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Other Types of Cancer
Cancer is a devastating reality for far too many Americans. However, statistics indicate that there is good news: according to the National Cancer Institute, death rates for the four most commonly diagnosed cancers – prostate, breast, colon and lung – continue to decrease. This can be contributed to a decline in the numbers of people who smoke cigarettes, as well as a number of other factors.
Despite this good news, the incidences of liver cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney cancer, esophageal cancer, and thyroid cancer unfortunately are on the rise. In addition, the number of individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, and other childhood cancers are also increasing. In men specifically, rates of testicular cancer are on the rise, and, in women, melanoma (skin cancer), lung cancer, and brain and bladder cancer rates are also rising.
What Causes Cancer?
As you may know, there are a number of reasons why people develop cancer. Environmental factors, including exposure to certain toxins such as asbestos or radon, can lead to cancer. A family history of cancer (especially in women, who are far more likely to develop breast cancer if their mother, sister or other female relative has suffered from the disease) can also lead to a diagnosis of cancer. Smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco for an extended period of time may also cause cancer, specifically lung cancer, throat or tongue cancer, and esophageal cancer. Frequent consumption of alcohol can lead to cancer of the liver or kidneys.
Many individuals are able to go into remission following cancer treatment and live healthy, cancer-free lives for many years. For example, women who detect their breast cancer early are very often able to enter remission and will not experience a reoccurrence of their cancer or be diagnosed with another type of cancer. Unfortunately, some individuals with certain types of cancer are not as lucky. Mesothelioma sufferers, for instance, must face the reality that there is no cure for their cancer, and that their mesothelioma treatment is simply a temporary means of controlling pain and lessening the effect of their symptoms. Doctors and researchers continue to study all forms of cancer with the hope that, one day, they will find a cure.
Information about other types of cancer:
- Breast Cancer
- Colon Cancer
- Lung Cancer
- Ovarian Cancer
- Pancreatic Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
For further information about Kidney Cancer Please Visit
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
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Having diabetes means that your body doesn't do a good job of using the food you eat. Most of it needs to be broken down into a simple sugar called glucose, the body's main fuel source.
But for that glucose to get into your cells, it needs insulin, which is a hormone that the beta cells in your pancreas produce. The pancreases of people who have diabetes either produce little or no insulin, or the body does not respond to the insulin that is produced. So glucose builds up in the blood and is wasted. Even worse, all that glucose running around in your blood stream is responsible for the typical complications of diabetes—diseases of the heart, eye, kidneys, nerves, and other organs.
Different causes, same results.
The type of diabetes where your pancreas produces little or no insulin is called type 1. To stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take daily insulin shots, which Dr. Frederick Banting discovered how to extract from animal pancreases in 1921.
Type 1 diabetes was formerly called juvenile-onset diabetes, because it mostly attacks young people, although it can develop at any age. It accounts for just 5 or 10 percent of the diagnosed diabetes. It symptoms include increased thirst and urination, constant hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and extreme tiredness.
By far the most common form of diabetes is called type 2. About 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes have it. This form of diabetes usually develops in adults over the age of 40 and is most common among adults over age 55. About 80 percent of them are overweight.
When people have type 2 diabetes, their pancreases usually produces insulin, but for some reason the body cannot use the insulin effectively. While it has a different cause than type 1 diabetes the end result is the same—that unhealthy buildup of glucose in the blood.
The symptoms of type 2 diabetes develop gradually and are not as noticeable as for type 1. The symptoms include feeling tired or ill, frequent urination (especially at night), unusual thirst, weight loss, blurred vision, frequent infections, and slow healing of sores. Many people without any of these symptoms, however, are surprised when their doctor diagnoses that they have diabetes.
A third type of the disease is called gestational diabetes. It develops—or is discovered—during pregnancy. While it usually disappears when the pregnancy is over, women who have had gestational diabetes have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes later.
This is an unedited version of the article that originally appeared in The Dallas Morning News, December 7, 1998.
Go back to Home Page
Go back to Diabetes Directory
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Frederick Starr: Anthropologist Lost from the History Books
You probably haven’t heard of Frederick Starr. Like his contemporary Franz Boas, Starr was an anthropologist coming to fame while the discipline of anthropology was still being formed. Throughout his career, Starr studied people and cultures on three different continents, and still found time to make a name for himself as a lecturer at the University of Chicago. But unlike Boas—who is considered the father of American Anthropology—you won’t find Starr’s name in many textbooks. The tale of how Frederick Starr was nearly forgotten is one full of controversy and ideology.
Starr’s Early Life and Career
Frederick Starr was born in 1858 in Auburn, New York, to the Reverend Frederick Starr Jr. and Helen Mills Starr. As a child, Starr was a strong student and an avid collector of fossils and minerals. He explored that interest further at the University of Rochester, where he studied geology; two years later, he transferred to Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and graduated in 1882. He received a doctorate in geology from Lafayette College in 1885.
In the late 1800s, anthropology was still a new and growing discipline, so Starr didn't study it formally. It wasn’t until after his schooling, while teaching at Coe College, that Starr discovered his interest in the subject. He conducted both ethnographic and archaeological fieldwork among the local Sauk and Fox Indian tribes and reputedly taught the first anthropology course in Iowa while at Coe. It's not clear who or what specifically spurred Starr’s interest in anthropology, but he pursued it avidly, leaving his studies of geology behind. Following his work at Coe College, Starr held several short-term positions, including working with the ethnological collection at the American Museum of Natural History, before finally accepting a long-term faculty position at the University of Chicago in 1892.
During his time at the University of Chicago, Starr became a very influential public speaker, frequently giving lectures on anthropological subjects that were open to the public through the University’s extension program. After attending an extension course about prehistoric and primitive art, W.R. French, the director of the Art Institute of Chicago at the time, wrote that Starr’s lectures were “both authoritative and agreeable,” and that “Professor Starr has eminently the art of making scientific truth interesting to intelligent but unprofessional academics.”
An Anthropologist is Born
According to Donald McVicker, author of Frederick Starr: Popularizer of Anthropology, Public Intellectual, and Genuine Eccentric, Starr engaged in an incredibly varied anthropological career at the turn of the 20th century. He conducted notable research in Mexico, among many Native American tribes in the United States, with the Ainu people of Japan, and in several regions of Africa.
The World’s Fairs that took place in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries seemed to provide Starr with the perfect opportunities to put his work on display. Much to his dismay, however, Starr was not allowed an influential position at the famous World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. He was excluded by better known anthropologists like Boas and Frederic Ward Putnam, director of Harvard’s Peabody Museum. Starr was commissioned to collect data about and artifacts from the Eastern Cherokee people in North Carolina for Putnam and Boas, but contributed little else to this fair.
At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904, however, Starr’s work made a much bigger splash. The anthropologist brought nine Ainu people and a translator back with him from Japan to be part of an exhibit at the fair. These Ainu, members of a Japanese indigenous group from Hokkaido in the northern part of the country, were to be displayed as part of a literal representation of the evolutionary stages of humanity towards civilization; along with several other indigenous groups assembled by other anthropologists, they were on display as “barbarous and semi-barbarous peoples.” While this is unquestionably offensive to today's sensibilities, the visitor response to the exhibit at the time was overwhelmingly positive, as most people had never before heard of the Ainu and were intrigued by their appearance and practices. In a 1993 article about the Ainu exhibit, anthropologist James W. Vanstone reports the reactions from writers and visitors to the exhibit:
One enthusiastic writer referred to the Ainu as "mysterious little Japanese primitives" and noted that visitors were impressed by their cleanliness and polite manners, but somewhat disappointed that they were no "man-eaters, dog-eaters or wild men."
In addition to contributing to these World’s Fairs, Starr produced several publications in conjunction with his fieldwork. These publications included many scholarly and other articles, as well as books like The Truth about the Congo, about his studies in that region; Indians of Southern Mexico: An Ethnographic Album; and In Indian Mexico: A Narrative of Travel and Labor, about the performance and findings of his extensive work with Indian tribes in Mexico.
Starr’s Methods and Misconduct in Mexico
His appearance in St. Louis with the Ainu may have been Starr’s most publicly recognized work, but if he is remembered at all today, it's for his fieldwork in Mexico. Starr recalls his purpose there in In Indian Mexico:
The work I planned to do among these indian towns was threefold: 1. The measurement of one hundred men and twenty-five women in each population, fourteen measurements being taken upon each subject; 2. The making of pictures,—portraits, dress, occupations, customs, buildings, and landscapes; 3. The making of plaster busts of five individuals in each tribe.
The primary goals in making such recordings were to observe the differences between various Mexican tribes and to establish the placement of such people, and their race and culture, on the same scale that he had placed the Ainu, from barbarous to civilized. It was assumed at the time that there were physical characteristics, such as cranial shape and size, that could mark such distinctions between races (a theory that has long since been disproved).
In his book, Starr refers to the Mexican people he is studying as “ignorant, timid, and suspicious.” He also makes regular references to them being too drunk to allow their measurements to be taken. All of these characteristics assigned to these Mexican Indians by Starr explained, in his point of view, the difficulty he often had in securing subjects for measurement, and justified the forceful methods he felt compelled to use. Starr took advantage of the fact that prisoners could not refuse his requests to measure them, and regularly photographed and measured imprisoned subjects for his work. What’s more, if there were individuals he wished to measure who did not acquiesce, he would threaten them with arrest and jail time so that they could no longer refuse. The authorities did not object to these methods, instead providing support for Starr by collecting subjects and keeping order. Starr even recounts a specific incident where policemen stopped a bullfight in progress in order to obtain a young man taking part in the fight for Starr’s research.
Starr Fading from View
Over time, Starr’s brutish, unethical methods and offensive ideas became questionable in the eyes of the anthropological community. The theories of his contemporary Boas, however, began to amass a great deal of support from other anthropologists and academics.
Boas, born and educated in Germany, moved to the United States in 1887 and proceeded to make substantial contributions to the methodology of American anthropology. By incorporating the methods of natural science into the discipline of anthropology, Boas emphasized the importance of conducting research before developing theories, as well as approaching studies in the most ethical and unbiased ways possible. What’s more, he developed the modern interpretation of culture, viewing it as learned behavior and a product of a people's history, rather than a hierarchical measurement of civilization that would place the western world on top.
While most anthropologists, inspired by Boas, began to recognize the people they studied as part of the larger, equal human race, Starr continued to regard them as primitive and inferior, demonstrated by his attitude towards his subjects in Mexico. Soon, Starr’s methods of fieldwork were widely considered unethical and his ideas about culture outdated.
Starr’s charisma and ability as a speaker managed to keep him relevant in public education spheres toward the end of his career. In this capacity, Starr overshadowed Boas, who preferred not to address the general themes of anthropology necessary in public lecturing and was nervous about his skill in speaking English, which was not his first language. The academic discipline of anthropology, though, became dominated by Boas’ methods and, over the years, Frederick Starr and his methods were phased out. Today, his work is rarely read, or even mentioned, in discussions or classes on anthropological history.
After 31 years at the University of Chicago, Starr retired from his post in 1923. True to form, he continued to travel the globe and engage in public speaking events until his death; he died unexpectedly of pneumonia while in Japan in 1933.
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October, over the last several years has been observed as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month throughout not only the United States but worldwide. The purpose of this observance is to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and a cure. Information and support are also offered to those affected by breast cancer.
Increased awareness and education of symptoms are the best preventive measures anyone, female or male, can have in the fight against breast cancer. Breast Cancer Month supporters hope that an increased knowledge will lead to earlier detection of the disease which in turn will increase the long-term survival rate and that money raised for breast cancer will produce a reliable, permanent cure for the disease.
Fundraisers are sponsored and held throughout the month in the Moberly area to help raise funds for mammograms and other options of detection as well as for treatment of the disease. Fundraising events include foot races, walk-a-thons, bicycle rides, and many more.
The pink ribbon is a symbol of breast cancer awareness. It may be worn to honor those who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, or to identify products that the manufacturer would like to sell to consumers that are interested in breast cancer. Pink ribbons, which can be made inexpensively, are sometimes sold as fundraisers, much like poppies on Remembrance Day. The pink ribbon is associated with individual generosity, faith in scientific progress and a "can-do" attitude. It encourages consumers to focus on the emotionally appealing ultimate vision o a cure for breast cancer, rather than on the fraught path between current knowledge and any future cures.
Throughout the years breast cancer awareness campaigns have been highly effective in getting attention for the disease. Breast cancer receives significantly more media coverage than other prevalent cancers, such as prostate cancer. People are now talking about the 'fight' against breast cancer. The awareness campaign is about raising people's awareness to increase the chance of early detection and thus decrease the fatality rate of breast cancer.
The Moberly Monitor-Index is sponsoring special "Pink Pages" on each Thursday in October to help raise awareness and to share survivor stories with readers. Check out today's page 9 for information on Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
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|Spreading the word on skimboarding - responsibly|
A group of local Grade 4 students are taking it to the beach! Arrowview Elementary’s Garbage Busters Club has turned its focus towards keeping local beaches healthy. Expanding their focus from clean communities, students have designed and created posters to help educate skimboarders about eelgrass and beach conservation.
“One of the things we’ve learned as part of our nearshore beach study is the huge impact that we have on creatures which live in our beach areas,” says student teacher Janet Richards. With help from MVIHES’ Michele Deakin, students learned about the eelgrass beds along the beach tide line and how skimboarding over and through this fragile eco habitat can adversely affect animals and plants.
Students brainstormed ideas to educate skimboarders to use the beach responsibly including using non-toxic waxes, placing ramps and structures away from the eelgrass beds, and using barren pools instead of tide lines. A new colourful poster campaign will help spread the word to the thousands of beach users this summer. “The students understand that if we take care of this important resource, it will be there when they get older,” says teacher Jodi Waters.
Look for the student posters around Parksville and Qualicum Beach including businesses which support recreational activities along the beach.
This project is part of the nearshore education program offered by MVIHES with the support of the Town of Qualicum Beach, the City of Parksville and Georgia Basin Living Rivers.
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Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth-Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies
or regional effects near the time and place of the impact, but could include, for large impacts, global climate change or tsunamis. But how large an impact and what kind of impact could cause these effects is still uncertain. A research program is needed to address all of these issues in order to assess and quantify the risks associated with the NEO impact hazard.
The ability to mitigate the impact hazard, or even to define appropriate strategies for mitigating the hazard, likewise depends on the acquisition of the new knowledge and understanding that could be gained through a research program. Even if the only viable mitigation approach to an impending impact is to warn the population and to evacuate, better information is needed for making sound decisions. Under what conditions should warning be provided and when, and who should evacuate? If, however, there are available active mitigation options, like changing the orbit of an impactor, again better information is needed: One must be able to predict with confidence the response of an impactor to specific forms of applied forces, impacts of various types and speeds, or various types of radiant energy, such as x rays. The required information goes beyond the basic physical characterization that determines the size and mass of the impactor and includes surface and subsurface compositions, internal structures, and the nature of their reactions to various inputs.
Just as the scope of earthquake research is not limited only to searching for and monitoring earthquakes, the scope of NEO hazard mitigation research should not be limited to searching for and detecting NEOs. A research program is a necessary part of an NEO hazard mitigation program. This research should be carried out in parallel with the searches for NEOs, and it should be broadly inclusive of research aimed at filling the gaps in present knowledge and understanding so as to improve scientists’ ability to assess and quantify impact risks as well as to support the development of mitigation strategies. This research needs to cover several areas discussed in the previous chapters of this report: risk analysis (Chapter 2), surveys and detection of NEOs (Chapter 3), characterization (Chapter 4), and mitigation (Chapter 5). The committee stresses that this research must be broad in order to encompass all of these relevant and interrelated subjects.
Recommendation: The United States should initiate a peer-reviewed, targeted research program in the areaof impact hazard and mitigation of NEOs. Because this is a policy-driven, applied program, it should not bein competition with basic scientific research programs or funded from them. This research program shouldencompass three principal task areas: surveys, characterization, and mitigation. The scope should includeanalysis, simulation, and laboratory experiments. This research program does not include mitigation spaceexperiments or tests that are treated elsewhere in this report.
Some specific topics of interest for this research program are listed below. This list is not intended to be exhaustive:
Analyses and simulations of ways to optimize search and detection strategies using ground-based or space-based approaches or combinations thereof (see Chapter 3);
Studies of distributions of warning times versus sizes of impactors for different survey and detection approaches (see Chapter 2);
Studies of the remote-sensing data on NEOs that are needed to develop useful probabilistic bases for choosing active-defense strategies when warning times of impacts are insufficient to allow a characterization mission (see Chapter 4);
Concept studies of space missions designed to meet characterization objectives, including a rendezvous and/or landed mission and/or impactors;
Concept studies of active-defense missions designed to meet mitigation objectives, including a test of mitigation by impact with the measurement of momentum transfer efficiency to the target (see Chapter 5);
Research to demonstrate the viability, or not, of using the disruption of an NEO to mitigate against an impact;
The technological development of components and systems necessary for mitigation;
Analyses of data from airbursts and their ground effects as obtained by dedicated networks, including military systems and fireball (brighter than average meteor) observations; also analyses and simulations to assess
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Destroying a dangerous asteroid with a nuclear bomb is a well-worn trope of science fiction, but it could become reality soon enough.
Scientists are developing a mission concept that would blow apart an Earth-threatening asteroid with a nuclear explosion, just like Bruce Willis and his oilmen-turned-astronaut crew did in the 1998 film "Armageddon."
But unlike in the movie, the spacecraft under development — known as the Hypervelocity Asteroid Intercept Vehicle, or HAIV — would be unmanned. It would hit the space rock twice in quick succession, with the non-nuclear first blow blasting out a crater for the nuclear bomb to explode inside, thus magnifying its asteroid-shattering power.
"Using our proposed concept, we do have a practically viable solution — a cost-effective, economically viable, technically feasible solution," study leader Bong Wie, of Iowa State University, said Wednesday at the 2012 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) meeting in Virginia. [ 5 Reasons to Care About Asteroids ]
When, not if
Earth has been pummeled by asteroids throughout its 4.5 billion-year history, and some of the strikes have been catastrophic. For example, a 6-mile-wide (10 kilometers) space rock slammed into the planet 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs.
Earth is bound to be hit again, and relatively soon. Asteroids big enough to cause serious damage today — not necessarily the extinction of humans, but major disruptions to the global economy — have hit the planet on average every 200 to 300 years, researchers say.
So humanity needs to have a plan in hand to deal with the next threatening asteroid, many scientists stress.
That plan should include deflection strategies, they say. Given a few decades of lead time, a threatening space rock could be nudged off course — perhaps by employing a tag-along "gravity tractor" probe, or even by painting the asteroid white and letting sunlight give it a push.
But humanity also needs to be prepared for an asteroid that pops up on scientists' radar just weeks before a potential impact. That scenario might demand the nuclear option that Wie and his colleagues are working to develop.
A one-two punch
NASA engineers identified 168 technical flaws in "Armageddon," Wie said. But one thing the movie got right is the notion that a nuke will be far more effective if it explodes inside an asteroid rather than at its surface. (At a depth of 10 feet, or 3 meters, the bomb's destructive power would be about 20 times greater, Wie said.)
So Wie and his team came up with a way to get the bomb down into a hole, without relying on a crew of spacewalking roughnecks to bore into the space rock.
The HAIV spacecraft incorporates two separate impactors, a "leader" and a "follower." As HAIV nears the asteroid, the leader separates and slams into the space rock, blasting out a crater about 330 feet (100 m) wide.
The nuke-bearing follower hits the hole a split-second later, blowing the asteroid to smithereens. Simulations suggest the explosion would fling bits of space rock far and wide, leaving only a tiny percentage of the asteroid's mass to hit Earth, Wie said.
This is no pie-in-the sky dream: The researchers have received two rounds of funding from the NIAC program, and they say their plan is eminently achievable.
"Basically, our proposed concept is an extension of the flight-proven $300 million Deep Impact mission," Wie said, referring to the NASA effort that slammed an impactor into Comet Tempel 1 in 2005.
Demonstration mission coming?
The HAIV project is still in its early stages, and much more modeling and developmental work is needed. But Wie and his colleagues are ambitious, with plans for a bomb-free flight test in the next decade or so.
Space news from NBCNews.com
Teen's space mission fueled by social media
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: "Astronaut Abby" is at the controls of a social-media machine that is launching the 15-year-old from Minnesota to Kazakhstan this month for the liftoff of the International Space Station's next crew.
- Buzz Aldrin's vision for journey to Mars
- Giant black hole may be cooking up meals
- Watch a 'ring of fire' solar eclipse online
- Teen's space mission fueled by social media
"Our ultimate goal is to be able to develop about a $500 million flight demo mission within a 10-year timeframe," Wie said.
The team's current work involves analyzing the feasibility of nuking a small but still dangerous asteroid — one about 330 feet (100 m) wide — with little warning time. However, it wouldn't be too difficult to scale up, Wie said.
"Once we develop technology to be used in this situation, we are ready to avoid any collision — with much larger size, with much longer warning time," Wie said.
- Paintball Players vs. The Asteroid Apocalypse? | Video
- The 7 Strangest Asteroids in the Solar System
- When Space Attacks: The 6 Craziest Meteor Impacts
© 2013 Space.com. All rights reserved. More from Space.com.
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By analyzing tissues harvested from organ donors, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created the first ever "atlas" of immune cells in the human body. Their results provide a unique view of the distribution and function of T lymphocytes in healthy individuals. In addition, the findings represent a major step toward development of new strategies for creating vaccines and immunotherapies. The study was published today in the online edition of the journal Immunity.
T cells, a type of white blood cell, play a major role in cell-mediated immunity, in which the immune system produces various types of cells to defend the body against pathogens, cancer cells, and foreign substances.
"We found that T cells are highly compartmentalized — that is, each tissue we examined had its own complement of T cells," said study leader Donna L. Farber, PhD, professor of surgical sciences at CUMC and a principal investigator with the new Columbia Center for Translational Immunology (CCTI), directed by Megan Sykes, MD. "The results were remarkably similar in all donors, even though these people were very different in terms of age, background, and lifestyle."
The researchers also discovered a receptor that is expressed on the surface of "tissue-resident" T cells but not on circulating T cells. Using this marker, Dr. Farber and her colleagues established that the blood is its own compartment. "In other words, T cells found in circulation are not the same as T cells in the tissues," said Dr. Farber.
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Press Release 10-142
Gulf Oil Spill: NSF Awards Grant to Study Effects of Oil and Dispersants on Louisiana Salt Marsh Ecosystem
Researchers measuring impacts of short- and long-term exposure in extensive Gulf Coast marshes
August 16, 2010
As oil and dispersants wash ashore in coastal Louisiana salt marshes, what will their effects be on these sensitive ecosystems?
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a rapid response grant to scientist Eugene Turner of Louisiana State University and colleagues to measure the impacts on Gulf Coast salt marshes.
The researchers will track short-term (at the current time, and again at three months) and longer-term (at 11 months) exposure to oil and dispersants.
The coast of Louisiana is lined with extensive salt marshes whose foundation is two species of Spartina grass.
In brackish marshes, Spartina patens is the dominant form. It's locally known as wiregrass, marsh hay and paille a chat tigre (hair of the tiger).
In more saline marshes closer to the Gulf of Mexico, Spartina alterniflora, also called smooth cordgrass and oyster grass, takes over. A tall form of this wavy grass grows on the streamside edge of the marsh; a shorter form grows behind it.
In their NSF study, the biologists will document changes in these critically-important Spartina grasses, as well as in the growth of other salt marsh plants, and in marsh animals and microbes.
Field investigators will collect samples three times at 35 to 50 sites and analyze the oil and dispersants after each expedition.
The first field effort is now underway.
"Data are being collected that may be used as indicators of the long-term health of the salt marsh community," says Turner. "From these data, we will obtain information that precedes potentially far-reaching changes.
"This exceptionally large oil spill and subsequent remediation efforts are landmark opportunities to learn about short- and long-term stressors on salt marsh ecosystems."
Salt marsh stressors, such as those from oil spills, can have dramatic, visible, and immediate direct impacts, Turner says, on marshes and surrounding uplands.
"They also have indirect effects because, as oil and dispersants begin to degrade, they enter food webs via primary consumers such as suspension-feeding oysters, deposit-feeding bivalves, and grazing gastropods," says David Garrison of NSF's Division of Ocean Sciences, which funded the research.
These "primary consumers," in turn, serve as food sources for those at higher trophic levels--including humans.
As contaminants make their way up the food chain, they may become concentrated, as in the well-known example of mercury in fish.
"The effects of environmental stressors can cascade through ecosystems as metabolic pathways are altered," says Todd Crowl of NSF's Division of Environmental Biology, which co-funded the research. "The result may be an ecosystem that's radically altered well into the future."
The research, says Turner, is a benchmark study in salt marsh ecosystem change, and will answer key questions about salt marsh stability.
This NSF grant is one of many Gulf oil spill-related rapid response awards made by the federal agency. NSF's response involves active research in social sciences, geosciences, computer simulation, engineering, biology, and other fields. So far, the Foundation has made more than 60 awards totaling nearly $7 million.
For more on the RAPID program, please see the RAPID guidelines. See also a regularly updated list of RAPIDs targeting the Gulf oil spill response. Because RAPID grants are being awarded continuously, media can also contact Josh Chamot ([email protected]) in the Office of Legislative and Public Affairs for the latest information on granted awards.
Cheryl Dybas, NSF (703) 292-7734 [email protected]
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Get News Updates by Email
Useful NSF Web Sites:
NSF Home Page: http://www.nsf.gov
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Awards Searches: http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/
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Every year, dogs bite about 4.7 million people, most of them children between ages five and nine.
Postal workers are also common victims. Last year, 5,577 postal employees were attacked in more than 1,400 cities, according to the United States Postal Service. With 27 dog attacks last year, Portland ranked 13th (tying with Brooklyn, N.Y.) out of the U.S.P.S. list of the top 25 cities for dog attacks.
The OVMA says such attacks are preventable. The key is to make sure the dog receives proper behavioral training and socialization, and kids should know how to safely approach and live with dogs.
Thanks to the OVMA for these tips on ways to keep children safe:
- Never come near a dog you don’t know – especially if it is tethered to something, behind a fence or confined in a car.
- Don’t ever play with a dog without adult supervision.
- Never disturb a sleeping dog, or one who is eating or caring for puppies.
- Don’t chase or tease a dog.
- Always ask a dog’s owner if it’s OK to pet a dog.
- Never pet or touch a dog before it has a chance to see and sniff you.
- Don’t ever turn away and run from a dog, and don’t scream.
- Instead, remain still: stand without moving with your hands at your sides. Don’t make eye contact with a dog. If you sense it’s about to attack, find something to put between you and the animal such as a backpack or blanket.
- If a dog knocks you down, curl your body into a ball and put your hands over your face. Get help immediately.
If you’re a dog owner:
- Know that dogs that spend lots of time alone or chained up are likely to become dangerous. Well-socialized dogs, on the other hand, are much less likely to bite.
- A dog with a history of aggressive behavior shouldn’t be in a home with children.
- Never, ever leave infants or toddlers alone with a dog for any length of time. Period. Read about how to introduce a pet to a new baby here.
- If your child seems afraid about the prospect of a dog in the house, it may not be the right time.
- Make sure your dog is spayed or neutered. Neutered dogs are less likely to show aggressive behavior.
- The U.S.P.S. also reminds owners to keep your dog inside and in another room when the mail carrier comes to your home.
- Socialize your dog. Obedience training can teach your dog to behave appropriately and can help owners maintain control of their dogs.
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Even if the Palmarin Tree Project planted a million trees next year, it wouldn't mean much if we couldn't protect them. To make real gains in reforestation has to be well thought out from what species to are to be planted, where and then most importantly how are we going to make sure they will survive. Today that is a big challenge, especially in the Reserve de Palmarin. Although its a reserve it is still used for traditional economic activities including herding.
If we are going to make real headway on habitat reconstruction we first need a protected area to work with. Working with local government officials and those who have traditional rights to the land the Palmarin Tree Project is looking to create protected areas where real conservation can occur. This project is in its infancy but has the potential to be our greatest achievement in environmental protection.
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Medical History and Physical Exam for a Slow Heart Rate
A doctor will ask you questions about your medical history and do a physical exam to evaluate your symptoms. The information gained from your medical background and physical exam may provide important clues about your symptoms. It also can help a doctor recommend specific tests to help diagnose and treat your condition.
If the doctor thinks you have Reference bradycardia Opens New Window, he or she may ask:
- What symptoms have you had?
- How long did the symptoms last?
- What were you doing when you first noticed the symptoms? Were you eating, coughing, bending over?
- Did anything make the symptoms better or worse, such as slow, deep breathing or holding your breath?
- Did you take your pulse when you had the symptoms? If you did, how fast or slow was your heart beating? Was it beating regularly?
- Do you ever have chest pain?
- Have you ever lost consciousness?
- Does physical activity bring on your symptoms or make them worse?
- Has there been a change in your ability to exercise?
- Have you had a tick bite recently or noticed any rashes?
- What medicines are you currently taking?
- Do you drink alcohol or smoke? Do you use any illegal drugs? If so, how much?
- Do you have a family history of heart disease?
During a physical exam, the doctor or another health professional will:
- Take your blood pressure.
- Check your pulse, to see how fast your heart is beating and to find out whether the rhythm is regular.
- Listen to your heart through a stethoscope. If he or she hears any Reference murmurs Opens New Window, or extra heart sounds, it may mean that your heart's conduction system has been damaged.
- Listen to your lungs through a stethoscope. Certain sounds may indicate fluid buildup (edema) or lung disease.
- Check for swelling in your neck veins, legs, ankles, and abdomen, which is a sign of fluid buildup and possible Reference heart failure Opens New Window.
Why It Is Done
The medical history and physical exam are needed for a doctor to find out whether you have a slow heart rate. They are also important to help discover whether you have any underlying conditions or complications.
Normal findings include the following:
- Blood pressure and pulse rate are normal.
- Breathing and heart rhythm and rate are normal.
- You have no signs of fluid buildup in the body (fluid buildup is a sign of heart failure).
Abnormal findings that may suggest a problem from a slow heart rate include:
- Low blood pressure.
- A slow or irregular pulse.
- Abnormal heart sounds.
- Sounds heard when listening to the lungs, which may indicate a backup of blood in the lungs caused by heart failure.
If the physical exam and medical history strongly suggest a very slow or irregular heartbeat, you will have more testing.
What To Think About
It is important to provide your doctor with detailed information about your symptoms, past medical history, and lifestyle. It may help to write down some of the symptoms you have recently had. Your doctor might ask you to keep a Reference diary of symptoms.
Before your visit, write down all of the medicines you are currently taking. Also, write down other details about your medical history. Be sure to include nonprescription medicines, including diet supplements or herbal remedies. Bring the information to your scheduled appointment.
|By:||Reference Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: June 2, 2011|
|Medical Review:||Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Rakesh K. Pai, MD, FACC - Cardiology, Electrophysiology
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March 11, 2013
A ubiquitous chemical found in plastics, soup can linings, and receipts, bisphenol-a is just one health-compromising substance that has been under fire for many years. While the scientific community has gathered ample evidence regarding BPAs toxic effects, the chemical is still widely used today. Adding to this evidence, recent research has found that BPA could negatively impact brain development by disrupting a gene responsible for proper nerve cell function.
For the study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and conducted by Duke University researchers, it was discovered that BPA could negative effect central nervous system development by disrupting a gene called Kcc2. With the disruption of this gene, it can no longer properly produce proteins partly responsible for removing chloride from neurons. If chloride can’t be removed, then the functioning of brain cells is hampered.
“Our study found that BPA may impair the development of the central nervous system, and raises the question as to whether exposure could predispose animals and humans to neurodevelopmental disorders,” study researcher Dr. Wolfgang Liedtke, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of medicine/neurology and neurobiology at Duke University, said. “Our findings improve our understanding of how environmental exposure to BPA can affect the regulation of the Kcc2 gene. However, we expect future studies to focus on what targets aside from Kcc2 are affected by BPA. This is a chapter in an ongoing story.”
The study abstract concludes with:
“Overall, our results indicate that BPA can disrupt Kcc2 gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. Beyond increase in basic understanding, our findings have relevance for identifying unique neurodevelopmental toxicity mechanisms of BPA, which could possibly play a role in pathogenesis of human neurodevelopmental disorders.”
Unfortunately, avoiding BPA is quite as easy as it should be. Despite the endocrine-disrupting chemical being linked to reproductive problems, obesity, diabetes, and now negatively altered brain development, the FDA rejected BPA’s ban back in March 2012 – so now consumers need to look out for the chemical for years to come.
But there are still many tips for avoiding BPA and even reversing the negative effects sparked by the chemical. Here are a few tips:
This post originally appeared at Natural Society
No related posts.
This article was posted: Monday, March 11, 2013 at 6:31 am
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The ground in your
garden has been holding moisture all winter. Let's see if the soil is ready.
Preparing your garden plot
We will want to perform
a 'ball test' to see if it's ready to be worked.
Pick up a handful of
soil and squeeze it firmly into a ball.
If it sticks together,
it's still too wet or it may be the clay variety.
If you try to work wet
clay it will compact hard as a rock.
Let the garden dry out
for a few days longer, especially if it's been a wet spring, and test
If the ball falls apart
easily then the soil is dry enough to be worked.
Once it passes the 'ball
test' you'll have to check it's temperature to see if it's warm enough
for the seeds.
- Dig 8" down (20
cm) at a point near the middle of the garden and put your hand in
You can feel if the soil has warmed up or is still chilly to the touch.
- Refer to the back
of your seed packets to see if they prefer to be planted in
warm or cool weather.
- If you have seeds
that are okay to plant in cool weather , you can get started just
as Spring Equinox approaches, March 21.
- For seeds that need
warmer soil wait a few days and do the test again.
- If you want to help
the soil warm up faster, put down a layer of thin black plastic.
- After a few sunny
days, roll back the cover and do the same test again
- Once your soil is
warm to the touch you can prepare your garden plot ready for planting.
To prepare your garden
plot you will need:
your Garden Plan,
a measuring tape,
a ball of garden twine,
a garden fork and
a metal rake.
- Refer to your Garden
Plan to find the exact location of your garden.
- Use the measuring
tape to mark out the length and width of your plot.
- Put a stake in the
ground at each corner and tie the twine around them to surround your
garden on all 4 sides.
- Use a shovel to
remove grass, weeds and rocks from your garden plot inside the twine
- If you wish, you
can remove the twine.
- Use the garden fork
to turn over the soil and break up any big lumps.
- If you have clay,
don't dig it over, just break up the lumps.
- Work from the back
of the garden toward the front so you don't compact the soil you just
- Now is a great time
to condition the soilif you need to.
- Using the teeth
and back of a metal rake smooth and level the surface.
- Your garden is ready
for the next step: preparing your rows
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A Short History of the Permanent Diaconate
THE EARLY CHURCH
Traditionally, the beginning of the order of deacons is traced back to the story in Acts of the Apostles, Acts 6: 1-6. Whether this pertains to the history of the ordained order of deacons as they developed in the early centuries of the church is in dispute, but it is very much in the spirit in which the diaconate was and has been understood ever since. Very early in the history of the church, deacons were understood to hold a special place in the community, along with bishops and presbyters. The role of all ordained ministries is to be modeled on the life of Christ, and that of deacons especially was and still is, that of Christ the servant. Perhaps the earliest reference to deacons in this sense (ca. 53 A.D.?) occurs in St. Paul's letter to the Philippians in which he addresses "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons".
However, it would be a mistake to interpret the servant role too literally as one of "waiting on tables". One of the seven first deacons, Stephen, was stoned to death because of his bold preaching of the Gospel, Acts 6: 8-15, 7: 54-60 . He is the first recognized martyr of the church, and his feast day is celebrated on December 26. Of the remaining seven, those of whom we have historical knowledge, it is clear that their ministry also quickly broadened to preaching and spreading the Gospel message.
The deacon became the eyes and ears of the bishop, his "right hand man". The bishop's principal assistant became known as the "archdeacon", and was often charged with heavy responsibilities, especially in the financial administration of the local church, above all in distribution of funds and goods to the poor. One measure of the importance of the deacon in the early church is the number of deacons elected pope in the early Middle Ages. Of the thirty-seven men elected pope between 432 and 684 A.D., only three are known to have been ordained to priest before their election to the Chair of Peter. (Llewellyn)
During the first Christian millennium deacons undertook, as the bishops' assistants, the functions that are today those of the vicar general, the judicial vicar, the vicar capitular, the cathedral chapter and the oeconome, or finance officer. In current canon law these are almost exclusively priests' functions. (Galles)
John Collins, writing in Pastoral Review, has this to say about the meaning of "diakonia" as understood in the early church:
"Two final segments: firstly my description of the semantic character of diakon- as applied to deacons in the early church (from Appendix I, Diakonia, p. 337).
As is well known, Vatican II cited this “not unto the priesthood, but unto the ministry” in Lumen Gentium. Thus it was understood that deacons were ordained not for any specific set of duties for serving the needy but to serve the bishop in whatever set of duties he would determine. The circumstances today are, of course, far different than in the early church. The size and complexity of the modern diocese makes such an intimate relationship with the bishop impractical. Although deacons serve in a wide variety of settings, including hospitals and prisons, the focus for today's deacon is normally parish based. However, he retains the historical tie with his bishop, whose "servant" he remains. The major point we should take from a study of early church history and the witness of the early Fathers of the Church is that they acknowledge the importance of the diaconal ministry. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, about 100 AD, says that it would be impossible to have the Church without bishops, priests and deacons. He explains that their task was nothing less than to continue ‘the ministry of Jesus Christ'.
Beginning as early as the fifth century, there was a gradual decline in the permanent diaconate in the Latin church, although it remained, right to the present, a vital part of the Eastern churches, both Catholic and Orthodox. One important factor was simply a failure on the part of both presbyters and deacons to understand the unique value of the diaconate as a distinct order in its own right. Deacons with too much power were often self-important and proud. Presbyters, on their part, were resentful at the fact that often deacons had power over them! St. Jerome demanded to know why deacons had so much power – "After all, deacons could not preside at Eucharist, and presbyters were really the same as bishops". By the early middle ages, the diaconate was perceived largely as only an intermediate step toward the reception of ordination to the priesthood. It was this prevailing attitude of the "cursus honorum" that was most responsible for the decline of the diaconate. The "cursus honorum" was simply the attitude of "rising through the ranks", following a tradition of gradual promotion, inherited from practices of secular government of the Roman Empire. Most older Catholics will be familiar with the many levels of "minor orders" and "major orders". First came the liturgical rite of "tonsure" which conferred upon a man the status of "cleric", and made him eligible for ordination. Then came the minor orders of porter, lector, exorcist and acolyte. These were ordinations but they were not sacraments. Finally came the major orders of sub deacon, deacon and priest. Sub diaconate, although a major order, was not a sacrament. The sub deacon did not receive a stole. Deacon and priest were, of course, sacramental in character. The whole process is well illustrated in a drawing (thanks to Dr. William Ditewig):
"Then, in 1972, Paul VI, following the direction of Vatican II, issued Ministeria quaedam, which realigned these things for the Latin Rite. Tonsure was suppressed, and now a person becomes a cleric through SACRAMENTAL ORDINATION AS A DEACON; this was a change to a pattern of more than 1000 years standing! The Pope also suppressed the minor orders altogether, converting two of them into "lay" ministries no longer requiring ordination; he also suppressed the subdiaconate, shifting the promise of celibacy to the diaconate. That left only two orders, both sacraments, from the old schema. Since Vatican II itself had taught about the sacramental nature of the bishop, we wound up with the three-fold ordained ministry that we have now, all of which are conferred by ordination and all of which confer a sacramental "character." Finally, the three orders are further subdivided by those orders that are sacerdotal (bishop and presbyter) and the orders that are diaconal (bishop and deacon). Yes, right now, presbyters are also deacons because they were ordained transitional deacons on their way to the presbyterate, BUT, as Guiseppe points out, this could be easily changed, and many are arguing for that (it's not likely anytime soon, but the case still needs to be pushed!)" (Ditewig)
The time finally came during deliberations of the Second Vatican Council in 1963, calling for restoration of the diaconate as a permanent level of Holy Orders. In June 1967 Pope Paul VI implemented this decree of the Council when he published the Apostolic letter Diaconatus Ordinem, in which he re-established the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. The Council in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) returns to the roots of the diaconate which we have previously discussed, roots going back to the New Testament and the early church Fathers:
At a lower level of the hierarchy are deacons, upon whom hands are imposed "not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service". For strengthened by sacramental grace, in communion with the bishop and his group of priests they serve in the diaconate of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God. It is the duty of the deacon, according as it shall have been assigned to him by competent authority, to administer baptism solemnly, to be custodian and dispenser of the Eucharist, to assist at and bless marriages in the name of the Church, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the Sacred Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and prayer of the faithful, to administer sacramentals, to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated to duties of charity and of administration, let deacons be mindful of the admonition of Blessed Polycarp: "Be merciful, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all." (Lumen Gentium para. 29)
And so we have come full circle. The permanent diaconate has proved to be a resounding success, growing at an astounding rate throughout the world, but nowhere so much as here in the United States. The theology of the diaconate has yet to be fully explored, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, it will mature.
An excellent selection of books dealing with both the history and theology of the diaconate is available from the National Association of Diaconate Directors, http://www.nadd.org/publications.html .
For an excellent recent (Nov. 2006) scholarly article dealing with the meaning of "diakonia" see http://www.thepastoralreview.org/cgi-bin/archive_db.cgi?priestsppl-00127 .
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June 2004 Sky from the Keeble Observatory
We will be unable to view the June 8th "transit of Venus" from the Keeble Observatory - the event will be over before the rising Sun clears our obscured eastern horizon. You will, however, be able to view it from several global web sites: The Exploratorium, in San Francisco will carry links to the Penteli Observatory, near Athens, Greece. NASA will offer links to several observatories around the world. The European Southern Observatory will have live coverage, as well.
May weather was not kind to comet watchers in the Center of the Universe. Haze on those evenings when it wasn't actually cloudy, and clouds and rain on other days, meant that it was unlikely that anyone actually saw comets NEAT and LINEAR. June weather, typically, will not be any improvement, and the comets are fading rapidly as their orbits carry them away from the Sun. There will be others in the future, hopefully more fortuitously positioned. Bright comets, like Hale-Bopp of several years ago, are roughly once per decade.
Comets have long fascinated humankind. Regular meteor showers and the stately motion of the planets through the zodiac could be anticipated. But, what to make of these "hairy stars" which persist for months, seemingly at random? (Our word "comet" comes from the Latin "coma" - which means hair!) Aristotle assumed they were atmospheric phenomena, describing them in his treatise on weather. Tycho Brahe used geometry to show that they were in the realm of the planets (but not the stars). It was once church doctrine that these represented harbingers of evil - firebrands hurled by an angry God to warn sinful humankind. Indeed, Halley's Comet was high above the Battle of Hastings, which was certainly bad luck for the English. It might have been considered good luck for the Norman victors!
Tycho got it right, of course. Comets are part of our solar system, just as much as are the planets, asteroids, and meteoroids. Indeed, meteor showers are residue from comets, which provides us a clue to their origin and makeup.
Some 5 billion years ago, comets were among the first large aggregate objects to condense out of the cloud of gas and dust which formed our solar system. Far from the growing heat source at the center, which was to become our Sun, they contain dust and frozen ices of water, methane, and ammonia. We believe these represent the oldest undisturbed remnants of the original pre-solar cloud. Pristine material from the time the Earth and other planets first formed. Fred Whipple dubbed them "dirty snowballs" and the description is apt. There are two major reservoirs of comets left from these early times. The so-called Kuiper Belt lies beyond the orbit of distant Neptune and lies in the plane of the ecliptic, roughly from 30 to 500 AU. (1 AU - "astronomical unit" is the average distance between Earth and Sun, about 150 million kilometers, or 93 million miles.) Pluto, and recently-discovered Sedna are among the largest denizens of this region ... yes, Pluto is probably just a large comet! Far beyond the Kuiper Belt lies the huge spherical shell called the Oort Cloud - stretching from 10,000 to perhaps 100,000 AU.
