumph of Rome.
- To make or carry on war; carry on hostilities; fight.
- To contend; strive violently; be in a state of opposition.
- To make war upon; oppose, as in war; contend against.
- To carry on, as a contest.
- Same as worse.
- To defeat; worst.
- A Middle English form of ware.
- A Middle English form of were.
- n. uncountable Organized, large-scale, armed conflict between countries or between national, ethnic, or other sizeable groups, usually involving the engagement of military forces.
- n. countable A particular conflict of this kind.
- n. countable By extension, any conflict, or anything resembling a conflict.
- n. uncountable A particular card game for two players, notable for having its outcome predetermined by how the cards are dealt.
- v. intransitive To engage in conflict (may be followed by "with" to specify the foe).
- v. To carry on, as a contest; to wage.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. obsolete Ware; aware.
- n. A contest between nations or states, carried on by force, whether for defence, for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the extension of commerce, for the acquisition of territory, for obtaining and establishing the superiority and dominion of one over the other, or for any other purpose; armed conflict of sovereign powers; declared and open hostilities.
- n. (Law) A condition of belligerency to be maintained by physical force. In this sense, levying war against the sovereign authority is treason.
- n. Poetic Instruments of war.
- n. Poetic Forces; army.
- n. The profession of arms; the art of war.
- n. a state of opposition or contest; an act of opposition; an inimical contest, act, or action; enmity; hostility.
- v. To make war; to invade or attack a state or nation with force of arms; to carry on hostilities; to be in a state by violence.
- v. To contend; to strive violently; to fight.
- v. rare To make war upon; to fight.
- v. rare To carry on, as a contest; to wage.
- n. the waging of armed conflict against an enemy
- v. make or wage war
- n. an active struggle between competing entities
- n. a concerted campaign to end something that is injurious
- n. a legal state created by a declaration of war and ended by official declaration during which the international rules of war apply
- From Middle English werre, from Late Old English werre, wyrre "armed conflict" from Old Northern French werre (compare Old French guerre, guerre, whence modern French guerre), from Frankish *werra (“riot, disturbance, quarrel”) from Proto-Germanic *werrō (“mixture, mix-up, confusion”), from Proto-Indo-European *wers- (“to mix up, confuse, beat, thresh”). Akin to Old High German werra ("confusion, strife, quarrel") (German verwirren (“to confuse”)), Old Saxon werran ("to confuse, perplex"), Dutch war ("confusion, disarray"), Old English wyrsa, wiersa ("worse"), Old Norse verri ("worse") (originally "confounded, mixed up"). Compare Latin versus ("against, turned"), past participle of vertere ("turn, change, overthrow, destroy"). More at worse, wurst. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English warre, from Old North French werre, of Germanic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
“VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'American plans to loot Iraqi oil and other Bush war crimes'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Though Bush has given every other lie and cover story to justify the US war of aggression against Iraq, the real reasons for the \'war\' are now openly admitted.”
“VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'President Bush regrets his legacy as man who wanted war'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a guy really anxious for war in Iraq.”
“Edwards: "End 'preventive war' doctrine" yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Edwards: "End \'preventive war\' doctrine "'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' Article: John Edwards talks about ending Bush\'s" preventative war doctrine "and how to diplomatically engage with Iran. ”
“VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Chomsky: \'There Is No War On Terror\' '; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' The acclaimed critic of U.S. foreign policy analyzes Bush\'s current political troubles, the war on Iraq, and what\'s really behind the global \'war on terror.”
“If Iraq is key to Bush's 'terror war' ... we're losing yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'If Iraq is key to Bush\'s \'terror war\' ... we\'re losing '; yahooBuzzArticleSummary =' Article: If Democrats are going to continue to acknowledge Bush\'s \'terror war\ ', they should oblige him and aggressively tie it to the quagmire in Iraq and his regime\'s wallowing failures elsewhere in the world.”
“Bushs insistence that he treated war with Iraq as a last resort and that Saddam Hussein was the one who chose war by refusing to let”
“Thats funny Lynn Cheney is a war monger of the AEI enterprise$$ for$$ war$$ think tank.”
“While the phrase The war to end war is often associated with Woodrow Wilson, its authorship was claimed by Wells in an article in Liberty, December 29, 1934, p. 4.”