A comet's orbit may be disturbed by a collision, or by gravitational perturbations from passing stars or clouds. The comet then falls toward the inner solar system. As sunlight warms the comet, the volatile ices vaporize and carry with them dust and rocks from the nucleus of the comet. These gasses and dust particles are pushed away from the Sun by the pressure of sunlight and the streaming solar wind to form the tails of the comet. Ultraviolet light ionizes the gas and makes it glow. As the comet sweeps through its orbit the dust from its tail is strewn along its orbit, leaving the debris which makes up periodic meteor showers.
Lunar phases for June: Full Moon on the 3rd, at 12:20 am; Last Quarter on the 9th, at 4:03 pm; New Moon on the 17th, at 4:27 pm; First Quarter on the 25th, at 3:08 pm. Summer solstice, when the Sun is highest above the equator, will occur at 8:58 pm on the 20th. This is sometimes called the "longest day of the year," but it's 24 hours just like any other day! In fact, the solstice event will take place after sunset on the 20th! We will experience over 14 hours of sunlight on the 20th and 21st, however.
Evening planet watching in June is largely Jupiter watching. After sunset, Jupiter emerges from twilight high to the southwest, about 50 degrees off the horizon. It sets about 1:00 am. Saturn and Mars are above the horizon at sunset, but low to the northwest and probably lost in the horizon clutter and haze. Mornings are not promising for planet watching, either. Mercury and Venus have returned to the pre-dawn sky, but will be very low (< 10 degrees) on the northeast horizon at sunrise.
An hour or so after sunset at mid-month, the overhead view is essentially out of the plane of the Galaxy, which is nearly coincident with the horizon at 8:30 pm. Castor and Pollux are to the west, settling towards the horizon. High above the southern horizon, almost at zenith, is bright Arcturus, in the constellation Bootes. To the west, just below and to the right of Jupiter, you'll find Regulus, the heart of the Lion in the constellation Leo. The days around the new Moon are a good time to hope for clear skies ... maybe a cold front will sweep away the haze enough so that you can use Jupiter to find some deeper objects with your binoculars. Within 4 degrees to the right and slightly above Jupiter you may find several galaxies from the Messier catalog - M105, M95, and M96 are all in Leo. About 6 degrees above Jupiter is another, known as M65. These objects were all catalogued by Charles Messier to avoid confusing them with comets. We'll say more about the Messier Catalog next month.
Vega is to the ENE about 37 degrees off the horizon and appearing higher each night. It will be prominent in the late summer and autumn skies. Near Vega, use binoculars to find the Ring Nebula. Below Vega rises the constellation Cygnus. This marks the plane of the Galaxy, and the general direction towards which our Sun in moving in its orbit about the distant center of the Milky Way.
For your own monthly star chart, you can direct your web browser to http://www.skymaps.com. You will find extensive descriptions of what's worth looking for, and you can download and print a single copy for your personal use.
Copyright 2004 George Spagna
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Fascinating creatures indeed bentley!
Cuttlefish belong to the Cephalopoda class and includes squid, octopuses, and nautiluses). Although they are known as fish, they are mollusks and not fish! Recent studies indicate that cuttlefish are among the most intelligent invertebrates. Internationally there are 120 species of cuttlefish recognized. I am not sure how many species are in South African waters though!
Cuttlefish have eight arms and two tentacles furnished with suckers, with which they secure their prey.
They have a life expectancy of approximately 2 years and feed on small mollusks, crabs, shrimp, fish, octopuses, worms, and other cuttlefish. They are being preyed upon by dolphins, sharks, fish, seals and other cuttlefish.
Their cuttle-bones are porous and used for buoyancy by changing the gas-to-liquid ratio in the chambered cuttle-bone.
Cuttlefish eyes are among the most developed in the animal kingdom.
The blood of a cuttlefish is an unusual shade of green-blue. The reason for this is the fact that they use the copper containing protein hemocyanin to carry oxygen instead of the red iron-containing protein hemoglobin that is found in mammals. They have 3 separate hearts to pump their blood. Two hearts pump blood to the pair of gills and the third pumps blood to the rest of the body.
Photo of 2 Cuttlefish:Herewith something interesting facts about their ability to change colours:Cuttlefish are sometimes referred to as the chameleon of the sea because of their remarkable ability to rapidly alter their skin color at will. Their skin flashes a fast-changing pattern as communication to other cuttlefish and to camouflage them from predators. This color-changing function is produced by groups of red, yellow, brown, and black pigmented chromatophores above a layer of reflective iridophores and leucophores, with up to 200 of these specialized pigment cells per square millimeter. The pigmented chromatophores have a sac of pigment and a large membrane that is folded when retracted. There are 6-20 small muscle cells on the sides which can contract to squash the elastic sac into a disc against the skin. Yellow chromatophores (xanthophores) are closest to the surface of the skin, red and orange are below (erythrophores), and brown or black are just above the iridophore layer (melanophores). The iridophores reflect blue and green light. Iridophores are plates of chitin or protein, which can reflect the environment around a cuttlefish. They are responsible for the metallic blues, greens, golds, and silvers often seen on cuttlefish. All of these cells can be used in combinations. For example, orange is produced by red and yellow chromatophores, while purple can be created by a red chromatophore and an iridophore. The cuttlefish can also use an iridophore and a yellow chromatophore to produce a brighter green. As well as being able to influence the color of the light that reflects off their skin, cuttlefish can also affect the light's polarization, which can be used to signal to other marine animals, many of which can also sense polarization.
| 3.407874 |
This kit offers suggestions for activities, demonstrations and experiments that can be performed with our laser pointers. Typical experiments such as measuring the wavelength of laser light and determining the effects of polarization are also explained. The manual even includes the basic theory on laser pointer operation.
Includes: 1 holographic diffraction grating, 1 Polaroid filter, 2 first surface mirrors, 2 lenses (1 short f.l., 1 long f.l.), 1 cylindrical lens, 1 solar cell, 1 rectangular prism, and 3 color filters (red, blue, green). The 28 page instruction manual covers topics involving reflection, refraction, light absorption and more.
Note: A laser pointer is needed but not included.
| 3.269022 |
The writer Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the Fourth of July in 1804 and went on from there to establish himself as one of the great contributors to American literature. Like Forrest Gump, he seemed all his life to be surrounded by history. He was descended from a line of notorious Puritans, including a judge at the Salem witch trials. His college pals included poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future president Franklin Pierce. Henry David Thoreau planted Hawthorne a vegetable garden as a wedding present. Edgar Allan Poe wrote rave reviews of his books. The mourners at his funeral in 1860 included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Hawthorne spent most of his life in or around the Massachusetts towns of Salem and Concord, both of which played prominent roles in American history.
Hawthorne's books and stories drew heavily from America's Puritan history. His stories were pointed allegories that took aim at hypocrisy, sin, and corruption. Hawthorne's most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, practically ran through a checklist of the Seven Deadly Sins. His was not a rosy view of human nature. Perhaps because of this, Hawthorne kept mostly to himself. He was painfully shy and rarely invited anyone to the home he shared with his wife and three children. A friend of his said at the time, "I love Hawthorne, I admire him; but I do not know him. He lives in a mysterious world of thought and imagination which he never permits me to enter."1 If Hawthorne were alive today, he probably wouldn't even be on Facebook. Maybe it's easier to know him 150 years after his death, now that we have access to the journals and personal papers he fiercely guarded during his lifetime.
Picture it: A brilliantly creative man is stuck at an incredibly boring desk job at the Boston Custom House. He hates it, but he can't quit because he has to support his family. It's sucking away his energy, his time, and his creativity. Yet, in a quintessentially American way, he refuses to give up hope. "I do not mean to imply that I am unhappy or discontented; for this is not the case," Hawthorne confided in his diary on 3 July 1839. "Henceforth forever I shall be entitled to call the sons of toil my brethren, and shall know how to sympathize with them; seeing that I likewise have risen at the dawn, and borne the fervor of the midday sun, nor turned my heavy footsteps homeward till eventide. Years hence, perhaps, the experience that, my heart is acquiring now will flow out in truth and wisdom."2 Generations of readers since agree that he was right.
| 3.190238 |
Enzymes are complex proteins that cause a specific chemical change in all parts of the body. For example, they can help break down the foods we eat so the body can use them. Blood clotting is another example of enzymes at work.
Enzymes are needed for all body functions. They are found in every organ and cell in the body, including in the:
Stomach (gastric juice)
Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Medical Director and Director of Didactic Curriculum, MEDEX Northwest Division of Physician Assistant Studies, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of 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.
| 3.509187 |
Benzene is a clear, liquid, petroleum-based chemical that has a sweet smell. Benzene poisoning occurs when someone swallows, breathes in, or touches benzene.
This is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or the National Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
People may be exposed to benzene in factories, refineries, and other industrial settings. Benzene may be found in:
Seek immediate medical help. Do NOT make a person throw up unless told to do so by poison control or a health care professional.
If the chemical is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes.
If the chemical was swallowed, immediately give the person water or milk, unless instructed otherwise by a health care provider. Do NOT give water or milk if the patient is having symptoms (such as vomiting, convulsions, or a decreased level of alertness) that make it hard to swallow.
If the person breathed in the poison, immediately move him or her to fresh air.
Before Calling Emergency
Determine the following information:
Patient's age, weight, and condition
Name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
Time it was swallowed
Poison Control, or a local emergency number
The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.
This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the United States use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
People who work with benzene products should only do so in areas with good air flow. They should also use protective gloves and eye glasses.
Mirkin DB. Benzene and related aromatic hydrocarbons. In: Shannon MW, Borron SW, Burns MJ, eds. Haddad and Winchester's Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 94.
ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry). Toxicological profile for benzene. Update. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, Ga.
Eric Perez, MD, St. Luke's / Roosevelt Hospital Center, NY, NY, and Pegasus Emergency Group (Meadowlands and Hunterdon Medical Centers), NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
| 3.236481 |
The science fair concept has been established to:
- Focus attention on students’ academic achievements
- Strengthen student motivation and interest in science
- Promote teacher and public recognition of outstanding science talent
- Recognize outstanding individual achievements, efforts, potential, and creativity
- This event provides a medium for students to apply learned knowledge and skills to solve real problems and answer real-life questions.
Entering the Fair
- The competition is open to 4th – 12th grade students.
- Each elementary school may bring 10 projects to the district fair.
- Each middle school may bring 15 projects to the district fair
- Each high school may bring 25 projects to the district fair.
- Schools will decide how the projects will be selected. Most often this will be through a school science fair.
- Students may work individually or in groups (no groups of more than 3).
- Students may not participate in more than one project.
- All participating schools must be represented by at least one teacher or administrator at the competition.
- Registration must be submitted for each project entered.
- Project displays should NOT show the students names.
- Only participants, judges, teachers, and fair officials are allowed in the judging area during judging.
- Exhibits must be brought to, cared for, and removed from the fair by the exhibitor.
- The Science Fair Committee and cooperating groups will assume NO responsibility for loss or damage to any exhibit.
- Valuables, such as computers, meters, cameras, microscopes, etc., should NOT be left unattended. The only time they are required to be part of the exhibit is during the hours of judging.
How are the projects judged?
The role of judging is not to distinguish winners and losers, but to recognize students who achieve standards of excellence. By encouraging students to strive for their best effort, all participants are winners and grow from the experience.
- A team of judges is assigned to each category. During the initial judging, the projects are grouped so that each project is screened by at least two judges.
- All students must remain with their projects during the judging to make presentations and explain their study.
- All others (sponsors, teachers, parents, and other students) are not permitted in the project area while judging is in progress.
- All decisions of the judges are final.
- Final judging information will not be available to participants, parents, or teachers.
How are awards given?
- Every student entering the fair will receive an a certificate of participation.
- Trophies will be given for the top 3 scores in each category. First and second place winners that are students in grades 5 through 12 will invited to advance to the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair.
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Duchenne muscular dystrophy is caused by a defective gene for dystrophin (a protein in the muscles). However, it often occurs in people without a known family history of the condition.
Because of the way the disease is inherited, boys are affected, not girls. The sons of females who are carriers of the disease (women with a defective gene but no symptoms themselves) each have a 50% chance of having the disease. The daughters each have a 50% chance of being carriers.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy occurs in about 1 out of every 3,600 male infants. Because this is an inherited disorder, risks include a family history of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Symptoms usually appear before age 6 and may appear as early as infancy. They may include:
Duchenne muscular dystrophy leads to quickly worsening disability. Death usually occurs by age 25, typically from lung disorders.
Congestive heart failure (rare)
Heart arrhythmias (rare)
Mental impairment (varies, usually minimal)
Permanent, progressive disability
Decreased ability to care for self
Pneumonia or other respiratory infections
Calling your health care provider
Call your health care provider if:
Your child has symptoms of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Symptoms worsen, or new symptoms develop, particularly fever with cough or breathing difficulties
Genetic counseling is advised if there is a family history of the disorder. Duchenne muscular dystrophy can be detected with about 95% accuracy by genetic studies performed during pregnancy.
Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF. Muscular dystrophies. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa:Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 608.
Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine; and Benjamin Seckler, MD, Diagnostic Radiologist, Poughkeepsie, NY, and President of Charley's Fund; and Luc Jasmin, MD, PhD, Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, and Department of Anatomy at UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M. Health Solutions, Ebix, Inc.
| 3.364042 |
Job S. Ebenezer, Ph.D.
President, Technology for the Poor,
877 PELHAM COURT, WESTERVILLE, OHIO - 43081
The original Savonius design called
for a 7 to 8 inch overlap of the buckets. Research at Sandia Laboratories,
however, suggested an overlap of 10 to 15% of the bucket diameter or in this
case 3 inches (the bucket diameter=23 inches).
The second modification was the use of an automobile differential at the bottom of the machine to convert the vertical shaft power of the rotor to horizontal shaft power. A water pump or grain grinder could then be connected to the horizontal shaft either directly or via chain or V belt arrangements. The vertical main shaft of the wind machine was connected to the driveshaft of the differential., and one axle shaft of the differential became the horizontal power take off shaft for the wind machine. The other axle shaft was removed and the slip gears were locked. The gear ratio offered by this arrangement was 3:1, i.e. for every three turns of the wind machine's main shaft, the horizontal shaft turned once. This arrangement provided a high torque, low speed power to run a chain pump and a grain mill. A simple brake mechanism was provided to stop the machine in high winds.
A chain pump was constructed using a design proposed by Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA). A drawing of the chain pump constructed is shown below. In order to prevent corrosion of the metal chain, short lengths of nylon ropes were substituted for the lengths of chain between each leather washer. This substitution;. however, proved to be unsatisfactory
as there was much binding and
misalignment of the washers as they ascended the pipe. It is suggested that the
metal links should not be replaced by light weight ropes as the weight of the
links keep the washers taught and aligned well. Aside from these alignment
problems, the Savonius machine performed well. The Brace Research Institute in
Canada has successfully operated a diaphragm pump made of a tire with a Savonius
windmill. It is suggested that a diaphragm pump may be better suited for
Savonius windmill than a chain pump. Although the Village Technology Program did
not construct and test a chain bucket pump (shown below), it is believed that it
might perform very well with a Savonius windmill. Conventional piston pumps can
also be used with a Savonius windmill.
The Savonius windmill was also used to grind grain. A small grain mill known as "Corona Convertible" manufactured in Columbia, South America, was fitted with a hopper and sprocket.
The hopper holds a large amount of grain and can feed the mill automatically. A s shown below, the horizontal shaft of the windmill is connected to the grain mill via a roller chain and sprocket drive. The overall ratio between the wind machine and the grain mill was 5:1. The mill turned once for every five turns of the rotor.
This wind machine and mill combination successfully ground grain into fine flour. However, the rate of production and wind speed are not known with any accuracy, as this set up was not instrumented. Also unknown is the eventual durability of the mill's simple cast iron journal bearings. Perhaps the use of higher quality mills with better bearings will be required.
All factors considered, the Savonius design affords a very simple, stable machine requiring little maintenance. The Savonius' power output is relatively low (about 1 2 hp), but so is the initial investment for its construction (about $250 of materials). We highly recommend this machine for use in Third World countries.
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When I was in school at MIT and Harvard in the 1980s and 1990s, I was taught that there were 100,000 or so human genes, every one encoding a protein. The properties of those genes were unknown. Today, I teach that our genome contains only 21,000 protein-coding genes. To our surprise, there are thousands of additional genes that don’t encode proteins. All of these genes have been described in great detail.
I was taught that the parts of the genome not encoding proteins were “junk.” Today, we know that this junk makes up three-quarters of our functional DNA. Parts of it help exquisitely control where and when genes are active in the body.
I was taught that “genetic diseases,” such as cystic fibrosis, are caused by mutation of a single gene, with only a small handful of these mutations known. Today, precise causes are known for 2,800 of these rare single-gene disorders.
I was taught nothing about the more complex genetics of common diseases. Today, we are learning at dizzying speed about the interplay of genes and environment in diabetes, heart disease, and other common conditions. In the past three years alone more than 1,000 genetic risk factors have been found (an increase of perhaps 50-fold), contributing to more than 100 common diseases.
Such advances would have come far later, if at all, without the Human Genome Project (see “The Human Genome, a Decade Later” ). But a body of knowledge is not its only legacy. It also changed the way biological research is performed.
I was trained to view scientific data as the private property of each investigator. Human genetics research groups were locked in a “race” to discover each disease gene, and there were winners and losers. This often led to fragmentation of effort and yielded results irreproducible by others. Data was collected by hand and stored in paper notebooks.
The Human Genome Project held the revolutionary view that data collected should be freely available to all. Today this view prevails in genomics and many other fields of biology and medicine. Data is shared online by scientists the world over.
Today, thanks in no small part to the genome project’s example, investigators working on the same disease often publish together. Combining clinical and genetic data this way increases the statistical robustness of the claimed findings and makes for highly reproducible results.
Of course, knowledge of the human genome alone is not sufficient to cure disease. It will always be the case that creativity, hard work, and good fortune are needed to translate biological data into medical progress. But without the information, understanding, and cultural changes brought on by the genome project, the benefits to patients would be much further off.
David Altshuler is a founding member, the deputy director, and the chief academic officer of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and Professor of genetics and of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
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by Staff Writers
Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Mar 14, 2013
In evolutionary biology, there is a deeply rooted supposition that you can't go home again: Once an organism has evolved specialized traits, it can't return to the lifestyle of its ancestors.
There's even a name for this pervasive idea. Dollo's law states that evolution is unidirectional and irreversible. But this "law" is not universally accepted and is the topic of heated debate among biologists.
Now a research team led by two University of Michigan biologists has used a large-scale genetic study of the lowly house dust mite to uncover an example of reversible evolution that appears to violate Dollo's law.
The study shows that tiny free-living house dust mites, which thrive in the mattresses, sofas and carpets of even the cleanest homes, evolved from parasites, which in turn evolved from free-living organisms millions of years ago.
"All our analyses conclusively demonstrated that house dust mites have abandoned a parasitic lifestyle, secondarily becoming free-living, and then speciated in several habitats, including human habitations," according to Pavel Klimov and Barry OConnor of the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Their paper, "Is permanent parasitism reversible?-Critical evidence from early evolution of house dust mites," is scheduled to be published online March 8 in the journal Systematic Biology.
Mites are arachnids related to spiders (both have eight legs) and are among the most diverse animals on Earth. House dust mites, members of the family Pyroglyphidae, are the most common cause of allergic symptoms in humans, affecting up to 1.2 billion people worldwide.
Despite their huge impact on human health, the evolutionary relationships between these speck-sized creatures are poorly understood. According to Klimov and OConnor, there are 62 different published hypotheses arguing about whether today's free-living dust mites originated from a free-living ancestor or from a parasite-an organism that lives on or in a host species and damages its host.
In their study, Klimov and OConnor evaluated all 62 hypotheses. Their project used large-scale DNA sequencing, the construction of detailed evolutionary trees called phylogenies, and sophisticated statistical analyses to test the hypotheses about the ancestral ecology of house dust mites.
On the phylogenetic tree they produced, house dust mites appear within a large lineage of parasitic mites, the Psoroptidia. These mites are full-time parasites of birds and mammals that never leave the bodies of their hosts. The U-M analysis shows that the immediate parasitic ancestors of house dust mites include skin mites, such as the psoroptic mange mites of livestock and the dog and cat ear mite.
"This result was so surprising that we decided to contact our colleagues to obtain their feedback prior to sending these data for publication," said Klimov, the first author of the paper and an assistant research scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
The result was so surprising largely because it runs counter to the entrenched idea that highly specialized parasites cannot return to the free-living lifestyle of their ancestors.
"Parasites can quickly evolve highly sophisticated mechanisms for host exploitation and can lose their ability to function away from the host body," Klimov said.
"They often experience degradation or loss of many genes because their functions are no longer required in a rich environment where hosts provide both living space and nutrients. Many researchers in the field perceive such specialization as evolutionarily irreversible."
The U-M findings also have human-health implications, said OConnor, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and a curator of insects and arachnids at the U-M Museum of Zoology.
"Our study is an example of how asking a purely academic question may result in broad practical applications," he said. "Knowing phylogenetic relationships of house dust mites may provide insights into allergenic properties of their immune-response-triggering proteins and the evolution of genes encoding allergens."
The project started in 2006 with a grant from the National Science Foundation. The first step was to obtain specimens of many free-living and parasitic mites-no simple task given that some mite species are associated with rare mammal or bird species around the world.
The research team relied on a network of 64 biologists in 19 countries to obtain specimens. In addition, Klimov and OConnor conducted field trips to North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. On one occasion, it took two years to obtain samples of an important species parasitizing African birds.
A total of around 700 mite species were collected for the study. For the genetic analysis, the same five nuclear genes were sequenced in each species.
How might the ecological shift from parasite to free-living state have occurred?
There is little doubt that early free-living dust mites were nest inhabitants-the nests of birds and mammals are the principal habitat of all modern free-living species in the family Pyroglyphidae.
Klimov and OConnor propose that a combination of several characteristics of their parasitic ancestors played an important role in allowing them to abandon permanent parasitism: tolerance of low humidity, development of powerful digestive enzymes that allowed them to feed on skin and keratinous (containing the protein keratin, which is found in human hair and fingernails) materials, and low host specificity with frequent shifts to unrelated hosts.
These features, which occur in almost all parasitic mites, were likely important precursors that enabled mite populations to thrive in host nests despite low humidity and scarce, low-quality food resources, according to Klimov and OConnor. For example, powerful enzymes allowed these mites to consume hard-to-digest feather and skin flakes composed of keratin.
With the advent of human civilization, nest-inhabiting pyroglyphids could have shifted to human dwellings from the nests of birds and rodents living in or around human homes. Once the mites moved indoors, the potent digestive enzymes and other immune-response-triggering molecules they carry made them a major source of human allergies.
University of Michigan
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
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| 3.037799 |
EARLY HISTORY OF LOGIC, SCIENCE AND MATH. Imagine holding history in your hands. Now you can. Digitally preserved and previously accessible only through libraries as Early English Books Online, this rare material is now available in single print editions. Thousands of books written between 1475 and 1700 can be delivered to your doorstep in individual volumes of high quality historical reproductions.
The "hard sciences" developed exponentially during the 16th and 17th centuries, both relying upon centuries of tradition and adding to the foundation of modern application, as is evidenced by this extensive collection. This is a rich collection of practical mathematics as applied to business, carpentry and geography as well as explorations of mathematical instruments and arithmetic; logic and logicians such as Aristotle and Socrates; and a number of scientific disciplines from natural history to physics. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ Logicae artis compendium In quo vniversiae artis synopsis, methodo ac forma ad scholarum vsum, qu m fieri potuit, accommodatissim breviter proponitur. Sanderson, Robert, 1587-1663. By Robert Sanderson. With a final errata leaf. , 230, 124, p. Oxonii : Excudebat Iosephus Barnesius, 1615. Madan, I, p. 104. / STC (2nd ed.) / 21701 Latin Reproduction of the original in the Queen's College (University of Oxford) Library ++++ This book represents an authentic reproduction of the text as printed by the original publisher. While we have attempted to accurately maintain the integrity of the original work, there are sometimes problems with the original work or the micro-film from which the books were digitized. This can result in errors in reproduction. Possible imperfections include missing and blurred pages, poor pictures, markings and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.
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This month, the Hubble Telescope celebrates twenty years in space. Why should we care? And does an orbiting telescope matter to those of us who aren't scientists?
Caroline Moore became the youngest person to discover a supernova on November 7, 2008 (at the age of 14). She explains why, yes, the Hubble matters.
And Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, shares discoveries that the Hubble has revealed about the universe, which will blow your mind.
Caroline's eleven facts about the Hubble, as well as a Nova-sponsored video profile on her own work, are below. To learn more about the Hubble, tune in to Nova's mini-series "Hunting the Edge of Space."
Caroline Moore's Eleven Facts Everyone Should Know About The Hubble Space Telescope:
The Hubble Space Telescope was named for the notable astronomer Edwin Hubble and was launched April 24, 1990.
Hubble has looked further into space than any other instrument: some 20 billion light years.
In 2003, Hubble looked at a small patch of space that you could cover with a match head at arms length and found 10,000 galaxies, where we once thought there was nothing.
Hubble observations have lead to over 7,000 scientific articles.
Every 97 minutes, Hubble completes an orbit and as it passes over your house, you can look up and see it as long as you don’t live in the city.
After Hubble was launched into orbit, they found it had a tiny flaw. It was just slightly the wrong shape by about 1/50th the thickness of a human hair.
Hubble has been repaired 4 times, by the Hubble repairman, John Grunsfeld.
Hubble can see 20 billion light years across the universe, but can’t see the flag on the moon.
Hubble weighs 24,500 lb. on Earth, but when in space, you can move it with your finger.
Hubble, over its lifetime, has cost $10 billion. Compare this to the cost of cigarettes in the U.S. for one year: $157.7 billion.
Hubble is not in danger of being demoted to a dwarf space telescope when the James Webb Telescope comes on line in 2014.
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Kindergarten English Games:
K (5-6 yrs)
Opposite Words is an interactive vocabulary lesson for kindergarteners. The lesson is designed to teach kids some common opposite words. Kids will learn to identify and recall opposite words through a simple matching exercise, in which they have to match the words to their opposites. Kids will enjoy playing this exciting word game. They will learn new words and their meanings as they build and expand their vocabulary through this game.
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Between 1990 and 2001, the number of people in sub-Saharan Africa living on less than $1 a day rose from 227 million to 313 million, and the poverty rate rose from 45 percent to 46 percent. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rate of undernourishment in the world, with one-third of the population below the minimum level of nourishment.
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are:
- Crippled by disease
- Exposed to drought-prone climates
- Located in areas not suitable for irrigation
- Tackling extreme isolation in mountains and landlocked regions
- Suffering from poor infrastructure
In 2000, the nations of the world committed to the Millennium Development Goals. These Goals were agreed to by every country in the world and set time-bound and measurable targets for halving extreme poverty by 2015. In 2005, at the World Summit leaders from all 191 UN member states recommitted to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, while leaders at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles agreed to double aid to Africa to $50 billion per year by 2010 (roughly $70 per African per year) and to cancel debts for the poorest countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa is at the greatest risk of not achieving the Goals and is struggling to progress on almost every dimension of poverty, including hunger, lack of education, and prevalent disease.
The Millennium Villages seek to end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor, village by village throughout Africa, in partnership with governments and other committed stakeholders, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty.
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Reinforce your understanding of the concepts in Patton and Thibodeau’s The Human Body in Health & Disease, 6th Edition! Corresponding to the chapters in the text, this study guide reviews essential medical terminology, concepts and processes related to the anatomy and physiology of the human body, and body function in health and disease. A variety of exercises make it easy to review and apply key concepts, and labeling of anatomy drawings helps you learn anatomical structures and terminology.
NEW!Know Your Medical Termsexercises help you learn and understand the various word parts used in medical terminology, as presented in the new Language of Science and Language of Medicine word lists in the textbook.
Matching and fill-in-the-blankexercises enhance your comprehension of chapter content.
Application questions develop your critical thinking skills and help you apply information to real-world scenarios.
UPDATED! Did You Know?
provides fun, interesting facts on A&P topics.
A briefsynopsis at the beginning of each chapter previews core concepts that will be covered.
Crossword Puzzle, Unscramble and Word Find activities help you learn new vocabulary terms and their proper spelling.
Diagrams and labeling exercises reinforce your understanding of where the structures of the body are located.
Answers to exercises are located in the back of the study guide, along with page-number references to the textbook.
By Linda Swisher, RN, EdD; Kevin T. Patton, PhD, Professor of Life Science, St. Charles Community College, Cottleville, MO, Professor of Anatomy & Physiology Instruction (adjunct), New York Chiropractic College, Seneca Falls, NY, Emeritus Assistant Professor of Physiology, Saint Louis University Medical School, St. Louis, MO and Gary A. Thibodeau, PhD, Chancellor Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Wisconsin, River Falls, River Falls, WI
Elsevier is a leading publisher of health science books and journals, helping to advance medicine by delivering superior education, reference information and decision support tools to doctors, nurses, health practitioners and students. With titles available across a variety of media—print, online and handheld, we are able to supply the information you need in the most convenient format.
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Parliament's imposition of taxes on the North American colonies led to organized opposition by the colonial legislatures. In 1773 Parliament passed a tea act giving the East India Company a monopoly on the tea sold in the colonies. In December of that year, residents of Boston, Massachusetts, tossed three shiploads of tea into the harbor rather than let it be landed. In the spring of 1774 Parliament retaliated and passed the Coercive Acts (known in the colonies as the Intolerable Acts). These acts included the Boston Port Act, which closed the port of Boson to all commerce effective June 1, 1774, until the tea was paid for and restitution made to royal officials. The Massachusetts Government Act altered the charter of Massachusetts to limit town meetings and to allow the king to appoint a military governor in place of the governor elected by the colony's assembly, called the General Court.
Word of the closing of the port of Boston reached Williamsburg when the General Assembly was in session in May 1774. Although many Virginians disapproved of the destruction of the tea, which was private property, they did not approve of closing the port. On May 23, several members of the House of Burgesses met in the Capitol and drew on seventeenth-century English precedents to draft a resolution calling on Virginians to observe a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer on June 1, in sympathy with the people of Boston. The House of Burgesses passed the resolution on May 24. Two days later the royal governor, John Murray, fourth earl of Dunmore, dissolved the General Assembly so that the members could take no further action, but on May 27 many of the former burgesses met and formed an association that pledged them to purchase no goods imported by the East India Company except saltpeter and spices. They advised the colony's committee of correspondence to transmit the resolution to the other colonies with the suggestion that the colonies appoint delegates to come together in a general congress. Unbeknownst to the Virginians, letters from Boston were on their way. On May 29, the Virginia Committee of Correspondence received a letter from the Boston Committee of Correspondence proposing to halt all trade with Great Britain. Twenty-five burgesses who were still in Williamsburg met on May 30 and agreed to summon a convention to meet on August 1, 1774, in Williamsburg to discuss the proposal. That convention would be the first Virginia Revolutionary Convention, at which representatives chose Virginia's delegates to the First Continental Congress.
1. How many men signed this resolution? Do you recognize any of their names?
2. Why do you suppose that the burgesses remaining in Williamsburg did not make a decision concerning the Boston committee's proposal?
3. During this time communication between the colonies was delivered by horse or on ships. Consequently, it was considerably slower than today's instant communications. How do you think this influenced the decisions that the colonists made?
On May 29, a letter from the Boston Committee of Correspondence arrived in Williamsburg. This letter, dated May 13, proposed ceasing all trade with Great Britain, both imports and exports. On May 30, the burgesses remaining in Williamsburg met to discuss the letter and determine what action they should take. If you had been a burgess what would you have proposed? Why do you think the Virginians chose the route they did?
Virginia Independence Bicentennial Commission. Revolutionary Virginia: the Road to Independence, a Documentary Record, Vol 1: Forming Thunderclouds and the First Convention 1763–1774. Compiled and edited by William J. Van Schreeven and Robert L. Scribner. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983.
Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789. Rev. ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
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Some individuals with disabilities require assistive technology (AT) in order to access computers. Hundreds of Windows AT third-party products are available, making it possible for almost anyone to use Windows® applications, regardless of their disabilities. The Microsoft® Windows® operating systems also provides a core set of basic accessibility features and AT applications, which can be deployed on all computers in a computer lab or classroom without additional cost. These applications provide students with basic accessibility features from any workstation, maximizing the inclusiveness of the learning environment.
It should be noted that the AT applications that are bundled with Windows provide only a minimum level of accessibility, not the full set of features that many users require for equal access to the operating system, educational programs, and other software applications. Therefore, many educational entities deploy the standard set of Windows AT on all workstations by default, but additionally 1) provide a small number of dedicated workstations that are equipped with commonly requested third party AT, and 2) are prepared to purchase and install additional AT as needed by specific students.
It should also be noted that the availability of AT does not itself guarantee accessibility. Software applications must be designed in a way that is compatible with AT and other accessibility features of the operating system. For information about purchasing software products that are accessible, see the AccessIT Knowledge Base article How can I tell whether a software application is accessible?
The following is a list of basic accessibility features that are included with Windows XP. Previous versions of Windows also included several of these same features.
Display and Readability:
These features are designed to increase the visibility of items on the screen.
- Font style, color, and size of items on the desktop—using the Display options, choose font color, size and style combinations.
- Icon size—make icons larger for visibility, or smaller for increased screen space.
- Screen resolution—change pixel count to enlarge objects on screen.
- High contrast schemes—select color combinations that are easier to see.
- Cursor width and blink rate—make the cursor easier to locate, or eliminate the distraction of its blinking.
- Microsoft Magnifier—enlarge portion of screen for better visibility.
Sounds and Speech:
These features are designed to make computer sounds easier to hear or distinguish - or, visual alternatives to sound. Speech-to-text options are also available.
- Sound Volume—turn computer sound up or down.
- Sound Schemes—associate computer sounds with particular system events.
- ShowSounds—display captions for speech and sounds.
- SoundSentry—display visual warnings for system sounds.
- Notification—Get sound or visual cues when accessibility features are turned on or off.
- Text-to-Speech—Hear window command options and text read aloud.
Keyboard and Mouse:
These features are designed to make the keyboard and mouse faster and easier to use.
- Double-Click Speed—choose how fast to click the mouse button to make a selection.
- ClickLock—highlight or drag without holding down the mouse button.
- Pointer Speed—set how fast the mouse pointer moves on screen.
- SnapTo—move the pointer to the default button in a dialog box.
- Cursor Blink Rate—choose how fast the cursor blinks—or, if it blinks at all.
- Pointer Trails—follow the pointer motion on screen.
- Hide Pointer While Typing—keep pointer from hiding text while typing.
- Show Location of Pointer—quickly reveal the pointer on screen.
- Reverse the function of the right and left mouse buttons—reverse actions controlled by the right and left mouse buttons.
- Pointer schemes—choose size and color options for better visibility.
- Character Repeat Rate—set how quickly a character repeats when a key is struck.
- Dvorak Keyboard Layout—choose alternative keyboard layouts for people who type with one hand or finger.
- StickyKeys—allow pressing one key at a time (rather than simultaneously) for key combinations.
- FilterKeys—ignore brief or repeated keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate.
- ToggleKeys—hear tones when pressing certain keys.
- MouseKeys—move the mouse pointer using the numerical keypad.
- Extra Keyboard Help—get ToolTips or other keyboard help in programs that provide it.
The Accessibility Wizard is designed to help new users quickly and easily set up groups of accessibility options that address visual, hearing and dexterity needs all in one place. The Accessibility Wizard asks questions about accessibility needs. Then, based on the answers, it configures utilities and settings for individual users. The Accessibility Wizard can be run again at any time to make changes, or changes can be made to individual settings through Control Panel.
Windows Accessibility Utilities:
- Magnifier—a display utility that makes the computer screen more readable by creating a separate window that displays a magnified portion of the screen.
- Narrator—a text-to-speech utility that reads what is displayed on the screen—the contents of the active window, menu options, or text that has been typed.
- On-Screen Keyboard—displays a virtual keyboard on the computer screen that allows people to type data by using a pointing device or joystick.
- Utility Manager—enables administrator-level users to check an accessibility program's status and start or stop an accessibility programs—automatically, if required.
- Speech Recognition—Vista and newer versions of the OS have built-in speech recognition
For more information about how to access these features and utilities in Windows products visit Microsoft's website Windows Accessibility Resources .
For a comparison of accessibility features across operating systems, see the AccessIT Knowledge Base article How does accessibility differ across operating systems?
- How can I tell whether a software application is accessible?
- Windows Accessibility Resources
- How does accessibility differ across operating systems?
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January 14, 1741
Birth of a Traitor
Benedict Arnold was born in Connecticut on January 14, 1741. He rose from captain to general during the Revolutionary War. After he death of his first wife, he married the daughter of a Loyalis sympathizer. Before long he was spying for the British and plotting to hand over West Point. His plans discovered, he managed to escape capture and began fighting openly for the British. After the British surrendered, Arnold and his family went to England.
Today, Benedict Arnold is synonymous with the word traitor.
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BOLDO Overview Information
Boldo is a tree that grows in the Andes mountains in South America. Interestingly, fossilized boldo leaves dating from over thirteen thousand years ago have been found in Chile. These fossils have imprints of human teeth, suggesting that boldo has a long history of dietary or medicinal use.
Boldo is used for mild gastrointestinal (GI) spasms, gallstones, achy joints (rheumatism), bladder infections, liver disease, and gonorrhea. It is also to increase urine flow to rid the body of excess fluids, reduce anxiety, increase bile flow, and kill bacteria.
How does it work?
Boldo contains chemicals that might increase urine output, fight bacterial growth in the urine, and stimulate the stomach.
- Achy joints (rheumatism).
- Bladder infections.
- Liver disease.
- Fluid retention.
- Constipation or flushing out of the bowels.
- Mild stomach or intestinal spasms.
- Other conditions.
BOLDO Side Effects & Safety
Boldo might be UNSAFE when used for medicinal purposes. Poisoning by ascaridole, a chemical that occurs naturally in boldo, has occurred in people taking boldo. Boldo might cause liver damage when taken by mouth. If you take boldo, use only ascaridole-free preparations. When applied to the skin, boldo can cause irritation.
Special Precautions & Warnings:Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Boldo might be UNSAFE when used orally in medicinal amounts. Ascaridole, a chemical in boldo, can damage the liver.
Bile duct blockage: Boldo seems to be able to increase the flow of bile, a fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Bile passes through small channels (ducts) in the intestine where it plays an important role in digesting fats. These ducts can become blocked. There is a concern that the extra bile flow caused by boldo might be harmful in people with blocked bile ducts.
Liver disease: There is some concern that boldo can damage the liver, especially in people who have liver disease. Don’t use boldo if you have liver problems.
Surgery: Boldo can slow blood clotting, so there is some concern that it might increase the chance of too much bleeding during and after surgery. Stop using boldo at least two weeks before a scheduled surgery.
Moderate Interaction Be cautious with this combination
- Lithium interacts with BOLDO
Boldo might have an effect like a water pill or "diuretic." Taking boldo might decrease how well the body gets rid of lithium. This could increase how much lithium is in the body and result in serious side effects. Talk with your healthcare provider before using this product if you are taking lithium. Your lithium dose might need to be changed.
- Medications that can harm the liver (Hepatotoxic drugs) interacts with BOLDO
Boldo might harm the liver. Taking boldo along with medication that might also harm the liver can increase the risk of liver damage. Do not take boldo if you are taking a medication that can harm the liver.
Some medications that can harm the liver include acetaminophen (Tylenol and others), amiodarone (Cordarone), carbamazepine (Tegretol), isoniazid (INH), methotrexate (Rheumatrex), methyldopa (Aldomet), fluconazole (Diflucan), itraconazole (Sporanox), erythromycin (Erythrocin, Ilosone, others), phenytoin (Dilantin), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), simvastatin (Zocor), and many others.
- Medications that slow blood clotting (Anticoagulant / Antiplatelet drugs) interacts with BOLDO
Boldo might slow blood clotting. Taking boldo along with medications that also slow clotting might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding.
Some medications that slow blood clotting include aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), diclofenac (Voltaren, Cataflam, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, others), naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn, others), dalteparin (Fragmin), enoxaparin (Lovenox), heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), and others.
- Warfarin (Coumadin) interacts with BOLDO
Warfarin (Coumadin) is used to slow blood clotting. Boldo might also slow blood clotting. Taking boldo along with warfarin (Coumadin) might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding. Be sure to have your blood checked regularly. The dose of your warfarin (Coumadin) might need to be changed.
The appropriate dose of boldo for use as treatment depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for boldo. Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.
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A new study by Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health reveals that the chemical compound in non-stick cookware may impact babies' weight. According to Fox News, researchers studied blood samples from 450 British women who were pregnant in 1991 and 1992, looking for the concentration of polyluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs). PFCs are a chemical that is commonly found in non-stick cookware items such as frying pans.
Study researchers claim that mothers who had high levels of this chemical in their blood during pregnancy had lower birth weight babies than other moms. Although the babies were smaller to start, at 20 months, these same babies were larger in size than their counterparts. While the study does not conclude why this happens, researchers did suggest that PFCs may impact how fat is metabolized by the body.
What does this mean for pregnant moms? Simply stated, it suggests that you might want to avoid using non-stick pans and other similar cookware during pregnancy. This chemical is also found in other items such as water-resistant clothes and some packaging products. While it might not be entirely possible to avoid PFCs, pregnant women can do their best to keep their exposure to a minimum.
It should be noted that the data collected during this study is 20 years old, meaning that the current levels of PFCs in products (or the environment) may not be the same. While PFCs are still in non-stick cookware, researchers believe that the modern push toward environmentalism and more stringent health standards could mean that the amount of this chemical in the general environment is lower. In turn, a lower general environmental level of PFCs may mean that the overall concentration of this chemical would be lower in a pregnant mom's blood than that found 20 years ago.
Given the latest weight statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), stating that 17 percent of U.S. kids between two and 19 years old are considered obese, it doesn't hurt to give your little one the best start possible. If some scientists believe that using non-stick cookware may lead to bigger babies, then avoiding the connected chemical may just be the right way to go.
Does this research change the way that you cook? Would you plan on giving up your favorite non-stick items during pregnancy to keep your child's weight down? Tell us below in the comments section!
Photo credit: Morguefile
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How do people know how old a star is?
Wow, this is a popular question! Scientists have learned a lot about stars, especially the stages in their lives. Since a single star can live for billions of years, scientists study several stars at different stages of their lives.
Certain characteristics of stars are related to each other. The luminosity, temperature, magnitude, spectral class and mass are all related. For example, larger stars are cooler, red in color and are very luminous. All these characteristics are important in determining the age of a star, but scientists found that the composition of a star is the most important.
The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram is a very famous diagram that shows how these characteristics of stars are related. Stars are divided into different categories depending on their temperature, size, etc. Most stars are either, main sequence, or giants. Scientists realized that the compositions of stars were related to the diagram. Stars spend most of their lives as a main sequence star. During this time they burn hydrogen in their core.
When a star burns hydrogen it creates helium. At some point the star uses up all the hydrogen, and starts to burn helium. The star expands and cools while burning the helium. During this stage a star is called a giant.
So why tell you all of this? Well, scientists discovered this is a very easy way to compare stars. It is also a great way to tell the age of a star. Scientists can look at the spectra of a star and tell its temperature, which is related to the size, etc. In turn, this information reveals how much hydrogen or helium is left inside the star. We know the rate at which stars burn the gases. Scientists can now tell how old the star is depending on its composition!
Submitted by Dana, Kelly, Michael, Kelli, Tommy, Nick, Randall, (ages 11 &12, North Carolina)
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October 3, 2011 | A team that includes NCAR scientists Anne Boynard and Alex Guenther has found that the rate at which plant canopies emit isoprene, a volatile organic compound, is influenced by circadian rhythms. The discovery has the potential to lead to more accurate predictions of ground-level ozone, which is harmful to human health.
For the study, the researchers made measurements of isoprene in Malaysia above both tropical rain forest and oil palm plantations. They observed for the first time ever a circadian (24-hour) rhythm operating in concert across the entire tree canopy, especially in the palm plantation.