“At the same time, if we have the choice of continued war or a cowardly peace -- _we vote for war_.”
“_It is the war which kills slavery, and not the man who leads the war_.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘war’.
English words of Anglo-Saxon origin.
With the exception of abbreviations and mosaic words all types of words (proper names, past tense of verbs, etc.) are allowed.
Movies or TV shows where the titles are also common words, generally one-word titles.
Unabashedly stolen from a comment made by courier12.
words for fighting
( open list, randomness )
absolute majority, absolute monarchy, abstentionism, access to informa..., acquisition of arms, action brought be..., action for annulment, action to establi..., ad hoc committee, adjournment, adjournment motion, administration and 965 more...
All words of the poem
by Gerard Nolst Trenité
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse <...
...And all that heavy metal.
A list of English words that are three letters long.
ABM Agreement, accession to a co..., accession to a tr..., accession to an a..., achievement of peace, ACP-EC Convention, advanced technolo..., aerospace industry, African organisation, aggression, agreement, agricultural coop... and 851 more...
Here be a trove of words and phrases associated (fore or aft) with picarooning / pickarooning, scavenged from Google Books citations.
The Prince Edward Island folksong Mick Riley inspi...
English words of Norman-French origin.
Read the top word on the list and add a word that you associate with it. The association may be semantic, etymological, structural, literary, personal, etc.
1. In t...
Looking for tweets for war.
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The challenges we face due to the effects of climate change are unprecedented.
Its reach is widespread, taking into account damage to ecosystems - which in turn effects entire nation’s infrastructures - the economy and peoples' health. Already we are seeing extreme weather conditions leading to widespread hunger and disease.
Reports find that unless action is taken now, the economic costs of climate change could amount to US$20 trillion annually by 2100 - that’s 6-8% of global economic output. Since 1990, annual losses of around $60 billion due to climate change have been recorded - with 2005 costing a record $200 billion.
In the US, Hurricane Katrina cost $125 billion in economic losses. The European heat wave in 2003 cost $15 billion in damages. Flood damage costs in Europe are anticipated to rise from $10 billion to $120-$150 in the years ahead.
Massive amounts of revenue will be lost from the collapse of the tourist industry as places of natural beauty and tranquillity are irreparably damaged. An example of this is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Currently attracting millions of visitors each year, it is already showing signs of dying. If ocean temperatures continue to increase, it is predicted that 95% of the Barrier Reef’s living coral will soon be lost.
There is not one part of the world or any one individual living on the planet that will go unaffected by the serious results of inaction on climate change.
Predictions of the timescale in which we may expect to experience the most serious effects of climate change have been seen to be conservative, with many events, such as the complete melting of Arctic ice, being revised to occur sooner as the science is better understood. The cost of not putting climate change mitigation at the top of the agenda now could be immeasurable.
Further delay will increase the costs of reducing emissions and will risk us reaching the point of no return. As the cost of action is far less than cost of inaction, reports show that policies put foward with the goal of mitigating global warming in the short term will not have a major impact on the economy.
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There is a huge diversity of creatures that share the common name ‘worms’, such as flat worms, hook worms, ribbon worms, horsehair worms, and segmented worms. The common earthworm is a member of the class Oligochaeta, within the phylum Annelida (segmented worms). Only about one-third of the earthworms in North America are native; in fact, some exotic species in the northeast are having detrimental effects on forests.
The Xerces Society has profiled the status of a rare and unusual native earthworm – the Oregon giant earthworm. There have been few sitings of this animal in recent years. It can reach up to 60 centimeters long and it reportedly has spit that smells of lilies.
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Wastes and waste management
Finnish waste legislation covers all types of waste except certain special wastes such as radioactive wastes, which are controlled by separate laws. Finnish waste legislation is largely based on EU legislation, but in some cases includes stricter standards and limits than those applied in the EU as a whole. Finland also has legislation on some issues related to wastes that have not yet been covered by EU legislation.
For more information on wastes and their environmental impacts see the web pages on the state of the environment. Statistics on the generation and management of wastes in Finland are compiled by Statistics Finland.
The Ministry of the Environment supervises and controls the way Finnish waste legislation is put into practice.