The finding changes how scientists estimate isoprene emissions from plants, as both the palm plantations and rain forest emit less isoprene than shown by computer models of emissions. This has implications for ground-level ozone, which forms when volatile organic compounds such as isoprene react with nitrogen oxides from automobiles and industry.
The researchers incorporated the circadian pattern into the NCAR Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature (MEGAN) model to estimate isoprene emissions for input to ozone models. They then compared simulated ground-level ozone to observed ozone measurements from 290 monitoring sites in the United States. They found that model accuracy was significantly improved. Accounting for circadian impacts on isoprene emissions could especially improve ozone predictions in isoprene-sensitive regions of the world, which include the United States, Mediterranean, Middle East, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia.
The research was published in Nature Geoscience in September.
C. N. Hewitt, K. Ashworth, A. Boynard, A. Guenther, B. Langford, A. R. MacKenzie, P. K. Misztal, E. Nemitz, S. M. Owen, M. Possell, T. A. M. Pugh, A. C. Ryan, O. Wild, “Ground-level ozone influenced by circadian control of isoprene emissions,” Nature Geoscience, 2011; DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1271
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Readers may remember the footprints found in Mexico that have been dated to about 40,000 years BP. Geotimes has an interesting story on the subject:
In summer 2003, researchers Matthew Bennett of Bournemouth University and Silvia Gonzalez and David Huddart of Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom were dating and mapping the geology of the Valsequillo Basin in Mexico, about 130 kilometers south of Mexico City, when they came across what appeared to be footprints on the floor of an abandoned quarry. Examining the site further, they found the site littered with footprints, Bennett says — 269 individual prints of humans and animals intermingled.
Sixty percent of the footprints appear to be human, with telltale arches and impressions of the heels, balls and toes, and 36 percent of those appear to be child-sized, according to the researchers, whose work is in press in Quaternary Science Reviews. The remaining 40 percent of the prints were from a variety of animals, Bennett says, including dogs, big cats and animals with cloven hooves, such as deer and camels. The researchers also found mastodon and mammoth teeth.
Previously, in the 1960s and 1970s, archaeologists found megafaunal remains, including bones that had been “worked” with tools, scattered throughout the basin. Those remains had been unreliably dated to be between 20,000 and 40,000 years old, Bennett says, so the sites have been somewhat ignored since then.
The footprints are preserved in a layer of volcanic ash from the eruption of Cerro Toluquilla beneath a shallow lake in the Valsequillo Basin just over 40,000 years ago. “Volcanic ash lithifies quickly, like cement,” Bennett says, so when the inhabitants of the lake shores wandered across the mucky ash, their footprints were captured. When lake levels later rose, water washed over the footprints, burying them in lake sediments, he says. “So we have this great stratigraphic sequence” of lake sediments, topped by ash, which is then topped again by lake sediments, Bennett says, that can be dated.
The dissenting opinion:
But Michael Waters, a geoarchaeologist at Texas A&M University in College Station, is not convinced. He says that the ash layer is likely much older than 40,000 years, and should be retested using different methods. Furthermore, says Waters, who has visited the site, “I have serious reservations as to whether or not these are even footprints, human or animal.” The site has been so extensively quarried over the years, being chopped with axes and picks, that these imprints could just be tool marks that have weathered.
The team, Waters says, needs to find tracks in outcrops or areas that have not been quarried — “look for them like you would look for dinosaur or other trackways.” Bennett says that he and his colleagues are planning to begin just such excavations soon.
Even more interesting, there is a link to the Mexican Footprints Website Which contains a wide variety of information on the geology, dating methods, etc. Based on what I saw at the site I am a little less skeptical – although I still have some reservations.
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When I read the Pocohontas story to my kids (we have the Disney version), we usually have a little discussion when we get to the page where Pocohontas attempts to dissuade her father (the local Indian chief) from starting a war with the settlers. The kids are interested in the idea that both people are trying to do the right thing, but they have completely different ideas about what the right thing is.
For those of you not familiar with the story, Pocohontas has fallen in love with a mercenary on the voyage (John Smith), and the two of them want to establish peace between the settlers and the natives. The book suggests that peace involves the settlers staying in North America. Powhatan, her father, is assembling a war party to drive the settlers away.
We can look back in history to better understand who was "right".
- As the book makes clear, a war between the settlers and the Indians is going to lead to many Indian casualties, since the settlers have guns and the Indians do not. Furthermore, most of the settlers are not intending to do harm to the Indians, as they've been told they are settling land that has no ownership yet. Pocohontas' efforts end up saving many well-intentioned people's lives.
- These same settlers would probably understand that, had they landed anywhere in England and built a village where they landed, they would be summarily evicted by whomever owned the land they were on. The racism here is lightly touched on in the book, but it's helpful because it's pretty easy for the kids to see how convenient it is for the settlers to suppose that nobody in North America owns anything yet.
- I usually tell the kids what little I know of the Mauri, the indigenous people of New Zealand. As I understand it, they immediately made war with white folks who arrived. I suspect that the Mauri were territorial in a way that worked better with the White conception of property, and because of that Mauri today have a significant representation in the New Zealand constitution and legislature, and own very large amounts of New Zealand's real estate. I expect many Native Americans would prefer the Mauri outcome to their own.
- The Na'vi are territorial. They have a few specific high-value trees. My understanding is that most of the North American natives had a much less specific sense of property.
- The movie has the natives resisting under human leadership, which is interesting to think about. It seems a bit condescending (especially the bit where the human, after 3 months of training, is outperforming the best of the natives), but historically North American natives really did not grasp the nature of the European threat fast enough to organize a massive resistance in time, and it seems at least possible that a charismatic European might have communicated the continent-level consequences of the European idea of property to enough of them to organize a resistance.
I once asked a friend who is a lawyer if all property rights, at least in North America, trace back to peace treaties of some kind, or if some (particular the French claim to the center of the continent that was then sold as the Louisiana Purchase) are based on bald assertions of authority without even a war. I never did get a decent answer.
If, in reading this post, anyone is wondering if I'm willing to cede my house to a Native American, the answer is no.
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Two-spotted spider mites can be rusty green,greenish amber or yellow and they have eight legs. Overwintering females are red or orange. These mites have two (sometimes four) black spots on top. They are very small,but still visible. The best way to see them is with a small magnifying glass. The eggs vary from transparent and colorless to opaque straw yellow.
If spider mites infest your roses,you will begin to notice a dull appearance to the leaves. The undersides will feel “sandy”or rough. Fine webbing will appear on the undersides of leaves and in leaf axils. Leaves will begin to lose their color and become dry and lifeless. The leaves soon die and dry up.
BIOLOGY Two-spotted spider mites are widely distributed in the United States and feed on over 180 host plants,including roses. Once a plant is infested,the mites spread onto nearby crops and ornamentals. Two-spotted spider mites pierce the epidermis of the host plant leaf with their sharp,slender mouthparts. When they extract the sap,the tissue of the leaf collapses in the area of the puncture. Soon a spot without green color forms at each feeding site. After a heavy attack,an entire plant may become yellowed,bronzed or killed completely. The mites may spin so much webbing over the plant that it becomes entirely covered.
Though insects and mites are in a group called the Arthropoda (meaning jointed foot),because jointed legs are common to both,spider mites are not actually insects. Being more closely related to spiders,they derive their name from the thin web that some species spin.
Two-spotted spider mites overwinter as adults in the soil or on hosts such as violets and hollyhocks. In mild winter weather,two-spotted spider mites continue to feed and lay eggs,although development in the winter is much slower than in the summer. In warm weather,six-legged larvae hatch from the eggs. They develop into eight-legged nymphs,which pass through two nymphal stages. After each larval and nymphal stage,there is a resting stage. The adults mate soon after emerging from the last resting stage,and in warm weather the females soon lay eggs. Each female may lay over 100 eggs in her life and up to 19 eggs per day. Development is most rapid during hot,dry weather. A single generation may require as many as 20 or as few as 5 days to reach adulthood and begin producing offspring.
CONTROL Control of spider mites depends heavily upon an understanding of the biology of the mites. The mites are usually found on the underside of leaves. Thorough application of a miticide to the underside of the plant foliage is essential for good control. An alternative to chemical controls is a strong water spray applied to the undersides of the leaves every three days during hot weather. Miticide applications may be needed 7 to 10 days apart to kill mites that were in the egg and resting stages during the first application. In hot weather,an eye should be kept on the plants to check for reinfestation or for the offspring of mites missed on the first application.
If you choose to use a miticide,read the label carefully and apply as directed. Mites easily become resistant,so NEVER dilute the miticide —this will only ensure that future generations of mites can resist the miticides you use.
Some commonly used miticides are:
(The use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products does not imply endorsement by the American Rose Society,nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage and examine a current product label before applying any chemical.
To download the pdf version of this article click here.
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Agricultural extension, which refers to activities relating to the dissemination of agricultural information and technical guidance on farming, has had its golden and gloomy eras in Indonesian history.
Agricultural extension practices move forward in line with dynamic social, political and economic development processes. At the time when agricultural development was a top national priority, agricultural extension was dynamically improved. On the contrary, when agricultural development has been a low priority, agricultural extension remained gloomy and stagnant.
Regardless of the controversial impacts of the green revolution on socioeconomic and environmental resources, the historical fact is that the golden era of agricultural extension in Indonesia was the green revolution program. Agricultural extension has played pivotal role in increasing production of rice, Indonesia’s staple food crop.
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December 7, 1941--A Day that Lives in Infamy
To past generation, December 7, 1941, is a day that will live in infamy, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt told radio audiences. More than 2400 Americans were killed that day.
The attack on Pearl Harbor (called Hawaii Operation by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters) was, of course, a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan).
The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.
The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. Of these eight damaged, two were raised, and with four repaired, six battleships returned to service later in the war.
The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.
The attack led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day (December 8), the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been strong, disappeared. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Germany and Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy."
On December 8, 1941 (the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor), Alan Lomax, then "assistant in charge" of the Archive of American Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture, American Folklife Center), sent a telegram to fieldworkers in ten different localities across the United States, asking them to collect "man-on-the-street" reactions of ordinary Americans to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the United States.
The result, the Library of Congress' After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor presents approximately twelve hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of Pearl Harbor from more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the United States.
A second series of interviews, called "Dear Mr. President," was recorded in January and February 1942. Both collections are included in this presentation. They feature a wide diversity of opinion concerning the war and other social and political issues of the day, such as racial prejudice and labor disputes. The result is a portrait of everyday life in America as the United States entered World War II.
This online presentation of After the Day of Infamy: "Man-on-the-Street" Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor also includes an essay on preseving the recordings, "Making and Maintaining the Original Recordings," as well as biographies of the fieldworkers who conducted and arranged the interviews, complete transcripts of the interviews, related manuscripts and original disc sleeves. The presentation was made possible with the support of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the New Deal Network.
In addition, the Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center is an oral history program that collects first-person accounts of military service in World War I, World War II, the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. VHP also collects stories of civilians who supported their efforts, including men and women who worked in defense-related industries, and as USO entertainers and Red Cross workers.
VHP relies on volunteers, both individuals and organizations, throughout the nation to contribute veterans’ stories to VHP. In addition to audio- and video-recorded interviews, VHP accepts memoirs, collections of original photographs and letters, diaries, maps, and other historical documents from World War I through current conflicts.
The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000. In April 2007, the Library of Congress and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) announced a joint community engagement initiative in conjunction with the broadcast of Ken Burns’ film, The War, which reiterated the Library of Congress’ message to the American people to help build the historic record by interviewing a veteran in your family or community.
A participant in the project may be a veteran, an interviewer, or person donating a veteran’s collection). Students in the 10th grade and above may also participate and there are special resources for educators and students.
The Veterans History Project is ongoing, and there is no deadline.
To participate, visit this website: http://www.loc.gov/vets/
“THE WAR/Veterans History Project Field Guide to Conducting and Preserving Interviews” (PDF)
Includes information on how to send your collection to Veterans History Project, including a list of what VHP can and cannot accept and the necessary forms for submitting content. Also included are tips on conducting an interview and doing research at the National Archives.
National WWII Memorial Registry of Remembrance is “an individual listing of Americans who contributed to the war effort.” It is maintained by the American Battle Monument Commission as a part of the National World War II Memorial located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
1. Article illustration:
The U.S. Navy battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) beached and burning at 0925 hrs on 7 December 1941 after being hit forward by Japanese bombs and torpedoes.
2. Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. Damage to the forecastle deck of USS Nevada (BB-36), caused by the explosion of a Japanese bomb below decks.
3. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, (Dec. 7, 2002) -- Pearl Harbor attack survivor Manual H. Magdaleno arrives at the USS Arizona Memorial to attend the Annual Dec. 7th Commemoration Ceremony.
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Animal Species:Killer Whale
The Killer Whale, Orcinus orca, is the largest member of the dolphin family.
The Killer Whale is a strikingly marked animal characterised by a body pattern of dramatically contrasting areas of intense black and white. The rounded head, indistinct beak, large pointed teeth and prominent upright dorsal fin complete what is considered one of the oceans most impressive mammals.
9 m, 5 tonnes
The Killer Whale is found in all oceans and seas of the world usually in family groups. They occur in most habitat types from coastal areas to the deep ocean waters, from the tropics to polar regions.
Feeding and Diet
These animals are serious meat eaters and one of the most efficient large predators of the ocean. A cooperative hunter, they often work in packs, and will take a broad range of vertebrates including whales, seals, penguins, fish, sea otters, and turtles. Killer Whales have marked territorial behaviour and home ranges. Their prey is determined by what is available in their home ange but they also seek out areas of seasonal abundance such as seal pupping sites.
Killer Whales are a highly social species whose group size and composition is based on the dominance of a female line. The gestation period is thought to be about 15 months after which a single young is born. Group cooperation extends to care of the young, which will continue to suckle from the mother for an extended period of up to two years. The breeding season is variable, as is the interval between births. This latter period can be as little as three years or as long as eight.
The Killer Whale has never been the target of serious commercial hunting so the species worldwide is secure. There is some concern about depletion of individual populations and disruption to social structure from captures for the oceanarium trade and limited hunting in some parts of Asia, Northern Europe and the West Indies.
- Baker, A. N. 1999. Whales and Dolphins of Australia and New Zealand: an identification guide. Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, Australia.
- Bryden, M., Marsh, H. and Shaughnessy, P. 1998. Dugongs, Whales, Dolphins and Seals. A guide to the sea mammals of Australasia. Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, Australia.
- Menkhorst, P. 2001. A Field Guide to Mammals of Australia. Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia.
- Reeves, R. R., Stewart, B. S., Clapham, P. J. and Powell, J. A. 2002. National Audubon Society Guide to Marine Mammals of the World. Chanticleer Press, Inc New York, USA.
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Latiné loqui disce sine molestiá!
Learn to speak Latin with ease! ¡Aprende a hablar latín sin esfuerzo!
Apprenez à parler latin sans peine! Impara a parlare latino senza sforzo! Lernen Sie latein zu sprechen ohne Mühe!
you will need to have the following font installed on your system:
Maybe this font can be downloaded for free from the Internet.
The alphabet used by the Romans of the classical period consisted of the following letters:
A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X Y Z
It is basically the same alphabet as is still used today by a majority of languages in the world. The ancient Romans already observed a functional difference between the standard I and a more elongated alternative, which would later became J, but didnt conceive of a meaningful distinction between V and U, as was later established, nor did they use other variants like Ç, Ñ or W.
The Romans of the classical period had several styles to write the above letters, greatly depending on the materials used to write. As is true for most scripts, nevertheless, these styles can be grouped into two distinct ones.
There is a formal one, that we now call capitális, that was used on monuments, legal documents, public announcements, books for sale, jewelery, and in general whenever the text was meant to endure and might even have some sort of ornamental value. We can see it below used on stone, bronze, plastered walls, papyrus or, later on, parchment, and on many other surfaces and objects.
There was a second style, the informal one, that we now call cursíva, that was used for everyday transactions with no ornamental value. This is less well known to most people, because of the precarious nature of the materials on which it was used and the lesser artistic value of the objects where we find it; but it was in fact the main style most Romans would have used in their practical lives. We can see it below on waxen or wooden tablets, wall graffiti or bone, and was used on many similar surfaces.
In time there developed a third style, the unciális, which is just a smaller version of the capitális with some strong influence of the cursíva.
The shapes of the letters of the capitális style are practically identical with our present capitals, whereas the cursíva may have influenced the evolution of the former into the unciális, a smaller version which is in turn the predecessor of our lower case characters; but it is important to understand that, in Roman times, the difference between the capitális and the cursíva, or even the later unciális, was not at all comparable to the difference we now make between capitals and lower case when we use capitals at the beginning of some words, or for titles, in texts otherwise written in lower case.
They were just different styles to write the same single case of letters, and were equivalent rather to the duality that exists between our printing and our handwritten letters. They would of course not have been mixed in any one piece of writing, as we would not type some letters and write others by hand within the same text, let alone the same word.
Just like the Arabs or the Japanese, therefore, in spite of a variety of writing styles, the Romans didnt either have an equivalent to our meaningful alternation between capitals and lower case within the same piece of writing in any of them, nor did they write any differently the first letter of a sentence or proper name and the rest.
The Romans, in order to save space, given the high cost of most of the materials they wrote on, used the so called ligátúræ, i.e. groupings of letters written as a cluster by sharing a common stroke. There were many of them: AE could be found as Æ, and similarly AN, TR, VM and many others could appear fused together in groups of two, three and even more letters.
The Romans had only two diacritics, and they didnt use any of the two with any regularity.
The Romans would often write without even separating the words with spaces, as we have seen above in several instances. Moreover, they certainly never distinguished sentences or phrases using commas, semicolons, colons or stops, neither did they know of question or exclamation marks, brackets, inverted commas or any other diacritic we are used to. In fact, the only sign they used, and only in the more elegant writings, like monumental ones, was a dot they used not as final stop, but to separate single words. We have also seen this on the inscriptions above. This dot could sometimes take more sophisticated shapes, as a little ivy leaf, for instance, as below.
The Romans of the most sophisticated period of classical culture used, as much in monumental writing as in more domestic texts, a sign called apex, identical to what we nowadays know as acute accent ( ´ ). This sign, nevertheless, was not used to indicate the accent or stress in the word as in a minute number of modern vernaculars, but to mark long vowels (see the file on pronunciation), as is still done today in languages like Icelandic, Hungarian, Czech and many others.
Latin spelling nowadays
It is obvious that the writing practices of the Romans of the classical period were rather primitive in comparison with present ones. Some people believe for that reason that our spelling habits are vernacular, and therefore somehow spurious and artificially imposed on Latin subsequently. They forget that most of our spelling customs are the natural development of Roman practices and were organically furthered throughout history by people who spoke and wrote in Latin, in order to achieve greater clarity and distinction when reading and writing Latin itself, not the vernacular languages; and these usages passed on from Latin to the vernaculars, and not the other way around.
The ancient difference in shape between a shorter and a more elongated I (i/j), the latter of which, already in antiquity, was frequently used in the cursiva in word-initial position, often corresponding to the consonantal sound, as can be seen in the illustrations above, was formalised in later periods for this useful function specifically, thus allowing for complete transparency as regards the difference in pronunciation between the first sound in janua and in iambus, or in meaning between forms like perjerat and perierat. The previously meaningless difference between the pointed V of the capitalis and the rounded u of some forms of cursiva or of the uncialis was equally put to the service of a more transparent spelling. It was thus finally possible duly to distinguish vowels from consonants. Other variants that could be allocated no distinctive phonetic value, like a taller or shorter T or a more or less stretched S, were either kept for merely aesthetic purposes or eventually dropped as functionally improductive. Some ligatures like æ or were likewise preserved to help distinguish the corresponding diphthongs from the hiatuses ae and oe, whereas many others were abandoned. The separation of words by means of spaces was found to be such a useful device that few contemporaries would be able to read without it; and the rich variety of signs of punctuation introduced also in later stages of the history of Latin helped reading with the necessary pauses, and allowed us to distinguish the component parts of sentences, or to determine beyond doubt whether we are confronted with a statement, an exclamation or a question. Finally, the distinction between capitals and lower case brought in not only a certain elegance, but also some further clarity to grammar (highlighting proper names) and to discourse structure (marking the beginnings of sentences).
There has most unfortunately arisen, nevertheless, and for all the wrong reasons, a fashion of spelling fundamentalism that, abandoning a more than reasonable tradition of centuries of Latin writing, purports to go back to the writing usages of the ancient Romans. This is as absurd as wanting to give up the use of paper or the modern book, and claiming that something is not classical Latin unless its written on papyrus rolls. It should be obvious to anyone that we can be completely respectful of ancient culture and cultivate the purest form of classical Latinity while using more developed methods of writing than our ancestors had at their disposal and which are moreover the result of centuries of Latin tradition. Of course, since fundamentalists rarely guide themselves by reason, the return to the old usages doesnt follow any further criteria than their own arbitrary whim, and they sometimes are purists and sometimes not, as they please. Thus, some have set about eliminating the distinction between i and j as non-Roman, but they are only too happy against all logic to keep that between v and u. Others consider that the use of capitals should be eliminated, and they do use lower case letters at the beginning of sentences, but they then arbitrarily keep capitals for proper names or even adjectives. Of course, none of those purists has dared to admit the fact that a return to ancient usage would imply writing everything rather in capitals than in lower case, and that they would in fact have to stop using any punctuation at all.
The saddest aspect of the modern spelling mess is that it has nothing to do with Latin. It originates in attempts at spelling reforms that seemed to make perfect sense in a vernacular like Italian, but which some people felt the need to force also upon Latin, with deplorable consequences. While most European languages, including Latin, felt very comfortable with the century-old usage of i and j, and v and u, as all those letters represented clearly different sounds or appeared in clearly different syllabic contexts, in Italian the use of i and j had become so complicated by conflicting and arbitrary uses without too much relation with any phonetic reality that people struggled to determine when a word had to be written with i and when with j. Italian being a language with otherwise very straightforward spelling principles, a pressure arose therefore to drop the use of j. Now, this absolutely sensible measure for Italian was unnecessarily applied also to Latin by people who were persuaded that Latin must be spelt as modern Italian. Obviously, they could never have convinced the international Latin using community on such grounds, so they started to contrive specious justifications: that the sound of the vowel and the semivowel were similar enough (even though it is exactly the same difference that i and j have in German and many other languages that have never considered dropping the spelling distinction), that it brought Latin spelling closer to ancient practices (although, as we have explained, the distinction between i and j has in fact a much more ancient history than that of u and v), etc. Of course, they never mentioned that every single one of those reasons applies with exactly equal force to the Latin pair i/j (where [i] differs from [j]) and to the pair u/v (where [u] differs from either [w] or [v], however we care to pronounce it), which the Italians had no intention to simplify because in Italian it made sense to continue to use both letters in the latter case. As the international community began to drop the use of j in a quest for ancient purity, it became more and more obvious to everyone who hadnt given up the human capacity to reason, that it made absolutely no sense in Latin to drop the j without dropping also the v; so, having genuinely assimilated the specious excuses of the Italians to bring Latin spelling closer to Roman times, the best philologists around the world felt it absolutely necessary to do without v too, and many critical editions of classical texts are now published that way. We have thus a traditional i/j/u/v system, which was foolishly undermined and turned into just i/u/v in accordance with some vernacular spelling reforms, but in a move that has now inevitably but most unfortunately backfired (certainly against the expectations of those who promoted the use of i/u/v) into an ugly i/u system as the only reasonably acceptable outcome. Not only that, following the same perverse train of thought, many now feel the need also to drop the use of capitals in Latin texts. Where this absurd nonsense will take Latin spelling is difficult to foresee, but we cannot but lament that the narrow-minded whim of a nation with the most arrogant attitude towards the language of our common civilisation has managed to bring absolute chaos to an elegant, sensible, and century-long Latin spelling tradition.
We consider that our spelling usages were developed through millennia according to criteria of utility and clarity, which it is as absurd as it is unnecessary to renounce. Even if some certainly rude spirits could consider giving up aesthetic developments like the distinction between capitals and lower case, it seems absolutely preposterous to eliminate usages that reflect better the pronunciation of the language and help reading.
Indeed, we should avoid as non-transparent spelling those practices which, with the specious excuse of being truer to ancient practices or following vernacular considerations, disregard centuries of legitimate Latin spelling tradition and prefer to hinder learning of the Latin language by failing to represent transparently its different sounds. Using one and the same letter i to represent both the vowel [i] and the consonant [j] may be true to the most ancient practices, but it is as unfortunately as unnecessarily non-transparent because it doesn't allow to distinguish which is which in words like "iam" (where the i represents a semivowel, pronounced as English y in yes) and "iambus" (where the i represents a vowel, pronounced as English i in it), etc. Non-transparent spelling makes that more and more people nowadays fail to learn the language properly as they are preposterously kept in the dark about the sounds the words they read and write actually contain (we've heard many a professor, let alone students, pronounce "iam" rhyming with Ian and "iambus" starting as yummy). Using i for the vowel and j for the semivowel is conversely a much more transparent spelling, which is justified by centuries of Latin spelling tradition and which allows us to see immediately which is which by writing "jam" but "iambus", etc. Equally using the same ae combination both for the diphthong in "aereus" (where the ae represent a diphthong, pronounced in one syllable, rather like English eye) and the hiatus in "aerius" (where the ae represent an hiatus, pronounced in two syllables, rather like English a in father followed by the e in error), etc. is sadly non-transparent (and leads to error just as many). Using æ for the diphthong and ae of the hiatus, or at least ae for the diphthong but aë for the hiatus, is a much more transparent spelling and it allows us to see immediately which is which by writing "æreus" but "aerius" (or "aereus" but "aërius"), etc.
As inconsistent spelling we must avoid spelling practices that choose to be transparent in some cases but not in others with no legitimate phonetic or historical reason to do so in one case and not in the other whatsoever, as when some people choose to distinguish the vowel [u] from the semivowel [w] by writing the former as u and the latter as v, which is a nicely transparent practice, rather than spelling both as u, which would be non-transparent, and they don't care in this case not to be true to ancient practices; but then, with no phonetic or historical reason to do so, they choose not to to distinguish the vowel [i] from the semivowel [j] by writing the former as i and the latter as j, which would be nicely transparent practice, rather than spelling both as i, which is non-transparent. Equally choosing to distinguish the diphthong æ from the hiatus ae in a usefully transparent way, rather than writing both as ae, but at the same time not distinguishing the diphthong from the hiatus oe and writing both non-transparently as oe, would be also inconsistent.
Finally, indicating the length of the vowels in writing was something that the ancient Romans didn't need to do because they just knew which was which, either because they were native speakers or because they could learn to pronounce the words by listening to native speakers. The use of the apex in ancient inscriptions or manuscripts is therefore quite haphazard. For us, on the other hand, using a more thorough form of spelling, consistently marking all long vowels, is much more poignantly required if we aspire ever to learn to pronounce the words correctly. There was one case, nevertheless, when even ancient native speakers advocated that the use of the apex is actually necessary (cf. Quint. Inst. 1,7,2s), and that is when when a difference of length in a vowel can produce a different meaning in a word, as in "malus" and "málus" or "liber" and "líber" or "rosa" and "rosá" or "loqueris" and "loquéris". We must certainly never omit such necessary apices.
It is absolutely unnecesary to give up our spelling lore, on any grounds; and we advocate the full reinstatement of our century-long, sensible spelling tradition, in the interests of transparency, consistency, and thoroughness.
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James Ford Rhodes (18481927). History of the Civil War, 18611865 1917.
an unfriendly attitude toward the recruitment of the army, for political prisoners, for persons suspected of any disloyal practice, the privilege did not exist. It was suspended for one year, ten months and twenty-one days by Executive assumption and for the rest of the period by the authorization of Congress.
The provocation for the use of arbitrary power was, all things considered, about equal in the Confederacy and the Union. In the Union the disloyal secret societies were larger and more dangerous, and the public criticism of the administration more copious and bitter. There was, too, the organized political party which made a focus for the opposition and developed Vallandigham, who had no counterpart at the South. But these considerations are balanced by the circumstance that in the South was the seat of war which was never but for brief periods moved north of Mason and Dixons line and the Ohio river. Civil administration is everywhere relaxed, wrote Judge Campbell as early as October, 1862, and has lost much of its energy, and our entire Confederacy is like a city in a state of siege, cut off from all intercourse with foreign nations and invaded by a superior force at every assailable point. Where armies stand in opposition disloyalty may give the enemy aid and comfort so substantial as to decide an impending battle; far from the front it is apt to spend itself in bluster, threats and secret midnight oaths. In the Confederacy there was practically no important place east of the Mississippi river which was not at one time or another invaded or threatened by the invader. The courts, it is true, were open in the South, but, owing to the disorganized state of society, the interruption of trade and the passage of stay laws by the States, they tried few commercial cases but confined themselves to criminal jurisdiction
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Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798)
These resolutions argued that the federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated to it in the Constitution. They were passed by the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 and were authored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, respectively.
In an analysis of the principle of federalism, the resolutions made the case that the states had the power to nullify unconstitutional federal laws. The Kentucky Resolution declared in part, “[T]he several states who formed that instrument [the Constitution], being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction; and that a nullification, by those [states], of all unauthorized acts….is the rightful remedy.”
The Virginia Resolution said that by enacting the Alien and Sedition Acts, Congress was exercising “a power not delegated by the constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right.”
The ideas in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions became a precursor to John C. Calhoun’s arguments about the power of states to nullify federal laws. However, during the 1830s nullification controversy, Madison rejected the legitimacy of nullification, and maintained that it was not part of the Virginia position in 1798.
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For many Americans and almost all New Yorkers, one of the staples of Thanksgiving Day is waking up at a semi-reasonable hour to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an annual event wherein people gather to march down the streets of New York City from Central Park West to Herald Square accompanied by massive balloons, elaborately decorated floats, and the deafening sounds of holiday camaraderie. Started by immigrants in the 1920s who wanted to celebrate their newfound American heritage and emulate the festive gatherings of their ancestors in Europe, the parade has become an annual tradition, complete with a live television broadcast, musical acts, performances by Broadway players, and millions of New Yorkers and out-of-towners celebrating the season.
The history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a long and storied one, and numerous changes have been implemented since its inception almost a century ago. Did you know that it was originally called the Macy’s Christmas Parade and is just one of many Thanksgiving Day parades that take place around the country? Or how about that live animals were used for the first few years before the balloons were introduced? The parade would continue to grow and develop over the years until its current incarnation. Despite these many, many changes, every year since the first parade jolly old Saint Nick awaits at the end, presumably to usher in another season of mass consumerism.
Take a look at the infographic below to learn a number of interesting, bizarre, and downright hilarious facts about this time honored Thanksgiving Day tradition.
Click to Enlarge
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Ta-Da! Look at that wonderful floor puzzle your child JUST completed!! It’s big, and beautiful, and…finished?
Not necessarily! Floor puzzles are a wonderful educational activity on their own, but did you know there are some additional ways you can use these large projects to sneak-in some extra learning? Here are three tips for each level of floor puzzle: Beginner, Intermediate (24-50 piece) and Advanced (100 piece).
These puzzles typically have fewer, and larger, puzzle pieces – which is great for younger puzzlers. After your child is finished, work together to:
- Identify and name all the colors used in the puzzle
- Count how many objects (animals, symbols, people) are in the puzzle
- Group similar objects together (animals, people, big things, little things)
Intermediate Floor Puzzles
Puzzles with up to 50 pieces can be a wonderful accomplishment for your child. But, once complete, there are many ways you can encourage further learning. Try:
- Seeking patterns in the puzzle: Are there objects or colors that repeat?
- Creating a story about the puzzle: Use storytelling paper to write down what’s happening in the puzzle. (For example, for the Solar System puzzle below, write a story about what it would be like to visit each planet!)
- Identify and compare sizes of objects in the puzzle: What is the biggest? What is the smallest?
Advanced Floor Puzzles
Massive puzzles are so much fun to accomplish, and after you’ve spent all that time putting it together, it would be a shame to take it apart! Here are ways to keep enjoying your 100 piece floor puzzle.
- Measure the puzzle and talk about inches versus feet (how many feet long is the puzzle? How many inches?)
- Stare at the puzzle for a certain period of time, then look away and try to recreate the puzzle on a piece of paper from memory.
- Grab your encyclopedia, and do some research on the images or objects that appear in the puzzle. For example, if it’s the Underwater floor puzzle above, look up different species of fish, or find out what plants live in the ocean and what purposes they serve.
What are your favorite ways to play, and learn, with floor puzzles? Share your ideas in the comments below, or join the conversation on Melissa & Doug’s Facebook page!
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Ant trails, airborne chemicals, wood vibrations—scientists have a long history of borrowing clever communication techniques from the animal kingdom. Inspired by the odd social habits of a cave-dwelling cricket, scientists have now taught robots to communicate by firing rings of pressurized air at each other.
The cricket in question is the African cave cricket (Phaeophilacris spectrum), which rapidly flicks its wings to launch donut-shaped air rings, a type of vortex, to both potential mates and enemies. Reduced to two kinds of messages, its “language” is pretty simple: It sends isolated vortices to threaten its rival, and a rapid sequence of vortices to woo would-be lovers.
When Andy Russell, an engineer at Monash University in Australia, learned about the cricket, he thought this technique would improve robots’ ability to communicate in noisy environments—but that wasn’t the only benefit. “Like the cave crickets, there may be times when a robot does not want its communications intercepted,” Russell told New Scientist. Researchers speculate that the cricket uses vortices to communicate undetected by predators—so why not robots? Chris Melhuish, a researcher at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK said, “This could be a useful addition to the communication armoury of future robotic systems.”
The science of vortices reaches back to 1858, when William Rogers first described vortex rings, and scientists have been dazzled ever since by how far these rings can travel. They form when a slug of air or liquid is shot out of a small nozzle into a region of still air or liquid: As the slug travels out of the nozzle, the low-pressure build-up on the outside of the slug causes the edge to curl, eventually forming a donut shape that can then propagate quite a distance. (Dolphins are natural masters of the art; humans aren’t bad ourselves, and we can use toys to make big rings.)
Russell co-opted cricket communications with the science of vortices by equipping a squat, roughly 6-inch tall, cylinder-shaped robot with eight air disturbance sensors, sending binary messages via a separate vortex generator, which isn’t quite as high-tech as it sounds: it’s pretty much like a loudspeaker cone, sending pulses of air outward through a less than one-inch aperture. Because it’s difficult to track an pulse of air—it is invisible, after all—the engineers burned incense to see the air disturbances in progress.
By themselves, these air pulses don’t say much—but when sent in a series of binary coded pulses, they can be used to communicate with other robots. In this study, for example, the scientists sent a sequence of 1,000 vortices to relay the binary coded word for “vortex” over a distance of nearly 12 inches. In addition to sending messages through varied pulses, the sensors could detect both the direction and range of the sender: The message direction was gathered by sensing which of the eight sensors were triggered, while the robot calculated distance by analyzing the lag between the fast- and slow-moving vortices.
Sensing air disturbances is all fine and dandy, but what happens when you’re in a breezy environment? The scientists equipped the robot with a plastic film attached at only one end to take care of that: When hooked up to an optical sensor, the robot can detect the difference between laminar (typical of breezes) and turbulent flow (typical of the vortices). But despite their valiant efforts, the common error was still missed vortices: As the rings of air traveled, breezes from the room’s ventilation system would sometimes trigger a phantom vortex, sending unintentional messages.
While not perfect, the scientists nevertheless demonstrated that such robot-to-robot communication is possible. In addition to fixing the errors, the researchers want to construct a smaller vortex generator—one closer to the size of its inspiration, the wing-flick of the cave cricket.
DISCOVER: When Robots Live Among Us
Discoblog: How to Speak a Language That Your Robot Will Understand
Discoblog: Japan Wants to Send a Tweeting Companion-Bot to the Space Station
DISCOVER: Evolving A Conscious Machine
Image: Wikimedia Commons / Traitor
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Libraries, supermarkets, classrooms…the world is full of places that look very similar, and yet our brains always seem to keep track of where we are. In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers at Princeton University and Ohio State University have uncovered one way in which the brain does this.
Similar-looking places can be distinguished from each other because of differences in what we experience when navigating to them. As we head toward a destination, our brains catalogue details such as other nearby buildings, the look of the doorway, even the people nearby.
The researchers discovered that the parahippocampal cortex, a part of the visual system that analyzes the current scene in front of us, also incorporates the details leading up to the scene, or its “temporal context.” As a result, even when two scenes look identical, we create different memory traces for them when their temporal contexts are different. Ultimately, this can help our brains to keep track of where we are in the world.
Learn more about Nicholas Turk-Browne’s research at Princeton University.
Journal Citation: Turk-Browne NB, Simon MG, Sederberg PB. Scene representations in parahippocampal cortex depend on temporal context. J Neurosci. 2012 May 23;32(21):7202–7.
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How do you engage children in ways that help them verbalise their thinking and help them learn? The children organise their own day and always make time for their ‘own time’ or free inquiry. This provides me with so much evidence of learning. During these sessions I observe the children to see: Where their passion [...]
Molly is in England and we all miss her very much. The good news is we can stay in touch and continue learning together. The children decided the best way to share their maths with Molly was to make her a video. They decided what they wanted to share. Here it is. The children decided [...]
There were some spring balances being given away. I took some and put them out. The video is a condensed version of 45 minutes of sustained inquiry into measuring and weighing. Be aware of: The mathematical language being used The thinking skills being developed The problem solving The cooperation
Children make their own video of how to do a number boggle.
Click on the title to learn more.
This is an explanation of the process children go through as they learn. The focus is on mathematics, but the process applies to all curriculum areas.
Please click on the title to find out more
If you write a letter you will need…Integrating Language Arts and mathematics. This simple task turned into a big inquiry.
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Bycatch refers to the unwanted sea life people catch when they’re fishing for something else.
Bycatch wastes 7 million metric tonnes of sea life every year. The vast majority of bycatch—already dead when it hits the deck— is just discarded. Killing hundreds of thousands of juvenile fish not big enough for legal take can undermine the entire fishery.
Bycatch is heavy when boats use destructive fishing gear such as massive trawl nets that scrape the bottom of the ocean and capture virtually everything in their path. The 1.4 billion baited hooks set in longline fisheries every year kill a great deal of non-target animals including sea turtles, sharks, birds, and marine mammals.
Blue Ocean Institute’s Seafood Choices Guide’s methodology for assessing wild-caught seafood uses bycatch as one of its five core criteria. And for years Blue Ocean has worked with scientists, regulators, fishing industry leaders, and conservationists to reduce the unintended catch of marine life. We promote effective, practical solutions for the benefit and balance of ocean ecosystems. New fishing methods or low-cost equipment changes can help animal populations recover.
Bycatch is a serious challenge to healthy fisheries worldwide but by choosing fish from low-bycatch fisheries, consumers can be part of the solution.
3 things you can do to fight bycatch:
1. Eat sustainably caught seafood
2. Support the use of fishing gear that avoids bycatch
3. Know the issues
Other ways to you can make a difference.
LINKS & VIDEOS
Discards in the World’s Marine Fisheries, FAO Fisheries
What is Bycatch?, NOAA Fisheries Service
Global Assessment of Fisheries Bycatch and Discards, FAO Fisheries
Eye of the Albatross, Carl Safina
NOAA Releases First National Bycatch Report, NOAA
Impacts of Bottom Trawling on Fisheries, Tourism, and the Marine Environment, Oceana
Millions of Sea Turtles Killed Due to Bycatch, Discovery
Millions of already endangered turtles are accidentally killed each year as a result of global fisheries.
The Truth About Bycatch, Greenpeace
Many sea creatures are the helpless victims of bycatch. They are caught in fishery operations and are usually tossed overboard either already dead or severely injured.
Bycatch Management and Discard Reduction
A film by the Global Environment Facility funded, UN Development Programme implemented, Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations executed project,
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This worksheet clearly explains the 4 spelling rules for adding -ed to verbs and provides practice. While the narrative portions may be too advanced for beginners, the simple formulas and examples make it easily understandable even for those just learning the simple past tense. It also works well as a review for intermediate or higher students. Answer key on 2nd page. This worksheet may be used alone, but was designed in conjunction with a PowerPoint of the same name.
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Scientific name: Coenonympha tullia
Rests with wings closed. Some have row of ‘eyespots’ on underwings, like Ringlet, but some don’t.
The Large Heath is restricted to wet boggy habitats in northern Britain, Ireland, and a few isolated sites in Wales and central England.
The adults always sit with their wings closed and can fly even in quite dull weather provided the air temperature is higher than 14B:C. The size of the underwing spots varies across its range; a heavily spotted form (davus) is found in lowland England, a virtually spotless race (scotica) in northern Scotland, and a range of intermediate races elsewhere (referred to aspolydama).
The butterfly has declined seriously in England and Wales, but is still widespread in parts of Ireland and Scotland.
Size and Family
- Family – Browns
- Small/Medium Sized
- Wing Span Range (male to female) - 41mm
- Listed as a Section 41 species of principal importance under the NERC Act in England
- Listed as a Section 42 species of principal importance under the NERC Act in Wales
- Classified as a Northern Ireland Priority Species by the NIEA
- UK BAP status: Priority Species
- Butterfly Conservation priority: High
- European Status: Vulnerable
- Protected in Great Britain for sale only
The main foodplant is Hare's-tail Cottongrass (Eriophorum vaginatum) but larvae have been found occasionally on Common Cottongrass (E. angustifolium) and Jointed Rush (Juncus articulatus). Early literature references to White Beak-sedge (Rhyncospora alba), are probably erroneous.
- Countries – England, Scotland and Wales
- Northern Britain and throughout Ireland
- Distribution Trend Since 1970’s = -43%
The butterflies breed in open, wet areas where the foodplant grows, this includes habitats such as; lowland raised bogs, upland blanket bogs and damp acidic moorland. Sites are usually below 500m (600m in the far north) and have a base of Sphagnum moss interspersed with the foodplant and abundant Cross-leaved Heath (the main adult nectar source).
In Ireland, the butterfly can be found where manual peat extraction has lowered the surface of the bog, creating damp areas with local concentrations of foodplant.
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We said on the Getting Started Page that HTML is
nothing more than a box of highlighters that we use to carefully describe our text. This is mostly the entire story. Normally our content is just text we want to define in some way. But what if our content is not just text? What if, let’s say, we have a bunch of images that we want to include on the page? We certainly can’t type in 4-thousand pixels on the keyboard to make up a 200x200-pixel image…
Motivation and Syntax
When the content we want is not text, then we have to have of including that content on the page. The most common example is an image. The problem, however, is that html tags are like highlighters — they have an opening tag and a closing tag. Between the opening and closing tags fits the data that is “highlighted” by the tag. If we were to have an
<image> tag in HTML (we don’t have that tag—one close to it though), what would go “inside” of it? What might you replace the
stuff with inside of
It simply doesn’t make sense for an
<image> tag to exist like all the other HTML tags because the other HTML tags define something else while image is, itself, something that can be defined.
The image tag and all such manner of tags are called “element” tags because, just like the name implies, the tags are themselves the elements all their own. For all intents and purposes you can treat element tags just like text.
If your content is like the words in a textbook and regular HTML is like a pack of highlighters, then these special element tags are indeed like the text and not like the highlighters at all.
The XML standard says that every tag must be closed. But we have this new breed of tags that really don’t make sense to be closed. What we have is a compromise between the two extremes. We have a self-closing tag. The tag is just like the tags we learned about on the General Syntax Page with two exceptions.
- There is no closing tag
- There is a
>to indicate that the tag is self-closing.
So this looks like:
(There is commonly a space before the
/, but again spacing after the name of the tag is arbitrary.)
You might imagine that there could be a tag that produces the copyright symbol (©). There isn’t (we’ll get to special characters later). But if there were, you might imagine there being an element tag called
copyrightsymbol that we could use right in line with our text to produce a ©
Images on Web sites take the form of image files stored on a server. Much like line breaks, images are element tags that are treated like text. The difference is that the image element tag is replaced by the actual image file.
We mentioned the (non-existent)
<image> tag earlier in our discussion on the necessity of the element-style tags. The real tag to include an image on the page is
<img>. This tag makes little sense if used without its
Let’s say we have the image
image1.jpg, , uploaded to the same folder as our HTML file. To include the image on the page, all we have to insert is:
<p><img src="./image1.jpg" /></p>
Which would be rendered (displayed) like:
And, again, images are like text — they go right in with your content:
<p>This is image1: <img src="./image1.jpg" />. Cool, right?</p>
This would be rendered like:
This is image1: . Cool, right?
(More information on how to reference your images using different paths depending on where your images are stored can be found on the Internet File Management Page of the Web Publishing at the UW online curriculum.)
If your images contribute to the content of your site, then you should provide an
alt attribute for your images. The
alt attribute is a text version of your image. Usually it is just a concise sentence describing the image. The
alt attribute will be used if your image is unavailable for any reason (e.g. if you delete the image file, if your viewers can’t see images, etc.)
If we had a picture of a dog jumping into a lake called
spot.jpg, we might use the following HTML to place it on the page:
<p>A picture I took: <img src="./spot.jpg" alt="Spot jumping into a lake." /></p>
If your image is purely a visual element (e.g. an icon next to a download link or an image used in your page’s layout), then you don’t need to provide an
alt attribute. If your web design work is sponsored by the University, be sure to check out the UW’s page on Web Site Accessibility by clicking here.
The spacing rules of HTML say that when we break the line in the source code (e.g. using the enter key on the keyboard), we don’t also break the line on the rendered (displayed) version of the page.
This is why the following two blocks of code:
<p>This is text. This is more text</p>
<p>This is text This is text</p>
…are considered equivalent. They will both be displayed by the web browser in exactly the same way:
This is text. This is more text
<br />element tag. The following block of code:
..is rendered like:
<p> In what particular thought to work I know not; <br /> But in the gross and scope of my opinion, <br /> This bodes some strange eruption to our state.<br /> </p>
In what particular thought to work I know not;
But in the gross and scope of my opinion,
This bodes some strange eruption to our state.
Above we imagined that there was an HTML element tag called
copyrightsymbol that would be used to produce a Copyright symbol (©). If there were such a tag, we might have the following HTML:
<p>This page is Copyright (<copyrightsymbol />) 1989 By George Orwell</p>
There turns out to be so many such symbols that the creators of HTML decided to create a whole group of “special symbols” (or “special characters”). These characters are used in the place of any character you cannot type using a standard US-English QWERTY keyboard. They are also used in the place of some “reserved” characters (like the less-than and greater-than signs, <, and >).
There are many such characters. They all start with an ampersand (
&) and end with a semicolon (
;). The web browser sees these and replaces them with the special character. Some of them are mentioned in the table to the right. You can find a complete listing of all such special characters by doing a search in your favorite search engine for
HTML Special Characters.
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DOCETISM. The term "docetism" comes from the Greek word dokeo (I seem, I appear), and was first used by Serapion, bishop of Antioch (190-208), to refer to certain heretics of the early church. In its earliest expression, docetism apparently grew out of the
difficulties of explaining how the Son of God could be subject to the vicissitudes of humanity, including suffering and death. The earliest
Docetists would explain that Christ only seemed or appeared to suffer, for He only seemed to be mortal and fleshly as other humans.
In reality, they would argue, He is God and, therefore, not truly subject to the problems of humanity. It is generally assumed that the
emphasis on the reality of Christ's physical body in John 1:14, 1 John 1:1-4 and 4:1-3, and 2 John 7 is a refutation of this incipient heresy. During the second century, the positions of Docetists were multiplied and amplified into various gnostic systems, including some that denied the substantive reality of the incarnate Christ, and others that stated that the heavenly Christ descended upon the mortal
Jesus at His baptism and departed when Jesus was before Pilate. The crucifixion scene described in the APOCALYPSE OF PETER is an
example of the latter, portraying the spiritual Savior laughing above the cross while soldiers nail the mortal Jesus to the tree.
Among those especially charged with docetism were Cerinthus and Marcion. There is also a docetic portrayal of Jesus in some anti- Christian writings of the Mandaean Gnostics. Irenaeus and Tertullian, both writing in the late second century, attacked this heresy, and Tertullian claimed that some Valentinians were guilty of docetism. Photius (ninth century) charged CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA with docetism, but Clement rebuked the denial of Christ's flesh in his own writings.
C. WILFRED GRIGGS
Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.
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Did you know that most of the computers on which you deploy applications have more power in the GPU on the video card than in the CPU, even multi-core machines? Harnessing the power of the GPU is the next step in the manycore/multicore revolution and can mean astonishing improvements in execution time. Depending on how data parallel your calculations are, you might see a speedup of 5, 10, or even 50 times! Imagine a calculation that takes 24 hours today completing in half an hour instead. What new capabilities would that enable for your users? Until recently, running code on the GPU has meant using one of several "C-like" languages. The upcoming release of C++ Accelerated Massive Parallelism (AMP) means that you can use accelerators like the GPU from native C++. Visual Studio includes debugging and profiling support for C++ AMP, and you don't need to download or install any new libraries to accelerate your code. In this session, see the power of C++ AMP and learn the basic concepts you need to adapt your code to use this massive parallelism.
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PHYSICS FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHERS
This course is a one-semester introduction to physics with curriculum and instruction designed as an activity-based hands-on course for K-8 elementary education students and open to all education majors. The course emphasizes a student-oriented pedagogy in order to develop various physics concepts and the nature of science. Topics covered include motion, forces, energy, light, heat, electricity, and magnetism.
Other Requirements: PREREQ: MATH 141 AND RESTRICTED TO STUDENTS WITH BSE PROGRAM
There are no sections offered for this course and term that meet your criteria.
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Who needed the Holy Land when they could fight a crusade on their doorstep?
Throughout the 12th century, Danish forces raided the northern coasts of Germany and Poland time and time again. The aim was to fight the region’s pillaging pagans, the Wends, a mixture of tribes that in turn attacked the Danish coastline with regularity – raids that were particularly unwelcome during a Danish civil war from 1146-57. Despite times of peace, trade and even intermarriage between the Danes and the Wends (Harald Bluetooth was indeed married to a Wendish princess), they were feared and hated by all in Denmark.
In 1147 Pope Eugene III declared the Second Crusade in an attempt to reconquer the Holy Land from the Muslims in the Middle East. Concurrently, holy war was also made a universal principle. This meant that any war waged against the enemies of god – such as the heathen Wends - was now viewed by the church as a holy war and would grant the Christian warriors divine privileges. The Danish Crusades were quickly proclaimed.
The warring parties laid down their arms and put the civil war on hold, so they could do god’s biding. They joined the princes and dukes of northern Germany in the fight against the heathens in their backyard. The Saxons had been granted permission to fight the Wends by a powerful abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, rather than joining the Second Crusade to the Holy Land, as other Germans had done. Their decision made good financial sense. Expeditions against the Wends were much easier to organise and considerably cheaper than joining the crusade to the Holy Land. It also opened the door to a future taxation of their defeated neighbours.
Alas, it did not go very well for the Christian forces. The Danes and the Saxons were unable to defeat the Wends and ended up negotiating a peace agreement. The Wends agreed to release their prisoners and accept the Christian faith as their own, but almost as soon as the Saxons and Danes turned their backs, they returned to their pagan ways and escalated their attacks on the coasts of Denmark, which was once again embroiled in civil war.
But they hadn’t reckoned on Valdemar the Great, who became king of Denmark in 1157 after decisively ending the civil war in victory. He immediately launched an attack on the Wends, whose attack on Denmark had never stopped during the civil war, and over the next 15 years he completed approximately 20 expeditions against the Wends.
He joined forces with his old enemy Henry the Lion, the duke of Saxony, in a shaky alliance. Rather than just guarding themselves against Wendish aggression, the two leaders expanded into the Wendish areas. Henry the Lion was more successful, since he had a large population that he could use to colonise the newly conquered areas. Valdemar, on the other hand, could not find Danes willing to accept the task of settling in the Wendish areas. It was simply too dangerous.
The Danish activity culminated with the historic conquest of the pagan stronghold of Arkona in 1168. The fall of Arkona signalled the Danish conquest of the island of Rügen and is described in detail by the Danish chronicler Saxo. He described how King Valdemar and Archbishop Absalon (the founder of Copenhagen no less) had the pagan idol Svantevit destroyed. Not only was the big wooden idol chopped to pieces, they used the pieces as firewood and cooked the victory feast for the troops with it, whilst the pagan temple was stripped of its treasures.
The population of Rügen was then christened and the island remained under Danish rule until 1325, while the Danish church remained in charge of ecclesiastical matters until 1660.
To this day, Danish scholars are still arguing whether or not the Danish expeditions against the Wends were crusades. The motives seem to have been very mixed indeed. An example is the conquest of Arkona, which was characterised by pillaging and taxation of the area on one hand, but also the building of churches and other religious institutions on the other hand. Historians agree that the expedition of 1147 can rightly be called a Danish crusade as it was initiated by the Pope, who promised indulgence. But that is about it.
Some historians believe that all the Danish expeditions were crusades based on their claim that religious motives were the main reason for the expeditions. They believe that the Pope’s proclamation of a holy war as a universal principle was still valid after the Second Crusade (1147-49). Other historians, in contrast, point to the Viking-like manner of the expeditions and argue that Saxo only described the expedition in 1147 as a crusade, whilst the others were described as conquests driven by vengeance against the pillaging Wends. They believe that the religious motives were secondary and that the Pope gave up on the idea of a holy war outside the Holy Land after the fiasco of the Second Crusade, in which the christian forces failed to make progress in the Holy Land.
Regardless of the scholarly disagreement, the expeditions against the Wends led to a Danish heyday, during which the country succeeded in establishing itself as a dominant force in the areas surrounding the Baltic Sea – a supremacy that lasted until 1241.
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Who We Are
What is the CTBT?
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans nuclear explosions by everyone, everywhere: on the Earth's surface, in the atmosphere, underwater and underground.
Why is the CTBT important?
It makes it very difficult for countries to develop nuclear bombs for the first time, or for countries that already have them, to make more powerful bombs. It also prevents the huge damage caused by radioactivity from nuclear explosions to humans, animals and plants.
Over 2000 nuclear explosions from 1945 to 1996
Over 2000 nuclear tests were carried out between 1945 and 1996, when the CTBT opened for signature: by the United States (1000+), the Soviet Union (700+), France (200+), the United Kingdom and China (45 each). Three countries have broken the de facto moratorium and tested nuclear weapons since 1996: India and Pakistan in 1998, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in 2006 and 2009.
CTBT almost universal but has yet to become law
Many attempts were made during the Cold War to negotiate a comprehensive test ban, but it was only in the 1990s that the Treaty became a reality. The CTBT was negotiated in Geneva between 1994 and 1996. 183 countries have signed the Treaty, of which 159 have also ratified it (as of February 2013), including three of the nuclear weapon States: France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. But 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries must sign and ratify before the CTBT can enter into force. Of these, eight are still missing: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the USA. India, North Korea and Pakistan have yet to sign the CTBT. The last Annex 2 State to ratify the Treaty was Indonesia on 6 February 2012.
Headquarters in Vienna
Since the Treaty is not yet in force, the organization is called the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). It was founded in 1996, has over 260 staff from over 70 countries, and is based in Vienna. It is headed by the Executive Secretary, Tibor Tóth from Hungary. The CTBTO’s main tasks are the promotion of the Treaty and the build-up of the verification regime so that it is operational when the Treaty enters into force. The annual budget is around US$120,000,000 or €82,000,000.
Verification regime to make sure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected
The Treaty has a unique and comprehensive verification regime to make sure that no nuclear explosion goes undetected. This regime consists of three pillars:
The International Monitoring System (IMS) will, when complete, consist of 337 facilities worldwide to monitor the planet for signs of nuclear explosions. Over 85 percent of the facilities are already up and running. The IMS uses the following four state-of-the-art technologies (numbers reflect final configuration):
• Seismic: 50 primary and 120 auxiliary seismic stations monitor shockwaves in the Earth. The vast majority of these shockwaves – many thousands every year – are caused by earthquakes. But man-made explosions such as mine explosions or the North Korean nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, are also detected.
• Hydroacoustic: 11 hydroacoustic stations “listen” for sound waves in the oceans. Sound waves from explosions can travel extremely far underwater.
• Infrasound: 60 stations on the surface can detect ultra-low frequency sound waves (inaudible to the human ear) that are emitted by large explosions.
• Radionuclide: 80 stations measure the atmosphere for radioactive particles; 40 of them also pick up noble gas. Only these measurements can give a clear indication as to whether an explosion detected by the other methods was actually nuclear or not. They are supported by 16 radionuclide laboratories.
On-site inspections can be dispatched to the area of a suspicious nuclear explosion if the data from the IMS indicate that a nuclear test has taken place there. Inspectors will collect evidence on the ground at the suspected site. Such an inspection can only be requested and approved by Member States once the CTBT has entered into force. A large on-site inspection exercise was carried out in September 2008 in Kazakhstan and the next one is planned for 2014 in Jordan.
Helping Tsunami Warning and the Environment
The huge amount of data collected by the stations can also be used for other purposes than detecting nuclear explosions. They can provide tsunami warning centres with almost real-time information about an underwater earthquake, thus helping to warn people earlier and possibly saving lives. During the March 2011 Fukushima power plant accident, the network's radionuclide stations tracked the dispersion of radioactivity on a global scale. The data could also help us better understand the oceans, volcanoes, climate change, the movement of whales, and many other issues.
The International Data Centre
The International Data Centre at the CTBTO's headquarters in Vienna receives gigabytes of data from the global monitoring stations. The data are processed and distributed to the CTBTO's Member States in both raw and analyzed form. When North Korea tested in 2006 and 2009, the Member States received information about the location, magnitude, time and depth of the tests within two hours - and before the actual test had been announced by North Korea.
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Published in Speaking Tree, Nov. 28, 2010
The Kanda Puranam, the Tamil version of the Sanskrit Skanda Purana, retells the story of how Shiva’s son, Murugan, (known as Kartikeya, in North India) defeated the demon Taraka and his brothers, Simhamukhan and Surapadman. On his defeat, Simhamukhan begs forgiveness so Murugan instructs him to turn into a lion and serve as the vehicle of Durga. While fighting Murugan, Surapadman takes the form of a mountain. Murugan breaks the mountain into two with his spear. One part of the mountain turns into a peacock that becomes Murugan’s vehicle while the other part becomes a rooster that becomes Murugan’s symbol on his flag. Thus, says this narrative, the vehicles of Durga and her son, Murugan, are actually demons who have been subdued and transformed and become worthy of being associated with the divine.
In Hindu mythology, every god and goddess is associated with one animal or the other. Brahma, the creator, is associated with a swan, Vishnu, the preserver, with an eagle, Shiva, the destroyer, with a bull. Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, is associated with an elephant, Saraswati, goddess of knowledge, with a goose, and Durga, goddess of power, with lions and tigers. The river-goddesses Ganga and Yamuna ride a dolphin (or crocodile) and turtle respectively. The animals are called vahana, or vehicles, transporting the gods.
Sometimes, the same animal serves as the insignia on the deity’s flag. Thus Shiva, who rides a bull has a flag called Vrishabha-dhvaja, which means the flag with the symbol of a bull. At other times, different animals serve as vahanas and as symbols on flags. Murugan rides a peacock but has the rooster on his flag.
Through the animals an idea is communciated. The idea of love and desire in most Indian poetry is expressed through the parrot, bees, butterflies and the constellation Makara which marks the advent of spring. And so Kama, the god of desire, is described as riding a parrot, having bees and butterflies constituting as the string of his bow whose shaft is made of sugarcane, and as having the symbol of Makara on his flag. Hamsa or geese (often confused with swans) is said to have the ability to separate milk from water. This makes Hamsa the symbol of intellectual discrimination and so is associated with Saraswati, goddess of knoweldge. Rats are an annoying pest and so serve as the symbol of problems. They are also highly fertile. So they are symbols of cascading problems. Ganesha, the god who removes obstacles, has the rat as his vehicle; by mounting the rat and domesticating it as his vehicle, he blocks the problems that plague our life. Shiva’s bull communicates Shiva’s independence, Vishnu’s hawk indicates his mobility and wider vision of things.
Animals are not just vehicles or symbols of the gods; they are the forms that the god takes. Hanuman, who serves Ram, is a monkey. Vishnu, for example, turns into fish and turtle and wild boar in order to save the world. The earth-goddess, Prithvi, often is seen in the form of a cow. Ganesha has the head of an elephant while the Ashwini twins have horse heads and Ketu, the planetary body associated with anxiety and restlessness, is a headless serpent.
In metaphysics, animals are jiva-atmas, souls wrapped in flesh. Their flesh is superior to plants because they are mobile. Their flesh is inferior to human beings because they do not possess the highly developed brain that enables humans to imagine, love, create and care. It says that only after 84 lakh rebirths is a jiva-atma blessed with human flesh. What distinguishes humans from all other living creatures is our infinite ability to empathize, an ability that is highly limited in animals. By riding on animals, the gods are perhaps reminding us of our ability to overpower our animal instincts of self-preservation and self-propagation and focus on the unique human capability of self-realization which can only happen when we are able to feel for the rest of the world. Unfortunately, most of the time we prefer regression to evolution, behave as animals thinking only about survival. In fact, we are worse than animals, for animals think only about survival of their bodies, and do not have the wherewithal to do otherwise. We, on the other hand, spend all our lives working towards survival of our imagined self-image. So long as we think only about me and mine, and exclude others, we will waste this human flesh, remain unevolved animals and not validate our human existence.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|Part of the Politics series on|
| Communism Portal|
Communism is a social structure in which classes are abolished and property is commonly controlled, as well as a political philosophy and social movement that advocates and aims to create such a society. Karl Marx, the father of communist thought, posited that communism would be the final stage in society, which would be achieved through a proletarian revolution and only possible after a socialist stage develops the productive forces, leading to a superabundance of goods and services.
"Pure communism" in the Marxian sense refers to a classless, stateless and oppression-free society where decisions on what to produce and what policies to pursue are made democratically, allowing every member of society to participate in the decision-making process in both the political and economic spheres of life. In modern usage, communism is often used to refer to Bolshevism or Marxism-Leninism and the policies of the various communist states which had government ownership of all the means of production and centrally planned economies. Communist regimes, all inspired only by the Leninist current, have historically been authoritarian, repressive, and coercive governments concerned primarily with preserving their own power.
As a political ideology, communism is usually considered to be a branch of socialism; a broad group of economic and political philosophies that draw on the various political and intellectual movements with origins in the work oftheorists of the Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution. Communism attempts to offer an alternative to the problems with the capitalist market economy and the legacy of imperialism and nationalism.
Marx states that the only way to solve these problems is for the working class (proletariat), who according to Marx are the main producers of wealth in society and are exploited by the Capitalist-class (bourgeoisie), to replace the bourgeoisie as the ruling class in order to establish a free society, without class or racial divisions. The dominant forms of communism, such as Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism and Trotskyism are based on Marxism, as well as others forms of communism (such as Luxemburgism and Council communism), but non-Marxist versions of communism (such as Christian communism and Anarchist communism) also exist.
Karl Marx never provided a detailed description as to how communism would function as an economic system, but it is understood that a communist economy would consist of common ownership of the means of production, culminating in the negation of the concept of private ownership of capital, which referred to the means of production in Marxian terminology.
|It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article titled List of communist ideologies. (Discuss)|
In the schema of historical materialism, communism is the idea of a free society with no division or alienation, where mankind is free from oppression and scarcity. A communist society would have no governments, countries, or class divisions. In Marxist theory, the dictatorship of the proletariat is the intermediate system between capitalism and communism, when the government is in the process of changing the means of ownership from privatism, to collective ownership. In political science, the term "communism" is sometimes used to refer to communist states, a form of government in which the state operates under a one-party system and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof.
Marxist schools of communism
Self-identified communists hold a variety of views, including Marxism-Leninism, Trotskyism, council communism, Luxemburgism, anarchist communism, Christian communism, and various currents of left communism. However, the offshoots of the Marxist-Leninist interpretations of Marxism are the most well-known of these and have been a driving force in international relations during most of the 20th century.
Like other socialists, Marx and Engels sought an end to capitalism and the systems which they perceived to be responsible for the exploitation of workers. But whereas earlier socialists often favored longer-term social reform, Marx and Engels believed that popular revolution was all but inevitable, and the only path to the socialist state.
According to the Marxist argument for communism, the main characteristic of human life in class society is alienation; and communism is desirable because it entails the full realization of human freedom. Marx here follows Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in conceiving freedom not merely as an absence of restraints but as action with content. According to Marx, Communism's outlook on freedom was based on an agent, obstacle, and goal. The agent is the common/working people; the obstacles are class divisions, economic inequalities, unequal life-chances, and false consciousness; and the goal is the fulfillment of human needs including satisfying work, and fair share of the product. They believed that communism allowed people to do what they want, but also put humans in such conditions and such relations with one another that they would not wish to exploit, or have any need to. Whereas for Hegel the unfolding of this ethical life in history is mainly driven by the realm of ideas, for Marx, communism emerged from material forces, particularly the development of the means of production.
Marxism holds that a process of class conflict and revolutionary struggle will result in victory for the proletariat and the establishment of a communist society in which private ownership is abolished over time and the means of production and subsistence belong to the community. Marx himself wrote little about life under communism, giving only the most general indication as to what constituted a communist society. It is clear that it entails abundance in which there is little limit to the projects that humans may undertake. In the popular slogan that was adopted by the communist movement, communism was a world in which each gave according to their abilities, and received according to their needs. The German Ideology (1845) was one of Marx's few writings to elaborate on the communist future:
"In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic."
Marx's lasting vision was to add this vision to a theory of how society was moving in a law-governed way toward communism, and, with some tension, a political theory that explained why revolutionary activity was required to bring it about.
In the late 19th century, the terms "socialism" and "communism" were often used interchangeably. However, Marx and Engels argued that communism would not emerge from capitalism in a fully developed state, but would pass through a "first phase" in which most productive property was owned in common, but with some class differences remaining. The "first phase" would eventually evolve into a "higher phase" in which class differences were eliminated, and a state was no longer needed. Lenin frequently used the term "socialism" to refer to Marx and Engels' supposed "first phase" of communism and used the term "communism" interchangeably with Marx and Engels' "higher phase" of communism.
These later aspects, particularly as developed by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, provided the underpinning for the mobilizing features of 20th century Communist parties.
Marxism-Leninism is a version of socialism adopted by the Soviet Union and most Communist Parties across the world today. It shaped the Soviet Union and influenced Communist Parties worldwide. It was heralded as a possibility of building communism via a massive program of industrialization and collectivization. Historically, under the ideology of Marxism-Leninism the rapid development of industry, and above all the victory of the Soviet Union in the Second World War occurred alongside a third of the world being lead by Marxist-Leninist inspired parties. Despite the fall of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries, many communist Parties of the world today still lay claim to uphold the Marxist-Leninist banner. Marxism-Leninism expands on Marxists thoughts by bringing the theories to what Lenin and other Communists considered, the age of capitalist imperialism, and a renewed focus on party building, the development of a socialist state, and democratic centralism as an organizational principle.
Lenin adapted Marx’s urban revolution to Russia’s agricultural conditions, sparking the “revolutionary nationalism of the poor”. The pamphlet What is to be Done? (1902), proposed that the (urban) proletariat can successfully achieve revolutionary consciousness only under the leadership of a vanguard party of professional revolutionaries — who can achieve aims only with internal democratic centralism in the party; tactical and ideological policy decisions are agreed via democracy, and every member must support and promote the agreed party policy.
To wit, capitalism can be overthrown only with revolution — because attempts to reform capitalism from within (Fabianism) and from without (democratic socialism) will fail because of its inherent contradictions. The purpose of a Leninist revolutionary vanguard party is the forceful deposition of the incumbent government; assume power (as agent of the proletariat) and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat government. Moreover, as the government, the vanguard party must educate the proletariat — to dispel the societal false consciousness of religion and nationalism that are culturally instilled by the bourgeoisie in facilitating exploitation. The dictatorship of the proletariat is governed with a de-centralized direct democracy practised via soviets (councils) where the workers exercise political power (cf. soviet democracy); the fifth chapter of State & Revolution, describes it:
“. . . the dictatorship of the proletariat — i.e. the organisation of the vanguard of the oppressed as the ruling class for the purpose of crushing the oppressors. . . . An immense expansion of democracy, which for the first time becomes democracy for the poor, democracy for the people, and not democracy for the rich: . . . and suppression by force, i.e. exclusion from democracy, for the exploiters and oppressors of the people — this is the change which democracy undergoes during the transition from capitalism to communism.”
The Bolshevik government was hostile to nationalism, especially to Russian nationalism, the “Great Russian chauvinism”, as an obstacle to establishing the proletarian dictatorship. The revolutionary elements of Leninism — the disciplined vanguard party, a dictatorship of the proletariat, and class war.
"Stalinism" refers to the political system of the Soviet Union, and the countries within the Soviet sphere of influence, during the leadership of Joseph Stalin. The term usually defines the style of a government rather than an ideology. The ideology was "Marxism-Leninism theory", reflecting that Stalin himself was not a theoretician, in contrast to Marx and Lenin, and prided himself on maintaining the legacy of Lenin as a founding father for the Soviet Union and the future Socialist world. Stalinism is an interpretation of their ideas, and a certain political regime claiming to apply those ideas in ways fitting the changing needs of society, as with the transition from "socialism at a snail's pace" in the mid-twenties to the rapid industrialization of the Five-Year Plans.
The main contributions of Stalin to communist theory were:
- The groundwork for the Soviet policy concerning nationalities, laid in Stalin's 1913 work Marxism and the National Question, praised by Lenin.
- Socialism in One Country,
- The theory of aggravation of the class struggle along with the development of socialism, a theoretical base supporting the repression of political opponents as necessary.
Trotsky and his supporters organized into the Left Opposition and their platform became known as Trotskyism. Stalin eventually succeeded in gaining control of the Soviet regime and Trotskyist attempts to remove Stalin from power resulted in Trotsky's exile from the Soviet Union in 1929. During Trotsky's exile, world communism fractured into two distinct branches: Marxism-Leninism and Trotskyism. Trotsky later founded the Fourth International, a Trotskyist rival to the Comintern, in 1938.
Trotskyist ideas have continually found a modest echo among political movements in some countries in Latin America and Asia, especially in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Sri Lanka. Many Trotskyist organizations are also active in more stable, developed countries in North America and Western Europe. Trotsky's politics differed sharply from those of Stalin and Mao, most importantly in declaring the need for an international proletarian revolution (rather than socialism in one country) and unwavering support for a true dictatorship of the proletariat based on democratic principles.
However, as a whole, Trotsky's theories and attitudes were never accepted in worldwide mainstream Communist circles after Trotsky's expulsion, either within or outside of the Soviet bloc. This remained the case even after the Secret Speech and subsequent events critics claim exposed the fallibility of Stalin.
Maoism is the Marxist-Leninist trend of Communism associated with Mao Zedong and was mostly practiced within the People's Republic of China. Khrushchev's reforms heightened ideological differences between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union, which became increasingly apparent in the 1960s. As the Sino-Soviet Split in the international Communist movement turned toward open hostility, China portrayed itself as a leader of the underdeveloped world against the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.
Parties and groups that supported the Communist Party of China (CPC) in their criticism against the new Soviet leadership proclaimed themselves as 'anti-revisionist' and denounced the CPSU and the parties aligned with it as revisionist "capitalist-roaders." The Sino-Soviet Split resulted in divisions amongst communist parties around the world. Notably, the Party of Labour of Albania sided with the People's Republic of China. Effectively, the CPC under Mao's leadership became the rallying forces of a parallel international Communist tendency. The ideology of CPC, Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought (generally referred to as 'Maoism'), was adopted by many of these groups.
After Mao's death and his replacement by Deng Xiaoping, the international Maoist movement diverged. One sector accepted the new leadership in China; a second renounced the new leadership and reaffirmed their commitment to Mao's legacy; and a third renounced Maoism altogether and aligned with Albania.
Another variant of anti-revisionist Marxism-Leninism appeared after the ideological row between the Communist Party of China and the Party of Labour of Albania in 1978. The Albanians rallied a new separate international tendency. This tendency would demarcate itself by a strict defense of the legacy of Joseph Stalin and fierce criticism of virtually all other Communist groupings as revisionism. Critical of the United States, Soviet Union, and China, Enver Hoxha declared the latter two to be social-imperialist and condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia by withdrawing from the Warsaw Pact in response. Hoxha declared Albania to be the world's only Marxist-Leninist state after 1978. The Albanians were able to win over a large share of the Maoists, mainly in Latin America such as the Popular Liberation Army, but also had a significant international following in general. This tendency has occasionally been labeled as 'Hoxhaism' after him.
After the fall of the Communist government in Albania, the pro-Albanian parties are grouped around an international conference and the publication 'Unity and Struggle'.
Elements of Titoism are characterized by policies and practices based on the principle that in each country, the means of attaining ultimate communist goals must be dictated by the conditions of that particular country, rather than by a pattern set in another country. During Tito’s era, this specifically meant that the communist goal should be pursued independently of (and often in opposition to) the policies of the Soviet Union.
The term was originally meant as a pejorative, and was labeled by Moscow as a heresy during the period of tensions between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia known as the Informbiro period from 1948 to 1955.
Unlike the rest of East Europe, which fell under Stalin's influence post-World War II, Yugoslavia, due to the strong leadership of Marshal Tito and the fact that the Yugoslav Partisans liberated Yugoslavia with only limited help from the Red Army, remained independent from Moscow. It became the only country in the Balkans to resist pressure from Moscow to join the Warsaw Pact and remained "socialist, but independent" right up until the collapse of Soviet socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Throughout his time in office, Tito prided himself on Yugoslavia's independence from Russia, with Yugoslavia never accepting full membership of the Comecon and Tito's open rejection of many aspects of Stalinism as the most obvious manifestations of this.
Since the early 1970s, the term Eurocommunism was used to refer to moderate, reformist Communist parties in western Europe. These parties did not support the Soviet Union and denounced its policies. Such parties were politically active and electorally significant in Italy (PCI), France (PCF), and Spain (PCE).
Council communism is a far-left movement originating in Germany and the Netherlands in the 1920s. Its primary organization was the Communist Workers Party of Germany (KAPD). Council communism continues today as a theoretical and activist position within both left-wing Marxism and libertarian socialism.
The central argument of council communism, in contrast to those of social democracy and Leninist Communism, is that democratic workers' councils arising in the factories and municipalities are the natural form of working class organisation and governmental power. This view is opposed to both the reformist and the Leninist ideologies, with their stress on, respectively, parliaments and institutional government (i.e., by applying social reforms), on the one hand, and vanguard parties and participative democratic centralism on the other).
The core principle of council communism is that the government and the economy should be managed by workers' councils composed of delegates elected at workplaces and recallable at any moment. As such, council communists oppose state-run authoritarian "State socialism"/"State capitalism". They also oppose the idea of a "revolutionary party", since council communists believe that a revolution led by a party will necessarily produce a party dictatorship. Council communists support a worker's democracy, which they want to produce through a federation of workers' councils. Council communism (and other types of "anti-authoritarian and Anti-leninist Marxism" such as Autonomism) are often viewed as being similar to Anarchism because they criticize Leninist ideologies for being authoritarian and reject the idea of a vanguard party.
Luxemburgism, based on the writing of Rosa Luxemburg, is an interpretation of Marxism which, while supporting the Russian Revolution, as Luxemburg did, agrees with her criticisms of the politics of Lenin and Trotsky; she did not see their concept of "democratic centralism" as democracy.
The chief tenets of Luxemburgism are commitment to democracy and the necessity of the revolution taking place as soon as possible. In this regard, it is similar to Council Communism, but differs in that, for example, Luxemburgists don't reject elections by principle. It resembles anarchism in its insistence that only relying on the people themselves as opposed to their leaders can avoid an authoritarian society, but differs in that it sees the importance of a revolutionary party, and mainly the centrality of the working class in the revolutionary struggle. It resembles Trotskyism in its opposition to the totalitarianism of Stalinist government while simultaneously avoiding the reformist politics of modern Social Democracy, but differs from Trotskyism in arguing that Lenin and Trotsky also made undemocratic errors.
Luxemburg's idea of democracy, which Stanley Aronowitz calls "generalized democracy in an unarticulated form", represents Luxemburgism's greatest break with "mainstream communism", since it effectively diminishes the role of the Communist Party, but is in fact very similar to the views of Karl Marx ("The emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves"). According to Aronowitz, the vagueness of Luxembourgian democracy is one reason for its initial difficulty in gaining widespread support. However, since the fall of the Soviet Union, Luxemburgism has been seen by some socialist thinkers as a way to avoid the totalitarianism of Stalinism. Early on, Luxemburg attacked undemocratic tendencies present in the Russian Revolution.
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In 1992, Juche replaced Marxism-Leninism in the revised North Korean constitution as the official state ideology, this being a response to the Sino-Soviet split. Juche was originally defined as a creative application of Marxism-Leninism, but after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union (North Korea’s greatest economic benefactor), all reference to Marxism-Leninism was dropped in the revised 1998 constitution. The establishment of the Songun doctrine in the mid-1990s has formally designated the military, not the proletariat or working class, as the main revolutionary force in North Korea. All reference to communism had been dropped in the 2009 revised constitution.
According to Kim Jong-il's On the Juche Idea, the application of Juche in state policy entails the following:
- The people must have independence (chajusong) in thought and politics, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.
- Policy must reflect the will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution and construction.
- Methods of revolution and construction must be suitable to the situation of the country.
- The most important work of revolution and construction is molding people ideologically as communists and mobilizing them to constructive action.
Prachanda Path refers to the ideological line of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). This thought doesn't make an ideological break with Marxism, Leninism and Maoism but it is an extension of these ideologies totally based on home-ground politics of Nepal. The doctrine came into existence after it was realized that the ideology of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism couldn't be practiced completely as it were done in the past. And an ideology suitable, based on the ground reality of Nepalese politics was adopted by the party.
After five years of armed struggle, the party realized that none of the proletarian revolutions of the past could be carried out on Nepal’s context. So moving further ahead than Marxism, Leninism and Maoism, the party determined its own ideology, Prachanda Path.
Having analyzed the serious challenges and growing changes in the global arena, the party started moving on its own doctrine. Prachanda Path in essence is a different kind of uprising, which can be described as the fusion of a protracted people’s war strategy which was adopted by Mao in China and the Russian model of armed revolution. Most of the Maoist leaders think that the adoption of Prachanda Path after the second national conference is what nudged the party into moving ahead with a clear vision ahead after five years of ‘people’s war’.
Senior Maoist leader Mohan Vaidya alias Kiran says, ‘Just as Marxism was born in Germany, Leninism in Russia and Maoism in China and Prachanda Path is Nepal’s identity of revolution. Just as Marxism has three facets- philosophy, political economy and scientific socialism, Prachanda Path is a combination of all three totally in Nepal’s political context.’ Talking about the party’s philosophy, Maoist chairman Prachanda says, ‘The party considers Prachanda path as an enrichment of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism.’ After the party brought forward its new doctrine, the government was trying to comprehend the new ideology, Prachanda Path.
see also: 'People's Revolution' In Nepal
The dominant forms of communism, such as Leninism, Trotskyism and Maoism, are based on Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism (such as Christian communism and anarchist communism) also exist and are growing in importance since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Some of Marx's contemporaries espoused similar ideas, but differed in their views of how to reach to a classless society. Following the split between those associated with Marx and Mikhail Bakunin at the First International, the anarchists formed the International Workers Association. Anarchists argued that capitalism and the state were inseparable and that one could not be abolished without the other. Anarchist-communists such as Peter Kropotkin theorized an immediate transition to one society with no classes. Anarcho-syndicalism became one of the dominant forms of anarchist organization, arguing that labor unions, as opposed to Communist parties, are the organizations that can change society. Consequently, many anarchists have been in opposition to Marxist communism to this day.
Anarchist communists propose that the freest form of social organisation would be a society composed of self-governing communes with collective use of the means of production, organized by direct democracy, and related to other communes through federation. However, some anarchist communists oppose the majoritarian nature of direct democracy, feeling that it can impede individual liberty and favor consensus democracy.
Christian communism is a form of religious communism centered on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ urge Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. Christian communists trace the origins of their practice to teachings in the New Testament, such as this one from Acts of the Apostles at chapter 2 and verses 42, 44, and 45:
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and in fellowship [...] 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things in common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (King James Version)
Christian communism can be seen as a radical form of Christian socialism. Also, due to the fact that many Christian communists have formed independent stateless communes in the past, there is also a link between Christian communism and Christian anarchism. Christian communists may or may not agree with various parts of Marxism.
Christian communists also share some of the political goals of Marxists, for example replacing capitalism with socialism, which should in turn be followed by communism at a later point in the future. However, Christian communists sometimes disagree with Marxists (and particularly with Leninists) on the way a socialist or communist society should be organized.
Karl Heinrich Marx saw primitive communism as the original, hunter-gatherer state of humankind from which it arose. For Marx, only after humanity was capable of producing surplus, did private property develop.
In the history of Western thought, certain elements of the idea of a society based on common ownership of property can be traced back to ancient times . Examples include the Spartacus slave revolt in Rome. The fifth century Mazdak movement in what is now Iran has been described as "communistic" for challenging the enormous privileges of the noble classes and the clergy, criticizing the institution of private property and for striving for an egalitarian society.
At one time or another, various small communist communities existed, generally under the inspiration of Scripture. In the medieval Christian church, for example, some monastic communities and religious orders shared their land and other property (see religious communism and Christian communism). These groups often believed that concern with private property was a distraction from religious service to God and neighbor.
Communist thought has also been traced back to the work of 16th century English writer Thomas More. In his treatise Utopia (1516), More portrayed a society based on common ownership of property, whose rulers administered it through the application of reason. In the 17th century, communist thought arguably surfaced again in England. In 17th century England, a Puritan religious group known as the Diggers advocated the abolition of private ownership of land. Eduard Bernstein, in his 1895 Cromwell and Communism argued that several groupings in the English Civil War, especially the Diggers espoused clear communistic, agrarian ideals, and that Oliver Cromwell's attitude to these groups was at best ambivalent and often hostile.
Criticism of the idea of private property continued into the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, through such thinkers as Jean Jacques Rousseau in France. Later, following the upheaval of the French Revolution, communism emerged as a political doctrine. François Noël Babeuf, in particular, espoused the goals of common ownership of land and total economic and political equality among citizens.
Various social reformers in the early 19th century founded communities based on common ownership. But unlike many previous communist communities, they replaced the religious emphasis with a rational and philanthropic basis. Notable among them were Robert Owen, who founded New Harmony in Indiana (1825), and Charles Fourier, whose followers organized other settlements in the United States such as Brook Farm (1841–47). Later in the 19th century, Karl Marx described these social reformers as "utopian socialists" to contrast them with his program of "scientific socialism" (a term coined by Friedrich Engels). Other writers described by Marx as "utopian socialists" included Saint-Simon.
In its modern form, communism grew out of the socialist movement of 19th century Europe. As the Industrial Revolution advanced, socialist critics blamed capitalism for the misery of the proletariat — a new class of urban factory workers who labored under often-hazardous conditions. Foremost among these critics were the German philosopher Karl Marx and his associate Friedrich Engels. In 1848, Marx and Engels offered a new definition of communism and popularized the term in their famous pamphlet The Communist Manifesto. Engels, who lived in Manchester, observed the organization of the Chartist movement (see History of British socialism), while Marx departed from his university comrades to meet the proletariat in France and Germany.
Growth of modern communism
In the late 19th century, Russian Marxism developed a distinct character. The first major figure of Russian Marxism was Georgi Plekhanov. Underlying the work of Plekhanov was the assumption that Russia, less urbanized and industrialized than Western Europe, had many years to go before society would be ready for proletarian revolution to occur, and a transitional period of a bourgeois democratic regime would be required to replace Tsarism with a socialist and later communist society. (EB)
In Russia, the 1917 October Revolution was the first time any party with an avowedly Marxist orientation, in this case the Bolshevik Party, seized state power. The assumption of state power by the Bolsheviks generated a great deal of practical and theoretical debate within the Marxist movement. Marx predicted that socialism and communism would be built upon foundations laid by the most advanced capitalist development. Russia, however, was one of the poorest countries in Europe with an enormous, largely illiterate peasantry and a minority of industrial workers. Marx had explicitly stated that Russia might be able to skip the stage of bourgeoisie capitalism. Other socialists also believed that a Russian revolution could be the precursor of workers' revolutions in the West.
The moderate Mensheviks opposed Lenin's Bolshevik plan for socialist revolution before capitalism was more fully developed. The Bolsheviks' successful rise to power was based upon the slogans "peace, bread, and land" and "All power to the Soviets", slogans which tapped the massive public desire for an end to Russian involvement in the First World War, the peasants' demand for land reform, and popular support for the Soviets.
The usage of the terms "communism" and "socialism" shifted after 1917, when the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communist Party and installed a single party regime devoted to the implementation of socialist policies under Leninism. The Second International had dissolved in 1916 over national divisions, as the separate national parties that composed it did not maintain a unified front against the war, instead generally supporting their respective nation's role. Lenin thus created the Third International (Comintern) in 1919 and sent the Twenty-one Conditions, which included democratic centralism, to all European socialist parties willing to adhere. In France, for example, the majority of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party split in 1921 to form the French Section of the Communist International (SFIC). Henceforth, the term "Communism" was applied to the objective of the parties founded under the umbrella of the Comintern. Their program called for the uniting of workers of the world for revolution, which would be followed by the establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat as well as the development of a socialist economy. Ultimately, if their program held, there would develop a harmonious classless society, with the withering away of the state.
During the Russian Civil War (1918–1922), the Bolsheviks nationalized all productive property and imposed a policy of war communism, which put factories and railroads under strict government control, collected and rationed food, and introduced some bourgeois management of industry. After three years of war and the 1921 Kronstadt rebellion, Lenin declared the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1921, which was to give a "limited place for a limited time to capitalism." The NEP lasted until 1928, when Joseph Stalin achieved party leadership, and the introduction of the first Five Year Plan spelled the end of it. Following the Russian Civil War, the Bolsheviks formed in 1922 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or Soviet Union, from the former Russian Empire.
Following Lenin's democratic centralism, the Communist parties were organized on a hierarchical basis, with active cells of members as the broad base; they were made up only of elite cadres approved by higher members of the party as being reliable and completely subject to party discipline.
After World War II, Communists consolidated power in Eastern Europe, and in 1949, the Communist Party of China (CPC) led by Mao Zedong established the People's Republic of China, which would later follow its own ideological path of Communist development. Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, and Mozambique were among the other countries in the Third World that adopted or imposed a pro-Communist government at some point. Although never formally unified as a single political entity, by the early 1980s almost one-third of the world's population lived in Communist states, including the former Soviet Union and People's Republic of China. By comparison, the British Empire had ruled up to one-quarter of the world's population at its greatest extent.
Communist states such as the Soviet Union and China succeeded in becoming industrial and technological powers, challenging the capitalists' powers in the arms race and space race and military conflicts.
Cold War years
By virtue of the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War in 1945, the Soviet Army had occupied nations in both Eastern Europe and East Asia; as a result, communism as a movement spread to many new countries. This expansion of communism both in Europe and Asia gave rise to a few different branches of its own, such as Maoism.
Communism had been vastly strengthened by the winning of many new nations into the sphere of Soviet influence and strength in Eastern Europe. Governments modeled on Soviet Communism took power with Soviet assistance in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania. A Communist government was also created under Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia, but Tito's independent policies led to the expulsion of Yugoslavia from the Cominform, which had replaced the Comintern. Titoism, a new branch in the world communist movement, was labeled deviationist. Albania also became an independent Communist nation after World War II.
By 1950, the Chinese Communists held all of Mainland China, thus controlling the most populous nation in the world. Other areas where rising Communist strength provoked dissension and in some cases led to actual fighting through conventional and guerrilla warfare include the Korean War, Laos, many nations of the Middle East and Africa, and notably succeeded in the case of the Vietnam War against the military power of the United States and its allies. With varying degrees of success, Communists attempted to unite with nationalist and socialist forces against what they saw as Western imperialism in these poor countries.