The Finnish Environment Institute conducts research and training, publicises new ideas and methods, and monitors all developments related to waste issues, while also participation in drawingup new legislation and guidelines related to waste. The Institute also monitors international waste shipments.
Centres for economic development, transport and the environment guide, encourage and monitor the implementation of the Waste Act in their own regions. They also provide training and advice for firms and the public, and issue waste permits to larger firms and operations. The national authority responsible for producer registration and other related issues is the Centre for economic development, transport and the environment for Pirkanmaa.
Local authorities organise the collection, recovery and disposal of household refuse and other similar waste, and supervise waste management in general in their own area. They also set local regulations on waste management, ensure that advice on waste matters is freely available, and issue waste permits to smaller firms and operations.
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Chinese Yellow-headed Box Turtles are considered to be one of the 25 most endangered turtles in the world, with fewer than 150 individuals remaining in the wild. They once thrived in streams in the highlands of the Anhui Province of eastern China. But the population collapsed due to human consumption, use in traditional medicine, pollution, habitat loss, and the pet trade.
Chinese Yellow-headed Box Turtles require the artificial manipulation of specific environmental and climatic conditions in order to be stimulated to breed. But the experts at WCS’s Bronx Zoo were able to successfully recreate these conditions in propagation areas in the zoo’s Reptile House.
“The biology of the species requires the adults to hibernate prior to breeding,” said Don Boyer, Curator of Herpetology at WCS’s Bronx Zoo. “We carefully monitor the environment and gradually reduce the temperature in order to induce a natural state of hibernation. Following hibernation, turtle pairs are introduced and carefully monitored to watch for evidence of courtship and breeding activities.”
Read more about WCS's fine conservation efforts below the fold:
More than half of the world’s approximately 330 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises are threatened with extinction due to illegal trade and habitat loss. Most of the world’s turtle trade is driven by demand from China, specifically for human consumption, traditional medicines, and to sell for pets.
The WCS strategy to save turtles draws on all of the resources and expertise across the institution – from its zoos and aquarium, Wildlife Health Program, and Global Conservation Programs. The plan involves preventing the extinction of at least half of the species appearing in a 2011 report by WCS and other groups that listed the 25 most endangered turtles and tortoises.
WCS will breed and reintroduce some species, develop assurance colonies (groups of animals maintained in our zoos or aquarium so that no genetic diversity is lost) for others, and protect another subset with field work. The recent hatchings at the Bronx Zoo will become a part of an assurance colony kept at the zoo.
“The success we are seeing in the early stages of this program is encouraging,” said Jim Breheny, WCS Executive Vice President of Zoos and Aquarium and Bronx Zoo Director. “Over time, we hope to expand our turtle propagation work to extend to many of the most endangered species of turtles and tortoises. In implementing this strategy we will draw on the expertise found throughout the entire WCS organization as well as various partner organizations with whom we work.”
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. They do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.
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Shallow caves in central Arizona protect masonry dwellings built in the early 14th Century. These and additional sites in the surrounding areas were home to the Salado people. They left no written record of their existence, no chronology of events that shaped their society. The most vivid signs of life are in their pottery, in remnants of fabric, in smoke stains from their cook fires, and in handprints on pueblo walls.
Most of what we know - or think we know - about the Salado has been reconstructed from what remains of their material culture - their personal and community belongings. In addition, plants and animals that made up their natural environment still thrive here. Like pieces of a puzzle, each element contributes to the larger picture of Salado culture. Take a virtual tour of Tonto National Monument to learn more about these people and their environment.
Select a topic below to beginning exploring.
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Fractions may have numerators and denominators that are composite numbers
(numbers that has more factors than 1 and itself).
How to simplify a fraction:
- Find a common factor of the numerator and denominator. A common factor is
a number that will divide into both numbers evenly. Two is a common factor of 4 and 14.
- Divide both the numerator and denominator by the common factor.
- Repeat this process until there are no more common factors.
- The fraction is simplified when no more common factors exist.
Another method to simplify a fraction
- Find the Greatest Common Factor (GCF) of the numerator and denominator
- Divide the numerator and the denominator by the GCF
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Units of Work
The Units of Work are delivered as downloadable WORD documents so that teachers can customise them for use in their classroom. They include references to electronic resources (software, websites and items from The Learning Federation collection of online resources), print resources (many include worksheets for students to use) and other physical resources. There is a brief outline of each unit below including suggested year level(s).