Fear of communism
With the exception of the Soviet Union's, China's and the Italian resistance movement's great contribution in World War II, communism was seen as a rival, and a threat to western democracies and capitalism for most of the twentieth century. This rivalry peaked during the Cold War, as the world's two remaining superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, polarized most of the world into two camps of nations (characterized in the West as "The Free World" vs. "Behind the Iron Curtain"); supported the spread of their economic and political systems (capitalism and democracy vs. communism); strengthened their military power, developed new weapon systems and stockpiled nuclear weapons; competed with each other in space exploration; and even fought each other through proxy client nations.
Near the beginning of the Cold War, on February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy from Wisconsin accused 205 Americans working in the State Department of being "card-carrying Communists". The fear of communism in the U.S. spurred aggressive investigations and the red-baiting, blacklisting, jailing and deportation of people suspected of following Communist or other left-wing ideology. Many famous actors and writers were put on a "blacklist" from 1950 to 1954, which meant they would not be hired and would be subject to public disdain.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the Soviet Union and relaxed central control, in accordance with reform policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). The Soviet Union did not intervene as Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary all abandoned Communist rule by 1990. In 1991, the Soviet Union itself dissolved.
By the beginning of the 21st century, states controlled by Communist parties under a single-party system include the People's Republic of China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and informally North Korea. Communist parties, or their descendant parties, remain politically important in many countries. President Dimitris Christofias of Cyprus is a member of the Progressive Party of Working People, but the country is not run under single-party rule. In South Africa, the Communist Party is a partner in the ANC-led government. In India, communists lead the governments of three states, with a combined population of more than 115 million. In Nepal, communists hold a majority in the parliament.
The People's Republic of China has reassessed many aspects of the Maoist legacy; and the People's Republic of China, Laos, Vietnam, and, to a far lesser degree, Cuba have reduced state control of the economy in order to stimulate growth. The People's Republic of China runs Special Economic Zones dedicated to market-oriented enterprise, free from central government control. Several other communist states have also attempted to implement market-based reforms, including Vietnam.
Theories within Marxism as to why communism in Eastern Europe was not achieved after socialist revolutions pointed to such elements as the pressure of external capitalist states, the relative backwardness of the societies in which the revolutions occurred, and the emergence of a bureaucratic stratum or class that arrested or diverted the transition press in its own interests. (Scott and Marshall, 2005) Marxist critics of the Soviet Union, most notably Trotsky, referred to the Soviet system, along with other Communist states, as "degenerated" or "deformed workers' states", arguing that the Soviet system fell far short of Marx's communist ideal and he claimed the working class was politically dispossessed. The ruling stratum of the Soviet Union was held to be a bureaucratic caste, but not a new ruling class, despite their political control. Anarchists who adhere to Participatory economics claim that the Soviet Union became dominated by powerful intellectual elites who in a capitalist system crown the proletariat’s labor on behalf of the bourgeoisie.
Non-Marxists, in contrast, have often applied the term to any society ruled by a Communist Party and to any party aspiring to create a society similar to such existing nation-states. In the social sciences, societies ruled by Communist Parties are distinct for their single party control and their socialist economic bases. While some social and political scientists applied the concept of "totalitarianism" to these societies, others identified possibilities for independent political activity within them, and stressed their continued evolution up to the point of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its allies in Eastern Europe during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
A diverse array of writers and political activists have published criticism of communism, such as:
- Soviet bloc dissidents Lech Wałęsa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Václav Havel;
- Social theorists Hannah Arendt, Raymond Aron, Ralf Dahrendorf, Seymour Martin Lipset, and Karl Wittfogel;
- Economists Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Milton Friedman;
- Historians and social scientists Robert Conquest, Stéphane Courtois, Richard Pipes, and R. J. Rummel;
- Anti-Stalinist leftists Ignazio Silone, George Orwell, Saul Alinsky, Richard Wright, Arthur Koestler, and Bernard-Henri Levy;
- Russian-born novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand
- Philosophers Leszek Kołakowski and Karl Popper.
Part of this criticism is on the policies adopted by one-party states ruled by Communist parties (known as "Communist states"). Critics are specially focused on their economic performance compared to market based economies. Their human rights records are thought to be responsible for the flight of refugees from communist states, and are alleged by some scholars to be responsible for famines, purges and warfare resulting in deaths far in excess of previous empires, capitalist or Axis regimes.
Some writers, such as Courtois, argue that the actions of Communist states were the inevitable (though sometimes unintentional) result of Marxist principles; thus, these authors present the events occurring in those countries, particularly under Stalin and Mao, as an argument against Marxism itself. Some critics were former Marxists, such as Wittfogel, who applied Marx's concept of "Oriental despotism" to Communist states such as the Soviet Union, Silone, Wright and Koestler (among other writers) who contributed essays to the book The God that Failed (the title refers not to the Christian God but to Marxism). Czesław Miłosz, author of the influential essay The Captive Mind, was an example of a sceptic holding a party post, that of cultural attaché.
There have also been more direct criticisms of Marxism, such as criticisms of the labor theory of value or Marx's predictions. Nevertheless, Communist parties outside of the Warsaw Pact, such as the Communist parties in Western Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, differed greatly.
Economic criticisms of communal and/or government property are described under criticisms of socialism.
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- ^ Daniel Jonah Goldhagen. Worse Than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity. PublicAffairs, 2009. ISBN 1586487698 p. 54: "...in the past century communist regimes, led and inspired by the Soviet Union and China, have killed more people than any other regime type."
- ^ Benjamin A. Valentino. Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the Twentieth Century. Cornell University Press, 2004. p.91 ISBN 0801439655
- ^ Nicolas Werth, Karel Bartošek, Jean-Louis Panne, Jean-Louis Margolin, Andrzej Paczkowski, Stéphane Courtois, The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, Harvard University Press, 1999, hardcover, 858 pages, ISBN 978-0-674-07608-2
- ^ Wittfogel, Karl Oriental Despotism, Vintage, 1981
- ^ Crossman, Richard, ed., The God That Failed. Harper & Bros, 1949
- ^ Czeslaw Milosz, Poet and Nobelist Who Wrote of Modern Cruelties, Dies at 93, The New York Times, accessed 3 January 2010.
- Reason in Revolt: Marxism and Modern Science By Alan Woods and Ted Grant
- Forman, James D., "Communism from Marx's Manifesto to 20th century Reality", New York, Watts. 1972. ISBN 978-0-531-02571-0
- Books on Communism, Socialism and Trotskyism
- Furet, Francois, Furet, Deborah Kan (Translator), "The Passing of an Illusion: The Idea of Communism in the Twentieth Century", University of Chicago Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-226-27341-9
- Daniels, Robert Vincent, "A Documentary History of Communism and the World: From Revolution to Collapse", University Press of New England, 1994, ISBN 978-0-87451-678-4
- Marx, Karl and Friedrich Engels, "Communist Manifesto", (Mass Market Paperback - REPRINT), Signet Classics, 1998, ISBN 978-0-451-52710-3
- Dirlik, Arif, "Origins of Chinese Communism", Oxford University Press, 1989, ISBN 978-0-19-505454-5
- Beer, Max, "The General History of Socialism and Social Struggles Volumes 1 & 2", New York, Russel and Russel, Inc. 1957
- Adami, Stefano, 'Communism', in Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies, ed. Gaetana Marrone - P.Puppa, Routledge, New York- London, 2006
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Communism|
|Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Communism|
|Look up communism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- European Parliament resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism
- In Defense of Marxism
- Anarchy Archives Includes the works of anarchist communists.
- Libertarian Communist Library
- Marxists Internet Archive
- The Mu Particle in "Communism", a short etymological essay by Wu Ming.
- Open Society Archives, one of the biggest history of communism and cold war archives in the world.
- Islam and Communism
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How to Create an Aerial Panorama from Google Earth
Peter Murphy (one of the leading lights in the panoramic world) sent us a email on Monday with the thought of creating panoramas from a Digital Earth. The concept is simple - grab a series of screen shots while rotating above the earth and then stitch the images as if they were normal photographs.
A day is a long time in Internet based tutorials and this is now an update of the original as a result of Gaby, a digital urban reader, writing a kmz tool to dramatically simplify the process of capturing screen shots. The whole process should take approximately 40 minutes.
The first step is to go to Gabys Kmz Panorama Capture Tool and type in the Lat/Long of the location you want to capture - in our case above the Millennium Dome in London.
To create panoramas it is important to rotate the camera around the nodal point of the lens in order to minimise any parallax error as the scene is captured. Previous to Gaby's tool the best way was to use the 'Flight Simulator Mode' by clicking 'Ctrl-G'. Combining this with a 'left mouse click and drag' action you can look around the scene and thus simulate a panoramic camera.
You can now simply load up the kmz file which is output from your Lat/Long co-ordinates and a series of placemarks are presented in the Google Earth, each representing camera locations. Select each placemark and wait for the streaming in Google Earth to reach 100%, now use File - 'Save Image' and call your image image1.jpg. Go through this for each placemark and you should end up with 28 images, each saved in sequence - ie image 1.jpg to image 29.jpg.
Once you have your numbered screengrabs you now need to stitch them, we used Stitcher from RealViz, you can download a trial version from the RealViz website. If you are a PTGui user we have created a Template to automatically stitch your images. Download the Template and follow these steps:
1) Open PTGui and click Select Source Images - Navigate to where you saved your screengrabs and select all of them.
2) A Camera Lens Dialoge will appear, simply click 'Cancel'. Your images will then load into PTGui.
3) Click File 'Apply Template' and select the location of the GoogleEarthTemplate.pts saved from above.
Your images will now automatically align, you can now complete the process by selecting the 'Advanced' button in the top right hand side of PTGui and then 'Create Panorama'. Save your panorama as a Tif, we normally output at 6000x3000 pixels. Advanced users of PTGui can add their own Control Points and stitch as normal, lens parameters should be 30mm Rectilinear.
To stitch the images you can also use the AutoStitch feature of RealViz to simply load in the images and automatically create a panorama. It should be noted that the curve of the earth will not stitch perfectly due to parallax error resulting from the Flight Simulator mode of Google Earth, the image left illustrates this (click for a larger version).
Fixing the parallax's error is simply a case of slightly cropping off the top of the resulting panorama to give us the image as below, this applies to both PTGui and Realviz Stitcher outputs:
As Google Earth doesn't include clouds we can now add them in as a new layer in photoshop. We used a panoramic image of clouds from TurboSquid, these used to be free but are now $5 each. If you don't have a cloud panorama then you can always create your own using Terragen, there is a great tutorial on how to do this here.
Adding the clouds gives you the final panorama over London (click for a larger view) :
Changing the projection of the resulting image allows a number of views such a hyperbolic image of London from Google Earth:
Finally to create a Quicktime Virtual Reality scene from the image - so you can look around the panorama - download Pano2QTVR.
The resulting QTVR can be viewed here (2.8Mb).
Of note in the final scene is how the Google copyright crops up in various places in the image. This is due to each screengrab containing the Google overlay and depending on the overlaps some are automatically blended out in RealViz and some remain... *update - using PTGui all copyright seems to be removed, this opens up the question on the legality of creating panoramas? *
Peter has used NASA's Worldwind to the same effect, see here for his panorama of the Southern Highlands (Quicktime format).
If you create any panoramas using Google Earth we would love to hear from you...
Panoramas submitted so far cover
London, New York, Moscow, Belgium, Paris and Sydney.
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(Acute Bronchitis; Lower Respiratory Tract Infection)
|Bronchi of Lungs|
|Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.|
- Acute bronchitis—This is a sudden onset of symptoms. It only lasts a short time and lung function is fully recovered.
- Chronic bronchitis—This is a serious, long-term condition. It causes blockage and damage of the lungs. It is often the result of many years of cigarette smoking.
- Viral or bacterial infections
- Irritation from smoke
Breathing in certain irritants (usually in a work setting) such as:
- Vegetable dusts
- Increased sputum production
- Trouble breathing
to treat pain and fever
- Note: Aspirin is not recommended for children or teens with a current or recent viral infection. This is because of the risk of Reye's syndrome. Ask your doctor which other medicines are safe for your child.
Expectorants or cough suppressants
- There are some concerns about the safety of over-the-counter cough and cold products in children. The FDA recommends that these products not be used in children less than 2 years old. The FDA also supports not using them in children less than 4 years old.
- Albuterol to help open airways if there are signs of breathing difficulty
- Herbs and supplements—Pelargonium sidoides extract may help resolve symptoms in patients with acute bronchitis
- Increased fluid intake
- Cool mist humidifier—to ease breathing
- Avoid contact with people who have respiratory viral or bacterial infections.
- Stop smoking or never start.
- Avoid passive smoke.
- Avoid exposure to irritants in the air.
American Academy of Family Physicians Family Doctor http://familydoctor.org
American Lung Association http://www.lung.org
The Canadian Lung Association http://www.lung.ca
The College of Family Physicians of Canada http://www.cfpc.ca
Acute bronchitis. American Academy of Family Physicians Family Doctor website. Available at: http://familydoctor.org/familydoctor/en/diseases-conditions/acute-bronchitis.html. Updated February 2010. Accessed March 29, 2013.
Acute bronchitis. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php. Updated February 8, 2013. Accessed March 29, 2013.
Know when antibiotics work: Bronchitis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/getsmart/antibiotic-use/URI/bronchitis.html. Updated May 1, 2012. Accessed March 29, 2013.
Smith S, Fahey T, et al. Antibiotics for acute bronchitis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009;CD000245.
Nonprescription cough and cold medicine use in children. Medwatch: 2007 Safety Alerts for Drugs, Biologics, Medical Devices, and Dietary Supplements. US Food and Drug Administration website. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm152691.htm. Accessed: March 29, 2013.
1/4/2011 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed/what.php: Timmer A, Gunther J, Rucker G, Motschall E, Antes G, Kern WV. Pelargonium sidoides extract for acute respiratory tract infections. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;(3):CD006323.
- Reviewer: Brian Randall, MD
- Review Date: 02/2013 -
- Update Date: 03/29/2013 -
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Dragons are creatures with nearly unlimited life spans. They can survive for long periods of time, and no one has found a dragon that has died of old age. Adolescence is usually marked by the growth of a hatchling’s wings, although not all breeds of dragons grow wings and some breeds have other traits that indicate the beginning of maturation. Once they hit adolescence, hatchlings change quickly, maturing to their full forms in only 2 years.
Dragons don’t communicate with each other verbally, but they will growl to scare off predators and frighten prey. Young dragons will emit an extremely high-pitched squeal when they are frightened. To communicate, they use telepathy with each other and to speak to other creatures.
Pygmy dragons are the smallest breed of true dragons, being the size of a small cat. They are often found around concentrated populations of dragons, relying on their larger brethren to ward away potential predators and to leave generous scraps. As such, the majority of a pygmy’s diet is scavenged, though they do hunt songbirds and small mammals when the pickings are slim. Due to their tiny size, pygmies do not breed with other varieties of dragons, but select mates within their breed.
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The concept of disability has changed significantly through history. At one point, disability was seen as the result of sin, either by the person with the disability or his or her parents. Disability was associated with guilt and shame, and people with disabilities were hidden away.
Merriam-Websterís definition of disability: limitation in the ability to pursue an occupation because of a physical or mental impairment; lack of legal qualification to do something; or a disqualification, restriction or disadvantage. Most of the time, we apply these definitions to a person who ďhasĒ a disability. What if it is society that has the disability, not the individual?
With the advent of modern medicine, a medical understanding of disability developed. In a medical model of disability, the person with a disability is seen as having an illness, which presumably should be cured. The person with a disability, as someone who is sick or diseased, is excused from normal life and responsibilities such as working, family obligations and household maintenance.
The approach of the Social Security Administration supports the idea of disability as something that excludes one from a normal life. To fit the administrationís definition of disability, a person must be able to prove that he or she is incapable of gainful employment. The inference is that by having a disability, one remains outside mainstream society.
Yet there is another way to view disability. This view considers disability as a normal part of life. After all, most of us will have a disability, whether temporary or permanent, at some time in our life. As many people with disabilities will attest, their disabilities are integral to what makes them who they are. It isnít the disability that needs to be changed. The physical and attitudinal barriers people with disabilities face are what need to change.
For example, people who are unable to walk may still be able to move around as much as anyone with the use of wheelchairs and other assistive technology. The inability to use their limbs may be less of a limitation than heavy doors that donít open automatically or stairs that keep them from a building.
Similarly, culture and environment can dictate whether something is a disability. In a culture where healers and shamans regularly interact with a spirit world, hearing voices isnít a disability. Only in societies where reading is essential to daily functioning is a learning disability recognized. In our society, a vision impairment that necessitates wearing glasses isnít considered a disability, but a mobility impairment that requires a person to use a walker is. Disability is defined by context. It follows, then, that what makes something a disability is external to the individual.
If we presumed that people with disabilities were able to live full and enriching lives, participate fully in their communities and have adult responsibilities, couldnít we make it so by removing the societal barriers that we create? When we view disability as a natural part of life, our entire approach to disabilities has to change.
Tara Kiene is the director of case management with Community Connections Inc.
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16 Jun 2008: Report
The Limits of Climate Modeling
As the public seeks answers about the future impacts of climate change, some climatologists are growing increasingly uneasy about the localized predictions they are being asked to make.
Now that the world largely accepts our climate is changing, and that humans are to blame, we all want to know what the future holds for our own backyard. How bad will it get? Flood or drought? Feast or famine? Super-hurricane or Mediterranean balm?
The statisticians and climatologists who brought us the big picture are now under huge pressure to get local. But they are growing increasingly concerned about whether their existing models and computers are up to the job. They organized a summit in Reading, England, in May to discuss their concerns. As Brian Hoskins of Reading University, one of the British government’s top climate advisers, put it: “We’ve worked out the global scale. But that’s the easy problem. We don’t yet understand the smaller scale. The pressure is on for answers, and we can’t wait around for decades.”
Already, policymakers are starting to take at face value model predictions of — to take a few examples — warming of 18 degrees Fahrenheit (7.8 degrees Celsius) or more in Alaska, and super-droughts in the southwestern United States, but little warming at all in central states.
But is the task doable? Some climate modelers say that even with the extraordinary supercomputing power now available, the answer is no. That, by being lured into offering local forecasts for decades ahead, they are setting themselves up for a fall that could undermine the credibility of the climate models.
Lenny Smith, an American statistician now working on climate modeling at the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom, is fearful. “Our models are being over-interpreted and misinterpreted,” he says. “They are getting better; I don't want to trash them. But policy-makers think we know much more than we actually know. We need to drop the pretense that they are nearly perfect.”
There are two areas of concern. First, how accurate are the global models at mimicking atmospheric processes? And second, are they capable of zooming in on particular areas to give reliable pictures of the future where you live?
Nobody much doubts that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere will cause warming. It would be a contradiction of 200 years of physics if they did not. But exactly how much warming will occur — and how it will be distributed across the globe and impact other climatic features like rainfall — depends on feedbacks in the climate system, the oceans, and the natural carbon cycle. The influence of some of these feedbacks is much less clear.
One big issue is the influence of clouds. The models are pretty hopeless at predicting future cloud cover. And we can’t even be sure whether, overall, extra clouds would warm or cool the planet. (Clouds may cool us in the day, but will usually keep us warm at night.) In the language of Donald Rumsfeld, we would call this problem a “known unknown.”
And there may also be “unknown unknowns.” For instance, a paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters
in March reported finding fossilized ferns in central Siberia that suggest that in the late Cretaceous era, temperatures there were like modern-day Florida. Yet current climate models predict that the area should have had average temperatures around zero Celsius. The British climate modeler involved in the study, Paul Valdes of Bristol University, says this snapshot from the era of the dinosaurs could mean that “the internal physics of our climate models are wrong.” That the models may also be drastically underestimating likely warming in the 21st century.
This uncertainty at the heart of the models seems surprising when the predictions of most global climate models seem to be in agreement. For more than a decade they have estimated that a doubling of carbon dioxide in the air will warm the world by between 1.5 and 4.5 degrees Celsius.
Some experts think the consensus of the models is bogus. “The modelers tend to tweak them to align them. The process is very incestuous,” one leading British analyst on uncertainty in models told me.
Another, Jerry Ravetz, fellow at Oxford University’s James Martin Institute for Science and Civilisation, says: “The modelers are trained to be very myopic, and not to understand the uncertainty within their models. They become very skilled at solving the little problems and ignoring the big ones.”
These are serious charges. But the custodians of the big models say this is really a communications problem between them and the outside world. Gavin Schmidt of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which runs one of the world’s top climate models, says modelers themselves have a “tacit knowledge” of the uncertainties inherent in their work. But this knowledge rarely surfaces in public discussions, resulting in “an aura of exactitude that can be misleading.”
Steve Rayner, director of the James Martin Institute, says, “What climate models do well is give a broad picture. What they are absolutely lousy at is giving specific forecasts for particular places or times.” And yet that is what modelers are increasingly doing.
At a meeting at Cambridge University in Britain last summer, Larry Smith singled out for criticism the British government's Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, which runs another of the world’s premier climate models. He accuses the Centre of making detailed climate projections for regions of Britain, when global climate models disagree strongly about how climate change will affect the islands.
James Murphy, Hadley’s head of climate prediction, says: “I find it far-fetched that a planner is going to rush off with a climate scientist’s probability distribution and make an erroneous decision because they assumed they could trust some percentile of the distribution to its second decimal point.”
But some say the Hadley Centre invites just such a response in some of its leaflets. One of its reports, “New Science for Managing Climate Risks,” distributed to policymakers at the Bali climate conference last December, included “climate model predictions” forecasting that by 2030 the River Orinoco’s flow will have declined by 18.7 percent, the Zambezi by 34.9 percent, and the Amazon by 13.4 percent.
Many in the modeling community are growing wary of such spurious certainty. Last year, a panel on climate modeling assembled by the UN’s World Climate Research Program under the chairmanship of Jagadish Shukla of the George Mason University at Calverton, Maryland, concluded that current models “have serious limitations in simulating regional features, for example rainfall, mid-latitude storms, organized tropical convection, ocean mixing, and ecosystem dynamics.”
Regional projections, the panel said, “are sufficiently uncertain to compromise the goal of providing society with reliable predictions of regional climate change.” Many of the predictions were “laughable,” according to the panel. Concern is greatest about predicting climate in the tropics, including hurricane formation. This seriously undermines the credence that can be placed on a headline-grabbing prediction in May that the future might see fewer Atlantic hurricanes (albeit sometimes more intense).
This might not matter too much if politicians and policymakers had a healthily skeptical view of climate models. But most do not, a meeting of modelers held in Oxford heard in February. Policymakers often hide behind models and modelers, using them to claim scientific probity for their actions. One speaker likened modern climate modelers to the ancient oracles. “They are part of the tradition of goats’ entrails and tea leaves. They are a way of objectifying advice, cloaking sensible ideas in a false aura of scientific certainty.”
We saw that when European governments at the recent Bali climate conference cited the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as reporting that keeping carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere below 450 parts per million would prevent warming above 2 degrees Celsius. And that that was a “safe” level of warming. Neither statement is in any IPCC reports, and its scientists have repeatedly stated that what might be regarded as a safe degree of warming is ultimately a political and not a scientific question.
None of this should be taken to suggest either that climate models are not valuable tools, or that they are exaggerating the significance of man-made climate change. In fact, they may well inadvertently be under-estimating the pace of change. Most models suggest that climate change in the coming decades will be gradual — a smooth line on a graph. But our growing knowledge of the history of natural climate change suggests that change often happens in sudden leaps.
For instance, there was a huge step-change in the world’s climate 4,200 years ago. Catastrophic droughts simultaneously shattered human societies across the Middle East, India, China, and the interior of North America. “Models have great difficulty in predicting such sudden events, and in explaining them,” says Euan Nisbet of Royal Holloway, the University of London. “But geology tells us that catastrophe has happened in the past, and is likely to happen again.”
As Pasky Pascual of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put it at the Oxford meeting: “All models are wrong; some are wronger.” But they are our best handle on likely climate change in the coming decades.
Acting on the findings of Shukla’s panel, modelers from around the world met at the summit in Reading in May to “prepare a blueprint to launch a revolution in climate prediction.” They said that to meet the demands for reliable local forecasts they needed more than a thousand times more computing power than they currently have, and called for the establishment of a new billion-dollar global climate modeling center, a “Manhattan Project for climate,” to deliver the goods.
POSTED ON 16 Jun 2008 IN
Biodiversity Climate Science & Technology Asia Europe North America
| 3.002914 |
and German Socialism
Written by: Hanna C. Sanchez
Rosa Luxemburg was the youngest daughter of a middle class family in Poland. Although she learned about politics from her father who often read from the newspaper and discussed politics with his family, her commitment to socialism emerged only from herself. Originally from Poland, Rosa greatly influenced the Socialist movement in Germany through her writings, ideals, and actions.
Her views of a revolutionary party differed from the classic Leninist beliefs and she is often referred to as the democratic alternative to the authoritarian party. However, Rosa was not an advocate of democracy; rather, she saw democracy as a stepping stone on the path to her socialist revolution. She is the best known revolutionary theorist to actually experience a western revolution, even though the German revolution of 1918-19 ultimately failed. Rosa was an orthodox Marxist and believed the revolution would occur by the working class taking and exercising political power. Furthermore, the workers would have to be educated and possess class-consciousness in order to execute successfully a revolution, and this education would result from their experiences with the government. According to Rosa, the revolution would occur as a series of events in which the forces of capitalism gradually weakened as the workers gained power. Rosa also disagreed with revisionists such as Bernstein in that she felt reforms would serve to educate the proletariat, which in turn would lead to the revolution.
She initially became involved with movements in high school in Warsaw, and continued her involvement in the Polish Social movement after she graduated. Her work was so extensive that in 1889, she heard that the Russian authorities that controlled most of Poland might arrest her. As a result, Rosa decided to leave the country and was smuggled across the border by a Catholic priest. She went to Zurich, Switzerland, which was the center for many eastern European émigrés. At the university in Zurich, Rosa earned her degree of Doctor of Law in 1897 and wrote a thesis on the industrial development of Poland. Her educational background in history and political economics served as the foundation for work after her schooling.
While in Zurich, Rosa became even more involved in the socialist movement. With Leo Jogiches, who became her lover, she co-founded the Polish Social Democratic Party (SDKP). Although the SDKP was not very successful during the 1890s, Rosa became well known throughout the international socialist movement. Members of the nationalistic Polish Socialist Party criticized Rosa for her position that Socialist parties were not interested in Poland’s struggle for independence, and this attracted much attention to her.
In 1898, she married Gustav Lubeck and moved to Berlin. Her marriage was not one of love, as her relationship with Jogiches continued. Rosa’s primary goal was to gain German citizenship through the marriage in order to prevent her deportation as an undesirable alien. In Germany, she became involved with the German Socialist Party (SPD) mainly as an expert on Polish affairs. She was particularly valuable to the SPD since it aimed to establish itself in Polish areas under German control. From the start of her work with the SPD, Rosa made it clear that she did not want to be limited in her work and she maintained a position in the mainstream of German socialist politics.
Rosa achieved a prominent position in the SPD and was widely published. Her main argument during the period of 1899 to 1904 was the necessity of a connection between the daily activity of the trade union movement and the Socialist party and the long-term aim of revolution. However, she had no concrete plans on how to accomplish this. Furthermore, she did not have specific suggestions on how to speed up the path to a revolution nor did she know what form the revolution would take.
The Russian Revolution of 1905 led Rosa to believe that it would radicalize the socialist movement all over Europe and not just in Russia. In her explanations of the Russian Revolution, she mentioned for the first time that bloodshed would be encountered in the revolution. Although she was excited by the Russian Revolution, she was also frustrated by the fact that it was taking place just east of Poland while she was in Germany. Despite her work as a link between Russian and western European socialists, she would have preferred to be in the middle of the revolution that was already taking place.
In March 1906, Rosa was arrested along with Jogiches. Her health worsened while in prison, and her state helped persuade the government to release her on a bail of 3000 rubles. After her release, she received permission to leave Germany and in August went to Finland, stopping by St. Petersburg where she visited Trotsky and Parvus. In Finland, Rosa visited Lenin and wrote The Mass Strike, in which she interpreted the 1905 Russian revolution and demonstrated how the lessons of the events were applicable to all of Europe. Unfortunately, her writings did not have its intended effect since it was presented at a time when most Socialists were no longer willing to discuss a revolution.
Rosa returned to Germany in 1906 and was disappointed to discover that there was little enthusiasm over the Russian Revolution. The party congress in 1906 stated that while there may have been possibilities for a revolution, they no longer were present. Furthermore, she found herself increasingly alone in her opinions in the party. Although the SPD agreed with her that the revolution was not likely to be just one big event, it would not go along with her belief that the revolution would be a series of events.
As a result of the 1905 Revolution, she had refined her beliefs of the revolution. She felt that the economic structure around her was becoming increasingly contradictory and more serious strikes would break out because of the economic situation. These strikes would be countered by governmental opposition and repression, which would educate the workers politically. This would lead to the gradual politicization of the entire strike movement, although the workers’ strategy would still be to economically paralyze the whole country. Although the government would subdue each strike, each strike would reemerge stronger and more determined than the previous one. The series of mass strikes would ultimately undermine the capitalist order as well as educate the proletariat of the course that history was taking. However, most socialist parties disagreed with Rosa’s view of the revolution and the role of mass strikes. They believed that the voters would bring them political power and the trade union movement would provide some economic power.
Rosa’s appeal and popularity reached a pinnacle at the start of 1914. She went on trial for a statement she made the previous year in which she renounced fighting against the French and was subsequently sentenced to one year in prison. Not only did she gain attention through this episode, but Rosa also came to represent the SPD persecuted by the government.
The First World War broke out while she was in prison, and she was surprised by it. The brutality of the war horrified her and she worked with some groups to end the war, even though she did help pass a resolution for those who wanted to use the war to further the revolution. She spent most of WWI in prison and accomplished a great deal of work. Among her writings, Rosa referred to the Russian Revolution as the mightiest event of the World War, but felt that its ultimate effects depended on what western nations afterwards. She criticized the lack of political freedom in the Russian Revolution and the German socialists who would have to incite their own revolution in order for the one in Russia to be effective and prolonged. Rosa acknowledged the possibility of the failure of the revolution and further believed that failure would be better if success would be accomplished with the compromise of principles. Her own group, the Spartacist League, was almost insignificant in the German Revolution of 1918. The revolution took place in Berlin on November 9, the day that Rosa was released from prison.
In January 1919, the Independent Socialists, Communists, and other radicals joined to protest against the government. However, it became apparent that the government would not fall and all groups except the Communists consequently separated themselves from the protest. Rosa led the Spartacist League with Karl Liebknecht and together they became the leaders of the Spartacist Rebellion. They were later arrested after a resistance to the government was suppressed. Rosa was interrogated, beaten, shot, and then thrown into the Landwehr Canal in Berlin.
Rosa became a martyr of socialism as a result of her death at the hands of the government. Even while some of her works were criticized, she was still remembered by both the Socialists and Communists.
Bradley, Michael E. “Rosa Luxemburg’s Theory of the Growth of the Capitalist Economy.” Social Science Quarterly. Vol. 52 (2), 1971. Pgs. 318-330.
Reynolds, David B. “Rediscovering Western Marxism’s Heritage: Rosa Luxemburg and the Role of the Party.” Research and Society. Vol. 3, 1990. Pgs. 1-34.
Richards, Michael D. “Rosa Luxemburg- Heroine of the Left.” History Today. Vol. 22 (2), 1972. Pgs. 103-110.
Weitz, Eric D. “’Rosa Luxemburg Belongs to Us!’ German Communism and the Luxemburg Legacy.” Central European History. Vol. 27 (1), 1994. Pgs. 27-64.
| 3.936365 |
Temporal range: 0Ma Recent
|Range of Chinchilla lanigera and Chinchilla chinchilla.
Chinchillas are crepuscular rodents, slightly larger and more robust than ground squirrels, native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies at high altitudes (up to 15,000 ft/4,270 m). Historically, they lived in the Andes of Bolivia, Chile, and Peru, but today colonies in the wild remain only in Peru and Chile. Along with their relatives, viscachas, they make up the family Chinchillidae.
The animal (whose name literally means "little chincha") is named after the Chincha people of the Andes, who once wore its dense, velvet-like fur. By the end of the 19th century, chinchillas had become quite rare due to hunting for their ultra-soft fur. Most chinchillas currently used by the fur industry for clothing and other accessories are farm-raised.
The two living species of chinchilla are Chinchilla chinchilla (formerly known as Chinchilla brevicaudata) and Chinchilla lanigera. There is little noticeable difference between the species, except C. chinchilla has a shorter tail, a thicker neck and shoulders, and shorter ears than C. lanigera. The former species is currently facing extinction; the latter, though rare, can be found in the wild. Domesticated chinchillas are thought to have come from the C. lanigera species.
In their native habitats, chinchillas live in burrows or crevices in rocks. They are agile jumpers and can jump up to 6 ft (1.8 m). Predators in the wild include birds of prey, skunks, felines, snakes and canines. Chinchillas have a variety of defensive tactics, including spraying urine and releasing fur if bitten. In the wild, chinchillas have been observed eating plant leaves, fruits, seeds, and small insects.
In nature, chinchillas live in social groups that resemble colonies, but are properly called herds. They can breed any time of the year. Their gestation period is 111 days, longer than most rodents. Due to this long pregnancy, chinchillas are born fully furred and with eyes open. Litters are usually small in number, predominantly two.
Roles with humans
The international trade in chinchilla fur goes back to the 16th century. Their fur is popular in the fur trade due to its extremely soft feel, which is caused by the sprouting of 60 hairs from each hair follicle, on average. The color is usually very even, which makes it ideal for small garments or the lining of large garments, though some large garments can be made entirely from the fur. A single, full-length coat made from chinchilla fur may require as many as 150 pelts, as chinchillas are relatively small. Their use for fur led to the extinction of one species, and put serious pressure on the other two. Though it is illegal to hunt wild chinchillas, the wild animals are now on the verge of becoming extinct because of continued illegal hunting. Domesticated chinchillas are still bred for this use.
Chinchillas as pets
Chinchillas require extensive exercise. Their teeth need to be worn down, as they grow continuously and can prevent them from eating if they become overgrown. Wooden sticks, pumice stone and chew toys are good options, but conifer and citrus woods (such as cedar or orange) should be avoided because of the high content of resins, oils and phenols that are toxic for chinchillas. Birch, willow, apple, manzanita or kiln-dried pine woods are all safe for chinchillas to chew.
Chinchillas lack the ability to sweat; therefore, if temperatures get above 25°C (80°F), they could get overheated and may suffer from heat stroke. Chinchillas dissipate heat by routing blood to their large ears, so red ears signal overheating.
Chinchillas can be found in a variety of colors. The only color found in nature is standard gray. The most common other colors are white, black velvet, beige, ebony, violet, and sapphire, and blends of these.
The animals instinctively clean their fur by taking dust baths, in which they roll around in special dust made of fine pumice. In the wild, the dust is formed from fine, ground volcanic rocks. The dust gets into their fur and absorbs oil and dirt. These baths are needed a few times a week. Chinchillas do not bathe in water because the dense fur prevents air-drying, retaining moisture close to the skin, which can cause fungus growth or fur rot. A wet chinchilla must be dried immediately with towels and a no-heat hair dryer. The thick fur resists parasites, such as fleas, and reduces loose dander, making chinchillas hypoallergenic.
Chinchillas eat and drink in very small amounts. In the wild, they eat and digest desert grasses, so cannot efficiently process fatty or high protein foods, or too many green plants. A high quality, hay-based pellet and a constant supply of loose timothy hay will meet all of their dietary needs. Chinchillas' very sensitive gastrointestinal tracts can be easily disrupted, so a healthy diet is important. In a mixed ration, chinchillas may avoid the healthy, high-fiber pellets in favor of items such as raisins and seeds. Fresh vegetables and fruit (with high moisture content) should be avoided, as these can cause bloat, which can be fatal. Sweets and dried fruit treats should be limited to one per day, at the very most. This can lead to diarrhea, or in the long term, diabetes. Nuts should be avoided due to their high fat content. High protein foods and alfalfa hay can cause liver problems and should be limited.
In scientific research
The chinchilla is often used as an animal model in researching the auditory system, because the chinchilla's range of hearing (20 Hz to 30 kHz) and cochlear size is close to that of a human, and the chinchilla cochlea is fairly easy to access. Other research fields in which chinchillas are used as an animal model include the study of Chagas disease, gastrointestinal diseases, pneumonia, and listeriosis, as well as of Yersinia and Pseudomonas infections.
The first scientific study on chinchilla sounds in their social environment was conducted by Dr. Bartl DVM in Germany.
- Viscacha, a rodent similar to a chinchilla
- Woods, C. A. and Kilpatrick, C. W. (2005). Infraorder Hystricognathi. In: D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder (eds), Mammal Species of the World, pp. 1538–1599. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD, USA.
- D'elia, G. & Ojeda, R. (2008). Chinchilla chinchilla. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. Downloaded on 26 March 2011.
- Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. 2011.
- "What Is A Chinchilla?". Davidson Chinchillas. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- Jiménez, Jaime E. (1996). "The extirpation and current status of wild chinchillas Chinchilla lanigera and C. Brevicaudata". Biological Conservation 77: 1. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(95)00116-6.
- "Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)". Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- Chinchillas, Chinchillidae, Chinchilla lanigera, Chinchilla brevicaudata. Animal-world.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- "Is a Chinchilla the pet for me?". Fantastic Chinchillas. Archived from the original on January 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- "The Chinchilla". Chinchilla Lexicon. 2003-05-01. Archived from the original on 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
- Alderton, David. Rodents of the World, 1996, page 20. ISBN 0-8160-3229-7
- Chinchillas Endangered Species Handbook. Endangeredspecieshandbook.org. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- "Teeth". Homepage.ntlworld.com. Archived from the original on May 3, 2008. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
- So what is a safe wood for our pets?. Chinchillas2home.co.uk
- Heat Stroke. Chin-chillas.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- Color Mutation Percentage Charts. Chinchillas.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- Chinchillas: The keystone cops of rodents!. Petstation.com (1995-03-01). Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- Nutrition. Chincare.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- Nutrition and Denatl Health. chincare.com
- PIR: Chinchilla. Pirweb.org. Retrieved on 2011-12-07.
- Bartl, Dr. vet. med. Juliana (2008). Chinchillas. Munich, Germany: GU Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-8338-1165-4
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Opacity is the measure of impenetrability to electromagnetic or other kinds of radiation, especially visible light. In radiative transfer, it describes the absorption and scattering of radiation in a medium, such as a plasma, dielectric, shielding material, glass, etc. An opaque object is neither transparent (allowing all light to pass through) nor translucent (allowing some light to pass through). When light strikes an interface between two substances, in general some may be reflected, some absorbed, some scattered, and the rest transmitted (also see refraction). Reflection can be diffuse, for example light reflecting off a white wall, or specular, for example light reflecting off a mirror. An opaque substance transmits no light, and therefore reflects, scatters, or absorbs all of it. Both mirrors and carbon black are opaque. Opacity depends on the frequency of the light being considered. For instance, some kinds of glass, while transparent in the visual range, are largely opaque to ultraviolet light. More extreme frequency-dependence is visible in the absorption lines of cold gases. Opacity can be quantified in many ways; for example, see the article mathematical descriptions of opacity.
Quantitative definition
The words "opacity" and "opaque" are often used as colloquial terms for objects or media with the properties described above. However, there is also a specific, quantitative definition of "opacity", used in astronomy, plasma physics, and other fields, given here.
In this use, "opacity" is another term for the mass attenuation coefficient (or, depending on context, mass absorption coefficient, the difference is described here) at a particular frequency of electromagnetic radiation.
More specifically, if a beam of light with frequency travels through a medium with opacity and mass density , both constant, then the intensity will be reduced with distance x according to the formula
- x is the distance the light has traveled through the medium
- is the intensity of light remaining at distance x
- is the initial intensity of light, at
For a given medium at a given frequency, the opacity has a numerical value that may range between 0 and infinity, with units of length2/mass.
Planck and Rosseland opacity
It is customary to define the average opacity, calculated using a certain weighting scheme. Planck opacity uses normalized Planck black body radiation energy density distribution as the weighting function, and averages directly. Rosseland opacity (after Svein Rosseland), on the other hand, uses a temperature derivative of Planck distribution (normalized) as the weighting function, and averages ,
The photon mean free path is . The Rosseland opacity is derived in the diffusion approximation to the radiative transport equation. It is valid whenever the radiation field is isotropic over distances comparable to or less than a radiation mean free path, such as in local thermal equilibrium. In practice, the mean opacity for Thomson electron scattering is:
where is the hydrogen mass fraction. For nonrelativistic thermal bremsstrahlung, or free-free transitions, it is:
The Rosseland mean absorption coefficient including both scattering and absorption (also called the extinction coefficient) is:
See also
- Absorption (electromagnetic radiation)
- Mathematical descriptions of opacity
- Molar absorptivity
- Reflection (physics)
- Scattering theory
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Public international law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond domestic legal interpretation and enforcement. Public international law has increased in use and importance vastly over the twentieth century, due to the increase in global trade, environmental deterioration on a worldwide scale, awareness of human rights violations, rapid and vast increases in international transportation and a boom in global communications.
The field of study combines two main branches: the law of nations (jus gentium) and international agreements and conventions (jus inter gentes), which have different foundations and should not be confused.
Public international law should not be confused with "private international law", which is concerned with the resolution of conflict of laws. In its most general sense, international law "consists of rules and principles of general application dealing with the conduct of states and of intergovernmental organizations and with their relations inter se, as well as with some of their relations with persons, whether natural or juridical."
Beginning with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries saw the growth of the concept of the sovereign "nation-state", which consisted of a nation controlled by a centralized system of government. The concept of nationalism became increasingly important as people began to see themselves as citizens of a particular nation with a distinct national identity. Until the mid-19th century, relations between nation-states were dictated by treaty, agreements to behave in a certain way towards another state, unenforceable except by force, and not binding except as matters of honor and faithfulness. But treaties alone became increasingly toothless and wars became increasingly destructive, most markedly towards civilians, and civilized peoples decried their horrors, leading to calls for regulation of the acts of states, especially in times of war.
Perhaps the first instrument of modern public international law was the Lieber Code, passed in 1863 by the Congress of the United States, to govern the conduct of US forces during the United States Civil War and considered to be the first written recitation of the rules and articles of war, adhered to by all civilized nations, the precursor of public international law. Part of the Code follows:
"Military necessity, as understood by modern civilized nations, consists in the necessity of those measures which are indispensable for securing the ends of the war, and which are lawful according to the modern law and usages of war. Military necessity admits of all direct destruction of life or limb of armed enemies, and of other persons whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable in the armed contests of the war; it allows of the capturing of every armed enemy, and every enemy of importance to the hostile government, or of peculiar danger to the captor; it allows of all destruction of property, and obstruction of the ways and channels of traffic, travel, or communication, and of all withholding of sustenance or means of life from the enemy; of the appropriation of whatever an enemy's country affords necessary for the subsistence and safety of the Army, and of such deception as does not involve the breaking of good faith either positively pledged, regarding agreements entered into during the war, or supposed by the modern law of war to exist. (...But...) Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another and to God. Military necessity does not admit of cruelty—that is, the infliction of suffering for the sake of suffering or for revenge, nor of maiming or wounding except in fight, nor of torture to extort confessions. It does not admit of the use of poison in any way, nor of the wanton devastation of a district. It admits of deception, but disclaims acts of perfidy; and, in general, military necessity does not include any act of hostility which makes the return to peace unnecessarily difficult."
This first statement of the previously uncodified rules and articles of war led to the first prosecution for war crimes—in the case of United States prisoners of war held in cruel and depraved conditions at Andersonville, Georgia, in which the Confederate commandant of that camp was tried and hanged, the only Confederate soldier to be punished by death in the aftermath of the entire Civil War.
In the years that followed, other states subscribed to limitations of their conduct, and numerous other treaties and bodies were created to regulate the conduct of states towards one another in terms of these treaties, including, but not limited to, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 1899; the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the first of which was passed in 1907; the International Court of Justice in 1921; the Genocide Convention; and the International Criminal Court, in the late 1990s. Because international law is a relatively new area of law its development and propriety in applicable areas are often subject to dispute.