Teachers from around the country were involved in this work, and AAMT members would like to thank them for their efforts.
Melanie Bezear, Calwell Primary School, ACT
Jane McAlpine, Chapman Primary School, ACT
Anne Pillman, Marryatville Primary School, SA
Stephanie Watts, Trinity Catholic Primary School, NSW
Thomas Psomas, All Saints Grammar School, NSW
Gayle Cann, Parap Primary School, NT
Mark Darrell, Hallett Cove School, SA
Nicole Heyder, Atwell College, WA
Lyn Pierrehumbert, Durack School, NT
Shelley Jenkinson, Deanmore Primary School, WA
Bernie O’Sullivan, St Luke's Anglican School, Qld
Wendy Fletcher, Centre for Extended Learning Opportunities
Roxanne Steenbergen, Claremont Primary School, Tas
Michael Macrae, Duncraig Senior High School Education Support Centre, WA
Terry Jacka, St Hilda's School, Qld
Ed Cuthbertson, Lanyon High School, ACT
[Year 1] Counting on, counting back
The beginning of this unit focuses on ensuring that students have basic foundation skills, and an understanding of both what the number line means and the forward and backward number sequence. They then progress to developing conceptual understandings of place value, specifically tens and ones. Once these foundation skills have been mastered, students are introduced to the strategies of counting on and then counting back.
uw_003_counting_on_counting_back.doc 582.50 kB
[Years 2-4] Going places
In this unit of work students visualise and plan routes, understand and use the language of position and give and interpret directions using a variety of formats and resources.
uw_005_going_places.doc 665.00 kB
[Year 3] Area and perimeter
This unit allows students to explore the beginning concepts of perimeter and area, including the formal units of cm, m, cm sq, and m sq and to learn the differences between these measurements.
uw_006_area_perimeter.doc 140.50 kB
[Year 4] Multiplying and dividing with arrays
This unit explores the concepts of multiplication and division and offers students strategies to perform these operations.
uw_003_uniting_and_dividing.doc 282.50 kB
[Years 4-5] Cities taking shape
Students develop their knowledge of 2D and 3D shapes, and the relationships between them. They learn about how a 3D shape can look different when viewed from different positions. Students use knowledge and skills gained through the unit to design and construct a ‘model’ city or town block.
uw_003_cities_taking_shape.doc 948.00 kB
[Years 4-10] Telling the time
This unit introduces the formal measurement of time using the terms ‘o’clock’, ‘half past’, ‘quarter past’ and ‘quarter to’ and their representation on an analogue clock. It is specifically for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), so the learning experiences offered are structured, methodical and sequential and require one-to-one instruction.
uw_006_telling_the_time.doc 639.00 kB
[Years 5-6] Graphs and data
This unit of work explores why we need data, and how to collate, present and analyse it to extract the information it offers.
uw_004_graphs_and_data.doc 247.00 kB
[Years 5-6] Chances are
This unit explores the mathematics of chance. Discover the language of chance and how it affects our decisions. Explore the notion of probability, and how we can influence this.
uw_005_chances_are.doc 699.50 kB
[Year 6] You say data, I say data
This unit introduces the students to a variety of graphs. They will examine examples of various types of graphs and then conduct their own surveys to collect and present the data in a specified form.
uw_003_you_say_data.doc 495.00 kB
[Years 6-7] Places for polygons
This unit of work investigates the geometric properties of buildings to develop students’ understanding of polygons.
uw_003_places_for_polygons.doc 412.00 kB
[Years 6-8] Take a chance
This unit provides students with a real life context to investigate the language of chance and how events may be manipulated to alter the chance of something happening. It also introduces the use of fractions, decimals and percentages when looking at probability.
uw_004_take_a_chance.doc 276.50 kB
[Years 7-8] Fraction action
In this unit of work students move from working with tenths, hundredths and thousandths to relating common and decimal fractions and percentages.
uw_007_fraction_action.doc 350.50 kB
[Year 8] Investigating us
This unit is designed to enable students to design and conduct simple surveys, collate the data into appropriate tables, identify the types of graphs that are suited to display the data sets depending on the number and types of variables, select appropriate display formats to represent the data and interpret data from the graphs and tables. It utilises students’ natural interest regarding themselves and where they ‘fit in’ in relation to their peers.