International law sources
Under article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, public international law has three principal sources: international treaties, custom, and general principles of law. In addition, judicial decisions and teachings may be applied as "subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law".
International treaty law comprises obligations states expressly and voluntarily accept between themselves in treaties. Customary international law is derived from the consistent practice of States accompanied by opinio juris, i.e. the conviction of States that the consistent practice is required by a legal obligation. Judgments of international tribunals as well as scholarly works have traditionally been looked to as persuasive sources for custom in addition to direct evidence of state behavior. Attempts to codify customary international law picked up momentum after the Second World War with the formation of the International Law Commission (ILC), under the aegis of the United Nations. Codified customary law is made the binding interpretation of the underlying custom by agreement through treaty. For states not party to such treaties, the work of the ILC may still be accepted as custom applying to those states. General principles of law are those commonly recognized by the major legal systems of the world. Certain norms of international law achieve the binding force of peremptory norms (jus cogens) as to include all states with no permissible derogations.
International treaties
Where there are disputes about the exact meaning and application of national laws, it is the responsibility of the courts to decide what the law means. In international law interpretation is within the domain of the protagonists, but may also be conferred on judicial bodies such as the International Court of Justice, by the terms of the treaties or by consent of the parties. It is generally the responsibility of states to interpret the law for themselves, but the processes of diplomacy and availability of supra-national judicial organs operate routinely to provide assistance to that end. Insofar as treaties are concerned, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties writes on the topic of interpretation that:
- "A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in the light of its object and purpose." (article 31(1))
This is actually a compromise between three different theories of interpretation:
- The textual approach, a restrictive interpretation, which bases itself on the "ordinary meaning" of the text; that approach assigns considerable weight to the actual text.
- The subjective approach, which takes into consideration i. the idea behind the treaty, ii. treaties "in their context", and iii. what the writers intended when they wrote the text.
- A third approach, which bases itself on interpretation "in the light of its object and purpose", i.e. the interpretation that best suits the goal of the treaty, also called "effective interpretation".
These are general rules of interpretation; specific rules might exist in specific areas of international law.
Statehood and responsibility
Public international law establishes the framework and the criteria for identifying states as the principal actors in the international legal system. As the existence of a state presupposes control and jurisdiction over territory, international law deals with the acquisition of territory, state immunity and the legal responsibility of states in their conduct with each other. International law is similarly concerned with the treatment of individuals within state boundaries. There is thus a comprehensive regime dealing with group rights, the treatment of aliens, the rights of refugees, international crimes, nationality problems, and human rights generally. It further includes the important functions of the maintenance of international peace and security, arms control, the pacific settlement of disputes and the regulation of the use of force in international relations. Even when the law is not able to stop the outbreak of war, it has developed principles to govern the conduct of hostilities and the treatment of prisoners. International law is also used to govern issues relating to the global environment, the global commons such as international waters and outer space, global communications, and world trade.
In theory all states are sovereign and equal. As a result of the notion of sovereignty, the value and authority of international law is dependent upon the voluntary participation of states in its formulation, observance, and enforcement. Although there may be exceptions, it is thought by many international academics that most states enter into legal commitments with other states out of enlightened self-interest rather than adherence to a body of law that is higher than their own. As D. W. Greig notes, "international law cannot exist in isolation from the political factors operating in the sphere of international relations".
Traditionally, sovereign states and the Holy See were the sole subjects of international law. With the proliferation of international organizations over the last century, they have in some cases been recognized as relevant parties as well. Recent interpretations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international trade law (e.g., North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Chapter 11 actions) have been inclusive of corporations, and even of certain individuals.
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National sovereignty
The conflict between international law and national sovereignty is subject to vigorous debate and dispute in academia, diplomacy, and politics. Certainly, there is a growing trend toward judging a state's domestic actions in the light of international law and standards. Numerous people now view the nation-state as the primary unit of international affairs, and believe that only states may choose to voluntarily enter into commitments under international law, and that they have the right to follow their own counsel when it comes to interpretation of their commitments. Certain scholars[who?] and political leaders feel that these modern developments endanger nation states by taking power away from state governments and ceding it to international bodies such as the U.N. and the World Bank, argue that international law has evolved to a point where it exists separately from the mere consent of states, and discern a legislative and judicial process to international law that parallels such processes within domestic law. This especially occurs when states violate or deviate from the expected standards of conduct adhered to by all civilized nations.
A number of states place emphasis on the principle of territorial sovereignty, thus seeing states as having free rein over their internal affairs. Other states oppose this view. One group of opponents of this point of view, including many European nations, maintain that all civilized nations have certain norms of conduct expected of them, including the prohibition of genocide, slavery and the slave trade, wars of aggression, torture, and piracy, and that violation of these universal norms represents a crime, not only against the individual victims, but against humanity as a whole. States and individuals who subscribe to this view opine that, in the case of the individual responsible for violation of international law, he "is become, like the pirate and the slave trader before him, hostis humani generis, an enemy of all mankind", and thus subject to prosecution in a fair trial before any fundamentally just tribunal, through the exercise of universal jurisdiction.
Though the European democracies tend to support broad, universalistic interpretations of international law, many other democracies have differing views on international law. Several democracies, including India, Israel and the United States, take a flexible, eclectic approach, recognizing aspects of public international law such as territorial rights as universal, regarding other aspects as arising from treaty or custom, and viewing certain aspects as not being subjects of public international law at all. Democracies in the developing world, due to their past colonial histories, often insist on non-interference in their internal affairs, particularly regarding human rights standards or their peculiar institutions, but often strongly support international law at the bilateral and multilateral levels, such as in the United Nations, and especially regarding the use of force, disarmament obligations, and the terms of the UN Charter.
International human rights
- Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Declaration of Fundamental Rights at Work
- International Labour Organization
International economic law
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War and conflicts
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International criminal law
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International courts and enforcement
It is probably the case that almost all nations observe almost all principles of international law and almost all of their obligations almost all the time.
Since international law has no established compulsory judicial system for the settlement of disputes or a coercive penal system, it is not as straightforward as managing breaches within a domestic legal system. However, there are means by which breaches are brought to the attention of the international community and some means for resolution. For example, there are judicial or quasi-judicial tribunals in international law in certain areas such as trade and human rights. The formation of the United Nations, for example, created a means for the world community to enforce international law upon members that violate its charter through the Security Council.
Since international law exists in a legal environment without an overarching "sovereign" (i.e., an external power able and willing to compel compliance with international norms), "enforcement" of international law is very different than in the domestic context. In many cases, enforcement takes on Coasian characteristics, where the norm is self-enforcing. In other cases, defection from the norm can pose a real risk, particularly if the international environment is changing. When this happens, and if enough states (or enough powerful states) continually ignore a particular aspect of international law, the norm may actually change according to concepts of customary international law. For example, prior to World War I, unrestricted submarine warfare was considered a violation of international law and ostensibly the casus belli for the United States' declaration of war against Germany. By World War II, however, the practice was so widespread that during the Nuremberg trials, the charges against German Admiral Karl Dönitz for ordering unrestricted submarine warfare were dropped, notwithstanding that the activity constituted a clear violation of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936.
Enforcement by states
Apart from a state's natural inclination to uphold certain norms, the force of international law comes from the pressure that states put upon one another to behave consistently and to honor their obligations. As with any system of law, many violations of international law obligations are overlooked. If addressed, it may be through diplomacy and the consequences upon an offending state's reputation, submission to international judicial determination, arbitration, sanctions or force including war. Though violations may be common in fact, states try to avoid the appearance of having disregarded international obligations. States may also unilaterally adopt sanctions against one another such as the severance of economic or diplomatic ties, or through reciprocal action. In some cases, domestic courts may render judgment against a foreign state (the realm of private international law) for an injury, though this is a complicated area of law where international law intersects with domestic law.
It is implicit in the Westphalian system of nation-states, and explicitly recognized under Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, that all states have the inherent right to individual and collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against them. Article 51 of the UN Charter guarantees the right of states to defend themselves until (and unless) the Security Council takes measures to keep the peace.
Enforcement by international bodies
Violations of the UN Charter by members of the United Nations may be raised by the aggrieved state in the General Assembly for debate. The General Assembly cannot make binding resolutions, only 'recommendations', but through its adoption of the "Uniting for Peace" resolution (A/RES/377 A), of 3 November 1950, the Assembly declared that it has the power to authorize the use of force, under the terms of the UN Charter, in cases of breaches of the peace or acts of aggression, provided that the Security Council, owing to the negative vote of a permanent member, fails to act to address the situation. The Assembly also declared, by its adoption of resolution 377 A, that it could call for other collective measures—such as economic and diplomatic sanctions—in situations constituting the milder "threat to the Peace".
The Uniting for Peace resolution was initiated by the United States in 1950, shortly after the outbreak of the Korean War, as a means of circumventing possible future Soviet vetoes in the Security Council. The legal significance of the resolution is unclear, given that the General Assembly cannot issue binding resolutions. However, it was never argued by the "Joint Seven-Powers" that put forward the draft resolution, during the corresponding discussions, that it in any way afforded the Assembly new powers. Instead, they argued that the resolution simply declared what the Assembly's powers already were, according to the UN Charter, in the case of a dead-locked Security Council. The Soviet Union was the only permanent member of the Security Council to vote against the Charter interpretations that were made law by the Assembly's adoption of resolution 377 A.
Alleged violations of the Charter can also be raised by states in the Security Council. The Security Council could subsequently pass resolutions under Chapter VI of the UN Charter to recommend the "Pacific Resolution of Disputes." Such resolutions are not binding under international law, though they usually are expressive of the Council's convictions. In rare cases, the Security Council can adopt resolutions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, related to "threats to Peace, Breaches of the Peace and Acts of Aggression," which are legally binding under international law, and can be followed up with economic sanctions, military action, and similar uses of force through the auspices of the United Nations.
It has been argued that resolutions passed outside of Chapter VII can also be binding; the legal basis for that is the Council's broad powers under Article 24(2), which states that "in discharging these duties (exercise of primary responsibility in international peace and security), it shall act in accordance with the Purposes and Principles of the United Nations". The mandatory nature of such resolutions was upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its advisory opinion on Namibia. The binding nature of such resolutions can be deduced from an interpretation of their language and intent.
States can also, upon mutual consent, submit disputes for arbitration by the International Court of Justice, located in The Hague, Netherlands. The judgments given by the Court in these cases are binding, although it possesses no means to enforce its rulings. The Court may give an advisory opinion on any legal question at the request of whatever body may be authorized by or in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations to make such a request. Some of the advisory cases brought before the court have been controversial with respect to the court's competence and jurisdiction.
Often enormously complicated matters, ICJ cases (of which there have been less than 150 since the court was created from the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1945) can stretch on for years and generally involve thousands of pages of pleadings, evidence, and the world's leading specialist public international lawyers. As of June 2009, there are 15 cases pending at the ICJ. Decisions made through other means of arbitration may be binding or non-binding depending on the nature of the arbitration agreement, whereas decisions resulting from contentious cases argued before the ICJ are always binding on the involved states.
Though states (or increasingly, international organizations) are usually the only ones with standing to address a violation of international law, some treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights have an optional protocol that allows individuals who have had their rights violated by member states to petition the international Human Rights Committee. Investment treaties commonly and routinely provide for enforcement by individuals or investing entities. and commercial agreements of foreigners with sovereign governments may be enforced on the international plane.
International legal theory
International legal theory comprises a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches used to explain and analyse the content, formation and effectiveness of public international law and institutions and to suggest improvements. Some approaches center on the question of compliance: why states follow international norms in the absence of a coercitive power that ensures compliance. Other approaches focus on the problem of the formation of international rules: why states voluntarily adopt international law norms, that limit their freedom of action, in the absence of a world legislature; while other perspectives are policy oriented: they elaborate theoretical frameworks and instruments to criticize the existing norms and to make suggestions on how to improve them. Some of these approaches are based on domestic legal theory, some are interdisciplinary, and others have been developed expressly to analyse international law. Classical approaches to International legal theory are the Natural law, the Eclectic and the Legal positivism schools of thought.
Natural law
The natural law approach argues that international norms should be based on axiomatic truths. 16th century natural law writer, Francisco de Vitoria, a professor of theology at the University of Salamanca, examined the questions of the just war, the Spanish authority in the Americas, and the rights of the Native American peoples.
Eclectic or Grotian school
In 1625 Hugo Grotius argued that nations as well as persons ought to be governed by universal principle based on morality and divine justice while the relations among polities ought to be governed by the law of peoples, the jus gentium, established by the consent of the community of nations on the basis of the principle of pacta sunt servanda, that is, on the basis of the observance of commitments. On his part, Emmerich de Vattel argued instead for the equality of states as articulated by 18th century natural law and suggested that the law of nations was composed of custom and law on the one hand, and natural law on the other. During the 17th century, the basic tenets of the Grotian or eclectic school, especially the doctrines of legal equality, territorial sovereignty, and independence of states, became the fundamental principles of the European political and legal system and were enshrined in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.
Legal positivism
The early positivist school emphasized the importance of custom and treaties as sources of international law. 16th century Alberico Gentili used historical examples to posit that positive law (jus voluntarium) was determined by general consent. Cornelius van Bynkershoek asserted that the bases of international law were customs and treaties commonly consented to by various states, while John Jacob Moser emphasized the importance of state practice in international law. The positivism school narrowed the range of international practice that might qualify as law, favouring rationality over morality and ethics. The 1815 Congress of Vienna marked the formal recognition of the political and international legal system based on the conditions of Europe.
Modern legal positivists consider international law as a unified system of rules that emanates from the states' will. International law, as it is, is an "objective" reality that needs to be distinguished from law "as it should be." Classic positivism demands rigorous tests for legal validity and it deems irrelevant all extralegal arguments.
See also
- Consular law
- Diplomatic law
- International aviation law
- International criminal law
- International environmental law
- International human rights law
- International humanitarian law
- International space law
- International trade law
- Law of state responsibility
- Rule according to higher law
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- Use of force continuum
- Diplomatic recognition
- Environmental agreements
- Global administrative law
- International community
- International Court of Justice
- International Criminal Court
- International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
- International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
- International Labour Organization
- International Law Commission
- International legal theory
- Hans Kelsen
- Laws of war
- Legal status of the Holy See
- List of international public law topics
- List of treaties
- Personal jurisdiction over international defendants in the United States
- Prize law
- Sources of international law
- Sovereign state
- Territorial integrity
- Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL)
- United Nations
- United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee (Legal)
- University for Peace
- World government
- History of public international law
- Columbia Law School, McKeever, 2003 — Definition of International Law
- Greig, D. W., International Law, 2nd edn (Butterworths: London, 1976)
- Janis, M. and Noyes, J. International Law": Cases and Commentary (3rd ed.), Prosecutor v. Furundžija, Page 148 (2006)
- Henkin, Louis (1968). How Nations Behave. p. 47.
- United States, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Turkey, Philippines and Uruguay
- United Nations General Assembly Proces Verbal session 5 on 1 November 1950 (retrieved 2008-04-13)
- United Nations General Assembly Proces Verbal session 5 on 2 November 1950 (retrieved 2008-04-13)
- United Nations General Assembly Proces Verbal session 5 on 2 November 1950 (retrieved 2008-04-13)
- United Nations General Assembly Proces Verbal session 5 on 3 November 1950 (retrieved 2008-04-13)
- Bruno Simma and Andreas L.Paulus "Symposium on method in International Law: The Responsibility of Individuals for Human Rights Abuses in Internal Conflicts: A Positivist View" 93 American Journal of International Law 302 (April, 1999)
- I. Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (7th edn Oxford University Press 2008) ISBN 0199260710
- Dominique Carreau, Droit international, Pedone, 10e édition, 2009 ISBN 9782233005618.
- P.-M. Dupuy & Y. Kerbrat, "Droit international public" (10th ed., Paris, Dalloz, 2010) ISBN 9782247088935
- E. Lawson, and ML Bertucci, Encyclopedia of human rights (2nd edn Taylor & Francis 1996)
- E. Osmanczyk, The encyclopedia of the United Nations and international relations (Taylor & Francis 1990)
- M. N. Shaw, International Law (5th edn Cambridge University Press 2003)
- Rafael Domingo Osle, The New Global Law (Cambridge University Press 2010)
- Public International Law – Resources
- A Brief Primer on International Law With cases and commentary. Nathaniel Burney, 2007.
- American Society of International Law – 100 Ways International Law Shapes Our Lives
- Department of Public International Law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva
- American Society of International Law – Resource Guide (Introduction)
- International Law Details
- International Law Observer – Blog dedicated to reports and commentary on International Law
- Official United Nations website
- Official UN website on International Law
- Official website of the International Court of Justice
- Opinio Juris – Blog on International Law and International Relations
- United Nations Treaty Collection
- UN – Audiovisual Library of International Law
- The European Institute for International Law and International Relations
- Peace Palace Library - Research Guide
| 3.284128 |
Support vector machine
In machine learning, support vector machines (SVMs, also support vector networks) are supervised learning models with associated learning algorithms that analyze data and recognize patterns, used for classification and regression analysis. The basic SVM takes a set of input data and predicts, for each given input, which of two possible classes forms the output, making it a non-probabilistic binary linear classifier. Given a set of training examples, each marked as belonging to one of two categories, an SVM training algorithm builds a model that assigns new examples into one category or the other. An SVM model is a representation of the examples as points in space, mapped so that the examples of the separate categories are divided by a clear gap that is as wide as possible. New examples are then mapped into that same space and predicted to belong to a category based on which side of the gap they fall on.
In addition to performing linear classification, SVMs can efficiently perform non-linear classification using what is called the kernel trick, implicitly mapping their inputs into high-dimensional feature spaces.
Formal definition
More formally, a support vector machine constructs a hyperplane or set of hyperplanes in a high- or infinite-dimensional space, which can be used for classification, regression, or other tasks. Intuitively, a good separation is achieved by the hyperplane that has the largest distance to the nearest training data point of any class (so-called functional margin), since in general the larger the margin the lower the generalization error of the classifier.
Whereas the original problem may be stated in a finite dimensional space, it often happens that the sets to discriminate are not linearly separable in that space. For this reason, it was proposed that the original finite-dimensional space be mapped into a much higher-dimensional space, presumably making the separation easier in that space. To keep the computational load reasonable, the mappings used by SVM schemes are designed to ensure that dot products may be computed easily in terms of the variables in the original space, by defining them in terms of a kernel function selected to suit the problem. The hyperplanes in the higher-dimensional space are defined as the set of points whose dot product with a vector in that space is constant. The vectors defining the hyperplanes can be chosen to be linear combinations with parameters of images of feature vectors that occur in the data base. With this choice of a hyperplane, the points in the feature space that are mapped into the hyperplane are defined by the relation: Note that if becomes small as grows further away from , each element in the sum measures the degree of closeness of the test point to the corresponding data base point . In this way, the sum of kernels above can be used to measure the relative nearness of each test point to the data points originating in one or the other of the sets to be discriminated. Note the fact that the set of points mapped into any hyperplane can be quite convoluted as a result, allowing much more complex discrimination between sets which are not convex at all in the original space.
Classifying data is a common task in machine learning. Suppose some given data points each belong to one of two classes, and the goal is to decide which class a new data point will be in. In the case of support vector machines, a data point is viewed as a p-dimensional vector (a list of p numbers), and we want to know whether we can separate such points with a (p − 1)-dimensional hyperplane. This is called a linear classifier. There are many hyperplanes that might classify the data. One reasonable choice as the best hyperplane is the one that represents the largest separation, or margin, between the two classes. So we choose the hyperplane so that the distance from it to the nearest data point on each side is maximized. If such a hyperplane exists, it is known as the maximum-margin hyperplane and the linear classifier it defines is known as a maximum margin classifier; or equivalently, the perceptron of optimal stability.
Linear SVM
Given some training data , a set of n points of the form
where the yi is either 1 or −1, indicating the class to which the point belongs. Each is a p-dimensional real vector. We want to find the maximum-margin hyperplane that divides the points having from those having . Any hyperplane can be written as the set of points satisfying
If the training data are linearly separable, we can select two hyperplanes in a way that they separate the data and there are no points between them, and then try to maximize their distance. The region bounded by them is called "the margin". These hyperplanes can be described by the equations
By using geometry, we find the distance between these two hyperplanes is , so we want to minimize . As we also have to prevent data points from falling into the margin, we add the following constraint: for each either
- of the first class
- of the second.
This can be rewritten as:
We can put this together to get the optimization problem:
Minimize (in )
subject to (for any )
Primal form
The optimization problem presented in the preceding section is difficult to solve because it depends on ||w||, the norm of w, which involves a square root. Fortunately it is possible to alter the equation by substituting ||w|| with (the factor of 1/2 being used for mathematical convenience) without changing the solution (the minimum of the original and the modified equation have the same w and b). This is a quadratic programming optimization problem. More clearly:
Minimize (in )
subject to (for any )
By introducing Lagrange multipliers , the previous constrained problem can be expressed as
that is we look for a saddle point. In doing so all the points which can be separated as do not matter since we must set the corresponding to zero.
This problem can now be solved by standard quadratic programming techniques and programs. The "stationary" Karush–Kuhn–Tucker condition implies that the solution can be expressed as a linear combination of the training vectors
Only a few will be greater than zero. The corresponding are exactly the support vectors, which lie on the margin and satisfy . From this one can derive that the support vectors also satisfy
which allows one to define the offset . In practice, it is more robust to average over all support vectors:
Dual form
Writing the classification rule in its unconstrained dual form reveals that the maximum margin hyperplane and therefore the classification task is only a function of the support vectors, the training data that lie on the margin.
Using the fact that and substituting , one can show that the dual of the SVM reduces to the following optimization problem:
Maximize (in )
subject to (for any )
and to the constraint from the minimization in
Here the kernel is defined by .
can be computed thanks to the terms:
Biased and unbiased hyperplanes
For simplicity reasons, sometimes it is required that the hyperplane pass through the origin of the coordinate system. Such hyperplanes are called unbiased, whereas general hyperplanes not necessarily passing through the origin are called biased. An unbiased hyperplane can be enforced by setting in the primal optimization problem. The corresponding dual is identical to the dual given above without the equality constraint
Soft margin
In 1995, Corinna Cortes and Vladimir N. Vapnik suggested a modified maximum margin idea that allows for mislabeled examples. If there exists no hyperplane that can split the "yes" and "no" examples, the Soft Margin method will choose a hyperplane that splits the examples as cleanly as possible, while still maximizing the distance to the nearest cleanly split examples. The method introduces non-negative slack variables, , which measure the degree of misclassification of the data
The objective function is then increased by a function which penalizes non-zero , and the optimization becomes a trade off between a large margin and a small error penalty. If the penalty function is linear, the optimization problem becomes:
subject to (for any )
This constraint in (2) along with the objective of minimizing can be solved using Lagrange multipliers as done above. One has then to solve the following problem:
Dual form
Maximize (in )
subject to (for any )
The key advantage of a linear penalty function is that the slack variables vanish from the dual problem, with the constant C appearing only as an additional constraint on the Lagrange multipliers. For the above formulation and its huge impact in practice, Cortes and Vapnik received the 2008 ACM Paris Kanellakis Award. Nonlinear penalty functions have been used, particularly to reduce the effect of outliers on the classifier, but unless care is taken the problem becomes non-convex, and thus it is considerably more difficult to find a global solution.
Nonlinear classification
The original optimal hyperplane algorithm proposed by Vapnik in 1963 was a linear classifier. However, in 1992, Bernhard E. Boser, Isabelle M. Guyon and Vladimir N. Vapnik suggested a way to create nonlinear classifiers by applying the kernel trick (originally proposed by Aizerman et al.) to maximum-margin hyperplanes. The resulting algorithm is formally similar, except that every dot product is replaced by a nonlinear kernel function. This allows the algorithm to fit the maximum-margin hyperplane in a transformed feature space. The transformation may be nonlinear and the transformed space high dimensional; thus though the classifier is a hyperplane in the high-dimensional feature space, it may be nonlinear in the original input space.
If the kernel used is a Gaussian radial basis function, the corresponding feature space is a Hilbert space of infinite dimensions. Maximum margin classifiers are well regularized, so the infinite dimensions do not spoil the results. Some common kernels include:
- Polynomial (homogeneous):
- Polynomial (inhomogeneous):
- Gaussian radial basis function: , for Sometimes parametrized using
- Hyperbolic tangent: , for some (not every) and
The kernel is related to the transform by the equation . The value w is also in the transformed space, with Dot products with w for classification can again be computed by the kernel trick, i.e. . However, there does not in general exist a value w' such that
SVMs belong to a family of generalized linear classifiers and can be interpreted as an extension of the perceptron. They can also be considered a special case of Tikhonov regularization. A special property is that they simultaneously minimize the empirical classification error and maximize the geometric margin; hence they are also known as maximum margin classifiers.
A comparison of the SVM to other classifiers has been made by Meyer, Leisch and Hornik.
Parameter selection
The effectiveness of SVM depends on the selection of kernel, the kernel's parameters, and soft margin parameter C.
A common choice is a Gaussian kernel, which has a single parameter γ. The best combination of C and γ is often selected by a grid search with exponentially growing sequences of C and γ, for example, ; . Typically, each combination of parameter choices is checked using cross validation, and the parameters with best cross-validation accuracy are picked. The final model, which is used for testing and for classifying new data, is then trained on the whole training set using the selected parameters.
Potential drawbacks of the SVM are the following three aspects:
- Uncalibrated class membership probabilities
- The SVM is only directly applicable for two-class tasks. Therefore, algorithms that reduce the multi-class task to several binary problems have to be applied; see the multi-class SVM section.
- Parameters of a solved model are difficult to interpret.
Multiclass SVM
Multiclass SVM aims to assign labels to instances by using support vector machines, where the labels are drawn from a finite set of several elements.
- Building binary classifiers which distinguish between (i) one of the labels and the rest (one-versus-all) or (ii) between every pair of classes (one-versus-one). Classification of new instances for the one-versus-all case is done by a winner-takes-all strategy, in which the classifier with the highest output function assigns the class (it is important that the output functions be calibrated to produce comparable scores). For the one-versus-one approach, classification is done by a max-wins voting strategy, in which every classifier assigns the instance to one of the two classes, then the vote for the assigned class is increased by one vote, and finally the class with the most votes determines the instance classification.
- Directed Acyclic Graph SVM (DAGSVM)
- error-correcting output codes
Crammer and Singer proposed a multiclass SVM method which casts the multiclass classification problem into a single optimization problem, rather than decomposing it into multiple binary classification problems. See also Lee, Lin and Wahba.
Transductive support vector machines
Transductive support vector machines extend SVMs in that they could also treat partially labeled data in semi-supervised learning by following the principles of transduction. Here, in addition to the training set , the learner is also given a set
of test examples to be classified. Formally, a transductive support vector machine is defined by the following primal optimization problem:
Minimize (in )
subject to (for any and any )
Transductive support vector machines were introduced by Vladimir N. Vapnik in 1998.
Structured SVM
SVMs have been generalized to structured SVMs, where the label space is structured and of possibly infinite size.
A version of SVM for regression was proposed in 1996 by Vladimir N. Vapnik, Harris Drucker, Christopher J. C. Burges, Linda Kaufman and Alexander J. Smola. This method is called support vector regression (SVR). The model produced by support vector classification (as described above) depends only on a subset of the training data, because the cost function for building the model does not care about training points that lie beyond the margin. Analogously, the model produced by SVR depends only on a subset of the training data, because the cost function for building the model ignores any training data close to the model prediction (within a threshold ). Another SVM version known as least squares support vector machine (LS-SVM) has been proposed by Suykens and Vandewalle.
The parameters of the maximum-margin hyperplane are derived by solving the optimization. There exist several specialized algorithms for quickly solving the QP problem that arises from SVMs, mostly relying on heuristics for breaking the problem down into smaller, more-manageable chunks.
A common method is Platt's Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO) algorithm, which breaks the problem down into 2-dimensional sub-problems that may be solved analytically, eliminating the need for a numerical optimization algorithm.
Another approach is to use an interior point method that uses Newton-like iterations to find a solution of the Karush–Kuhn–Tucker conditions of the primal and dual problems. Instead of solving a sequence of broken down problems, this approach directly solves the problem as a whole. To avoid solving a linear system involving the large kernel matrix, a low rank approximation to the matrix is often used in the kernel trick.
See also
- In situ adaptive tabulation
- Kernel machines
- Polynomial kernel
- Fisher kernel
- Predictive analytics
- Relevance vector machine, a probabilistic sparse kernel model identical in functional form to SVM
- Sequential minimal optimization
- Winnow (algorithm)
- Regularization perspectives on support vector machines
- Cortes, Corinna; and Vapnik, Vladimir N.; "Support-Vector Networks", Machine Learning, 20, 1995. http://www.springerlink.com/content/k238jx04hm87j80g/
- *Press, William H.; Teukolsky, Saul A.; Vetterling, William T.; Flannery, B. P. (2007). "Section 16.5. Support Vector Machines". Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88068-8.
- ACM Website, Press release of March 17th 2009. http://www.acm.org/press-room/news-releases/awards-08-groupa
- Aizerman, Mark A.; Braverman, Emmanuel M.; and Rozonoer, Lev I. (1964). "Theoretical foundations of the potential function method in pattern recognition learning". Automation and Remote Control 25: 821–837.
- Boser, Bernhard E.; Guyon, Isabelle M.; and Vapnik, Vladimir N.; A training algorithm for optimal margin classifiers. In Haussler, David (editor); 5th Annual ACM Workshop on COLT, pages 144–152, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992. ACM Press
- Meyer, David; Leisch, Friedrich; and Hornik, Kurt; The support vector machine under test, Neurocomputing 55(1–2): 169–186, 2003 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0925-2312(03)00431-4
- Hsu, Chih-Wei; Chang, Chih-Chung; and Lin, Chih-Jen (2003). A Practical Guide to Support Vector Classification. Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taiwan University. http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/papers/guide/guide.pdf.
- Duan, Kai-Bo; and Keerthi, S. Sathiya (2005). "Which Is the Best Multiclass SVM Method? An Empirical Study". Proceedings of the Sixth International Workshop on Multiple Classifier Systems. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 3541: 278. doi:10.1007/11494683_28. ISBN 978-3-540-26306-7.
- Hsu, Chih-Wei; and Lin, Chih-Jen (2002). "A Comparison of Methods for Multiclass Support Vector Machines". IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks.
- Platt, John; Cristianini, N.; and Shawe-Taylor, J. (2000). "Large margin DAGs for multiclass classification". In Solla, Sara A.; Leen, Todd K.; and Müller, Klaus-Robert; eds. Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems. MIT Press. pp. 547–553.
- Dietterich, Thomas G.; and Bakiri, Ghulum; Bakiri (1995). "Solving Multiclass Learning Problems via Error-Correcting Output Codes". Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, Vol. 2 2: 263–286. arXiv:cs/9501101. Bibcode:1995cs........1101D. Unknown parameter
- Crammer, Koby; and Singer, Yoram (2001). "On the Algorithmic Implementation of Multiclass Kernel-based Vector Machines". J. of Machine Learning Research 2: 265–292.
- Lee, Y.; Lin, Y.; and Wahba, G. (2001). "Multicategory Support Vector Machines". Computing Science and Statistics 33.
- Lee, Y.; Lin, Y.; and Wahba, G. (2004). "Multicategory Support Vector Machines, Theory, and Application to the Classification of Microarray Data and Satellite Radiance Data". Journal of the American Statistical Association 99 (465): 67–81. doi:10.1198/016214504000000098.
- Joachims, Thorsten; "Transductive Inference for Text Classification using Support Vector Machines", Proceedings of the 1999 International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 1999), pp. 200-209.
- Drucker, Harris; Burges, Christopher J. C.; Kaufman, Linda; Smola, Alexander J.; and Vapnik, Vladimir N. (1997); "Support Vector Regression Machines", in Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems 9, NIPS 1996, 155–161, MIT Press.
- Suykens, Johan A. K.; Vandewalle, Joos P. L.; Least squares support vector machine classifiers, Neural Processing Letters, vol. 9, no. 3, Jun. 1999, pp. 293–300.
- Ferris, Michael C.; and Munson, Todd S. (2002). "Interior-point methods for massive support vector machines". SIAM Journal on Optimization 13 (3): 783–804. doi:10.1137/S1052623400374379.
- Burges, Christopher J. C.; A Tutorial on Support Vector Machines for Pattern Recognition, Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery 2:121–167, 1998
- www.kernel-machines.org (general information and collection of research papers)
- Teknomo, K. SVM tutorial using spreadsheet Visual Introduction to SVM.
- www.support-vector-machines.org (Literature, Review, Software, Links related to Support Vector Machines — Academic Site)
- videolectures.net (SVM-related video lectures)
- Animation clip: SVM with polynomial kernel visualization
- Fletcher, Tristan; A very basic SVM tutorial for complete beginners
- Karatzoglou, Alexandros et al.; Support Vector Machines in R, Journal of Statistical Software April 2006, Volume 15, Issue 9.
- Shogun (toolbox) contains about 20 different implementations of SVMs, written in C++ with MATLAB, Octave, Python, R, Java, Lua, Ruby and C# interffaces
- libsvm libsvm is a library of SVMs which is actively patched
- liblinear liblinear is a library for large linear classification including some SVMs
- flssvm flssvm is a least squares svm implementation written in fortran
- Shark Shark is a C++ machine learning library implementing various types of SVMs
- dlib dlib is a C++ library for working with kernel methods and SVMs
- SVM light is a collection of software tools for learning and classification using SVM.
- Stanford University Andrew Ng Video on SVM
- Theodoridis, Sergios; and Koutroumbas, Konstantinos; "Pattern Recognition", 4th Edition, Academic Press, 2009, ISBN 978-1-59749-272-0
- Cristianini, Nello; and Shawe-Taylor, John; An Introduction to Support Vector Machines and other kernel-based learning methods, Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-521-78019-5 ( SVM Book)
- Huang, Te-Ming; Kecman, Vojislav; and Kopriva, Ivica (2006); Kernel Based Algorithms for Mining Huge Data Sets, in Supervised, Semi-supervised, and Unsupervised Learning, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 260 pp. 96 illus., Hardcover, ISBN 3-540-31681-7
- Kecman, Vojislav; Learning and Soft Computing — Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic Systems, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2001.
- Schölkopf, Bernhard; and Smola, Alexander J.; Learning with Kernels, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2002. ISBN 0-262-19475-9
- Schölkopf, Bernhard; Burges, Christopher J. C.; and Smola, Alexander J. (editors); Advances in Kernel Methods: Support Vector Learning, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999. ISBN 0-262-19416-3.
- Shawe-Taylor, John; and Cristianini, Nello; Kernel Methods for Pattern Analysis, Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-521-81397-2 ( Kernel Methods Book)
- Steinwart, Ingo; and Christmann, Andreas; Support Vector Machines, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2008. ISBN 978-0-387-77241-7 ( SVM Book)
- Tan, Peter Jing; and Dowe, David L. (2004); MML Inference of Oblique Decision Trees, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) 3339, Springer-Verlag, pp1082-1088. (This paper uses minimum message length (MML) and actually incorporates probabilistic support vector machines in the leaves of decision trees.)
- Vapnik, Vladimir N.; The Nature of Statistical Learning Theory, Springer-Verlag, 1995. ISBN 0-387-98780-0
- Vapnik, Vladimir N.; and Kotz, Samuel; Estimation of Dependences Based on Empirical Data, Springer, 2006. ISBN 0-387-30865-2, 510 pages [this is a reprint of Vapnik's early book describing philosophy behind SVM approach. The 2006 Appendix describes recent development].
- Fradkin, Dmitriy; and Muchnik, Ilya; Support Vector Machines for Classification in Abello, J.; and Carmode, G. (Eds); Discrete Methods in Epidemiology, DIMACS Series in Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, volume 70, pp. 13–20, 2006. . Succinctly describes theoretical ideas behind SVM.
- Bennett, Kristin P.; and Campbell, Colin; Support Vector Machines: Hype or Hallelujah?, SIGKDD Explorations, 2, 2, 2000, 1–13. . Excellent introduction to SVMs with helpful figures.
- Ivanciuc, Ovidiu; Applications of Support Vector Machines in Chemistry, in Reviews in Computational Chemistry, Volume 23, 2007, pp. 291–400. Reprint available:
- Catanzaro, Bryan; Sundaram, Narayanan; and Keutzer, Kurt; Fast Support Vector Machine Training and Classification on Graphics Processors, in International Conference on Machine Learning, 2008
- Campbell, Colin; and Ying, Yiming; Learning with Support Vector Machines, 2011, Morgan and Claypool. ISBN 978-1-60845-616-1.
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The troposphere is the lowest portion of Earth's atmosphere. It contains approximately 80% of the atmosphere's mass and 99% of its water vapor and aerosols. The average depth of the troposphere is approximately 17 km (11 mi) in the middle latitudes. It is deeper in the tropics, up to 20 km (12 mi), and shallower near the polar regions, at 7 km (4.3 mi) in summer, and indistinct in winter. The lowest part of the troposphere, where friction with the Earth's surface influences air flow, is the planetary boundary layer. This layer is typically a few hundred meters to 2 km (1.2 mi) deep depending on the landform and time of day. The border between the troposphere and stratosphere, called the tropopause, is a temperature inversion.
The word troposphere derives from the Greek: tropos for "change" reflecting the fact that turbulent mixing plays an important role in the troposphere's structure and behavior. Most of the phenomena we associate with day-to-day weather occur in the troposphere.
Pressure and temperature structure
The chemical composition of the troposphere is essentially uniform, with the notable exception of water vapor. The source of water vapor is at the surface through the processes of evaporation and transpiration. Furthermore the temperature of the troposphere decreases with height, and saturation vapor pressure decreases strongly as temperature drops, so the amount of water vapor that can exist in the atmosphere decreases strongly with height. Thus the proportion of water vapor is normally greatest near the surface and decreases with height.
The pressure of the atmosphere is maximum at sea level and decreases with higher altitude. This is because the atmosphere is very nearly in hydrostatic equilibrium, so that the pressure is equal to the weight of air above a given point. The change in pressure with height, therefore can be equated to the density with this hydrostatic equation:
Since temperature in principle also depends on altitude, one needs a second equation to determine the pressure as a function of height, as discussed in the next section.*
The temperature of the troposphere generally decreases as altitude increases. The rate at which the temperature decreases, , is called the environmental lapse rate (ELR). The ELR is nothing more than the difference in temperature between the surface and the tropopause divided by the height. The reason for this temperature difference is the absorption of the sun's energy occurs at the ground which heats the lower levels of the atmosphere, and the radiation of heat occurs at the top of the atmosphere cooling the earth, this process maintaining the overall heat balance of the earth.
As parcels of air in the atmosphere rise and fall, they also undergo changes in temperature for reasons described below. The rate of change of the temperature in the parcel may be less than or more than the ELR. When a parcel of air rises, it expands, because the pressure is lower at higher altitudes. As the air parcel expands, it pushes on the air around it, doing work; but generally it does not gain heat in exchange from its environment, because its thermal conductivity is low (such a process is called adiabatic). Since the parcel does work and gains no heat, it loses energy, and so its temperature decreases. (The reverse, of course, will be true for a sinking parcel of air.)
Since the heat exchanged is related to the entropy change by , the equation governing the temperature as a function of height for a thoroughly mixed atmosphere is
If the air contains water vapor, then cooling of the air can cause the water to condense, and the behavior is no longer that of an ideal gas. If the air is at the saturated vapor pressure, then the rate at which temperature drops with height is called the saturated adiabatic lapse rate. More generally, the actual rate at which the temperature drops with altitude is called the environmental lapse rate. In the troposphere, the average environmental lapse rate is a drop of about 6.5 °C for every 1 km (1,000 meters) in increased height.
The environmental lapse rate (the actual rate at which temperature drops with height, ) is not usually equal to the adiabatic lapse rate (or correspondingly, ). If the upper air is warmer than predicted by the adiabatic lapse rate (), then when a parcel of air rises and expands, it will arrive at the new height at a lower temperature than its surroundings. In this case, the air parcel is denser than its surroundings, so it sinks back to its original height, and the air is stable against being lifted. If, on the contrary, the upper air is cooler than predicted by the adiabatic lapse rate, then when the air parcel rises to its new height it will have a higher temperature and a lower density than its surroundings, and will continue to accelerate upward.
Temperatures decrease at middle latitudes from an average of 15°C at sea level to about -55°C at the top of the tropopause. At the poles, the troposphere is thinner and the temperature only decreases to -45°C, while at the equator the temperature at the top of the troposphere can reach -75°C.
The tropopause is the boundary region between the troposphere and the stratosphere.
Measuring the temperature change with height through the troposphere and the stratosphere identifies the location of the tropopause. In the troposphere, temperature decreases with altitude. In the stratosphere, however, the temperature remains constant for a while and then increases with altitude. The region of the atmosphere where the lapse rate changes from positive (in the troposphere) to negative (in the stratosphere), is defined as the tropopause. Thus, the tropopause is an inversion layer, and there is little mixing between the two layers of the atmosphere.
Atmospheric flow
The flow of the atmosphere generally moves in a west to east direction. This however can often become interrupted, creating a more north to south or south to north flow. These scenarios are often described in meteorology as zonal or meridional. These terms, however, tend to be used in reference to localised areas of atmosphere (at a synoptic scale). A fuller explanation of the flow of atmosphere around the Earth as a whole can be found in the three-cell model.
Zonal Flow
A zonal flow regime is the meteorological term meaning that the general flow pattern is west to east along the Earth's latitude lines, with weak shortwaves embedded in the flow. The use of the word "zone" refers to the flow being along the Earth's latitudinal "zones". This pattern can buckle and thus become a meridional flow.
Meridional flow
When the zonal flow buckles, the atmosphere can flow in a more longitudinal (or meridional) direction, and thus the term "meridional flow" arises. Meridional flow patterns feature strong, amplified troughs and ridges, with more north-south flow in the general pattern than west-to-east flow.
Three-cell model
The three cells model attempts to describe the actual flow of the Earth's atmosphere as a whole. It divides the Earth into the tropical (Hadley cell), mid latitude (Ferrel cell), and polar (polar cell) regions, dealing with energy flow and global circulation. Its fundamental principle is that of balance - the energy that the Earth absorbs from the sun each year is equal to that which it loses back into space, but this however is not a balance precisely maintained in each latitude due to the varying strength of the sun in each "cell" resulting from the tilt of the Earth's axis in relation to its orbit. It demonstrates that a pattern emerges to mirror that of the ocean - the tropics do not continue to get warmer because the atmosphere transports warm air poleward and cold air equatorward, the effect of which appears to be that of heat and moisture distribution around the planet.
Synoptic scale observations and concepts
Forcing is a term used by meteorologists to describe the situation where a change or an event in one part of the atmosphere causes a strengthening change in another part of the atmosphere. It is usually used to describe connections between upper, middle or lower levels (such as upper-level divergence causing lower level convergence in cyclone formation), but can sometimes also be used to describe such connections over distance rather than height alone. In some respects, tele-connections could be considered a type of forcing.
Divergence and Convergence
An area of convergence is one in which the total mass of air is increasing with time, resulting in an increase in pressure at locations below the convergence level (recall that atmospheric pressure is just the total weight of air above a given point). Divergence is the opposite of convergence - an area where the total mass of air is decreasing with time, resulting in falling pressure in regions below the area of divergence. Where divergence is occurring in the upper atmosphere, there will be air coming in to try to balance the net loss of mass (this is called the principle of mass conservation), and there is a resulting upward motion (positive vertical velocity). Another way to state this is to say that regions of upper air divergence are conducive to lower level convergence, cyclone formation, and positive vertical velocity. Therefore, identifying regions of upper air divergence is an important step in forecasting the formation of a surface low pressure area.
- "ISS022-E-062672 caption". NASA. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
- McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. (1984). Troposhere. "It contains about four-fifths of the mass of the whole atmosphere."