uw_004_investigating_us.doc 582.00 kB
[Years 8-10] Turn up the volume
In this unit of work students explore and explain the connections between the surface area and volume of different shapes and how each attribute is measured.
uw_008_turn_up_the_volume.doc 881.00 kB
[Years 11-12] Periodic functions
This unit focuses on periodic functions and is part of a university preparation course for those aiming to study mathematics and science courses such as engineering.
uw_005_periodic_functions.doc 831.00 kB
| 3.594766 |
Newly discovered bacterial alchemists could help save billions of plastic bottles from landfills. The Pseudomonas strains can convert the low-grade PET plastic used in drinks bottles into a more valuable and biodegradable plastic called PHA.
PHA is already used in medical applications, from artery-supporting tubes called stents to wound dressings.
The plastic can be processed to have a range of physical properties. However, one of the barriers to PHA reaching wider use is the absence of a way to make it in large quantities.
The new bacteria-driven process – termed upcycling – could address that, and make recycling PET bottles more economically attractive.
PET bugs Although billions of plastic bottles are made each year, few are ultimately recycled. Just 23.5% of US bottles were recycled in 2006.
This is because the recycling process simply converts the low value PET bottles into more PET, says Kevin O'Connor at University College Dublin, Ireland.
"We wanted to see if we could turn the plastic into something of higher value in an environmentally friendly way," he says.
O'Connor and colleagues knew that heating PET in the absence of oxygen – a process called pyrolysis – breaks it down into terephthalic acid (TA) and a small amount of oil and gas.
They also knew that some bacteria can grow and thrive on TA, and that other bacteria produce a high-value plastic PHA when stressed. So they wondered whether any bacteria could both feed on TA and convert it into PHA.
Bacteria hunt "It was a long shot to be honest," says O'Connor. His team studied cultures from around the world known to grow on TA, but none produced PHA. So they decided to look for undiscovered strains, in environments that naturally contain TA.
Analysing soil bacteria from a PET bottle processing plant, which are likely to be exposed to small quantities of TA, yielded 32 colonies that could survive in the lab using TA as their only energy source.
After 48 hours they screened each culture for PHA. Three cultures, all similar to known strains of Pseudomonas, accumulated detectable quantities of the valuable plastic.
The next step is to improve the efficiency of the process, says O'Connor. "A quarter to a third of each cell is filled with plastic – we want to increase that to 50 to 60%."
Less landfill Sudesh Kumar, a microbiologist at the University of Science, Malaysia, in Penang, is impressed with the study.
"There are many other systems that are economically more viable to produce PHA with better material properties," he says. "But Kevin's work offers an interesting novel approach to solve the problem of PET accumulation in landfill dumps."
But it is still unlikely that using the new approach alone will appeal to industry, O'Connor says.
"Working with this kind of environmental technology in isolation, the chances of success are reduced," he says. The best approach, he continues, would be to use the new bacteria as just one part of a bio-refinery capable of upcycling an array of waste products in an environmentally friendly way.
| 3.644055 |
Growing Native Plants
Pelargonium rodneyanum, commonly known as the Magenta Storksbill, is a member of the family Geraniaceae. Naturally occurring in fragmented populations within heathland, rocky outcrops, sclerophyll forest and woodland areas of South Australia, New South Wales and Victoria. P. rodneyanum is commercially cultivated for use as a colourful potted, rockery or bedding display plant.
Preferring well-drained, slightly acidic soil, P. rodneyanum adapts well to most soil types and likes a full sun to semi-shaded position. It withstands frost in colder climates, is semi-drought tolerant and is useful as a spreading ground cover in the garden - easy removal prevents this attractive plant from becoming invasive. Gardeners also appreciate its lengthy flowering period, producing blooms when other plants have stopped.