- Danielson, Levin, and Abrams, Meteorology, McGraw Hill, 2003
- Landau and Lifshitz, Fluid Mechanics, Pergamon, 1979
- Landau and Lifshitz, Statistical Physics Part 1, Pergamon, 1980
- Kittel and Kroemer, Thermal Physics, Freeman, 1980; chapter 6, problem 11
- "American Meteorological Society Glossary - Zonal Flow". Allen Press Inc. June 2000. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
- "American Meteorological Society Glossary - Meridional Flow". Allen Press Inc. June 2000. Retrieved 2006-10-03.
- "Meteorology - MSN Encarta, "Energy Flow and Global Circulation"". Encarta.Msn.com. Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. Retrieved 2006-10-13.
|Look up troposphere in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.|
- Composition of the Atmosphere, from the University of Tennessee Physics dept.
- Chemical Reactions in the Atmosphere
- http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571037_3/Meteorology.html#s12 (Archived 2009-10-31)
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Case study is often defined in different ways, reflecting evolving practice. What is important then is to define the concept for yourself, and explain to your audience how you are using the term.
- A research approach in which one or few instances of a phenomenon are studied in depth (Given, 2008).
- An empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used. (Yin, 1984)
Case study involves a detailed in depth analysis of an organisation, person, a group, an event, allowing an understanding of complex phenomena, such as organisations. A case study generally involves looking at a single case (which already exists), an object of study which is easily identified and separated (a bounded system) from other similar objects e.g. an organization, a place, an illness in one patient. Case study is a useful methodology for focussing on relationships connecting everyday practices in natural settings, placing attention on a local situation (Stake, 2006).
The case study is useful to investigate an issue in depth and ‘provide an explanation that can cope with the complexity and subtlety of real of life situation’ (Denscombe, 2010, p55).
Research questions revolve around ‘How?’ or ‘Why?’ and may be explanatory, exploratory or descriptive in nature (Yin, 2003).
Case study can be used to develop theory. Yin (2003, p 1) notes that a case study is a way to ‘contribute to our knowledge of individual, group, organisational, social, political and related phenomena’ Case study can be used to test theory : what is it supposed to do and does it do that? Case studies can be used to trace a process, developing an understanding and then test it (Bennett, Andrew)
Data collection
Case studies generally use a combination of data collection methods.
Multiple case studies
In multiple cases, research single cases are meaningful in relation to the other cases cited. Multiple case study research needs to use cases that are similar in some ways. The cases become "members of a group or examples of a phenomenon" (Stake, 2006, p. 6). This allows examination of what is similar and dissimilar about the cases. The researcher is looking for patterns and uniqueness, particulars and generalisations in the cases developed.
References and resources
Denscombe,Martyn (2010)(4th ed). The good research guide for small scale social research projects. Maidenhead: Open University Pres McGraw Hill
Dufour, S. & Foutin, V., ‘Annotated bibliography of case study method’, Current Sociology vol.40/1, 1992, pp.166-181.
Fidel, R. (1984). ‘The Case Study Method: A Case Study’, Library and Information Science Research vol.6/3, pp.273-288.
Garson, G.D. (2008). Case Studies, available from http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/cases.htm
Gerring, J. (2007). Case Study Research: Principles and Practices, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Gilbertson, D. W. & Stone, R. J. (1985) (2nd ed). Human resources management: cases and readings. Sydney : McGraw-Hill, 1985.
Giving, L. M. (2008) (ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Qualitative Research Methods, Los Angeles: Sage.
Hossain, Dewan Mahboob (2009). 'Case Study Research' Social Science Research Network http://ssrn.com/abstract=1444863
Marshall, C. & Rossman, G.B. (2006) (4th ed). Designing qualitative research, Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Merriam S. (1998). Qualitative research and case study application in education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Ragin, C.C. & Becker, H.S. (1992), What is a Case? Exploring the foundations of social enquiry, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Sadler, D. Royce (1985). ‘Evaluation, Policy Analysis and Multiple Case Studies: Aspects of focus and sampling’, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, vol.7/2, pp.143-149.
Simons (2009). Case study research in practice. London: Sage
Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Stake, R.E. (2006), Multiple Case Study Analysis, New York & London: The Guildford Press.
Soy, Susan K. (1997). The case study as a research method. Available from http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~ssoy/usesusers/l391d1b.htm
Stoecker, R., ‘Evaluating and rethinking the case study’, The Sociological Review vol.39, no.1, February 1991, pp.88-112.
Yin, R.K. (1989). ‘Case study research design and method’. Applied Social Research Methods Series 5. Newbury Park: Sage
Young, Raymond (2010). Case study research http://ise.canberra.edu.au/raymond/?s=case+study
Zach, L. (2006), ‘Using multiple case studies design to investigate the information-seeking behaviour of arts administrators’, Library Trends vol.55/1, pp.4-21.
See also
- Topic:Business case studies
- Portal:Social entrepreneurship/Case Studies/more
- Wikiversity:Case studies
- CisLunarFreighter/Scripts and case studies
- Case studies in patent litigation
- Portal:Social entrepreneurship/Case Studies
- Evidence-based medicine/Case studies
- Case study: Blended design and openness
- Case study in psychology
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- Common names: Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat, Queensland Hairy-nosed Wombat, Yaminon
- Scientific name: Lasiorhinus krefftii
- National conservation status: Endangered (likely to become extinct if threats continue)
- Size: 35 cm high, 1 m long
- Weight: up to 35 kg (Females slightly heavier than males)
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is a marsupial with a backward facing pouch. The curious name comes from its distinctive muzzle which is covered with short brown hairs. It is strong and heavily built, with short, powerful legs and strong claws that are used to dig burrows or search for suitable plants to eat. Its fur is soft, silky, and mainly brown, mottled with grey, fawn and black. It has a broad head, and the ears are long and slightly pointed with tufts of white hair on the edges.
Like most marsupials, the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is active at night, usually at dawn or dusk. Although mostly solitary, wombats often share burrows. Each burrow has several entrances and contains moist air which stays at a constant temperature throughout the year. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat eats native and introduced grasses and stays close to one of its many burrows. The wombat's teeth never stop growing, allowing it to grind its food even when old.
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat gives birth to one young during the wet season (November - April). The young stay in the mothers pouch for eight to nine months. They leave their mother at about 15 months.
The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat once occurred near Deniliquin (New South Wales), on the Moonie River near St George (southern Queensland) and at Epping Forest near Clermont (central Queensland). Fossil records from New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland show that they lived over a larger area, but probably not in high numbers. The last known colony of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats is now restricted to 300 ha in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat occurs along an ancient water course in the park where the soil is sandy and dry.
Their feeding areas contain native grasses, scattered eucalypts and acacias, and patches of scrub.
The wombats live in groups of large burrows usually located near trees.
Habitat loss and change, drought and competition with cattle, sheep and rabbits for food have contributed to the decline of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Epping Forest National Park is now fenced to keep out cattle and sheep and will be fenced during 2002 to exclude dingoes which killed 10 northern hairy-nosed wombats during 2000-01. Introduced buffel grass, planted in the area for cattle feed, outcompetes the native grasses and forces the wombats to travel further to find the native species they prefer to eat. The small population of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats that remains is susceptible to predation, fire and inbreeding.
Epping Forest National Park was established in 1971 to protect the habitat of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Access into the Park is restricted to researchers and park managers. The park is protected from wildfires by fire breaks and patch burning of small areas. After the removal of cattle in 1982, wombat numbers increased from 35 to about 70 in 1989. Numbers remained steady during a major drought which spanned the first half of the 1990's. After several good years of rainfall, the population has increased to 110.
Programs to control buffel grass and improve the supply of native grasses are helping the wombats to move into other suitable habitats in the park. Management of Epping Forest National Park and ongoing research on the ecology of the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat also contribute to the long term conservation of this species. As well, a captive breeding program on the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat is currently under way. If this proves successful, it is hoped the techniques developed can be applied to the captive breeding of Northern Hairy-nosed Wombats.
There are three species of wombat in Australia. The Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat is the largest. The other two are:
Common Wombat (Vombatus ursinis)
The Common Wombat occurs in southeastern Australia. It has coarser hair, a smaller tail and shorter, more rounded ears than the Northern Hairy-nosed Wombat. It is nocturnal during the summer, but in winter it often comes out of its burrow during the day. Common Wombats breed at any time of the year. They live to 15 years in the wild, and up to 20 years in captivity.
Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons)
This species occurs in parts of southern South Australia, southeastern Western Australia and western Victoria. It is the smallest of the three wombats in Australia has red-brown fur and a shorter face. The Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat breeds from late September through to December.
- Flannery T (1990) Australia's Vanishing Mammals. R D Press, Sydney.
- Strahan R (1995) The Australian Museum Complete Book of Australian Mammals. Angus and Robertson.
Queensland Government Department of Environment and Resource Management
PO Box 15155
CITY EAST QLD 4002
Phone: 1300 130 372
You can also find out more information about Australia's threatened species by calling the Department of the Environment and Heritage's Community Information Unit on free call 1800 803 772
Northern hairy-nosed wombat, Lasiorhinus krefftii (QLD Department of Environment and Resource Management)
Links to another web site
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|Foundation of Quantum Theory|
The following well-known experiments serve as a motivation for studying quantum theory. The experimental results cannot be explained using ideas from classical physics.
|1. Blackbody Radiation||2. Photoelectric Effect||3. Compton Effect|
It is well-known that when a body is heated it emits electromagnetic radiation. For example, if a piece of iron is heated to a few hundred degrees, it gives off e.m. radiation which is predominantly in the infra-red region. When the temperature is raised to 1000C it will begin to glow with reddish color which means that the radiation emitted by it is in the visible red region having wavelengths shorter than in the previous case. If heated further it will become white-hot and the radiation emitted is shifted towards the still shorter wave-length blue color in the visible spectrum. Thus the nature of the radiation depends on the temperature of the emitter.
A heated body not only emits radiation but it also absorbs a part of radiation falling on it. If a body absorbs all the radiant energy falling on it, then its absorptive power is unity. Such a body is called a black body.
An ideal blackbody is realized in practice by heating to any desired temperature a hollow enclosure (cavity) and with a very small orifice. The inner surface is coated with lamp-black. Thus radiation entering the cavity through the orifice is incident on its blackened inner surface and is partly absorbed and partly reflected. The reflected component is again incident at another point on the inner surface and gets partly absorbed and partly reflected. This process of absorption and reflection continues until the incident beam is totally absorbed by the body.
The inner walls of the heated cavity also emit radiation, a part of which can come out through the orifice. This radiation has the characteristics of blackbody radiation - the spectrum of which can be analyzed by an infra-red spectrometer.
Experimental results show that the blackbody radiation has a continuous spectrum (shown in the graph). The intensity of the emitted radiation El is plotted as a function of the wavelength l for different temperatures. The wavelength of the emitted radiation ranges continuously from zero to infinity. El increases with increasing temperature for all wavelengths. It has very low values for both very short and very long wavelengths and has a maximum in between at some wavelength lmax. lmax depends on the temperature of the blackbody and decreases with increasing temperature.
The shift in the peak of the intensity distribution curve obeys an empirical relationship known as Wien's displacement law:
lmax T = constant.
The total power radiated per unit area of a blackbody can be derived from thermodynamics. This is known as Stefan-Boltzmann law which can be expressed mathematically as:
E = s T4,
where s = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4 is known as Stefan's constant.
Note that the total power E radiated is obtained by integrating El over all wavelengths. W. Wien proposed an empirical relationship between El with l for a given temperature T:
El (T) = A exp(-B/lT)/l5,
where the constants A and B are chosen arbitrarily so as to fit the experimental energy distribution curves.
But it was later found that the experimental data don't follow Wien's empirical relation at larger wavelengths [See Fig. below ].
Wien's theory of intensity of radiation was based only on arguments from thermodynamics not on any plausible model. Considering the radiation system as composed of a bunch of harmonic oscillators Rayleigh and Jeans derived (using thermodynamics) an expression for the emitted radiation El:
El = (c/4) (8pkBT/l4).
'kB' is the Boltzman constant (kB=1.345 x 10-23 J/K).
The above expression agrees well with the experimental results at long wavelengths but drastically fails at shorter wavelengths. In the limit l -> 0, El -> infinity from the expression above, but in the experiments El -> 0, as l -> 0. This serious disagreement between theory and experiment indicates the limitations of classical mechanics.
Max Planck later derived an expression for the emitted radiation using quantum mechanics. He made a bold new postulate that an oscillator can have only energies which are discrete, i.e., an integral multiple of a finite quantum of energy hf where h is Planck's constant (h= 6.55 x 10-34 J.s) and f is the frequency of the oscillator. Thus the energy of the oscillator is,
E = nhf,
where n is an integer or zero. Planck further assumed that the change in energy of the oscillator due to emission or absorption of radiant energy can also take place by a discrete amount hf. Since radiation is emitted from the oscillators, and since according to Planck, the change in energy of the oscillators can only take discrete values, the energy carried by the emitted radiation, which is called a photon, will be hf, and that is also equal to the loss of energy of the oscillator. Again, this is also the energy gain of the oscillator when it absorbs a photon. Based on these ideas Planck derived the expression for the energy distribution of blackbody radiation:
El = (c/4) (8phc/l5)(1/[exp(hc/lkBT) - 1]).
Rayleigh-Jean's expression and Wien's displacement law are special cases of Planck's law of radiation. Planck's formula for the energy distribution of blackbody radiation agrees well with the experimental results, both for the long wavelengths and the short wavelengths of the energy spectrum.
Please on the simulation below to see nice interactive demonstration of the physics of Blackbody radiation.
Simulation on Blackbody Radiation
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Planck's postulate regarding the discrete nature of the possible energy states of an oscillator marked a radical departure from the ideas of classical physics. According to the laws of classical mechanics, the energy of an oscillator can vary continuously, depending only on the amplitude of the vibrations - this is in total contrast to Planck's hypothesis of discrete energy states of an oscillator. Photoelectric effect is another classic example which can not be explained with classical physics. Einstein was awarded Nobel prize for his explanation of the physics of photoelectric effect.
The basic experiment of photoelectric effect is simple. It was observed that a metal plate when exposed to ultraviolet radiation became positively charged which showed that it has lost negative charges from its surface. These negatively charged particles were later identified to be electrons (later named photoelectrons). This phenomenon is known as photoelectric effect.
Please out the physics applet below which shows the effect of light on various metals.
Simulation on Photoelectric effect
The main results of the experiment can be summarized as follows:
On exposure to the incident light, photoelectrons with all possible velocities ranging from 0 upto a maximum vm are emitted from the metal plate. When a positive potential is applied to the collector (which collects the emitted photoelectrons), a fraction of the total number emitted is collected by the collector. This fraction increases as the voltage is increased. For potentials above about +10 volts, all the electrons emitted by the light are collected by the collector which accounts for the saturation of the photoelectric current [Figs. (a) and (b) below].
On the other hand, when a negative retarding potential is applied on the collector, the lower energy electrons are unable to reach the collector so that the current gradually decreases with increasing negative potential. Finally for a potential -V0 (known as the stopping potential), the photoelectrons of all velocities upto the maximum vm are prevented from reaching the collector. At this point, the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons equals the energy required to overcome the effect of the retarding potential - so we can write
mvm2/2 = eV0.
Conclusion from the experimental results:
(1) The photoelectric current depends upon the intensity of the light used. It is independent of the wavelength of the light [See Fig. (a) above].
(2) The photoelectrons are emitted with all possible velocities from 0 upto a maximum vm which is independent of the intensity of the incident light, but depends only on its wavelength (or frequency). It is found that if f is the frequency of the light used, then the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons increases linearly with f [See Figs. (b) and (c) above ].
(3) Photoelectron emission is an instantaneous effect. There is no time gap between the incidence of the light and the emission of the photoelectrons.
(4) The straight line graph showing the variation of the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted electrons with the frequency f of the light intersects the abscissa at some point f0. No photoelectron emission takes place in the frequency range f<f0. This minimum frequency f0 is known as the threshold frequency. Its value depends on the nature of the emitting material [See Fig. (c) above].
Breakdown of Classical Physics:
According to classical physics -
(a) Light is an electromagnetic wave - the intensity of light is determined by the amplitudes of these electromagnetic oscillations. When light falls on an electron bound in an atom, it gains energy from the oscillating electric field. Larger the amplitude of oscillations, larger is the energy gained by the emitted electron - thus energy of the emitted electrons should depend on the intensity of the incident light. This is in contrast to what has been observed in experiment (point 2 above).
(b) According to the electromagnetic theory, the velocity of the emitted electrons should not depend on the frequency of the incident light. Whatever may be the frequency of the incident light, the electron would be emitted if it gets sufficient time to collect the necessary energy for emission. So the photoelectric emission is not an instantaneous effect. These are in contrary to points 3 and 4 above.
(c) Finally, the incident electromagnetic wave acts equally on all the electrons of the metal surface. There is no reason why only some electrons will be able to collect the necessary energy for emission from the incident waves. Given sufficient time, all electrons should be able to collect the energy necessary for emission. So there is no reason why the photoelectric current should depend upon the intensity of the incident light. However, this is again in contrary to the observed facts (point 1 above).
Einstein's light quantum hypothesis and photoelectric equation:
We have seen from above that the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted photoelectrons increases linearly with the frequency of the incident light. In terms of equation we have
mvm2/2 = eV0 = af - W
where a and W are constants. W is known as the work function of the emitting material. The constant a was determined experimentally and is found to be equal to the Planck's constant h. We can then rewrite the above equation as -
mvm2/2 = eV0 = hf - W.
For the special value of f = f0 = W/h, the K. E. of the emitted photoelectrons becomes zero. So there will be no photoelectron emission if f < f0. f0 is the threshold frequency. The equation,
mvm2/2 = eV0 = hf - hf0
is known as the famous Einstein's photoelectric equation.
Einstein used the quantum hypothesis of Planck to explain the photoelectric effect. He postulated that light is emitted from a source in the form of energy packets of the amount hf known as the light quantum or photon. This is known as Einstein's light quantum hypothesis.
When a photon of energy hf falls on an electron bound inside an atom, the electron absorbs the energy hf and is emitted from the atom provided that hf is greater than the energy of binding of the electron in the atom which is equal to the work function W of the metal. The surplus of energy (hf - W) is taken away by the electron as its kinetic energy. Obviously if hf < W, i.e. f<f0, no photoelectric emission can take place. This explains the existence of the threshold frequency.
Furthermore, according to Einstein's theory, larger the number of photons falling on the metal, greater is the probability of their encounter with the atomic electrons and hence greater is the photoelectric current. So the increase of photoelectric current with the increasing light intensity can be easily explained.
Finally, as soon as the photon of energy hf > W falls on an electron, the latter absorbs it and is emitted instantaneously.
Note that Einstein's light quantum hypothesis postulates the corpuscular nature of light in contrast to the wave nature. We will talk about this wave-particle duality later on in this course.
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The discovery of Compton scattering of x-rays provides direct support that light consists of pointlike quanta of energy called photons.
A schematic diagram of the apparatus used by Compton is shown in the Figure below. A graphite target was bombarded with monochromatic x-rays and the wavelength of the scattered radiation was measured with a rotating crystal spectrometer. The intensity was determined by a movable ionization chamber that generated a current proportional to the x-ray intensity. Compton measured the dependence of scattered x-ray intensity on wavelength at three different scattering angles of 45o, 90o, and 135o. The experimental intensity vs. wavelength plots observed by Compton for the above three scattering angles (See Fig. below) show two peaks, one at the wavelength l of the incident x-rays and the other at a longer wavelength l'. The functional dependence of l' on the scattering angle and l was predicted by Compton to be:
l' - l = (h/mec)[ 1- cosq ] = l0 [ 1- cosq ].
The factor l0=h/mec, also known as Compton wavelength can be calculated to be equal to 0.00243 nm.
The physics of Compton effect:
To explain his observations Compton assumed that light consists of photons each of which carries an energy hf and a momentum hf/c (as p = E/c = hf/c). When such a photon strikes a free electron the electron gets some momentum (pe) and kinetic energy (Te) due to the collision, as a result of which the momentum and energy of the photon are reduced.
Considering energy and momentum conservation (For the detail derivation please here) one can derive the change in wavelength due to Compton scattering:
l' - l = (h/mec)[ 1- cosq ].
Note that the result is independent of the scattering material and depends only on the angle of scattering.
The appearance of the peak at the longer wavelength in the intensity vs. wavelength curve is due to Compton scattering from the electron which may be considered free, since its energy of binding in the atom is small compared to the energy hf of the photon. The appearance of the other peak at the wavelength of the incident radiation is due to scattering from a bound electron. In this case the recoil momentum is taken up by the entire atom, which being much heavier compared to the electron, produces negligible wavelength shift.
Compton effect gives conclusive evidence in support of the corpuscular character of electromagnetic radiation.
Please out the simulation below which shows Compton scattering.
Simulation on Compton Scattering
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© Kingshuk Majumdar (2000)
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On This Day - 22 May 1918
Theatre definitions: Western Front comprises the Franco-German-Belgian front and any military action in Great Britain, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Holland. Eastern Front comprises the German-Russian, Austro-Russian and Austro-Romanian fronts. Southern Front comprises the Austro-Italian and Balkan (including Bulgaro-Romanian) fronts, and Dardanelles. Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres comprises Egypt, Tripoli, the Sudan, Asia Minor (including Transcaucasia), Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkestan, China, India, etc. Naval and Overseas Operations comprises operations on the seas (except where carried out in combination with troops on land) and in Colonial and Overseas theatres, America, etc. Political, etc. comprises political and internal events in all countries, including Notes, speeches, diplomatic, financial, economic and domestic matters. Source: Chronology of the War (1914-18, London; copyright expired)
Liege and Metz railways bombed by British airmen; Mannheim again attacked.
Raid attempted on Paris by about 30 German machines, but only one reaches capital.
Increased artillery fighting along Piave; an attack at Capo Sile bridgehead repulsed.
Allied airmen active.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Air-raids on Zeebrugge; a German destroyer sunk in harbour.
In East Africa British engage enemy between Nanungu and Mahua; capture guns and ammunition, drive Germans westward.
U.S.A. Sedition Bill passed, and �300,000,000 voted for ordnance.
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|Did You Know?|
|Acidic drinks such as soda, energy drinks, and water with lemon erode the surface of the tooth, called enamel, which can lead to decay. Instead of letting acid from drinks sit on your teeth, rinse your mouth with plain water.|
If eyes are the window to the soul, then a smile offers a peek at the pancreas. Just as diabetes can affect your kidneys, feet, heart, and eyes, it plays a role in your oral health, too. Research in this area is young, but studies show that the disease affects the mouth by targeting the gums, increasing decay, and slowing healing.
Probably the greatest impact diabetes has on the mouth is in upping the severity of periodontal disease. This serious gum infection can destroy the tissues and bones that keep the teeth in place and may result in tooth loss. Some signs include red, swollen, and/or bleeding gums, loose or sensitive teeth, and persistent bad breath. “There is very good evidence that diabetes is a risk factor for periodontal disease, both in extent and severity,” says Ira Lamster, DDS, professor of dental medicine and dean emeritus of the College of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center.
|Good to Know|
|Though uncontrolled diabetes can result in oral health problems, a single episode of high or low blood glucose won’t harm your teeth.|
Though gum disease is a direct result of bacteria, in the form of plaque buildup on teeth and especially below the gum line, there’s no difference between the bacteria in your mouth and those in the mouth of someone without diabetes. Instead, Lamster says, gum disease is worse in people with diabetes because of a greater inflammatory response to the bacteria.
But the link between diabetes and gum disease isn’t a one-way street. “If a person has moderately advanced to advanced periodontal disease and they have diabetes, their metabolic control will be worse,” Lamster says. In fact, some research suggests early signs of gum disease may be an indicator of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. A 2011 study in the Journal of Dental Research found that dentists could identify 73 percent of people with undiagnosed diabetes in part because of the presence of periodontal disease. That suggests routine cleanings could help screen for the disease.
|How to Floss|
|1. With floss between two teeth, curve the floss into a C shape so it’s snug against one tooth.|
2. Rub floss up and down against the tooth and into the space between the tooth and gum.
3. Repeat with the other tooth before moving on to the next gap between teeth.
The good news is that if you treat your gum disease, you may see improvements in your glucose control. Yet, according to the American Diabetes Association’s 2012 Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes, the quality of studies on the topic is up for debate, so how much your A1C may improve is uncertain. Depending on the extent of the gum disease, a dentist may do a deep cleaning, prescribe medications, or perform surgery.
Dry mouth is a common problem for people with diabetes, and though it may be a result of aging or medications, Lamster says it could be a complication of the disease. The autonomic nervous system controls salivary gland function, so problems with creating saliva are a form of diabetic neuropathy. (Note that nerve damage doesn’t cause any other problems in the mouth, not even tooth sensitivities or pain, which may be a result of gum disease, tooth decay, grinding teeth, tooth whitening, and so on.)
Lacking spit may not sound like a big deal, but the condition does more than make your throat dry and lips chapped. “Saliva is one of our body’s defense systems,” says Thomas Oates, DMD, PhD, assistant dean of clinical research and vice chair of the Department of Periodontics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Dental School. “It protects the gums from getting infected.” Less saliva means less protection for the teeth against acid and plaque, which leads to tooth decay.
This is compounded if you eat often: “There’s a lot of research that suggests frequency of eating can be a problem,” Oates says, though he notes that there’s no research directly linking diabetes to an increased risk of cavities. Eating glucose or candy to treat lows won’t necessarily up your cavity count, but eating those foods often can. (If you’re eating frequently to treat low blood glucose, however, talk to your doctor about ways to adjust your treatment and limit the number of lows.)
|Experts recommend brushing for at least two minutes, concentrating on each individual tooth, including the surrounding gum.|
People with diabetes are more likely to have root decay, too. Receding gums, a problem that happens with age and gum disease, can expose a tooth’s root and leave an opening for decay.
To stimulate the cleansing effects of saliva at times when you can’t brush or rinse your mouth with water, try chewing sugar-free gum or candy. And take healthy-mouth steps to prevent decay. For starters, get rid of plaque by brushing twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, floss daily, and get regular teeth cleanings (usually every six months), when a dental hygienist will scrape plaque from your teeth.
|Q & A|
|Do I have to brush each time I treat a low with glucose?|
Nope, but it’s smart to rinse your mouth with water and/or chew sugar-free gum or candy. Doing so will stimulate the saliva that protects teeth.
It makes sense that if diabetes slows wound healing in foot ulcers, for instance, the same would be true for the mouth. But oral wounds typically don’t face the same problems as elsewhere in the body because the mouth has lots of blood flow and possibly because saliva helps fight infection.
The same isn’t true of healing from dental surgery. For the past six years, Oates has studied the effects of dental implants in people with diabetes and has found that they have delayed healing of the bone around the implant compared with people without diabetes.
Though the link between slow healing from dental surgery and diabetes is still being investigated, you can better your chances of a quick recovery by making sure your blood glucose is well controlled. In the end, you play a large role in preventing potential oral complications of diabetes, so take the time to keep your glucose in line and your mouth minty fresh.
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The neem tree has been called "the village pharmacy" because its bark, leaves, sap, fruit, seeds, and twigs have so many diverse uses in the traditional medicine of India. This member of the mahogany family has been used medicinally for at least 4,000 years and is held in such esteem that Indian poets called it Sarva Roga Nivarini , meaning "the One That Can Cure All Ailments." Mohandas Gandhi encouraged scientific investigation of the neem tree as part of his program to revitalize Indian traditions, which eventually let to more than 2,000 research papers and intense commercial interest.
At least 50 patents have been filed on neem and neem-based products in the United States for control of insects in food and ornamental crops. However, the Indian government and many nongovernmental organizations have united to overthrow some patents of this type, which they regard as "folk-wisdom piracy." One fear is that if neem is patented, indigenous people who already use it will lose the right to continue to do so. Another point is the fundamental question: Who owns the genetic diversity of plants? The nations where the plants come from or the transnational corporations that pay for the research into those plants? Although this area of international law is rapidly evolving, a patent on the spice turmeric has already been overturned, and neem may follow soon.
At least 100 bioactive substances have been found in neem, including nimbidin, azadiracthins, and other triterpenoids and limonoids. Although the scientific evidence for all of neem's uses in healthcare remains preliminary, the intense interest in the plant will eventually lead to proper double-blind, placebo-controlled trials . (For information on why such studies are so important, see Why Does This Database Rely on Double-blind Studies? )
Because of the numerous parts of the neem tree used, and the many different ways these can be prepared, the only advice we can give at this time is to follow the directions on the label of the neem product you purchase.
For all these reasons, as well as the lack of comprehensive safety investigation of neem products other than neem oil, we recommend that young children, pregnant or nursing women, or individuals with severe liver or kidney disease avoid use of neem.
- Reviewer: EBSCO CAM Review Board
- Review Date: 07/2012 -
- Update Date: 07/25/2012 -
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Exotic pests are nothing new. The hemlock wooly adelgid, which has turned woods from green to brown from the Poconos to the Great Smoky Mountains, arrived 70 years ago on a single hemlock a Virginia landowner imported for his Japanese-style garden.
But while federal agriculture officials struggle with adelgid and other established pests, emerging threats, like the citrus longhorned beetle, a wood-boring native of Asia, are presenting new headaches.
So destructive is the beetle that bans on an array of popular plants grown in Europe, including cherry trees, rhododendrons, and even cut roses from the Netherlands, are under consideration by federal officials, said Faith Campbell, a senior policy representative for the conservancy.
Europe is just one part of the $500 million international plant exporting business that has producers from Colombia to China sending more than three billion plants to the United States each year. Such foreign imports could be responsible for as much as 70 percent of the most damaging non-native insects and diseases afflicting American forests today, according to the study, which was conducted by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
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Dr. Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist from Oregon State University, has been elected to many scientific honors, one of which was the presidency of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. For her presidential address at the AAAS annual meeting, she looked straight out at the huge assembly of scientists and delivered an unapologetic, undiluted warning:
“During the last few decades, humans have emerged as a new force of nature. We are modifying physical, chemical, and biological systems in new ways, at faster rates, and over larger spatial scales than ever recorded on Earth. Humans have unwittingly embarked upon a grand experiment with our planet. The outcome of this experiment is unknown, but has profound implications for all of life.”
What responsibility do scientists have, she asked, both to transmit this message and to help deal with the problem?
Actually scientists, and others, have been transmitting similar messages lately with clarity and urgency. Here are just a few excerpts, from a long and growing list:
World Resources Institute, 1998: “Most high-quality agricultural land is already in production, and the environmental costs of converting remaining forest, grassland, and wetland habitats to cropland are well recognized. … Much of the remaining soil is less productive and more fragile. … One analysis of global soil erosion estimates that … topsoil is being lost 16 to 300 times faster than it can be replaced.”
International Food Policy Research Institute, 1999: “The period since World War II has seen remarkable growth in agricultural production … in the developing world. While in many farming areas this growth has apparently been sustainable, in others it derived from two unsustainable processes: the clearing of new lands of lower productive potential or higher vulnerability, and the intensification of production by mining or destroying the soil resource base.”
U.N. Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World, 1997: “Water resources constraints and water degradation are weakening one of the resource bases on which human society is built. Water shortages and pollution are causing widespread public health problems, limiting economic and agricultural development, and harming a wide range of ecosystems. They may put global food supplies in jeopardy and lead to economic stagnation in many areas of the world.”
World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, 1999: “There has been a clear global trend toward a massive loss of forested areas. … The current trends are toward an acceleration of the loss of forested area, the loss of residual primary forests, and progressive reduction in the internal quality of residual forest stands. … Much of the forest that remains is being progressively impoverished, and all is threatened.”
World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, 1992: “Our massive tampering with the world’s interdependent web of life — coupled with the environmental damage inflicted by deforestation, species loss, and climate change — could trigger widespread adverse effects, including unpredictable collapses of critical biological systems whose interactions and dynamics we only imperfectly understand. Uncertainty over the extent of these effects cannot excuse complacency or delay in facing the threats.”
Two oil industry geologists, Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrère, sobered everyone by saying in Scientific American in 1998: “Our analysis of the discovery and production of oil fields around the world suggest that within the next decade, the supply of conventional oil will be unable to keep up with demand. … Global discovery peaked in the early 1960s and has been falling steadily ever since. … There is only so much crude oil in the world, and the industry has found about 90 percent of it.”
Another industry voice, Robert Shapiro, CEO of the Monsanto Corporation: “The earth can’t withstand a systematic increase of material things. If we grow by using more stuff, I’m afraid we’d better start looking for a new planet.”
Economists are speaking up as well. The following statement was signed by 2000 economists, including six Nobel laureates, in 1997: “The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate. As economists, we believe that global climate change carries with it significant environmental, economic, social, and geopolitical risks, and that preventive steps are justified.”
Ecological Society of America, 1991: “Environmental problems resulting from human activities have begun to threaten the sustainability of Earth’s life support systems.”
The [U.K.] Royal Society and the [U.S.] National Academy of Sciences, 1992: “The future of our planet is in the balance. Sustainable development can be achieved, but only if irreversible degradation of the environment can be halted in time. The next 30 years may be crucial.”
Short of yelling and screaming, which scientists are trained not to do, I don’t see how these august people could be more clear. None of their reports concludes that there is nothing to be done, that we must stupidly submit to the consequences of our overconsumption of our own resource base. They are full of constructive, common-sense, affordable, doable suggestions by which human needs could be met without destroying the planetary sources that maintain us.
The scientists are doing their part. When will television start harping on major tragedies we can prevent, instead of minor ones we can only grieve over? When will politicians start thinking about, talking about, doing something about, leading toward the really important issues of the coming century? When will citizens insist that they do?
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How often have you driven somewhere, perhaps for a day out in the countryside or on your way to a holiday destination, and have passed an unsightly heap of rubbish bags, a discarded armchair or a filthy sodden mattress by the side of some secluded country B-road?
These piles of refuse, whether household junk or builders materials, scrap metal or garden waste are the result of fly-tipping; the illegal dumping of waste on private ground or ground that is unlicensed to receive such waste.
But it’s not just road sides that are affected by fly tipping; inner-city alleyways, waste grounds, playing fields and even scenic areas of the British countryside are being defiled by the illegal and inconsiderate actions of the fly-tippers.
The adverse consequences of fly-tipping
Every local authority in the UK is committed to combating fly-tipping, and research into the undesirable consequences of this practice reveals why this is necessary.
The total cost to local authorities of clearing up illegally dumped waste is around £75 million each year. The Environment Agency estimates the cost of removing fly-tipped waste from agricultural land at around £50million per year.
Areas that are consistently subjected to fly-tipping have seen a decline in house prices and a consequent impact on local trade.
Aesthetic and economic considerations aside, the negligent dumping of waste has profound long-term implications for the natural environment and those that depend upon it.
The vast majority (around three-quarters) of refuse that is fly-tipped is household waste, and much of that is food.
Thanks to the indiscriminate littering habit of Britons, it’s estimated that the UK’s rat population is roughly the same as the human population.
Whilst rats may be thriving, other wildlife suffers as a consequence of fly-tipping; pollutants entering natural water systems are responsible for the deaths of around 100,000 marine animals each year, and around 70,000 animals are injured or killed annually as a result of discarded rubbish.
More worryingly, the potential harm that fly-tipping could cause to humans cannot be ignored. Hazardous waste such as asbestos, toxic chemicals, low-level radioactive waste, medical waste and refrigerant chemicals all pose potential dangers to the atmosphere, soil and water supply.
Why are people fly-tipping?
The collection and disposal of general household waste – and increasingly recyclable and garden waste – is covered by the Council Tax which pays for the weekly or fortnightly emptying of domestic rubbish bins.
But larger items of waste – fridge freezers, mattresses, larger quantities of household and garden rubbish attract a fee for their removal and disposal – the so-called ‘Landfill Tax’.
Although most local authorities charge relatively little for collecting larger household items and taking them to licensed waste management premises, it seems that an increasing number of people would rather expose themselves to the risk and inconvenience of loading up a car or van and driving it to some place away from their own premises to discreetly but inconsiderately dump it.
Taking action against fly-tipping
Fly-tipping is considered an extremely serious offence; those prosecuted can expect fines of anything up to £50,000 and the possibility of a custodial sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment.
Penalties are also applicable for anyone who entrusts their waste disposal to an unlicensed waste carrier or one that disposes of waste on an unlicensed site.
In 2007-2008, local authorities carried out 1,871 prosecutions against fly-tippers of which 95% resulted in successful convictions.
Sadly this is only scratches the surface of the fly-tipping problem, but it’s becoming easier to report offenders either to the Environment Agency (on 0800 80 70 60) or to local authorities via telephone or email.
Anyone who witnesses fly-tippers in action should not tackle them in person, but should note the time, date and location of the offence, a description of those involved, the type and amount of waste being dumped and – importantly – whether the site was in proximity to a water source such as a river or reservoir.
This information should then be passed on to the Environment Agency or your local authority for further investigation.
As vigilance, action and prosecutions in respect of the illegal act of fly-tipping increase, it seems bizarre that rather than finding the location of the nearest licensed refuse disposal site or paying the modest fee required for a skip or licensed rubbish disposal contractor, some people would rather risk a hefty fine or a spell behind bars for fly-tipping.
John is a guest blogger from UK skip hire site skipandbin.com – helping UK consumers find the cheapest skip hire services in their area.
- Manchester becomes a dumping ground as fly-tipping rates soar (menmedia.co.uk)
- George Osborne warned of fly-tipping chaos as ‘skip tax’ gets messy (independent.co.uk)
- A much better services for rubbish removal in New York City, New york (junkguysaustin.wordpress.com)
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Editor’s note: This story is the first of a multi-part series on the French-Eversole War of Perry County. Part two will be published next week.
The History Channel’s hit miniseries, “Hatfields and McCoys,” chronicled the feud between two families in West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. That famous feud is certainly the most well-known in American history, but one of the bloodiest and most destructive took place right here in Hazard and Perry County between 1887 and 1894.
According to The Days of Darkness by John Ed Pearce, and Kentucky’s Famous Feuds and Tragedies by Charles G. Mutzenburg, what was dubbed the “French-Eversole War” was apparently precipitated by a disagreement of business tactics between two Hazard business owners, but the actual fighting ran much deeper than that.
Members of the Eversole family were long-time residents of Perry County, and had made their mark on the county by the time the feud errupted. A branch of the family built what is now the oldest standing structure in the county. The Eversole Cabin in Chavies was built in the late 1700s and exists today much like it did in 1800. It was the site of skirmishes during the Civil War, and remained in the family for over 80 years, until it was given to a member of the Campbell family to pay off a debt.
The French family had only been in the area for a generation by the time the feud began. Coming from North Carolina originally, the patriarch, B. Fulton French, quickly established himself in the community through local commerce.
In the early 1880s, the coal industry was in its infancy in the mountains across Eastern Kentucky, and the resource was not yet heavily mined. Previous to the railroad moving into Hazard in 1912, companies began buying land for little to no money since most landowners did not realize just how valuable that land would become.
Once the railroad moved in and the mining industry came into its own, it became apparent that there was much money to be had in buying land, and the land owners that had already sold out had been bought off for much too low a price.
French was also an attorney, though he worked with the companies to buy land for obscenely low amounts, and then took it from the owners as they began mining the coal.
Joseph Eversole, a young lawyer and local merchant, reportedly saw profiting from the misfortunes of his neighbors as an egregious offense. He tried to warn landowners not to sell out for such low prices. The companies then tried to silence Eversole, pitting French against him.
While their intial dislike of one another stemmed from mineral rights, the traditional story on how the feud began was that a cashier at French’s store had fallen for a female employee. One night he came back to the store and found this employee with French. The cashier was so enraged that he decided to warn Eversole that French had threatened his life. Eversole then formed and army, and so did French, and the fighting began.
While this is the story that was often told in newspapers and in verbal history, it is likely not true, according to Pearce, a former Courier-Journal writer who pieced together the history of the feud through old newspaper accounts and other sources, such as local historians. All that is actually known is that in 1887, the two business competitors moved beyond disliking one another and into feuding.
Hazard at the time has been described as a rough place with only 200 residents. The streets were thick with deep mud and only a few wooden plank sidewalks. It was rumored that judges would often opt out of holding trials because of the frequency of gunfights in town.
As the Perry County feud began, both sides began arming themselves and their employees, and eventually even hired gunmen all before the first shots were ever fired. An Eastern Kentucky newspaper during the time, The Hazel Green Herald out of Wolfe County, reported that in the summer before the official start of the feud the two sides clashed, with Eversole’s side driving French out of Hazard. French then set up a base camp in Harlan, and both men began fortifying their homes, though Pearce noted that the latter part of this account may not be entirely accurate.
The men reportedly paid fleets of bodyguards only two dollars a day. They were able to outfit themselves so cheaply due to the rough state of affairs in Hazard at the time.
While the two sides had clashed on occasion, it was not until the 1887 killing of Silas Gayheart, a friend of French, that the feud truly began. French hired a Knott County native named “Bad” Tom Smith shortly after as a full-time gunman.
Bad Tom became the most infamous person tied to the feud, being known for his hot temper, cool, unforgiving killing, accurate shooting and epileptic fits. He had been known in Hazard for some time for killing three men who were shooting at several of his friends. As legend has it, he was able to knock one man unconscious with a rock and take his gun, and kill the other two before any were able to get a shot off on him.
After the killing of Gayheart, the Eversole group denied killing him, and based on records of the time had nothing to gain from killing him, Pearce wrote. French never believed Eversole’s denial, so the feud was on.
After the shooting, Hazard citizens were on edge despite the limited actual fighting. Shots did, however, begin to ring out at night and the relatively few residents that were not involved in the feud began moving away from the town.
In another instance of fighting, the French group camped on the road near Hazard and waited until a large group of Eversoles had convened for a meeting. The Frenches drove the Eversoles out of Hazard that night.
Only a few days after this fight, a reporter from Cincinnati came to Hazard to cover the feud. He met up with a man that promised to take him to the people involved in the feud. Unfortunately, he was only told the French’s side since the man was affiliated with the group.
The wildly exaggerated story came out several days later in the Cincinnati Enquirer. Another clash arose just days after the article came out and caused casualties on both sides of the fight.
After just a few months of fighting, both sides had nearly depleted their funds and wanted to stop the battle.
They both signed an official truce in 1887 that was turned in to two different judges. The peace was tense, however, and just a little over a month after the truce, both sides were at it again, and more lives would be lost.
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Charles Peirce and Allan Marquand
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) was a famous American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist. Peirce was an innovator in many fields, including philosophy of science, epistemology, metaphysics, mathematics, statistics, research methodology, and the design of experiments in astronomy, geophysics, and psychology, but he considered himself a logician first and foremost (he was perhaps the leading logician in the world at that time). He made major contributions to logic, but logic for him encompassed much of that which is now called epistemology and philosophy of science. He saw logic as the formal branch of semiotics, of which he is a founder. One of his striking discoveries in foundational mathematics was (in 1880) how Boolean algebra could be expressed via a single binary operation, either NAND or its dual, NOR.
From 1879 till 1884 Peirce was a lecturer on the logic at the new Johns Hopkins University. Although his appointment at Hopkins was in logic, he was also busy there with research in psychology and philosophy. Peirce had a number of talented students in logic, whose work may be sampled in Studies in Logic, printed in 1883. Among this bright pupils was Allan Marquand (1853-1924), at that time Fellow in Philosophy and Ethics at Hopkins, until he graduated in 1880 as Ph.D. in Philosophy. His thesis, supervised by Peirce, was on the logic of Philodemus. Marquand returned to Princeton in 1881 to teach Latin and logic. During the 1881-82 academic year, he built a mechanical logical machine, that is interesting for us. The machine was presented in 1885 and described in the 1886 article A New Logical Machine.
Allan worked within the history of logic and upon trying to improve the design and function of what were then called logical machines, at least they were so called within Peirce's circle. Marquand however decided to went further and began with improvements upon the Logical Piano of Jevon. (It is unknown, if Marquand was acquainted with the logical machine of British logician and philosopher John Venn (1834-1920). Venn speculates on the design of a logical machine, based on the machine of Jevons. He even gives schematic diagrams for the construction of such a machine for four propositions, but it is not clear whether the machine was ever built.)