An herbaceous perennial, P. rodneyanum reaches 45 cm in height, flowers during November through to May and forms vertical tubers as part of its root system. The light to dark green leaves are ovate to narrow ovate with crenate, shallow lobes and a 3-10 cm long petiole. The umbel inflorescence usually consists of 7 flowers on slender pedicels 13-22 mm in length, which rise from a whorl of 6 bracts on a 5-12 cm long peduncle. It has five petals that are deep pink in colour and irregular in shape and size. The two larger petals are marked with deep magenta streaks and are positioned slightly separate from the lower petals. Of the ten stamens produced, 7-8 are fertile, slightly longer and bear anthers. The fruit forms on pilose mericarps which, when ripe, each contain a 1.5 mm long, dark grey seed.
P. rodneyanum can be propagated by tuber division (end of winter early spring), soft/semi hardwood cuttings (spring through summer), clump division (all year), meristem culture (all year) and by seed (spring through summer). Using wind as a natural dispersal method, it readily self seeds although new seedlings tend not to flower during the first season of growth.
P. rodneyanum benefits from a hard pruning and reduced water intake during the winter months; tubers may rot if left in water for long periods. During early spring, P. rodneyanum may be susceptible to White Fly, which can be treated with Pyrethrum or diluted dishwashing liquid sprays. Other pests include larger animals (eg. kangaroos and wombats), which during times of drought use the tubers as a food source.
Derivation of the name:
Pelargonium - from the Greek word pelargos (a stork) with reference to its storksbill like fruit.
rodneyanum - thought to be named after Admiral George Rodney (1718-1792) who lead victorious English naval battles against Dutch, French and Spanish forces.
Text by Jacqui McKinnon (2004 Student Botanical Intern)
Elliot, W.R. & D.L. Jones (1997) Encyclopedia of Australian plants: suitable for cultivation, Lothian.
| 3.217978 |
The fish family that includes herrings, shads, sardines, and menhadens is a large, global family with 216 species. Most species are tropical and almost all species are found in oceans, although some are found in freshwater as well. Fish in this family are small to medium-sized, from 2 to 75 cm long. They generally have torpedo shaped bodies that are laterally compressed. Fish in this family are strong, fast swimmers, generally travel in large schools, and they typically feed on plankton. They are some of the most important commercially fished species in the world.
Tanya Dewey (author), Animal Diversity Web.
having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
specialized for swimming
uses touch to communicate
| 3.573618 |
Approximately 7000 seeds per gram
seed-counts are only a guide, not to be used for accurate calculations.
B and T World Seeds' reference number:
USDA average, annual, minimum temperature Zone:4
Type of plant - perennial
Flower: dk. PURPLE, YELLOW throat, infl. 1-6
Fruit: ........(prov. Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney only)
Foliage: -5cm., ell.-spath., dense farin. ben.
Height in meters: 0.1
Common names for Primula scotica:
is included in the following B and T World Seeds flowering plant categories:
9: Alpine and Rock Garden Seed List (Hardy and Tender)
12: British Native Wild Flowers Shrubs and Trees
43: Herbaceous Border Plant Seed List
161: Edible Flowers
185: Plant Species whose germination is improved by Smoke
Primula scotica seeds will usually germinate in 20-40 days, even under good conditions germination may be erratic. Normally will only germinate with light so surface sow. Sow Primula scotica seeds on the surface of a Peaty seed sowing mix at about 15°C.
Stratification (cold treatment or vernalization) Some seeds need to be overwintered before they will germinate. Some seeds need just a couple of weeks, others 3 months. Seeds can be stratified in dampened peat or sand, in a plastic box or bag at 4°C or 5°C in a refrigerator. The seeds should not be frozen or in a wet medium. Very small seeds can be sown on the surface of their growing medium, in pots sealed in plastic bags, and kept in the 'fridge. Many vernalized seeds need light to germinate when they are sown in the "Spring".
P.Sinensis germinates in the dark. Cold stratify 3 weeks.
| 3.018042 |
E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Girondists (g soft).
French, Girondins, moderate republicans in the first French Revolution. So called from the department of Gironde, which chose for the Legislative Assembly five men who greatly distinguished themselves for their oratory, and formed a political party. They were subsequently joined by Brissot, Condorcet, and the adherents of Roland. The party is called The Gironde. (179193.)
The new assembly, called the Legislative Assembly, met October 1, 1791. Its more moderate members formed the party called the Girondists.C. M. Yonge: France, chap. ix. p. 168.
| 3.355505 |
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