The logical machine of Marquand (see the nearby photo) was designed to solve problems by formal logic. Construction with size 30/20/15 cm, from the wood of a red cedar post from Princeton's oldest homestead, the machine displayed all the valid implications of a simple logical proposition by using a hotel annunciator and an arrangement of rods and levers, catgut strings and spiral springs.
Initially the machine of Marquand was met with disappointing reception. Peirce tried to encourage his pupil and friend (they were so close, that Marquand was lending him money), and proposed some possible ways for improving. One of them was to use electricity. It is possible even the whole electromagnetic design of the machine to have been made by Peirce, because Marquand after 1886 wrote no more on logical machines, while Peirce wrote in 1887 an amazing article (Logical Machines) on that topic for American Journal of Psychology. The article mentioned Marquand's work in a positive way, but Peirce continued to make comments on the problem, the latest known one being in 1906.
There is a circuit diagram for the electromagnetic logical machine in the Marquand's archive, made around 1890 (see the lower image). The operating core consists of 16 electromagnetic elements—electromagnet with five separate coils, an armature with air gap, and spring to maintain a position for the unenergized armature (the armatures are shown only at the upper left position of the diagram). The information is represented as states of magnetic energy in each of the 16 elements.
Circuit diagram for the electromagnetic logical machine
The machine is used in this general way: First the programmer "resets" the machine, using the operate switch. Then a premise is entered by depressing the appropriate programming keys. Now using the control switch and the operate switch, the result being that the machine will remember all the elements previously programmed by key entries. One can now enter a new premise with the program keys, then using the operate switch to see the result of 2 premisses entered. One can save that again, and see the result of a third premise entered, and so on. At the proper point one can stop, inspect the read-out facility, which in this case is the pointers of element armatures, and from that determine what conclusion is consistent with the premisses entered.
The machine is easy expandable to any size (any number of terms), hence this seems to be a design for a general-purpose, truth-functional, logical computer.
As a conclusion—the first electrical logical machine was invented in 1886 by Charles Peirce and Allan Marquand.
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Although it is composed in Old English, Beowulf is nevertheless about Danes and Geats, inhabitants of South Sweden as well as modern Denmark. There are eerie parallels between this poem and a late saga, that of Grettir the Strong, who operated in Iceland and Norway. Both authors dealt with the same cultural problem: ghosts and alien species hostile to humans. The two authors presented them essentially in the same way, and they bear little resemblance to ghosts as we understand them. While the lecture will summarize all relevant information, those interested could read Beowulf in the translation by Seamus Heaney, lines 99-1686. Those with still more time might look at the following in the Saga of Grettir: chapters 32-35 and 64-66. There are two translations available, one from the University of Toronto Press and the other from Penguin.
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After maintaining a steady pace for a century, lighting technology has begun to leap forward, fueled by tightening energy efficiency standards and hefty incentives for manufacturers. And despite a bit of price shock on some lighting products, co-op members-especially large commercial and industrial accounts-are working with their local, not-for-profit, consumer-owned power providers to see if emerging lighting options can curb rising costs.
Congress first enacted improved energy efficiency standards for incandescent bulbs under the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. But when new lightbulb rules began to take effect in 2012, they were met with confusion.
Under the law, by 2014, lightbulbs using between 40-W to 100-W must consume at least 28 percent less energy than traditional incandescents, which will save Americans an estimated $6 billion to $10 billion in lighting costs annually. The measure also mandates that lightbulbs become 70 percent more efficient by 2020.
In June of this year, the U.S. House passed an amendment to stop enforcement of these standards, mirroring a funding freeze for enforcement efforts adopted in late 2011. Yet even if the provision becomes law, very little will change. Congress has not repealed or adjusted existing lightbulb efficiency standards or changed the timeline for implementation. Major lighting manufacturers like General Electric, Philips, and Osram Sylvania continue working to comply with the 2007 law.
As the next wave of standards kicks in, traditional 75-W incandescent lightbulbs will no longer be available as of January 1, 2013, and 40-W and 60-W versions will no longer be available as of January 1, 2014. In the race to fill the nation’s growing need for efficient lighting comes a new breed of illuminators, led by light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
Incandescent bulbs create light using a thin wire (filament) inside a glass bulb-a delicate connection that can easily be broken, as frustrated homeowners can attest. In contrast, LEDs are at the forefront of solid-state lighting-small, packed electronic chip devices. Two conductive materials are placed together on a chip (a diode). Electricity passes through the diode, releasing energy in the form of light.
Invented in 1960 by General Electric, the first LEDs were red-the color depends on materials placed on the diode. Yellow, green, and orange LEDs were created in the 1970s and the recipe for the color blue-the foundation for white LEDs-was unlocked in the mid-1990s. Originally used in remote controls, exit signs, digital watches, alarm clocks, and car signal lights, LEDs quickly gained momentum for large-scale lighting.
By 2030, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates solid-state lighting technologies could reduce the amount of electricity used for lighting (currently 13.6 percent of the nation’s total) by half, saving up to $30 billion a year in energy costs.
Electric cooperatives are supporting LED study through the Cooperative Research Network (CRN), an arm of the Arlington, Va.-based National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. Recently, CRN worked with Western Farmers Electric Cooperative, a generation and transmission cooperative based in Anadarko, Okla., and the Oklahoma State University Animal Science Department to evaluate LEDs at a farrowing operation and a dairy farm in the Sooner State. The project measured the effectiveness of LEDs in harsh environments and looked for any influence on animal behavior.
T-Bar M Dairy Ranch, outside of Durant, Okla., normally uses 250-W metal halide lights in its barns. CRN exchanged those bulbs in 10 fixtures with 120-W LEDs. After six months, the dairy had cut energy use by 55 percent and boosted brightness by 30 percent.
“Utility costs go up every year-that’s reality,” explains Tami Tollenaar, who manages the dairy. “To move forward in your business, you have to look for ways to be more efficient. LEDs are one of the things we can do to help us move forward.”
CRN also worked with Robinson Family Farms, a 380,000-head hog operation in Holdenville, Okla. The farm already used compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) but had problems because those bulbs didn’t work well in harsh conditions.
“Lighting for a swine facility is pretty important,” explains owner Rich Robinson. “We try to convince the sows it’s spring year-round to improve their eating habits.”
CRN switched 25 fixtures from 26-W CFLs to 15-W LEDs. After six months, Robinson slashed his energy use by 54 percent.
“I was worried because normally when you see an LED it doesn’t seem to put out as much light as a 150-watt incandescent bulb-it’s a different type of light,” Robinson admits. “But, after installing the lights, I was surprised at how well they lit up the area. I think the LEDs actually outperformed the CFLs.”
“The initial cost of LEDs is significantly higher than conventional lighting,” notes Scott Williams, Western Farmers Electric commercial & industrial marketing manager. “Like all modern technology, you can expect the price to come down as the product develops. However, when you consider all the factors over the life cycle of a light, LEDs have already proved they save money.”
Shedding Light on LEDs
Curious to know if LEDs are right for you? Homeowners can visit
www.energysavers.gov/lighting to compare LEDs to new energy-efficient incandescent bulbs and CFLs. The Touchstone Energy® Cooperatives free app, “Save Energy, Save Money” for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, includes a lighting calculator showing the potential savings from replacing incandescent lamps with either CFLs
or LEDs; learn more at www.togetherwesave.com/Energy-Saving-App-Smartphones. For more in-depth information about LEDs and other types of solid-state lighting, visit www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl.
Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, Cooperative Research Network, Philips, ENERGY STAR, U.S. Energy Information Administration Megan McKoy-Noe, CCC, writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Arlington, Va.-based service organization for the nation’s 900-plus consumer-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperatives. Rob Holt contributed to this article.
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A new study shows that inheritance may be the cause for the rise in diabetes in the U.S.
Scientists are studying additional forms of inheritance, besides DNA, like metabolic programming, which can occur in the womb or shortly after birth, and causes permanent changes in metabolism.
Researchers in the study looked at mice with diets high in saturated fat and studied the results in the mice and their offspring. They found that a high-fat diet brought on type 2 diabetes in the adult mice.
If a pregnant female mouse stayed on a high-fat diet, their offspring had a greater chance of developing diabetes, even when given a moderate-fat diet.
Researchers say that these studies have only been tested on mice, so there’s no further reason as of yet to warn mothers to eat differently during pregnancy. Even mated with healthy mice, the next generation offspring could develop diabetes as well.
This study was published in the September issue of the Journal of Lipid Research.
Source: Journal of Lipid Research
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Introduction / History China is a land of great diversity in geography, climate, languages, and ethnic groups. It is home to approximately 180 distinct groups, including the 12,000 Mahei who live in Yunnan Province of southern China. They are generally included with the Hani, one of China's 55 national minorities, although some scholars think they may be related to the Akha, who live in the same area. Their origin is not known, but legends say that their nomadic ancestors gradually migrated south from a far away northern plain. Since their language is of the Tibeto-Burmese group, some believe that they originated in Tibet.
Where are they located? The Mahei live near the Myanmar border in an area that is characterized by forested mountains, abundant rainfall, and rich soil. Their farmers are noted for building tiered terraces along steep mountain slopes. Their small farming villages usually consist of 30 to 40 homes. Centuries of isolation in the high mountain terrain have left the Mahei socially and economically backward.
What are their lives like? The family unit is considered to be very important among the Mahei. Some aspects of family life, however, differ from region to region. For instance, monogamy (one husband, one wife) is the rule in some areas, while having multiple spouses is common in others. "Family order" is both patriarchal (male dominated) and patrilineal, meaning that a male child becomes part of the father's lineage, while a female will become part of her husband's lineage. Male children are given names that are connected with their father's name, but females are not.
The Mahei are well known for their sincere hospitality. When a guest enters a Mahei home, he is offered wine and strong tea. If he declines the drinks, the family will be highly offended; if he drinks them, the host will generously serve him with the finest he has to offer.
The Mahei celebrate several major festivals each year, the most notable being the New Year festival. This seven day event is celebrated at harvest time, during the tenth month. At noon on New Year's Day, an announcer throws three balls of blackened rice behind him to bid farewell to the old year. He then greets the new year by tossing three balls of white rice in front of him. Next, he pushes the ropes of a special swing and all of the people, regardless of sex or age, begin swinging. (They believe that this will ward off disaster and ensure a prosperous year.) That evening, the villagers stand around a bonfire eating, drinking, singing, and dancing. At midnight, the announcer cuts down the frame of the swing to signify the end of the festival and the beginning of a new work year.
During times of celebration, the Mahei wear attractive tribal costumes of hand-woven cotton dyed blue or black. The men wear distinctive jackets and turbans, while the women wear collarless blouses and special caps.
What are their beliefs? Traditionally, Mahei beliefs were a combination of animism (belief that non-human objects have spirits), polytheism (belief in many gods), and ancestor worship (praying to the dead for blessings and guidance). Trees in the "holy hills" were believed to be their guardian spirits. Today, most still adhere to similar beliefs, however, approximately 28% are Buddhist. They are very superstitious and view certain events, such as the birth of twins or handicapped children, as unlucky. These children are killed, their parents banished, and their homes and possessions burned. They believe in the existence of many ruling spirits, such as spirits that rule over heaven and earth, spirits that protect their villages, and evil spirits that bring diseases.
The Mahei have three major religious leaders: the zuima (a male elder who directs all religious activities), the beima (males who perform magic and exorcisms), and nima (fortune tellers and medicine men).
What are their needs? Since China's government strictly forbids Christianity, there are currently no missions agencies working among the Mahei. The Bible has not yet been translated into their language and there are no Christian broadcasts in their area. Intercession and missions activity are necessary for these people to hear the Gospel.
Prayer Points Pray that God will reveal Himself to the Mahei through dreams and visions.
Pray that God will give the Mahei believers boldness to share Christ with their own people.
Ask God to speed the completion of evangelistic materials into the Mahei language.
Pray that the doors of China will soon open to missionaries.
Ask God to strengthen, encourage, and protect the small number of Mahei Christians.
Pray that God will raise up qualified linguists to translate the Bible into the Mahei language.
Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Mahei. * Pray for translation of the Bible to begin in this people group's primary language. * Pray for the availability of the Jesus Film in the primary language of this people. * Pray for Gospel messages to become available in audio format for this people group.
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Koreans have a long tradition of drinking teas and tisanes for health, enjoyment and rituals. Even today, drinking tea is something many Koreans do every day, whether at home or at one of the country’s many elegant teahouses.
Tea was first introduced to the Korean peninsula during sixth or seventh centuries, and was probably brought to Korea by Buddhist monks. Written records show that kings and queens during the Silla period used tea as part of their religious and ceremonial offerings.
By the Goryeo dynasty, tea had become very important in Korea and was strongly connected with Buddhism. Monks cultivated tea plants at their temples, and drank tea to help concentrate during their mediations. It was also an important part of many rituals, and even the charyeceremony many Koreans perform nowadays on Chuseok and Seollal was originally an offering of tea instead of food and alcohol. During this period, tea was so important that people wrote poems and books about it, and much of the Goryeo period’s celebrated pottery was intended as tea vessels.
During the Joseon period, tea culture began to decline in Korea, partially because of the official suppression of Buddhism. Still, many scholars, like the great Dasan (Jeong Yak-yeong), were interested in tea and studied how to make and drink it. The Joseon court had its own tea rituals, as well, both for daily tea drinking and special occasions.
Korean tea culture experienced a revival during the 20th century, and is once again an important part of people’s daily lives. There are several active tea plantations around the country, with some of the most famous being in Boseong in Jeolla Province, Halla Mountain on Jeju Island, and the areas around Jiri Mountain. There are also some people who gather wild tea leaves for an exceptionally delicate and delicious tea.
In addition to true teas, which come from the leaves of the tea plant, Koreans also drink a wide variety of tisanes. These brews are made with other medicinal herbs, roots and berries for delicious and healthy drinks. Some of the most popular are made from quince, ginger, green plums, jujubes, citron or ginseng. In addition to tea leaves, other plants also popular for brewing, such as mugwort, lotus, bamboo and persimmon leaves. Other popular traditional “teas” are complex brews made with different combinations of medicinal herbs for strong and bracing brews with an edge of bitterness, which have an excellent reputation for helping people feel stronger and more alert or even help relieve the symptoms of the common cold.
During the summers, many Koreans also turn to chilled traditional drinks to take the edge of the summer heat. Sikhye is made from rice and has a delicate, sweet flavor that is exceptionally refreshing, while sujeonggwa has a rich sweet and spicy taste that comes from dried persimmons, cinnamon and ginger. Another popular trend is to make iced versions of popular drinks that are usually served hot. Adding a little ice to a glass of citron, or yuja, tea is a great way to cool off, and even traditional green teas take on a modern edge when served chilled.
Author: Jennifer Flinn
Source: The Korea Blog
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Maybe you've seen them before: blue or purple squiggles on grown-ups' legs that look like lines on a roadmap. And maybe you thought, "What the heck are those?" Well, they're veins.
But wait a second — why don't you have them? And why do they look different from the veins on the inside of your wrist or elbow? That's because those grown-up veins are varicose (say: vair-uh-kose) veins.
Blood Vessel Basics
What is a varicose vein, anyway? It's a vein that has become stretched and swollen with blood. To understand how that happens, let's learn a bit about what veins do.
You have veins and arteries running through your whole body. They are tiny tubes that carry blood to and from every part of your body, from your nose down to your toes. The flow of blood starts with the pumping action of your heart. When your heart beats, it pumps your blood and moves it through all those little tubes. The arteries carry the blood from your heart out to your body, and the veins carry the blood from your body back to your heart.
The blood going out to your body in the arteries is full of oxygen, which makes the blood bright red. But the blood coming back from your body in the veins is darker because your body parts have used up the oxygen in the blood. That's why veins look purple or blue.
What Causes Varicose Veins?
It's a lot of work to move all that blood. To do their job, veins are full of valves that help keep the blood flowing in the right direction. Valves are like tiny doors that close after the blood has passed through to keep blood moving along and to make sure it doesn't flow backward.
As people get older, though, the valves might not work as well. When that happens, some blood can stay in a vein instead of moving forward like it should. This makes the vein swell up, and that swollen vein is a varicose vein.
The veins often show up on the legs, ankles, and feet because those body parts are farthest from the heart. Gravity pulls blood down into your legs and feet when you're standing up or sitting down. So the veins have to work extra hard to get that blood back up to the heart, and some of those veins can wear out over time.
Varicose veins look twisted and purple or blue, and they're raised, which means they look like they're sitting on top of the skin. They can be tender and painful, especially after sitting or standing still for a long time. People who have varicose veins might also have achy legs that feel heavy.
Varicose veins are more common in women, and people are more likely to get them as they get older. These veins can be genetic (say: juh-neh-tik). That means that if your mom or your sister has them, you might get them. Things that put pressure on your legs and feet — like being overweight or standing for a long time every day without exercise — can also cause varicose veins. Sometimes women who are pregnant get them, too.
If someone you know has varicose veins, it's really no big deal. They're usually pretty harmless. But people who have problems like pain with their varicose veins will sometimes see a doctor to have them removed.
To get rid of varicose veins, some of the things doctors can do is zap them with light from a special laser or use something called sclerotherapy (say: skler-oh-thair-uh-pee). In sclerotherapy, the doctor injects fluid into the vein that makes it shrivel up. Both of these treatments are pretty common.
Luckily, there are things you can do now so you're less likely to have varicose veins when you're older. First, get your blood moving with regular exercise. Keeping your body fit helps keep your veins fit, too! Also, don't put a lot of pressure on your legs and feet by standing or sitting for too long without moving around. Help keep your blood flowing and your body will love you for it!
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Constipation is not having a bowel movement as often as you usually do, or having a tough time going because the stool is hard and dry. It's a very common problem, and usually happens because a person's diet doesn't include enough fluids and fiber.
Constipation usually isn't a cause for concern — it's preventable and most cases can be resolved with healthy eating and exercise habits.
After you chew and swallow food, it heads to your stomach. From there, it's on to the small intestine, then the large intestine (or bowels), and finally out of the body through the rectum and anus.
As food moves through your digestive system, your body soaks up water and nutrients it needs from the food. What's left over comes out as stool. Normal stool is usually soft and easy to pass, and it generally shouldn't be too difficult to have a bowel movement. But sometimes the bowels just don't move like they should.
A person is considered constipated when he or she has had fewer than three bowel movements in a week; when the stools are hard, dry, and unusually large; or when it's hard for the person to have a bowel movement.
Unhealthy diet. Most of the time, constipation is due to a diet that doesn't include enough water and fiber, both of which help your bowels move properly. People who eat a lot of fast food may find they're constipated more often. This is because fast food is full of fats (burgers, fries, milkshakes) and processed sugars (candy, cookies, sugary soft drinks). A healthier diet that includes high-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can keep your stool from getting hard and dry.
Stress. People can get constipated when they're anxious about something, like a life change or a problem at home. Research has shown that stress can affect how the digestive system functions and can cause constipation, as well as other conditions, like diarrhea.
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Some people have a condition called irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which can act through stress or by eating certain "trigger" foods, which usually are fatty or spicy. A person with IBS may have either constipation or diarrhea, as well as stomach pain and gas.
Ignoring the natural urge. Avoiding going to the bathroom, even when you really have the urge to go, can cause constipation. When you ignore the urge to go, it can be harder to go later on.
Certain medications. Sometimes, medications like antidepressants and those used to treat iron deficiencies can lead to constipation.
In rare cases, constipation is a sign of other medical illnesses, so keep your doctor informed if you continue to have problems, or if the constipation lasts for 2 to 3 weeks.
Different people have different bathroom habits, so someone who doesn't have a bowel movement every day isn't necessarily constipated. One person might go three times a day, while another might go once every 3 days. The real sign of whether you're constipated is if you're going less than you normally do.
A person with constipation might:
feel full or bloated
feel pain making a bowel movement
have to strain to make a bowel movement
notice a little blood on the toilet paper
Dealing With Constipation
To prevent and treat constipation:
Drink more fluids. Drinking enough water and other liquids helps keep stools soft so they can move more easily through the intestines. When you don't drink enough, the stool can get hard and dry, and you might get stopped up.
Eat more fiber. Foods that are high in fiber, like fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain bread, can help prevent constipation. Fiber can't be digested, so it helps clean out the intestines by moving the bowels along, while a diet full of fatty, sugary, or starchy foods can slow the bowels down. Try getting more fiber in your diet by eating apples, oatmeal, oranges, bananas, baked potatoes, and popcorn.
Make sure you get enough exercise. Physical activity helps move food through your digestive system and nudges the bowels into action, so be sure to get plenty of exercise. It can be as simple as playing catch, cycling, or shooting a few hoops.
Develop a regular meal schedule. Since eating is a natural stimulant for the bowels, regular meals may help you develop routine bowel habits. If necessary, schedule breakfast a little earlier to give yourself a chance for a relaxed visit to the bathroom before school.
Get into the habit of going. Maybe you don't want to use the bathroom at school, or maybe you just don't want to stop what you're doing right then. But if you make a habit of ignoring your body's signals that it's time to go, it can be tougher to go later on.
Some medical conditions — like diabetes, lupus, or problems with the thyroid gland — also can cause constipation. If you're worried that your constipation is a sign of something else, talk to your parents and your doctor.
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"Simultaneously mitigating near-term climate change and improving human health and food security."
Well, yes. What's new for Science doesn't have to be new for klimazwiebel authors and readers. But finally, good to hear that other people,too, seem to give up their 2-degree goals and become more pragmatic and realistic!
Here the abstract:
Tropospheric ozone and black carbon (BC) contribute to both degraded air quality and global warming. We considered ~400 emission control measures to reduce these pollutants by using current technology and experience. We identified 14 measures targeting methane and BC emissions that reduce projected global mean warming ~0.5°C by 2050. This strategy avoids 0.7 to 4.7 million annual premature deaths from outdoor air pollution and increases annual crop yields by 30 to 135 million metric tons due to ozone reductions in 2030 and beyond. Benefits of methane emissions reductions are valued at $700 to $5000 per metric ton, which is well above typical marginal abatement costs (less than $250). The selected controls target different sources and influence climate on shorter time scales than those of carbon dioxide–reduction measures. Implementing both substantially reduces the risks of crossing the 2°C threshold.
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Pub. date: 2010 | Online Pub. Date: May 06, 2010 | DOI: 10.4135/9781412958660 | Print ISBN: 9781412958653 | Online ISBN: 9781412958660| Publisher:SAGE Publications, Inc.About this encyclopedia
Property is a general term for things such as land or other material resources and goods, the relations between people and those things, the relations between people with respect to those things, or the system of rules that governs these relations. Every society with an interest in avoiding conflict between people over things requires such a system; without it, a civilized common life is impossible. We may distinguish three ideal types of systems that could be used to organize property in a society. Under the first type of system, property is held in common, and all members of the society are free to use it as they choose without spoiling it for others. Under the second type of system, property is held collectively, and society collectively determines its use. Under the third type of system, property is held privately, and those who hold it are free to use it In ...
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This is the first of several talks St. Francis has with Philothea about humility. In this first conversation, he tries to move her away from aspiring to superficial (worldly) virtues.
PHILOTHEA: St. Francis. I just don’t understand humility. What does that mean? Does it mean to hate myself? To be a doormat? Does it mean to…to what?
ST. FRANCIS: “Borrow…empty vessels not a few,” said Eliseus to the poor widow, “and pour oil into them” (4 Kings 4), and before we can receive the grace of God into our hearts they must be thoroughly empty of all self-glory [vainglory].
ST. FRANCIS: The kestrel has a peculiar property of frightening away birds of prey with its looks and cries, for which reason the dove seeks it beyond all other birds, and lives fearlessly in its neighborhood; and so humility repulses Satan and preserves in us the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. For this reason all the Saints, and especially the King of Saints and His Mother, ever honored and cherished this virtue above all others.
PHILOTHEA: I don’t get it. What does vainglory mean? How is it different from humility?
ST. FRANCIS: We call vainglory that which we seek for ourselves, either for that which is not in us, or being in us, is not our own, or being in us and our own, is not worthy to be glorified in.
PHILOTHEA: Let me think a minute about what you just said…so that would be things such as…
ST. FRANCIS: Noble birth, the favor bestowed by great men, [and] popular esteem are not in ourselves; they either come from our forefathers or from the opinion of others.
PHILOTHEA: So our name or because an opinion from another makes us sound good to others, that does not mean much, or something like that???
ST. FRANCIS: Some are proud and conceited because they have a fine horse, a plume in their hat, or are magnificently attired, but who cannot perceive the absurdity of this, since if anyone has reason to be proud it is surely the horse, the ostrich, or the tailor! And how very contemptible it is to rest our hope of esteem in a horse, a feather, or a garment!
PHILOTHEA: True. It’s the same as having a car, a hairstyle, or name-brand clothes. Surely, it was not me who made any of those, or, even if I did, I cannot make those things be accepted as “cool.” Things should not define me. Mmmmm…
ST. FRANCIS: Another thinks of his well-trimmed beard and mustache, or his well-curled hair, his delicate hands, or of his accomplishments in dancing, music, and so on, but is it not very contemptible to try to enhance his worth or his reputation through such frivolous and foolish things?
PHILOTHEA: I get it. I know the type of people you are talking about. They used to be called fops or dandies, but they are called something else today.
ST. FRANCIS: Others who have acquired a little science demand the respect and honor of the world on that account, as if all must needs come to learn of them and bow before them. Such men we call pendants [those who present their knowledge in an ostentatious, dogmatic, or dull manner, often placing excessive emphasis on trivial details and formal rules].
PHILOTHEA: They tell others that all people need only learn from their studies and ask them to bow before them as if they knew everything? Oh, my gosh. I never thought of people making science into its own dogmatic formulation of rules with its own high priests, but I guess it can happen to people in any discipline, and you know what? That actually makes a lot of sense! Everybody only has a piece of knowledge, so if a person of science, literature, politics, prayer, psychology, religion, art, or anything claims they know everything, then persuades others to follow them with certain exacting behaviors, bowing to worldly mannerisms…anyone who is this extreme is a pendant! It doesn’t matter if they believe in God or not. If they claim to know more than every other person in the world with their one piece of knowledge, if they claim that they own all the rights to human progress because they think their one piece of a whole will lead the way, then they have succumbed to pedantry.
Sadly, I think anybody who falls into this pedantry works to persuade themselves and others to give up on God by calling all believers ignorant fools and hypocrites. Or if they are believers themselves, they believe they are better than all others who call themselves religious. They are creating their own dogma based on one piece of knowledge. Is it because they are really worried about the honors part, or the opinion of others? Are they going with the fads of the day? Are they so worried about being accepted that they have to say they don’t believe or twist what they do believe because they want to be considered intelligent? Are they so worried about fitting in that they make up a new way to pray, to learn, to teach, to be in order to be accepted by those who really don’t believe? Are they compromising their integrity just to fit in?
It is really silly if you think about it because all of the knowledge that they claim to have (and they might or might not have a piece) they make that one small piece become the entire scheme of all things, the key to everything, a mountain out of a molehill, a piece as the whole instead of a part of a whole. Besides that, all these pieces were not discovered without the knowledge and work of others, many of those others were and are believers. How sad! To think that only one discipline has all the answers to all our human questions! There has to be at least as many questions as there are people on the earth, but I am sure each person has more than one question. How can one discipline possibly answer all these questions? But one discipline, one area of study, is making that claim–that they can answer that question–that they have all the answers to every human need. Talk about dogmatic! Sheesh…Apparently these extremes can happen to anybody, even in the area of science, art, or whatever. Any discipline, any piece of knowledge can become pedantry if we are not careful.
Sorry, St. Francis. That was just a really thought-provoking piece of information. It really just got me thinking. Usually, people accuse religious folk of being this way, but it can happen to even those who claim no religion. I can see why people could lose their way with this. They see a piece and run with it as if it were whole. A person who really searches for the length, the breadth, the width, the depth of all things, knows that he cannot know all or prove all on his own. Anyone who makes that claim must be false, superficial, artificial.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to take up your time. Go ahead.
ST. FRANCIS: Others pride themselves on their personal beauty, and think that everyone is admiring them: all of them in their turn are utterly silly, foolish, and impertinent, and their glory in such empty things we call vain, absurd, and frivolous.
PHILOTHEA: Yep. I know the type. So how can you tell if a person is really humble?
ST. FRANCIS: You may judge of real worth as of real balm, which is tried in water, and if it sinks, and remains at the bottom, it is known to be precious and costly; and so in order to know whether a man is really wise, learned, generous, and noble, observe whether his gifts make him humble, modest and submissive. If so, they are genuine, but if they float to the surface and would fain display themselves, be sure that in proportion as they make a show, so are they less worthy.
PHILOTHEA: They get puffed up, arrogant, detracting all others, proud of themselves, thinking they “know-it-all,” can do anything they want to do, make up their own rules because they have a title, beauty, or some certificate of knowledge.
ST. FRANCIS: Those pearls which are formed or fed in the wind and thunder leave only a pearly shell with no substance; and so those virtues and attractive qualities which have their root and support in pride, self-sufficiency, and vanity, have but the outward show of excellence, and are without sap, marrow, and solidity.
PHILOTHEA: I think you just described a person who has no integrity, no sense of fellowship, and no sense of compassion.
ST. FRANCIS: Honor, rank, and dignity are like the saffron, which flourishes and increases most when it is trodden underfoot. All the value of beauty is gone when its possessor is self-conscious; to be pleasing it should be forgotten; and science becomes contemptible when it is puffed up and degenerates into pedantry.
PHILOTHEA: One uppers. They do it for themselves. Not for anybody else. They claim to being do it for others, but the others have to abide by their rules that work only for the piece without regard for the whole.
ST. FRANCIS: If we are punctilious about rank, title, and precedence, we both lay our claims open to investigation and contradiction, and render them vile and despicable.
PHILOTHEA: Perfectionists. I’ve been there. Done that.
ST. FRANCIS: For that honor which means something when willingly offered, becomes contemptible when it is sought after, demanded, or exacted.
PHILOTHEA: Greedy. I have tried to take on too much sometimes, I know.
ST. FRANCIS: When the peacock displays his gorgeous plumes, he lays bare also his deformities; and those flowers which are beautiful in their native soil, soon whither if we handle them.
PHILOTHEA: Foolish. Running without rest. I have also been involved with a person who was very much like you describe and our relationship winded up turning into dust. He had very superficial expectations of me that I could not live up to since these things come and go so quickly, but for him, according to others, he is considered a success because he is able to compete on that superficial plane. I am actually glad I am not there anymore. I was full of anxiety.
ST. FRANCIS: And as they who inhale the mandragora from afar off and for a brief space, find it very delicious, but those who inhale it near and for long become drowsy and ill: so worldly honors are acceptable to him who receives them indifferently without resting in them or seeking them eagerly, but they become very dangerous and hurtful to him who clings to and takes delight in them.
PHILOTHEA: I guess I should feel sorry for him, then. I am getting the sense that humility is a lot more beautiful than vainglory.
ST. FRANCIS: The desire and pursuit of [authentic] virtue tend to render us virtuous, but the desire and pursuit of honors tend to make us odious and despicable. A really great mind will not waste itself on such empty goods as rank, honor, and form. It has higher pursuits, and leaves these for the weak and vain. He who can procure pearls will not be satisfied with shells, and those who aim at virtue do not trouble themselves about honors.
PHILOTHEA: So in pursuing virtue, I can learn humility, which to me has a lot more depth.
ST. FRANCIS: Of course each man may enter into, and remain in his own sphere, without lack of humility, so long as he does it with indifference, and without effort.
PHILOTHEA : So, it’s okay to accept beauty, honors, titles within the context of your job or whatever, but do so with indifference for these external things so that the primary goal of seeking virtue and God is not lost. Science and all those other things are good but just need to be kept in balance.
ST. FRANCIS: Just as vessels coming from Peru laden with gold and silver bring also a number of monkeys and parrots which cost nothing, and add but little to their freight, so those who aspire to be virtuous, may well accept their rightful rank and honors, but always without bestowing much care or thought to them, and without being involved in cares, vexations, disputes, and anxieties in consequence.
ST. FRANCIS: I am not alluding here to those invested with public dignities, nor to special and important occasions, in which everyone is bound to maintain a fitting dignity with prudence and discretion, combined with charity and courtesy.
PHILOTHEA: That’s good to know. It would be really rude to not uphold dignity. So the other extreme would be to hate those superficial things so much that they become the focus of your life, so then you lose humility just as in the other extreme of loving them too much. These outer things are accessories, so to concentrate on them by hating them too much or by loving them too much is imbalanced. They should be accepted and let go of like water going in and out of the hand, but the balm of virtue, that is something that lasts, and therefore is so much more worthy of our attention. Thanks St. Francis.
St. Francis will cover internal humility in the next conversation.
Look for the next conversation between St. Francis and Philothea, coming soon…
**from An Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis de Sales (Tan Classics, 2010).
AND from the translation printed by Eremetical Press (2009, 400th Anniversary Edition) to help with the more difficult sentence structures and vocabulary.
AND the Macmillan Dictionary for Students.
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INITRDSection: Linux Programmer's Manual (4)
INITRDSection: Linux Programmer's Manual (4)
In the first boot-up phase, the kernel starts up and mounts an initial root file-system from the contents of /dev/initrd (e.g. RAM disk initialized by the boot loader). In the second phase, additional drivers or other modules are loaded from the initial root device's contents. After loading the additional modules, a new root file system (i.e. the normal root file system) is mounted from a different device.
1. The boot loader loads the kernel program and /dev/initrd's contents into memory.
2. On kernel startup, the kernel uncompresses and copies the contents of the device /dev/initrd onto device /dev/ram0 and then frees the memory used by /dev/initrd.
3. The kernel then read-write mounts device /dev/ram0 as the initial root file system.
4. If the indicated normal root file system is also the initial root file-system (e.g. /dev/ram0 ) then the kernel skips to the last step for the usual boot sequence.
5. If the executable file /linuxrc is present in the initial root file-system, /linuxrc is executed with uid 0. (The file /linuxrc must have executable permission. The file /linuxrc can be any valid executable, including a shell script.)
6. If /linuxrc is not executed or when /linuxrc terminates, the normal root file system is mounted. (If /linuxrc exits with any file-systems mounted on the initial root file-system, then the behavior of the kernel is UNSPECIFIED. See the NOTES section for the current kernel behavior.)
7. If the normal root file has directory /initrd, device /dev/ram0 is moved from / to /initrd. Otherwise if directory /initrd does not exist device /dev/ram0 is unmounted. (When moved from / to /initrd, /dev/ram0 is not unmounted and therefore processes can remain running from /dev/ram0. If directory /initrd does not exist on the normal root file-system and any processes remain running from /dev/ram0 when /linuxrc exits, the behavior of the kernel is UNSPECIFIED. See the NOTES section for the current kernel behavior.)
8. The usual boot sequence (e.g. invocation of /sbin/init) is performed on the normal root file system.
It is also possible for the /linuxrc executable to change the normal root device. For /linuxrc to change the normal root device, /proc must be mounted. After mounting /proc, /linuxrc changes the normal root device by writing into the proc files /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev, /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name, and /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs. For a physical root device, the root device is changed by having /linuxrc write the new root file system device number into /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev. For a NFS root file system, the root device is changed by having /linuxrc write the NFS setting into files /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name and /proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs and then writing 0xff (e.g. the pseudo-NFS-device number) into file /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev. For example, the following shell command line would change the normal root device to /dev/hdb1:
echo 0x365 >/proc/sys/kernel/real-root-devFor a NFS example, the following shell command lines would change the normal root device to the NFS directory /var/nfsroot on a local networked NFS server with IP number 184.108.40.206 for a system with IP number 220.127.116.11 and named 'idefix':
echo /var/nfsroot >/proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-name echo 18.104.22.168:22.214.171.124::255.255.255.0:idefix \ >/proc/sys/kernel/nfs-root-addrs echo 255 >/proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev
A possible system installation scenario is as follows:
1. The loader program boots from floppy or other media with a minimal kernel (e.g. support for /dev/ram, /dev/initrd, and the ext2 file-system) and loads /dev/initrd with a gzipped version of the initial file-system.
2. The executable /linuxrc determines what is needed to (1) mount the normal root file-system (i.e. device type, device drivers, file system) and (2) the distribution media (e.g. CD-ROM, network, tape, ...). This can be done by asking the user, by auto-probing, or by using a hybrid approach.
3. The executable /linuxrc loads the necessary modules from the initial root file-system.
4. The executable /linuxrc creates and populates the root file system. (At this stage the normal root file system does not have to be a completed system yet.)
5. The executable /linuxrc sets /proc/sys/kernel/real-root-dev, unmount /proc, the normal root file system and any other file systems it has mounted, and then terminates.
6. The kernel then mounts the normal root file system.
7. Now that the file system is accessible and intact, the boot loader can be installed.
8. The boot loader is configured to load into /dev/initrd a file system with the set of modules that was used to bring up the system. (e.g. Device /dev/ram0 can be modified, then unmounted, and finally, the image is written from /dev/ram0 to a file.)
9. The system is now bootable and additional installation tasks can be performed.
The key role of /dev/initrd in the above is to re-use the configuration data during normal system operation without requiring initial kernel selection, a large generic kernel or, recompiling the kernel.
A second scenario is for installations where Linux runs on systems with different hardware configurations in a single administrative network. In such cases, it may be desirable to use only a small set of kernels (ideally only one) and to keep the system-specific part of configuration information as small as possible. In this case, create a common file with all needed modules. Then, only the the /linuxrc file or a file executed by /linuxrc would be different.
A third scenario is more convenient recovery disks. Because information like the location of the root file-system partition is not needed at boot time, the system loaded from /dev/initrd can use a dialog and/or auto-detection followed by a possible sanity check.
Last but not least, Linux distributions on CD-ROM may use initrd for easy installation from the CD-ROM. The distribution can use LOADLIN to directly load /dev/initrd from CD-ROM without the need of any floppies. The distribution could also use a LILO boot floppy and then bootstrap a bigger ram disk via /dev/initrd from the CD-ROM.
mknod -m 400 /dev/initrd b 1 250 chown root:disk /dev/initrdAlso, support for both "RAM disk" and "Initial RAM disk" (e.g. CONFIG_BLK_DEV_RAM=y and CONFIG_BLK_DEV_INITRD=y ) support must be compiled directly into the Linux kernel to use /dev/initrd. When using /dev/initrd, the RAM disk driver cannot be loaded as a module.
2. With the current kernel, if directory /initrd does not exist, then /dev/ram0 will NOT be fully unmounted if /dev/ram0 is used by any process or has any file-system mounted on it. If /dev/ram0 is NOT fully unmounted, then /dev/ram0 will remain in memory.
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That the field of medicine and health care includes significant and ongoing changes is a concept readily apparent to all. Such change requires its practitioners to be aware of new diseases, new treatments and modifications of practice required in contemporary medicine. Physicians in Minnesota are required to attend 75 hours of "classroom-type education" every three years to maintain their license to practice; similar requirements exist in other professional fields.
Last Friday, I attended an excellent conference presented by the staffs of the University of Minnesota Medical School, the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Mayo Clinic titled "Emerging Infections."About 270 physicians, nurses, laboratory professionals, and public health staff spent the day being advised about the "emerging" (and ongoing) infections pertinent to our environment.
As expected, the very serious outbreak of fungal meningitis related to the injection of contaminated steroid medication was thoroughly discussed. Diseases due to contaminated infant formulae, the spread of tick-borne diseases, and the significant epidemic of West Nile Virus infection were reviewed.
However, the increasing importance of a relatively new disease, Hepatitis C, was a noteworthy subject of discussion.
The viral diseases affecting the liver causing hepatitis (inflammation) and serious life-threatening conditions have an alphabetical spectrum. Hepatitis A is the disease associated with food-borne illness, contaminated water supplies, and travel. Hepatitis B is usually associated with perinatal transmission, blood transfusions, intravenous drug use, and sharing of body fluids, often resulting in serious acute and chronic illness.
Hepatitis C was "discovered" in 1989 following the examination of patients with hepatitis uncharacteristic of Hepatitis A or B, and thus called "Non-A, non-B hepatitis." The disease occurs only in humans and chimpanzees and is found throughout the world, mainly in South America, East Africa and China. One hundred and seventy million people are affected; about 4 million people carry the disease in the U.S. More than 150,000 patients are affected each year here at a cost of treatment of a billion dollars per year. Unfortunately, there is no preventive therapy (vaccine) for Hepatitis C.
Patients at high risk for Hepatitis C include persons with intravenous drug use, cocaine snorting, tattoos, multiple sexual partners, and children with infected mothers. Only 5-50 percent of infected patients know they are infected since they may have no symptoms.
Persons who are at risk and who should be tested (screened) for infection with Hepatitis C include intravenous drug users, those persons who had a blood transfusion before 1991, men who have sex with men, and persons who have a tattoo! This year public health authorities have recommended that all persons born between 1945 and 1965 be screened for Hepatitis C. The "baby boomers" may have been exposed to conditions conducive to infection with Hepatitis C.
Much like the "silent" epidemic of undiagnosed and untreated high blood pressure, the epidemic of Hepatitis C must be recognized and treated. Generalized routine screening and behavioral changes are part of the solutions for these serious public health challenges.
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Step 4: Complete the evaluation plan.
Why should you evaluate professional development? Your evaluation should address two basic questions: Did the activity, including all of the components, take place as planned? Did the activity achieve the intended outcomes for teachers and for students? Answers to the first question will tell you whether the plan you are developing now was implemented and, if not, where and why implementation fell short. This information can help avoid problems in the future. Answers to the second question will help you learn about the extent to which the activity resulted in the intended changes in teacher knowledge, skills, and performance and in the intended improvements in student learning. These evaluation results can also help pinpoint areas where additional professional development and support may be necessary. In addition, because professional development is a critical component of school improvement, evaluation results can help determine if these efforts are on track or if mid-course corrections are necessary.
Planning Tip 11: Evaluations that focus solely on participant satisfaction and ratings of quality have limited value in assessing the impact of professional development on participants’ knowledge, skills, and performance or the impact on student learning.
Planning Tip 12: Consider seeking help from an evaluator.
Planning Tip 13: Consider using products and artifacts from learning activities and follow up as evaluation data.
Planning Tip 14: Elements of your evaluation plan that focus on outcomes for teachers and for students should explicitly reflect your assumptions about the pace and sequence of change.
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THE QUALITY OF MERCY
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) of Stratford-upon-Avon is England's, and the world's, most noted playwright. Shakespeare lived during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth l (1558-1603) and King James l (1603-1625), who commissioned the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible, published in 1611.
William was born to John and Mary Shakespeare, one of eight children. The only record available is his baptism at Holy Trinity Church on April 26, 1564. It is evident from his plays that he was moved by his studies of Greek and Latin classics. He married Anne Hathaway at age eighteen, and they had three children, Susanna, and the twins Hamnet and Judith. The death of his only son Hamnet at age eleven was devastating for Shakespeare, and proved a powerful influence on his Tragedy Hamlet.
Shakespeare's popularity rests on his perceptive understanding of human nature. The 36 plays published in the First Folio are generally divided into Tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Antony and Cleopatra; Comedies, as The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Love's Labour Lost, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well, Much Ado about Nothing, and the Taming of the Shrew; the Comedies known as Romances such as The Winter's Tale and one of his last plays The Tempest, one of the themes being the painful necessity of a father letting his daughter go; and Histories, such as King Henry V, King Richard the Second, the Life and Death of King John, All Is True (on Henry VIII), and King Henry IV, noted for the comical character Falstaff. He is also noted for his 154 Sonnets, A Lover's Complaint, and other poems.
This beautiful piece on mercy is from The Merchant of Venice, first performed in 1596 and published in 1600, when Portia speaks to Shylock in Act IV, Scene I.
The Quality of Mercy
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His scepter shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings.
But mercy is above this sceptered sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings;
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then show like God's
When mercy seasons justice.
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Length of metal strips produced by a machine are normally distributed with mean length of 150 cm and a standard deviation of 10 cm. Find the probability that the length of a randomly selected strip is
i/ Shorter than 165 cm?
ii/ Longer than 170 cm?
iii/ Between 145 cm and 155 cm?
| 3.174995 |
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